COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 13, 2016
C OUNCIL
11A
S HOOTING
Continued from page 1A
Main Street Refi nement Plan,
a grant received by the City for
its Water Protection Plan and
maintenance projects such as
the cleanup of the bell tower at
All-America City Square.
Cottage Grove’s Commu-
nity Center has once again ex-
perienced a busy year, Munroe
said, with the Genealogical
Society moving into new head-
quarters there. The library was
also a busy place in 2015, he
said. The Mayor saluted vol-
unteers who responded to the
needs brought about by frigid
winter weather.
“The way people in and
around our great town come
forward with help is amazing,”
he said.
around them.” Sharon Jean
was recognized for six years’
effort to establish a Sunday
soup kitchen at the Cottage
Grove Community Center. Don
Strahan received an award for
his “work on many bike proj-
ects and dedication toward the
upkeep of our Rails to Trails
Project, better known as the
Row River Trail,” while Danny
and Candace Solesbee, owners
and recent refurbishers of three
downtown buildings, were
recognized for projects that
are “helping to turn our Main
Street from one that people
can’t wait to get through to one
they want to stay for a while or
longer,” according to Munroe.
Tobacco ordinance
postponed
State of the City
The address ticked off a list
of events and accomplishments
that colored the calendar year
2015. Munroe mentioned the
Oregon Mayors Conference
that came to town amid swel-
tering temperatures in July,
the Eugene Symphony’s visit
that same month, the “Main
Street Project,” or the passage
by the City Council of the
Those who attended Mon-
day’s meeting to see the Coun-
cil deliberate on a tobacco li-
censing program proposed by
the Lane County Health De-
partment may wish to return
to the Council’s Monday, Jan.
25 meeting. With the absence
of one councilor and one posi-
tion still unfi lled, the Council
voted to table deliberations on
the program, which the County
has said will help curb the rise
of tobacco use among young
people, until its next meeting.
TSP approved
The Council did unani-
mously pass one major agenda
item on Monday, an ordinance
to amend the City’s Compre-
hensive Land Use Plan and
adopt the 2015 Transportation
System Plan update. The TSP,
as it’s known, is necessary be-
cause the City needed a plan-
ning document for its transpor-
tation systems that take into
account the recent expansion
of its Urban Growth Boundary,
Community Development Di-
rector Howard Schesser said.
The Council examined the TSP
at a worksession in December,
and an engineering consultant
and representative with the Or-
egon Department of Transpor-
tation were on hand to review
its recommendations, which
often deal with problem areas
in the City where accidents or
poor driving are common. The
section of Highway 99 between
the Cottage Grove Connector
and Woodson Bridge receives
much scrutiny in the TSP, and
it recommends a roundabout as
the best way to reconfi gure the
intersection at the Connector.
On Monday, the Council was
reminded that, since the agen-
da item to update the TSP has
been available for one week,
a unanimous vote could ap-
prove the plan in one meeting.
A unanimous vote for approval
immediately followed.
In other business, the Coun-
cil voted for an annual increase
in the City’s SDCs, or Systems
Development Charges, which
are levied on developers in the
City to offset the added cost
their developments will incur
for City systems such as wa-
ter, sewer, etc. The increase
of 1.63 percent in SDCs drew
a response from Councilor
Mike Fleck, who said that high
SDCs are “absolutely impact-
ing development in our com-
munity.”
“We need to lower that, so
I won’t be supporting this,”
Fleck said. “We should be
looking at reducing or fees by
about 25 percent overall to en-
courage development.”
O DELL
Continued from page 6A
handfuls of it until we watched
our daughter do so for most of
two afternoons. By Saturday
morning, we’d strapped on the
cross-country skis, renting a
pair for the kiddo at the lodge
for a modest fee and skied from
the front door of the cabin out
toward the miles of groomed
trails behind the lake. She took
to the skis like a natural, amaz-
ing both her mother and me,
though at times she’d still stop,
drop both poles and plop down
face-fi rst to munch more snow.
With such proximity to
groomed trails, we’d go for a
quick ski, return to the cabin
for a rest and a snack and head
out again. On Saturday, with
the cabins and lodge full of
winter revelers, the sledding
and snowball fi ghts continued
long into the evening, and we
partied until exhaustion told us
we could take no more. It’s rare
to encounter an excursion that’s
so easy to enjoy.
If you’re
interested
Odell Lake Lodge and Resort
offers a variety of affordable
accommodations, from small,
rustic cabins to larger ones for
group stays. In the summer, a
row of campsites also sees lots
of use. More information can
be obtained by visiting odell-
lakeresort.com.
Continued from page 1A
On Monday, Interim Cottage
Grove Police Chief Scott Shep-
herd said that all indications point
to an accidental shooting as the
cause of Ledford’s death. Police
had elected to re-interview the
two witnesses to the incident, he
said, due to discrepancies in in-
formation that had come to light
since then. Police have declined
to name the shooter in the case.
“Even given that they were re-
portedly close, considering each
other brothers by many accounts,
we still have the responsibility
to investigate,” Shepherd said.
“There could be components of
negligence or the improper han-
dling of a fi rearm, anything from
involuntary manslaughter to un-
lawful possession of a weapon.
It’s still an evolving investigation
that could depend on more infor-
mation going forward, but it’s
clearly a tragic situation on many
levels.”
Shepherd said the case has
also been forwarded to the Lane
County District Attorney’s Offi ce
for further review. Meanwhile,
friends and family plan to say
good-bye to Ledford at a funeral
scheduled this Friday, Jan. 15 at 1
p.m. at Smith-Lund-Mills Funeral
Chapel in Cottage Grove.
J OYCE
Continued from page 2A
whatever He hears [from the
Father….]”
One way we learn how to hear
the Holy Spirit is by understand-
ing that He has emotions and He
can be grieved. Ephesians 4:30
(AMP) says, “Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God [do not of-
fend or vex or sadden Him]….”
Because He lives in us, when He
feels grieved, we will feel it too.
Ephesians 4:29-31 (AMP)
lists some behaviors that cause
Him to be grieved: foul, pollut-
ing language; evil, unwholesome,
worthless talk; bitterness, indig-
nation, wrath, rage, a bad temper,
resentment, anger, quarreling,
contention and slander. So when
we choose to think and speak in
ways that go against His nature,
we will feel conviction, and the
best thing we can do is confess
our sin and repent immediately.
James 3 teaches that no one
can “tame the tongue” and some-
times we make mistakes and say
wrong things. But we can learn
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from our mistakes; we can pray
and ask God to help us only say
things that are right and pleasing
to Him.
I know it’s easy to be insensi-
tive and say the wrong things
sometimes. The other day I was
wearing a blouse that didn’t fi t
me right, and I said to someone,
“This thing is way too big for me
but it would probably fi t you.” Af-
terward, I couldn’t believe I said
it!
The Bible teaches us that “no
one can tame the tongue” (James
3:8). We need to pray for God
to help us hear His voice, giv-
ing us wisdom and direction in
the thoughts we choose to think
about and the words we speak.
As our Counselor, He wants to
guide us in everything we do,
and we can learn how to hear His
voice. So listen for the still, small
voice of the Holy Spirit speak-
ing to your heart. You’ll hear it as
you wait quietly in His presence,
while you’re studying His Word,
in your circumstances and even
through nature.