Features

Butch Fletcher takes us with him on this journey through these Western Statees.

Today is Saturday; I am waiting for Cabbage Hill (between Pendelton and LaGrande, Oregon) to remove the chains.

Chris McCullough

Books, books, and more books! Every house, home, school, business, and non-profit organization has books. There are textbooks, cookbooks, novels, and even books to balance the leg of your kitchen table. Little books, big books, pretty new books, and ugly old books all abound. But what do we do with all these books?

Ed Gundy

Last week I was invited to be present at a Pinewood Derby Race during a local pack meeting. There I witnessed boys be proud of their wooden wheeled creations as they brought them forward for their weigh-in. To be legal each car must be no more than five ounces in weight. Other than that the theme of the car’s appearance can prett y much be any thing the boy desires. There were cars that resembled fire trucks, others that resembled drag racers and others that even resembled a double deck London bus.

Andrea Zielinski

Common themes and issues often surface in neighborhood conflicts. Everything from noise, barking dogs, and property lines, to parking spaces, litter, and landlord/ tenant problems. Sometimes it’s simply because "new people" move in to a neighborhood and have different expectations and habits than the "old-timers."

Susan Morgan

I wrote a few weeks ago about problems with mental health care delivery in Douglas County and some work that was being done to make changes.
Last week, we took a giant step forward.

Dear EarthTalk: There are so many energy drinks on the market, but they all seem very high in sugar, coloring and preservatives. Are there any natural versions that offer a healthier kick-start?
-- John Hwang, Cambridge, MA

It’s checkup time this week...time to check some unfinished business items on my agenda.
Let’s start with the 2007 farm bill, or should I call it the 2008 or even the 2009 farm bill? We are three months into the new year and by the end of March, still no farm bill, which means a lot of uncertainty for farmers and ranchers as we move into the planting season.

Well, what a great email I received from Donell Frazier of the Coquille Valley Sentinel. This column is printed in that weekly paper, along with The Roseburg Beacon and North County News.
Here is her email, in part:

Tricia Dias

Ok, everyone talks about this but what is it? What do the numbers mean? What’s normal? What’s high? What’s low? When should we be concerned and what can we do about it?