Everybody’s business

Keep it klean
Robert Seals said the timing was perfect for his stainless-steel water bottle he calls the Klean Kanteen.

The Forest Ranch resident got the idea two years ago after seeing Julia “Butterfly” Hill give a lecture about the dangerous toxins that seep out of the Styrofoam to-go boxes at restaurants. She suggested that someone create something similar for drinking water.

He said the Klean Kanteen doesn’t leach Bisphenol A into its contents, which Seals said has been linked to breast cancer and reproductive mutations.

Seals, who’s also a musician and artist, said he’s known about toxins that leach out of plastic bottles for years but said that, once solid research began to surface, it was time to do something.

Seals, who also invented a multi-purpose bicycle repair tool called the “Cool Tool,” got to work on the prototypes for the container about a year ago and said the product is now distributed nationwide. “We’re known all over the country, and we’re having a hard time keeping them in stock,” Seals said.

The 27-ounce Klean Kanteen ranges in price from $10 to $15 and is available at www.kleankanteen.com. Seals said the containers are guaranteed for life and that proceeds go to local community and sustainability projects.

Wood works
You may recognize the name Ronald Magoon from his family-owned business Magoon Signs, which has served Chico since 1924.

Magoon handed the sign shop over to his daughters in 1997 and is trying something a little different with his new business, Wood Creations.

After learning how to turn wood on a lathe from his neighbor, Magoon was hooked. “We sat down, started in, and I picked it up real quick,” he said.

Magoon soon bought a lathe and began making his own bowls, vases and jewelry boxes, which he began selling from his home about two years ago. He said pieces range from about $30 to $400, depending on their size and intricacy. Magoon said he will soon try to sell his work at local shops.

Orizzle for shizzle
Chico State’s weekly newspaper, The Orion, has once again garnered national recognition.

At the 83rd annual National College Media Convention held this year in Nashville, Tenn., the paper reeled in its eighth National Pacemaker award. The Pacemaker, which is considered by many “the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism,” was awarded for three issues from the spring 2004 semester and one from fall 2003.

On top of that, The Orion for the first time took first place in the Best of Show competition in the category of top university weekly broadsheet.

Art Director Greg Traverso accepted the trophy and said the winning issue contained everything a college paper should. “It was all-around our best issue,” he said. “There were interesting stories—stories that students are interested in or that relate to their lives.”

Traverso added, “You can never go wrong with sex, drugs and voting,” referring to the Oct. 27, 2004, issue that included a story on college abstinence, an in-depth piece on cocaine use among students and a voters’ guide.

As an ex-Orionite, I know some of the mischief that goes on in the basement where the paper is put together, but I also know a lot of sleepless nights and hard work go into making it. Nice job guys.