The Nenana river is located immediately adjacent to Denali National Park and Preserve and passes by the McKinley Village where the Host had an overnight stay. The river is glacier fed. There was a sign saying that a Grizzly bear had recently been seen immediately by this property. Beautiful and dangerous.

Health Issues and Trends

Sweeping Changes in Oregon's

Health Care Program

Former Governor John Kitzhaber, MD, is promoting vast changes in health programs that would involve medicare, medicade and some other public dollars used for Health Care. He said that there is about $6.3 billion available for Oregon Health Care. You can listen to one of his presentations on January 18, 2006 or turn to the "Listen to Show" page to hear his presentation and questions put to him by members of the Washington County Forum. Kitzhaber is the Director of OHSU's Center for Evidence Based Policy.

For more information about the center click on Center for Evidence BasedPolicy.

Hope for Oregon Families Healthcare Options

Another effort is afoot through through the joint effort through the bi-partisan efforts of Senator Ben Westland (R), Senator Allen Bates (D), and Representative Mitch Greenlich (D). Hope for Oregon Families, an Oregon non-profit, is collecting signatures for Measure 40. The Measure would create a constitutional amendment which would ensure that all Oregonians would have health care. The legislature would be required to come up with a plan by 2009. For more information about their efforts click on Hope for Oregon Families.

Avian Flu and Fears about a Pandemic - What is being done about this fear? Hear about it on Keeping Kurrent.

There are a variety of excellent resources to find out what people are thinking and doing about this potential problem. The US Department of Agriculture has explained Avian Influenza, listed the clinical signs as well as explaining how it spreads and how individuals can help prevent this disease. They even include a "Biosecurity for the Birds" campaign to encourage individuals to help identify sick birds. You can find out more about this by turning to the USDA website.

Closer to home their are several groups that are helping urban farmers, especially those that raise chickens, understand the likelihood of this problem and explain what they can do about it. Two of the groups are Oregon Tilth and Growing Gardens of Portland. These two organizations, who work with individuals to provide their own food, sponsored a "Community Forum on Avian Influenza for Chicken Keeping." The meeting was held on April 26th and included Bruce Mueller, a field veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and Kari Lyons, an environmental health educator for Multnomah County. The primary reason for being there was to learn more about this type of flu and how it affects backyard chickens.

This week on Keeping Kurrent, May 10th, you'll have an opportunity to hear from Kari Lyons, Bruce Pokarney representing the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and Megan Twilegar, owner of Pistil's Nursery, on this week's Keeping Kurrent show.

There are a variety of other excellent resources on this subject. Oregon Tilth has a web page about Avian Flu. Check this out at Seattle Tilth. Michael Fumento has also written, Fuss and Feathers Pandemic Panic Over the Avian Flu. If you'd like to learn about what the "Daily Show" thinks about the efforts of the government and of film makers to describe what can happen, look no farther than Comedy Central. You can double click on "Revenge of the Birds."

MORE NEWS FROM OREGON ON PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES

Oregon's Public Health Director, Susan Allen, M.D., reported on the Oregon's preparedness for pandemic flu and other public-health emergencies at the June 2, 2006 Public Health Advisory meeting. More on this later as information is available.

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Volleyball is great way to excercise. YCT participants are working out at the Metro YMCA in Portland, Oregon.