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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
Page 6 The INDEPENDENT, November 7, 2012 Can You Dig It? By Schann Nelson Columbia County Master Gardener The rain arrived! It’s great to see the lawns and fields green up again. The cows and sheep are much happier and the ducks are ec- static. Of course, any leaves you didn’t get raked up are now a sog- gy mess to try and get off your lawn so you can see the green, but that’s OK. Now is a good time to review the successes, and failures, of last year's garden. The category of soil improvement and feeding the compost pile (garden goof-ups) this year in- cluded all of my corn and peas. The clematis “Montana” I have been struggling to get to sur- vive in a new location for the last two years was looking great until the dog decided that she had to come off the porch through the arbor support and broke the vine off at the base. Hopefully, new growth will show up in the spring. The best successes were Dennis’s potatoes, and a small, but very artistic, area. I planted the end of a bed with several basil plants edged with white alyssum, and backed with Italian parsley. Not only was it beautiful, it smelled great and provided great additions to salads, sauces and soups all summer. After several years of banishing potatoes from the main area of the garden, because I was tired of having to peel the entire potato away be- cause it was so scabby I let Dennis plant two beds of potatoes in the garden this year. Boy did they love it. He planted in two beds that had late fall crops last year and so were not heavily ma- nured. We had nice plants in the garden all sum- mer and harvested a bunch of potatoes. The only disappointment was that he thought he had gotten Yukon Gold seed potatoes, but what he harvested is clearly a baking potato. I have noth- ing against bakers except that they aren’t as ver- satile as the gold potatoes, which can be baked or fired or boiled with equal success. Next year I want to: Plant fewer tomatoes (a perennial goal that always seems to fail when the seed catalogues arrive). Try the winner of the Master Gardener toma- to taste-off, “Early Cascade”. (See how it goes with the above resolution.) Mulch with cocoa hulls, especially in the flower beds. Plant more salad stuff, both early (lettuce and spinach) and late (endive and kale). Take the time on a sunny day to get out and look at your yard and garden. The little winter birds have returned and are busy in every hedge and bush. It’s a good time to start looking at what will need to be pruned in a couple of months. There is plenty to do, too, trying to get things cleaned up and mulched. Even a quick walk through the yard can provide welcome relief from being confined indoors. Enjoy our mild climate that lets us get outside all year. Time for me to go and water my house- plants so I can take that walk after it stops rain- ing. Church Directory V ERNONIA F OURSQUARE C HURCH C OVENANT C HURCH V ERNONIA P IONEER B APTIST F ELLOWSHIP Carl Pense, Pastor 850 Madison Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-1103 Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Children’s Sunday School Pastor John D. Murray 359 “A” Street, Vernonia 503 860-3860 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m. John Cahill, Pastor 939 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-1161 www.pbfalive.com Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Thursday Prayer 7:00 p.m. S EVENTH D AY A DVENTIST Larry Gibson, Pastor 2nd Ave. and Nehalem St., Vernonia 503 429-8301 Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m. Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. A SSEMBLY OF G OD Wayne and Maureene Marr 662 Jefferson Ave., Vernonia, 503 429-0373 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m S T . M ARY ' S C ATHOLIC C HURCH Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator 960 Missouri Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-8841 Mass Sunday 12:00 Noon Religious Educ. Wed., 3.15 p.m. V ERNONIA C OMMUNITY C HURCH Ralph Young, Pastor 957 State Avenue, Vernonia 503 429-6790 Sunday Bible Classes 9:00 a.m. Family Praise & Worship 10:30 a.m. Wednesday Prayer 6:30 p.m. Thursday Ladies Study 7:00 p.m. Nursery 10:15 a.m. Vernonia Community Preschool N EHALEM V ALLEY B IBLE C HURCH Gary Taylor, Pastor Grant & North Streets, Vernonia 503 429-5378 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 10:45 a.m. Nursery available Wednesday Service 7:00 p.m. V ERNONIA C HRISTIAN C HURCH C HURCH OF J ESUS C HRIST OF L ATTER D AY S AINTS Sam Hough, Minister 410 North Street, Vernonia 503 429-6522 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m. (meets in Youth & Family Center) Various Home Group Meetings Marc Farmer, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street, Vernonia 503 429-7151 Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m. Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m. Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m. “Spice” has sickened six since May, can cause kidney failure Oregon health officials are working with epidemiologists around the country to track cases of sudden kidney failure linked to ingestion of a design- er drug known as “spice.” The drug, which is typically smoked, is believed to have sickened at least six people in Oregon and Southwest Wash- ington since May. Public Health Division Director Mel Kohn, M.D., M.P.H, and Oregon Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Gary Schnabel R.Ph., R.N., strongly urge young peo- ple to avoid the drug and par- ents to talk to their children about its dangers. “People need to know that synthetic or designer drugs like ‘spice’ or ‘synthetic ampheta- mines’ are chemicals that are not safe, can contain danger- ous contaminants, and may cause serious harm to users – even death,” Kohn says. “If you become ill after taking a de- signer drug, seek medical at- tention immediately and bring the drug in so it can be tested.” The kidney failure cases oc- curred in individuals residing in Oregon’s Clackamas, Wash- ington, Marion and Douglas counties, and Clark County, Wash. Schnabel notes that retail businesses selling these prod- ucts, and people buying and possessing them, are breaking the law. Worse, they are putting themselves and others at risk of serious injury or death. “This is not just a bad trip,” Schnabel said. “We are talking about your kidneys and you only have two of them. If you take this stuff, the effects can be almost immediate and can put you in the hospital intensive care unit, or kill you.” “Spice” is a mixture of plant material that is sprayed with a designer drug similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active substance in mari- juana, Public Health Division officials say. It is marketed un- der street names such as “K2,” “herbal incense,” “potpourri,” or “JWH-018.” The sale of “spice” is not legal in Oregon. It also is referred to as “synthetic mari- juana” or “synthetic THC.” However, it is distinct from mar- ijuana plants that are bred to produce higher concentrations of THC. When “spice” is smoked, users attain a “high.” However, more serious effects have been reported, including rapid heart- beat, shortness of breath, agi- tation, seizures, headaches, nausea and vomiting, as well as sudden kidney damage and failure. In April 2011, the Oregon Board of Pharmacy voted to ban sale and possession of “spice,” “K2” and other danger- ous synthetic cannabis prod- ucts, as well as a group of cathinone-type chemicals that appear under such street names as “bath salts,” “pond cleaner” or “plant food.” By adding these chemicals to Schedule 1 of the Oregon list of controlled substances, the board gives law enforcement authority to prosecute the sale and possession of these sub- stances under the Oregon Uni- form Controlled Substances Act. Kohn says toxicologists at the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division and the Oregon Poison Center based at Oregon Health & Science University are investigating re- ported cases of poisoning from “spice.” They also are asking doctors and specialists around the region to report cases of sudden kidney failure linked to “spice” use, and they’re work- ing with experts to analyze samples of “spice” to find the toxin causing the injuries. According to a University of Michigan study, 11.4 percent of high school seniors reported using synthetic marijuana in the past year. Youth incorrectly believe these substances are legal and safe. Similar cases have been seen elsewhere in the United States. A cluster of four cases of rapid kidney damage in peo- ple who had recently used “spice” occurred in Casper, Wyoming, during March 2012. Have a Happy THanksgiving Don’t drink & Drive