PHOTO: U.S. Congresswoman Darlene Hooley listens to Canby High junior Laurel Jackson talk about the school's tissue culturing lab.

By Cam Sivesind

Canby High School's revolutionary agriculture and biology programs continue to draw funding and praise from state and local officials.

Now, it is attracting national attention. The school's Alternative Growing Biological Environment (AGBE) project recently utilized a $15,000 federal grant to develop a high-tech micro-propagation laboratory.

The lab, which allows students to grow tissue cultures and create plants in test tubes, was debuted at a special ceremony and tour at the school on Jan. 12.

"I am so proud of you and so proud of the students in this school and in this state," U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) said from the foyer of the Canby Fine Arts Center. "You are a whole lot smarter than I was when I was in school."

Hooley helped push legislation through Congress that led to the creation of U.S. Department of Agriculture challenge grants. Last October, Canby High's AGBE project was awarded $15,000 in funds, the maximum allowed by the new federal program.

Teachers and students showed off the fruits of the dollars and their labor last week to parents, Hooley, state Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby), state Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches), and a representative from Gov. John Kitzhaber's office.

As senior Bonnie Jones and junior Laurel Jackson explained how the classroom-turned-lab operates, other students busied themselves culturing Venus flytrap plant starts and filling test tube after test tube with other types of plant cultures.

"I think this is great," said Paul Kraxberger, who watched his daughter, Karen, use tweezers to place a Venus flytrap start in a test tube. "I'm glad to see this happening.

This is super." CHS student Evan Goettel recalled the history of AGBE. The project began in 1995 with 10 advanced agriculture students, a few biology students, a 500-gallon fish stock tank with 15 fish, and three growing beds for plants, he said.

"It's a lot larger now, and it's only gotten better," Goettel said. "AGBE has received more than $100,000 in grants, more than $50,000 in donations, and we now have our own class dedicated just to the project."

Today, two 750-gallon tanks contain 300 tilapia fish each, with the potential of producing 6,000 pounds of fish. The tanks feed water to a series of pipes, which lead to several tubs containing tomato and basil plants, among other plants, more piping and row after row of fluorescent lighting.

Canby School District Superintendent Deborah Sommer, who joined the district in June, praised biology teachers Ron Barker and Terry Bradfield and agriculture teacher Max Sherman for the dedication, time and energy they have put into the project.

"I hope you are as impressed as I am with the quality of the project you will see," Sommer said prior to the tour. "Schools are being asked to reach out and partnership with businesses. This program is a prototype for that kind of partnering."

Representatives from two businesses were given certificates for their donations of time and materials to the AGBE program. They are David Webber, warehouse manager of Cebeco Lilies Inc. of Aurora, and Ken Brown, co-owner of Terra Nova Nurseries of Canby. "We've got two plant tissue culture labs," Brown said. "We're experts at this. The students toured our facility and they call and ask for help.

We've even employed a couple of the students." Brown said it's exciting to see the kids doing what they are doing. "It's a great thing," he said. School administrators, board members and visiting politicians were given AGBE sweatshirts and/or T-shirts and test tubes with fern starts in it. "The key is going to be where we go from here," said Sandy Ricksger, school district board chairwoman.

"We're excited about our (May) bond (request of $30.8 million). I'm most proud of the opportunities our students have had to learn, including my son. ''They thought they were just playing with fish, but they learned a lot."

For Sherman, he said he knew the AGBE project had potential, but it has even gone beyond his creative imagination. "In 1995, we had a few students who came before school, after school and at lunchtime," Sherman said. "Now, the project is being infused more into various classes, plus we have a class dedicated to just AGBE and biotech applications."

Not a day goes without learning something new, Sherman said. "The kids are teaching me, and I'm learning right along with them," he said. "If I had to continue teaching within the box, I'd go crazy. I appreciate the board's and administration's support. We've had the support to do this."

Canby High is on the leading edge of a movement toward farming without the traditional plot of land. "In the U.S., the circulation aquaculture (growing plants with water) is the fastest growing farming industry," Sherman said. "Our system is different because we use fish water to grow the plants. That is getting more popular."

CHS students not only grow plants that can be sold to restaurants and other buyers, but they also sell the fish they are growing to help provide nutrients to the water feeding the plants. Sherman said the 600 fish currently in the tanks weigh about 2 pounds and will be taken out for sale soon.

The tanks will then be restocked with fish the students are raising in a miniature hatchery in the back of Sherman's classroom. "We will be able to stock our own fish and won't need to purchase any more," Sherman said. He also is pleased to have the micro-propagation lab up and running. "We've been sketching plans for the lab since we started," Sherman said.

"That component has always been a part of the plans. The lab was a classroom last year. That really helped us in going for the grant because we could dedicate some space." The $15,000 grant helped pay for rewiring the room, which had outdated wiring and only two outlets with one breaker, and to purchase light hoods, shelving and other equipment needed to do tissue culturing.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many motivated, articulate students," Hooley said. "This is applicable to real life and is meeting the needs of the future, when we'll have to be more efficient. ''The reason we have and do challenge grants is we want kids to do things we can duplicate. What's helpful for me when I visit is, when I testify, it gives me a great story to tell. I can sell it by being acquainted with it. This is money well spent."

Sherman said his senior class (CHS Class of 1976) was the first to move into the then-new agriculture/biology classrooms in the high school's Industrial Wing addition, so he knows there are more technology issues that need to be addressed. He said having the bond pass in May would go a long way to further improve and advance the AGBE project.

"If the bond passes, we can basically take those dollars and utilize those as matching funds and make the grant dollars go even further," Sherman said. One goal is to build a $250,000 U-shaped greenhouse behind the I-Wing.

The I-Wing itself would be gutted, and Sherman said it would be nice to have the greenhouse complete so students have a place to study while the old building is remodeled. "With the redesign, we'll have a more open facility that can change with the times," he said.

By David Howell

High winds battered Clackamas County on Sunday, knocking down hundreds of trees and knocking out power to numerous residents. Winds sent a tree crashing through the roof of a house at 31323 S.W. French Prairie Road in Charbonneau.

Homeowners William and Mary Winther were inside at the time, but neither was injured. "They were a little nervous when we got there," Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Read said. "They were shaken up about it." The tree was removed from the house Monday.

However, the earth-shaking event left a lasting impression on Mary Winther. "It was a huge tree," she said.On Clackamas River Drive in Oregon City, a wind gust blew off a chunk of Tri-County Temp Control's roof.

There were many other reports of trees blocking vehicle access or travel on some local and area roads. Some downed trees were set on fire when they became tangled with power lines. Highway 99E, between Oregon City and Canby, and Highway 211 were closed for a period on Sunday due to safety concerns.

A large power line was blown down near Territorial Road, just north of Canby, backing up traffic in both directions, Oregon State Police reported. All parts of the 1,900-square-mile county were affected by the windstorm, said Ron Oberg, the county's public information officer.

"It looked like damage was pretty much around the entire county," he said. "We had hundreds and hundreds of phone calls for downed trees, power lines and blocked roads." Oberg said the county partially opened its Emergency Operations Center, near the sheriff's office on Kaen Road, and staffed it with roads, fire and other personnel. "There were problems everywhere, but there were no injuries reported that I know of," he said. Winds reached 53 mph in Canby, but were more than double that speed along the Pacific Ocean coastline.

Cannon Beach saw 115 mph winds, and Netarts recorded 85 mph gusts. A 200 mph jet stream and very low barometric pressure carried the destructive windstorm on its path through Oregon and Washington. Most power outages were attributed to trees or tree limbs falling onto power lines.

By nightfall Sunday, about 18,000 Portland General Electric customers were without power. Earlier, 100,000 PGE customers - or 1 in 7 - were reportedly in the dark. Pacific Power said about 8,000 customers in the state lost power at some stage on Jan. 16. Voice-mail messages were left with a Canby Utility Board official and the Canby Fire Department, but no return calls were received by press time on Monday.

Although powerful, the Jan. 16 winds were not as high as those which hit Oregon on Dec. 12, 1995, or the Columbus Day storm of 1962. The Monday morning commute also proved tricky for some drivers.

At least one car hit ice along Knights Bridge Road, and skidded into a power pole. No injuries were reported, but power was knocked out to homes in northwest Canby.

By David Howell

AURORA - A 30-year-old man is in jail on an accusation of murder in the Friday shooting death of his uncle at an Aurora recreational park.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said Darren Todd Hamby was arrested after Roscoe T. Hamby, 56, was found dead at 2:51 p.m. in his mobile home at Isberg Park. He had been shot several times at his 21599 Dolores Way N.E. home, but a weapon has yet to be recovered.

Darren Hamby surrendered to detectives at a truck stop at the Donald exit on Interstate 5. He was taken to the Marion County Correctional Facility in Salem. Soon after the shooting, the murder suspect had called 911 from a freeway trucking company, where he worked as a security guard.

Aurora Police Chief Chris Conboy responded to the arrest location near Bents Road. "I arrived at the scene and assisted two deputies to take the suspect into custody," he said. "The arrest was without incident." Conboy said he did not visit the murder scene, and said he was unfamiliar with either Hamby.

Roscoe Hamby was born in Lancing, Tenn., and he worked at Chris Poultry Farms for the last 12 years. He is survived by his mother, two daughters, three sisters, and four brothers. His obituary appears in this edition of the Herald.

The murder case has been handed to the Marion County District Attorney's Office. The office was closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and voice-mail messages were not returned.

Anyone with relevant information should call Det. Gary Perkins at 503-540-8005, or deputy district attorney Darin Tweedt at 503-588-5222.

By Roma K. Eby

Although Joni Harms is well known to audiences in this area, the country music star will be seen in a new venue this month.

Harms and her band will be appearing Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Canby Fine Arts Center as the third entertainer in the 1999-2000 Canby Community Concert series.

"The hometown audience should expect some surprises," she said. "People who haven't seen me lately will be surprised by the full band sound, and how I've musically grown from having done it so long."

Harms, who loves horses and music with equal passion, reigned as queen of the Molalla Buckeroo in 1978 and served as the Clackamas County Fair queen in 1981. An accomplished musician, she has entertained audiences in this area for years.

"One way to get there is through experience," she said. "I can see that I've come a long way and can get things across to the audience." Harms, who plays rhythm guitar, will be joined by her band, whose four members hail from the Portland-Vancouver metro area.

The musicians fill out the five-piece band with a fiddle, bass drum, lead guitar and steel guitar. The mother of two small children, Harms lives with her husband, Jeff Wichman, and family on the same Canby ranch her great-grandfather homesteaded.

She said they have no plans to move, even though she spends considerable time in Nashville, Tenn., where she writes her songs, in association with co-writers, and performs live.

"Maybe someday we'll have a place in Nashville, too," she said, "but I can't imagine leaving here - it's a part of who we are." In February, the perky songstress will again journey to Nashville, where she'll begin work on the follow-up to "Cowgirl Dreams," her debut album on the Warner Western label.

While she's in Tennessee she'll be appearing on The Grand Ole Opry, too, on whose stage she's appeared three times in the past. When she knows the broadcast date of her appearance, she promises to let Herald readers know so they may tune into the show on the TNN cable television station.

Last month, Harms debuted her seventh album, which she has titled, "Are We There Yet?" "It's basically for children, but everyone will enjoy listening to it," she said.

"It was written for children of any age. It has lots of fun stories everyone will enjoy." Her live music appearances take Harms abroad, too. In December, she made a trip to Holland, where country music fans accorded her a fine reception. Future gigs include a January trip to Elko, Nev., where she will appear at a Cowboy Poetry gathering.

In March, she will journey to Roy Rogers' home, "Melody Ranch," in Santa Clarita, Calif., to appear at another Cowboy Poetry gathering. Her Nashville booking agent is also planning an ambitious summer trip for the busy young woman. She will entertain country music fans in Norway, Denmark, Germany and France.

At Saturday's concert, hometown folks and new audiences alike will enjoy Joni's sincerity and love of music. She has the ability to draw her audience in with each original song she sings.

Espousing the pure and simple lifestyle of her country home, she also likes to keep her songs pure and simple. "If they show up, we'll entertain them," she said of her upcoming appearance in Canby.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at the customer service counter at Cutsforth's Thriftway, or at the door of the Fine Arts Center, located on the Canby High School campus. Tickets cost $17.50 for adults and $8 for students.