Florida banning sale, ownership of invasive species
MIAMI — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Thursday signed off on banning the sale, ownership and breeding of tegus, iguanas and other invasive reptiles that have overrun native wildlife populations.
Many of the new rules — approved in a unanimous vote over pushback from reptile breeders and sellers — will be phased in over coming months to give businesses time to comply. The toughest measure — a total ban on commercial breeding in Florida of tegus and iguanas — won’t go into effect until June 2024. Pet owners will have 180 days to comply with new regulations mandating concrete enclosures for reptiles kept outdoors.
The rules represent the strictest crackdown from Florida wildlife managers yet on an exotic pet trade that scientists blame for the state’s worsening problem with invasive reptiles. The infamous Burmese python, which has largely wiped out small mammal population in the Everglades, is only one of many invasive species that pose a high risk of spreading across subtropical South Florida. Its sale and import in the state was blocked in 2010.
“We have to put our foot down. People want to move to Florida because of nature, because of our environment. The time has come to take a bold stand against these real threats to our environment,” said Rodney Barreto, FWC’s newly elected chairman.
In a board meeting on Thursday wildlife managers placed on FWC’s prohibited list of species all species of tegu lizards and the green iguana, as well as green anacondas, Nile monitor lizards and six species of pythons.
FWC is targeting the exotic pet trade because most invasive fish and wildlife in Florida were established through the escape or intentional release of captive animals. They say there is evidence the 16 targeted species in the new legislation already have local populations or may become established and negatively impact Florida’s ecology, economy or human health and safety.
The new rules group species like tegus and green iguanas into the same category as pythons and Nile monitor lizards, which cannot be sold as pets. The rules also ban importation of these species.
FWC said the exotic species pose a significant threat to Florida’s fragile ecosystems like the Everglades, and that current regulations are no longer effective in managing their expansion and damage. With more than $10 million spent annually on invasive species, joint efforts by FWC and other state and federal agencies are nowhere near controlling some of the more widespread invaders.
“The global movement of products and people, the increased demand in the global market for exotic animals and the ease to acquire them has increased the potential for nonnative fish and wildlife to escape or be released and ultimately cause impacts. Invasive fish and wildlife are considered the second most significant threat to biodiversity, after habitat loss,” FWC said in a presentation.
Who says you can’t go home? Alice Cooper, one of Detroit’s most famous sons, does it on his new album, “Detroit Stories,” producing a masterpiece of classic rock, soul and R&B in homage to the city that produced him.
Cooper does it with assists from members of legendary Detroit rock acts including MC5, Grand Funk and the Detroit Wheels.
“Go Man Go” is a full-speedahead car chase of a song about a parolee and his girlfriend who just doesn’t know when to stop. It’s one of the best tracks on the album.
“I Hate You” features members of the original Alice Cooper band trading insults in a song that has elements of Devo and the Sex Pistols overlaid on its hard rock foundation, and “Detroit City 2021” name-checks Detroit rock legends including Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop and Suzi Quatro.
Cooper sounds just like Jim Morrison on “Wonderful World,” and he gives voice to millions of fans who don’t care about their favorite singer’s politics, lifestyle or views on world events on “Shut Up and Rock.”
It’s not often when backup singers steal the show, but it happens with glorious results on “$1000 High Heel Shoes,” a funky track about a nearly broke man whose girlfriend’s entire wardrobe consists of the aforementioned footwear and “a tiny dog collar.” Members of ’70s disco group Sister Sledge provide backing vocals that outshine Cooper, and the Motor City Horns provide the classic soul sound of countless Motown hit singles.
— Wayne Parry, Associated Press
Mask up, plug in and rock out to a stripped-down sound. That’s the recipe for success on “See That Light,” the new solo album by Rick Holmstrom, who has been Mavis Staples’ guitarist and bandleader for the past 13 years.
When the pandemic wiped out Staples’ 2020 tour schedule, Holmstrom regrouped — so to speak — and assembled a power trio in a studio near his home in
Venice, California.
The happy result is a 12-song set built on garage band basics that showcases Holmstrom’s enormous guitar vocabulary. Not that he’s a showboat — his solos aren’t so much high-flying as rooted, specifically in the blues and Chuck Berry, with lots of vibrato, twang and reverb.
Some of Holmstrom’s most impressive, inventive playing is as a rhythm guitarist in support of his singing.
Equally appealing is the work of Steve Mugalian on drums and Gregory Boaz on bass.
There’s considerable variety to Holmstrom’s original material. “Waiting Too Long” chugs like the El Camino he sings about, while “Look Me in the Eye” rides a sock hop beat, and the swinging “Come Along” is bracketed by a slow, sweet melody.
After it ends in feedback, listeners can provide their own: great stuff.
— Steven Wine, AP
“Is it all right if I don’t want to sing tonight?” Tamara Lindeman asks on “Parking Lot,” a standout track at the heart of her fifth album as the Weather Station. “I know you are tired of seeing tears in my eyes/ But are there not good reasons to cry?”
Indeed there are. And there are some big ones on “Ignorance” (Fat Possum), a breakup album in which the Canadian songwriter twines together personal heartbreak with a mournful sadness about humankind’s desecration of the natural world.
That might make “Ignorance” sound like a joyless pop music lecture. But this fluid, seamless 11-song collection is not that. To these ears, it’s the first great indie-pop album of 2021.
“Ignorance” has an eye for beauty, valued for its fragility. Bad news is everywhere — “I really should know better than to read the headlines,” Lindeman sings on “Atlantic.” But rather than be dragged into the muck, she regards the world in wonder. “My God, I thought,” she sings with a gasp. “My God, what a sunset.”