Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Vol.107–No. 21 • 16 Pages $1.25 (Includes GST)
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Opinion • 2
Ag, Oil & Business • 6
Sports • 8
Obituaries/Classified • 11
Removing the oil spill boom after exercise on the water
Review Photo 10712 — Greg Nikkel
Oilfield workers taking in an oil spill training exercise remove the boom from the water at the conclusion of the exercise at Mainprize Regional Park on Thursday morning. The exercise was put on for area oil company employees to keep them up to date on the procedures for dealing with an oil spill in southeast Saskatchewan, and was put on by the Oil Spill Contingency group, which has most local oil companies involved as members.
A number of area farmers are all finished
Seeding nears completion in southeast Seeding progress has been continuing through this week with the warm, dry weather leading up to the long weekend, with some producers finished and others still working on planting their crops for the year. According to Sask. Ag and Food’s weekly crop report for the period ending May 16, about 60 per cent of the crops in the southeast region have been planted, with the Weyburn area (crop district 2A) and the Radville-Lake Alma-Assiniboia area (crop district 3ASE) both at 92 per cent completed. Rainfall halted seeding for a couple of days, bringing varying amounts of moisture to the southeast area. The RM of Tecumseh around Stoughton received about 10 millimetres of rain, the RM of Brokenshell recorded 32 mm, Wellington received 24.5 mm, Francis had a range from 12.5 to 19 mm, Laurier ranged from 19 to 25.4 mm, and The Gap had 24 mm of rain. For producer Dale Paslawski, who farms north of Weyburn near Cedoux, he received about a half-inch of rain, which was very much-needed for the crops he had seeded.
We’re quite a ways ahead of seeding from previous years. – Dale Paslawski “We’re three-quarters of the way through our seeding,” he said, noting a number of neighbours are finished their seeding for this season. Some of his organic-growing neighbours just got started with their seeding over the long weekend. “We’re quite a ways ahead of seeding from previous years. Usually we’re only about half-done by this time,” said Paslawski. One difference he’s found is that this year they don’t have to take detours around low spots or wet spots in the fields, which in a normal spring would see tractors get
bogged down in the muck. Farmers have been able to reclaim a lot of land this year from how dry it was over winter and spring, as a lot of low-lying spots that were avoided for the last 10 to 15 years are now not a problem anymore. “This way we’re more efficient, instead of having to go around sloughs or getting stuck like in past years. It’s a really interesting year to be farming,” said Paslawski.
As some of his early-planted crops, such as durum, have begun emerging, he estimates in about a week to 10 days he’ll need to start doing in-crop spraying. His fields are mostly mustard and durum, but he notes quite a few producers in the area are seeding peas and lentils this year, with lentils in particular filling a lot of acres. “My durum is looking good. That half-inch or so that Continued on Page 5
Comp grad leads research
Kris Grohn is lead biochemist in leukemia study Kris Grohn, a graduate of the Weyburn Comp School, is the lead biochemist for a study at Ichor Therapeutics in rural upstate New York that explores a potential treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). AML claims the lives of more than three-quarters of those diagnosed with it and, according to the World Health Organization, it accounts for more than 100,000 deaths per year. The research Grohn is conducting builds on a previous study that showed a molecule called C60 prevents the formation of tumors in rats and may be part of a more effective and less invasive treatment than current options. The initial study Grohn conducted confirmed previous findings that C60 had a positive impact on AML tumor growth and paved the way for additional study. A subsequent, and much larger study run by Grohn and his team, had
a surprising finding when they began using C60 purchased from a large chemical distributor. After the publication of the very first findings regarding C60 many individuals began self-administering C60 in the hope of treating various ailments. These individuals are able to purchase C60 from distributors who state it is “not for human consumption” but also describe many positive qualities allowing the purchaser to assume those benefits would be found in themselves as well. While initial research with C60 showed a reduction in tumor growth, the study Grohn conducted using commercially available C60 found a massive increase in tumor growth. Grohn set out to solve this mystery and in doing so developed a method to detect specific degradants of C60 which were previously undetected. Ultimately, Grohn dis-
covered that C60-olive oil solutions are sensitive to light and that commercially available options show evidence of degradation due to light, which may cause them to become toxic. Research being conducted by Grohn now is studying the toxic nature of degraded C60. All of these findings are critical for both researchers using C60 and anyone choosing to consume it. When C60 is prepared correctly and not exposed to light the positive effect on tumor growth remains. Without this finding any further research in to C60 could be severely retarded and a potential cure for this devastating disease left unexplored. “We did not expect that the laboratory grade chemicals we purchased from a major distributor would be the cause for these problems. Recognizing this issue not only improves our Continued on Page 5
100% of the proceeds, along Load up your fundfoArariser with the pennies & nickels collected will be donated to hotdog the MS Walk thursday, may 26 Sunday, May 29, 12 noon, BBQ & 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Cugnet Centre $5/person Bake sale www. BarBer Motors .com
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