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
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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.
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A
has taught hands-on classes on
pruning fruit trees to hundreds
of people annually, handing out
more than 15,000 of Extension’s
Training and Pruning Your
Home Orchard. Several work-
shops are coming up later this
month and February in Benton,
Linn and Lane counties.
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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