Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 3

E9 Decatur, Illinois, Monday, April 5, 1991 H3 I City Desk Effingham cutting board due to bacteria-killing effects firm may grow of wood. By SCOn PERRY Mattoon Bureau Chief come to a screeching halt. And Effingham's John Boos and Co. was no exception. "This market segment for John Boos has been dwindling for 25 years.

It's like it hit a brick wall," said Ted Graven-horst president of the 106-year-old manufacturer of wood products. But the downward trend might soon be reversed. A new study shows that wood cutting boards actually kill bacteria, while bacteria thrive on plastic cutting boards. "This flies in the face of prevailing wisdom," Dean 0. Cliver said of the findings in a prepared release.

Cliver and Nese O. Ak, food microbiologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Food Research Institute, conducted the study. Cliver and Ak began their study of bacterial contamination of wood cutting boards in order find a way to decontaminate the wood so it would be almost as safe as plastic. Instead, they found that the wood decontaminates itself The microbiologists contaminated various types of wood and plastic cutting boards with bacteria that cause food poisoning salmonella, listeria and E. coli.

Their findings showed that: Three minutes after contamination, 99.9 percent of the bacteria on wood had died, while none on plastic had died. Bacterial numbers actually increased on plastic cutting boards held overnight at room temperature; none was found on wood boards treated the same way. The study has prompted the USDA and the National Sanitation Foundation to begin conducting tests of their own. Gravenhorst thinks similar findings could dramatically boost the Effingham operation. If wood cutting boards are found to be safer, he said, the added business could quadruple the production of wood at the Effingham plant.

At a minimum, Gravenhorst predicts the wood plant would double its current number staff of 65 employees. "We would have to look at (adding) people and buildings," Gravenhorst said. "There is no way we could do it with what we have." EFFINGHAM Nearly three decades ago, manufacturers of wood cutting boards were bombasted with what seemed to be "overwhelming evidence" linking their product with several health hazards. It was assumed, at the time, that the natural absorbing power of wood would serve as a haven for bacteria that could expose people to the threat of food poisoning. This assumption prompted the U.S.

Department of Agriculture to prohibit the use of wood in federally inspected locker plants and packing houses, and to adopt strict regulations favoring easier-to-clean plastic cutting boards over wooden in other food service establishments. Manufacturers watched the wood cutting board business OSH itas1.1 rrm, a 1 fr1 Fill ill IrtnX imi i Mi Police say couple argue over victim's bachelor party conduct. DECATUR Nuptial bliss didn't strike Hobart L. Kinney early Sunday but a .38 caliber bullet allegedly fired by his fiancee did. As a result, Kinney, 32, of the 1900 block of East North Street was in St.

Mary's Hospital in critical condition Sunday night with a bullet wound in his lower abdomen. His fiancee, Jeena Gregg, 31, of the same address, was in the Macon County Jail for investigation of attempted murder. Police officers were called to the couple's residence about 5:40 a.m. Sunday to investigate a shooting, said Decatur police Sgt. Todd Walker.

There were several people in the house when officers arrived, he said. Witnesses said Kinney and Gregg had been arguing over allegations she had made about his conduct at an earlier bachelor party, Walker said. The argument became more intense and Gregg displayed a handgun, he said. A single shot was fired, striking Kinney. Police recovered the gun, several bullets and a shell casing.

'J? -V V. i i i i Photo by Darrell ti Photo by Darrell Goemaat a Palm Sunday service Sunday Members of the Crusader and Polvhvmnia choirs waved palm branches i i i i i i and sang a combined anthem to lead at Grace United Methodist Church in Decatur. From left to right in front left is Emily Oakes and Lindsey Patterson. The youngsters sang the 'Song are Laura Hughes, Brittany Patterson, Cody Agans. Back row, from of MANUGIAN Keep on truckin' at 65 mph Nervous at the roar of a tractor-trailer truck in the next lane? Scared by the sight of a massive grill filling your rear-view mirror? Not me.

I'll take a professional driver over a pack of amateurs anytime. And that's what we're talking about, really, anytime we weigh the fears of private motorists against the rights of truckers to drive the same speeds everyone else can on public highways. A recent proposal in the General Assembly to let truckers drive the same top speed 65 as everyone else is sparking protests from less seasoned motorists. But I'm not sure why. IN TWO DECADES of motoring along our country's fine highways and byways, I've endured my share of bad drivers.

I've had a van driver make a U-turn and stop dead in front of my car on a rain-slicked road. I've had a teen-ager two cars behind ram the car immediately behind mine into my rear bumper. I've even been smashed broadside by a guy running a light that had been red for several seconds. But I've never even come close to having my mettle tested by a professional truck driver. The truth is, the average trucker drives circles around the vast majority of private motorists.

Truckers pay much more attention to the road, and they have a far better grasp of the relationship between time and space. Truckers unfailingly signal their intentions, making generous use of turn signals and headlights. PRIVATE MOTORISTS, on the other hand, signal so rarely that I often wonder how half the people on the road passed their drivers' tests. Though I've always respected truckers, my admiration and appreciation was bolstered further during a particularly icy New England winter in 1985. Braving the morning rush hour along a stretch of 1-95 that runs through the city of Providence, R.I., I noticed a car spinning sideways a couple hundred yards ahead and decided I'd better slow down and leave lots of room between me and the cars ahead in case things got ugly.

THINGS GOT UGLY, all right the moment I touched the brakes. The driver ahead hadn't spun sideways because of sloppy driving, I suddenly realized, but because he'd hit a stretch of sheer ice the same stretch on which I was now spinning sideways. Helpless behind the wheel, I watched my car slide to a soft stop perpendicular to the guard rail and I wondered how many seconds it would be before other cars slid into mine. And then, looking over my shoulder, I discovered why none had. The trucker behind me had also noticed the car spin up ahead and had begun slowing, his air brakes hissing loudly.

With each yard he slowed more, flashing his lights and buying me enough time to back up from the guard rail and get moving forward again safely ahead of the flood of rush hour traffic behind him. Worried about truckers? You bet I am. I'm worried that the next time I get myself in a tough spot on the road, there won't be one around to bail me out. Hck Manugbn is city editor of the Herald Review. Friendly foes vie in Blue Mound jgi Hv Iff?) 'V JwW Good guy vs.

good guy Name: Edwin Weybright Age: 55 Family: Weybright and his wife, Karen, have three grown children, whom he declined to identify. Security officer at Caterpillar Occupation: Inc. Weybright Pnblic offices Board member Countryside Volunteer held: Blue Mound Village for seven years. Blue Mound Fire District trustee for eight years. firefighter for 23 years.

Village president candidates agree: Both are worthy of office. By JEFFREY BILS Staff Writer BLUE MOUND Edwin Weybright wasn't expecting any competition in his bid for village president. Weybright, a village trustee for seven years, said he ran because "I didn't think anybody else would, and then we had another guy who decided he would." That other guy is Scott Younger, who has been a village trustee for two years. But the appearance of another contender didn't sour the race for Weybright. Far from it.

"It'd be OK if he won," Weybright said. "He's a real good guy-" The race for Blue Mound village president or "mayor," as folks in this village of 1,300 say is no political cat fight. Mudslinging? Forget it. Bitter feelings? Not a chance. Blue Mounders have enjoyed a race that's small-town friendly.

Asked why he decided to run for village president, Wey-bright's initial response was, "Well, I don't know." Younger, on the other hand, would like to make some changes. "There's just a lot of money wasted that doesn't need to be," Younger said. "They hire out a lot of work that village employees could do themselves, such as sidewalks and stuff like that. "The village president authorizes all purchase orders, and as a board member, you don't see any of this until the night of the Name sounds similar, but new postmaster is ex-fashion model By DAVE MOORE Staff Writer MAROA Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs.

Maroa. The Karasch handling your mail is NOT related to cult leader David Koresh, who's been holed up inside his compound near Waco, Texas, since Feb. 28. "A few people asked me that question," said Debbie Karasch, Ma-roa's new postmaster. "I just kind of laughed and said At first, I didn't know what they were talking about." Then she was told Koresh was a cult 1 A few people asked me that question (was she related to David Ko-resh) At first, I didn't know what they were talking Debbie Karasch Maroa Postmaster leader sur-federal agents in rounded Texas.

by "I said, 'No, I'm not married to him I heard he had several wives," Karasch said. Karasch took over at the post office peacefully Feb. 24, and was officially installed as postmaster Monday, in a ceremony complete with balloons, cake, flowers and photographs. Karasch calls herself a former paper shuffler who wanted a little more public contact. "I was offered jobs elsewhere in the postal service," the Decatur 7 Name: Scott Younger Age: 33 Family: Younger and his wife, Rebecca, have a daughter, Ashley, 9.

Occupation: Power plant operator at Archer Daniels Midland Co. Public offices held: Blue Mound Village Board member for two years. PEOPLE PERSON: Debbie Karasch applied for the Maroa postmaster position because she wanted a job dealing with the public. woman said, including posts in Washington, D.C., and in Springfield. But none offered human contact, which she lacked in her job as an injury compensation specialist for postal employees in Springfield.

There she dealt with 8-by-ll-inch sheets of paper but not the public. "I started as a distribution clerk and a window clerk in the Decatur post office in 1980," Karasch said. After a series of promotions, a post office reorganization that began in summer 1992 prompted Karasch to apply for the Maroa post. "The job was vacant. I looked at the location and proximity from home, and it was a job dealing with the public," Karasch said.

Karasch's parents, John and Dorma Karasch, also live in Decatur. Before 1980, Karasch worked as a fashion model. Before that, she worked for the Decatur Housing Authority. Younger "the creation of a recreation league of some sort to help guide the young and give them something to do in the summer baseball or basketball or something in the park." But Younger doesn't resent having competition from Weybright. "All in all," Younger said, "I don't think he'd be a bad mayor, either." I mkmsmw 2 Mi meeting, and it's already spent.

I don't find out as well as a lot of other board members what's going on until the night of the meeting. That's just not right." As village president, Younger said, he might eliminate some spending instead of simply signing the checks. Younger said he'd like to see I.