‘Green moon’ social media post recurring hoax
Published 6:00 pm Sunday, April 8, 2018
<div class="article_viewer_container"><div class="this_article"><div id="articleViewerPopup_articleViewer" class="article_viewer ArticleViewer text use-3d ltr" data-olive-control="ArticleViewer"><div class="animation-wrapper"><div class="align-wrapper offset-wrapper"><div class="zoom-wrapper"><div class="article" lang="en" xml_lang="en" data-view-mode="text"><div class="Content"><p class="indent"><strong>Is it true that the moon will be green on April 20?</strong>
<p class="indent">No.
<p class="indent">The claim, which appears in myriad posts on both Facebook and Twitter, dates back at least a couple of years and features references to marijuana.
<p class="indent">“On April 20th several planets are going to align which will cause the Earth’s moon to appear green for about 90 minutes,” reads the claim, presented as text over an image of the moon.
<p class="indent">“This phenomenon is known as ‘green moon’ and only happens once every 420 years. Please share this event.”
<p class="indent">The fact-checking website Snopes traces the hoax to a 2016 Facebook post, which was later altered to included April 20, or 4/20 — known as “weed day” — and “420 years.”
<p class="indent">“The obviously doctored photograph of a moon came from a 2010 blog post unrelated to any lunar events, which was itself based on a 2008 stock photograph,” reads the site.
<p class="indent">“The underlying concept was similar to earlier rumors of an April ‘pink moon,’ a phenomenon that referenced a real lunar event (albeit one that was oversold) but didn’t involve a moon that was literally pink in color.”
<strong>Online</strong>: www.snopes.com/factcheck/green-moon.
<p class="indent"><strong>Calcasieu assessor earned $157K in ’16</strong>
<p class="indent"><strong>What is the salary of the Calcasieu Parish tax assessor?</strong>
<p class="indent">The latest financial report for the Calcasieu Tax Assessor’s Office — released in July 2017 — shows that agency head Wendy Aguillard earned $156,640 in 2016.
<p class="indent">Other compensation and payments listed in the report: insurance benefits, $8,512; retirement benefits, $29,834; reimbursements, $2,906; travel, $648; and “other – office parking,” $261.
<p class="indent">In 2015, Aguillard earned $156,640 in salary; she made $146,769 in 2014.
<p class="indent">Louisiana R.S. 47:1907 bases assessors’ salaries on the populations of their parishes and provides for additional compensation — including an expense allowance amounting to 10 percent of their salaries, a 7 percent educational supplement, and yearly raises of up to $7,000.
<p class="indent"><strong>Online</strong>: www.lla.la.gov.
<p class="indent"><strong>LSU AgCenter sheet has advice on bees</strong>
<p class="indent">The Informer last week answered a reader’s question about whether carpenter bees and bumblebees sting — the answer: Only female bees sting. That column prompted another reader to ask a question:
<p class="indent"><strong>I’m having a problem with carpenter bees. What can I do to get rid of them?</strong>
<p class="indent">From an LSU AgCenter fact sheet on carpenter bees:
<p class="indent">“Painting the wood surfaces was initially thought to be an effective management tool, but tests have shown that, although it is not preferred, painted wood will be infested.
<p class="indent">“Where infestations exist, applying an appropriate insecticide with the addition of liquid soap into the gallery will stop the adults and control the emerging young when they develop. To allow the adult bees to make contact with the control material, do not seal the holes immediately after treating.”
<p class="indent">For more information, call the AgCenter at 721-4080.
<p class="indent"><strong>Online</strong>: www.lsuagcenter.com.
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<span class="s1">The I</span><span class="s1">nformer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is re</span>searched and written by <strong>Andrew Perzo</strong>, an <em>American Press</em> staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or ema<span class="s1">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>
