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About The Chronicle : Creswell & Cottage Grove. (Creswell, Ore.) 2019-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2020)
T H U R S D A Y, M A Y 7, 2 0 2 0 | V O L U M E 5 8 | I S S U E 1 9 Readers keep paper’s staff going strong BY NOEL NASH PUBLISHER Thank you for the kind words the past several weeks, and your generous donations. Almost daily, your recognition of our efforts pour in with cards, letters, notations on envelopes, “memo” phone calls … simple, encourag- ing and heartfelt support. We’re not out of the woods, yet we no longer live day-to-day, either. We’ve yet to receive any government support; meanwhile, we celebrate knowing several local businesses have received emergency money. That’s a great story, and we all benefi t from it. We’ll continue to pursue all revenue angles, yet we operate every day with the mindset that if we are to survive it will be through other avenues. Monetary gifts come in all shapes and sizes, but each is equally meaningful. There’s the online donation option, which is tax deductible. Anonymous cards and letters, new subscrip- tions “topped off” to include a donation, too. You’re making it possible for us to serve readers throughout the southern Willamette Valley. In the past two weeks, in the midst of the pandemic, we’ve launched a new, weekly page dedicated to education. And we debuted a partnership with PeaceHealth; its doctors and nurses will provide regular insights for our readers. We continue to report and provide other credible, local voices on COVID-19. If you have the means, please donate what you can at givebut- ter.com. If you can’t, and know someone who can donate, please encourage them to do so. CHRONICLE1909.COM MAIL ING L ABEL BELOW L OC A L LY OW N E D SI NCE 19 0 9 | ON E DOL L A R Tracking down the ’hot spots‘ Offi cials implementing plans to identify COVID-19 cases by zip code, create regional approach to mitigation. BY ERIN TIERNEY THE CHRONICLE COVID-19 case information this week is being released by zip codes, and public health offi cials say that the data could help identify virus hot spots forming and allow more regionalized lock- down measures to take place. “With the restrictions projected to relax in the somewhat near-future, the State recognized the need for identifying rural areas in order to identify and contain COVID-19 hotspots,” Jason Davis said, who is the public information offi cer for Lane County Health & Human Services. Releasing information by zip code will give rural areas like Creswell, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Hill better insight to cases closest to home, Davis said. Releasing cases in specifi c zip codes was initially a patient privacy concern in rural areas because signifi ers listed, like age and gender, could more easily be narrowed down to a particular person in a smaller community, he said. “Since stay-at-home restrictions were in place and people who were in contact with COVID-19 were directed to stay home, the thought also was that the public need for that information was not there at the time,” he added. SEE LOCKDOWN – 9 Wanna get hitched? Truck yeah! Crow residents Jim Gedeon and Michelle Middaugh share their wedding day with the community, all while providing plenty of room for physical distancing. The drive-in wedding drew dozens of people. MIKE NORDTVEDT/LIFESLICE PHOTOS Crow couple exchange vows from inside a semi BY PAT EDWARDS THE CHRONICLE CROW — COVID-19 restric- tions almost ruined Crow resi- dents Jim Gedeon and Michelle Middaugh’s wedding. Almost. Mustered by determination and with only a week to plan, the couple came up with an alternative idea: to have the ultimate drive-in wedding. The two got married on Saturday inside of a semi truck, at the former school they attended together in the 1970s. They were classmates at the rural CroLane Middle School and Crow High School from 1972-78. Gedeon said he had a huge crush SEE WEDDING – 9 SAVE MONEY. SAVE LIVES. Gound Ambulance Memberships . . . $65/yr Ground/Air Memberships . . . . . . . . . Serving South Lane County $124/yr Call 541-942-4493 for info. FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911