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Cypress lumber is oft times the most maligned lumber in the industry-primarily because most folks don't know where to look for it or don't know what to do with it when they find it.

Quoting directly from one Texas timber frame manufacturer, "Cypress is not a particularly strong wood." We have reclaimed houses, barns, docks, warehouses, and cotton gins that were built from cypress lumber that have stood for hundreds of years-and in commercial cases have withstood tremendous workloads. We would then resaw or remill this wood and be astounded at the quality of the product. This is not something I have seen in any other common lumber.

Another quote is, "prone to ring shake separation." I would certainly hope so. If not, the cypress shake would be on its backside. Ring separation has not been a factor in any cypress lumber that we have handled.

The most common criticism I have heard is, "it's so expensive." To squelch that complaint, nail a yellow pine 2x 4 and cypress 2x 4 board to the side of a building, come back l0 years later, get your cypress board, and try to retrieve what is left of the nails where the pine board was.

"Expense is always relative to quality"-a quote I will attribute to my ex-wife. Obviously, if you are building a low budget home, cypress would not be the lumber of choice. If you are supplying those who are interested in an investment as well as the aesthetic beauty of the product, cypress is the lumber of choice.

"Cypress is just not available in quantity"-same Texan. I certainly will not suggest that it is as common as the pine that is being eaten by the pine beetle, but I have not had an order that I couldn't fill.

That brings up another subject: wood decay and insect resistance. There are very few types of lumber that even come close to cypress lumber in these departments.

Last but not least. lumber treatment. As far as I know. lumber treatment has been around for decades. There are cypress lumber buildings that have stood in this country for as lons as there has been a U.S.A.

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N.Y. Dealer Adding Sth Store

Noble Ace Hardware will open its fifth store this fall in Seneca Falls, N.Y.

The company is renovating 19,000 sq. ft. of a former Ames store, hoping to open in early November.

President Ken Noble, who owns the chain with his brother, v.p. Rob, said they had been looking at the Seneca Falls area for about two years, but for the last year had been concentrating on its latest opening, in Johnstown, N.Y. Johnstown general mgr. Vincent Cardone will run the new store.

The chain also operates Ace Hardware stores in Queensbury and Glen Falls, N.Y., and Rutland, Vt., and plans to eventually add three to five more locations.

Afternoon Twister Takes Roof

A tornado damaged three buildings at Pekin Hardwood Lumber Co., Pekin, Il., as employees looked on.

The twister touched down at 3:38 p.m. July 8 and tore off the front part of the roof of the yard's westernmost warehouse- with four people inside.

"I had five seconds (to find shelter)," said employee Tyler Sullivan, who saw the storm approach, "and I didn't hear anything but wind. It was stunning."

After the storm, the yard was littered with debris, including roofing and siding that had blown more than 100 yards.

Yard Foreman Claims Bias

A former yard foreman at Carter Jones Lumber, Athens, Oh., is suing the company for alleged age and sex discrimination.

Floyd Stevens, 48, filed complaints against the Kent, Oh.-based chain with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the Ohio Bureau of Worker' s Compensation.

Stevens said that he was terminated three years ago because of his age, claiming he rvas told that if he didn't color his hair to look younger, he could be replaced.

He also alleged that the female store manager, who had recently taken over, harassed him to date her sister. He said his refusal created a difficult situation for him that eventually caused him to lose his job.

Stevens reportedly decided to act as his own attorney in the case, after a lawyer advised him that he could not find any facts to suggest that his termination was illegal.

The OCRC complaint also alleges religious prejudice. Stevens added that the company inflicted its fundamentalist Christian beliefs upon him because he is agnostic. The EOEC dismissed the sex discrimination suit since it was not filed within the time frame required, but gave him a letter for the right to sue.

The BWC complaint, which included his current lawsuit, was based on an earlier contention about an injury Stevens incurred while on the job, where his hand was smashed between two propane tanks, and he allegedly could not take off work to let it heal.

Ecolabel Stamp of Approval

When given the choice between ecolabeled and non-ecolabeled plywood products, consumers opt for the ecolabeled one, according to a recent study. As long as the price of the plywood was the same, the ecolabeled merchandise outsold the non-ecolabeled merchandise 2 to -.

At two Home Depot stores in

Oregon, consumers were offered a choice between virtually identical ecolabeled and non-ecolabeled sheets of plywood in bins next to each other.

When priced identically, 271 pieces of ecolabeled products were sold compared to 132 pieces of non-ecolabeled products.

When the ecolabeled plywood was priced 2Vo higher, 37Va of consumers paid the premium ( 103 of 279 buyers).

Conducting several surveys, researchers found that consumers generally favor certified products, and a smaller segment is willing to pay premiums for the ecolabeled stamp of approval.

For manufacturers and retailers. this suggests that offering ecolabeled products may increase marketshare, as long as consumers do not have to pay extra for it.

Ace Overseer Faces Charges

An Ace Hardware loss-prevention employee faces six years in prison if found guilty of stealing up to $100,000 of merchandise from a distribution warehouse in La Crosse, Mn.

Jeffrey P. Lepsch, 30, was anested at his home allegedly after the company's loss prevention team watched him leave with a truck full of tools and other materials.

Lepsch admitted to police that he stole about $8,000 worth of equipment, but denies taking the $100,000 worth of merchandise that store officials say has been stolen over the past three years, according to authorities. He faces six years in prison if convicted of felony theft.

According to the criminal complaint, once the warehouse closed, Lepsch turned the surveillance cameras off, backed his truck up to a loading dock and filled it up. Police confronted Lepsch at his home after he was seen driving away from the warehouse.

Some of the equipment Lepsch said he took was electronics, cases of thermometers, fluorescent lights, propane cans, a telescope, water heater and an assortment of tools. He told police that he either sold the items over the Internet or gave them away.

Fireworks Spark Yard Fires

Investigators suspect fireworks are to blame for a pair of lumberyard fires during the Fourth of July weekend.

Bottle rockets were found near the source of a July 4 fire that destroyed a building at the old Petit Jean Lumber Yard, Fort Smith, Ar. Damage is estimated at $100.000.

The blaze attracted a crowd of bystanders, many out in search of a fireworks display. "There were huge clouds in the sky and they were all lit up orange," said one onlooker.

Two days later, bottle rockets also likely ignited piles of wood scrap and mobile home structure at an Independence, Mo., lumber salvage yard.

Depot To Get Data Hook-Up

Home Depot will begin implementing an item registry and synchronization services for its more than 1.500 stores located in the United States, Puerto Rico. Canada. and Mexico this year.

Home Depot is in the process of requesting its suppliers subscribe to UCCnet and its data services.

Home Depot will register location data in the UCCnet Globalregistry, an industry-supported repository for standardized item, location and trading partner data. Home Depot's suppliers will also register item data in the Globalregistry.

Once registered, UCCnet checks the data for compliance to industry standards. Home Depot will then use UCCnet's item synchronization service to synchronize the registry-compliant data with its suppliers, ensuring that all suppliers are using identical, up-to-date, standards-compliant data.

Roseburg Adds Two EWP DCs

Roseburg Forest Products has opened two additional engineered wood customer supply centers (CSCs) to support growing demand for EWP.

A new CSC in Fairless Hills, Pa., will serve Mid-Atlantic and New England markets. The second new CSC, in Colton, Ca., will serve Southern California.

Roseburg also operates CSCs in Rockton, Il., for the Midwest and Great Lakes regions and at its EWP mill in Riddle, Or., for the Northwest.

"Having product staged in strategic locations throughout the country provides a unique service advantage to our customers," said Bob Berch, sales mgr. for Roseburg's EWP division.

The centers stock the complete line of Roseburg Framing System products, including RFPI Joist, Rigidlam LVL and RigidRim Rimboard.

L-P Reaches Divestiture Goal

With a definitive agreement to sell 465,000 more acres of timberland in southeastern Texas, Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has exceeded its divestiture target of $700 million in asset sales over the last year.

An institutional investor asreed to pay $285 million for the land, which will be managed by Molpus Woodlands Group, Jackson, Ms. The deal is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter.

"This agreement marks a key milestone in the divestiture program we announced 14 months ago," said Mark A. Suwyn, L-P's chairman and c.e.o. "Once this sale and other announced transactions are completed, we will have accomplished essentially everything we set out to do within the time period we stated. The total value achieved through this program will exceed the upper end of our $600 to $700 million target. With these funds, we have reduced our debt and have initiated investments in the businesses we have retained."

Investigators Clear Depot

No criminal charges will be filed against Home Depot tor the May 2 death of a 6-year-old boy at its store in Pharr, Tx. However, there is still time for prosecutors to file criminal charges if new evidence is found, and the family chooses to file a lawsuit.

Patio doors fell from shelving and crushed Ivan San Miguel while he was shopping with family, according to police. Investigators said that while helping a customer, an employee left a pallet unattended without securing the rest of the doors. Police concluded it was a possible negligent homicide.

According to Sofia Arizpe, assistant district attorney, Hildago County, Tx., it has become a civil matter since there is not enough evidence to file criminal charges.

Home Depot has since implemented a new safety rule that requires employees to remove all the doors from pallets after packaging. A company can only be sued in Texas if its top management is aware of the offense. If management is found to have allowed unsafe conditions that resulted in his death, the company could possibly be found negligent. The family has hired an attorney.

APA Label Shows Hotline

APA-rated panel products now bear the phone number of the APA Help Desk directly on the trademark stamp to assist builders with proper installation techniques.

With the number at their fingertips, it can help reduce callbacks about product misapplication and improper installation.

Stock Width Hardwood

Hardware Store Worker Slain

A worker at Earl's True Value Hardware, Fredericksburg, Va., was stabbed to death at the store's on-site post office.

Soon after the store closed for the day July 14, a co-worker discovered Crystal Michelle Jacobs, 33, unconscious and bleeding in the postal area at the back of the store. Jacobs had worked for the company on and off fbr l5 years.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100.000.

The sheriff's department. FBI and postal agents are investigating.

The store was closed for fbur days as a result of the tragedy.

Flood Swamps Ohio Yard

Flooding forced the July 2 I closure of Terry Lumber & Supply Co., Peninsula, Oh., and co-owner Judy Lahoski was unsure when the business would reopen.

Rushing waters from a nearby creek dumped mud on the floors of the yard's main building and carried lumber from storage sheds, depositing hundreds of 2x4s around the yard.

Floodwaters also overturned trash cans and fuel tanks for companyowned vehicles.

At an adjacent company, Peninsula Hardwoods, water rose to about 4 ft.

Depot Cleared In CCA Suit

A federal judge in West Palm Beach, Fl., has dismissed responsibility for Home Depot to replace CCA pressure treated wood in decks and playground equipment across Florida.

According to the ruling, too many variables can contribute to chemical leaching, and vague product identification would make it difficult to blame a single party.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks noted that a class action lawsuit "would be futile."

In February, a federal judge denied the case class action status, after plaintiffs admitted that only a handful of personal injuries have been filed relating to CCA. He also dismissed several CCA treated lumber suppliers from the lawsuit, leaving Home Depot as the sole defendant.

Wood Preservative Science

Council executive director Jim Hale called the ruling a major setback to those who have been trying to make CCA 'lhe next asbestos. and to alarm the public to a threat which simply does not exist."

Rollin M. Anderson, 88, longtime manager of Hanson Lumber Co., Boxholm, Ia., died July 19 in Boone, Ia.

A native of Boxholm. he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, afterwards joining Hanson Lumber.

Katherine "Katie" Sheriff, marketing director for Lee Lumber Co., Chicago, Il., died June 30 of injuries suffered when a three-story porch collapsed from an apartment building. Twelve people were killed and at least 57 others were injured in the accident.

Ms. Sheriff had been with the company for about one month. Prior to working for Lee Lumber, she worked for an advertising agency, after graduating from Duke University.