COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 20, 2015
Work to repave
Highway 99 pushed
back to May 26
Strong job
market aiding
connections
efforts
Nighttime paving of Cottage Grove Connec-
tor tentatively scheduled for June 8-9
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
S
tatistics compiled statewide showcase
a stronger job market than has exist-
ed in Oregon for years, and the Goodwill
Industries Job Connections site in Cottage
Grove says it’s working to connect that mar-
ket with area employers.
The Oregon Employment Department re-
ported in late April that businesses statewide
reported 39,400 vacancies in the winter of
2015, an increase of 6,600 vacancies from
the prior year. They say the growing number
of vacancies refl ects the strengthening labor
market across Oregon in the past year.
In Cottage Grove, Ariel Smythe, an em-
ployment specialist with Goodwill’s Job
Connections effort, said job listings have
similarly been on the rise.
“For the last few weeks, we’ve been non-
stop busy,” Smythe said. “These jobs are out
there, and we think they need to be found.”
Statewide, OED reports more higher-
wage and less lower-wage vacancies, with
health care and social assistance jobs show-
casing the most vacancies at almost a quarter
of the total listings. Occupations in demand
photo by Jon Stinnett
Ariel Smythe helps Rhonda Avants prepare job application materials at
Goodwill's Job Connections site.
included personal care aides, social and hu-
man service assistants and registered nurs-
es. Leisure and hospitality employers also
reported many job vacancies, with recruit-
ment for maids and housekeepers, waiters
and waitresses and cooks.
Listings for general labor help, mainte-
nance, caregiving and fast food dominate
local listings, Smythe said, though listings
for higher-paying jobs are increasing.
“We try hard to discover a variety of list-
ings for our clients,” she said. “But people
tend to rely on advertised listings, and we
hope to help potential employees identify
the hidden job market.”
Last year, Goodwill Job Connections
helped place 115 employees in new posi-
tions, and Smythe said activities have cer-
tainly been higher this year.
Please see JOBS, Page 12A
A
small room in the old
Cottage Grove Hotel
became the domain of wizards
from throughout the region Sat-
urday.
About two-dozen fans and
players of the trading-card
game “Magic: The Gathering”
themselves gathered in Cottage
Grove for a tournament that of-
fered a chance for greatness on
a larger scale for its victor.
First published in 1993,
“Magic” continues to draw new
Workers with Wildish Con-
struction have pushed back the
start date of a project that will
repave much of Highway 99 be-
tween Cottage Grove and Cre-
swell, according to Rick Little,
a spokesperson with the Oregon
Department of Transportation.
Overall, the project will re-
pave two segments of OR 99
(Goshen-Divide Highway) from
Creswell south to near the junc-
tion with Interstate 5, excluding
Cottage Grove, with a two-inch
pavement overlay. It will also
repave much of the Cottage
Grove Connector and Row
River Road, on each side of In-
terstate 5 with a two-inch grind
and inlay.
Wildish had planned to begin
construction at the Hill Creek
Bridge south of Creswell last
week but reconsidered due to
the Memorial Day holiday. Lit-
tle said that work will now start
on May 26, though he added
that adjustments may need to
be made on the manholes and
drains on the Cottage Grove
Connector and Row River Road,
adjustments that could occur
this week.
Crews plan to start in Cre-
swell and generally work south,
Little said. Construction to re-
pave the Connector and a por-
tion of Row River Road will
have to take place at night, and
that construction is tentatively
scheduled for June 8-9.
During construction, ODOT
says that travelers can expect
daytime, single-lane closures
with traffi c controlled by fl ag-
gers and pilot cars, with delays
of no more than 20 minutes.
They add that accesses to all
businesses will remain open dur-
ing construction with blue cones
or “Business Access” signs.
Wildish was awarded the low-
bid contract of $1.16 million.
Saturday farmer's
markets cancelled
Delight hosts a
Magic tournament
with a regional draw
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
3A
I
players, and regular Friday tour-
naments at card stores such as
Delight, located on Main Street
in Cottage Grove, consistently
draw local players. Put (very)
basically, the game involves a
60-card deck of cards featur-
ing lands, creatures and spells;
its players each start with a life
scale measuring 20, and the
player in a head-to-head match-
up that reduces an opponent’s
life to 0 wins the match.
Tournaments like the one
held upstairs above Delight last
weekend are far less common
than a typical gathering, accord-
photo by Jon Stinnett
Matchups in the trading-card game "Magic: The Gath-
ering" last 50 minutes, and players try to reduce their
opponents life down to 0.
ing to Ryan Wood, a certifi ed liminary tour qualifi er offered
judge brought in from Corvallis a chance to graduate to regional
to oversee the event. The pre- competition for its winner, and
every three months, the top four
players in regional competition
are invited to join the profes-
sional tour.
“The stakes are a lot higher
here,” Wood said, pointing out
the need for an offi cial judge
and an entry fee as proof. Play-
ers competing Saturday had at-
tained a Level 2 familiarity with
the game, which Wood said
takes about a year.
The crowd at Delight seemed
to skew largely male and of a
From Baby to Graduate
t looks like a Saturday
farmer’s market may not
be happening this summer in
Cottage Grove after all.
Last week, the Sentinel
caught up with Coast Fork
Farm Stand operator Scott
Burgwin, who stated that the
stand, in conjunction with the
Cottage Grove Public Market
next door, would begin offer-
ing a farmer’s market on Satur-
day afternoons this weekend.
Shortly after this conversa-
tion, though, Burgwin said he
was informed that the Public
Market will not be participat-
ing in Saturday events and that
he had made a decision to can-
cel the markets.
Cottage Grove’s Farmer’s
Market previously fl ourished
in conjunction with the Cham-
ber of Commerce’s Wednesday
afternoon Concerts in the Park
series, but the relocation of
the concerts to Bohemia Park,
coupled with the permanent
move of the Farm Stand to the
corner of 10th and Washington
Streets nearby, made hosting
the market in conjunction with
the concerts unfeasible.
“It was the moves that killed
it — our move and the con-
certs,” Burgwin said. “It just
didn’t work for the few farm-
ers we had attending. Even if
we had it here in conjunction
with the concerts, it doesn’t re-
ally work. You can see the con-
cert from here, but it’s like it’s
miles away.”
Burgwin said the Farm
Stand has recently begun of-
fering more produce from lo-
cal farmers anyway and that
few farmers could commit to
a Saturday market. The Con-
certs in the Park series begins
on Wednesday, June 17 with
the classic covers of Brad
Shepherd’s “Perfect Flavor.”
Concerts take place from 6:30-
8 p.m. each Wednesday eve-
ning until the Umpqua Valley
Bluegrass Band closes out the
series on Sept. 9.
Please see MAGIC, Page 10A
(it seemed like just a few short years)
8th Grade, High School, or College
Grads name
Another dental visit?
Turns out, you have better things to do with
your time.
School:
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Deadline is Friday, May 22nd
Now is the time to reserve your graduates a spot in this special section just for them.
Just bring in or mail, with the coupon below, your graduate’s favorite baby picture
along with a current picture to be published side by side on June 3, 2015.
What a special way to show off that graduate you are so proud of!
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Cottage Grove Sentinel
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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