Star News Top Stories

December 10, 2009

People need real things to complain about
Seriously. Just let the kids have their fun feeding the ducks and geese. One of my favorite times growing up in Medford was feeding the ducks.
My nieces, who still live in Medford, love doing the same. It just seems silly to waste $450 on signs when the benefits of seeing happy children far outweigh the little bit of bird poo on the sidewalks. Maybe some people just don't have enough to complain about.
Let the children have their fun!
— Ryan Goessl, Seoul, South Korea

Offers holiday book ideas for dog lovers
Don’t forget four-footed friends at Christmas, or any time of the year.
“You know you are a dog lover if ….You carry dog treats in your pocket or purse at all times,” and “You always carry a plastic bag – just in case.”
From new book “A Treasury for Dog Lovers, “ by Richard Lederer.
I had just taken our two Greenland Huskies out for a morning jaunt along Medford’s River Walk. It was cloudy, with sleet and Alaska-like temperatures. For a brief moment, I asked Nuna and Avu why they couldn’t sleep later, just one of these chilly mornings.
But their affection and energy, and a free face wash from Avu, made me glad that we were out together. And I got super-happy after picking up a book for dog lovers at the library.
As dog people in the Medford region know, there are plenty of books, movies, catalogs, products, web sites and inspirational posters about dogs and other pets.
But Richard Lederer’s book gets to your funny bone, and your heart, right from the first few pages:
If you are content eating the same food every day, he says, “then you are almost as good as your dog.”
In addition to being great companions, Lederer says, they are great teachers. For example, he learned from his dog that “If you stare at someone long enough, eventually you’ll get what you want.” Now I know why our dogs start staring at me from the first time I go to the kitchen in the morning.
There is also a Doggie Dictionary in the book, with one of my favorites being for the word “Leash.”
“A strap that attaches to your collar, enabling you to lead your humans where you want them to go.”
The book is available at the library, and also on Amazon.com.
Some dark winter evening, it would be great to read some of it to your dog, or dogs. Heck, the cats might also get a kick out of it.
One final thought from the book, in the spirit of Christmas.
You know you are a dog lover if you sign Christmas cards for your dog. I have to go now. Avu is staring at me. “Food or walk or both?”
— Earl Finkler, Medford

DNR chief states reason for pulling 16-day season from table
Note: DNR Secretary Matt Frank sent the following letter this week to the Natural Resources Board pulling the 16-day deer season proposal off the board’s December agenda to give more time for review of the results of the 2009 hunt.
December 4, 2009
Christine Thomas, Chair
Natural Resources Board
Dear Chair Thomas and Natural Resource Board Members
The department has decided to remove the 16-day deer season proposal as an agenda item at the Natural Resources Board meeting next week. Given the preliminary harvest numbers for the 2009 nine-day hunt that the department released earlier this week, we believe it is appropriate to postpone consideration of alternative herd control measures.
As we make important decisions about the best mix of policies to control the deer herd where it is over population goals and recover the herd where it is under population goals, I would like to give our staff more time to gather all the data from this season’s hunt and analyze it. This data is a critical component in the population models we use to estimate the size of the herd both regionally and statewide.
While we believe that a 16-day season remains a viable option for future consideration, removing this item from the board’s December agenda makes it likely that there will not be sufficient time to implement it for the 2010 deer hunting season. The extra time we take now to carefully review this season’s deer harvest will be time well spent and will provide a better foundation for future herd management decisions for the 2010 season and beyond.
Our 2009 pre-season forecasts anticipated a lower harvest. Preliminary harvest numbers from the just-completed nine-day gun hunt indicate a significant drop in harvest on the heels of 2008’s decline. We know that the herd is smaller in some areas, which is why we took action for the 2009 season. During this season, 13 deer management units had no bonus antlerless permits in order to restore the herd in those areas. Thirty-eight units were moved out of herd control to regular season, and we moved 29 units out of Earn-a-Buck, which contributed to a substantial decline in antlerless harvest. In all, the number of regular units increased from 21 in 2008 to 59 in 2009.
We will look carefully at the data to determine where we now stand with respect to the size of the deer population, which varies by region across the state. Preliminary numbers show a decline in buck harvest across the state. Hunters have reported seeing fewer deer on the landscape, and in some areas, a significant decline. For example, in the north and northeast, there are significant areas where the deer population is below goal. On the other hand, in the CWD zone in the southern part of the state, over-population has been a contributing factor to the increased prevalence of CWD in the deer herd, increasing the risk of spread. A full analysis of the 2009 harvest data will give us a better understanding of the size of the deer population as we make decisions for the 2010 hunt and future seasons.
At the board’s meeting next week we still intend to present our regular report on the fall deer hunt, which will include preliminary harvest numbers, what hunters have been reporting and seeing, license sales, enforcement issues and other areas that we usually cover.
The 16-day proposal was developed from a process launched last April in response to widespread hunter concerns about Earn-a-Buck. The board created a stakeholder committee that included strong representation from hunting organizations to consider effective alternatives to Earn-a-Buck. The department went out for public comment this fall. We sincerely appreciate the hard work from staff and hunting organizations as well as widespread comment we received from hunters and the public.
The department will continue to strive for the best deer hunting in the nation with a healthy, sustainable deer herd in balance with its habitat, including keeping crop and forest damage attributable to deer browsing at tolerable levels. We look forward to working with the board, the Legislature, hunters, farmers, forest owners and the public over the months to come.
— Matt Frank, secretary

Wisconsin needs BPA-free kids, calls for ban in bottles, cups
What do Chinese factory workers have to do with babies and toddlers in Wisconsin? More than you might think.
Last month, the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health released the results of a five-year study on more than 600 Chinese workers who manufacture the chemical bisphenol-A, known as BPA, which is used to harden plastics. The study showed that the workers suffered reproductive health problems at a rate of several hundred percent more than control groups who did not work with BPA.
The report was just the latest in a long series of studies documenting the health risks for humans of exposure to BPA. In our bodies, BPA disrupts the endocrine system by mimicking the hormone estrogen. Hundreds of scientific studies have demonstrated that BPA is harmful, linking it to breast cancer, testicular cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity, obesity, low sperm counts, miscarriage and a host of other reproductive failures in laboratory animals. Researchers have also shown that the BPA used in plastic containers leaches into the foods and beverages we consume.
That’s where kids come in. Scientists worry that BPA can have its most negative and lasting effect on very young children at a time at which their brains and bodies are still developing. Unfortunately, that’s also the time when children are drinking from hardened plastic containers such as baby bottles and sippy cups.
That is why we introduced the BPA-Free Kids Act, a bill that would protect children five years old and younger from exposure to this toxic chemical. The BPA-Free Kids Act prohibits the manufacture or sale at the wholesale or retail level of children’s bottles or cups that contain BPA and requires that manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers clearly label children’s bottles and cups as BPA free. The legislation provides the same penalties for these manufacturers and wholesalers as those in Wisconsin’s current Hazardous Substances Act, and allows a surcharge from the fines to be used for the administration of the program.
Canada, Minnesota, Connecticut, Chicago, and Suffolk County, New York have similar bans in effect. Eleven other states are considering bans, and a federal proposal that would ban BPA in all food products has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. Several manufacturers have announced plans to stop using the chemical, and many retailers have pulled products containing BPA from their shelves. Safe substitutes for BPA exist; in fact, Japan has been manufacturing plastics without BPA for a decade.
Why must we act at the state level? Unfortunately, the federal government’s history of inaction on BPA offers no assurance that strong action is forthcoming from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Despite overwhelming evidence, the FDA ruled in September 2008 that BPA is safe. Scientific uproar over the ruling caused the FDA to establish an advisory committee to review the process. Last October, the FDA’s Advisory Committee found that its scientists had relied on studies sponsored by the American Plastics Council while ignoring independent scientific studies that showed the chemical caused harm, and recommended that the agency reopen its review of the chemical. A current Consumer Reports article recommends that manufacturers and government agencies act to eliminate the use of BPA.
Simply put, there’s just no reason to put this toxin in the bottles and cups our kids drink from. The BPA-Free Kids Act will help us protect Wisconsin’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens from damage that may last a lifetime.
— State Senator Julie Lassa, State Representative Kelda Helen Roys and WISPIRG Director Bruce Speight