European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 17, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 17,1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 to seeking new Nome Ste response called mind boggling Minneapolis a an offer of free 40-acre parcels for people willing to Settle in a Remote county on the Canadian Border has brought More than 4,000 inquiries some from As far afield As West Germany and Guam. It s been mind boggling said Jim Lemieux a member of the Bedstead advisory Council in inter National Falls county seat of Koo Chiching county. Homesteaders will be required to build a Home and live there for at least 10 years. They Are expected to be self sufficient so As not to Drain the local Economy and Are subject to an extensive cred it and criminal records Check. The offer received widespread publicity last month and since then Lemieux said the county has received inquiries from All 50 states and Canada Ireland England West Germany Spain Mexico Japan puerto Rico and Guam. The 4,000 Calls and letters add up to More than a Quarter of Koo Chiching county s population of about 15,700, scattered Over 3,120 Square Miles and eight communities in an area about 300 Miles North of Minneapolis. The idea of homesteading it boggles their mind. People want to get Back to their roots Lemieux said last week. The heaviest concentration has been from the Chicago area new York Florida and California. If you be been to any of those areas you know  the county s population has dropped by about 2,000 since 1980, attributed in part to the 1984 closing of a fibreboard Plant and a trend away from Rural areas in favor of metropolitan regions. The decline prompted county officials to seek approval last year for the Bedstead and economic development program. Officials coined the term Bedstead from the words bid and Homestead. The program is believed to be the first Large scale land Giveaway since the Federal Homestead program of the late 1800s, . Officials say. Joy Lewis 36, of King ., read of the offer a few weeks ago in the Winston Salem  Journal and could hardly wait until Koo Chiching county offices opened that morning so she could get More information. I do a lot of crazy things she said. People want to get Back to their  Jim Lemieux she said she and her husband Wayne a machine repairman have always wanted land As something to pass along to their four children and they find Minnesota s land of 10,000 lakes appealing for camping and fishing. But at the top of her list is a sense of adventure she said. For Judy Beth Hagerty 49, the offer sounds like a Chance to put Down roots and escape the Quick Pace of life in Vacaville Calif., about Midway Between san Francisco and Sacramento. Even the weather which earned International Falls a reputation As the nation s icebox a reputation it lived up to last week with tempera Tures dipping to minus 31 degrees and never sur passing 15 above has t chilled enthusiasm for the Giveaway. I just like the openness the kind of pioneering Type of atmosphere said Hagerty a Secretary and Texas native who lived in Alaska for five years. I m just fed up with the cities. I m looking for something totally different from this kind of life Here she said. Officials have allocated 50,000 acres enough for 1,250 homesteaders from Woods and Farmland taken Over by the county when owners failed to pay  Don t want freeloaders Lemieux said. We want people who will contribute to the Quality of life and the Economy. We re getting some Quality people applying but no brain surgeons  some applicants Are retirees others Are computer programmers artists and attorneys who could work out of their Homes Lemieux said. International Falls was founded in 1906 with a Sawmill operation and took its name from the Falls on Rainy River that were later dammed. The area s major industries include Wood products tourism and the cold weather testing of products including helicopters autos and Oil. Bedstead program director Jerry Andre said officials were completing contracts for two applicants who applied before the recent flood of inquiries. At least four More applications Are nearing the final stage. My own personal feeling is that if we got 10 percent of the respondents to actually participate it would be a godsend for the county. Ten percent would be a real Boon Lemieux said. Deaths Down but heart disease still no. 1 Monterey Calif. A deaths from heart and blood vessel disease dropped 24 percent Over the past decade but remains by far the nation s biggest killer taking a life every 32 seconds the Amer ican heart association said sunday. The Good news is that we continue to see an improvement in the death rate from the biggest killer of our population said or. Bernadine Healy of the Cleveland clinic foundation who is president of the heart association. Those trends Are dramatic and Don t seem to be reversing she said. The bad news is that heart disease is still killing Al most 1 million americans a year and we be got a Long Way to  the association released the statistics at its annual forum for science writers. Experts attribute the decline in death rates to a combination of healthier living habits including use of fewer cigarettes and better food and improved medical treat ment. The Public ought to appreciate the Progress that has been made in heart Dis ease Over the past 20 years said or. Myron l. Weisfeldt of Johns Hopkins University. It s almost unbelievable. There is almost no form of heart disease that we can t approach without meaningful treat  however Weisfeldt who is president elect of the heart association also cautioned that much work remains both in improving care and encouraging people to take better care of their health. I believe we can prevent at least 50 per cent of the ischaemic heart disease in the United states by the year 2000, if we Stop smoking get cholesterol treated if it s above 220 and identify and treat hypertension he said. Ischaemic heart disease is the clogging of blood vessels that feed the heart. It under lies most heart attacks the single most lethal heart ailment. Association figures indicated that in19g6 the most recent year for which there Are statistics an estimated 978,500americans died from heart attacks strokes and other diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Cancer the no. 2 killer took 466,000 lives. Between 1976 and 1986, the death rate from All forms of cardiovascular disease fell 24 percent. It declined 28 percent for heart attacks and 40 percent for strokes. The association s figures show that More than one in four americans suffers some form of cardiovascular disease and almost half of those eventually die from it. About 60 percent of the heart attack deaths occur before the victim reaches the Hospital. Studies show that about half of All heart attack victims wait More than two hours before getting to an emergency room. Weisfeldt said a major health goal is get Ting people to go to the Hospital within three or four hours of the first sign of heart at tacks. During this period there is still time to give them drugs to dissolve the blood clots that Are causing their heart attacks. This treatment can save lives and reduce the disability of heart attacks. Other major goals he said include find ing ways to improve the effectiveness of angioplasty a technique that uses balloons to open clogged heart arteries and finding surgical and medical techniques to identify an protect people at risk of cardiac arrest. The heart association estimates that cardiovascular disease will Cost $88.2 billion coronary laser angioplasty 1. Cone shaped laser Light Burrows into plaque blocked artery feeding the heart 2. Plaque vaporized laser is withdrawn from area and replaced by deflated Ballon tipped Catheter 3. Inflated balloon crushes residual plaque against the Wall of the artery creating wider opening for blood flow laser angioplasty Catheter Chicago Tribune graphic by Scott Holingue source . Medical inc. This year in medical expenses and lost wages. Among other statistics released by the association the most common cardiovascular Dis ease is High blood pressure which affects 60 million americans. O about 200,000 of the deaths from cardiovascular disease each year occur in peo ple under age 65. There were 1,418 heart transplants in 1987, almost nine times As Many As in 1983. About 2.5 million americans have an Gina the Chest pain resulting from clogged heart arteries. About 300,000 new cases occur annually. As Many As 1.5 million americans will have heart attacks this year. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Jan. 17, 1949 Neucom announced new and stricter marriage regulations generally prohibiting lower enlisted personnel from marrying while in Europe. 30 years ago today. Jan. 17, 1959 cuban rebel Leader Fidel Castro said he wanted Good relations with the United states but warned against intervention in cuban affairs. 20 years ago today. Jan. 17, 1969 . Officials announced that a Compromise had been reached on the format for peace talks Between the United states and the Sai gon government and North Vietnam and the National liberation front Clearing the Way for the talks to begin in Paris. 10 years ago today. Jan. 17, 1979 greek Premier Constantine Caramanolis urged nato Mem Bers to persuade Turkey to lift its objection to Greece s return to the Alliance s military Wing