The State - News from May 26, 1987

Union officials have asked state safety officials to order metal detectors in sawmills to prevent the sort of accident that seriously injured a mill worker in Cloverdale two weeks ago. George Alexander suffered cuts and a broken jaw May 8 when his saw blade shattered after hitting a metal spike in a tree trunk he was cutting at the Louisiana Pacific mill. Some environmentalists have recently suggested driving spikes into trees to destroy their market value, but officials of the International Woodworkers Assn. said the accident could have been caused by a spike planted in the tree years ago.