COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL February 10, 2016
Cottage Grove Retrospective
A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago
Feb. 7, 1946
Committee approves Dorena Dam
fund; bids advertised by Feb. 8
Feb. 12, 1976
Motivated Woman of the Year
At age 43, Mae Westfall said she doesn't know what middle age
is. "I just keep one foot ahead of it. I'm a very motivated person,"
she assured. Mrs. Westfall was named the 1975 Woman of the Year
by the Business and Professional Women at the annual Chamber of
Commerce Awards Banquet.
POLICE BLOTTER
Feb. 1
Citizen Assist, River Rd.
A caller advised that a male
fell into the river and people
are currently trying to help
him out. An ambulance was
requested.
Third degree theft, E. Gibbs
Ave.
During a disturbance at Seventh
and Main St. a caller advised an
offi cer that a subject stole the
caller’s phone from the above
location on Jan. 31.
Information, Main St. PD
A caller said she received a call
from a friend of her daughter’s
that a male by the name of
Jordan who goes by “Slim
Shady” has made a threat to
shoot up all the schools in Cot-
tage Grove in the morning. The
caller does not have any other
info on the male.
Feb. 2
Press dispatches yesterday
carried the information that the
house appropriation committee
at Washington had approved
the sum of $2,018,200 for the
construction of the Dorena dam.
Funds were approved also for
the Detroit reservoir, totaling
$1,500,000 and for the Quartz
Creek reservoir, a tributary of
the McKenzie for $130,000.
Monies for the construction of
the three dams comes out of the
sum of $276,614,250 approved
by the committee.
The proposed expenditures
are expected to receive house
action soon. The monies will be
for the fi scal year beginning July
1, if appropriated by Congress.
Previously appropriated for
the Dorena Reservoir was some
$1,600,000 for the start of the
project, building roads, etc. It
is understood here the U.S. En-
gineers will start advertising
for bids tomorrow, the eighth,
and the dam contract will let
in 60 days, or April 8. Work is
expected to start soon after the
contract is let.
The coming construction is
expected to add to the housing
ills of this locality. Commenting
on the situation, one business
man informed the Sentinel yes-
terday that the matter of hous-
ing had previously been taken
up with the engineers and it was
the general belief that the work-
ers could be better housed near
the work, since the job would
require about 600 workers. At
best, Cottage Grove could only
supply a portion of the houses
needed. Some efforts may be
made to supply housing for a
few who may want to live here,
but the problem in general will
have to be solved in the future.
Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504
Books
A caller advised that some
items were stolen from her
store and then sold to Timeless
Treasures.
Suicidal Subject, S 5th St.
A caller advised police of a
male who has been talking
about jumping off of a bridge
and hanging himself for the last
couple of weeks. The subject
left the house approximately
an hour before the call. He was
wearing a Raiders jacket, a
blue hat, dark grey sweatpants
and black boots. The subject is
known to frequent the cemetery
on the west side of town and
Mount David.
Hit and run property,
Harrison Ave
A caller described a dark green
Ford Ranger x cab driven by
a Hispanic male with a dog in
the front. The caller was in a
2007 Chevrolet Suburban, there
was approximately $1,000 in
damages.
Theft-Shoplift, Kalapuya
Feb. 3
Citizen Assist, Whiteaker Ave.
A caller requested an offi cer for
assistance because she acciden-
tally hit an unoccupied vehicle
and was unsure what to do.
Criminal Mischief, E Gibbs
Ave.
A caller advised of criminal
mischief that occurred at the
location. Subjects apparently
drove through a gate and dam-
aged a foundation and some
siding. The offi cer on the scene
advised of approximately
$650 in damage that occurred
between Friday night and Mon-
day morning.
Feb. 5
Child Abuse and Neglect,
Village Dr.
A reporting person by the
name of Henry (an ER nurse)
reported the possibility of child
abuse due to both arms having
been broken and infected at the
surgery site.
Theft, Gateway Blvd.
Caller advised that their util-
ity trailer was taken from the
location last night. The trailer
is described as red with two
wheels and a single axle tilt bed
that also had a refrigerator and
a dishwasher on it.
Feb. 6
Tresspass, Gateway Blvd
A reporting person by the
name of Ryan advised police
of a female who has been at the
location all day and is bothering
customers. The subject advised
that she has been abandoned in
Cottage Grove with her belong-
ings. After much discussion, it
was agreed upon that the Cot-
tage Grove Police Department
will pay for one night of lodg-
ing. The subject was transferred
to City Center Motel. (No room
available, checking back later).
It was also determined that
Pastor Dan Bryant of the First
Christian Church in Eugene
may be able to assist.
CITY BEAT
5A
From the City's
Friday Update
Equipment sold at Homeless Camps
Brasher’s auction
The City said it has received
In late January, Cottage Grove’s
Public Works department sold
an assortment of equipment that
was worn-out and of no further
use to the City, including small
tools, vehicle parts, building
and electrical supplies and
pumps, at Brasher’s Northwest
Auto Auction, The City netted
$766 from the sale of this sur-
plus equipment. City Manager
Richard Meyers said the City
makes use of Brasher’s Auction
on a regular basis because it
satisfi es the requirement that
the City provide public notice
concerning the availability of
surplus items and it allows us to
sell multiple pieces of equip-
ment at the same time.
New ISA certifi ed
arborist
Middlefi eld Golf Course Super-
intendent Kris Ammerman was
notifi ed this week by the
International Society of Arbo-
riculture that he has passed his
exam and is now an ISA Certi-
fi ed Arborist. Ammerman has
been pursuing this certifi cation
over the past several months.
Public Works deals with a wide
variety of tree and shrub situa-
tions throughout the City, and
the City said it is very helpful
to have someone on staff that
can evaluate and provide advice
on the best course of action in
regard to tree and shrub health
Police Depart-
ment new offi cer
After an extensive hiring pro-
cess, the Police Department has
made a conditional job offer
to an entry-level police offi cer.
Once a thorough background,
psychological test and physical
are successfully completed, he
will be hired as a police offi cer
trainee. There were a total of
fi ve candidates who were inter-
viewed by Interim Chief Scott
Shepherd. The remaining four
shall be kept on a hiring list for
approximately six months.
reports regarding a number of
homeless camps and camp-
ing under bridges. The Police
Department has checked all the
bridges in the community. They
will also be assessing other
areas of the City that may have
camps.
January Utility
Billing
The utility billing for January
2016 had approximately 1000
accounts that only billed the
minimum fl at rates for water
and wastewater. The meter
reading data download had not
completed prior to the launch-
ing of the generation of the
bills. The customers that had
consumption loaded on their
account were billed correctly.
Staff worked with the software
company to correct the bill-
ing and new statements were
mailed to the affected custom-
ers. Staff has been fi elding
phone inquiries and customer
contacts. This situation has
allowed us the opportunity to
explain fl at rates and how con-
sumption is billed.
Cash receipting
software in use at
Library and Com-
munity Center
Because the fi nancial software
used by the City is cloud-based,
it is accessible to all depart-
ments that have authorization
to use it regardless of their
location. Recently the Library
and Community Center have
started using the cash receipt-
ing software to issue customer
receipts. Uniquely numbered
customer receipts display the
customer name, transaction
date and time, amount paid,
method of payment and amount
of change returned.
O FFBEAT
Continued from page 4A
Astoria, the affable and heav-
ily tattooed skipper explained
that he’d stayed on board be-
cause, confi dent that his ship
wouldn’t fully break up, he
hoped the storm would drive it
high enough onto the beach that
the cargo could be salvaged. If
it did so, and he were not still
aboard it, the derelict would
be fair game for any salvager
or looter who came along; so
he’d stayed on board until he
was completely confi dent that
6
it wouldn’t. When the boarding
seas had started breaching bulk-
heads and breaking the remnant
apart, though, he’d concluded
that it was time to leave.
Newspaper accounts made
much of Captain Johnson’s
fearlessness, can-do attitude and
gruff friendliness, and readers
couldn’t help but admire him.
Coast Guard rescuers, though,
were beside themselves. By de-
clining their services, Johnson
had put them in a terrible posi-
-day
weather forecast
tion — essentially demanding
that they mount a third rescue
mission under unknown condi-
tions at some unspecifi ed future
date, just for him. If conditions
were life-threateningly bad
when that happened, they’d be
forced to choose between coldly
refusing him aid and watching
him die, and risking their lives
on a rescue mission that they
shouldn’t have had to under-
take, because they’d been there,
ready and willing to take him
off on the previous run.
Adding insult to injury was
the fact that Johnson had put
them in this position merely to
protect a few thousand dollars’
worth of cargo that was insured
anyway. They’d gotten lucky;
the seas were calm and placid
when he signaled them for help.
But if they hadn’t been, an inno-
cent Coastie or two could have
died for that cargo.
So the rescuers probably
nursed secret smiles the fol-
lowing month when, in the U.S.
Steamboat Inspection Service’s
investigation of the wreck, John-
son was reprimanded for negli-
gence and lost his pilot’s license
for 90 days. The reasons given
for this action seemed a little
thin — he hadn’t been quick
enough to activate the auxiliary
steering engines, they said, and
he should have dropped anchor
sooner. So it’s at least possible
that in fi nding the way it did, the
inspectors were doing the Coast
THURSDAY Feb. 11
FRIDAY Feb. 12
47° | 65°
45° | 63°
Partly Cloudy
Poss. Showers
SATURDAY Feb. 13
SUNDAY Feb. 14
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o
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i
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44° | 53°
45° | 55°
PRACTICING THE ART OF TRANSMISSION REPAIR SINCE 1991
Poss. Showers
Poss. Showers
MONDAY Feb. 15
TUESDAY Feb. 16
45° | 65°
45° | 60°
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
CALL FOR A QUOTE
photo courtesy Saltwater People Historical Society
The freighter Laurel as seen from the beach shortly
after being stranded on Peacock Spit, photographed by
Charlie Fitzpatrick of North Beach.
Guard a little favor.
(Sources: Gibbs, James Jr.
Pacifi c Graveyard. Portland:
Binford, 1950; Portland Morn-
ing Oregonian, 16-20 Jun and
04 Jul 1929) )
Finn J.D. John teaches at
Oregon State University and
writes about odd tidbits of Or-
egon history. For details, see
http://fi nnjohn.com. To contact
him or suggest a topic: fi nn2@
offbeatoregon.com or 541-357-
2222.
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