City Beat — 5A
On the Applegate — 3A
Getting the picture — 6A
Bordeaux,
deux fois!
Brothers earn a trip to
state, page 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 34
Schools brace
for impact of
Common Core
First Smarter
Balanced test on new
standards imminent
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
L
ater this spring, Oregon
students in grades three
through eight and high-school
juniors will take on the Smarter
Balanced Assessment — a con-
troversial test aimed to demon-
strate competency in the Com-
mon Core areas of Mathematics
and English Language Arts,
which encompasses reading and
Also
inside:
writing.
And while educators have for
some time been preparing for
the full implementation of the
Common Core Standards, sud-
denly that time is now, and there
has been a fl urry of new resis-
tance.
Just last week, an Associated
Press story reported that Oregon
education leaders have sought a
yearlong delay in rating schools
based on the Smarter Balanced
Assessment. In their proposal,
tests would still be administered
this spring, but they think rank-
Collision
One to hospital in
Thursday bus/truck
crash, page 3A
Please see CORE, Page 11A
South Lane Wheels
driver succumbs to
medical condition
C
ottage Grove Police say
an apparent medical con-
dition claimed the life of a vol-
unteer bus driver for area non-
profi t South Lane Wheels on
Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Offi cer Jarod Butler said
the driver, later identifi ed by
South Lane Wheels as 84-year
old Donald Hill, was driving
an empty SLW bus at the 400
block of Adams Ave. near the
South Lane School District of-
fi ce when an apparent medical
condition caused Hill to col-
lapse at the wheel, then strike a
parked car before coming to rest
between a telephone pole and a
tree.
Witnesses including school
district personnel attempted to
assist Hill, and Butler said para-
medics with South Lane Fire
and Rescue were able to extract
him from the vehicle and begin
photo by Jon Stinnett
Offi cer Sheri Nelson checks on the fi rst dog housed in the City's new kennel. The
dog was found wandering near Dairy Queen.
City kennel hosts its fi rst pooches
attempting to revive him before
he was taken to the hospital.
Butler said the accident ap-
peared to stem from Hill losing
consciousness while driving,
adding that no traumatic inju-
ries were observed. South Lane
Wheels Executive Director Ruth
Linoz said Hill had been driving
for the agency since 2006. Hill
had just dropped off one rider
and was on his way to pick up
another when the accident oc-
curred, Linoz said, adding that
South Lane Wheels appreci-
ated the efforts of witnesses to
attempt to aid Hill. She called
the fact that Hill was driving an
empty bus the “best-case sce-
nario” under the circumstances.
“Don would’ve appreciated
that,” Linoz said. “He really
liked his riders.”
A memorial service for Hill is
scheduled for Feb. 28.
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
ottage Grove police offi cers are accus-
tomed to checking on the welfare of in-
mates at the local jail with regular frequency.
These days, though, police fi nd themselves
looking after a different group of those who
wind up in police custody.
On Jan. 31, the Cottage Grove Police Depart-
ment began lodging impounded dogs in a four-
run kennel at the City’s shop property. Late last
week, police had lodged two guests at the new
kennel, including a small, skittish terrier type
that had already spent a week there by Thurs-
day afternoon after it was found wandering near
Dairy Queen.
For some time, the City has lodged impound-
ed animals at Forest Valley Veterinary Clinic,
where it paid the clinic for the service provided.
Those seeking to retrieve their animal would
have to provide proof of a rabies vaccination to
get a dog license as part of the process.
Corporal Conrad Gagner said that the City
built the kennel last summer but had to de-
velop policies for its use and coordinate with
Eugene’s Greenhill Humane Society to set up a
procedure for transferring animals to the shelter
there when an owner does not claim a dog in
Cottage Grove. The kennel is as product of a
trade with Cottage Grove Public Works, Gag-
ner said. Police traded a large generator seized
in a marijuana raid, and Public Works person-
nel constructed the facility.
Gagner said the kennel will provide savings
for the City and citizens of Cottage Grove in
addition to allowing police to wait longer than
they otherwise might to fi nd a dog’s owner, as
they won’t be incurring costs at Forest Valley
for each day a dog is lodged there. The small
dog at the kennel last week had already served
as one such example of a dog that might have
otherwise already been transferred to the Green-
hill shelter.
Fire!
Blaze destroys
Dorena-area home,
page 11A
Please see KENNEL, Page 11A
City park renamed in honor of community contributor Lindsey Haskell
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
ottage Grove’s Lindsey Haskell
has certainly made his opinion
known during his time in the public
sphere. Still, Haskell visibly struggled
to fi nd words to match the emotions
brought forth by a ceremony held in his
honor on Thursday afternoon.
Members of Haskell’s family joined
Cottage Grove Mayor (and longtime
friend) Tom Munroe, City Manager
Richard Meyers and other community
leaders to offi cially re-dedicate and re-
name Woodson Park in honor of the
longtime community volunteer. Haskell
Park, which occupies space along the
Coast Fork of the Willamette River
just across from the vacuum and sew-
ing shop Haskell operated for 30 years,
now sports a rock bearing a plaque that
tells of his volunteer service to the com-
munity. The City Council approved the
name change at its Feb. 2 meeting.
“Since Oregon became a state, folks
recognized the need for good gover-
nance and for volunteers to help pro-
vide it,” Munroe said. “Small cities
couldn’t pay for that service, but volun-
teers stepped forward anyway. We are
fortunate to have an excessive amount
of volunteers, and once in a while, one
is raised above the others.”
Munroe saluted 25 years of Haskell’s
service to the community, which in-
cludes stints on the City Council from
1998-2000 and 2001-2006; member-
ship on the City’s budget committee
from 1992-97 and 2007-14 and the
Planning Commission from 2008-14,
among other efforts.
“This kind of thing usually happens
after a person is gone,” Haskell said
of the dedication. “This is the highest
honor that can be paid to a servant of
the community, and I’m at a loss to tell
you just how it feels.”
Haskell and his wife, Ruby, came to
Cottage Grove in 1985, and he soon
opened Cottage Grove Vacuum and
Sewing.
“I didn’t realize that when you open
a store, you try and build trust in the
community,” he said. “Over 30 years,
the community became like my friends
and family.”
Over the years, many a public meet-
ing featured Haskell (often quite color-
fully) articulating his opinion, and he
said that in his time in various offi ces
he’s most proud of helping keep the
City of Cottage Grove on level fi nan-
cial footing while other communities
faltered.
“Early on, we made budget deci-
sions that affected the City’s infrastruc-
ture,” he said. “We didn’t have to lay
off cops, and we kept our library open.
The Council also teamed up with South
Please see HASKELL, Page 11A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Lindsey Haskell offers remarks on the dedication of a park in his
honor Thursday. Haskell has served on numerous boards and
councils, including two stints on the City Council.
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