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4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL October 19, 2016 O PINION For what it's worth: Thoughts on Cottage Grove's mayoral race BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel E ach election season, the Sentinel fi elds inquiries about whether or not the newspaper will be en- dorsing the candidates or measures that will appear on the ballot, and this fall has been no different. With each inquiry, I respond that at larger newspapers and other publications (and indeed, in times of larger staff sizes at the Sentinel) an editorial board typically weighs the issues and candidates of the day and col- lectively determines a newspaper’s stance. These days, with a thin editorial staff and each member of the Sen- tinel team tasked with several jobs, it would be next to impossible to gather a group of staffers together for such a reason. As such, any endorsement from the Sen- tinel would, in effect, be a nod from this reporter/editor, a situation that has in the past made me reticent to offer my own opinion on our editorial page (it’s problematic, I’ve believed, to attempt to objectively report the news on page one, then uncover my own bias on page four.) That said, I do believe that in my time here, I’ve amassed a great deal of knowledge and experience with the topic I’m about to weigh in on now (again, this is only my opinion) — the 2016 Cottage Grove mayoral race. As key contributors to this community, I’ve had count- less occasions and the honor to interact and converse with City Councilors Mike Fleck, Jake Boone and Jeff Gowing on the issues facing Cottage Grove and their possible solutions. And while I mean no disservice to the other two candidates and believe that each would showcase himself as a credit to this community should he be elected to its highest offi ce, I’m going to tell you a bit about why I’m excited to support Jake Boone for Mayor. In stature and demeanor, Jake Boone is a man that’s diffi cult to forget. Early on in his public life in Cottage Grove, it became easy to recognize that Jake is at once warm and engaging, extremely well spoken and prag- matic — qualities that have already and will continue to serve Cottage Grove well, whether or not he’s elected Mayor in November. On countless issues that have appeared before the City Council, it has been obvious that Jake has delved with great seriousness into the miles of paperwork that often accompany Council deliberations. He shows up on Monday evenings with a well thought-out, well phrased and extremely persuasive viewpoint, and he’s not afraid to be the only one of seven who holds that opinion (his recent stance against the three-percent tax on recreational marijuana bears this out.) Still, he’s not against changing his mind when new evidence in the Council chambers makes it necessary, nor is he afraid to call out and condemn misinformation when he sees or hears it. I’ve heard Jake described as a Libertarian, and while I’m thankfully, blissfully unaware of his politics on state or national issues, I would say that he’s always engaged in a search for the explicit problem that would be solved by any action of the Cottage Grove City Council. Fail- ing to identify a clear problem, Boone simply does not support a potential solution. Thus, one can be assured that he does not pursue action for its own sake, and in- deed maintains the best interest of this community and its members at heart. Jake also believes in inclusiveness, and he’s always the fi rst to ask whether members of the public wish to weigh in on a particular issue. Jake has Please see MAYOR, Page 10A Offbeat Oregon History Gold Rush stagecoach driver One-Eyed Charley had an astonishing secret BY FINN J.D. JOHN For the Sentinel I n the frontier years before the arrival of railroads to the West Coast, the tough characters who drove the stagecoaches were among the most admired citizens. And among those stagecoach drivers there was one whose ma- cho exploits had already passed into legend by the time he retired from the job: “One-Eyed Charley” Parkhurst. Parkhurst was a natural with horses, able to get them to do near- ly anything. His stagecoach driv- ing was so precise that he was able to hit a silver half-dollar placed in the street as a target with both wheels on either side of his rig. With a whip, he could slice open an envelope from 15 feet away, or whip a cigar out of a man’s mouth at a similar distance without touch- ing him. He was pretty good with a pis- tol, too. A good driver had to be. Robbing stagecoaches was almost an industry back then, before more secure methods were developed for hauling large sums of money around. The stage would carry an “express box,” a large locked wooden crate, into which would be loaded the gold, securities and other valuable things. Few things were easier for an enterprising des- perado than to position himself on the uphill slope of a steep hill and step out in front of the stagecoach as it came, Winchester cocked and at ready, and order the driver to “throw down the box.” Few drivers ever objected. Perched up high on the bench, they made fabulous targets, and the rob- bers always had the drop on them. It’s never smart to draw on a drawn gun. And so down would go the box, and the driver would be on his way; a glance behind would usual- ly show the bandit chopping away at the express box with an ax. The robbers avoided One-Eyed Charley’s runs, though, because they knew he wouldn’t play along. He’d proved it one day when, in re- sponse to the familiar old “Throw down the box,” he “turned his wild mustangs and wicked revolver loose,” according to a New York Times obituary article, bringing the express box through unharmed. The bandit, a fellow known as “Sugarfoot,” staggered to a nearby cabin, where he told the whole sto- ry before dying of his wounds. There were lots of drivers who didn’t risk their lives by shooting back, so after the Sugarfoot inci- dent the bandits concentrated on them and left Charley alone. For the 15 years or so that he drove gold-country stagecoaches, Charley mostly worked California lines. But his duties frequently took him north into Oregon as well. By the late 1860s Charley, now well into his 50s, was feeling the effects of a long career of bouncing on a hard wooden bench. Arthritis had developed and was making it hard to work. In addition, with the coming of the railroads, it was clear that stagecoach driving was on its way out. So he quit, bought some land in northern California and started farming. During the winter he augmented his income by working on lumberjack crews in the woods, where he was a tiger in spite of his age, commanding wages as high as anyone’s. But by the late 1870s, the end was near for the aging Charley. A cancerous tumor on his tongue had developed, probably in response to a lifetime of chewing tobacco; and his arthritis, now in all his limbs, kept him in constant pain. The formerly genial and popular old “whip” grew taciturn. Finally, in 1879, he died. And then … “When the hands of the kind friends who had ministered to his dying wants came to lay out the dead body of the adventurous Ar- gonaut, a discovery was made that was literally astounding,” writes the reporter for the California Call, in the obituary article about Charley. “Charley Parkhurst was a woman, a perfectly formed, fully developed woman… The discoveries of the success- ful concealment for protracted pe- riods of the female sex under the disguise of the masculine are not infrequent, but the case of Charley Parkhurst may fairly claim to rank as by all odds the most astonish- ing of all of them. That a young woman should assume man’s attire and, friendless and alone, defy the dangers of the voyage of 1849, to the then-almost-mythical Califor- nia — dangers over which hardy pioneers still grow boastful — has in it suffi cient of the wonderful. That she should achieve distinction in an occupation above all profes- sions calling for the best physical qualities of nerve, courage, cool- ness and endurance — qualities arrogantly claimed as being almost exclusively masculine — and that she should add to them the almost romantic personal bravery that enables one to fi ght one’s way through the ambush of an enemy, seems almost fabulous, and that for 30 years she should be in constant and intimate association with men and women, and that her true sex should never have been even sus- pected, and that she should fi nally Please see OFFBEAT, Page 9A Preventing Osteoporosis:Bone-building with exercise and nutrition BY JOEL FURHMAN, MD For the Sentinel and those numbers increase with age. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that 50 percent of women and 25 per- cent of men over 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime. Bone is constantly being bro- ken down and rebuilt, and in os- teoporosis, there is an imbalance leading to a decrease in bone A bout 6 0 percent of women and 40 percent of men over 50 have low bone mass, $ 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 TAMMY SAYRE, Sales Repersentative......... 942-3325 Ext. 213 • tsayre@cgsentinel.com SPORTS DEPARTMENT: SAM WRIGHT, 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. mass and an increase in fracture risk. The best protection against osteoporosis is to tip the balance back toward bone building with a combination of exercise and excellent nutrition. Exercise: When we increase muscle strength, we increase bone strength, which is why strength training is important. Mechanical forces produced by exercise stimulate activity in bone-building cells, leading to denser, stronger bones – not just stronger muscles. Weight-bear- ing exercises improve balance and build bone strength, and non-weight bearing strength training also helps increase bone density. While swimming and biking are good for cardiovascu- lar conditioning, they don’t help protect against osteoporosis like running or lifting weights. In women who are at a risk for os- teoporosis, back strengthening exercises are especially benefi - cial for protection against spinal fractures. For women, I also recommend wearing a weighted vest for a few hours each day. A weighted vest can be worn during exer- cise and also while you work or shop and bend, stand, and move throughout the day. Wearing a weighted vest also burns extra calories, increases core strength and stabilizes muscles, thus im- proving balance and decreasing the risk of falls. Bone-building nutrients: Calcium: Greens, seeds, and beans. Bone tissue is composed mostly of calcium phosphate and collagen, and ninety-nine percent of the body’s calcium is stored in bone. The inter- mingling of bone mineral with collagen fi bers provides bone with strength and fl exibility. A diet full of natural plant foods provides the calcium required to build strong bones. Green veg- etables in particular are rich cal- cium sources. For example, one four-ounce serving of steamed kale has just as much calcium as one cup of cow’s milk. Brocco- li, bok choy, sesame seeds, and garbanzo beans are also excel- lent calcium sources. Further- more, the body absorbs about 50% of the calcium in many green vegetables, compared to only 32 percent of the calcium in milk. High-dose (1000 mg/day) calcium supplementation is not recommended, because several studies have linked high-dose calcium supplementation with an increased risk of cardiovas- cular disease. Plus, high dose calcium supplements have not been superior to lower doses in studies on preventing bone frac- tures. Magnesium: Nuts and seeds. Calcium is important, but it’s not the only bone-building min- eral. Sixty percent of the body’s magnesium, which is essential for bone formation and struc- ture, is found in bone. Almost half of Americans do not meet the recommended intake for magnesium. Nuts and seeds are especially rich in magnesium. Vitamin K1: Green veg- etables. Vitamin K is a crucial component for maintaining healthy bones. A vitamin K dependent protein (called os- teocalcin) is the most abundant protein in bone tissue after col- lagen, and this protein is crucial for bone mineralization. Higher intake of vitamin K1 is associat- ed with lower rates of bone loss and fractures. Vitamin K exists as K1 and K2; the richest source of K1 is green vegetables, and K2 is produced by microorgan- isms. It is important to get both K1 from green vegetables and K2 from a supplement. Plant protein: Beans, seeds, and nuts. Starting in mid-life and especially after the age of 70, it becomes more important to ensure adequate protein in- take for healthy bones. For most people following a healthful diet, adequate protein for main- tenance of bone mass, muscle mass, and muscle strength with age can be achieved easily with seeds, nuts and beans. Animal products may be added if mus- cle mass starts to fall too low on a completely vegan diet, in spite of appropriate exercise. Please see FUHRMAN, Page 5A 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.
