COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 24, 2015
Creswell man drives
into path of log truck
Sigh of Relief details
nursery efforts
O
Local mom shares story of how FRN
helped her family
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
H
elp for free? What a re-
lief!
Cottage Grove mom and
Family Relief Nursery client
Bethany Cushman capped off
the Nursery’s annual Sigh of
Relief luncheon on Tuesday,
June 16 with a stirring, force-
ful and emotional account of
the troubles that brought her
and her young son to seek help
when she thought help was no-
where to be found.
“My life was messy, and I
knew I needed changes,” said
Cushman, who said she dealt
with substance abuse issues,
the father of her son’s sentence
to prison and an unsafe family
situation before seeking out
help in the Nursery. Cushman
would eventually utilize the
Nursery’s respite care pro-
gram, which gives parents a
needed break to attend to tasks
besides child-rearing, and her
son found help in its Wobblers
class.
“I felt like I had my own
support team to help and en-
courage me,” she said through
tears. “I’m substance-free, able
to track my spending and my
son is safe. The Nursery of-
fers invaluable skills, and they
teach you how to do things for
yourself.”
Nursery staff members Pa-
mela Helms and Samantha
Dieke stood by and encouraged
Cushman as she recounted her
tale.
A large crowd that gathered
photo by Greg Lee
Family Relief Nursery staff members Pamela Helms
and Samantha Dieke support Bethany Cushman as
she shares her story at the Sigh of Relief luncheon.
at Cottage Grove High School
for the luncheon met other
members of the “support team,”
including volunteers Ginger
Abraham and Gary Sparks,
who were presented the Betty
Wright Good Neighbor Award
for efforts on behalf of the
Nursery and other community
organizations.
A
t its Wednesday, June 17 meeting,
the Cottage Grove Planning Com-
mission recommended the approval of
a zone change for a parcel of land at the
northwest corner of Highway 99 and River
Walk Place, land on which its owner hopes
to build additional housing.
Hayden Homes, a developer with com-
munities in Idaho, Oregon and Washing-
ton, began building the 73-lot Riverwalk
development on the south end of Cottage
Grove in 2008. The company reported
strong sales of the homes, which were mar-
keted to fi rst-time homebuyers, throughout
the economic downturn. It had originally
sought to sell the commercial land fronting
the subdivision, according to City Planner
Amanda Ferguson, who said the City’s
zoning laws mandate that 10 housing units
per acre be built on land zoned for residen-
tial development. This means that Hayden
must build at least 32 homes on the prop-
erty, though plans for the additional devel-
opment have not been made public.
Ferguson said Hayden Homes has 180
days to submit its plans for a site design
review that is not yet complete. She said
she expects the City Council, which re-
ceives the recommendation from the Plan-
ning Commission, to consider and possibly
adopt the zone change at its July 27 meet-
ing.
A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Hayden Homes has applied for a
zone change to pave the way for
residential housing on the lot next
to its Riverwalk development.
Art walk to showcase 'Paw Prints'
Cottage Grove’s June Art
Walk, themed “Paw Prints,”
takes place this Friday, June 26
from 6-8 p.m.
Art Walk offers the chance to
peruse local art in charming
historic downtown Cottage
Grove on the last Friday of
every month from April to
October. Complimentary
treats, tastings, and live music
accompany a walk throughout
downtown, and Art Walk is a
free event.
Artist Listing:
Apple Pie: Randy Deering, Pet
Watercolors
Kalapuya Books: Candee
Brennan, animal portraits
Imagine It Framed: Horst
Hittenberger, Oil Painting and
Plein Aire
The Crafty Mercantile: The
Basket Cases, Pine Needle
Baskets; Patricia Shea, Cat
ffi cials with Oregon State
Police say that a Creswell
man who was killed when his
pickup collided with a log truck
on Friday morning appeared to
have intentionally steered into
the path of the truck, according to
statements made by witnesses.
According to Lieutenant Lang
Hinkle, at about 6:30 a.m., OSP
Troopers and emergency person-
nel , including personnel with
South Lane County Fire and Res-
cue, responded to the report of a
head-on collision on Interstate 5
near milepost 182 just north of
Creswell.
Preliminary information indi-
cated that a 1999 Dodge Pickup
operated by Keith E. Henningsen,
age 36, of Creswell began driving
northbound in the southbound
lanes of Interstate 5 from the Cre-
swell interchange.
Police say Henningsen’s ve-
hicle drove a short distance be-
fore striking a 2001 Kenworth
truck loaded with logs head-on.
Henningsen was pronounced de-
ceased on scene. The operator of
the Kenworth, Robert A. Frank-
lin, 62, of Vader, Wash., was
transported to a local hospital for
non-life threatening injuries.
According to witnesses, Frank-
lin tried to swerve to avoid Hen-
ningsen’s vehicle but it appeared
Henningsen intentionally steered
into the path of the truck. Further
investigation revealed Henning-
sen had made suicidal comments
to family members and was spe-
cifi c about driving into the path of
a log truck.
Drinking water plan approved
Please see RELIEF, Page 10A
Hayden Homes seeks zone change for adjacent property
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Watercolors.
Opal Center for Arts and Edu-
cation: Rae Ann Pendleton’
Horse Paintings and Drawings
Bookmine: Gloria Campuzano,
author of the book “Alimen-
tary My Dear Timmy,” a book
on cats.
plan that aims to pro-
tect the City of Cottage
Grove’s municipal drinking water
supply was recently approved by
Oregon’s Department of Environ-
mental Quality, the City recently
announced.
Consultants with E-Systems
Services urged the City Council
to approve a plan to protect the
City’s water supply at the Coun-
cil’s April 13 meeting, where Pub-
lic Works Director Jan Wellman
reported that two student interns
have worked through the Com-
munity Development Department
to draft a drinking water protec-
tion plan over the past two years.
The City recently learned that
the plan has been approved and
meets all the requirements of Or-
egon Administrative Rule (OAR)
340-40-0170340-40-0170.
The plan was presented to the
Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality, Wellman said,
which suggested the further step
of outlining an implementation
strategy to actively protect the
watershed that supplies the City
with its drinking water.
The Public Works depart-
ment subsequently applied for
and received two separate grants
from the Oregon Health Author-
ity, Drinking Water Program via
the Oregon Infrastructure Fi-
nance Authority in the amounts
of $21,000 and $17,250 to pay
for the phase one and phase two
implementation of the plan. This
grant funding was and will be
used to develop the two-phase
implementation strategy, which
included an agency-level ap-
proach in phase one and an indi-
vidual landowner-level approach
in phase two.
Wellman told the Council that
such a plan is important for good
customer relations among the
City’s water customers, adding
that the City should also fi nd itself
higher on priority lists of projects
to protect the watershed and be
eligible for lower rates on loans
that could be used to implement
the plan’s protection strategies.
The City says the phase-two
implementation will include a
comprehensive public educa-
tion component and outreach on
the individual landowner level
and will be coordinated by the
Coast Fork Willamette Watershed
Council.
More information on Cottage
Grove’s drinking water protec-
tion plan can be obtained through
City Planner Amanda Ferguson
by email at planner@cottage-
grove.org or by phone at 541-
942-3340.
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