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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2016)
City Beat — 5A On the floodplain — 3A Daytripper at Odell — 6A Big wins! Lions take down ranked opponents, page 1B $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 29 Community mourns shooting victim Kyle Ledford, 22, died of a gunshot wound in a home on Sixth St. on Tuesday, Jan. 5 BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel F amily and friends are mourning the loss of a 22-year old Cottage Grove man following a shooting that oc- curred in a home on Sixth Street on Tues- day evening, Jan. 5. That evening at 8:47 p.m., the Cottage Grove Police Department received a 911 call from a male reporting that another male had been injured with a fi rearm at a home just south of Main Street down- town and needed help. Offi cers arrived at the location to fi nd an adult male — later identifi ed as 22-year old Kyle Ledford of Cottage Grove — with an apparent gunshot wound. Offi cers and medical personnel attempted to revive Ledford, C who later died at the scene. Police said two witnesses were at the scene and were cooperating with the investigation. An outpouring of emotion colored social media in the days after Ledford’s death, and a gathering was held at the El Tapatio lounge, where he loved to play pool and drink Shirley Temples, on Sat- urday evening. Besides pool, Ledford’s mother, Terry, said her son loved dirt bikes and that his “love for skating never ceased,” a love that shone forth when Ledford led a group of skaters to cam- paign to get the Cottage Grove Skate Park reopened after vandals damaged the park back in 2011. “He skated at the new skate park in Eu- gene every chance he got,” Terry Ledford said. “It was still his big thrill.” Ledford said her son recently had a job stocking inventory for Walmart stores throughout the Pacifi c Northwest. He was due the day after his death to start a new job at Aaron’s Rent to Own Furni- ture and Furniture Rental, she said. “He was a good kid,” Ledford said. “He didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs. He might’ve known a lot of people that did that kind of stuff, but he didn’t. It was hard for me to even get him to take an aspirin.” Ledford said her son “had a good heart” and would help his friends when- ever he could, adding that she’s heard a lot of great things about him since his death. “I heard how he’d always try to make people feel better. I was really proud of him,” she said. “His dad and I both were. We’re going to miss him horribly.” Please see SHOOTING, Page 11A Paving again planned for I-5 south of CG onstruction to repave In- terstate 5 south of Cot- tage Grove is about to ramp up once again. The Oregon Department of Transportation announced last week that Interstate 5 motorists traveling between Rice Hill and Cottage Grove should expect lane closures and delays for the next 18 months as construction begins on a new highway proj- ect in north Douglas County. The $40.3 million I-5: Anlauf to Elkhead Paving project aims to pave all four travel lanes with concrete between milepost 154 and 162. The project will also build a southbound auxiliary/ climbing lane on the hill south of Exit 162 (Drain/Oregon 38 junction) between milepost 162 and 160. Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 12, ODOT said rolling slowdowns will be used during the morn- ing or other off-peak hours as workers begin clearing trees, drilling and preparing to exca- vate the new climbing lane. The slowdowns will take place in both directions and may result in traffi c being briefl y delayed, ODOT Public Affairs Offi cer Dan Latham wrote in a recent press release. Also inside: Chamber banquet courtesy photo Ledford was remembered by many on social media following his death. Teachers, contributors, businesses to be recognized, page 3A C ITY C OUNCIL Southbound motorists should also watch for lane closures be- tween milepost 160 and 154. This will allow workers to re- pair the shoulder of the highway in several areas. Motorists are advised to give themselves extra travel time to reach their destinations. An earlier I-5 paving project caused long traffi c delays in 2014 and 2015 south of Cot- tage Grove. Hours-long delays were reported at the Drain exit as travelers returned from week- end journeys to the Coast. Over the last six months, ODOT said that the agency and prime contractor K&E Excavat- ing of Salem have adjusted the plans for the new project to re- duce the likelihood of long de- lays occurring. The southbound auxiliary/ climbing lane was recently added to the project, and ODOT said this will reduce the need for lane closures during con- struction. In the long term, the climbing lane aims to provide additional space for vehicles traveling slowly uphill. The project’s website can be found at: http://www.oregon. gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION3/ Pages/Anlauf-Elkhead.aspx photo by Jon Stinnett Mayor Tom Munroe recognized Danny and Candace Solesbee for their work refur- bishing three downtown buildings at Monday's City Council meeting. Berries! Address recounts a busy 2015 Best bets for beleaguered birds, page 10A State of the City Address for Munroe, who re- iterated following the meeting that he will not seek reelection in 2016. However, without the presence of a full Council due to the absence of Councilor Jeff Gowing and the resignation of Councilor Heather Murphy at the end of last year, Munroe also accepted a motion to delay deliberations on an agenda item that may have brought many to Council chambers on Mon- day. Before the Mayor’s speech, he saluted three individuals who “do things above and beyond the norm to try to make things better for those Transportation update passes, tobacco ordinance shelved BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel C ottage Grove Mayor Tom Munroe sa- luted the efforts of three citizens toward community betterment prior to his annual State of the City Address on Monday night, an ad- dress in which he recounted the accomplish- ments of a “busy and active year” in 2015. A rather large crowd joined the City Council for its fi rst meeting of the new year and the last Please see COUNCIL, Page 11A City's wastewater report details extent of 2015 drought Much of last year's rainfall — almost 15 inches worth — occurred in December BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel A report recently released by the supervisor of Cot- tage Grove’s Wastewater Treat- ment Plant sheds light on just how dry a year 2014 was in the area. Each Superintendent Ed Mills submits a recycled water report to the Department of Environ- mental Quality, a report that showcases last year’s drought in surprising numbers. Back in 2014, 889 million gallons of wastewater fl owed through the plant on the south end of Cottage Grove, a number that generally “doesn’t fl uctuate too much,” according to Public Works Director Jan Wellman. In 2015, however, just 668 million gallons of water fl owed through the plant, a 21.3 percent overall decrease. Wellman said the decrease was the result of residents conserving more water in dry times, in addition to less “infl ow and infi ltration” into the City’s storm drainage and wastewater collection system. “I&I, as it is known, is a ma- jor contributor to total waste- water fl ows and results from storm drainage waters entering the collection system, vis-à- vis, rain events,” City Manager Richard Meyers wrote in the City’s Friday Update publica- tion last week. To really illustrate the mag- nitude of last year’s drought, Wellman pointed out that, of the 668 million gallons that fl owed through the plant last year, 183 million gallons came in De- cember alone, an extremely wet month that saw 14.77 inches of rainfall locally. “If you take December, 2015 fl ows out of the equation, total fl ows for 2015 were roughly half of the total fl ows for 2014,” the Friday Update stated. “It shows just how severe the drought was,” Wellman said. “It’s rare to see that dramatic a change in a number that doesn’t fl uctuate much.” The Friday Update also stat- ed that 33,200,000 gallons of treated wastewater effl uent were land-applied last summer at Middlefi eld Golf Course for ir- rigation purposes. The City also recycled 390 yards of limbs, 1,010 yards of leaves and 16,108 pounds of scrap metal, and 210 gallons of waste oil were used to heat the City Shop. Rain Country Realty Inc. R D E C U ED 122 N. M St. Cozy studio with 3 car garage in town. Fenced Yard! 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