Poor Will’s Almanack for the Fourth Week of Early Fall.

The last week of Early Fall is the week the first slate-gray junco arrives for winter.  Goldenrod is seeding now, pods of the eastern burning bush are open, hawthorn berries redden, wild grapes are purple, and the tree line that seemed so deep in summer just days ago is suddenly poised to break into its final glory of the year.

When juncos arrive, streaks of scarlet appear on the oaks, shades of pink on the dogwoods. The ashes show red or gold; the catalpas and the cottonwoods blanch.  Shagbark hickories, tulip trees, sassafras, elms, locusts and sweet gums change to full yellow, merge with the swelling orange of the maples to create a bright archway into middle fall.

The state says drug dealers around Ohio are developing new sources for prescription painkillers by buying them from senior citizens, sometimes as the patients leave pharmacies.

The report by the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network also blames the state's continuing rise of heroin use on addicts switching from prescription painkillers, which are more expensive and harder to obtain.

Orman Hall, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, says once people become addicted to painkillers it's almost inevitable they'll switch to heroin.

The report to be released this week cites reports from Dayton, Youngstown and Toledo of drug dealers buying painkillers from seniors who often need the money to make ends meet.

SOUTHINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Experts say that the invasive Emerald Ash Borer will likely kill off most of Ohio's ash trees in the coming years.

Authorities tell The Vindicator newspaper that the ash tree will likely go the way of Ohio's elm trees, most of which wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease in the 1960s and '70s.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources urban forester Alan Siewert tells the newspaper that the beetle travels on vehicles and is dislodged at rest stops and in accidents. It has been traveling east from Detroit since 2002, making it as far as Pittsburgh along Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Millions of gallons of drilling waste have been injected underground in Ohio, leading some to worry about possible ties to earthquakes.

The drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing uses chemically-laced water to free oil and gas from underground shale formations. Ohio has 181 wells to inject waste fluid underground.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that nearly 50 percent of the drilling waste comes from Pennsylvania, which last year banned shipment of the liquid to state water treatment plants.

Experts suspect that the drilling fluid can trigger earthquakes along geological fault lines by allowing rocks to flow more easily past one another.

This episode features Dr. David Casarett, a palliative care physician at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Last Acts: Discovering Possibility and Opportunity at the End of Life. Dr. Casarett discusses caring for patients facing their final days of life -- and the choices he has seen them make for their "last acts."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A toxic algae treatment in Ohio's largest inland lake over the summer was successful, the state's Environmental Protection Agency director says.

The agency has released a report that says the 3.3 million gallons of the chemical alum dropped into Grand Lake St. Marys was more successful than anticipated, killing 56 percent of phosphorous in the treated area.

Phosphorous feeds the blue-green toxic algae, which produces a nerve toxin that can sicken humans and kill pets and animals.

Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally calls the results "absolutely exciting," saying the lake was able to stay open all summer because of the treatment.