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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2005)
Page 11 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Foreign contaminants hit U.S. ‘pristine’ sites LORNA BYRNE MIDDLE SCHOOL last week honored its December Students of the Month. They are (rear, from left) seventh-graders Taylor Harris and Brittany Mosely, and eighth-graders Robert Sanders and Brieanna Andrews; and (front) sixth-graders Jessica Myers and Andrew Mullins. The students were recog- nized for factors including attendance, demeanor, and scholastic achievement. (‘Illinois Valley News’ photos) Expertise of Dr. Miller at SCHC noted HAY’S HILL CRASHES - Two motor vehicle accidents on Hwy. 199 on Hay’s Hill were among a number of mishaps during the past several days because of rain and icy roads. On Wednesday, Dec. 14, emergency personnel responded to a single-vehicle accident (photo above) near the top of the hill. The driver was Olivia Taylor-Young, 68, of Cave Junction. Her car spun out after running into black ice. American Medi- cal Response (AMR) took her to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, where she was treated and released. She praised Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) and AMR for quick response, and was especially thankful to two firefighters who were behind her car and immediately rendered aid. The other accident on Hay’s Hill (bottom photo) occurred Sunday, Dec. 18. Details were not immediately available. (Photos by Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD) Wyden endorses border enforcement As part of continuing effort to increase security along U.S. borders and curb illegal immigration, 2nd District Congressman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) became an original co-sponsor of the True Enforcement and Bor- der Security Act, H.R. 4313, introduced by Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). The act addresses many key issues surrounding en- hanced immigration control including the completion of additional fencing along the southern U.S. border, sharply increasing the num- ber of border patrol agents and detention capabilities, and eliminating benefits that entice illegal immigrants to America, Walden said. “Illegal immigrants continue to cross our na- tion’s borders, creating an overwhelming burden on taxpayers through increased costs of education and health care, and, most im- portantly, they can pose a threat to homeland secu- rity,” said Walden. “Enhanced patrols, greater authority to local officials, the construction of additional physical barriers along the border, and many other provisions in H.R. 4313 will help curb illegal immigration,” said Walden, a member of the Congres- sional Immigration Reform Caucus. “While there is no ‘silver bullet’ in the fight against illegal immigration, the True Enforcement and Border Security Act will go a long way toward advanc- ing our efforts,” said Wal- den. The act, he said, is a comprehensive piece of leg- islation drafted in a collabo- rative process that takes into consideration the many dif- ferent legislative proposals suggested in the House and Senate this year. Among points, H.R. 4313 would: *Create a border secu- rity zone from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mex- ico with 25 additional ports of entry, calling on the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) to incorporate fenc- ing, roads and technology infrastructure along the na- tion’s border with Mexico. *Authorize 5,000 new border patrol officers, 1,250 immigration investigators, 500 adjudicators and 2,000 worksite investigators. *Affirm inherent au- thority of state and local law enforcement to enforce im- migration laws and require reimbursement to such agencies for their coopera- tion in immigration enforce- ment. *Withhold funding from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program from states and localities with sanctuary policies to protect illegal or criminal aliens. *Halt current “catch- and-release” practices by increasing federal detention space. *Make illegal immigra- tion less attractive by with- holding U.S. citizenship from babies born on U.S. soil to illegal aliens. *Prevent illegal aliens from collecting Social Secu- rity and claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. A recent certification exam shows that Dr. Kristin Miller, of Siskiyou Commu- nity Health Center (SCHC), earned the highest scores among the approximately 7,000 physicians taking the exam during 2005. Miller, a Board Certi- fied Family Medicine Physi- cian, was notified about her certification exam test scores by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Certification Exam. She was ranked at the 100th percentile. To be Board Certified by ABFM, a physician must complete a Family Medicine residency program and pass the certification exam. A physician must earn 300 hours of continuing medical education and pass the (Re) Certification Exam, a day- long test covering all aspects of family medicine, every seven years to maintain cer- tification. Miller earned bachelor of science and doctor of medicine degrees at Univer- sity of Wisconsin in Madi- son. Her graduation honor was “With Distinction.” Following completion of her Family Medicine Residency at Truman Medical Center- East at University of Mis- souri-Kansas City, she joined SCHC in 1999. Miller continues to see patients at SCHC’s Grants Pass clinic site. “As long as I can re- member, I have wanted to become a physician,” said Miller. “And I always saw myself in a primary-care setting, taking care of fami- lies. And that’s what I do here every day,” Miller said. SCHC is a federally qualified health center with medical clinics in Cave Junction and Grants Pass, a dental clinic in Grants Pass, a student health center at Lorna Byrne Middle School in Cave Junction, and exten- sive outreach programs. Asthma help Nearly 5 million U.S. children under 18 suffer from asthma, causing them to miss school -- 14 million absences per year. Alhough there is no known cure for asthma, Dr. Michael Kaliner, medical director of the Institute for Asthma and Allergy in Chevy Chase, Md., said that one option for children 5 years and older is Intal. “It works by preventing certain cells from releasing substances that may cause inflammation in the air pas- sages,” Kaliner said. (NewsUSA) High in mountain lakes and far north in Alaskan wilderness, researchers from Oregon State University at Corvallis are finding some of the world’s most toxic chemicals, possibly from sources as far away as Europe and Asia. “We’ve found persistent chemicals -- such as mer- cury and PCBs -- in lakes in very remote areas,” said Michael Kent, director of the Center for Salmon Dis- ease Research at OSU. “And we’ve found evidence of toxic effects in fish in these lakes.” Kent heads the fish pa- thology investigation of the Western Airborne Contami- nant Assessment Program (WACAP), a collaboration of government and univer- sity scientists conducting a six-year study in national parks from California to Alaska. Far from the crowds of national park visitors, OSU researchers trek to wilder- ness lakes in the high Sier- ras, Rockies, and Cascade Mountains, as well as Alaska back country. They carry the bare essentials: Some 2,000 pounds of scientific equipment, inflat- able boats, hand pumps, dry ice, food and shelter for eight people for three days. In the winter, they sam- ple the snowpack and return with sleds and backpacks full of frozen samples. They are measuring mercury and other contaminants in snow, soil, air, water, fish and vegetation in places once thought to be among the most pristine areas in the world. “Places that are far re- moved from human activity, places high in altitude or latitude, were thought to be pristine,” said Carl Schreck, a professor in OSU’s Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife who heads the fish physiol- ogy investigations. “They are not,” he said. “Nothing is pristine anymore, and that makes it hard to determine a baseline for measuring environ- mental change,” he said. The researchers’ sam- pling methods target differ- ent time periods. They sam- ple this year’s snowpack to get a snapshot of current airborne pollutants; they examine lake sediments for evidence from as far back as the 1870s. “We have seen physio- logical and pathological changes in the fish in these lakes, and we have seen an accumulation of toxic chemicals in the water that could only have come in by air,” Kent said. Although the specific sources of these airborne contaminants are as yet un- known, other studies have shown that air masses can cross the Pacific Ocean from Asia to North America in just a few days. These air masses can carry coal smoke ( a major source of mercury) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) emitted from indus- trial sites in Russia, China and elsewhere. When the air masses hit the mountains of western North America, pollutants they carry begin to settle. The Aught~Sixers by Robert Bennett www.riginslinger.com A novel inspired by the heartbreak of illegal immigration. 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