Students muddy up on burdock trail

Fifth-grade students from Sunnyside Elementary School on their year-end field trip Thursday were not chastised for playing in the mud - they were encouraged to.

Twenty-two students from Debbie Cottonware's class spent all day in Beaver Creek Park digging up burdock plants, and getting rather dirty in the process.

Burdock, classified as a noxious weed by the Hill County Weed District, is a scourge for local ranchers, who say the plant's burrs can cause cattle to go blind and develop urinary tract infections.

In 1994, county weed coordinator Terry Turner worked with local teachers to establish a...