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
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CONTACT US
www.cgsentinel.com
On the Internet
(541) 942-3325
By telephone
(541) 942-3328
By fax
cgnews@cgsentinel.com
By e-mail
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
By mail
Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
In person
Ron Schneider..................521-8713
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Calendar....................................... 11B
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