2A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL February 18, 2015
O PINION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Gun takeaway
(State Senator) Floyd Pro-
zanski wants to take your guns
away.
His bill will do nothing to
drop gun crime; do not go by
this gun bill if it passes. It says
that if you or I want to share
any gun with a family member
or friend you have to have a
background check on that per-
son, which will do nothing to
reduce crime. Gun control is a
gun takeaway, period.
One by one, the jackbooted
thugs will come to your home
and take them, or anywhere you
are with guns. The danger to
our freedom is right here in our
country. Do not let anyone take
your guns. If you do, you will
have no freedoms.
Some people have to stop
voting for the left-wing nut-
jobs; Democrats are no longer
what they used to stand for, and
people who don’t believe in our
Constitution should leave.
Mike Ritter
Cottage Grove
To the Cottage
Grove City
Council:
Nine months ago, when details
of the downtown “refi nement”
plan became public knowledge,
Friends of Main Street (FoMS)
began an effort to preserve the
historic ambiance of our home-
town while still improving the
functionality. FoMS is a group
of residents who care about
where we live and have every
right to petition our governing
offi cials. Indeed, it as our ob-
ligation.
FoMS priorities were and still
are:
Leave Opal’s park as-is and
improve maintenance issues
Save as many of the viable
shade trees on Main that do not
compromise structures.
Fix the sidewalks as soon as
possible and immediately mark
the pedestrian obstacles until re-
pairs are made.
Make a better plan for safe bi-
cycle passage into and through
downtown. (bike lane and/or
better signage).
Repeal or rewrite the con-
fl icting ordinances that relates
to tree ownership, maintenance
and liability.
None of these points have
Offbeat Oregon History
Cow Creek Canyon train robbers weren’t
afraid to blow stuff up
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
D
arkness had fallen in Cow
Creek Canyon, in the re-
mote fastness of south Doug-
las County, on July 1, 1895. It
was just after 10 p.m., and the
northbound California Express
No. 15 was winding its way
through the hairpin turns along
the mountainside. Suddenly the
black night was lit up with a
brilliant fl ash as a big explosion
thundered out from beneath the
front wheels.
Engineer J.B. Waite instantly
slammed on the brakes. But he
was more concerned than fear-
ful. A big explosion under the
wheels of a locomotive was, at
that time, not particularly un-
usual. It usually meant there was
a disabled train on the tracks,
somewhere in the blackness just
ahead, and its crew had set a
“torpedo” on the track to warn
oncoming traffi c, to prevent a
deadly crash.
It did seem like rather a big
torpedo, though. In fact, the ex-
plosion had been so big it had
disabled the pony truck at the
front of the engine. And even
more strangely, as the train
ground to a halt, two more big
explosions rang out — one at
the back of the train, and anoth-
er at the front.
Answers weren’t long in pre-
senting themselves — in the
form of a trio of masked men
with drawn revolvers. The train
was being robbed.
been adequately addressed, if
at all.
FoMS presented many docu-
ments with alternatives for
review and consideration, in-
cluding an arborist report and
a petition with over 1300 sig-
natures saying “Save the Park,
Save the Trees.” Does this
count as much as the 70 people
at the fi rst meeting who, seem-
ingly, set the city’s priorities for
the entire effort?
After so many meetings, there
are still many still unanswered
questions:
What or who is the driving
force behind widening the side-
walks? Of the people present
at the fi rst planning sessions
(including their on line poll) a
comparatively small number
thought wider sidewalks were a
good idea; nor have there been
any letters or voices at public
meetings supporting the con-
cept.
What is the plan for the Main
St./Highway 99 intersection?
What will happen to the parking
spaces on that block? Vehicles
already have problems making
that corner.
If the eight feet of proposed
“furniture zones” were removed
from the plan it would mean
eight additional feet of safety
for shared travel lanes (or per-
chance, a bicycle lane?) it would
One of the trio — a tall, cool
fellow wearing a white hat with
a buckskin band and a thin fabric
mask over his face — stepped
forward to explain the evening’s
program to Waite and his fi re-
man, Everett Gray. They’d start
off by relieving the express car
of all its valuables, of course, as
per the usual routine. The lead
robber would accompany Waite
and Gray to the express car,
where they would help encour-
age the clerk to open the door.
The express clerk, though,
was no fool. All the explosions
had told him clearly enough
that something was wrong. So
he’d hastily opened the lock-
box, taken most of the valuables
out, and hidden them in a dark
corner of the car. And when the
robbers demanded entrance, he
let them come right in.
Dismayed by the lack of ac-
tion in the lockbox, the robber
demanded that the clerk open
the big express safe. When told
that the clerk didn’t have the
also mean we could save some
trees.
As a fi nal vote draws nearer,
the question at hand is: Does
public input count for any-
thing in this city? What does
it take to infl uence the city’s
plan? Would 2000 signatures
be enough? Would 2500 do it?
Or is it a futile effort?
We have always tried to work
with the City in our effort and
particularly want to thank the
City Manager, the Fire Chief
and the City Engineer for their
cooperation.
We continue to strive to make
the plan look less like a Fake
Victorian Theme Park and more
like our hometown.
combination, he pointed his re-
volver at the clerk’s head.
“I’ll give you just fi ve minutes
to open that safe,” he growled,
in a distinctive musical baritone
voice.
“Well, you are simply wasting
time,” the clerk shot back, no
doubt trying not to look at the
yawning gun muzzle that was
being presented for his inspec-
tion. “The combination is not
given me, because of such oc-
currences as this. So if you are
going to shoot if I don’t open it,
you are wasting time to wait fi ve
minutes.”
“You’re hot stuff, ain’t you”’
the outlaw grumbled. But he
held his fi re.
Next they moved on to the
mail car, the clerk in which had
to be threatened with dynamite
before opening up. He, too,
had fi gured out something was
wrong, and had hidden the valu-
able registered mail in numer-
ous caches all over the car. Only
three remained, and these the
robber promptly appropriated.
Then the robbers, with their
hostages, moved through the
cars robbing the occupants,
each in turn.
“Remain perfectly quiet,
gentlemen,” the baritone-voiced
robber would boom out as they
entered each car in turn. “If I am
hurt, you’ll all go too. I have a
dozen men outside loaded down
with dynamite.”
Peering out the windows into
the blackness, the occupants
could see two of the “dozen”
robbers outside, watching them
and occasionally lighting off
a stick of dynamite to demon-
strate they meant business.
At the back of one car, they
found Klamath County Sheriff
A.A. Fitch, and robbed him of
his Colt revolver. At the sleeper
cars, the Baritone Bandit made
his way down the aisle boom-
ing out, “Lady or gent?’ and if
a woman was inside, he left her
alone.
“Got any money?” he asked
one passenger.
“A little,” the man replied.
“Well, keep it,” the robber
said. ‘You look like a hard-
working man, and I guess you
need it.”
Most of the passengers didn’t
get off so easy, though.
After the passengers were all
robbed, the bandits returned to
the front of the engine. The en-
gineer and fi reman were ordered
into the express car; the robbers
shot out the train’s powerful
carbide headlamp; and then they
melted away into the night.
The next day, the railroad an-
nounced a reward of $2,000 for
the arrest and conviction of each
of the robbers. That was a lot of
money in 1895, and it had its in-
tended effect — several posses
soon were in play, most of them
heading out toward likely es-
cape routes in hopes of catching
the bad guys trying to leave.
But one posse in particular
ing women how much weight
they had gained during adult-
hood, they asked women in their
50s what size skirt they wore at
age 25, and what size they wear
now. They found that an in-
crease of one size (e.g., size 8
to size 10) over the course of 10
years produced a 33 percent in-
crease in the risk of postmeno-
pausal breast cancer. In this
study, skirt size was a better pre-
dictor of breast cancer risk than
BMI, implying that visceral fat
could be especially hazardous.
Another study evaluated waist
circumference and BMI, and
concluded that excess weight
increases risk regardless of body
shape. A third study measured
fat mass in different parts of the
body. In this study, fat mass in
the abdominal area, in each leg
and in the whole body were all
associated with increased breast
cancer risk, though the abdomi-
nal area was associated with the
greatest increase in risk.
The overall message from this
research is that although viscer-
al fat may be especially danger-
ous, excess fat, no matter where
it is on the body, increases the
risk of breast cancer. Obtaining
and maintain a favorable weight
and a healthful, nutrient rich
diet is not merely for looking
good and feeling well, it is im-
perative for your future health.
Maintaining a healthy weight
throughout adulthood is one of
the most important preventive
measures women can take to re-
duce breast cancer risk. A diet of
high-nutrient foods fi ghts breast
cancer from all angles, helping
to prevent weight gain while
also keeping insulin levels in
a healthy range and providing
anti-infl ammatory and anti-can-
cer phytochemicals.
We can win the war on breast
cancer right now and save mil-
lions of women’s lives. Not with
more research for new drugs, or
with wearing pink for “breast
cancer awareness” but instead
with a change in the way Ameri-
cans eat. This needs to happen
right now across America, and
you can help yourself and oth-
ers.
To learn more about breast
cancer prevention, read my
book, Super Immunity, which
gives the full scientifi c details
to enable women to achieve dra-
matic protection.
B.J. Jones
Cottage Grove
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 6A
Body fat, hormones and breast cancer
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
O
besity is a known risk
factor for breast cancer.
Excess weight increases the
risk of being diagnosed with
breast can-
cer and is
associated
with higher
grade tu-
mors and
poorer sur-
vival after
diagnosis.
Body fat is now recognized as
more than just extra stored en-
ergy; it is an active endocrine
organ. Fat tissue produces hor-
mones and other chemical mes-
sengers that affect other areas of
the body and promote cellular
events leading to chronic dis-
eases like heart disease, diabe-
tes and cancer.
Fat tissue, since it produces
estrogen, increases the body’s
exposure to the hormone. More
body fat means higher estro-
gen levels, and weight loss is
known to decrease circulating
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
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estrogens in women. Higher cu-
mulative estrogen exposure is
another known factor linked to
increased breast cancer risk. Es-
trogen fuels the growth and pro-
liferation of breast cancer cells,
and weight loss is hypothesized
to reduce the ability of tumors
to grow. Estrogen is not the only
hormone involved in the rela-
tionship between obesity and
breast cancer.
Excess fat also leads to insu-
lin resistance, and high insulin
levels also fuel cancer cell pro-
liferation. High levels of insulin
in the blood are thought to be
the reason that diabetes increas-
es cancer risk. Also, levels of
circulating free IGF-1, another
hormone associated with in-
creased cancer risk, tends to be
higher in obese subjects. Leptin,
another hormone produced by
fat tissue (which is higher in
those who are overweight), also
promotes proliferation of breast
cancer cells. With obesity, there
is a reduction in the hormone ad-
iponectin produced by fat cells;
adiponectin normally enhances
insulin sensitivity. Excess fat
tissue also promotes a state of
infl ammation in the body, and
many fat-produced infl amma-
tory molecules promote the sur-
vival, growth or proliferation of
cancer cells or promote cancer
indirectly by increasing estro-
gen synthesis.
Gaining weight during adult-
hood, even in small, gradual
amounts, adds up over time to
increase risk. One study evalu-
ated weight gain starting at age
20, and concluded women who
gained approximately one pound
per year (based on change in
BMI) had an 88 percent increase
in breast cancer risk in their 50s
compared to women whose
weight remained stable. Impor-
tantly, the researchers noted that
this amount of weight gain was
common; more than half of the
women in the study had gained
that much weight since their 20s.
Although there is agreement
that weight gain increases risk,
studies are now beginning to
ask whether abdominal obesity
is more dangerous than overall
obesity when it comes to breast
cancer. In the context of diabe-
tes and cardiovascular disease,
there is evidence that visceral
fat—the fat around the organs
in the abdominal area—is more
pro-infl ammatory and confers
greater risk than subcutaneous
fat.
Early data had associated
waist to hip ratio—an indicator
of abdominal obesity—with in-
creased risk of breast cancer. In
one recent study, instead of ask-
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New
York Times best-selling author
and a board certifi ed family
physician specializing in life-
style and nutritional medicine.
Visit his informative website at
DrFuhrman.com.
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