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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2016)
School sketches Plans for new elementary building, page 3A Cottage Grove Sentinel WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 L OCAL ELECTION COVERAGE KICKOFF Forums for local candidates T scheduled BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Chamber forums to feature mayoral candidates Sept. 22, council candidates Sept. 27 he Cottage Grove Chamber of Com- merce will join forces with the City’s two traditional media outlets to offer a candidates’ forum for the City’s may- oral and City Council candidates in the upcoming Nov. 8 election. The Chamber has tapped KNND radio station owner/personality Cameron Reiten and Sentinel editor Jon Stinnett to co-moderate a forum for the three mayoral candidates on Thursday, Sept. 22 beginning at 6 p.m. A forum for the seven candidates for City Council will follow on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and will also begin at 6 p.m. The events will consist of opening state- ments from each candidate, after which the candidates will address a set of questions for which they have prepared responses beforehand. Members of the audience will then be asked to prepare questions for the candidates on note cards during the event, and the questions will be vetted to ensure that they are topical and do not single out any one candidate. Getting to know them: Checking in with Cottage Grove's candidates for Mayor and City Council BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel P rior to the Aug. 23 deadline to fi le paperwork to run for offi ce in Cot- tage Grove, there were few candidates signed up to vie for a seat on the City Council or run for mayor in the Nov. 8 election. A fl urry of paperwork followed, however, and today, there are four candi- dates running for Cottage Grove’s Ward II seat, two hoping to become an at-large councilor and three running for mayor. One current councilor is running unop- posed in Ward IV. The upcoming mayoral candidates Mayoral candidates Jeff Gowing Interview response Gowing is a 1980 graduate of Cottage Grove High School and a 28-year Wey- erhaeuser employee. He is a member of the Cottage Grove Elks, American Le- gion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and is married with three children and three grandchildren. Gowing told the Sentinel he believes it’s “time to step up and take the leader- ship role” of the City Council as mayor. “The Mayor directs the Council, so that’s the ultimate position in Cottage Grove,” Gowing said. He added that he has wanted to be mayor since he was fi rst appointed to the Council seven years ago. aren’t strangers to local politics — Jake Boone currently sits on the City Council and represents Ward III; Jeff Gowing rep- resents Ward II and will vacate that seat to run for mayor, and Mike Fleck holds an at-large council seat. Should they not be elected mayor, Boone and Fleck would retain their council seats, as they’re not up for reelection for two more years. Cottage Grove’s mayors serve two-year terms; its councilors serve for four years. None of the candidates in the Ward II race have held elected offi ce in Cot- tage Grove, though Bob Ehler currently serves on the Planning Commission and has served on the City’s Budget Commit- “I’ve had seven years to learn, and I feel it’s the right time for me to go for it,” Gowing said. Gowing said his “biggest pet peeves” concern public safety, including prob- lems with drivers speeding, running red lights and talking and texting on phones while driving. He said he believes making local roads and sidewalks safe should be a city priority, as should efforts to bring new businesses to town and fi ll Cottage Grove’s vacant spaces. Gowing said he believes the local gas tax is the “fair- est way we’ve got now” to fund street improvements and recently spoke out against efforts to secure bonds to fund in- frastructure improvements. “I’ve had people tell me we need to do something about South Sixth Street,” he said. “I tell them that they’re driving it everyday, while I never drive it. But with a bond, you don’t pay for it, and I do be- cause I live in the City and you don’t.” tee. Henry Lancaster, a home-schooled student, represents the Youth Advisory Council at City Council meetings. Merlyn Adams and Rodney Cimburke round out the Ward II fi eld. As a sort of kickoff to the local elec- tion season, the Sentinel sought a short written statement from each candidate as an introduction to their candidacy. Candi- dates who did not wish to submit a writ- ten statement could choose to offer their thoughts in an interview with this report- er. Following are their responses, with in- dications as to whether they were written or delivered via interview: Jake Boone Written response City Councilor Jake Boone, who served four years in the U.S. Army and studied computer science at Oregon State University before settling with his family in Cottage Grove, has held the Ward 1 seat for nearly six years. In ad- dition to his role on the Council, he has been active in the community through his volunteer work with Bohemia Min- ing Days, the Cottage Grove Community Foundation, the Cottage Grove Commu- nity Development Corporation and the lo- cal Odd Fellows lodge. He also serves on several committees of the Oregon League of Cities in order, he says, to help pro- tect Cottage Grove’s interests at the state level. Please see CANDIDATES, Page 10A VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 11 Police arrest two accused of printing fake bills T he Cottage Grove Police Department said that at- tempts to pass off counterfeit $100 bills has led to the arrest of two Cottage Grove residents. Commander Conrad Gagner wrote via press release that on Saturday, Aug. 27, police ar- rested 36-year old Joel David Wurch and 29-year old Kim- berly Ann Roberts on forgery charges after an investigation revealed that they had possessed and used counterfeit U.S. cur- rency at businesses in Cottage Grove. Offi cers fi rst responded to Walgreens regarding a report that a male accompanied by a fe- male had attempted to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit $100 bill. A witness followed the pair after leaving Walgreens and reported to police that they were in the drive-up at Carl’s Jr. Police notifi ed Carl’s Jr. employees that the couple, in a grey van, might attempt to make Back-to-School brings changes at SLSD New school year means staggered kindergarten start, online option, etc. BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel W ith the school year kicking off this week, South Lane School District is introducing a few new things at its schools. First, the School District is beginning to introduce full school days in kindergarten but will start off with a “staggered start.” This means that through the month of September, kin- dergarten students will still have half-days and will then be intro- duced to full days in October. “We feel it’s a good way to make our teachers feel more supportive of the kids,” said Garrett Bridgens, SLSD’s Com- munications Director. Along with the staggered start, the school district recently received a federal grant to im- plement a preschool program at Dorena and Bohemia elementa- ry schools. Bridgens says it will be the fi rst time in a long while that the School District has had such programs. In addition to the preschool programs, South Lane School District has also started up South Lane Online, where students in grades 3-12 will be able to take online courses from home. The program offers over 190 differ- ent courses to take that meet or exceed the state standards across HOME Home is where your journey begins. L ET R AIN C OUNTRY R EALTY I NC . HELP YOU TAKE THE FIRST STEP . CONTACT US www.cgsentinel.com On the Internet (541) 942-3325 By telephone (541) 942-3328 By fax cgnews@cgsentinel.com By e-mail P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By mail Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove In person WEATHER all subjects. The online program will also give students the op- portunity to be in both school- based and extracurricular activi- ties, including clubs, athletics and special events. Students will have the ability to check in with a real teacher working within the District. Cottage Grove High School is also starting a new program of its own. The Aspiring Teacher Program will enroll “teacher ca- dets,” where students will learn to teach. With the introduction of the 2016-2017 school year, South Lane School District welcomes 14 new faculty members to the district: Abby Worth-Jones (Spe- cial Education, Latham/Lon- don), Amanda McMichael (kindergarten, Latham), Cara Morrow (teacher, Bohemia), Chelsea Mak (math, Lincoln), Chris Johnson (science, Lin- coln), Jordan Johnson (math, CGHS), Kristen Barnett (pre- school, Dorena), Lori Looney (fourth grade, Harrison), Rachel Rothman (SL Online, KAHS/ CGHS), Rachelle England (fi rst grade, Latham), Sarah Crowl (Special Education, Bohemia), Sarah Leonard (ELA, CGHS), Tina Patten (Special Education, Bohemia) and Wendy Kelsh (preschool, Bohemia). Principal Brokers Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735 Frank Brazell....................953-2407 Broker Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 Licensed in the State of Oregon CONTENTS HIGH LOW 76 51 Partly Cloudy their purchase with counterfeit money. After the male handed the drive-up attendant a $20 bill, it was checked with a security pen and found to be counterfeit. Offi cers contacted the couple in the drive-up area, and they were detained pending further investigation. During the inves- tigation, police say a backpack containing $3280 in counterfeit U.S. currency was found in the vehicle. The backpack con- tained mostly $20 bills, police say, but there were also several $100 bills, as well as $50, $10 and $5 bills. Both subjects were lodged at the Lane County Jail; Wurch on charges of Forgery 1 and Pos- session of a Forged Instrument, and Roberts on charges of con- spiracy to commit both those crimes. The case offi cer is Offi cer Fred Dilworth with the Cottage Grove Police Department. Calendar......................................... 9B Channel Guide ............................... 7B Classified ads.................................1C Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 1 Dollar
