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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2016)
10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL August 24, 2016 C ONSTRUCTION ABUSE Continued from page 1A Douglas G. Maddess, DMD Continued from page 1A And what about Coiner Park? Cottage Grove City Planner Amanda Ferguson, who also does double duty as a representative of the local Rotary club, said that the club and the City hope to be fi n- ished with a project to install new playground equipment in the park by Labor Day, though the curing of concrete that’s expected to be poured this week could affect that schedule. Last year, Rotary conducted a survey of needs in the park and en- hancements that the public might like to see. Ferguson said the re- sponses ranged from equipment for the park’s youngest users to ameni- ties for older youth. Plans include the addition of a merry-go-round, new toddler swings and a climbing net that can be used by all ages. photo by Jon Stinnett This fenced-off area at Coiner Park is soon to host new playground equipment. FAMILY AND GENERAL DENTISTRY Roberts-Larson initially stated that the child “had fallen from a play structure and that caused the bruis- ing,” Skaggs wrote, though she later said that she had become “stressed and upset over a recent job loss” and the child would not stop screaming. Roberts-Larson then stated that she spanked the child approximately four times with her hand, later stating that she had “gone too far,” according to a probable cause affi davit that Skaggs submitted to the Lane County Circuit Court. Following that interview in March, Roberts-Larson was cited for Assault III and released. In explaining why it took so long for the suspect to be charged, Skaggs said that it took three weeks to locate Roberts-Larson, who was a transient at the time. Three weeks following her arrest, Skaggs said the District Attor- ney’s Offi ce requested another inter- view. Deputy District Attorney Erik Hasselman told the Register-Guard that the DA’s offi ce asked CGPD for another interview. Brightening Lives One Smile at a Time See our new website: douglasgmaddessdmd.com O FFBEAT Continued from page 4A Finally, after moving all the spectators about a quarter-mile down the beach and away from the blast site, Thornton and his crew took cover … and fi lled the sky with noise, smoke, sand and bits of dead whale. If you search for “explod- ing whale” on YouTube, you’ll readily fi nd the KATU-TV story that reporter Paul Linnman and cameraman Doug Brazil fi led that night. It does a spectacu- lar job of showing the whole event: the massive explosion (“like a mighty burst of tomato juice,” Linnman recalls in the book); the yells of delight turn- ing to quavering shrieks of fear as the tiny specks visible above the crowd grow larger and it becomes clear that slabs of rot- ting meat, ranging in size from pinhead-size bits to refrigerator- sized chunks, are now falling out of the sky. You’ll hear possibly the most unintentionally comic part of the whole clip: A woman’s motherly voice behind the cam- era saying, “All right, Fred, you can take your hands out of your ears now … here come pieces of … oh my g—“ You’ll also see what hap- pened to Walt Uemenhoefer’s brand-new 1971 Buick Ninety- Eight Regency. A chunk of fl y- ing whale meat the size of a cof- fee-table top had dropped out of the sky directly onto the roof of the big luxury car, blowing glass out in all directions and leaving its top fl atter than its owner’s military haircut. “My insurance company is not gonna believe this,” Uemen- hoefer remarked ruefully when he saw what had happened. But he had to chuckle later on, when he remembered the sales promo- tion that had been going on at Dunham Oldsmobile in Eugene when he’d bought the car just a short time before. It was tag- lined, “GET A WHALE OF A DEAL ON A NEW OLDSMO- BILE.” “Fortunately, no human was hurt as badly as the car,” Lin- nman said in his newscast. “However, everyone on the scene was covered with small particles of dead whale.” Uemenhoefer, by the way, is best known today as the titular “Baron” of The Baron’s Den, a gun store and indoor shooting range just south of Eugene in Goshen, visible from Interstate 5 (it usually sports a big blue banner that reads “SHOOT A REAL TOMMY GUN”). He died at the age of 84 in January of this year. In the aftermath, Thornton was spinning hard — or trying to. “It went just exactly right,” he told Larry Bacon of the Eu- gene Register-Guard. “Except the blast funneled a hole in the sand under the whale” (there- by causing some of the whale chunks to be blown back toward the parking lot, he went on to say). Decades later, Thornton — who also died recently, in October 2013 — was still defi - antly sanguine about the whole affair. Contacted by Linnman in the mid-1990s, he refused to be interviewed on camera, and seemed to feel that news cover- age of the event had converted a successful operation into a pub- lic-relations disaster. The con- versation ended on a sour note when Linnman asked Thornton if he didn’t want to tell the pub- lic about it — about what had gone wrong that day. “What do you mean, ‘what went wrong?’” he asked Lin- nman tersely — apparently by way of implying that nothing had. (Sources: Linnman, Paul. The Exploding Whale. Portland: West Winds Press, 2003; The Springfi eld News archives; The Eugene Register-Guard, Nov. 13, 1970.) 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. Did You Know? 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Offer valid towards 12-month recurring billing membership only. Valid at participating locations only. No cash value. Offer expires 12.31.16. © 2016 CURVES INTERNATIONAL, INC. ( 1603_T2 ) We need volunteers for the ReStore ~ a few hours each month! Will you help? Habitat Offi ce and Warehouse 2155 Getty Circle ~ Unit #1 in the Cottage Grove Industrial Park South on Hwy 99 past the High School NS O I T A N DO S Y A W L A E! M O C L WE Call 541.767.0358 for more information Email info@habitatcg.org
