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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2017)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 19, 2017 5A Cottage Grove Retrospective A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago Hotel gets ready for tourists: Apri l '87 CAPITOL BEAT With the fi nal touches of a quarter-mil- lion dollar renovation project nearly com- plete, the Village Green Motor Hotel is put- ting its best foot forward for what offi cials believe could be an excellent year for south Lane County tourism. “We’re looking for a good summer,” said Ken Erbes, manager of the 96-room motel for Golden West Prop- erty Management Corp. “Reservations are coming in, and we should be ready.” The Cottage Grove landmark, built as a luxury motel in 1960, was purchased by an investor group, the Zed Corp., from Wood- ard Hotels, Inc. in February 1986. Golden West operates and maintains the facility un- der a management contract. In the past 15 months, the motel has tried to update its image and reestablish commu- nity ties stretched during a period the motel was on the selling block. Each of the 86 general rooms and 10 suites received new carpet, drapes, bed- spreads and wallpaper, Erbes said, and the heating-cooling systems in each room should be replaced by June. The two-phase project will cost $200,000 to $250,000 before it’s fi nished, he said. “The hard part of the renovation is over,” Erbes said of the room decorating, which closed some rooms during the year of work. Erbes said the motel’s marks after fi ve quarters under new management and own- ership is favorable. He attributed the success to a good summer season last year, opening the dining room after an 18-month hiatus, increased advertising and promotion, and a solid relationship with community groups and local din- ers. Several service organizations, includ- ing the Rotary Club and the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, re- turned to the Village Green for meetings and luncheons following the sale. Most days fi nd the meeting and conference rooms booked by local groups and those outside the area,” he said. Erbes said support of the “Cascadia” dining room also has been good, and op- timism of the coming season runs high enough to add another day to the room’s schedule beginning in May. “We’ve had increases, both in occu- pancy and in gross revenues, there’s no de- nying that,” he said. “The rapport with the area is more of a reason for increases than general management style. “And we want that good rapport with the community. Without that local support, the Village Green would survive, but it wouldn’t survive as well on a year-round basis.” Survival, in some ways, meant breaking some of the ties with the motel’s illustrious News from the state legislature and around Oregon • House Bill 3350, introduced by repre- sentative Mark Johnson, would create an offi ce of outdoor recreation within the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The offi ce would cost up to $250,000 per biennium and focus on luring out- door activities for economic development. From the legsilature past. Though luxurious in their day, the rooms didn’t refl ect the needs of today’s traveler. And the dining room, once regarded as one of the tops in the industry with its French cuisine and table side cooking, now serves a more conventional menu. “It’s not the same (as the Iron Maiden). It’s not supposed to be,” Erbes said of the dining room. • Senate Bill 634 passed the senate on Thursday, sponsored by Ted Ferrioli. The bill would add woody biomass as a source of green energy which would help reduce carbon emissions and create jobs in rural Oregon. The bill passed with unani- mous support. • State democrats fi led an ethics complaint against GOP front-runner for the 2018 governor’s race, Knute Buehler for allegedly failing to disclose the entirety of consultant pay- ments he had received. Buehler reportedly did not include his relationship with medical company Stryker Corp on his economic statements, or the supposed $96,000 he received from the company. • A Gresham mother called 911 reporting that her children’s fa- ther, Jaime Cortinas, was threaten- ing to kill their two daughters and himself. Cortinas had set his SUV on fi re, shot at responding police offi cers and eventually shot both girls, 8 and 11, mul- tiple times before taking his own life. Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504 April 17 Cottage Grove Police received a call from a woman who said a man had pulled behind her residence and was taking photos of her yard. When she asked why he was taking photos he reportedly replied, "Don't worry about it." and left the scene. A caller reported a man standing in the street near Birch Ave. yelling profanities to himself. A welfare check was conducted. A report of stolen soda cans came in from the are of 22nd St. The caller noted it hap- pened in the middle of the night. Ash Ave. saw a call of a neighbor com- plaining about multiple calls to police con- cerning the abandoned vehicles on their property. The caller said they felt threatened and requested police contact. A welfare check was conducted after po- lice received reports of a man sitting on a bench in the alley behind the armory with- out moving for near- ly two hours. TURNING 65 AND NEED HELP WITH YOUR MEDICARE CHOICES? Call Paul to help simplify the complicated. A complainant noted that their 12-year-old fos- ter child was "out of control" and re- quested police con- tact noting that all weapons inside the home had been se- cured. A Walmart em- ployee informed po- lice that a man was using the sink the restroom as a shower and refused to leave the property. April 16 • The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced it would be opening 1,000 additional campsites in anticipation of the total solar eclipse happening this summer. The event had already booked hotels around the state and offi cials ex- pect hundreds of thousands of star gazers to fl ood Oregon. Police took a report from S. 4th street which noted a woman was peering into win- dows. When confronted by a neighbor the woman said she was looking for a house for her mother to purchase. • Oregon State Senator Herman Baertschiger’s wife was struck and killed on Interstate-5 by a box trailer as she was walking in the right lane of the southbound side of the inter- state near Grants Pass. It is unknown why she was walking in the road. She was 54. A resident came into the police station to note a heavy-set man was standing in the parking lot of Dairy Mart smoking from a pipe. • Willamette Week reports that a new study from think tank Oregon Center for Public Policy reveals undocumented im- migrants in the state of Oregon pay $81 million in taxes to the state every year. The news comes as the legislature con- tinues to try and plug the budget defi cit of nearly $2 billion. A resident of Riverfront Way complained that a vehicle has been parked across from their home for weeks. Police reported to Gateway for a domes- tic violence call. A male and female were shouting at each other in the parking lot of the Chevron Market. A man was reported for having purchased cigarettes legally only to appear to have giv- en them to alleged underage females across the street near Scarpelli's. 541-517-7362 coverage4oregon@gmail.com -day Rep. Cedric Hayden, Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 986-1407 Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/ hayden E-Mail : rep.cedrichayden@state.or.us weather forecast THURSDAY APRIL 20 FRIDAY APRIL 21 56° | 38° 70° | 46° SHOWERS PARTLY CLOUDY SATURDAY APRIL 22 SUNDAY APRIL 23 61° | 44° 60° | 41° Showers Showers MONDAY APRIL 24 TUESDAY APRIL 25 61° | 45° 56° | 44° Showers State Representatives Senator Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, OR 97440 Phone: (541)342-2447 E-Mail : sen.fl oydprozanski@state.or.us Paul Henrichs ~ Independent Agent Showers Oregon legislators will not take on GMOs this session. Sev- eral bills that would have allowed local governments to reg- ulate genetically engineered crops failed to make it out of committee. From around the state POLICE BLOTTER 6 • Their first steps. Their first car. Their first day of college. 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