Cottage Grove sentinel., November 18, 2015, Image 1

Fiber optics expanded — 3A
Equestrian
Mootz signs
with TCU,
page 1B
Economic boost in Creswell — 3A
Sports awards night — 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 21
Also Stewart announces U.S. Senate bid
inside:
as a Commissioner, I can’t re-
ally help with a lot of them.”
Climbing rates in recent years
of local students who receive
free and reduced school lunches
proves that Oregon families are
struggling to get by on less in-
come, Stewart said. Counts of
the homeless population in the
last 10 years have doubled, he
said, as County services have
been lessened by a drop-off in
federal funding. Funding to the
so-called “O&C Counties,” in-
cluding Lane County, which
receive federal dollars due to
Lane County Commissioner hopes to win
Republican primary, unseat Wyden
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
E
ast Lane County Com-
missioner Faye Stewart
announced his intent to run for
the United States Senate seat
held for almost 20 years by Ron
Wyden on Thursday, a move he
said he’s been pondering for
about the last year.
Stewart, who has served on
the County board for 11 years
Paws that refreshes
and hails from Cottage Grove,
said he’s spent the last several
months talking with his fam-
ily about the ramifi cations of a
campaign and, if he’s elected, a
new job that would dramatically
alter his life.
“Over the last 11 years, I’ve
realized that I really love help-
ing people,” Stewart said, “but in
watching the way a lot of things
are impacting people’s lives at
the federal level, I realize that,
the amount of land there that’s
owned by the U.S. government,
is a “fraction” of what it was in
previous years, Stewart pointed
out, and he recently cited Sena-
tor Wyden’s opposition to a plan
that would increase logging in
those counties as a reason for his
decision to campaign. He serves
as the vice president of the As-
sociation of Oregon Counties.
“It’s this way with almost ev-
erything,” he said. “I’ve been
trying to assess when it’s go-
ing to get better, with increases
in jobs and living wages in Or-
O
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
bout 8400 visits to Cottage Grove last
year were directly related to the 37.8-
mile loop of pavement that stretches from
the center of town, around Dorena Reservoir
and back, according to a recent study that
points to the Covered Bridges Scenic Bike-
way as one of the top tourist attractions in
the area.
The study, prepared by Dean Runyan and
Associates for Travel Oregon and Oregon’s
Parks and Recreation Department,
Editor takes English
odyssey, page 6A
Please see STEWART, Page 12A
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Report details economic impact
of Scenic Bikeways
Devonshire
egon, but these days, many are
Council bans
smoking in
City parks
B IKES
B RING
B USINESS
New pet business
is more than just a
groomer's.
page 3A
Faye Stewart during a
2014 Lane County
Commissioner debate
Please see BIKEWAYS, Page 5A
Sentinel fi le photo
Events such as Cycle the Lakes (participants pictured here) draw cyclists to Oregon's Scenic Bike-
ways, though independent riders outnumber those drawn to events.
n Monday, Nov. 9, the Cottage Grove
City Council voted unanimously for
the second time to ban smoking and tobacco
use in city parks. The newly voted ordinance
will go into effect on Dec. 9, and will ban
not only smoking, but electronic cigarettes
and all tobacco use as well, which is a step
further than other smoking bans around the
state. Councilor Jake Boone says it’s a mea-
sure that can also prevent marijuana from be-
ing smoked in public areas.
At the meeting, a discussion of proposing
to build designated smoking areas in the parks
came up. Mayor Tom Munroe said in the dis-
cussion that it’s possible for bigger parks such
as Bohemia and Coiner parks to have desig-
nated smoking areas, though it would be pre-
ferred only during special events during the
spring and summer.
“There are other parks that are too small,
and there’s no point,” Munroe said.
Within the next few weeks, signs will be
posted in many of the city’s parks and those
who are caught smoking after Dec. 9 will
be initially warned of the ban. Any further
disobedience could result in a fi ne of up to
$500.
Murphy announces resignation from City Council at-large seat
She began position as executive director of
CASA of Lane County in September
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
B
y the beginning of next
year, the Cottage Grove
City Council will fi nd itself one
member short once again.
T h e
Council
recently
appointed
Amy Slay
to its Ward
IV position
after
the
resignation
of
Kate Heather Murphy
Price, and
last Mon-
day, Councilor Heather Murphy
announced that she will resign
her at-large position at the end
of 2015. She cited work and
family commitments as the rea-
son for her resignation.
Murphy fi rst took offi ce when
she was appointed to replace
Robert Hunt, who moved to
Montana, in 2008. At the time,
she cited the fact that her kids
were growing older as a reason
for her decision to seek offi ce
after considering the move for
some time. Now, with her son a
senior in high school and a new
job that started in September,
Murphy said a similar reason
has her convinced it’s time to
move on.
“I’ve got a commute to Eu-
gene that’s been drawing me
north and three kids with busy
schedules,” she said. “It’s diffi -
cult to schedule around Council
meetings and committee ap-
pointments, and I don’t do any-
“It’s back in the child protection
realm, which is my true passion,
and it’s a great organization.”
In refl ecting back on her
Council tenure, Murphy said she
joined the legislative body at an
interesting time, just after con-
troversial proceedings involving
the Cottage Grove Speedway
and an attempted expansion of
the local Walmart store.
“There had been a lot of
blame to go around, but I think
I’m most proud of the fact that
this Council has raised the bar
of professionalism since that
time with regard to how we ap-
proach issues and deal with each
other,” she said. “There are still
comments related to the ‘good
old boy’ network, but it felt a
lot more prevalent back then. I
believe we’ve worked well to-
gether, and it doesn’t cause the
contentions it had in the past,
which I think is attributable to a
lot of people on the Council and
thing I can’t give my full energy
to.”
In September of 2014, Mur-
phy announced that she was
leaving a position as executive
director of Cottage Grove’s
Family Relief Nursery, which
works to lessen stress factors for
local families, after a 16-year
stint there. She transitioned to
a position with Yoncalla Early
Works examining early child-
hood education policy in the
community she grew up in.
Murphy worked in Yoncalla
for 10 months before being en-
couraged to apply for a position
as executive director of CASA
(Court Appointed Special Ad-
vocates) of Lane County, which
recruits community volunteers
to represent children in court
hearings in the County’s foster
care system. She began a posi-
tion there Sept. 1.
“It’s a great opportunity that
couldn’t be passed up,” she said.
not just me. I’m proud of what
we’ve done, and I think the citi-
zenry can feel confi dent that its
Council puts in the time to ap-
proach the issues properly.”
Still, there are Council pro-
ceedings with which Murphy has
disagreed, such as the decision
to terminate the employment
of Judge Richard Brissenden in
2012 and the City’s handling of
“The Stench,” the overpower-
ing smell in a local neighbor-
hood caused by the dumping of
solid wastewater byproducts on
fi elds nearby in the summer of
2011. She said the response of
some community members to a
possible restaurant tax was also
disappointing.
“It wasn’t necessarily the
decisions made but a problem
with the approach to them that
bothered me,” she said. “I was
disappointed in the way certain
people dealt with them and how
personal it got.”
Murphy said she sought of-
fi ce to bring the perspective of a
working parent to the Council.
“We had just fi nished the vi-
sioning process, and a lot of
the priorities laid out dealt with
children, though the Council
wasn’t really looking through
that lens,” she said. “I encour-
age the Council now to consider
looking through that lens (when
considering her replacement.)
Cottage Grove is diversifying,
and we need to continue to hear
different voices.”
Applications from those in-
terested in serving on the Coun-
cil will be accepted until Friday,
Dec. 18 at 5 p.m. The term to
be fi lled ends next December.
Applicants must be a registered
voter that has resided in Cot-
tage Grove for a year before
appointment. Applications can
be turned in to City Recorder
Trudy Borrevik at City Hall.
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1500 Harvey Rd
LD
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floor plan was a
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