City Beat — 5A
Foundation grants — 3A
School Zone — 3B
Field of Dreams
Wistful odes to the dawning of a new
season,page 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 39
Council gives
Main Street plan
its fi rst 'yes' vote
Also
inside:
Two majority votes of approval
are required for passage
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
N
early every seat in City Hall was fi lled on
Monday night for the City Council’s much-
anticipated vote on the Main Street Refi nement
Plan. The Council passed the ordinance unanimous-
ly, 5-0. However, in order to adopt the plan, a sec-
ond vote of passage will be needed at the Council’s
next regular meeting on April 13.
The Council had previously motioned to vote on
the ordinance during its March 3 meeting. However,
when several councilors expressed their concerns
about voting on the plan as written, the motion was
withdrawn in lieu of scheduling a worksession.
Between the March 16 work session and Monday
night’s meeting, city administrators worked to ad-
dress the Council’s concerns. Changes to the plan
included using stamped and/or colored concrete in-
stead of brick along the Main Street sidewalk; opt-
ing for traditional water fountains over “bubblers,”
changing the name of ‘All-America Square' to
On track
photo by Greg Lee
Cottage Grove's Sarah Pope serves up cream of mushroom soup with the help of daughters
Bailey and Natalie at the Souper Fundraiser on Tuesday, March 17.
Please see PLAN, Page 12A
Souper still draws a crowd in ninth year
Marijuana
dispensary burgled,
suspects captured
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
Cottage Grove
hosts season's
Icebreaker, page 1B
ottage Grove medical marijuana dispensary
Apothecaria experienced its fi rst break-in
last week. Police fear it won’t be the last, but the
dispensary’s owner sought to share a message with
those who would attempt the feat in the future.
“We don’t keep the marijuana out where you can
get to it,” Colleen Valley said. “These guys weren’t
able to take much of anything — some pipes and
other supplies, because everything’s locked up.”
A burglar alarm at the dispensary on Row River
Road was reportedly tripped just after 4:30 a.m. on
Tuesday, Nov. 17. Cottage Grove Police responded
in about six minutes, Valley said, and a canine sweep
of the area was negative for any suspects.
Detective David Burgin said the Apothecaria
break-in was the fi nal act in a crime spree of sorts
by three local individuals, who allegedly began their
Tuesday morning with a “beer run” at Safeway fol-
lowed by the alleged theft of about $600 worth of
property from the Cottage Grove Walmart at about
1:30 a.m. Surveillance footage eventually led to
the arrests of 20-year old Marcus West and 19-year
old Justin Hurst and a 17-year old minor. West and
Hurst were cited into the Lane County Jail on theft
and burglary charges, while the minor was cited into
the Youth Services division and released to the cus-
tody of his mother. Much of the property taken from
Apothecaria, which included fl ower screens, metal
grinders and glass pipes, was recovered a short time
later.
Valley said that the valuables at Apothecaria are
kept in two 800-pound safes.
“There’s nothing to steal; this is not the place to
rob,” she said. “As soon as the store is closed, every-
thing is locked and there are panic alarms and video
cameras. We’ve spent thousands on this equipment,
and it’s already paying off.”
Burgin said he was impressed with the security
measures taken at Apothecaria, though he’s not sure
it will thwart all would-be thieves.
“We think the dispensaries will be a perennial tar-
get for break-ins,” he said, “though we hope that’s
not the case.”
n organizer called the latest
installment of Cottage Grove
Community Sharing’s popular
Souper Fundraiser one of the best in
the event’s nine-year history.
Mary McNamara said the Souper,
which features a plethora of nearly a
dozen soups prepared by local chefs
for the price of admission, appears
to have raised about $9000 for Com-
munity Sharing.
“By all accounts it was a large
success,” McNamara said. “I can’t
believe it’s been nine years now, and
every year it keeps getting better.”
Guests at Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Catholic Church’s fellowship
hall on Tuesday, March 17 chose
from soups such as Gail Hoelzle’s
classic minestrone, the Italian sau-
sage soup of Beth Pool, pozole from
Sara Meyer and Samantha Duncan
and corned beef and cabbage in
honor of St. Patrick’s Day prepared
by Debbie Lavios and grandchildren
of Old Mill Feed Store. McNamara
said sponsorships secured 16 re-
served tables before the Souper even
began and added to the impressive
fundraising total.
OAHS
Cottage Grove's
passport to aviation
history, page 6A
City's new legal counsel features familiar faces
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
he City of Cottage Grove
has new legal representation,
though it’s possible to recognize fa-
miliar faces among its new counsel.
The
Cot-
tage
Grove
City Council
announced at
its Monday,
March 9 meet-
ing that con-
tracts for legal
services had
been offered
to
Attorney
John Wood- John Woodworth
worth, who will serve as
will serve as Cottage Grove's
prosecutor at
prosecutor;
Cottage Grove
Woodworth has
Municipal
Court;
rep- already served
resentatives the City on an
of the Local interim basis.
Government Law Group will serve
as the City’s general counsel. Previ-
ously, the jobs of both general coun-
sel and city prosecutor had been
fi lled by local attorney Sean Kelly.
The job of local prosecutor is cer-
tainly not unfamiliar to Woodworth,
who has acted as a fi ll-in at the posi-
tion for years, most recently on an
interim basis during the absences
of former City Attorney Kelly, who
was suspended from his position
in January of 2014 after he was
charged with assault in response to
an incident that occurred at the home
of a Cottage Grove woman on New
Year’s Day. City Manager Richard
Meyers later reinstated Kelly on a
“last-chance” basis, though the at-
torney was arrested in Springfi eld
last October on a charge of operat-
ing his motorcycle under the infl u-
ence. Kelly was dismissed again fol-
lowing that arrest.
Meyers reported to the City
Council recently that seven highly
qualifi ed candidates responded to
the city’s request for proposal, and
the evaluation committee was very
pleased with its selections. Wood-
worth was the only candidate to
respond to the request for city pros-
ecutor services only.
Woodworth talked with the Sen-
tinel following court proceedings
Thursday, and he said that, while
he’s practiced all manner of law
in his 19-year career, serving as a
defense attorney has perhaps gone
furthest to inform his approach as a
prosecutor.
“You want to know what the other
side is going to argue,” he said. “If
you can’t do that, you’re not going to
do well in very many cases. It’s my
belief that prosecution and defense
work under the same constitution
and the same laws. There’s no need
to be a ‘true believer’ either way;
you’re seeking a just result among a
lot of competing factors.”
Woodworth said he attempts to al-
low fi rst offenders in the municipal
court system an opportunity to exit
the process without a criminal con-
viction; habitual offenders, though,
are subject to another approach.
“I tend to offer some kind of di-
version device that we will later
review for compliance by the de-
fendant,” he said. “I’m generous on
that front but I’m not very generous
on the back end of things. Guys that
obviously aren’t ‘getting it’ will be
sent downstairs.”
During recent court proceedings,
Woodworth said he’s taken an espe-
cially strong stance regarding those
who fail to appear in court.
“I’ve gone with a policy to charge
everyone who fails to appear,” he
said. “The criminal element in Cot-
tage Grove seems to be a pretty
tight-knit group, and I think the
word is getting out. As a result, the
rate of those who fail to appear has
plummeted.”
Cottage Grove’s jail is certainly
an effective deterrent for certain
criminals, Woodworth said.
“People ask to be sent to Lane
County because it’s more comfort-
able than our jail,” he said. “Our jail
has a deterrent value that exceeds
that of Lane County.”
Woodworth also had praise for
Judge Martin Fisher, whom he’s
known since law school, and the
Cottage Grove Police Department.
“Cottage Grove is lucky to have
this group of offi cers,” he said. “If
I don’t do my job, all the hard work
of these guys goes to waste, and I’m
not going to let that happen.”
The Local Government Law
Group, a member of Speer Hoyt,
LLC, employs a team of fi ve at-
torneys to handle legal matters for
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Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
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