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r [‘he 11th edition of the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival went on with barely a hitch last weekend as the fourâ€"day event broke in a bigger tent at its new William Street lot location behind the Waterloo City Centre. The move was necessitatâ€" ed by the festival‘s growing audience which swelled to 18,000 people last year, a figâ€" ure which festival coâ€"chair Brad Marsland estimates was approached again this "Friday night we ran into a little bit of a weather probâ€" lem," Marsland explained, "but Saturday, in spite of it being cold and a little damp at times, 1 think attendance was pretty much equal to last year. " Marsland is excited about the new location for the tent and the many benefits that the new setâ€"up provides for both _ performers _ and patrons of the festival. _ "The site was probably twice as big this year and the stage line greatly increased Larviciding trucks visit Waterloo in battle against bug last week? Well, it was the first line of defence in the Region of Waterloo‘s war against West Nile carâ€" rying mosquitoes this summer. Health Department officials have yet to confirm a case of West Nile Virus in the most susceptible species, local crows or blue jays, but that didn‘t stop them from launching a $170,000 larvicidâ€" ing program to limit the potential infection at its source â€" the mosquito breeding grounds in local water catch basins. And most of those catch basins are found tight in front of area homes under the grates of the local sewer system, where water collects and forms a perfect breeding ground for mosâ€" quitoes between storm runoffs. Pouring a half teaspoon of larvicide into those basins stunts Looking For a New or Preâ€"owned BMW the growth of mosquitoes and the larva stage preventing them from reaching adulthood when they begin biting. s www.bkmotorsgroup.com The local larviciding program is being By VisH KHanna Special to the Chronicle ondering what that white pickup truck with the flashing orange light was doing in your neighbourhood By Bos VrRBANAc Gpronicle Staff the sightlines for the audiâ€" ence," Marsland said enthuâ€" siastically. "I mean last year, if you weren‘t in the tent, it was really hard to see. Personal highlights of the festival for Marsland includâ€" ed the Levon Ichkhanian Quartet‘s Friday night set and â€" Heather Bambrick‘s performance which closed out the festival on Sunday afternoon. "I also think the sound quality this year was better." "Metalwood were really neat on Saturday night and we had a younger crowd for them than we‘ve had tradiâ€" tionally," â€" Marsland â€" said proudly. "It‘s kind of opening up new markets and it was very wellâ€"received; there were an awful lot of happy people in the audience. " By all accounts, the 2003 edition of the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival was a great success and its tireless organizers hope that next year‘s event will see them achieve even more on their new site. For _ _now, _ however, Marsland is unclear about what next year has in store. not sure yet," he applied by Abell Pest Control Inc., out of Toronto, which has brought teams of two in rolling white pickup trucks to town that stop at each grate and apply the larvicide. Then then operators mark the coordinates on a map using global positioning software keeping track of the areas they visited. Each treatment is good for 30 days, and Dr. Stephen Kells, an entomologist with Abell said that should take the area through the prime mosquito season. Larviciding is considered a gentler option than fogging mosquitoes, which has been done in some jurisdictions in the U.S. Kells said that the early data from the American experiâ€" ence with West Nile shows that larviciding is as effective a tool in controlling the spread withâ€" out affecting other species. Kells said the active ingredient of the larviâ€" cide is methoprene and is species specific so it will only target mosquitoes and not affect other animals like the family dog who might acciâ€" dentally come in contact with it. But the chances of that are small since the grey chalkâ€" like pellets are being dumped in areas that are only accessible to mosquitoes. It‘s also only applied to areas with standing water. If the water‘s flowing, like it did during admitted, laughing. "At this _ two off and then reassemble â€" We‘il definitely be in the new _ of stageâ€"line setâ€"up. We think point we take a month or _ and start planning next year. _ location with the same type _ that worked out very well." Doreen Smith belts out a tune during her Safurday performance at the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival on the new outdoor stage Tim Machari and Angie VanderSluis demonâ€" strate how the larvicide is applied to sewers from targeted spots and become ineffective. "We target the catch basins because that‘s a known area from other municipal experiences that mosquitoes breed aryd they winter," said Shawn _ Zentner, _ the _ manager _ of Environmental Health and injury Prevention * with the local health departmerit‘It‘s also a public area which the public health departâ€" ment has some responsibility for controlling it as opposed to someone‘s backyard. last week‘s rains, the pellets can be swept awayâ€" "Also there‘s not a whole lot of other species in the sewer system to worry about." â€" The trucks and their crew are able to reach more than 1,000 sites a day and had already completed more than 12,800 applications by Monday with another 5,000 to go until the iniâ€" tial program wraps up later this week. The larviciding started in Kitchener and travelled through the Conservation Drive area of Waterloo last Friday. In addition to catch basins, there is also funding in the program to pay for larviciding of storm water management ponds with another active ingredient. There hasn‘t been a lot of concerned callers contacting the health Continued on page 4 AnDREA gAREY PAOTO