The Agricultural Experiment Station
276 Altheimer Drive,
Fayetteville, AR 72704
Telephone: (501) 575-3955 Fax: 575-3975

Cooperative Extension Service
P.O. Box 391,
Little Rock, AR 72203
Telephone: (501) 671-2000 Fax:671-2251

University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture and USDA Cooperating

ARKANSAS PESTICIDE NEWS EDITORS

Terry Lavy and Briggs Skulman, Department of Agronomy, Fayetteville and Ples Spradley, Coop. Extension Service, Little Rock

Web Page http://www.uark.edu/depts/napiap/newsletter/newslet.html

December, 1997

Table of Contents

Arkansas News...................................................... 1
     Of Fools With Power Tools..................................... 1
     Arkansas Farm *A* SYST.........................................2
     Farmers Increase Conservation Tillage..........................2
National News.......................................................3
     Bootlegers Sell Cockroach Spray 
     in Whiskey Bottles............................................ 3
     Debugging Our Schools......................................... 4
     Meeting Parental Expectations...................... ...........4
     Denmark Considers Total Pesticide Ban......... ................5
Health and Safety Notes............................................ 5
     Contamination Closes Church - 
     Pesticide Problems Strike at Soul of Kansas  Congregation......5
     Recognizing Friends Among Foes.................................7
     EPA Endocrine Program Unlikely to Change     
     Despite Retraction of Synergy Study........................... 7
Registration and Usage News........................................ 8
     EPA Approves Synthetic 
     Pyrethroids Tolerances.........................................8
Biotech / IPM / Advanced Technology News............................8
     Plant Smart to Avoid BT-Resistant 
     Corn Borer, Experts Advise.....................................8
Did You Know?.......................................................9
     Pesticide Labels With Vocal Cords..............................9
Humor From The Internet............................................10

Of Fools With Power Tools

There are several articles in this issue of the Pesticide News that are about deleterious effects from pesticides (trying to find positive articles is a needle in a haystack search). As you read these articles in this issue of APN you will see considerable discussion about health effects, toxicities, etc. Virtually all of these articles concern problems associated with the misuse of these chemical tools! And tools they are, very potent and powerful tools at that. There is no question that when improperly used by non-trained or unscrupulous individuals these tools can pose a human health problem. One wouldn't stick their hand into the blades of a lawnmower, the shaft of a PTO or workings of a gear box. That would be inviting an unpleasant experience to say the very least. By the same token we don't let our children work with power tools or drive equipment until they are of the proper age and have received adequate training. Doing the opposite is being a fool with a power tool. Likewise it is important that we not lose perspective with regard to the economical and health benefits that the approved and proper use of pesticides can provide.

The bad news concerning agrochemicals readily appears on the front page or on one of the TV "news magazines", but the beneficial/good news just never seems to make it! It might be interesting to see articles titled "Black Death Held at Bay Another Year Through Rodent and Flea Control Chemicals", "U.S. Population is Not Threatened with Starvation for Fifth Straight Year After Insecticide Use" or "Use of Antibiotics Help People Miraculously Recover from Consumption", for a reminder of what once was common. We go to the doctor for treatment of infections and receive a carefully prescribed dosage of "chemicals" to help our body to recover, such that we may live an ample life. Likewise, it is true that proper use of pesticides by trained workers provides an abundant and safe food supply and is associated with an ever rising standard of living in the U.S. and around the world. Farmers are not adding expensive pesticides to their management scheme without considering several factors, including economics. Never the less we must remember it is the negative that attracts the attention and concern of people. With that in mind, we as good stewards, need to keep our eyes and ears open for those few individuals or situations that might require intervention. Then we must take action before the negative damage is done. By doing that we will assure that our chemical tools will remain both available and used safely.

ARKANSAS FARM *A* SYST

Arkansas Farm*A*Syst is an educational, voluntary, confidential, and free pollution risk assessment program. Its worksheets help farmers and animal producers identify situations and practices that carry potential risks to groundwater and surface water -- as well as to their families' health. The primary goal of the program is to identify risks and encourage cost-effective, preventive action before problems occur.

As one of the leading states in row-crop and animal agriculture in the U.S., Arkansas is understandably concerned about protecting its water resources. With 44,000 farms representing over 5 billion dollars worth of crop and livestock production, an effective method was needed to evaluate potential threats to water quality. Farm*A*Syst responded with its innovative self-help risk-assessment approach, earning the confidence of farmers and government officials alike. In just three years it has become an integral part of the state's groundwater protection campaign.

Strength in Partnerships

Development of Farm*A*Syst's assessments was achieved through a team effort. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension (CES) took the lead, working closely with the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Soil Conservation Service, Arkansas Geological Commission, Arkansas Water Well Construction Commission, Arkansas Department of Health, and Department of Pollution Control & Ecology. Partnerships with state agribusiness have also been important, especially during program implementation. Tyson Foods, for example, has incorporated Farm*A*Syst into its company environmental protection planning.

Farmers Increase Conservation Tillage

For the first time, U.S. farmers are planting more acres using conservation tillage than with so-called conventional techniques of farming, a new survey says.

The survey, conducted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and compiled by the Conservation Technology Information Center, says that growers increased their conservation tillage plantings (no-till, mulch-till and ridge-till) by 6 million acres in 1997.

The increase brought the total number of conservation tillage acres to 109.8 million-- 37 percent of the 294.6 million cropland acres planted in the United States. Conventional tillage usage declined by 4 million to 107.6 million acres, the CTIC said.

Reduced-till or "minimum" tillage planting systems accounted for the rest of the cropland (77.3 million acres) in 1997. "Across the nation, scientific research and practical application show that these conservation tillage systems not only replenish and build organic matter in the soil, but they also protect water quality and enhance wildlife," said John Hebblethwaite, the center's executive director.

"There is also growing evidence they can even help us combat the possibility of global warming." The county-by-county survey said that five states -- Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Kansas and Indiana -- were responsible for a major portion of the increase in conservation tillage.

"Iowa farmers adopted conservation tillage planting and management systems on more than 1.5 million additional acres in 1997 to lead all other states while producers in Illinois added more than 1 million acres," the CTIC said in a press release. In South Dakota, growers added 800,000 acres of conservation tillage; Kansas, 790,000; and Indiana, 680,000.

Mid-South growers also stepped up their use of conservation tillage in 1997, although not to extent of their counterparts in the Midwestern and Plains states.

Farmers in Arkansas planted 1.16 million acres with conservation tillage systems, up from 933,172 acres in 1996; in Louisiana, 890,118 acres, up from 701,311; Mississippi, 1.24 million, up from 1 million; and Tennessee, 1.9 million, up from 1.8 million in 1996.

Conservation tillage numbers for Missouri fell from 5.4 million in 1996 to 5.15 million acres in 1997. A breakout for the Bootheel portion of the state was not available at presstime.

The biggest conservation tillage gains in the Mid-South occurred in double-cropped soybeans, according to the survey. Arkansas producers no-tilled 295,985 acres of soybeans behind wheat, up from 195,200 acres in 1996; Louisiana went from 18,530 to 30,353; Mississippi from 70,437 to 82,357; and Tennessee, from 326,767 to 343,972.

Mississippi's full-season soybean acres planted with conservation tillage rose from 463,159 to 502,206. Its conservation tillage-planted cotton acreage went up from 91,581 acres in 1996 to 136,196 in 1997 and corn from 144,176 in 1996 to 179,900 acres in 1997.

Among states with 1 million to 13 million acres of cropland, the survey found that conservation tillage systems are now used on more than 50 percent of cropland in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Maryland. Michigan had just under 50 percent. Growers in Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, Illinois, South Dakota and Kansas increased the amount of total cropland planted to conservation tillage by 3 percent or more.

Conservation tillage systems such as no-till, mulch-till and ridge-till -- and variations such as strip-till or zone-till rely on little to no tillage or soil disturbance to plant and manage crops.

Users of the systems leave plant materials on the soil surface after harvest and plant into the residue the following season.

The crop residue serves as a blanket that protects the soil from erosion, and they decompose over time to add organic matter to the soil, much like mulching or composting adds organic matter in gardens.

Hebblethwaite said the West Lafayette, Ind.-based Conservation Technology Information Center is asking farmers and consumers to focus increased attention on the adoption of such farming systems.

"We at the CTIC are committed to seeing conservation tillage on 50 percent of the cropland acreage in the U.S. by the year 2002, but wewill need the help of everyone who is serious about a safe and sustainable food supply to realize that goal," he noted. "Amid predictions that the world's population will nearly double and food demand triple in the next 40 to 50 years, we consider our goal only a necessary start in the right direction.

"We know that, at the very least, these systems can improve soil quality to support new production technologies needed to meet such demand."

While conservation tillage systems have been credited with reducing runoff from fields, new research shows that soil enriched by decomposing crop residues contains more natural microbes that also offer greater groundwater protection, he said. They also offer farmers a more economical way of growing crops by reducing the number of trips through the field for planting and cultivation, saving producers labor, time, fuel and machinery wear while building soil productivity.

The CTIC said that due to the timing of this year's survey, it does not reflect the impact of land coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program. "These acres would show up under additional acres planted, but only 4.5 million additional acres were planted in 1997," it said.

"Because conservation tillage systems and plow or intensive tillage systems are being used to prepare former CRP acres for production," next year's survey could tell whether this year's gains for conservation tillage continue or suffer a setback from use of traditional farming methods." (Note: A booklet titled "Conservation Tillage: A Checklist for U.S. Farmers," is available by calling 7654949555 or writing the CTIC at 1220 Potter Drive, Room 170, West Lafayette, IN 47906-1383. The center's web site is located at http://www.ctic.purdue.edu.) By Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff, Delta Farm Press Volume 54, No. 44, November 7, 1997

Bootleggers Sell Cockroach Spray in Whiskey Bottles

People who bought cockroach sprays in whiskey bottles or plastic cooking oil bottles should have asked a few questions up-front. They didn't, because they were buying the "good stuff" that their neighbors had recommended highly. And besides, the whiskey bottles were labeled Brown Roach Spray. They were tired of cockroach droppings in the silverware draws, adult roaches huddled in their cabinets, and that all too familiar cockroach odor; if the miracle spray comes in whiskey bottles, so be it. Anything to get rid of the roaches!

It's been called the worst case of pesticide misuse in United States history a pretty strong statement regarding something labeled Brown Roach Spray. Unbeknown to the purchasers, the miracle roach spray turned out to be an agricultural insecticide known as methyl parathion. Applied outdoors, it quickly breaks down in sunlight. But indoor use is another matter. Some have speculated that residues from illegal indoor methyl parathion applications might persist for months or years.

Currently, there is no direct evidence that residents have suffered long-term adverse health effects or that anyone has died, although some residents whose homes were treated with methyl parathion have complained about headaches and asthma. Nevertheless, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a consumer warning that indoor use of methyl parathion is illegal and dangerous.

It is important to mention that operators involved in illegal indoor use of methyl parathion are not representative of the pest control industry. All states require operators of pest control businesses to have one or more applicators who have passed state examinations on pesticides. But illegal operators bootleggers who work outside of the law often pose as legitimate businesses. Illegal operators have been located in the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois) and in the South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee). Ongoing investigations by state departments of agriculture and EPA have identified a dozen or so illegal operators who were packaging, promoting, selling, and/or applying methyl parathion for cockroach control; most are awaiting trial in their respective states.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture was one of the first to bring this illegal use of methyl parathion to the forefront. Ohio officials uncovered their first methyl parathion case while investigating a residential odor complaint; the application that drew the complaint was performed by a unlicensed applicator. This single complaint ultimately led to a $20 million superfund bill to decontaminate approximately 240 homes. The Ohio Department of Agriculture, local health departments, and EPA began very quickly collecting samples six wipes and one air sample from homes allegedly treated with methyl parathion. At one point, Ohio reported having analyzed 6800 samples.

Occupants at risk based on levels of methyl parathion detected in their homes were relocated immediately. Each home required 4 6 weeks of work to remove methyl parathion from the premises. Floors, walls, kitchen cabinets, and carpets were completely removed from some homes because scrubbing alone was ineffective.

Federal authorities executed a search warrant at a Chicago residence and found methyl parathion and cases of soft drink bottles. Records found there indicated that more than several hundred gallons of methyl parathion were purchased in Mississippi in some cases, by using the license of a deceased person. The search of the home also produced 25 notebooks with names and addresses throughout the Chicago area where methyl parathion may have been used for indoor pest control.

While joint state and federal investigations continue, EPA and Cheminova (the manufacturer of methyl parathion) have agreed to implement a number of strategies intended to make indoor use of methyl parathion less of a temptation to illegal applicators.

For starters, Cheminova will add a very pungent odor to their formulation to deter illicit applicators from using the scam. In cases where the applicator dares to make indoor applications of methyl parathion anyway, the odor should generate rapid complaints from customers. Other strategies include packaging methyl parathion in containers that can be refilled only by authorized pesticide dealers. Cheminova will release public service announcements for radio, television, and trade magazines, warning the public about the illegal use of methyl parathion indoors.

The Label - Purdue Pesticide Programs, July 1997; Sources: Service Technician/PCT. April 1997; C&En. January 27, 1997; Ohio Department of Agriculture release. January 22, 1996; United States Department of Justice news release. April 24, 1997.

Debugging Our Schools

Current public health and environmental issues focus on the effects of indoor pollutants such as radon, chemical emissions from new carpeting, cigarette smoke, asbestos, and especially pesticides on human health. Concern for children's safety is at an all-time high. Environmental pollution and child safety concerns motivate parents to hold school administrators accountable for all uses of pesticides in schools and for the overall, in-school safety of their children.

Parents' expectations relative to pests and pesticides drive the efforts of elected officials, school administrators, and the pest control industry to institute IPM in schools. They expect school administrators to make responsible IPM decisions those that include pesticide use, as well as those that don't.

The following information is from a Purdue survey of parents of children attending an Indiana elementary school. The school selected was typical of many of Indiana's 1905 public schools in enrollment and building age. The elementary school administration provided names and addresses of 390 families, and each was mailed a survey questionnaire, cover letter, and return envelope.

Pests. Parents overwhelmingly agreed that maintaining a pest free school was important. More than half of the parents perceived that the elementary school had pest problems, although most believed the problems were slight. Forty-one percent of the parents reported that their children complained about roaches and wasps found in classrooms and lunchrooms and on playgrounds. Pesticides. Parents were concerned about health risks associated with the use of pesticides in their children's school. Nearly forty percent believed their children were exposed to pesticides while on school property, although the level of student exposure was considered low. The use of pesticides indoors was of greater concern than outdoor use, and parents were more concerned about exposure by inhalation than by skin contact. The acceptance of pesticide use in the school was pest specific: the more serious they perceived the pest, the more receptive they were to chemical use. The parents agreed that pesticides should be used only as a last resort and that, when pesticides are used, only certified pest control operators should apply them.

Pest Control. Parents believed that pest sightings should be documented, and they expected records to be kept of all pesticide applications made at the school. Parents thought school adminis-trators should notify them of impending applications and oversee the posting of pesticide warning signs following applications both indoors and out. Parents expected information, documentation, and communication on all pesticide decisions made by school officials, and they insisted that the school's pest management policies be available to the public.

Those implementing pest management programs in Indiana public schools must remember that success will hinge on fulfilling the expectation of parents that a pest-free environment be provided for their children. The results of this study were quite clear: Regardless of the sociodemographic considerations gender, age, education, income parents expect a pest-free environment and reduced pesticide use in schools.

The Label - Purdue Pesticide Programs, July 1997; Source: Debugging Our Schools: Can We Meet Parental Expectations? Contact Tim Gibb, IPM in Schools Specialist, at 765-494- 4570 for more information on IPM in schools research at Purdue University.

Meeting Parental Expectations

IPM experts generally agree and parents accept as a last resort that pesticides play a role in the implementation of IPM in schools. Parents must be convinced that pesticides are indeed used only when other measures have proven ineffective. The following protocols help provide school administrators with general concepts that can gain the confidence of parents, i.e., demonstrate to them that steps are being taken to protect their children from exposure to pests and pesticides while attending school.
Assume public inclusion into the development of an IPM plan for the school.
Make pest inspections a priority.
Incorporate sanitation and building repairs as components of IPM.
Do not use pesticides when children are in school.
Require that one or more of the custodial staff or their supervisors become statecertified.
Hire certified and licensed pest control operators to perform work according to the IPM plan.
Incorporate the use of least toxic pesticides into the IPM plan.
Record, fully and accurately, all information surrounding pesticide use.
Prevent students from entering treated areas (rooms inside, or lawns and athletic fields, for instance, outside) for a specified period of time if it becomes necessary to apply pesticides during school hours.
Make all documentation available to the public; e.g., the IPM plan, pest monitoring activities and procedures, and pesticide use.
Address the school's parent-teacher organization on an annual basis, preferably at the beginning of the school year, to discuss the school's IPM policies.

The Label - Purdue Pesticide Programs, July 1997

Denmark Considers Total Pesticide Ban

November 4, 1997
In response to calls from members of parliament to make the country totally organic by 2010, the Danish government is initiating an assessment of the impacts of a total pesticide ban in the country. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is establishing a committee of experts to analyze how a ban would affect the country's economy, environment, health, employment and agricultural production. The committee, which will hold its first meeting in late 1997, will deliver a report to the Ministers of Environment and Energy by the end of 1998.

Officials from Denmark's EPA stated that the committee is not charged with making recommendations, only with assessing the feasibility of different plans, including total and partial bans. According to Nina Herskind of the Danish EPA, "the proposal does not automatically mean that Danish agriculture will go totally organic in the next few years, it is just one of the scenarios that we are seriously considering."

The committee of experts will include representatives from government, the food and chemical industry, labor and environmental, health and consumer organizations. It will be assisted by four sub-committees comprised of independent scientific experts. These will study the consequences of a pesticide ban on farming in general; economics and employment; environment and health; and legislative issues. The legislative committee will focus primarily on how such a policy would affect relationships with other European Union (EU) member states.

Jesper Lund-Larsen, an official with the Danish General Workers Union, which has been campaigning to phase out all pesticides, stated, "I hope the committee will recommend a total pesticide phaseout within a couple of years, and we are looking for the rest of the EU to do the same eventually."

The Danish EPA recently announced bans and severe restrictions on ten pesticides it considers "seriously damaging" to health, the environment or both. These include captan, deltamethrin, dichlorvos, diquat, fenarimol, guazatine, iprodione, thiram, trifluralin and vinclozolin. The restrictions will come into effect next year following completion of reviews under the country's re-registration process. This will bring the total number or pesticide bans and severe restrictions in Denmark to approximately 30 since 1994, when Denmark banned atrazine, cyanazine, hexazinone, lindane, paraquat, propachlor and thiabendazole. Bans and severe restrictions on an additional 12 pesticides came into effect earlier this year. These included 2,4-D, dazomet, diazinon, dichlobenil, dichlorprop, dichlorprop-P, maleic hydrazide, MCPA, mecoprop, mecoprop-P, thiophanate-methyl and ziram. In addition, the Danish EPA announced in 1996 that approximately 100 agrochemicals considered to have estrogenic effects will be phased out before 2000.

In related news, the Danish agrochemical association (DAF) said recently that pesticide sales in the country fell by 32% in 1996. They stated that industry members had expected this decline because 1995 sales were artificially high due to advanced purchases in anticipation of new and higher taxes under the Danish Pesticide Act, which came into effect on January 1, 1996, and not because of increased usage.

Sources: Pesticides News 37, September 1997, The Pesticides Trust; Agrow: World Crop Protection News, September 12, August 15, July 11, 1997, and October 18, 1996.

Contamination Closes Church - Pesticide Problems Strike at Soul of Kansas Congregation.

HARPER, Kan. - On the first Sunday of Lent, the Rev. Lee Louderback grabbed a loaf of bread baked for Communion. His large hands broke it in two, and he stretched out his arms like Christ on the cross. ``This is Christ's body, broken for you,'' he said to his congregation. ``Do this in remembrance of me. '' He froze for what seemed like a long time, until he sighed and his eyes welled with big tears. ``I'm scared,'' Louderback said that night after the service. ``I don't know how much my own body is broken. ''

Louderback, 55, is pastor of Harper United Methodist Church in this south Kansas community of 1,700. Today it is a congregation without a church. What once was a sanctuary for the Lord now stands as a test of the congregation's faith - not so much in God, but in man. Barricades block the entrances. Yellow ``caution'' tape girds the church. The congregation now must gather for Sunday service in the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the other side of town. They face bills for which they have no money. And Louderback worries about his recent pneumonia, memory loss and muscle spasms. Harper United Methodist Church has been poisoned by a common pesticide.

The pesticide is chlorpyrifos, more commonly known by the brand name Dursban. It is one of the most widely used insecticides in the United States, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently begun to examine whether its widespread use may be causing too many poisonings. The federal government registered the chemical for use to kill insects in 1965. But in 1994, the EPA logged 200 new reports of persons claiming to be poisoned by chlorpyrifos.

``It's widely used, but that doesn't mean it's safe,'' said Al Heier, an EPA spokesman. ``We don't have any evidence to say it's causing a significant risk to the public's health, but that's something we're looking into.'' DowElanco, a major maker of chlorpyrifos, recently offered to take steps to reduce public exposure to the insecticide. For example, the company has suggested that it stop selling the chemical for certain uses, such as indoor foggers. EPA is reviewing those ideas, Heier said this week.

In Harper, the pesticide was used to treat the United Methodist Church for termites. A crew from Orkin Exterminating Co. Inc. in Hutchinson, Kan., performed the job for $7,732 in July 1995. They drilled holes outside the church's walls and through the church's slab foundation, injecting chlorpyrifos into them. In theory, the holes would be sealed, and no human would be exposed to the chemical. But a state investigation shows that the Orkin crew did more than kill termites. It drilled into the church's ductwork and contaminated the ventilation system with the insecticide.

For a year, the church's staff, including Louderback, worked in a church where the air was contaminated by insecticide. ``We look on it as a significant violation,'' said Dan Tuggle, who reviews pesticide application cases investigated by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The state levied a civil penalty against Orkin, its most serious punishment, short of pulling a company's license to apply pesticides.

The state proposed a $3,500 civil penalty. But in a consent agreement signed in October, Orkin agreed to pay $2,250 to the state.

Orkin representatives at first suggested that the odors in Harper United Methodist Church were not from chlorpyrifos but from dirt and dampness in the church's ductwork. But state investigators found the chemical, which has a musty odor, in dust and swab samples from the ducts. Samples of the indoor air also confirmed the presence of chlorpyrifos. Orkin now acknowledges its mistake.

``We agree that we're in error to begin with, and we do need to rectify the situation. ... We'll do what needs to be done,'' said Susan Kirkpatrick, an Orkin spokeswoman in Atlanta. But United Methodist leaders in Kansas have not allowed Orkin to clean up the chemical contamination, Kirkpatrick said. Methodist officials say they are awaiting the results of their own consultant's tests in the church before asking Orkin to clean it up.

Meanwhile, the church staff worries about the chemical's potential impact on their health. ``I'm one of the ones hardest hit by this, and I'm really struggling with it,'' Louderback said. ``It scares the living daylights out of me. '' Kirkpatrick couldn't say whether Louderback or his staff should be concerned about their health. ``We've not examined them. We're not physicians,'' she said. ``But it's our belief that the duct work can be cleaned up fairly easily, within a few hours. ``We don't see it as a huge ongoing chronic problem,'' she added. ``We do know it can be fixed. ''

In May 1995, a small group of women met in the Bride's Room, just off the church's Fellowship Hall. It was hot and stuffy inside. When they turned on the air conditioner, insects swarmed out of a wall. ``I think we've got a termite problem,'' one of the women told Angela Thurston, a church secretary. The church quickly sought bids from termite exterminators.

Some companies wouldn't offer a bid when they saw the building's construction, Louderback said. The duct work was hidden below a concrete slab. Drilling into it without damaging the ventilation system would betricky. But Orkin bid and won the job. ``They said they were the experts,'' Louderback recalled. ``They said they could do it. ''

With the staff inside the church, the Orkin crew started the extermination work on July 25. For three days they drilled holes and injected insecticide into them. As soon as they left, Louderback and the church congregation smelled the chemical odor. But no one thought much about it.

Except for Paula Kastler, a church secretary. She was worried, partly because she saw something disturbing during the termite treatment. She witnessed 14- or 15-years-old boys, not in Orkin uniforms, drilling the holes, she told state investigators. When she confronted uniformed Orkin workers, according to her statement to the state, they told her it was fine. The teen-age workers wouldn't handle the chemicals. Kirkpatrick said that the company's policy is not to hire under-aged workers. ``That's not my understanding of the situation,'' she said. ``I'd be surprised to see that. '' After the crew left, Kastler also found traces of the chemical splashed on the walls in the hallway of the Fellowship Hall and on exterior walls. She called Orkin back to clean up the chemical. But when the air conditioning system came on, she also noticed that the chemical's odor grew stronger.

Closed sanctuary. Almost a year after Orkin's treatment, Kastler called a different exterminator. She had noticed crickets in the church. But when the exterminator arrived, he told her the church didn't require any new chemical treatment. All the crickets and spiders were dead. ``He told us, 'You need to get someone to clean up this mess,' '' Kastler said. He meant that the church was contaminated with the chemical used for termite treatment, Kastler said. ``He said it shouldn't be that strong,'' she said.

On June 27, 1996 - nearly a year after the termite treatment - Louderback called the Kansas Department of Agriculture to lodge a complaint against Orkin.

The minister and his staff then began to think that the allergy symptoms they had endured during fall and winter 1995 might have been due to the pesticide exposure. But Louderback said his health problems soon grew more severe. Last fall he developed pneumonia and infections. He was sleeping 12 to 14 hours a day and thinks he also suffered memory loss. His muscles began to spasm. Those symptoms are consistent with exposure to chlorpyrifos, according to a January review by EPA of poisonings related to the chemical. ``I believe all of these problems are related to the pesticide,'' Louderback said. ``I believe it emphatically, without a doubt. ''

Steve Childs, a lawyer for the Kansas West Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, says there's no doubt that Louderback has ``a documented health problem. ``The question is,'' Childs added, ``whether there's a link between the chemical and his health condition. '' Louderback became so ill this winter that he often couldn't preach. For weeks he spent most of his time in a living room easy chair. ``I could hardly function,'' he said. ``I really wasn't doing my job. ''

Some Sundays, a retired or part-time minister preached for him. Amid concerns about Louderback's deteriorating health and the church's liability, Childs said the United Methodist conference decided in late December that it would be best to close the church until the chemical contamination was cleaned up. They also forbid the church staff and its minister from re-entering the building. So while the congregation met for services and a special children's Christmas program on Dec. 22, Louderback sat home and cried.

``To have to call down there and tell those people that we have to close their church,'' Louderback said. ``That was one of the worst things I've ever had to do in the ministry. ''

After services, the congregation agreed with their Methodist leaders. They closed the church. 'God's will'

It was the first Sunday of Lent, and Louderback was at the pulpit in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Harper. The Methodists meet there on Sundays. The Seventh-day Adventists use it on Saturdays. Louderback has begun to feel better now that he has been out of the church for two months. He is a tall man, and his emotions are often large and easy to see. Before church he smiled and hugged members of his congregation. In song and in prayer, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Louderback wore a sport coat and tie, not his usual robes and stoles. They were at a cleaner in Wichita that had promised to remove all traces of chlorpyrifos.

Lent is a 40-day period when Christians commemorate, with fasting and prayer, Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. Louderback wouldn't waste the opportunity. ``In the wilderness,'' Louderback began his sermon, ``the Lord came face to face with the devil ... and guess what? Maybe we're in the wilderness today, and we're face to face with the devil. ``That devil we face is the corporations that use us for profit and have no regard for righteousness. ... But we need not fear them. We shall overcome. ''

After his sermon, Louderback told the congregation of the church's financial concerns. ``We're going to have tremendous expenses coming soon,'' he said. ``And we'll have to find a way to pay them. '' Many have tried to help, he told them. A bank donated a fax machine. Other churches have planned fund-raisers. One church in Satanta, Kan., already has sent a check for $900.30.

But the church still has large utility bills, even with its building closed. It has an extra rent payment now, to pay for a temporary office in a downtown building, as well as lawyer and consulting fees.

Later, the church members traveled 17 miles to Norwich, where Louderback's wife, Linda, is the pastor of the United Methodist Church. They shared a Valentine's Day potluck. They raffled a jar of M&Ms, and Norwich church members told jokes and read poems. In the back of the room, Roy Davis, lay leader of Harper United Methodist Church, stood up to thank his neighbors.

``I don't think it's God's will that we be evicted from our church,'' said Davis, a member of Harper United Methodist Church since his birth 51 years ago. ``But if it's God's will, we will overcome it.

KC Star Newspaper Article on Dursban and Orkin By: MICHAEL MANSUR Environment Writer Date: 02/22/97

Recognizing Friends Among Foes

Each day the immune system must defend the body against harmful infectious organisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses) and cancerous cells. The immune system is activated when foreign agents (antigens), gain access to the body and are attacked by white blood cells. Specialized white blood cells secrete substances (antibodies) that attach to the outside of the foreign body. The foreign invader may be neutralized when first marked by the antibody; it may be destroyed by "killer" white blood cells; or it may be devoured by white blood cells known as phagocytes. The immune system includes the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph tissues, stem cells, white blood cells, antibodies, and lymphokines. The lymph system, separate from the circulatory system and known as the body's drainage system, is a network of vessels that collect excess body fluid (lymph) for bathing body tissues; the lymph carries white blood cells. Lymph is filtered through lymph nodes located in the neck, armpits, abdomen, and groin; any bacteria or viruses not initially destroyed are again attacked by white blood cells. Ultimately, the lymph (with its white blood cells) is discharged back into the circulatory system. Scientists have begun speculating that pesticides may have the potential to interfere with the immune system. They offer limited clinical evidence, primarily from experimental animals, that pesti-cides can suppress the immune system, produce a hyperactive reaction, or cause an autoimmune response. Immune System Suppression

Pesticides which impair white blood cells, damage organs, or alter foreign body or cancer cell recognition might lead to immune system suppression. Scientists often cite smaller organs, fewer white blood cells, and limited antibody production as evidence that pesticides can be toxic to the immune system; and epidemiological evidence suggests that a suppressed immune system can render a person more susceptible to infection. Thus, individuals exposed to pesticides might exhibit a higher susceptibility to infectious illnesses than persons not so exposed. Hypersensitive Reaction Pesticides in contact with the surface of the skin can bind to or damage skin cells. The resulting modified cells are recognized by white blood cells as foreign and are attacked in great numbers. The affected area becomes inflamed and a rash may develop. Scientists often point to contact dermatitis as an example of a hypersensitive reaction. Autoimmune Response

Normal white blood cells have the ability to distinguish body cells from foreign invaders. An autoimmune response results when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissues by producing antibodies directed against them (e.g, rheumatoid arthritis).

This debate is framed in speculation because scientific data and/or biological mechanisms are either lacking or limited. Research labs around the world are turning to scientific and medical research to provide answers. Their findings will go a long way in dealing with the speculation being spread by advocacy groups, government agencies, health professionals, and trade associations.

The Label - Purdue Pesticide Programs January 1997 Sources: Clinical Immunotoxicity of Pesticides. 1996. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. 48:215-229; Under-standing The Immune System. 1991. National Institutes Of Health; Pesticides and the Immune System. 1996.World Resources

EPA Endocrine Program Unlikely to Change Despite Retraction of Synergy Study

October 24, 1997

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has indicated that it will not change its research or policy regarding endocrine disruption, despite the recent retraction of an influential Tulane University study on synergy among estrogenic chemicals. EPA said that while the retraction invalidates the methods used by the Tulane researchers, it does not negate the substantial body of scientific literature on endocrine disruption and synergism.

Tulane researchers formally retracted their findings due to repeated failures to replicate their original results. The study, "Synergistic Activation of Estrogen Receptor with Combinations of Environmental Chemicals," which appeared in the June 7, 1996 issue of Science, found that combinations of certain weakly estrogenic chemicals, including the pesticides chlordane, endosulfan, dieldrin and toxaphene, could pose risks of cancer, birth defects and reproductive problems up to 1,000 times greater than they pose individually. These findings have played an important role in policy debates about endocrine disrupting chemicals.

In a recent letter to Science, the study's authors said, "It seems evident that there must have been a fundamental flaw in the design of our original experiment." Scientists at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology,Duke University Medical School, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Texas A&M University and the Zeneca Central Toxicology Laboratory all tried unsuccessfully to replicate the experiment.

According to Dr. Lynn Goldman, EPA's Assistant Administrator at the Office of Pesticides, Pollution and Toxic Substances (OPPTS), "The retraction clearly invalidates general use of the Tulane researchers' yeast-estrogen test system for routine examination of synergistic effects of chemicals. However, it does not overturn the substantial scientific literature on either endocrine disruptors or synergistic effects."

James Aidala, Associate Administrator at OPPTS, stated that the Agency will "continue developing screening mechanisms for endocrine disrupting chemicals, and the fact that Dr. McLachlan (the lead researcher in theTulane study) could not replicate it given the context of the study does not mean there is not synergy going on out there, it just means we have not found it yet."

According to Aidala, "many people say that if there is all this endocrine disruption going on, then we should see it in individual chemicals. Well, we don't see it. We do not see the predicted potencies if you look at these chemicals individually. That is why the synergy theory was and is still agood theory."

Under the Food Quality Protection Act and the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA must develop and present a screening and testing program for endocrine disrupting chemicals to Congress by August 1999. EPA established the Endocrine Disruptors Screening and Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) to develop guidelines for screening chemicals for their endocrine disrupting potential. The committee, which meets every two months over the course of a year, is comprised of approximately ten representatives from industry, ten from government, ten from academic institutions and ten from nonprofit public interest organizations.

In related news, EPA has released a schedule for reassessing pesticide tolerances, as required by the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act. EPA must reassess 9,728 food tolerances (allowable levels of pesticides that can remain in or on food) which were established before August 3, 1996. The ten year schedule prioritizes chemicals that pose the greatest health risks, including organophosphates, organochlorines and carbamates. The Agency is also planning to revoke over 1,000 tolerances for canceled pesticides, suspended or canceled uses, and commodities which are no longer considered "significant livestock feed items."

According to EPA, the health of children and infants will be emphasized throughout this process. Of the 1,800 organophosphate tolerances under review, more than 300 are for residues on crops that are among the top 20 foods consumed by children and infants. The Agency must review 33% of the 9,728 tolerances by August 1999, 66% by August 2002 and 100% by August 2006.

Sources: National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides' (NCAMP)Technical Report, Vol. 12, No. 10, October 1997; NCAMP Technical Report,Vol. 12, No. 8/9, August/September 1997; Washington Post, August 17, 1997. Contact: NCAMP, 701 E Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003; phone(202) 543-5450; fax (202) 543-4791; email ncamp@igc.org;www.ncamp.org/ncamp.

EPA Approves Synthetic Pyrethroids Tolerances

In what the agency calls the largest pesticide tolerance assessment ever under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), EPA has reviewed 273 tolerances on food for a group of 10 synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. According to the agency, all of the insecticides met the new FQPA safety standards, their tolerance levels will remain unchanged, and all time limits on the tolerances were removed. Synthetic pyrethroids are considered major alternatives to organophosphate and carbamate insecticides in major crops, including cotton, corn, sorghum, rice, wheat and alfalfa. The review of so many products was expedited because the six major manufacturers of the chemicals formed a combined task force to facilitate gathering the data EPA requested.
Chem. & Eng. News; 12/1/97

PLANT SMART TO AVOID BT-RESISTANT CORN BORER, EXPERTS ADVISE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Corn farmers could learn a lesson from cotton producers: Planting crops genetically engineered to be insect-resistant works in the short run, but also could increase the number of insects resistant to pesticides in the future, Purdue University experts advise.

The genetically engineered crops in question use a naturally occurring insecticide produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which is commonly known as "Bt." This past summer, cotton farmers in the South who used Bt- enriched cotton saw their crops attacked by insecticide-resistant bollworms.

Scientists have moved the Bt gene into certain crops, allowing the plants themselves to fight off the insects. In corn, the Bt gene has proven to be effective against the corn borer. Overall, the long-term prognosis for Bt-enriched crops is still up in the air, experts say.

Marshall Martin, professor of agricultural economics and director of Purdue's Center for Agricultural Policy and Technology Assessment, says Bt-enriched crops offer distinct advantages. "Bt is from a soil bacterium, and it's often found in organic gardening products," he says. "It is much safer for people than insecticides. It has been approved by the EPA, the FDA and the USDA, which found no negative human health aspect."

The natural insecticide from the bacterium not only eliminates the need for synthetic chemical insecticides, but it also doesn't affect animals or beneficial insects, and it degrades in sunlight. Also, because the gene works by producing a protein that is easily digested by people and animals -- but not by some insects -- there is no concern about it being placed in food.

According to the experts, problems occur when farmers overuse the technology, just as over-prescribing antibiotics to people can result in treatment-resistant bacteria. If farmers use too much of the Bt crops, it will kill nearly all of the pest insects. A few that are immune to the insecticide will survive, however, and these will multiply and eventually come storming back.

This problem arose this past summer when a small number of cotton farmers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia reported that they had to supplement the protection of the Bt-enriched cotton with an insecticide in order to protect their crops from the cotton bollworm. "It's our anticipation that problems with resistant pests are likely to occur from Bt crops," says Purdue entomologist Larry Bledsoe. "The fact that they documented problems in cotton fields this year wasn't too surprising to entomologists.

"As long as just a few corn borer moths survive, or bollworms in the case of cotton, you'll create a resistant strain of insects. If just 1 percent of the insects are resistant, a farmer probably won't see any insects for a few years. But when they return, 99 percent of them will be insecticide-resistant, and they will be very difficult to control."

Martin says that although everyone knew that Bt-resistant bollworms might someday appear, the speed at which nature adapted took the experts by surprise: "They knew there would be problems at some point, perhaps years down the road. And they might have considered that it could occur within just a few years. But I don't think anyone expected there to be these types of problems in the first year or two.

"The last thing a seed company wants is for seed not to work after they've put all of the R-and-D time and effort into it. The farmer doesn't want the seed to fail because that would deny him another tool, and it's one that he needs. The environmentalists don't want the seed to fail because then farmers will go back to spraying insecticide.

"All parties agree that we don't want these types of problems to happen again."

Bledsoe says any problems with Bt corn -- which are completely hypothetical at this point -- will take a long time to appear, because Bt corn hasn't been embraced by Midwestern farmers as quickly as Bt cotton was by Southern producers. The reason is twofold: For the past few years the corn borer hasn't been as common in the Midwest, and currently the genetically engineered seed costs $20 more per bag.

"Farmers don't typically pay a lot of attention to corn borer," Bledsoe says. "Before the Bt corn there wasn't much you could do about it, so they just didn't think about it. But this year we did have an strong outbreak in northeastern Indiana, southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio, so farmers may be in the mood to do something about it.

"In terms of the total seed planted this summer, Bt corn was a minuscule amount. I'd estimate that only about 200,000 bags were planted this year, which was the first year the seed has been available commercially." With roughly 25 million bags of seed corn planted, Bt corn probably made up less than 1 percent of the total.

According to Bledsoe, although many are concerned about resistant insects, many individuals would rather have someone else to sacrifice for the greater good.

"We have suggested methods of preventing the problem to the companies, such as mixing 80 percent resistant seed and 20 percent susceptible seed in a bag," he says. "But the seed producers don't want to be the first one out there who has seed that's 20 percent susceptible. Likewise, we've told the farmers to plant 80 percent resistant corn and 20 percent susceptible corn. But the farmer doesn't want to do it, he wants his neighbor to do it."

Martin predicts farmers soon will realize that controlling the corn borer within limits makes economic sense. "A farmer can withstand some damage," he says. "There's an economic threshold. You can live with a yield loss of three to four bushels per acre, but not 10 to 15 bushels per acre. So we don't need to kill every insect out there, just suppress them."

Martin says the reason farmers will adopt the proper management technique for Bt crops is that for some insects, Bt crops are potentially a more effective way to treat an infestation. "It's a corn borer," Martin says. "It bores inside the plant, and once it's there you can't do anything about it." With Bt crops, the insecticidal trait is in the plant tissue and is able to stop the insects.

The greatest damage from corn borers occurs late in the growing season. As the borer chews holes through stalks, corn plants weaken and can be knocked over and made unharvestable by wind or storms. But often the infestation isn't discovered until the crop is harvested.

"If you ride in the cab of a combine, as I have done, and you see these stalks hit the corn head and fall over where the grain can't be harvested, it just hits the farmer right in the pocketbook," Martin says. "That's money that's falling on the ground."

Farmers whose fields are infested can lose 10 percent to 15 percent or more of their crop. "At corn prices that we're seeing right now, there's good incentive to try to control it," he says.

Purdue University News Service 1132 Engineering Administration Building West Lafayette, IN 47907-1132 Voice: 317-494-2096 FAX: 317-494-0401 October 1996

Pesticide Labels With Vocal Cords

Wouldn't it be a surprise if you unscrewed the cap of a pesticide container and a voice said, Read the label before you go any further! Well, would it astonish you that EPA, in the very near future, will place a notice in the Federal Register asking for suggestions on implementing talking labels for specific product lines? The word on the street is that indoor aerosol foggers will be targeted first because more than a few homeowners have failed to heed the label, which requires that pilot lights be turned off before application; this simple mistake has resulted in homes being blown off their foundations!

Prototype talking labels equipped with battery-operated computer chips that can provide a 20- to 45-second message have been developed. The cost for the talking label: $1.25 per container. For some products, the message will activate automatically when the cap is removed. The talking label will not repeat verbatim what is on a label, but it might provide the user with very specific information such as, You must turn off all pilot lights before using this product.

Talking labels might also take the form of a "baseball card" placed beneath the folded labels on agricultural pesticides; the user may have to press the card to activate the message. It is conceivable that pressing one part of the card will trigger the message in English, while pressing another might produce the same message in Spanish. The message may say something such as, Your employees must receive training under EPA's Worker Protection Standard, or, This product requires mixers/loaders to wear a respirator.

The Label - Purdue Pesticide Programs, July 1997 Humor From the Internet

We know that many of you have been waiting on the edge of your chairs for more nominees for the Darwin Awards so here they are. Darwin Awards are (by proper definition) granted posthumously. The citation is bestowed upon (the remains of) that individual, who through single-minded self-sacrifice, has done the most to remove undesirable elements from the human gene pool.

Frog Hunting By John McCaslin THE WASHINGTON TIMES Only in Arkansas
Here's more on why Arkansas is everyone's favorite state. This is from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

"Two local men were seriously injured when their pickup truck left the road and hit a tree near Cotton Plant on State Highway 38 early Monday morning ...

"Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock are listed in serious condition at Baptist Medical Center. The accident occurred as the two men were returning to Des Arc after a frog-gigging trip. [Note to city slickers: frog-gigging, or frog-sticking, is how, armed with a small pitchfork, you catch frogs from the bayou bank. Frog legs make a tasty supper.]

"On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet, the headlights again began to operate and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge.

"After traveling approximately 20 miles and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply to the right, exiting the pavement and striking the tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident, but will require surgery to repair the other wound. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released.

"'Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his nuts off or we might have been dead,' said Wallis.

"'I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world,' said Deputy Snyder, 'but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how the accident happened.'

"Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia, Poole's wife, asked how many frogs the boys had caught, and did anyone think to get them from the truck." (ed. comment) Gee! Everyone knows you should use larger caliber bullets for a headlight fuse! Maybe these guys are related to to following person, whose house I won't be going to for dinner!

Too Bad She's Actually Fertile...

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A woman is suing the pharmacy that sold her a popular contraceptive jelly - because she ate the stuff on toast and got pregnant anyway. And, incredibly, many legal experts are saying she's got an excellent chance of collecting!

"The woman is a complete idiot," said one attorney who asked that we not use his name. "How bright can you be if you think eating a vaginal gel will prevent conception?

"But certain aspects of the case involve truth in labeling and false advertising issues. She may not collect but she'll make a lot of noise and trouble. People are down on lawyers anyway. They think we waste time and money on frivolous lawsuits. This isn't going to help our public relations any."

A spokesman for the unnamed mom-and-pop drugstore says he's shocked and angry that such a case could ever be taken seriously. "All she has to do is open the box and read the directions," says the spokesman. "Next thing you know someone will come after us because they couldn't stick things together with their toothpaste.

"I can just imagine some moron saying: 'It's paste, isn't it? Why can't I glue these papers onto my bulletin board?' "

But attorneys for Mrs. Chyton say she was swindled and lied to by implication and they intend to make the pharmacy pay $500,000 for the hardship the woman will have to endure.

"It says right on it 'jelly,'" says Mrs. Chyton, a former model who was once a cheerleader for a popular professional basketball team. "And they kept it on the shelf just two aisles from the food section. I know, now, that the directions say it should be used vaginally with a condom. But who has time to sit around reading directions these days - especially when you're sexually aroused?" (Author unknown)

Heavy Metal and Stupidity Don't Mix

Police in George, WA issued a report on the events leading up to the deaths of Robert Uhlenake (24) and his friend, Ormond D. Young (27) at the Metallica concert last Friday. Uhlenake and Young were found dead at the Gorge Amphitheater after the show. Uhlenake was in pickup that was on top of Young at the bottom of a 20 ft drop. Young was found with severe lacerations, numerous fractures, contusions, and a branch in his anal cavity. He also had been stabbed and his pants were in a tree above him, some 15 ft off the ground; adding to the mystery of the heretofore unexplained scene. According to Commissioner-In-Charge Inoye Appleton, Uhlenake and Young had tried to get tickets for the sold-out concert. When they were unable to get any tickets, the two decided to stay in the lot and drink. Once the show began, and after the two had consumed 18 beers between the two of them, they hit upon the idea of scaling the 7 foot wooden security fence around the perimeter of the site and sneak in.

They apparently moved the truck up to the edge of the fence and decided that Young would go over first and assist Uhlenake later. They had not counted on the fact that while it was a 7 foot fence on the parking lot side, there was a 23 foot drop on the other side. Young, who weighed 255 lbs and was quite inebriated, had jumped up and over the fence and promptly fell about half the 23 foot distance before a large tree branch broke his fall AND his left forearm; unfortunately, he also managed to get his shorts caught on the branch.

Since he was now in a lot of pain and with no way to extricate himself and his shorts from the tree, he decided, seeing bushes down below, to cut his shorts off and fall to the ground. U pon cutting the last bit of fabric from himself, he suddenly plummeted to earth, losing grip of the knife. The "soft" bushes were actually holly bushes and landing in them caused a massive number of cuts. He also had the misfortune of landing squarely on a holly bush branch; effectively impaling himself.

The knife, which he had accidentally released 15 ft up, now landed and stabbed him in his left thigh. Apparently, he was in a lot of pain. Enter his friend Robert. Uhlenake had apparently observed the last bit of this and, despite his inebriated state, realized that Young was in trouble. He hit upon the idea of lowering a rope to his friend and pull him up and over the fence. This was complicated by the fact that Uhlenake was outweighed by his friend by a good 100 lbs. Again, despite his state he realized he could use their truck to pull Young out. Unfortunately, because of his state, Uhlenake put the truck in reverse, rather than drive, broke through the fence, landed on Young (killing him), was thrown out of the truck and subsequently died of internal injuries. "So that's how a dead 255 lb man with no pants on, with a truck on top of him and a stick up his --- came to be" said Commissioner Appleton.
(Author unknown)

(ed. comment) Never did hear how the concert went!

If you're going to steal...

This is a true story according to a recent issue of Road and Track Magazine: When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motorhome parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motorhome near spilled sewage. a police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motorhome`s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he's ever had. Play with the toys outside.

I heard this news story reported on a morning radio show about 3 or 4 months ago. Apparently this story was taken from a news report out of Florida (I can't remember the city name). Perhaps you can confirm this story and find out if this guy ended up to be sterile...by the sounds of the story there's a good possibility.

Not sure about the details, but it went something like this: A Florida man was out on his patio tinkering with his motorcycle. With his hand on the handle bars, revving the engine, he accidently trips the kickstand causing the motorcycle to lunge forward (his hand still gripping the handlebar) through the patio glass sliding door. His wife was inside the house and heard the loud crash. She came into the dining room to find her husband, the motorcycle, and glass everywhere. She calls 911 to summon an ambulance. Since thier home is located on top of a large hillside, it was necessary for her to run down a stairway to the street and flag the ambulance crew in her direction. The man was successfully taken to the hospital, treated, and released with minor (?) lacerations.

Once back at home, the wife returns to the dining room to start cleaning up the mess. The first thing she did was mop up the gasoline that had spilled on the carpet with bunches of paper towels. Not knowing what to do with the sopped towels, she flushed them down the toilet. Not long afterwards, the husband, feeling dismayed over the entire situation, retreats to the commode to relax with a cigarette. He extinguishes the cigarette in the toilet, causing a huge explosion. The wife, hearing the explosion, comes running into the bathroom to find her husband on the floor with severe burns in the groin area.

She calls 911 to summon an ambulance. The same ambulance crew arrives, loads this guy onto a stretcher, and carries him out to the ambulance. On their way out, the wife proceeded to explain what had just occurred. As everyone got a good laugh, one of the ambulance crew slips on the stairs heading down to the street, and drops one corner of the strecher. The man fell, head-first, onto the pavement and suffered a concussion.

Apparently, this just wasn't his day.