Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2015)
4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 3, 2015 O PINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Test the plan When we remodeled our kitchen, we wanted an island with an attached circular table on the end. My husband and I made cardboard/ newspaper tem- plates and placed them on the fl oor to see how the traffi c would fl ow and the doors would open. Over the course of about two weeks, we altered the tem- plates three times before being exactly sure we had it perfect. This same theory could be used downtown. Let’s haul out the traffi c cones and caution tape, marking what the City Councilors are recommending and see how the traffi c fl ows and the doors open. Debra Mathre-Dahlen Cottage Grove Fountain concerns I am concerned for the public’s safety concerning the Bohemia Park fountain. I know that there are signs warning people not to play in the fountain, but on hot days I have seen children and pets in the water. I would encourage you to follow the same line of investi- gation that I took last year. My ques- tion, is there a public safety issue with the fountain in Bohemia Park? And, is the City of Cottage Grove responsible for maintaining the fountain? The issue? The fountain is fi lled with affl uent water, which is not po- table; people and pets should not be in the fountain for their safety. That is why the signs are posted. As I have been told, the fountain often is tainted with pet feces, etc., making the situa- tion even more unhealthy. However, people will be people and will ignore the signage. I was able to have a lengthy discus- sion with Richard Meyers on the topic. His explanations were clear and I ap- preciated his time. There seems to be a grey area on responsibility. Also, a confl icting goal with public safety is the need to use affl uent water — the purpose of the fountain. My sugges- tions of replacing the fountain with re- cessed spouts that shoot water up for children to play in requires chlorinated water. I thought it was a good sugges- tion because it was using safe drinking water and impervious to vandalism. As it is, the fountain is lined with a thick plastic; if punctured would cost a lot to replace. I couldn’t get contact information for anyone on the board of directors of the Faye Stewart Foundation. At the time, the park development plan- ning decisions were still being made. I hope some of my feedback on place- ment of misters and drinking fountains was considered. However, the idea of replacing the fountain was out of the question. Rachel Kyle Cottage Grove Dog park? How about a dog park in Cottage Grove? Other than private residenc- es, Cottage Grove has no place where a dog can legally run and play off leash. A dog park would: Be a great draw for tourists traveling with their dogs, Provide a comfortable and casual way to meet neighbors, Provide a great environment to social- ize with other dogs, and Provide a way for you and your dog to bond, play and get exercise. Eugene, Jasper, Pleasant Hill have dog parks; why don’t we? Trish Gillespie Cottage Grove Offbeat Oregon History Oregon’s highest, smallest city once had its jail stolen BY FINN J.D. JOHN For the Sentinel O ne clear June morning in 1963, early risers in the historic Blue Mountains town of Canyon City were startled to see that there had been an un- scheduled addition to the Grant County Courthouse the previous night. Sitting there in front of the courthouse was a jail. It was a ramshackle blockhouse jail, small and square, its roof half collapsed but its thick walls of interlocking planks still as stout as they’d been when it was fi rst built. It was quickly recognized. The jail was a familiar one to many Canyon City residents — deer hunters in particular. It was the old municipal jail from the nearby ghost town of Green- horn City. As it turned out, a small group of Canyon City residents — no one seems to know exactly who — had stealthily executed a dar- ing and audacious heist the pre- vious evening. They’d slipped Nine million? We are in complete amazement as to how the city council can justify spend- ing $9 million to change Main Street — notice I said "change," not improve. We have never been downtown when the sidewalks were so crowded that they needed widened, except of course at a time where there is a downtown celebration, which is only a few times a year. The width of Main Street is plen- ty narrow enough now! The study that was done was not done with all possi- ble scenarios that have to be dealt with; if it was,there would have been a differ- ent conclusion. I think the people doing the study had an agenda and wanted the across the county line with some heavy equipment and absconded with the jail. Was this a joke? A drunken prank? Or was it a group of seri- ous history buffs worried about the deteriorating condition of the historic building? Given the larcenous nature of the act — and the fact that it involved an incursion onto the territory of the neighboring county — these questions seem destined to remain unanswered. As a joke, it would have been a grand one — almost as good as stealing a police car. But as an act of guerilla historical pres- ervation, if such it was, it has to be one of the most effective interventions in Oregon history. Had these anonymous jail-nap- ping ninjas not acted, the build- project to move forward. Drive any street in the city and you will see that they all need work and im- provements. Nine million dollars will go a long way to pay for the work need- ed on our streets. If the work needed on the streets is not addressed soon, the cost will increase immensely, or even more than that. As for the trees ruining the side- walks, cut out the concrete or cement for a distance of four feet lengthwise with the street and two feet towards the buildings facing the trees. This should have been done before the trees were planted, but no matter what's done a person can always say "shoulda, woul- da, coulda." What happened to the three cents a gallon gas tax that was supposed to go for street maintenance? It must have been spent for some other "need". Dick and Barb Gilkison Cottage Grove $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM Our Community Newspaper since 1889 Subscribe and $AVE ing might well have deteriorat- ed beyond repair or been torn down for campfi re wood before it could be saved by Greenhorn City’s early-1970s rebirth. Actually, “rebirth” is over- selling it a bit. Greenhorn City is still a ghost town. But it is a very unusual ghost town in many ways. For one thing, it’s still an incorporated municipal- ity, even though its population held steady at zero for decades. That’s because of the unique way in which it was chartered. President Taft, in 1912, issued a patent directly to the town’s mayor and his successors, mak- ing Greenhorn City something like a tiny principality rather than a city, its mayor answer- able directly to the federal gov- ernment. Theoretically, the town could establish its own army and, if its residents fancied a good joke, navy. (Greenhorn City is, of course, landlocked.) As far as I’ve been able to learn, Greenhorn City is the only U.S. municipality to have been chartered in this way. It is also both the highest (6,271 feet) and the smallest (year-round population fl uctuating between zero and two) incorporated city in Oregon. the approximate amount of fi ber contained in 2/3 cup of beans or lentils, two cups of cooked col- lard greens or 2 ½ cups of blue- berries. The average daily intake of fi ber in the United States is a meager 16 grams, but a nutri- tarian diet (the high-nutrient, vegetable-centered diet I rec- ommend), depending on one’s calorie needs, provides about 60-80 grams of fi ber daily. I want to make it clear it is the use of high-fi ber whole foods that enable this degree of pro- tection against stroke, not add- ing fi ber to a standard American diet. It is more than just the fi - ber in fi ber-rich foods that offers protection. Red and processed meats are calorie-dense, micronutrient- poor, saturated fat-rich foods. Another major concern is heme iron. The human body absorbs heme iron, the form of iron found in animal foods, more readily than nonheme iron from plant foods. Iron is an essential mineral that transports oxy- gen in the blood and has many other crucial functions, but can promote free radical damage, called oxidative stress when excess is present. As a result, high body iron stores are as- sociated with increased risk of chronic diseases that have an oxidative stress component: for example, diabetes, heart disease and dementia. Several previous studies have found that higher heme iron (or red and processed meat) intake was associated with higher blood pressure and higher non-heme iron intake (or plant food intake) was associ- ated with lower blood pressure. Again, it is not merely the high iron in meats; many other fac- tors play a role including their hormonally-induced growth promoting effects that promote atherosclerosis. Another recent meta-analysis reported on fi ve studies of red and processed meat and stroke risk and found that for each 100 gram daily increment red meat eating daily, there was a 13 per- cent increase in stroke risk and a 13 percent increase in risk for every 50 grams daily of pro- cessed meat. Processed meats are nutrient-poor and high in heme iron like red meat but have additional sodium, which is likely why the authors found a Origins of Greenhorn City The origins of Greenhorn City, like those of many mining towns, are shrouded in a confus- ing cloud of fantastic campfi re stories. The best of these is the one told by author Lambert Flo- rin: Two greenhorns from back east wandered into a tent saloon in a rough, unnamed mining camp high in the Blue Moun- tains one day in 1890 and asked the barkeep where they could fi nd some gold to dig up. The bartender, laughing discreetly into his sleeve, pointed to a ran- dom spot on a hillside above town (where he and his bar pa- trons could watch and laugh) and said, “Why not start there?” With great enthusiasm the greenhorns did so. Meanwhile the saloon fi lled with regulars quaffi ng shots of rotgut and watching the show. Presently one of the greenhorns came out of the hole they’d dug with a big rock and lugged it down to the saloon. Please see OFFBEAT, Page 5A Red meat, fi ber and stroke risk BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD For the Sentinel people in the U.S. have a stroke each year. A stroke occurs when blood fl ow to a portion of the brain is interrupted, prevent- ing oxygen and nutrients from reaching brain tissue. Elevated blood pressure is the chief risk factor for stroke, accounting for 62 percent of strokes. There have been countless studies on dietary factors and their rela- tionship to stroke risk. Fiber and fi ber-rich foods are S troke i s a leading cause of disability and death in the Unit- ed States. A b o u t 795,000 $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM 116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424 ADMINISTRATION: JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher.............................. GARY MANLY, General Manager................942-3325 Ext. 207 • publisher@cgsentinel.com ROBIN REISER, Sales Repersentative...............942-3325 Ext. 203 • robin@cgsentinel.com E. SCURRY ELLIS, Sales Repersentative......... 942-3325 Ext. 213 • esellis@cgsentinel.com MELISSA WARE, Inside Sales Repersentative......... 942-3325 Ext. 203 SPORTS DEPARTMENT: MATTHEW HOLLANDER, Sports Editor...................942- 3325 Ext. 204 • sports@cgsentinel.com CUSTOMER SERVICE CARLA WILLIAMS, Office Manager.................942-3325 Ext. 201 • billing@cgsentinel.com LEGALS.............................................................942-3325 Ext. 200 • legals@cgsentinel.com NEWS DEPARTMENT: JON STINNETT, Editor......................................942-3325 Ext. 212 • cgnews@cgsentinel.com GRAPHICS: RON ANNIS, Graphics Manager (USP 133880) Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: Ten Weeks ............................................. $9.10 One year ..............................................$36.15 e-Edition year .......................................$36.00 Rates in all other areas of United States: Ten Weeks $11.70; one year, $46.35, e-Edition $43.00. In foreign countries, postage extra. No subscription for less than Ten Weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know. Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2015 Cottage Grove Sentinel. known to be benefi cial for colon health and healthy blood glucose regulation. For stroke preven- tion, the blood pressure-lower- ing effects of fi ber and fi ber-rich foods are thought to be primar- ily responsible. Foods that are higher in fi ber tend to have a lower glycemic load, which limits the rise in insulin after a meal; elevated insulin levels contribute to elevated blood pressure. Also, high-fi ber foods are usually rich in phytochemi- cals and minerals like potassium and magnesium, which help to keep blood pressure in a healthy range. In addition to reducing blood pressure, high fi ber foods improve several factors relevant to atherosclerotic plaque forma- tion, such as cholesterol and tri- glyceride levels. In a recent meta-analysis of six large studies, for every 10 gram increase in daily fi ber intake, there was a 12 percent reduction in stroke risk. A pre- vious analysis of data from 10 studies found that each 10 gram per day increase in fi ber intake was associated with a 24 per- cent decrease in risk of death from heart disease. Ten grams is steeper association with stroke. These studies add to the al- ready huge body of evidence showing that whole plant foods are health-promoting, while red and processed meats are disease- causing. Between the excessive amounts of protein and heme iron, new fi ndings on detrimen- tal effects of red meat com- pounds Neu5GC28 and carni- tine, and the volume of evidence linking red and processed meats to cancer and premature death, there is no question – these are dangerous foods. People who still desire to eat meat should think of it as a condiment, only to be used a few times a week in small amounts. Dr. Fuhrman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat to Live and Super Im- munity, and a board certifi ed family physician specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. Visit his website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and comments about this column directly to news- questions@drfuhrman.com. Letters to the Editor policy The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local readers. Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary. If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words. To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.
