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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2015)
10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 14, 2015 Acts of mischief keep cops hopping Chief believes several recent incidents may be related, urged witnesses to call police BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel R ecent acts of criminal mischief have peppered the police blotter and kept Cot- tage Grove Police busy in the last couple of weeks, and Police Chief Mike Grover said many of them are likely related. Perhaps the most visible act of vandalism concerns the “Welcome to Cottage Grove” sign on the northbound ap- aging of fi ve maple saplings at Bohemia Park, the remains of which were allegedly removed from the park, according to City Manager Richard Meyers. Other acts of vandalism were recently reported at Living Faith Assem- bly, Pinocchio’s Pizza and Cot- tage Grove High School, among other locations. Grover attributed the mischief to “a bunch of kids, young adults out raising hell.” He called the vandalism a series of “crimes of opportunity,” whereby youths wandering through neighbor- hoods fi nd mischief in their travels. “They think it’s perfectly OK to destroy somebody else’s property,” Grover said. “There’s nothing new about it, no ex- plaining it.” Grover said CGPD has no de- fi nitive information regarding suspects but recommended that those who witness such acts call his department. “Don’t be afraid to call us,” he said. “That’s about 90 percent of the problem in this town. People think we’re too busy. Just pick up the phone and call.” continues to conduct commu- nity outreach in the hopes of securing donations to keep its programs afl oat. Still, Simons thinks things are better off at Parent Partnership than they have been, due mainly to the new human energy that’s signed on to help. “I’m here now, and I certainly have the enthusiasm,” she said. “We have a rejuvenated focus with several new board members right now, and all four programs are going full-throttle. People have been seeking, demanding the services we provide, so it’s not like we’re a has-been. We’re essential to this community, and each program has a specifi c cli- entele.” Simons hopes a pool of fed- eral funds can aid matters, espe- cially dollars earmarked to com- bat student homelessness and foster early literacy, and she’s reaching out in person to local service organizations for help. She believes that, if Parent Part- nership can “make it through this year,” a new grant cycle will provide an opportunity to right the ship. And, despite the daunt- ing nature of the task, she said she believes it can work out. “I believe things are more hopeful than they have been,” she said. “I believe that the glass is half-full and that it’s going to work, that things happen for a reason.” district offi ce. parcel is not currently on the market, the inquiry urged the school board to seek a new mar- ket analysis. Head Start has been leasing the property for the past fi ve years, and this has generated $50,000 a year for the district. Parent said that the district is in no hurry to sell the property, but they would consider a big offer. do is discourage kids from us- ing modern-day technology, but we obviously want them to use it appropriately,” Parent said. “I think our district is pretty pro- gressive. We have a lot of teach- ers that utilize kids’ personal electronic devices as part of their lessons.” proach to town on Highway 99. City offi cials say the sign is at the City’s shop for protection and repairs after vandals pulled the roof off the sign last week. Other mischievous acts involve graffi ti scrawled on the build- ings at Automotive Specialties and Oletsgo Automotive; win- dows broken at Harris Machine Shop; damage to signs and lights at Jefferson Park Apart- ments; a destroyed mailbox on Washington Ave. and the dam- S IMONS Continued from page 1A of Parent Partnership, she could only describe its condi- tion as “kind of dismal.” “We lost ground in applying for grants,” she said. “We didn’t really start asking until this fall, and the winter cycle means there won’t be any new awards announced until May.” Parent Partnership has been awarded the two grants it ap- plied for, Simons said, and it SLSD Continued from page 1A rations for a bond measure that could be listed on either the May or November election ballot in 2016. At this point, the District believes that the focus of the bond will be to replace Harrison school, but there are other things that could be in- cluded as well. “It’s coming up pretty quick,” Parent said of the timeline. “We have to get a lot of input, de- velop plans and survey the com- mittee on what they’re willing to spend and their priorities: Is it just Harrison? Or are there other things they would like to include?” Parent said that the district is still looking for bond advisory committee members. Interested parties can fi ll out an applica- tion online or at the district of- fi ce. The fi rst meeting is sched- uled for Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. in the In other school board news: SLSD was pleased to report that in addition to being clean and free of non-compliance is- sues, its 2013-2014 fi nancial audit received the highest-level rating. In mid-December, the school district also passed its food-ser- vice audit with “fl ying colors.” According to Parent, this is a very intense process that occurs every 3-5 years and that Monica Yoss and her staff did a “phe- nomenal job.” The focus of the audit included the nutritional facts of recipes and administra- tion of the free/reduced meal program. A potential buyer recently inquired about the Delight Val- ley School property, which is located adjacent to Interstate 5 on Saginaw Road. Although the Give yourself a tax break. Matt Bjornn ChFC, Agent 1481 Gateway Blvd Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Bus: 541-942-2623 matt@bjornninsurance.com Open an IRA by April 15. An IRA could reduce your taxes and it’s a great way to invest in your future. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. CALL ME TODAY. ® SLSD received a sizable grant from the Oregon Education As- sociation for an employee well- ness program. The district will receive $25,000 in each of the next three years to offer fi tness and nutrition classes for 400 employees. The school board continued its ongoing discussion on poli- cies for personal electronic de- vices and social media, both for staff and students. “The last thing we want to Learn correct fruit- tree pruning at OSU Extension workshops BY KYM POKORNY OSU Extension Service nyone who buys or in- herits a fruit tree faces the intimidating crossroads of how, when and if they should prune. “It’s one of the most diffi - cult things for people to under- stand,” said Ross Penhallegon, horticulturist with Oregon State University’s Extension Service. “Ultimately, they make a few cuts and think, ‘Oh, I’m going to hurt the tree’ and run back into the house to watch TV.” But without the proper main- tenance, production of fruit falls off, diseases increase and frustration goes off the chart. The key at that point is to clear out the center of the tree to let sunlight in, or cut the tree down and plant four dwarf varieties that get to be 10 feet rather than 40. Anytime December through February is a good time for pruning. “I call the big ones man-killer trees,” Penhallegon said. “You have to climb up to the top and spend hours and hours pruning out suckers. You can do that ev- ery year or take a lot less time to prune smaller trees. After all, how much fruit do you eat? If a tree produces 20, 40, 50 pounds, most of it hits the ground and you don’t pick it up.” For 25 years Penhallegon Cottage Grove High School Dean of Students Gary Roberts provided an updated attendance report: Approximately 25 per- cent of CGHS students are cur- rently considered chronically absent — as defi ned as missing 10 percent or more of the school year. Through Dec. 12, 2014, 10 percent of the school year was equivalent to seven days. This level of chronic absen- teeism is consistent with past years. However, Roberts noted a high rate of illness, and that the number of unexcused absences are down. SOUTH LANE COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE SAGINAW VINEYARD LIVE MUSIC EVERY FRIDAY NO COVER CHARGE 6-9pm Fri, Jan 16 ..............................Hank & Bill Shreve – rock & blues Fri, Jan 23 ............. Lonesome Randall – 50s thru 70s rock covers Fri, Jan 30 .............Jackie & Jason Cowsill – acoustic folk rock... …Jason is the son of the famous Bob Cowsill of The Cowsills! Open daily 11 am for complimentary tasting. 942-1364 • www.saginawvineyard.com Douglas G. 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It’s important to read up on pruning, but it can be confus- ing. “The key is coming to the class,” Penhallegon said. “Read about pruning, do some prun- ing and then read about it again. The lights come on, and that’s so liberating.” Unless you’ve got an emo- tional connection to the tree, he recommends cutting down out-of-control trees. But if you want to keep it, he’ll teach you to rejuvenate one, too. Anytime December through February is a good time for pruning. “We let people know that they can prune their trees fairly hard and still get fruit and not hurt their tree,” he said. “The answer is that every time you prune a branch ask what happens where you’ve pruned. It grows back. Even if you cut it back to six inches, 99.99 percent of the time it grows back, especially apples and pears.” Before cutting down a tree, check with your city for local regulations. 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JOE WARD PROPERTIES 541-912-0934 Joe Ward, eves 541-942-3958 REAKSECKER “We Sell Real Estate” (541) 683-6241 541-221-4004 cell www.a1-reality.com (Member Lane County Realtors Million Dollar Club) WANTED WANTED: “LITTLE FARM” West or North of Cottage Grove. QUALIFIED BUYER in $300,000 plus range. WANTED: READY TO ACT “BUYERS ” who know what they want AND need not just an ok deal BUT demand a GREAT BUY and GREAT FINANCING. Call John 541-221-4004 We Appreciate our Affi liates Commonwealth Financial Network Cottage Grove Sentinel Cynergy Pest Control Eagle Home Mortgage ENG Lending Evergreen Land Title Escrow First American Title & Escrow First American Home Warranty Siuslaw Mortgage State Farm Insurance Umpqua Bank PayneWest Insurance White Water Well Drilling & Pump Service Williams & Mathis Accounting Service
