Selected articles, Morning Star -- July 12, 2009

***********************************************************

Coldstream Council Meeting -- July 13, 2009 -- Agenda

REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 13, 2009
IN THE COLDSTREAM MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
FOLLOWING THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 6:00 PM

A G E N D A

*********************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star news -- July 10, 2009

----------------------------------------------------------------------



This would have been a laudable gesture should it not be accompanied by the dagger hanging over Coldstream and Electoral Areas "B" and "C". The arbitration costs will trump all small potatoe offerings.

******************************************

Joke time.

Three buddies die in a car crash, and go to heaven, to an orientation.

They are all asked, "When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning upon you, what would you like to hear them say about you?"

The first guy says, "I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor of my time, and a great family man."

The second guy says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher which made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow."

The last guy replies, "I would like to hear them say, 'LOOK, HE'S MOVING!'"

**********************************************************************

Nature's Garden -- Mariposa lillies by Debbie Gibson.

************************************************************

Readers write on pesticides.

1. Pesticides shown to cause birth defects - new study linking months of conception to level of birth defects

Increased Birth Defects Correlated With Elevated Levels Of Pesticides In Surface Water In US

Thursday, April 02, 2009 at 10:39:57 AM

A study in the U.S. has linked the increased number of birth defects in kids of women who got pregnant in spring or summer to elevated levels of pesticides in surface water across the country.

Time of conception

Studying all 30.1 million births, which occurred in the U.S. between 1996 and 2002, the researchers found that women whose last menstrual period occurred in April, May, June or July were at increased risk for delivering infants with birth defects.

They also found that this period of increased risk correlated with elevated levels of nitrates, atrazine and other pesticides in surface water across the country.

While many of these chemicals, including the herbicide atrazine which is banned in European countries but permitted in the U.S., are suspected to be harmful to the developing embryo, this is the first study to link their increased seasonal concentration in surface water with the peak in birth defects in infants conceived in the same months.

The correlation between the month of last menstrual period and higher rates of birth defects was statistically significant for half of the 22 categories of birth defects reported in a Centers for Disease Control database from 1996 to 2002 including spina bifida, cleft lip, clubfoot and Down's syndrome.

"Elevated concentrations of pesticides and other agrochemicals in surface water during April through July coincided with significantly higher risk of birth defects in live births conceived by women whose last menstrual period began in the same months," said Paul Winchester, M.D., Indiana University School of Medicine professor of clinical pediatrics, the first author of the study.

2.Pesticides to cause harm for generations to come:

Birthdefects

Preliminary evidence suggests that pesticides may function in the same way as the controversial chemical bisphenol A, a plastic-making compound able to act like a female hormone. Not only can it disrupt the hormonal systems of living organisms, but it does so at very low doses.

And similar to BPA, pesticides' harmful effects may not be immediately apparent.

In one study, Dr. Winchester says, baby rats exposed to atrazine, an herbicide that is banned in European countries, were born with no birth defects. But they developed problems including infertility, kidney and prostate problems, cancer and shortened lifespans as adults - and passed them on to their offspring.

That means agrichemicals could have effects for generations to come, he says.

3.Pesticides and water pollution

Water pollution

“We should be concerned,” said Dr. Ted Schettler of the Science and Environmental Health Network. “This can influence brain development, sperm counts or susceptibility to cancer, even where the animal at birth seems perfectly normal.”

The most notorious example of water pollution occurred in 1969, when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire and helped shock America into adopting the Clean Water Act. Since then, complacency has taken hold.

Those deformed frogs and intersex fish — not to mention the growing number of deformities in newborn boys — should jolt us once again.

7 percent of boys are now born with undescended testicles, although this often self-corrects over time. And up to 1 percent of boys in the United States are now born with hypospadias, in which the urethra exits the penis improperly, such as at the base rather than the tip.

Apprehension is growing among many scientists that the cause of all this may be a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors. They are very widely used in agriculture, industry and consumer products. Some also enter the water supply when estrogens in human urine — compounded when a woman is on the pill — pass through sewage systems and then through water treatment plants.

These endocrine disruptors have complex effects on the human body, particularly during fetal development of males.

4. The movie! "287", a film by Altruism Pictures, is about the disintegrating state of our health and rising disease for reasons mostly unknown to the public. It shows how in July 2005, 287 toxins were discovered in 10 US infants' umbilical cord blood (a study conducted by EWG from blood drawn by the Red Cross) that harbored pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. 180 of these toxins cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
The Planned North American theatrical release: Fall 2009

Movie

- Movie Advisory Board includes Dr. Devra Davis, author of "The secret history of the War on Cancer".

Huguette Allen,

Candidate, Vernon-Monashee

Green Party Critic, Industry & Small Business

Phone: 250.547.0272 cell: 250.309.5973

www.VoteAllen.ca

********************************************************

Readers write

Hi Gyula,

I have decided to put my name in for the Lumby councillor by-election. As one of my concerns is the lack of communication between council & residents I will be using a blog during the campaign.

Bye for now, Nick

http://nickhodgeforlumbycouncillor.blogspot.com/2009/07/why.html

**********************************************************

Okanagan Basin Water Board meeting at NORD, 2009-07-07.

*******************************************************************

Selected articles, Morning Star -- July 5, 2009

Conflict of Interest (as per Community Charter) Section 100 (disclosure of conflict) of the Community Charter requires a council member to declare a conflict of interest if he or she has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter under consideration. A member must also declare a conflict if he or she has some other, non-pecuniary type of interest that places the person in a conflict position (e.g., bias). This could include any benefit obtained by relations, close friends, or associates of a member who is in conflict. Examples may include a rezoning application by a relative or close personal friend or a business license decision involving a competitor business to one operated by a close friend. The facts of each situation will be unique and will need to be considered when determining if a member is in a non-pecuniary conflict of interest situation. Section 101 (restrictions on participation if in conflict) sets out the basic rules that, if a council member has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter, the member must not: * remain or attend any part of a meeting during which the matter is under consideration; * participate in any discussion of the matter; or * vote on the matter or attempt in any way to influence the voting of the matter, whether before, during or after a meeting. These rules apply at all times, not just when a person makes a declaration of conflict under section 100. Once a declaration has been made, the member of council must not do any of the things referred to in section 101 (e.g., remain or attend any part of the meeting during which the matter is under consideration, participate in any discussions of the matter, vote on the matter or attempt in any way to influence the voting of the matter whether before, during or after a meeting). These rules are in effect for council members in relation to meetings of councils, boards, committees and any other body created by the municipality or established pursuant to legislation.

A member of council who determines, after declaring a conflict of interest, that he or she is, in fact, not in a conflict position, may withdraw the original declaration and participate in subsequent discussions and vote on the matter being considered. The member must, however, obtain legal advice on the question of conflict before withdrawing the declaration.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

*************************************************

The half wit.

A man owned a small farm in South Carolina. The South Carolina Wage & Hours Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them", demanded the Agent.

"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $400.00 a week plus free room and board..

The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $300.00 per week plus free room and board.

There's the half-wit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here.. He makes about $10.00 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of Bourbon every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

"That's the guy I want to talk to.....the half-wit", says the Agent.

"That would be me", replied the farmer.

************************************************************************

Coldstream Committee Meetings

THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM KALAVISTA NEIGHBOURHOOD COMMITTEE MEETING

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
4:30 PM

A G E N D A

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
7:00 PM

A G E N D A

*********************************************************

Selected articles, Morning Star -- July 3, 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A perfect message from a perfect Gentleman



********************************************

Canada Day celebrations at Polson Park -- 2009. Debbie Gibson Photos.

*****************************************************************

Canada Day activities!

Local Canada Day Activities

Canada Day at Polson Park Vernon (all activities free) Written by 107.5 Kiss FM

10:15 Sadok Ukrainian dancers

10:50 Rick Shadow magician

11:20 Kat and the Tomcats

11:55 Ryan Donn

12:45 Kal Highlanders Pipe Band

1:00 O Canada sung by Ryan Donn

1:02 Key Note Address Mayor Wayne Lippert and Miranda Stankiewicz

1:30 Lee Dinwoodie Band

2:10 Andrew Allen

2:50 Raquel Warchol

3::20 Paul and Melina Moore

4:00 Lent Fraser and Wall

Day Events End at 4:45

Fireworks at 10 pm at DND Lands presented by the Department of Canadian Heritage and City of Vernon Vernon Fire - Rescue is anticipating an excellent evening for viewing the Canada Day Fireworks show. Weather and other related conditions are expected to cooperate and the public will see approximately $10,000 worth of fireworks shot at 10 pm from the DND grounds. Traffic and parking congestion is anticipated, and the public is asked to obey all traffic marshalling and flag persons, and to exercise extreme caution and patience, especially leaving the DND site.Left turns onto Highway 97 will not be permitted and vehicles will be directed to make alternative decisions to exit following the show.

The public is also asked to leave pets at home and make provisions to ensure they are safeguarded in the event the fireworks are distressing.

The show is anticipated to last approximately 15 minutes, and Vernon Fire - Rescue considers public safety a top priority and asks for public cooperation for all the Canada Day celebrations.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Enderby Canada Day Activities Pancake breakfast 8 am to 11 am Riverside Park

Parade 11am : from the Enderby arena to the Chamber of Commerce

Enderby's fireworks will be at dusk at Riverside Park

Posted by Don Quixote at 7/01/2009

******************************************************************************

Happy Canada Day!!!!!

Enjoy the wonders of nature Canada offers to all of us. Happy Canada Day!




Eared grebe. (Debbie Gibson photo).

*****************************************

Photo gallery -- Evening grosbeaks. Courtesy: Debbie Gibson.

Visitors to our bird feeder!

**********************************************

Ancient Climate Change: When Palm Trees Gave Way To Spruce Trees

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2009) —

For climatologists, part of the challenge in predicting the future is figuring out exactly what happened during previous periods of global climate change.

One long-standing climate puzzle relates to a sequence of events 33.5 million years ago in the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene. Profound changes were underway. Globally, carbon dioxide levels were falling and the hothouse warmth of the dinosaur age and Eocene Period was waning. In Antarctica, ice sheets had formed and covered much of the southern polar continent.

But what exactly was happening on land, in northern latitudes? When and how did Northern glaciation begin, and what does this knowledge add to the understanding of the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and today's climate?

An international team that included Dr. David Greenwood, an NSERC-funded researcher at Brandon University, now provides some of the very first detailed answers, and they come from an unusual source.

"Fossils of land plants are excellent indicators of past climates," said Dr. Greenwood. "But the fossil plant localities from the Canadian Arctic and Greenland don't appear to record this major climate change, and pose problems for precisely dating their age, so we needed to look elsewhere."

The "where" was in marine sediments entombed when the North Atlantic Ocean was beginning to open, and lying now at the bottom of today's Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Sediment cores taken from there contained a record of ancient spores and pollen blown from the continent to the west.

"These marine sediment cores give us a very precise chronology of the changes in the dominant land plants," said Dr. Greenwood "and since many of these species have modern relatives, we can assume that the temperatures and environments they lived in were very similar."

To arrive at a holistic picture of the climate of the transition, the researchers merged the plant data with physical information about the state of the atmosphere and ocean taken from chemical and isotopic information in the same sediments, and compared this to computer modelling of climate in the period.

"We can see that summer temperatures on land remained relatively warm throughout the Eocene/Oligocene transition, but that the period was marked by increasing seasonality," said Dr. Greenwood.

"Mean temperatures during the coldest month dropped by five degrees Celsius, to just above freezing," he said.

"This was probably not enough to create much in the way of continental ice on East Greenland," he said, "but it did wipe out palms and other subtropical trees such as swamp cypress. They were replaced by temperate climate trees such as spruces and hemlock."

The researcher said that, nonetheless, the middle period of the transition remained fairly warm. "Hickory and walnut were still present, but these became rare in the final stages," he said.

Although the march to a cooler world was gradual in northern latitudes, it was inevitable according to Dr. Greenwood.

"Changes in the earth's position in its orbit were leading a much greater seasonal range in radiation for polar regions and, overall, heat was becoming more concentrated in the tropics, largely due to a global drop in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere" he said.

The group's detailed record of the Eocene/Oligocene transition will appear in the June 18 issue of Nature.

*******************************************************************************

Selected articles, Morning Star -- June 28, 2009

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a coincidence that Mayor Garlick's letter is published in the same issue of the Morning Star in which Vernon politicians are discussing the future of Polson Park without the presence of other members of Greater Vernon Services Committee (Director Dirk's presence was accidental) which is responsible for park issues.

This discussion by Vernon Council just reinforces Coldstream's contention that the park issues should be revisited and discussed again.

*************************************************************

Responses to questions raised by L. Dunlop

The following letter to the Editor was published by the Morning Star in the June 21st issue. I appreciate the comments by the writer, L. Dunlop (it really increased the readership of the blog), and below I respond to his “questions” raised in the letter. In responding, I reference sections of the letter and include my answers in red. Once again, my thanks to L. Dunlop for his dedication to my blog.

It appears that a Coldstream councillor's blog goes well beyond that of a personal website with what looks to be the District of Coldstream's approval. All of council's pictures are posted on the councillor's site, stating: Coldstream Council at Your Service! with a direct link to the official Coldstream website.

There is a prominent disclaimer at the top of the blog that reads:

The opinions expressed by "Coldstreamer" are strictly his own and do not represent the opinions of Coldstream Council!

We have to ask the question, does the site, which is run by a Coldstream councillor, his personal website, advance a political agenda and does it reflect the conditions of a private website?

The website is personal but available for anyone to read. Of course, access to the site is not obligatory and anyone who feels offended by it could chose not to access the blog.

For instance, can we, you, post pictures on our, your sites with a direct link to the official Coldstream website, if so; we would be more than happy to have them aboard, along with our political point of view?

You are welcome to link to the official Coldstream website. It was created using public funds for the benefit of taxpayers. Any publicity for the site is welcome.

Again, the site, run by a Coldstream councilor, often carries personal comments of the councillor, and group with what appears to be a distinct political bent. Does Coldstream council subscribe to this site by virtue of the fact they are directly linked to it?

The blog includes personal comments as it is a PERSONAL BLOG. See above disclaimer and comments.

Again and again, the site appears to promote one political point of view with links, comments and ranting, this, all subscribed by your Coldstream council? Further, does this mean everyone linked to the councilor's personal website, the local newspapers, radio stations and other various feeds, which includes yet another link to a councillor's website, subscribe to the councilor's ranting and his political views?

In 70 plus years I earned the right to “rant”. The state of the environment, the state of the economy, the many lies and misdeeds by high ranking leaders of the world provide me ample opportunity to express my disapproval. The writer of the letter may disagree with my views and he/she has every right to do so (as he/she did in his/her letter) but I also have the right to my opinions. What kind of a politicians would I be if I did not have political views? Disagree? Create your own blog and disseminate information the way you see it.

The disclaimer aside, it appears the Coldstream councillor's blog does not represent the average Coldstream citizen and is indeed not a personal website as such but acts as a platform for private political views and advances a personal political agenda using the councilor's moniker with the tacit approval of Coldstream council?

The blog is my property and I never claimed that my views represent “the average Coldstream citizen”, whomever he/she might be. Coldstream Council respects my right to free speech and I respect the confidentiality of my office as per my oath of office. Any information on my blog is available to the public.

Further, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, which gives expression to the high ideals and traditions in the public service clearly states under Political Rights: Public employees have a responsibility to avoid participation in partisan politics that is likely to impair the political neutrality of the public service or the perception of that neutrality.

Under The Public Interest: Public employees should resolve any conflict between their personal or private interests and their official duties in favour of public interest.

Under Service to the Public: Public employees should provide service to the public in a manner which is courteous, equitable, efficient and effective.

Under Public Interest: Public employees should be sensitive to the political process and knowledgeable about the laws and traditions regarding political neutrality that are applicable to their sphere of employment.

The writer of the letter should understand the difference between politicians, who are directly accountable to the taxpayers, and the public servants who are responsible to the politicians through the chain of command. Ultimately they serve the public but only through said chain. Politicians develop policies and legislate, public servants carry out those policies and regulations. Public servants can also express opinions as long as it des not conflict with their office.

We understand that politicians at any level need to have a platform to get information out to the public, to clarify policy and to arouse debate on issues before them. However, promoting personal political views clearly violates the high ideals and tradition of public service and may even leave the councillor open to ramifications.

We believe the council member has gone well beyond what is arguably his duty and is using a forum that is/is not associated with his office?

L. Dunlop

Interestingly, the letter is signed by a single individual, while time and again the “royal we” has been used in the text. I wonder if there were more than one persons involved in the creation of this masterpiece or is it just “nosism” (the use of “we” in speaking of oneself)?

*************************************************

Letter to the Editor, Morning Star -- Not So Funtastic!

By all means pursue your Funtastic recreational pursuits. But please, the musical detritus emanating from your soiree makes Muzac seem like...well, music.

The relentless aural assault shaking the windows of my Coldstream Eden was just plain bad manners on the part of the event organizers.

My fun, at my age, is a good sleep.

You have deprived me and my family of same. Second year of such.

I have paid good money to attend rock/blues/jazz events--Led Zepp, Dylan, Santana... how is it that they can provide a rich aural spectacle in a confined space and make a lot of dough too?

No more Funtastic open-air "Muzac" please.

Really!!!

K. Pace

***************************************************************