Volleyball
bounces back,
1B
Farm to School Month — 3A
Choosing healthcare — 4A
'A Chorus Line' — 10A
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 16
Brigadier General to speak at fi rst annual Mayor's Ball
B
rigadier General William
Edwards, who assumed
command of the Oregon Army
National Guard’s Land Com-
ponent in April, is expected to
provide keynote remarks at the
fi rst annual Mayor’s Ball — an
event that aims to raise funds
and awareness for the restora-
tion of the Cottage Grove Ar-
mory — on Saturday, Oct. 22.
The National Guard’s Land
an employee at Hewlett Pack-
ard in Corvallis for over 20
years.
Edwards’ biography also
includes stints at the Cottage
Grove Armory itself — he
served with the 2nd Battal-
ion, 162nd Infantry in Cottage
Grove from October, 2000
through September of 2001
and commanded the battalion
again after its relocation to
Component oversees all Army
operations for the state of Or-
egon and is responsible for
more than 6000 soldiers. Prior
to his promotion, Edwards’ ser-
vice included a deployment to
Iraq in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom and command
of the 41st Infantry Brigade,
which deployed to Afghanistan
in 2014. Also a citizen-soldier,
Edwards, of Albany, has been
Springfi eld.
The City of Cottage Grove
estimates that it will cost about
$2.6 million to renovate the
Armory, which it purchased
for $395,000 in 2010 from
the Oregon Military Depart-
ment when the National Guard
moved to its new facility in
Springfi eld. In June, the City
Council approved a contract
with Christina Lund Consult-
ing of Cottage Grove not to
exceed $463,000 to secure the
needed funds. The Armory has
seen sporadic use since its pur-
chase, and conceptual drawings
have been planned and execut-
ed for the building, plans that
detail possible uses including
a commercial kitchen, emer-
gency shelter, headquarters of
the Cottage Grove Kids Club
and more.
Clown hunt leads to
charges for two after
altercation
Ballot
Box
Shawn Patrick Waite, 21,
received a 30-day jail sentence and
probation for Criminal Mischief
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
R
eports of “killer clowns”
and individuals dressing
up as such to frighten or in-
timidate others have exploded
across traditional and social me-
dia outlets recently, and an al-
leged clown sighting is believed
to have precipitated an alterca-
tion last week that landed a 21-
year old Cottage Grove man in
the local jail.
Cottage Grove Police were
called to more than one report of
shots fi red near the Dollar Tree
on Highway 99 at about 10 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 5. Offi cer Sean
Branstetter said that the fi rst of-
fi cer on scene, Jason Cross, ob-
served a subject running east
on Chamberlain Avenue. Cross
contacted the individual, who
reportedly informed him that
another individual in the Vil-
lage Center parking lot had a
gun. Later, Branstetter said that
police determined the man in
the parking lot had his shirt off,
which, while being stretched
between the man’s fi sts, could
have looked to some bystanders
like a gun.
The man in the parking
lot, Branstetter said, had just
emerged from a nearby gas sta-
tion with a handful of groceries
when he witnessed a male and
female walking toward the lot,
the male half reportedly bran-
dishing a baseball bat, who he
thought may be walking toward
the parking lot to cause some
type of mischief.
“Don’t mess with us,” the man
with the bat reportedly said,
adding that they were looking
for a clown that Branstetter said
had allegedly appeared in front
of their home nearby before get-
ting into a car and departing.
“They were out looking for a
clown even though he had sup-
posedly left in a vehicle,” Brans-
tetter said.
Instead, they encountered
the aforementioned subject in
Brigadier
General
William
Edwards
commands
the National
Guard's
Land
Component.
The lowdown on each of the fall
election’s ballot measures
Measure 97
the parking lot, who Branstet-
ter said admitted to a “snarky
response” that may have helped
convince the male of the duo,
later identifi ed as 21-year old
Shawn Patrick Waite, to use the
baseball bat to break out most of
the glass and do damage to the
body of the other man’s truck.
Branstetter said police believe
that the sharp sound of the bat
hitting the truck and its win-
dows may have led to the calls
of ‘shots fi red.’
In Cottage Grove Municipal
Court the following morning,
Waite received a 30-day jail
sentence, two years’ proba-
tion, a fi ne and restitution for
Criminal Mischief II and Physi-
cal Harassment related to the
incident; a charge of menacing
was dropped by the City pros-
ecutor. The involved female,
identifi ed as 20-year old Chey-
enne Graves-Ford, was cited in
lieu of custody and will face a
charge of disorderly conduct on
Oct. 27 in Municipal Court.
Branstetter said that he hoped
the recent clown sightings don’t
prompt people to “see clowns
and immediately go on the of-
fensive,” and a news release
from CGPD attempted to calm
any collective hysteria last
week.
“We have no current infor-
mation to indicate that persons
dressed as clowns present any
inherent threat to the safety of
the community,” the release
stated. “It appears that indi-
viduals…fi nd it stimulating to
imitate social trends and scare
people.”
Police pointed out that it’s
“not illegal to dress as a clown,”
adding that they will respond to
calls regarding suspicious per-
sons dressed as clowns, but “ab-
sent anything other than their
dress, enforcement action is
unlikely.” The report also states
that “chasing people around and
intentionally scaring them can
get you arrested.”
Increases corporate minimum tax
when sales exceed $25 million; funds
education, healthcare, senior services
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
O
photo by Jon Stinnett
Mason Hughes enjoys the new toddler swings at Coiner Park
while Grandpa (Pat Hughes) supplies the power.
Coiner's new playground
equipment dedicated
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
M
any of Cottage Grove’s Ro-
tarians were joined by City
employees under the pavilion at
Coiner Park Thursday afternoon to
offi cially dedicate the park’s new
playground equipment. Nearby, four-
year old Mason Hughes couldn’t be
bothered to notice their ceremony.
Throughout the lunchtime dedi-
cation, Hughes, powered by pushes
from his grandpa, Pat, swung steadi-
ly back and forth in the new toddler
swings recently installed at Coiner.
Nearby, a spidery climbing structure
and new merry-go-round awaited
more young visitors.
“This will be great,” Pat Hughes
said of the new climbing structure,
adding that he has “a couple of real
climbers” among his 11 grandchil-
dren.
Ruth Linoz, the Rotary Club presi-
dent in 2015 who championed the
new construction project, said that
the club sought to provide equipment
for younger park visitors that still
might be fun for older ones. A survey
conducted last year also indicated
that parents sought a set of toddler
swings closer to the main play struc-
ture at Coiner.
During the dedication ceremony,
in which a plaque was unveiled re-
naming the “Rotary Pavilion,” Linoz
called the project a “fabulous col-
laboration” between Rotary and the
City of Cottage Grove, and many
pponents of Measure 97, an initiated state
statute that would increase the state’s mini-
mum corporate tax rate by establishing a 2.5
percent tax on gross sales exceeding $25 million,
had outspent supporters two-to-one by Oct. 8.
If approved, the tax would go into effect for “C
Corporations” (an IRS designation for businesses
that pay their own taxes) on Jan. 1; should it pass,
it is estimated to raise $548 million in its fi rst six
months and about $3 billion per year thereafter.
Supporters from the Yes on 97 campaign and Our
Oregon, a coalition of labor and other groups, say
those funds are needed to shore up decades of sub-
standard funding for schools and social services,
while opponents frame the increase as essentially
a sales tax that will be passed down from corpora-
tions to consumers.
At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Cottage Grove Cham-
ber of Commerce joined nearly 50 other chambers
statewide in opposing Measure 97. Director Travis
Palmer said the Chamber’s legislative committee,
formed to help the local Chamber stay abreast of
local and state government workings, responded
from concerns and calls for more information
from chamber members to examine the measure in
greater detail.
The Cottage Grove Chamber’s legislative com-
mittee listened to a presentation from Alison Hart
of the state Chamber of Commerce opposing the
measure, though Palmer said the Chamber also
researched the opposing arguments before voting
to oppose Measure 97.
“They believe that businesses that are affected will
have to pay an extra percentage, and those costs
are going to be passed down,” Palmer said. “A lot
of people are reading into this that those compa-
nies are just going to raise our prices; that’s the
fear.”
Personally, Palmer said he’s wary of the “huge
jump” to Oregon’s budget that would occur if
Measure 97 passes.
“The state budget could increase by 30 percent,
and that’s an awfully big move,” he said.
Palmer said that not everyone involved with
Please see COINER, Page 11A
Please see 97, Page 11A
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Calendar....................................... 11B
Channel Guide ............................... 4B
Classified ads................................. 6B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
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