R&B Revue to
mark a milestone,
page 6A
15!
Victory!
Girls' basketball downs tough
Falcons, page 1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 33
Council passes
tobacco
license
ordinance
F LOOD CONTROL
Also
inside:
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
Cascade crew
Home Centers' new
owners settle in,
page 3A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Dustin Bengston, Deputy Operations Project Manager for the 13 dams managed by the Army Corps of Engi-
neers, examines the spillway gates at Lookout Point Dam. Four of the fi ve gates were recently refurbished.
Dams help Corps go with the fl ow
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
Replenish the Roses
Get out the shears; it's
pruning time,
page 11A
n one room of a multi-story build-
ing beneath the hulking fi gure of
the Lookout Point Dam near Dexter — a
building where the elevator travels to
fl oors labeled by their elevation above
sea level — a series of computer screens
showcases the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers’ efforts to control the waters of the
Willamette River and its tributaries.
There are screens in this control room
for nine of the 13 dams in the Willamette
Valley that the Corps manages primarily
to alleviate the risk of fl ooding during
Oregon’s wet winter months, and opera-
tors are on hand 24/7 to gather real-time
weather and other data, information that
can be used to collect water behind the
dams to alleviate the risk of fl ooding
downstream or release water to empty a
reservoir in anticipation of the next rain
event. Dorena and Cottage Grove Res-
ervoirs, which are used to manage the
waters of the Row and the Coast Fork of
the Willamette River, are just two of the
dams that the Corps operates remotely
from this location.
“During storm events, it can be really
intense,” the operator on duty says. “You
always have to be ready, and when it’s
intense, it’s really intense.”
Dustin Bengston, who serves as the
Deputy Operations Project Manager for
the 13 dams in the Willamette system,
touts the recreational benefi ts that its
Please see DAMS, Page 10A
he Cottage Grove City Council
voted 6-1 in favor of an ordinance
that will create a licensing program for
the City’s tobacco retailers Monday night,
introduced originally by the Lane County
Health Department in early 2015.
The main purpose of the program is to
help deter youth from being tempted into
buying tobacco products. Health Offi cer
Dr. Patrick Leudtke of the Health De-
partment explained that data from 2014
showed that use had increased in the area
among 11th-grade students for seven out
of eight different varieties of tobacco
products.
City Councilor Jake Boone was the
only one who voted against the ordinance,
but his opposition did not go without rea-
son. His issue, stated in previous Council
meetings, was that youth and fi rst-time
users usually don’t get cigarettes or to-
bacco products from retail stores.
“I don’t see the reason to take more
money from people who are at least fol-
lowing the rules,” he said.
Eighteen-year old Jordan Richards
spoke in favor of the ordinance. Richards
pointed out that tobacco products are ad-
vertised next to candy ads and packaged
in specifi c ways to appeal to children.
“Children and teens are bombarded
by tobacco products and advertisements
when they walk into a store,” he said.
Richards pointed out that the ordinance
will also ban the sale of tobacco prod-
ucts within 1,000 feet of a school. “This
helps by preventing children from being
tempted.”
Before the ordinance was voted on,
Boone tried to make clear of his opposi-
tion. “I’m still against it, but since I’ve
already state my reasons…that’s all,” he
said. The program will be in effect in 30
days.
Smithsonian traveling exhibit to
explore what it means to be human
Cottage Grove Library is exhibit's only Oregon stop and
one of just 19 stops nationwide
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
L
ate last week, personnel at the
Cottage Grove Library received
an exciting message: The exhibit is on
its way.
Beginning next Wednesday, Feb. 17,
the Library will host a traveling exhibit
entitled “Exploring Human Origins:
What Does It Meant to be Human?”
an installation brought to Cottage
Grove by the Smithsonian Institution,
the American Library Association and
the John Templeton Foundation, for a
slew of both public and private events
scheduled well into March.
On Thursday of last week, the ex-
hibit began a trip south from Spokane,
Washington, and Cottage Grove Com-
munity Services Director Pete Barrell
said he’s excited that it will make its
only Oregon stop and one of only 19
nationwide here. Barrell wrote a grant
to the American Library Association to
bring the exhibit to Cottage Grove, and
he said an ongoing relationship with
the ALA that has brought exhibits ded-
icated to Abraham Lincoln and other
subjects to town in the past could only
have helped land such a prestigious ex-
hibit this time.
“We’re a rural library, and they prob-
ably wanted to offer a little bit of di-
versity,” Barrell said. “We have a good
track record with the ALA.”
Briana Pobiner, a paleoanthropolo-
gist with the Smithsonian who studies
the evolution of the human diet, recent-
ly returned from a trip to Africa, where
she spent time examining fossil bones
to uncover evidence that early humans
had been eating animals. Pobiner, who
will participate in many of the upcom-
ing events in Cottage Grove, said the
exhibit and its related happenings are
meant as a conversation-starter.
“It’s focused on human evolution and
the characteristics that make us unique
as a species,” Pobiner said. “But it’s
really all about the programming as a
springboard for conversation. It’s about
the intersection of the scientifi c under-
standing of evolution with other forms
of understanding.”
To that end, the exhibit’s run in Cot-
tage Grove will begin on Wednesday,
Feb. 17 with a special event for clergy,
where Pobiner and a colleague, Dr.
Rick Potts, will join members of the lo-
cal clergy to discuss the Smithsonian’s
presentation of the science of human
origins. Many belief systems posit that
the Earth is only 6000 years old, and
Barrell said he’s already heard impas-
sioned comments from community
Please see EXHIBIT, Page 10A
photo courtesy Smithsonian Human Origins Program
Visiting scientists will present the scientifi c evidence for human
evolution, which they hope can meld with other forms of under-
standing during conversations scheduled this month.
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