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Small, rural towns often face the challenge of providing a quality-of-life standard needed to attract new residents, while some communities on the fringe of large cities may struggle to meet the infrastructure demands that come with population spillover.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Keeping kids healthy during the summer can be a chore, but it does not have to be a bore.

Cool summer snacks for kids can be made easily and provide children with healthy benefits. It can be hard to get children to eat certain types of food, but if the snacks look delicious the task becomes easier.

BROOKSVILLE, Miss. – Farmers, scientists and crop consultants are encouraged to attend the Agronomy Field Day and Tour on June 24 at the Black Belt Branch Experiment Station.

Sessions last from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Black Belt Branch in Noxubee County is 2 miles northeast of Brooksville on Highway 45.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Many drivers have experienced the flash of fur and squeal of brakes that ends with an injured dog, but for Starkville pet owner Cindy Callahan, there was just a squeak when Siba was hit in the driveway.

“It happened when we were backing out of the driveway,” Callahan said. “Siba loves tennis balls, and we think he must have dropped his ball and it rolled under the car. He must have tried to get it as we were backing out."

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The American Kennel Club Humane Fund has awarded the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine with a grant to support the college’s Safe Haven for Pets program.

The grant will cover some of the program’s expenses in providing care to the pets of women escaping domestic violence. Dr. Sharon Fooshee Grace, the MSU-CVM clinical professor who applied for the competitive grant, administers Safe Haven for Pets along with MSU-CVM assistant clinical professor Dr. Christine Bryan.

Tropical plants, like elephant ears, just scream for attention and attract interest in any landscape. Most gardeners love elephant ears because they are easy-to-grow tropical plants that make a big impact.

There are three species commonly found in Mississippi landscapes: Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthosoma. Colocasia is my favorite elephant ear variety and the focus of this column. Most Colocasia plants feature big leaves and big texture, but they’re not all green. In fact, there are Colocasia varieties with black leaves.

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- Frequent rains have complicated harvests and triggered some disease issues, but Mississippians’ love for blueberries will not be dampened.

Luis Monterde, a blueberry grower near Purvis, said it takes a lot of patience to grow blueberries.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Boxes of supplies can provide important lifelines when storms and other disasters threaten to uproot a household.

It has been 10 years since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina occurred, but the disaster still affects the lives of many individuals today. Christian Stephenson, an agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Hancock County, said he was not on the coast when Katrina struck, but he still remembers the aftermath of the event.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension Service nutritionist has earned two rare designations in his field.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Growing skunk populations in Mississippi are causing a stink in the Magnolia state.

Striped and spotted skunks, which are both found in Mississippi, are among the most common and widely distributed mammals in North America. Skunks are solitary and typically nonaggressive, and they have not historically been a serious threat to homeowners, agricultural producers and other wildlife. However, that could change.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University entomologist John Guyton actually wears them on special occasions in a tie, and some people collect them for science experiments, but homeowners typically want nothing to do with termites.

Termites are estimated to cause $40 billion in damage to wooden structures every year. In the U.S., that figure is $2 billion to $3 billion, and several million dollars are lost to termites each year in Mississippi.

BAY SPRINGS, Miss. -- When Hope James decided to stay home with her children and offer child care to parents in the Bay Springs area, she had no idea her decision would result in her business being recognized as one of the top in the state.

James, owner of Tot Shop of Bay Springs, recently received a 5-star rating from the Quality Rating and Improvement System. The evaluation is based on a national standard and scale, and James’s is one of the few centers in the state to achieve this level of quality.

With all of the annual flowering plants being displayed in garden centers, you might be distracted and pass right by the gorgeous foliage colors of caladium. And this makes the caladiums feel bad.

Caladiums are among the most misunderstood plants in landscapes and gardens. Do you plant them in the sun, shade or some kind of mixed sun and shade? The answer will be revealed later.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi cotton will need a warm, dry fall to counter the mostly wet spring and thrive in 2015.

Darrin Dodds, Mississippi State University Extension Service cotton specialist and research professor in the MSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, said heavy springtime rains caused planting delays for the third straight year. Generally, a week-long dry spell in mid-May has been sandwiched between extended periods of consistent rainfall. Dodds said producers made quick and substantial progress planting during that interim.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mother Nature may deserve most of the credit, but management decisions by some “boots on the ground” also contributed to Mississippi’s record yields in cotton, soybeans, corn and rice in 2014.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released the official cotton yield averages, placing Mississippi fields at an all-time high of 1,232 pounds per acre. Cotton joins other 2014 crops with records, including soybeans at 52 bushels per acre, corn at 185 bushels per acre and rice at 7,420 pounds per acre.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Riding all-terrain vehicles is a fun adventure until tragedy strikes, but simple practices can keep riders safe.

Jesse Wilson, a high school senior from Lowndes County, has firsthand experience with an ATV disaster. Wilson was driving up a steep ditch when his ATV fell back on top of him because of excess weight on the back of the vehicle. He was not wearing any safety gear at the time. Wilson broke his shoulder because of this accident, and had to have surgery.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Drinking a beverage that tastes delicious and has good nutritional value is like having your cake and eating it, too.

Brent Fountain, associate professor of food science, nutrition and health promotion with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said milk is a good source of protein. Protein provides the nutrients the body needs to build and repair bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood. Milk is also a good carbohydrate source, providing the body with energy. Calcium and vitamin D are also important nutrients found in milk.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – I was born and raised in the South, so it’s hard for me to imagine a world without trees.

Bottomland hardwoods, mixed oak and hickory forests, and pine savannahs are all iconic scenes of Mississippi’s wild lands. Trees are not only a beautiful fixture of the Southeastern landscape; they are also very important economically and ecologically. Whether you realize it or not, trees impact our lives in many ways. The houses we live in, the furniture we sit in and sleep on, and the paper products we use every day are all derived from trees.

May is Older Americans Month…

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Even people who can eat almost anything when they are young will eventually begin monitoring their calories, cholesterol, fiber, sodium or sugar as they get older.

Brent Fountain, associate professor of human nutrition with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said metabolism typically slows down as people age. The amount of calories a person needs usually goes down, and the percentage of protein he or she needs goes up.

GOODMAN, Miss. -- Farmers and producers can learn how to increase farm profits during a series of field days at the Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production Farm near Goodman.

Ellen Polishuk, a long-time Virginia vegetable grower, will return for part two of the Growing Farm Profits program on June 19. Her farm served as a case study in part one of this session earlier in 2015.

Topics include practical applications of profit management and decision making in the field. Participants also will tour two local farms that use these strategies.