Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 6, 2016 First CG baby arrives on fi rst afternoon of 2016 C ottage Grove didn’t have to wait long for its fi rst baby born in 2016. At 4:06 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, Brenna Register and Tresvelle Gray of Cottage Grove welcomed their fi rst child, daughter Kamaya Irie Gray, into the world at Peace- Health Sacred Heart Medical Cen- ter. She weighed in at 7.78 pounds and was 20 inches long, her mom said. Kamaya was born a little be- fore her due date, and when her mom’s water broke just before 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day, she knew something special could be in the works. “I thought, ‘Oh my, she’s going to be a New Year’s baby!” Register said. Grandparents are Judy Register of Cottage Grove and Randy Reg- ister of Medford and Echo Gray of Cottage Grove and Gary Bounds of Portland. As winners of the Cottage Grove Sentinel’s First Baby contest, Gray and Register will receive a one- year subscription to the newspaper, a FireMed membership, lunch for two at El Tapatio and other prizes. Kamaya Irie Gray was born at 4:06 p.m. Friday. T photo by Jon Stinnett Danny Hintze, Eric Johnson, Harry Anderson and Daniel West enjoy a game of "Raiders of teh North Sea." Home destroyed by fi re believed to be one of area's oldest BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel L ocal historians believe that a part of the Cottage Grove ar- ea’s early history went up in smoke last week. South Lane Fire and Rescue per- sonnel responded to reports of a house fi re on Hillside Drive south of Cottage Grove on Monday af- ternoon, Dec. 28, a fi re that heavily damaged the structure. Following the fi re, Holli Turpin of the Cottage Grove Historical Society told the Sentinel that information suggests 2016 the home was that of Alexander Cooley, an early settler in the area, and was built in 1865. “I believe the overwhelming evi- dence shows the home that burned was owned by Alexander Cooley until his death in 1921, when is was bought by Virgil D. White, then passed down to Frank White (Vir- gil’s son),” Turpin wrote. Local history enthusiast Colette Kimball recently shared an account of the home’s history on her blog at www.mysouthlane.com. “What burned was not just an abandoned house but a little part of Cottage Grove’s early history,” Kimball wrote, adding that she had the chance to meet Alex Cooley’s grandson, Clair, several years ago. Using recollections that Clair Cool- ey penned in 1995, in addition to reports from University of Oregon students and Internet sources, Kim- ball compiled a brief history of the home and its inhabitants. Alexander Cooley was born in 1835 and came to Oregon on the Oregon Trail at age 18 with his family. “Once in the valley the family ‘got their claims and started homestead- ing.’ George settled in the Browns- Cottage Theatre presents y t n u o C m a n t u P l a u n n A h t 5 2 The P S ELLING BEE A hilarious musical romp through middle school Music & Lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Directed by Mark VanBeever January 29, 30, 31* February 4, 5, 6, 7* t11, 12, 13, 14* Sponsored by: *matinee Warning: show contains frank (but funny) puberty moment Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance Thursday−Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $20 Youth (age 6−18) www.cottagetheatre.org • 541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove Jan. 11 meeting also features State of the City address A BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Please see SQUALL, Page 11A Council to examine transportation plan, tobacco ordinance BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Gamesquall storms into Odd Fellows Hall he “Squall” started to pick up steam after lunch. Cottage Grove’s Odd Fellows Hall played host to the Gamesquall, a gathering of board game enthusiasts reminiscent of Portland’s annual “Gamestorm,” beginning at 11 a.m. New Year’s Eve. By the end of the event, which stretched into the fi rst few hours of 2016, organizer Jake Boone said 75 people had taken part. Lining the walls of the Odd Fel- lows Hall were over 300 games from Boone’s personal collection. “I have a vice,” Boone, who also serves as a City Councilor in his spare time, said by way of understatement. Apparently, others share Boone’s vice, as gamer Eric Johnson said that Boone’s game collection is smaller than his own. 3A ville area, however he continued to support his family in Cottage Grove until the land was paid off. The rest of the Cooley family lived together in a log cabin on their land claim until Alex married Eliza Shields in 1865… Afterwards, the family began con- structing two homes, one for Alex and Eliza to the north, the other for John and the rest of the family to the south. John never married, so his mother lived with him until she died. Please see COOLEY, Page 11A packed agenda for the Cottage Grove City Council’s Monday, Jan. 11 meeting includes Mayor Tom Munroe’s State of the City Address, a public hearing on the City’s Transportation System Plan and another look at an ordinance that would create a countywide tobacco retail licensing pro- gram. The Transportation Plan, or TSP, is meant to guide the ongoing development of the City’s trans- portation system until the year 2035. The Council explored the document during a worksession on Dec. 14 and could adopt the TSP with two majority ‘yes’ votes. The full TSP document can be viewed at cottagegrovetsp.org. The TSP was last updated in 2008, but the ex- pansion of the City’s urban growth boundary, data from 2014 showing lower traffi c volumes in Cottage Grove than in previous years and the recent adop- tion of the Main Street Refi nement Plan — which is meant to guide the revamping of Main Street down- town between its historic buildings — have all led to a need for an updated plan. The plan breaks needed road projects down into two categories: projects that should be prioritized given the amount of funding the City can reasonably expect and projects that are needed but for which funding may not be readily available. It also gives priority to areas of the City that have proven to have safety issues. It is hoped that the TSP can help the City secure grant fund- ing for the upgrades it describes, and an engineering consultant told the Council that a special package of projects has been identifi ed as a possible source for grant funding. These include converting High- way 99 from four to three lanes near the Connector, examining driveway access to the highway, widen- ing the connector bridge, building sidewalks to span gaps where they don’t exist and planning for the Connector/99 intersection. The Council will also revisit an ordinance that would make the City part of a countywide tobac- co retail license program. Representatives with the County health department advocated for the program twice before the Council last year, presenting data showing that youth tobacco use for all products rose in 2014. The issue was tabled at the Council’s Dec. 14 meeting after Councilor Jake Boone presented information that he said proved that the state of Or- egon is already conducting the kind of oversight that the County claims its program would cover. “I don’t think this is going to do anything in re- ducing youth smoking,” Boone said. “All I can see is that it’s going to take money from our constituents and transfer it to an agency in Eugene.” Monday’s Council meeting is open to the public. It begins at 7 p.m. at the Council chambers in City Hall.
