Oil slick downtown — 3A
Bond survey results — 6A
Lions score a stunner!
Baseball team hands Sisters its fi rst league
loss in four years
page 1B
CT peaks with 'Les Mis'— 9A
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
Council adopts
Main Street plan
Full-day
K
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
Slew of adjustments
precedes start of
full-day
kindergarten
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
P
urchasing school sup-
plies, meeting the new
teacher, adapting to a new
schedule — parents and area
fi ve-year olds are already eye-
ing the adjustments they’ll
photo by Jon Stinnett
need to make when a new
group of kindergarteners ar- Mina Christianson teaches a blended kindergarten/fi rst-grade class at London El-
rives at area schools next fall. ementary. Kindergarten students will spend their entire day at school next fall.
And when the new students get
limits.
in order to utilize that room as
to school, they’ll encounter a to consider.”
Adding kindergarten for a
“We’ve been out of room for a kindergarten classroom. The
group of educators that is itself
adjusting to a new format for full day means twice as many a while,” said Bohemia Prin- other classroom the school
kindergarten teachers for most cipal Jackie Lester, who ex- must provide formerly housed
their school day.
Back in 2011, Oregon’s Sen- schools, in addition to more plained that a plan to repurpose three special education groups,
ate Bill 248 mandated a full day help from educational assis- part of that school’s beloved which will also share space.
“It doesn’t leave a closet un-
of kindergarten for the state’s tants and the addition of cur- library has been scrapped due
riculum
materials
and
furni-
to
the
backlash
it
generated.
used,”
Lester said. “It’s really
students beginning with the
ture
for
new
teachers
and
their
Lester
pointed
out
that
Bohe-
tight;
we
still don’t know ex-
2015-16 school year, and while
teachers and administrators students. First, though, comes mia is home to many programs actly what it will look like.”
Nice said that Harrison El-
with South Lane School Dis- the task of fi nding the space not housed at other district
for
classrooms
to
keep
the
schools
such
as
instruction
in
ementary
also needs to add a
trict say they’ve been preparing
District’s
youngest
students
in
English
as
a
second
language,
full
classroom
and will utilize
for some time for the changes
A Primary Connection and a a room that currently houses its
it entails and are excited about class all day.
At Harrison and Bohemia behavior support class offered reading specialist and special
the opportunities full-day kin-
Elementary,
the District’s larg- in conjunction with South education teacher, who will
dergarten can offer, there are
est
elementary
schools, adding Lane Mental Health. Bohe- move to the school’s current
still changes to be made and
questions to be answered be- full-day kindergarten means mia’s computer lab is also in music room. Harrison’s music
the shuffl ing of other groups high demand for state testing teacher will also go mobile,
fore the fi rst day of school.
“It will be a great program,” and even the re-envisioning of and other needs, but Lester carrying what instruments and
said Harrison Elementary Prin- spaces in buildings that have said the school has elected to
Please see KINDER, Page 9A
cipal Ali Nice, “but there’s a lot already reached their capacity try out a mobile computer lab
Presentation honors local Rosie the Riveters
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
or those who did not live
through those times, it
can be diffi cult to imagine the
reality of a total worldwide war
requiring the efforts of all of a
nation’s citizens to ensure vic-
tory. On Wednesday, April 8, a
panel of four local ladies came
to the Cottage Grove Communi-
ty Center to share their stories of
such times and the efforts each
played in helping overcome the
enemy during World War II.
America’s Rosie the Riveters
have since become a cultural
icon, the symbol of the real-life
women who entered the work-
force or changed professions
during the war to take positions
vacated by men fi ghting over-
seas. The term was coined in
1942 with a song by Redd Ev-
ans and John Jacob Loeb that
became a national hit, and the
image of a woman in a red ban-
dana operating a rivet gun is still
recognizable to many today.
But much like their male
counterparts, the real-life Rosie
the Riveters are advancing past
the age of 90 and are passing
away at alarming rates, accord-
ing to Yvonne Fasold, herself a
VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 42
photo by Jon Stinnett
"It still fi ts!" — Rosie the Riveter Opal Nelson (left) and
ARRA President Yvonne Fasold show off Nelson's Red
Cross uniform.
“Rosebud,” the descendant of
a Rosie, who also serves as the
President of the American Rosie
the Riveters Association. Sisters
Fasold and Corolene Corriea
also spoke of their connection to
the Rosies at last week’s presen-
tation, organized by the Cottage
Grove Genealogical Society,
which found a nice crowd on
hand to hear the stories of local
Rosies.
“Our two main ARRA goals
are to honor the women and to
preserve their legacy,” Fasold
said. “To do that, we need to
spread the word and involve
younger generations. When we
talk to schools, it becomes ‘liv-
ing history.’”
Fasold pointed out that many
local Rosie the Riveters have
passed away recently, mention-
ing Betty Fisher and Maggie
Porter with a catch in her voice.
Fasold credited Opal Nelson,
one of Cottage Grove’s most
recognizable Rosies, with help-
ing her decide to pursue the
presidency of the national orga-
nization.
“Once I met this group, I knew
I had to step up,” she said.
There are about 15 Rosies
that remain active in the Eugene
chapter of AARA, Fasold said,
and three of the four Rosies with
Cottage Grove ties were on hand
to share their stories Wednesday,
minus Arlene Williams. Cottage
Grove’s Alice Heiney is proud
to be the oldest local Rosie at
age 97, and Doris Graham and
Nelson also shared their stories,
in addition to Springfi eld’s Lor-
ette Wedlake.
Heiney brought along a car-
tridge of the type she inspected
during the war. She and others
would inspect the weight and
gauge of each bullet before
placing it in a big hopper bound
for another part of the Denver-
based factory. Heiney said that
all those working there were a
patriotic bunch. She added that it
was diffi cult during those times
to obtain housing for working
mothers.
Please see ROSIES, Page 12A
plan to remodel Main
Street in downtown Cot-
tage Grove that was developed
over a year and a half and drew
hours of impassioned testimony
in the council chambers of City
Hall was approved without
a trace of fanfare at the City
Council’s Monday, April 13
meeting.
Over that time, the debate
over many aspects of the Main
Street Refi nement Plan drew
large crowds and led the leaders
of the Cottage Grove Planning
Commission and City Coun-
cil to extend public hearings
so all who wished could add
their opinion to the record. The
MSRP also put a spotlight on
the condition and eventual fate
of the two rows of trees lining
Main Street, which became a
hot topic in public hearings and
in the public sphere beyond.
And yet on Monday night, the
crowds were gone, and but a few
of the stalwart participants in the
plan’s public process remained
to see the fi nal approval.
Among its more notable im-
pacts, the Main Street Refi ne-
ment Plan calls for a narrowing
of the width of travel lanes on
Main Street from 16 to 12 ½
feet. It removes the pronounced
crown or hump of Main Street
itself and widens the sidewalks
that line it; adds utilities outside
and calls for the systematic re-
placement of the street trees.
The remodel the plan lays out
carries a price tag of about $9
million, and it will be used by
the City’s planning department
as the basis for efforts to gar-
ner grant funding to implement
those changes.
The Council fi rst voted 5-0 to
adopt the plan on March 23 with
two councilors absent. Council-
or Jeff Gowing returned from a
trip to New Zealand to provide
the only ‘Nay’ vote Monday
night. After the meeting, Gow-
ing reiterated that he had spoken
to about 20 downtown business
owners and said the majority
of them were not in favor of
the Refi nement Plan. He talked
again of Main Street as the main
corridor between the east and
west sides of Cottage Grove
and how narrowing Main Street
would hamper that corridor and
said that he was sticking to his
guns and maintaining his oppo-
sition to the plan.
Maintenance, security
prioritized for bond
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
D
eferred
maintenance
projects, safety and se-
curity upgrades, the renovation
of the Warren H. Daugherty
Aquatic Center — a committee
charged with exploring a local
bond levy to replace Harrison
Elementary School in Cottage
Grove had an additional list of
projects to consider with po-
tential funds left after the con-
struction of a new school, and
on Wednesday, April 8, the
committee agreed nearly unani-
mously on fi ve items.
Upgrades to South Lane
School District’s security sys-
tems and computer networks
also made the list, and coming
in fi fth was a hybrid of upgrad-
ing some of the District’s ath-
letic fi elds and the theater cur-
rently in place in Cottage Grove
High School’s cafetorium.
The committee was formed
early this year and charged with
exploring the bond for a new
Harrison, a 70-year old building
tapped for replacement by dis-
trict offi cials for some time. The
District feels a recovering econ-
omy and the upcoming expira-
tion of the bond used to replace
Cottage Grove High School
may make the timing right for
the passage of the bond, with
the likely target of either the
May or November of 2016 elec-
tion to put the issue before local
voters.
Among the fi rst questions fac-
ing the committee last week was
whether to attempt a 20 or 25-
year bond, with an overwhelm-
ing majority of those present
seeking the 25-year option. This
time frame means that, after the
estimated $21 million necessary
to rebuild Harrison, the District
would have some $8.8 million
in bond money remaining.
A list of fi ve deferred main-
tenance projects that included
replacing the roof at Lincoln
Middle School and the heating
and cooling system at Bohe-
mia Elementary came in at an
estimated cost of just over $2.5
million. Security upgrades in-
cluding the addition of cameras
throughout the District totaled
$915,740, and network and
computer upgrades are expected
to cost about $1.5 million.
Committee members seemed
in agreement that something
needed to be done about the
aquatic center, with many ex-
pressing their desire for a new
pool but ultimately choosing the
renovation option at an estimat-
ed cost of almost $2.8 million.
Members of the committee
also liked several of the possi-
bilities of a new recreation com-
plex at the Cottage Grove High
School site, which could include
new turf fi elds, a fi tness center
and other amenities. Many also
sought to respond to a recent
survey indicating a
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Calendar......................................... 9B
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