Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2016)
4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL March 23, 2016 O PINION What next? Public dialogue is essential to setting City's priorities BY JON STINNETT Sentinel editor L ate into an hourlong worksession full of questions last Monday evening, City Coun- cilor Jake Boone asked quite an interesting one. Asked to choose from a page full of potential projects on which the Council and, by extension, city staff could concentrate in the coming year, Boone wondered what the citizens of Cottage Grove believed should be this community’s pri- orities going forward. In essence, Boone asked, ‘What do the people want?’ City Manager Richard Meyers said that the no- tion of an “advisory vote,” in which the citizenry would be able to choose from a similar list of pri- orities on an upcoming ballot, would be next to impossible to execute. City Councilor Mike Fleck countered that it is the Council’s job to assess the public’s priorities, and the conversation moved on as each councilor registered their thoughts on the most important topics of the day. And there were plenty to choose from. Meyers spoke of a potential bond to fi nance road repairs that cannot be handled by the City’s general fund. He talked of projects such as the Main Street Re- fi nement Plan and the Armory renovation that he said may receive “piddly grants” but not enough funding to make them feasible in the near future. He talked about an additional city service to ac- cept and dispose of yard debris, a potential tax on recreational marijuana purchases and combating a recent rise in property and other crimes. The potential for the City to be more proactive with regard to the local homeless or transient popula- tion was also put forth. “That’s just our list, though there could be more,” Meyers said. “We can’t do all of these.” In the coming months, this nation, our state, county and local governments will weigh the is- sues, choose their representatives and utilize the ballot box to set priorities for the future. Here at the Sentinel, we strive to be part of a productive, constructive conversation regarding all things Cottage Grove. That’s why, for the next few months, we’ll be examining in depth many of the topics raised at last week’s worksession, from in- frastructure needs to crime, growth, jobs and the economy. But here is the crucial part — we need your input. Social media outlets are routinely fl ooded with comments — some thoughtful, others de- cidedly less so — regarding local issues, but the public feedback in this newspaper has tended to lag behind in volume. Still, it is only through a reasoned and thoughtful exchange of ideas that we — citizens of a fi ercely proud community engaged in the act of its own reinvention — can come to truly understand and assist each other in creating the future we all deserve. So the question, in short, is what do you think? Should reducing crime be our top priority? How do we bring more family-wage jobs to town? How do we fi nance the many road and other repairs our City needs? How do we proactively, responsibly plan for growth in the coming years? Again, your input is essential to productive and respectful dialogue, and your thoughts can be di- rected to cgnews@cgsentinel.com. Approached properly, we can assure that come election sea- son, Cottage Grove’s public conversation can serve as a bastion of rational, productive debate in times that sorely need it. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Supporting the library and its budget As a member of the Friends of the Library and someone who has a library degree, I am a great sup- porter of the Cottage Grove Library. The City is beginning to prepare its 2016-17 budget. I love our library, its programs, and its service to the community. The most recent Smithsonian In- stitute exhibit attracted over 5,000 visitors and 700 people to its pre- sentations. Yet, it has been my impression that our library is under-funded and therefore not providing all the pro- grams and services it could. I did some research of other Oregon cities with populations of around 10,000. Cottage Grove allocated the lowest percentage of its city budget to the library, around four percent. Other cities range from 5.25 percent to as high as 11 percent. I know that our library has to catch up in tech- nology; where it once had 25 com- puter stations, it now has less than 10. There are other areas that need more attention as well. I encourage library staff, the City Manager and the budget committee to fund the Library so it can thrive and provide more exciting programs and resources to our community. Samantha Duncan Cottage Grove Support library funding get. There are needs for the Young Adults programs, technology, and other enhancements to current pro- grams. This is an opportunity to publicly support our library and its programs. If you are a regular pa- tron and appreciate the good work our librarians and staff do, here’s a chance to sing their praises. If you have enjoyed some of the special programs (Smithsonian Institute, summer reading, Native American, Children’s story time - in English and Spanish) or other features of our library, please take the opportunity to make it public. You may write to City Council members via http:// cottagegrove.org/council.html and ask them to consider the importance of supporting library funding, par- ticularly in the areas I mention. The library needs your support to stress to Council members the importance of the proposed $4500 for computer services and supplies. Also, there is $3000 proposed for funding chil- dren’s programs and books but no specifi c funding for young adults. This is a critical and fast grow- ing area that needs funding. Young adult readers need programs, and funding that should not have to come from children’s programs. I think we should be able to fund both of these program needs ad- equately. This budget season is a great time to make a meaningful contribution to our library as it ex- pands programs and supports our community. Please take the time to call or write to your Mayor and City Council members and express your concerns or interests. Mary McNamara President, Friends of the Cottage Grove Library The City of Cottage Grove is de- veloping it budget for 2016-17. This is an excellent time to support the library and its need for a larger bud- Balancing priorities I am an accountant, so everything must have a certain balance. Most of us are balancing household bud- gets, family obligations, full-time jobs and many other priorities in our lives. As I sit here reading the newest issue of the CG Sentinel, it strikes me that we need to ap- ply that same skill to our munici- pal priorities. On the front page are headlines pointing to the Stand Up Meeting on March 8 and the Harri- son School bond being voted on this May 17. One is asking for help in reducing the not-so-recent surge in property crimes and thefts in Cot- tage Grove, while the other is ask- ing us to cheerfully and blindly vote for a $35.6 million dollar property tax bond to replace Harrison School along with a plethora of other re- pairs and upgrades within the dis- trict. I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks we should be balancing these needs better. Why aren’t we asking for a public safety bond to add more police offi cers to curtail the crimi- nal activity that goes unchecked in our town? Our neighborhood has been affected by the thefts too. My husband’s gas line on his truck was cut and a full tank of gas siphoned right outside our back gate. Our neighbor had items stolen from a truck while parked in their drive- way and another neighbor had parts taken from his classic car. I can’t even walk my dogs along the bike path because transients congregate under the overpasses and will not allow you to pass. When I asked the police department about it, they asked if I could walk in the other direction! We should have a bicycle offi cer patrolling and keeping loiterers moving along. Residents are so fed up now that they are willing to take on the task, and that’s a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. In the 50 years I have resided here, I have never seen such a high level of lawlessness in Cottage Grove, and it is very concerning to me. Yet the other hand, we are be- ing asked for a $35.6 million dollar bond that I probably won’t see the end of in my lifetime. The 20-year bond previously passed for the high school is almost done, and God for- bid that I would be able to put some of my wages back in my pocket in- stead of paying new property taxes. I’m not sure we really need to build a state-of-the-art elementary school in a town that has become so unsafe the question arises if it’s a good place to raise kids anymore, should current activities be allowed to con- tinue. We need to balance Cottage Grove’s priorities and get the town back to being the safe and welcom- ing place I was raised in. If we look at the broad picture, we should be voting for a new school bond of say $29.5 million...and a new public safety bond of $7 million so that we can hire additional offi cers and have a more active and thorough 24-hour patrol. I saw one person’s com- ment state that it would be great to work in a new school...let’s not be dazzled. Let’s be forthcoming and look to the future and make this a safe town. Until I see that balance, I won’t be able to vote in favor of the bond. Not because I don’t feel edu- cation isn’t important, but because I need that portion of my income to hire security for my own personal safety. Charlene Sayles Cottage Grove Cruciferous vegetables are anti-cancer foods BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD For the Sentinel N utrition scientists have shown over and over that people who eat more natural plant foods – vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, etc. – are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer. But are all vegeta- bles equally protective? To win the war on cancer, we must de- sign an anti-cancer diet, which focuses on the foods with the most powerful anti-cancer ef- fects – then we could eat plenty $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM 116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424 ADMINISTRATION: JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher.............................. GARY MANLY, General Manager................942-3325 Ext. 207 • publisher@cgsentinel.com ROBIN REISER, Sales Repersentative...............942-3325 Ext. 203 • robin@cgsentinel.com TAMMY SAYRE, Sales Repersentative......... 942-3325 Ext. 213 • tsayre@cgsentinel.com SPORTS DEPARTMENT: SAM WRIGHT, Sports Editor...................942-3325 Ext. 204 • sports@cgsentinel.com CUSTOMER SERVICE CARLA WILLIAMS, Office Manager.................942-3325 Ext. 201 • billing@cgsentinel.com LEGALS.............................................................942-3325 Ext. 200 • legals@cgsentinel.com NEWS DEPARTMENT: JON STINNETT, Editor......................................942-3325 Ext. 212 • cgnews@cgsentinel.com GRAPHICS: RON ANNIS, Graphics Manager (USP 133880) of these foods each day, fl ood- ing our bod- ies with the protective substances contained w i t h i n them. The cruciferous family of vegetables is full of super foods with powerful anti-cancer ef- fects – we should eat vegetables from this family every day. This family includes green vegeta- bles like kale and bok choy plus some non-green vegetables like caulifl ower. Cruciferous vegetables con- tain glucosinolates and in a different area of the cell, an en- zyme called myrosinase. When we blend, chop or chew these vegetables, we break up the plant cells, allowing myrosinase to come into contact with glu- cosinolates, initiating a chemi- cal reaction that produces iso- thiocyanates (ITCs) – powerful anti-cancer compounds. ITCs have been shown to detoxify and remove carcinogens, kill cancer cells and prevent tumors from growing. Observational studies have shown that eating ITC-rich cruciferous vegetables protects against cancer: Twenty-eight servings of vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 33 per- cent, but just three servings of cruciferous vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 41 percent. One or more servings of cabbage per week reduced risk of pancreatic can- cer by 38 percent. One serving per day of cruciferous vegeta- bles reduced the risk of breast cancer by over 50 percent. Cruciferous vegetables are especially helpful for prevent- ing hormonal cancers, such as breast cancer, because some ITC, such as indole-3-carbinol (abundant in broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage), can even help the body excrete estrogen and other hormones. In fact, new research has shown ad- ditional anti-estrogenic effects of both indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane (most abundant in broccoli); these ITCs blunt the growth-promoting effects of estrogen on breast and cervical cancer cells. Eating cruciferous vegetables produces measurable isothio- cyanates in breast tissue, and observational studies show that women who eat more crucifer- ous vegetables are less likely to be diagnosed with breast can- cer: In a recent Chinese study, women who regularly ate one serving per day of cruciferous vegetables had a 50 percent re- duced risk of breast cancer. A 17 percent decrease in breast cancer risk was found in a Euro- pean study for consuming cru- ciferous vegetables at least once a week. Plus, breast cancer sur- vivors who eat cruciferous veg- etables regularly have lower risk of cancer recurrence – the more cruciferous vegetables they ate, the lower their risk. Within an overall nutrient- dense eating style, cruciferous vegetables can provide us with a profound level of protection against cancer. Don’t forget: chopping, chewing, blending, or juicing cruciferous vegetables is necessary to produce the anti- cancer ITCs. Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and a board certifi ed family physician specializing in life- style and nutritional medicine. Visit his informative website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and comments about this column directly to news- questions@drfuhrman.com. Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: Ten Weeks ............................................. $9.10 One year ..............................................$36.15 e-Edition year .......................................$36.00 Rates in all other areas of United States: Ten Weeks $11.70; one year, $46.35, e-Edition $43.00. In foreign countries, postage extra. No subscription for less than Ten Weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know. Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2015 Cottage Grove Sentinel. Letters to the Editor policy The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local readers. Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary. If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words. To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.