`RACE' NOT AMAZING FOR EUGENE DUO.
Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard The other 10 teams not only kept up with the Joneses, they passed them. Early. You try keeping up with a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader or a former NFL football player. At least Eugene's Arthur and Anita Jones...

Why Westerners pass the good health test.
We catch some rays It turns out that sunlight, at least in small doses, may actually be good for us. It generates vitamin D, which helps reduce the risk of cancer, fight osteoporosis, and alleviate depression. Try something new: Journey to the sun....

Blueberry acreage rises with demand.
Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard Yes, demand for blueberries has soared worldwide since the berries' antioxidant health benefits came to light more than 10 years ago. Yes, farmers have responded - from Chile to China - by doubling the global acreage. Does that mean the...

Accessing life.
Brenda Bosworth, RDH, BS In July of 2006, Brenda Bosworth, RDH, BS, was picking blueberries at her favorite blueberry farm when she noticed a "For Sale" sign on the property. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "My husband had been mentioning he wanted to retire from his...

BEARS IN MIND.
Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard FLORENCE - On the Chinese calendar, it's the year of the rat. On the central Oregon Coast, 2008 is the year of the marauding black bear. This is not a cause for celebration. Snarling, jaw-popping, false-charging, burglarizing, vandalizing...

The sweet life: on the coast south of San Francisco, a small band of farmers thrives with berries, goats, and innovation.
The coast around Pescadero, California, can change from fog-wrapped to sun-warmed in August. In the shadow of eucalyptus trees, farmers make cheese from goat's milk and grow berries and corn. Considering Pescadero's proximity to major urban areas--San Francisco an hour north, the Silicon Valley just east across the hills--agriculture's...

OUTDOORS BRIEFLY.
Byline: The Register-Guard Bad year for black bears on the central Oregon coast State wildlife biologiosts blame human feeding of bears and a poor berry crop for the worst year in memory for bear damage in the Florence-Yachats area. Eight bears had to be killed...

In berry land: feast on Oregon's plump, juicy raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.
A giant bowl of berries was before me: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries. They were perfect: ripe, deeply colored, tangy and sweet in a single bite. I had found berry nirvana at a wedding in Eugene, Oregon. A few years later, on another trip to the state, I found it again....

Western Bluebird captures a western fence lizard.
Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) are primarily insectivorous during the breeding season, and rely upon berry crops during winter (Guinan et al. 2000). Individual Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis), a congeneric species, which is also primarily dependent upon insects and small fruits (Gowaty and Plissner 1998), have occasionally been observed capturing...

LAHDC ends cooperative monopoly, allows private players in berry harvest.
Byline: Masood Hussain SRINAGAR: Based on the suggestions from Union commerce ministry, Leh's Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) has finally de-monopolized the berry trade. Under the new system, individual entrepreneurs would be permitted to pulp the berry that grows wildly from the next season. ...