Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 20

Statesman Journal f7T 1 PAGE 1 EDITOR fKATHY SHELDON 399-6801 RKA7 FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1998 1 1 iii i it 4i i 1 tlllUJNlWlir 1 9 1 Bov. Jelin Kitziialisr TODAY No public appearances scheduled Capital activities TODAY 7 The Executive Committee of the Oregon Republican Party meets at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1481 1 Kruse Oaks Lake Oswego. SATURDAY 9 a.m.: The Central Committee of the Oregon Republican Party meets at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 14811 Kruse Oaks Lake Oswego. State Public Interest Research Group and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides joined in the call for action. Thursday's report was conducted using data from the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture, and focused on a group of insecticides called organophosphates.

"Researchers found that 13 of the 39 organophosphate pesticides registered for use on food show up in or on food children eat," the report said. Children are particularly vulnerable because allowable levels of pesticide residue are set by the EPA at adult dosage levels. "Children are more vulnerable to toxic compounds because of their small size and the fact their bodies are growing and developing," Weiss said. Peaches, apples and nectarines were considered the most com- i in the Willamette Basin in 1995 but the timing and location are not detailed. Locally, the Oregon Department of Agriculture each year takes samples from several hundred fruits and vegetables found in grocery stores and warehouses.

Last year, out of 326 samples, 41 showed some pesticide residue. One parsley sample showed pesticide levels well above the legal limit. That product was tracked down and removed from stores, but ODA officials said it's often difficult to find the offending produce before it's sold. "On the positive side, roughly 88 percent of our samples showed no detectable pesticides at all," said state Food Safety Division Administrator Ron McKay. Typical violation rates in Oregon are less than 1 percent.

Bodies found in drain pipe are identified PORTLAND Two bodies found in a drain pipe Saturday along the Columbia Slough in Portland have been identified as two Hispanic men aged 22 to 29. Because the bodies were badly decomposed, a forensic anthropologist studied the bones to determine race and range. Dr. Karen Gunson, a deputy state medical examiner, said one died of a gunshot wound to the head and the other of "homicidal violence of undetermined type." WEAPONS ARSENAL FOUND IN WOODS PORTLAND Police have recovered a massive arsenal of weaponry from a wooded area on the south side of Powell Butte. Two 12-year-old boys found the stash Tuesday.

"They didn't report it for an entire day because they were too scared," Officer Randy Mike Krantz said. The arsenal included more than 60 clips without am-. munition for assorted assault- style rifles and pistols, 11 battery bomb detonators, a 16-', gauge pistol-grip shotgun, an M-l carbine and two MAC-10 semiautomatic pistols with flash suppressors. Krantz and other officers found the discovery unserving, especially after the shooting Tuesday of three ficers from the same precinct. Legally allowable amounts on food can harm infants and children, a study says.

BY MARIE GRAVELLE Statesman Journal Children and infants could suffer brain and nervous system damage from ingesting legally allowable amounts of pesticides on fruits and vegetables, according to a report released Thursday by the national Environmental Working Group. In response, three of Oregon's environmental groups called on lawmakers to pass an extensive pesticide reporting law in Oregon, similar to one already in place in California. "What we have now is nothing to tell us what pesticides are used, when and where," said Laura Weiss of the Oregon Environmental Council. The Oregon School ad campaign passes test The Emergency Board is expected to allocate $1 million to promote education reform. BY DAVID KRAVETS Statesman Journal Lawmakers tentatively agreed Thursday to fund a $1 million advertising campaign to help get out the message that school reform is here.

The state Department of Education won funding approval from a committee of the Legislative Emergency Board, which meets in full today and is expected to give an official OK to the plan. Norma Paulus, superintendent of public instruction, said the funds would help get the message out that schooling has changed under a 1991 school reform act and that students are undergoing more rigorous training and testing. The state soon will begin awarding certificates of initial mastery for lOth-graders, so it's Parents The next step will be to gather signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. BYMIKOYIM Statesman Journal A coalition of Oregonians put aside their day jobs Thursday to file an initiative petition limiting class sizes in public schools. About a dozen people from diverse backgrounds, including homemakers, lawyers and economists, said they identify themselves as parents first.

The group formally submitted the initiative proposal to the Secretary of State on Thursday, the first step in galvanizing enough JAY REITERStatesman Journal DECISIONS: Sen. Neil Bryant listens to testimony during Legislative Emergency Board committee meetings Thursday. The committees heard requests for millions in funds for various agencies, which the full Emergency board will decide upon today. mm mon form of pesticide exposure for young children, while commercial baby food was blamed for exposing infants 6 to 12 months old. Phil Ward of the Oregon Farm Bureau said the report does not shake his confidence in local growers or in national or statewide pesticide controls.

"We have the safest and healthiest food supply in the world here in the United States," Ward said. With only 3 percent of the Earth's surface devoted to feeding 6 billion people, farm groups say pesticides are an integral part of today's agriculture. Tracking pesticide use, the environment groups said, is what's needed to follow potential overexposure. Oregon State University reports the amount of pesticides used in a region such as the 3 million pounds of pesticides used sive way to get this message out to the public," she said. "Every principal will tell me, 'help me tell parents and get this message The state will promote the education reform act with video tapes, print materials and through the Internet via a Web The district reported that as of last month, an average of 24.8 students are in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms; fourth- and fifth-graders have an average of 26.3 classmates; and 27.8 middle and high school students share classes.

Leaders of a Portland-based group of parents said the initiative was crafted after consensus building with other Oregonians, including education and business leaders. Other points in the initiative include: A five-year phase-in period would be allowed, but school districts could move to comply in the 1999-2000 school year. Oregon school districts would be required to submit to the state a two-year budget de "This ought to lead to a complete ban on logging on steep slopes," said Ken Rait, spokesman for the Oregon Natural Resource Council. "If it doesn't, people's lives are only being further endangered." Four people were killed in Douglas County in November 1996 when a landslide came off a previously logged slope and slammed into a home at the bottom of a mountain. Another person died later that winter when a landslide suddenly shot across Highway 38 in Southern Oregon.

Dallas Retirement Village 1 felt important that the schools get the message out to parents and the community, Paulus said. The reforms are different from routine events 'and require a major educational campaign so that parents and businesses will take the changes seriously, she said. "We don't have a comprehen submit class-size initiative mmnm OSHA OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS If you are an Oregon high school graduate whose parent or spouse was injured or died as a result of a work-related incident, 5 you may be eligible for a scholar-; ship. The De- partment 1 of Consumer and Business Services Occupational Safety and Health Division is offering annual scholarships from an account established by the 1991 Legislature. Application forms are available from the Oregon State Scholarship Commission, 1500 Valley River Drive, Suite 100, Eugene, Ore.

97401. For more information about this program, contact Phyllis Straight-Millan, 378-3272. INSURANCE POOL TO CERTIFY PROVIDERS The Insurance Pool Governing Board is issuing a Request for Proposals to certify insurance carriers offering health benefit plans in the individual market to participate in the Family Health Insurance Assistance Program. Licensed health insurers or health care service contractors are invited to submit proposals describing the type of health benefit plans offered. Parties interested in responding to the RFP must submit a letter of intent to the Insurance Pool Governing Board, 625 Marion St.

NE, Salem, Ore. 97310 by Feb. 13. MARCH 11 DEADLINE FOR LIQUOR LICENSES March 11 is the deadline to renew 1998-99 liquor licenses for businessess. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission mailed license renewal forms to businesses in eight northern coast and Willamette Valley counties.

Completed renewal applications must be returned to the OLCC main office in Portland or an OLCC field office by March 11 or bear a March 11 postmark. Businesses that did not receive the renewal applications may contact Linda Page-Thomas or Denise Byram at 872-5138 or 800-452-6522. SENIORS MAY APPLY TO DEFER TAXES The Oregon Department of Revenue reminds taxpayers that April 15 is the deadline for filing applications with county assessors for senior property tax deferrals. Senior citizens must be 62 or older by April 15 of the year they apply; they must live on the property and have deed or recorded sales contract; and household income must be less than $24,500 for the year before they apply. From January through April, the toll-free number for information is (800) 356-4222.

The Statesman Journal welcomes Information from State of Oregon agencies for its agenda and personnel Items. Photos accompanying personnel items will be used as space permits and will not be returned. Information should be brought to the newspaper at 280 Church St. NE or mailed to the Statesman Journal at P.O. Box 13009, Salem, Ore.

97309 or faxed to 399-6706. 30 Yr. 15 Yr. 6.875 6.625 APR APR 7.187 6.831 1 origination fee as of 12698 5TH SUSPECT HELD IN EUGENE KILLING i EUGENE A fifth suspect has been arrested in the kill- ing of a 21-year-old Salem man on the banks of the Wil-; lamette River last summer. Kevin David Stephens, 20, -was taken into custody Wednesday, just days after four other young people were sentenced to prison for fatally beating and stabbing Stephen Leroy Johnson.

The five defendants were jnembers of a larger group of young people who hung out on the Eugene downtown mall "and were known as "The Pack." The assailants who pleaded guilty in the past two weeks were: Lawrence Anthony Hamilton, 21, and Patrick Ryan Roehr, 22, each sentenced to 25 years in prison on a murder charge. Elizabeth Amber Wilkie, 15, and Caleb Quinn Houser, 17, each sentenced to six years, three months for second-degree manslaughter. SHIFTING DUNE THREATENS HOMES OCEANSIDE As many as 30 vacation homes on the Oregon Coast could be in danger of collapse after the dune beneath them began a sudden shift toward the ocean in recent days. The Capes development where a townhouse can cost as much as $400,000 is being threatened by a combination of high seas and the development's own drainage problems. Between meetings Wednesday, public officials and private homeowners were trying to find a way to save the homes perched near the edge of the dune.

A fault line has ripped open in front of a section of the development, worsening dramatically in the past 10 days. It is between 800 and 1,200 feet long, about a foot wide and as deep as 6 feet. Some townhouses are within 10 feet pf the opening, and geologists say the dune could slip. Statesman Journal news services site. Sen.

Gene Derfler, R-Salem, agreed to the funding request, although he is concerned that the ad campaign is designed appropriately. "I just wanted to make sure that it is well thought out," Derfler said. tailing how educational requirements will be met. Lawmakers would be required to funnel unanticipated revenue such as the $635 million in income tax kicker funds to school districts in order to meet the mandate. The law would be instituted as a statute, not a constitutional amendment.

The coalition expects the state to pick up the tab for funding the mandate. Organizers say class size figures are based on recommendations by the National Education Association, the Governor's Quality Education Work Group and the Tennessee Star Project. landslides A study to determine the link between roads and landslides is also in progress. Ray Wilkeson, legislative director with the Oregon Forest Industries Council, said his organization is waiting for the final report. "You could ban logging, and that is not going to prevent landslides," Wilkeson said, citing sections of the report that show landslides occurring even in mature, uncut forests.

"But if there is some way to log differently and to prevent landslides, we want to look at that." support to put the measure on the November ballot. "My first-grader is in a class with 28 children. That's too many," said chief petitioner Laura Malisani of Bend. Under the proposed initiative: Kindergarten to third-grade students would be in a class with a maximum of 20 students. Students in grades 4 and 5 would have up to 25 classmates.

An average of 27 students would be permitted per class in middle and high schools. Local advocates abandoned a similar plan for the Salem-Keizer School District last year, in part because school board members and administrators opposed the class-size measure. in November 1996 and February 1997. After the deaths, the 1997 Oregon Legislature passed a law requiring a landslide study and prohibiting clear-cutting in steep areas for two years. The agency came out with its preliminary report Thursday.

It said too much water causes landslides, but added that the slides are more likely on very steep slopes that had been logged in the nine years before a storm. Though Thursday's report was only preliminary, environmental groups hailed its results. Forestry report links clear-cutting, The study follows the deaths of five people in storm-related erosions. BY MARIE GRAVELLE Statesman Journal Clear-cutting can lead to landslides, according to a report prepared by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Forest industry officials had disputed the link between slides and harvest practices but were faced with a firestorm of criticism after the deaths of five people from storm-related landslides TLC MORTGAGE Townhomes Reserve your new 2-bedroom home today! Enjoy the benefits of full-service retirement Purchase Refinance Construction RATE APR is ft JllI JtrASWWmtw 393-4111 348 West LllemUe Dallas, OR 97338 (503) 623-5581 Call JOE HYDES for rates costs (503) 304-3001 3Cfr1 River Road N.

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