Page 2
OP-ED
The Wayne & Garfield County INSIDER
From the Publisher's Desk
With the Rain, Beware of Mold Spores by Jessica Grow
Calendar
With all the rain we had last week I’m sure many of us have found leaks in our roofs, basements, and windows that we didn’t know we had. I’ve heard many people mention the musty smell their homes and workplaces have developed. Humidity has been high for a long time and will remain high until we get enough sunshine or wind to start drying things out again. Mold spores have been waiting for a perfect time like this to set up camp behind your walls and make lots of toxic spores to share with you and your family. Until about five months ago when I was diagnosed with biotoxin illness, I had no idea of the serious effects that mold can have on your health, family, and pocket book. Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, a recognized leader in patient care and research and an education pioneer in the field of biotoxin-related illnesses, estimates that 25% of the population is genetically susceptible to biotoxin illness. Very few doctors are trained to recognize and treat it, and patients are often misdiagnosed with other diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, celiac disease, and cancer. Many patients, such as myself, are bounced around from specialist to specialist with no diagnosis at all. A person with biotoxin illness does not have the ability to process biotoxins from toxic mold, spider bites, and tick bites. As Dr. Shoemaker explains on his website, survivingmold.com, Typically â€œâ€Śwhen the body is faced with a foreign substance, it immediately begins to process that substance —determine if it is good or bad, a friend or a foe. If the body determines the substance is a foe, it will develop antibodies to bind these substances, called antigens. Normally then, the next time a non-mold susceptible person walks into a water damaged building, his antibodies will target the antigen and clear it out fast. “In people with biotoxin illness the antigens stay in the body, and their own defenses bombard their body and cause inflammation in the body to go wild... “It is a vicious cycle—the foreign antigens stay in the body, causing the immune system to constantly fight back. This causes so much inflammation in the body that it leads to chronic illness and the occurrence of many symptoms.â€? Symptoms of biotoxin illness are wide ranging and can include: fatigue, weakness, aches , muscle cramps, headache, light sensitivity, red eyes, blurred vision, tearing, sinus problems, cough, abdominal pain, diarrhea, joint pain, morning stiffness, memory issues, focus/concentration issues, confusion, skin sensitivity , sweats, temperature regulation problems, excessive thirst, numbness, tingling, vertigo, metallic taste and tremors. Oh no! You might be thinking, “I have some or many of those symptoms I must have biotoxin illness!â€? Well, first ask yourself a couple questions: Have you been exposed to mold over your lifetime in your home, workplace, or hotels? Have you been bitten by a tick or poisonous spider? If you have had these exposures or are unsure, you can go to survivingmold.com and take the “VCS eye testâ€?. This eye test checks your ability to dis-
tinguish contrast and can be a good indicator as to whether or not you may have biotoxin illness. Interestingly enough, I passed the eye test but failed the exposures and symptoms section of the test. My mom took the test and failed it miserably. She has suffered from multiple illnesses all her life. The good thing about finding out that you have biotoxin illness is that it is treatable through diet and with medicines and supplements that have no side effects. In my case, within five days on one medication my eye sight returned to 20/20 vision! I had no idea that needing glasses could be a result of this chronic illness; I just thought it was part of getting older. Another part of the treatment is staying away from moldy buildings, which is why all the rain this week has got me on edge. If leaks have shown up in your home during these crazy rains we’ve been having, they should not be taken lightly. It only takes mold 48 hours to start growing when conditions are right, and believe me, they are. I had a window in my home get wet when the swamp cooler broke just before the rains started, and 4 days later it was still wet so I thought I should remove the trim around the window to facilitate drying. I was too late. Now I am in the middle of insurance claims and mold remediation. Local contractor Reed Munson said the walls and the floor have to go. Not to mention the $500 deductible I have to pay to my insurance. If you discover leaks in your home, there are some things you should and should not do. Do catch it as soon as it begins, then fix the problem causing the moisture immediately and begin drying as soon as possible. If the moisture is behind the walls or covers a large area, get someone with experience in drying out water damage to come do it professionally. Your insurance may cover it. This is not cheap, but it will cost far less than if you wait until it begins to get moldy, not to mention the possible health risk you may be subjecting yourself to. Do not disturb any mold you may see or suspect. When mold is disturbed it releases unbelievable amounts of toxic spores that will become airborne and inhaled or distributed throughout your home. Do not spray mold with bleach. Bleach is not effective and even can cause more mold and the release of more toxins. Call a reputable certified mold remediation company to inspect and determine the extent of the damage. Quarantine the room with the mold by putting up plastic sheeting if possible between the time you discover the mold and when the mold remediation company can come. Please share this article with your family and friends: it may be their key to better health! Information in this article is from Dr. Shoemaker’s website survivingmold.com and from his book Surviving Mold –Life in the Era of Dangerous Buildings. Other resources include: Betterhealthguy.com, Momsaware.com, Mold Warriors by Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D. Mold Illness and Mold Remediation Made Easy by James Schaller, M.D., and Gary Rosen, Ph.D. Jessica Grow is a resident of Esclante.
Alex Waters of Escalante displays the only known purpose for goat heads.
Goat Head Herders Wind Up Second Round
ESCALANTE - The second Goat Head Roundup was held Thursday evening, September 12, at 6 p.m., around the Community Center and the City offices. Not quite so many folks turned out as on the first roundup, but there were plenty of weed warriors to carry on the good work. All the recent rain had given the goat heads a jump on the competition, but it also left the ground soft so it was easy to pull the weeds out, root and all. Everyone participating in the Arts Festival this year should notice a dramatically reduced number of goat heads around the Community Center grounds. When it became too dark to gather more weeds, everyone went to the pavilion for a pot-luck supper. It was decided that there would be one more roundup before Fall, probably early to mid-October. The time and date will be posted and there will be prizes for the most goat heads (based on weight) gathered. Thanks again to all who have contributed their time and effort and good cheer on this most worthwhile project. —Gwendolyn Zeta
CAPITOL REEF N.P. The Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center operating hours will be 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily from Sunday, September 29, 2013 through Saturday, November 2. A free interpretive geology talk will be offered daily at the visitor center at 10:00 am. Evening programs at the campground may be offered on Fridays and Saturdays only, as staffing allows; check the visitor center for scheduling. The visitor center will be open on Monday, October 14, 2013 for Columbus Day. Capitol Reef will celebrate National Fossil Day and Earth Science Week October 16-20 with special geology programs and activities at Ripple Rock Nature Center. Check the visitor center for scheduling. The historic Gifford House,
RICHFIELD - The Fishlake National Forest will be performing maintenance on two roads management by the Forest. Both road maintenance projects are expected to create temporary closures in the areas impacted by the work. Starting on September 24, the Fishlake National Forest will be administering a contract to rotomill the Kent’s Lake Road beginning at Upper Kent’s Lake and extending 6.2 miles toward LeBaron Reservoir. This work is expected to take place September 2427; finishing up the following week, September 30-October 3. The road will be closed during these days in the project area. The public is urged to use SR 153 as an alternate route. This work will improve the road on this part of
The American Red Cross’ supply of type O Negative blood is low due to declining donations. Please make an appointment to donate blood in the coming days to ensure patient needs can continue to be met with your important blood type. As a donor with type O Negative blood, your support
n Harvest Time & Scarecrow Festival, Wayne County
n Escalante Canyons Marathon
the Kent’s Lake Road and enhance future road maintenance activities. The second project will starting on approximately October 7 The Fishlake National Forest and Wayne County will be administering contracts to rotomill the North Slope Road beginning at SR 12 and extending approximately 8.5 miles to the Blind Lake Trailhead. This work is expected to take place October 7-10; finishing up the following week, October 14-17. The road will be closed during these days. These dates may fluctuate depending on unforeseen circumstances. This work will improve the North Slope Road and enhance future road maintenance activities. —U.S. Forest Service
O Negative Blood Donors Needed Now
n Escalante Canyons Art Festival, Escalante
October 12
located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the Visitor Center on Scenic Drive, will be open 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily through Saturday, October 26, before closing for the season. Fresh baked pies, breads and pastries are available for purchase. Autumn is a wonderful time to enjoy the exhibits, park movie and the Capitol Reef Natural History Association bookstore as well as fruit available for harvest from the park’s historic orchards. For more information, contact us at (435) 425-3791 or follow us on www. twitter.com/CapitolReefNPS or www.facebook.com/CapitolReefNPS. Enjoy autumn at Capitol Reef National Park! —National Park Service
Road Milling to Cause Temporary Closures
October 12-19
n Cliff Notes Writing Conference and Boulder Book Festival, Boulder
Last week I said something about needing rain. Did I really say that? Well, I think it was true back then, but now that seems like a long time ago. There’s been a lot of water both under and over the bridge since then, and I’ve got buckets in the yard that, standing empty a little over a week ago, have now completely spilled over. I’m lucky, as others are experiencing much more serious consequences from our recent heavy rains. At the risk of making someone mad at me I’ll still say that rain in the desert is a glorious thing and I’m grateful for it. It’s also good that this week’s weather forecast is sunny, sunny, sunny. It’s a funny thing running this paper. Last week we had a bunch of Wayne County news and items for the front page, and this week there seems to be a lot of Escalante-based news in particular. I’ve heard that people think the paper is prejudiced toward or against one place or another, but really, since a small fraction of stories are written in-house, what gets published is mostly a result of what comes in the door, or more literally, into the email inbox. I try as much as possible to maintain a balance between the counties and the towns, but as a community paper the content is pretty much settled by what people submit. So if you’d like your neck of the woods represented, send us a little news and a photo of what’s going on in your neighborhood. We’d love to hear about it. Erica Walz, Publisher The Wayne & Garfield County Insider
Capitol Reef October Hours & Events
September 27-28
October 3-6
September 19, 2013
can make a world of difference! You have the universal blood type that can be transfused to nearly anyone, which is extremely important in emergencies when there isn’t time to determine a patient’s blood type. Please act now. With just about an hour of your time, you can help save up to three lives. Schedule your blood donation appointment today or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1800-733-2767). Eligible type O Negative donors are encouraged to double their impact by making a double red cell donation where available. Learn more about double red cell donation and eligibility requirements. Thank you! —American Red Cross
  �
Â? Â? Â? Â
�   €  ‚‚ � ‚ƒ „„„ � … …   † � � ‡ ˆ‡‡
Fall is for Planting Color Country Nursery 378 W. Center St., Panguitch We are having our
Pre-Fall Sale Starting the 29th of August, running through September
20% off all nursery items Come early and get the pick of the litter. Call Bob Smith Phone: 676-8301 Cell: 616-8301
Discover America’s Outback in Escalante! Enjoy 3,000 miles of ATV & hiking trails, explore historic Hole-inthe-Rock Road & its red rock slot canyons. Visit indian heritage sites. Ride to cool mountain lakes and marvel at spectacular views around every turn! We provide safe, reliable, and FUN transportation to access remote area attractions where passenger cars and motor homes are not recommended. We equip all renters with a GPS guide to locations and an Emergency Spot Locator so you can feel safe to explore.
Discounts for Wayne and Garfield County residents! Call to Reserve. 435-826-4112
85 West Main Street, Escalante