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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2015)
Lions stave off Sisters Globe is warming — 5A Jewel Heist— 3A Plans for Lakeside Park — 1B Neely shines in fourth quarter, page 1B Little Free Libraries — page 3A $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 30 Sheriff's Offi ce investigating rural homicide Also inside: O At the movies Street talk Film with many local ties premiers in Oregon this weekend, page 3A ffi cials with the Lane County Sheriff’s Offi ce are continuing their investiga- tion into the death of a man reportedly caused by a gunshot wound southeast of Cottage Grove on Thursday evening. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a gunshot wound at a residence on Lower Brice Creek Road past Dorena at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release. The male subject was transported to the hospital, where he later died from his wound. Carrie Carver, who serves as LCSO’s Pub- lic Information Offi cer, said the agency was continuing to withhold the identity of the vic- tim Monday evening as it worked to contact his next-of-kin. The Medical Examiner’s Of- fi ce is also still attempting to determine the cause and manner of his death, Carver said. No arrests had been made by Sentinel press time Monday, though the Sheriff’s Offi ce did state that they “have no reason to believe that there is an ongoing threat to the community in connection with this case.” Police seek County, City exploring funding for maintenance backlog links in string of burglaries photo by Jon Stinnett A driver maneuvers down South Sixth St. in Cottage Grove. City offi cials call this stretch of road one of the City's worst, and the City is exploring ways to fi nance repairs. BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel L Dock of the Bay County hopes to build new marina at Baker Bay, page 3A ane County offi cials continue to explore the feasibility of a $35 registration fee for most vehicles registered here, with the proceeds generated to pay for road and bridge maintenance. But offi cials with the City of Cottage Grove say that roads within the city limits need work, too, and there may be no easy answer for funding those improvements. The County manages over 400 bridges and 1400 miles of road within its boundaries, and, like many of Or- egon’s counties, is facing a funding shortfall to maintain them. Data shows a gap of about $9 million between the County’s road revenues and expenses, a gap covered in recent years by draw- ing from the County’s reserves. County Commissioner Sid Leiken appeared before the state legislature in December to make the case for the state’s counties, which together share a 54 percent shortfall for road maintenance. Leiken mainly reported the plight of Oregon’s “Timber Coun- ties,” which until recently enjoyed the infusion of federal revenues to their road funds, particularly funding from the Secure Rural Schools Act, which has largely dried up, making ongoing maintenance an ongoing concern. “We’re not in the business of offer- ing up new capital projects,” Leiken told the Sentinel in November. “It’s about maintaining the infrastructure we’ve already got in place.” Still, Leiken said that Lane Coun- ty’s roads are not in awful shape, comparatively. “The County’s roads are in pretty good shape,” he said. “The challenge is to maintain them so we don’t have to pay to replace them in 10 years’ time.” But Cottage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers said that the County’s roads are in better shape than many in Cottage Grove, due mostly to those same timber revenues. “Our roads are worse than the County’s,” he said. “The vehicle reg- istration fee could be a tough sell.” Back in November, county offi cials approached the Cottage Grove City Council to seek its support for placing the vehicle registration fee before vot- ers on the ballot this May. The Council gave its support for placing the County’s vehicle regis- tration fee on the ballot (but stopped short of supporting the fee itself), and 40 percent of the revenue generated is earmarked to return to the cities in Lane County. Still, the $165,000 Cottage Grove Please see STREETS, Page 10A Chamber honors the year's best from citizens, businesses BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel W ell over 200 people attended the 66th annual Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Awards and In- stallation Banquet, held Saturday evening at Emerald Valley Resort and Event Cen- ter in Creswell. “That was by far the best turnout we’ve seen in several years,” said Chamber Ex- ecutive Director Travis Palmer. “A lot of people questioned the move to Emerald Valley, but I think that the attendance vali- dated our belief that we had outgrown our past locations.” The Distinguished Service award was given to Gene O’Neil, who has been a member of the Cottage Grove Kiwanis Club since he moved to the area over 20 years ago. Over that time, O’Neil has typ- ically cut 40-50 cords of wood per year, which the club has sold to support the lo- cal Special Olympics chapter and scholar- ships for high-school students. Tiffany Thackara was installed as the new president of the Chamber Board of Directors, fi lling the spot vacated by Tim Wilson. The Junior First Citizen scholarships were awarded to Justin Bennett and Jarett Raade. As the runner up, Raade — who plans on attending the University of Or- egon — received a $750 scholarship. Ben- nett, who plans to enroll at Oregon State, received $1000. In the middle of the ceremony, Palmer announced that the Dessert Dash — which solicited donations in exchange for a bet- ter spot in the desert line — fully funded photo by Greg Lee South Lane Wheels Executive Director Ruth Linoz accepts the First Citizen Award for her work at the nonprofi t and in the broader community.. Please see CHAMBER, Page 10A BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel A string of home-invasion burglaries has kept Cottage Grove Police busy through the fi rst two weeks of 2015, and work continues to determine if the crimes are somehow related. Commander Scott Shepherd said CGPD has not yet established any “direct links” between the seven burglaries that occurred between Jan. 2 and Jan. 14, with six break- ins occurring in a fi ve-day span. Police continue to try to establish those links this week, however. “In my experience, burglars tend to hit multiple places, and if we can make that link between them, we might be able to narrow down suspects in these cases,” Shepherd said. The burglaries — which are defi ned as il- legal entry into a building with the intent of committing a crime — all involved homes or outbuildings, Shepherd said. The series of home invasions began Jan. 2 at a location on S. 6th St.; affected addresses also include addresses on N. 10th and N. 9th streets, Whiteaker Ave., Harvey Rd. and Pennoyer Ave. Shepherd said police will also work to establish any possible correlations between the burglaries and those known to have com- mitted such crimes here in the past. “We have several people living in Cottage Grove that have been charged with burglary in the past, so we can try to link up the evi- dence we have, the M.O. (modus operandi) of the individual — we’re always looking for connections.” The type of property targeted during bur- glaries often offers a clue as to the perpe- trator, Shepherd said, adding that two home invasions where tools and equipment were taken could potentially have a link. He said crooks typically target items they know they can get rid of and quickly turn around for cash. Please see BURGLARIES, Page 10A Rain Country Realty Inc. 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Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By mail Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove In person Ron Schneider..................521-8713 Laurie Phillip....................430-0756 Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 +Z\ WEATHER Licensed in the State of Oregon CONTENTS HIGH LOW 52 36 Afternoon sun Brokers Calendar....................................... 11B Channel Guide ............................... 5B Classified ads................................. 6B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 75 CENTS
