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.