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Improvements
abound for Lions,
page 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 52
King Estate to buy another lot in Industrial Park Also
inside:
City Council approves offer for lot
adjacent to former Side Pocket building
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
t looks like King Estate
Winery’s plans to expand
its operations into Cottage
Grove will be more expansive
than fi rst announced.
At its Monday-night meeting,
the Cottage Grove City Council
quickly and unanimously ap-
proved an offer from the Lorane-
based winemaker to buy Lot 13
in the City’s Industrial Park, a
lot situated across R Street from
the 3.9-acre building — the for-
mer Side Pocket Foods building
— that the company announced
it had purchased last week. King
Estate offered $131,738 for the
lot, an offer that pleased City
Manager Richard Meyers, who
said he had not been defi nitively
told what the winery wishes to
do with the additional space.
(A representative of King Es-
tate could not be contacted after
the meeting and prior to press
time Monday). Meyers did state
that winery representatives had
asked a lot of questions about
the possibilities of the property,
including whether a pipeline
might be constructed over the
road between the Side Pocket
building and the new lot.
Meyers said the purchase
will take care of three years of
debt payments on the Industrial
Park; the purchase eased con-
cerns about the need to make
payments on the park, and in
fact, an executive session was
called early in the meeting to
discuss King Estate’s offer due
to the impact the purchase was
expected to have on the City’s
2015-16 budget, which was ap-
proved later Monday evening.
The former Side Pocket build-
ing — which has been shut-
tered since its previous owner
was convicted on charges of
tax evasion — has been slated
to become the headquarters of
King Estate's Acrobat brand,
a less costly offering than its
signature wines but one that
Northwest Area Manager Justin
King called "a good bottle of
juice to have on the table with-
out stretching the budget." King
added that Acrobat has been the
"fastest growing brand in Ore-
gon history" since his father, Ed
King, introduced the label dur-
ing the recession in 2008.
Please see WINERY, Page 10A
Speed limit sign Getting a reading
Summer programs aim
request starts
to foster youth reading,
page 6A
council discussion
See Jane
clean up
Many, including citizens present,
believe speeding is a problem
Rapier volunteers
to tackle litter
BY JON STINNETT AND MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
n order to interview Jane Rapier,
it is fi rst necessary to fi nd Jane
Rapier — a task that can be surpris-
ingly more diffi cult than one might
imagine.
Sure, many Cottage Grove resi-
dents see the 76-year old frequently,
and her efforts to clean up some of
the community’s frequent targets for
trash have led to more requests from
locals to recognize her in her home-
town newspaper than this reporter
has witnessed in nearly a decade on
the job. But it can nevertheless be
tough to talk to somebody who re-
fuses to sit still.
“I just like doing things,” Rapier
says. “When I’m not busy, I fi nd
things to do.”
For about two years now, one of
Rapier’s favorite things to do has
been to don an orange vest with her
name emblazoned on the front, pick
photo by Jon Stinnett
up her trusty trash-grabber and a Jane Rapier picks up trash next to the Cottage Grove Connector.
Rapier has been recognized by the City Council for her efforts.
Please see JANE, Page 10A
A
citizen’s request for a number of speed limit
signs in a Cottage Grove neighborhood
touched off an extensive discussion at City Hall
of the problem of speeding drivers and crosswalk
safety Monday night.
The lion’s share of a City Council meeting that
also featured the adoption of the City’s 2015-16
budget came under an agenda item seeking to place
eight speed-limit signs in the Douglas Ave./Lane
Road area of Cottage Grove, and while city staff
advised against installing the new signs, members
of the Council and the public seemed to agree that
speeding and crosswalk safety were issues that de-
served a closer look.
In his staff report, Public Works Director Jan
Wellman told the Council that additional speed-
limit signs in problem areas would do very little to
curb speeding there.
“Increasing the number of signs doesn’t make a
lot of sense,” Wellman said. “I’m not downplaying
the problem. We have speeding on every street in
city, all the time, throughout Cottage Grove. But I
think if we start reacting like this, approving extra
stop signs without letting law enforcement know
there’s a problem, it could set a bad precedent.”
Playground pix
New structure draws a
crowd, page 12A
Please see COUNCIL, Page 10A
With new treatments on the horizon, Relay prepares to grow
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
lice Knighton, a double
cancer survivor, has at-
tended every Relay for Life of
South Lane County since the
event began in 1997, includ-
ing the 18th-annual event held
Friday to Saturday at Lincoln
Middle School.
“It’s simply remarkable how
hard the organizers and volun-
teers work on this event. They
put their hearts and souls into it
year-round. It’s overwhelming
how they honor us,” she said.
Much has changed for can-
cer patients in the nearly 20
years since Knighton partici-
pated in the fi rst Relay for Life
of South Lane County, which
was then staged at the W.O.E.
Fairgrounds. Investment by
the American Cancer Society
(ACS) in research has boomed
to nearly $160 million per year,
and the rate of survival for pa-
tients with cancer has increased
to 68 percent. But even as both
those fi gures continue to climb,
Knighton said she will keep
coming to the annual event.
“I almost view it as my re-
sponsibility as a survivor to
support the people who work so
hard on this event,” she said.
This year to date, Relay for
Life of South Lane County has
raised a little over $19,000,
which is a bit less than a year
ago. However, the organization
has until Aug. 31 to reach its
fundraising goal of $35,000.
Participation at this year’s Re-
lay was also less than last year,
but event chair Gary Manly
said that could have had some-
thing to do with the coincidence
of Father’s Day weekend.
“The organization has hit a
bit of a plateau, and we have to
fi gure out how to break through
and reach new heights,” said
Manly, who is stepping down
from his role this year. “It’s a
good, family oriented event, and
those that were there were very
active and highly involved.”
In addition to Manly, there
will be new blood in the local
ACS administration. Lori Allan,
a long-time relay volunteer, will
soon begin providing support
to local organizers as the new
community manager.
“I’m very exited to get in-
volved with the community, get
a feel for its interests and, hope-
fully, grow Relay for Life,” she
said.
According to Brenda Webber,
Senior Manager for Relay for
Life Oregon, there are several
exciting developments in cancer
research that could reinvigorate
local relay chapters, including
fruit fl y avatars, which allow re-
searchers to develop more per-
sonalized and effective care by
testing different chemotherapies
on fruit fl ies that are genetically
identical to the patient; and there
is a new treatment, currently in
clinical trial, that is designed to
stop the spread of breast cancer
to the bones and organs.
“We have a stack of research
grants that are waiting to be
funded,” said Webber, who noted
that the new breast cancer treat-
ment had been on a waiting list
for several years before receiv-
ing a grant. “The more we can
maintain momentum, the more
lives we’ll be able to save.”
photo by Matt Hollander
Cancer survivors lead the survivor's lap at the 18th an-
nual Relay for Life of South Lane County, held Friday
and Saturday at Lincoln Middle School. The event is
looking to "reach new heights," according to its chair.
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CONTACT US
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
By mail
Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
In person
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Laurie Phillip....................430-0756
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