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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2015)
Cottage Grove Sentinel photo by Eric Eligott A stunning double rainbow decorated the skies over Cottage Grove on Saturday. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 16 Friends gather to celebrate APC move, anniversary A Primary Connection commemorates 25 years' service, move to LCC campus BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T photo by Bruce Kelsh Ana Maria Dudley (left) and Peggy Lintula share a moment during last Tuesday's ceremony. hough many visitors came to a room they may never have visited before, it wasn’t long before the gathering had a family feel. Guests came together at Cottage Grove’s Lane Community College campus on Tuesday, Oct. 6 to tour the new facilities and mark the 25-year anniversary of A Primary Connection, the family resource center of South Lane School Dis- trict that has been helping young parents and their children for generations. Nearly all those who gathered — including many who Ruby and Amber's Or- ganic Oasis owner Walt Bernard speaks with intern Carlin Briner as Belgian draft horses Tom and Jerry pull their wagon on a beauti- ful Sunday afternoon. BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Organic farm shows off its system W alt Bernard has been work- ing with draft horses for about 20 years, and the ease with which he speaks about their value to his farm near Dorena only adds to the slow cadence of a Sunday-after- noon wagon ride. Bernard, owner of Ruby and Am- ber’s Organic Oasis, is in the driver’s seat, though he’s content to let Car- lin Briner, an intern who’s spending a month on the farm to learn the art of equine farming, do the actual driv- ing. Tom and Jerry, two massive Bel- gian draft horses, plod along, seem- Also inside: Please see APC, Page 11A Police plan to ticket distracted drivers photo by Jon Stinnnett BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel over the years,” said Mary Nise- wander, who fi rst visited A Prima- ry Connection as a young parent and recently retired from teaching. “Do you know how many times I’d call and ask for help?” Ana Maria Dudley, now herself a fi xture at the center, fi rst visited 22 years ago. “I was new in town, and I didn’t know anybody,” she said. “I walked the streets with two kids and didn’t know what to do. This place gave me a community. I came here in 1993 and never left.” During her remarks on the occa- sion, Lintula explained that, after have contributed their own efforts to A Primary Connection over the years — shared stories of the fi rst time they brought their children to the center, children now grown and pursuing their own higher ed- ucation and careers. It was a celebration that in many ways revolved around one woman, Peggy Lintula, who transformed an initiative to connect with young parents into a resource center that has thrived despite budget con- cerns, fi rst at the SLSD offi ce, then at Lincoln Middle School, Bohemia Elementary and, begin- ning this year, at LCC. “This is probably only a mil- lionth of the families she’s touched H ORSE POWER Check out the insert in this edition supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month! ingly oblivious to the wagonload of visitors behind them. It’s a busy day on the farm, where a patch of land teeming with pumpkins has drawn a crowd and a tour group with the Living on the Land work- shop series has made a trip that’s a Need to check a text while driving across Cot- tage Grove? Have trouble stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks? Hate wearing that pesky seatbelt? These days, driving behaviors such as these will be more likely to warrant a ticket from the Cottage Grove Police Department, whose interim chief, Scott Shepherd, said that police will be working to target distracted drivers. “In addition to speed and traffi c enforcement, offi - cers will be encouraged to look for distracted behav- ior that can lead to accidents,” Shepherd said, add- ing that enforcement in the near future could include stings set up at crosswalks to target those who don’t stop for pedestrians (drivers must stop for pedestri- ans at crosswalks that aren’t controlled by a traffi c signal), in addition to tickets for those who use mo- bile devices while driving, are observed speeding or not wearing seatbelts. Shepherd took over for outgoing Chief Mike Gro- ver last month, and he said he’s already responded to requests for more traffi c enforcement by writing more tickets and stationing police in school zones. The push to ticket more distracted drivers also stems To the dogs City kennel hailed as a success, page 3A Faster! Harriers cranking out season-bests, page 1B Please see DRIVERS, Page 11A Please see HORSES, Page 11A Council approves franchise agreement with Charter Communications City has sought a new agreement since 1999 BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel A t its Monday night meet- ing, the Cottage Grove City Council came to an agree- ment with Charter Communica- tions that the City has sought for over 15 years. In 1999, the franchise agree- ment that guided the way the cable company does business in Cottage Grove expired, and a provision was put into place to continue the old agreement on a month-to-month basis, which has guided the relation- ship between the City and Char- ter since. The City has worked to renew the Charter franchise agreement since then, especially attempting to secure added reve- nue in the form of franchise fees — fees that companies pay for the privilege of using the City right-of-way to conduct their business — from a company whose offerings in the commu- nity have expanded into other realms beyond cable television. Charter has resisted efforts to increase the franchise fees it pays to include its telephone and Internet services, but the City recently attempted another way to secure an agreement. After consulting with its legal counsel, the Local Government Law Group, the City learned that its existing month-to-month agreement included provisions that Charter reportedly does not typically agree to in new agree- ments, according to the fi rm’s Christy Munson. (A representa- tive from Charter could not be contacted by press time for this article). These provisions in- clude stronger protection of the right-of-way, according to Cot- tage Grove City Manager Rich- ard Meyers. Over the summer, Charter asked the City Council to con- sent to its merger with Time Warner Cable and its acquisi- tion of Bright House Networks, LLC. After consultation with le- gal counsel, the City consented to the merger and acquisition in August but added in the stipu- lation that its current month- to-month franchise agreement be renewed for 10 years. To the City’s apparent surprise, it worked, though Charter re- sponded with two conditions of its own. “We were waiting anxiously to see how Charter respond- ed,” Meyers said. “They liked the idea, which surprised both Christy and I. But they didn’t want 10 years; they only wanted fi ve.” The second condition that Charter wanted changed, Mey- ers said, was the requirement that they maintain a physical offi ce for customers to do busi- ness with the company in Cot- tage Grove. The revised agree- ment includes conditions by which the company could close its local offi ce, though it spells out that certain services would still have to be provided for cus- tomers. “They have approved the doc- ument, so as soon as you adopt it, it will be in place,” Meyers told the Council on Monday. “We’re able to have a signed, sealed agreement that is our old franchise agreement, though it has a lot of language in it that they will not approve now.” Mayor Tom Munroe said the agreement was full of “lawyer- speak” and asked Munson if she indeed felt it was in the City’s best interest. Munson responded that she has represented numer- ous cities in negotiations with Charter and that “your existing franchise is pretty good.” “When these agreements were written before, they weren’t as exacting,” Munson said later. “This franchise gives the City a lot more options. There’s no longer a mandate that they have a physical offi ce here, but there are provisions in place to make sure the customers’ needs are still met.” Rain Country Realty Inc. G N I T A UPD 505 Gateway 3 bedroom, 1 bath, undergoing some renovations, can be business or residence. Pest and Dry Rot being completed. T O L R E CORN Principal Brokers Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735 Frank Brazell....................953-2407 Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838 545 Crestwood, Creswell 3 bedroom, 2 bath, big kitchen, corner lot, convenient location, RV Parking come see! Brokers Laurie Phillip....................430-0756 Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 $199,500 $134,900 Licensed in the State of Oregon ! CONTACT US www.cgsentinel.com On the Internet (541) 942-3325 By telephone (541) 942-3328 By fax cgnews@cgsentinel.com By e-mail P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By mail Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove In person WEATHER CONTENTS HIGH LOW 78 47 Partly Cloudy Calendar......................................... 9B Channel Guide ............................... 6B Classified ads................................. 8B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 75 CENTS
