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June 14-20
This Week's Local Forecast
Weather Trivia What is the driest area in the world?
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Mostly Sunny
Sunny
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Sunny
Sunny
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
75/46
72/47
70/49
75/54
76/55
83/62
87/66
Precip Chance: 5%
Precip Chance: 5%
Precip Chance: 10%
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Precip Chance: 5%
Precip Chance: 0%
Precip Chance: 0%
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Answer: Atacoma Desert, Chile, receiving an average of 0.03" of rain per year.
Klamath Falls 7-Day Forecast
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JUNE 13, 2018 • Number 24, Volume 37
‘Take care of yourself’ By SEAN BASSINGER H&N Staff Reporter Jun 8, 2018
Driving a car simultaneously raises adrenaline, blood pressure, heart rate and risks of heart attack. These side effects ultimately don’t wear off until an hour after someone steps away from the wheel, according to Dr. Richard Jackson, a public health expert and professor with years of research, books and documentaries across multiple platforms.
ous conditions such as type-2 diabetes. Adult obesity in Klamath County actually went up 1 percent from 30 to 31 since last year, according to County Health Rankings and Roadmaps data released in March. Most data, however, includes previous years from before more recent initiatives began. Jackson had some other intriguing figures mentioned in his own presentation, such as how the U.S. spends roughly $10,000 per person on healthcare and that only five years added to life expectancy from 1890 to 1990 were related to medical advancements.
He envisions a community where obesity rates decline, mild-to-moderate depression lessens and more people create more meaningful connections.
In Jackson’s eyes, communities such as Klamath Falls have a chance to shift the tides with their own initiatives and projects.
In the past, Jackson’s ideas have been criticized for going against what some would consider the “American Dream.”
“This issue of putting human beings and legitimate human needs first is really at the core,” Jackson said.
He respectfully disagrees.
Local efforts continued
“The ‘American Dream’ is not to sit in a car, it’s not to be isolated,” Jackson said. “It’s to be engaged in a community ... to be a contributor to society.”
Jackson also held a panel with two others to answer questions audience members had about the area, in addition to talks on current and upcoming projects that aim to address built-in environment issues.
“Walmart is designed to last 30 years before it needs to be scraped up,” Neupert said. “Our downtown will last another 300.”
Continued roadwork to connect sidewalks along North Eldorado Avenue, adding more parks, downtown revitalization and the Oregon Avenue bike lane project were just some examples mentioned throughout.
Cherpeski focused on his own experiences with newer ordinances and projects he and others on city council have dealt with. He mentioned continued work and revitalization efforts within the Mills neighborhoods, which has included everything from mass cleanup days in coordination with Klamath County to a complete revamp of the Mills-Kiwanis Park.
Improving public health More than 100 people showed up to hear Jackson speak at the Ross Ragland Cultural Center during Jackson’s stop in Klamath Falls Thursday, several of whom were local healthcare professionals and government officials from the city and county. Klamath Falls Blue Zones Project helped put on the talk, which was titled “You Are What You Eat ... And What You Build.” Jackson, who works as professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California Los Angeles, told the audience that he first got into pediatrics and public health to help address the nation’s growing childhood and adult obesity rates, which could often lead to more seri-
Klamath Falls City Manager Nathan Cherpeski and Mark Neupert, an Oregon Institute of Technology anthropology professor, joined Jackson on the panel. Neupert also created Cobblestone Stories, a documentary that covers a city in the Netherlands that was “built for people rather than cars.” Neupert especially touched on the importance of downtown retaining its core with newer businesses and more options for younger and older crowds alike, adding
H&N Photo by Sean Bassinger
Jackson, who gave a special presentation on built-in community environments at the Ross Ragland Cultural Center Thursday, said more communities need to start thinking on how to better put people’s needs first.
Dr. Richard Jackson, professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA’s School of Public Health, speaks to several local medical professionals and leaders during his “We Are What We Eat ... And What We Build” presentation on community health at the Ross Ragland Cultural Center Thursday, June 7.
that there could be several shifts away from more suburban lifestyles in the next few years.
Cherpeski said this and other such efforts were signs of success that he and others hope to work more with. Struggles with accessibility along South Sixth Street, a predominantly car-filled sector of the city, were also mentioned. “The hardest part of this is you never get to start with a clean slate,” he said. “It’s what’s there and how do you work with it?”
Bringing it all home Following his presentation, Jackson also describes shifting away from “zero-based” thinking, which means sticking to things that people often accept as the norm. Examples could range anywhere from getting little or no exercise, to stepping away from more unhealthy stress. Jackson made mention of several larger cities and small towns that continue exploring similar paths that Klamath Falls appears to be on. One more specific example was Thomasville, a rural town in South Georgia with a population of 18,000 that has searched for ways to improve its own local economy and built-in environments. “You’ve got to take care of yourself and you’ve got to take care of the environment you’re in, because that’s the gift to our children,” Jackson said.