City Beat — 5A
New School at planning — 3A
First CG baby of 2017 — 6A
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WEDNESDAY, JAN.UARY 27, 2017
SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 130 • NUMBER 26
Meet Harrison Elementary-AGAIN Homelessness:
School board choose a familar moniker for the new school
What's happening in
Cottage Grove?
The introductory installment of a series on the issues facing
low-income and homeless individuals in Cottage Grove.
BY CAITLYN MAY
cmay@cgsentinel.com
BY SAM WRIGHT
swright@cgsentinel.com
The people have spoken and
the South Lane School Board of
Directors has heeded the voices
of the people and chosen a name
for the new elementary school.
But it turns out that it will
only be the school that is new
and not the name. Yes, with
overwhelming results from the
polls opened online, the school
board felt compelled to vote for
Harrison Elementary to be the
name of the new school.
The school district posted an
online poll on their website that
allowed people to cast votes
among several options. Among
other contenders were names
like Covered Bridge Elementa-
ry, Bridges School, Headwaters
Elementary School and Krista
Parent Elementary School. Here
are the statistics that were con-
densed by Communications Di-
rector Garrett Bridgens: Harri-
son Elementary, 1,621, all other
names combined, 509. Combin-
ing all the other votes for all the
other names didn’t even come
close to the amount of votes for
Harrison.
But board member Taylor
Wilhour made a point that peo-
ple were able to vote more than
once, however Bridgens said
that fact didn’t make much of a
difference.
“We could see the IP address-
es, and even excluding those
that voted multiple times, [Har-
rison] would still be heavily fa-
vored,” Bridgens said.
Though the vote passed
unanimnously by the school
board to with Harrison Elemen-
tary as the new name, it doesn’t
mean every member was want-
ing that selection.
“We’re elected by the people
to support a certain social con-
tract,” board member Alan Baas
added.
Many other members had the
same thought process.
“I don’t necessarily support
naming it Harrison but I do sup-
port the decision of the people
and I think it’s pretty clear,”
Tammy Hodgkins said. Jerry
Settelmeyer pointed out that
while the whole building will be
named Harrison that the other
names (which despite the lack
of votes, still got positive feed-
back) could be used for differ-
ent parts of the building.
Other board members, such
as Sherry Deurst-Higgins,
shared support of carrying over
the tradition.
“I like Harrison and I think
we should choose it,” Higgins
said. And thus, with no oppos-
ing votes, the name passed.
The new elementary school
was given the green light on de-
velopment following the pass-
See School pg.9
Chamber celebrates local businesses
In the years following the
Great Recession, states like
Oregon have seen continued
struggles of those categorized
as low-income. Several factors
contribute to homelessness in-
cluding mental health and af-
fordable housing inventories.
Over the next few weeks, The
Sentinel will explore several
factors locally, reporting on lo-
cal resources and efforts to stem
the number of those that would
qualify as homeless.
Currently, under the McKin-
ney-Vento defi nition, 100 stu-
dents in the South Lane School
District qualify as homeless;
3.75 percent of the students en-
rolled in the district. The count
began in September and will
continue until May 15. Last
year’s number for the same time
period was 105. According to
the McKinney-Vento represen-
tative for the area, Brandi Bak-
er-Rudicel, the number can go
up by May but she does serve
students beyond the deadline
for the count. This year, she’s
served 300 families with school
supplies.
Data determining if the num-
For the 68th time, local businesses take home awards for service
ber of homeless individuals
has gone up or down since
last year will not be available
until the conclusion of the
point-in-time count set to be
conducted within the next few
weeks. Volunteers visit home-
less shelters, parks and other ar-
eas that may house homeless in-
dividuals and ask them a series
of questions including the state
of their homelessness, how long
they’ve been in the situation and
other health-related questions.
Individuals self-report and are
not required to show proof of
any illnesses or other claims.
“Homelessness
defi nitions
vary for different programs,”
said Mike Fleck of Communi-
ty Sharing; an organization in
Cottage Grove that works with
low-income and homeless indi-
viduals providing meal boxes,
clothes, laundry, housing as-
sistance and other necessities.
“McKinney-Vento, from my
understanding, counts teenag-
ers couch surfi ng but other pro-
grams, it’s only if they are truly
on the street.”
The McKinney-Vento Act
classifi es students as homeless
if children are sharing a house
due to loss of housing, eco-
nomic hardship or are living
in hotels, motels, trailer parks
See Homeless pg.10
Sentinel named
Bussiness of the
Year
BY CAITLYN MAY
cmay@cgsentinel.com
When Smith-Lund-Mills
Funeral Chapel and Cremato-
rium joined the Cottage Grove
Chamber of Commerce, yearly
dues totaled $16. It was 1967.
Fifty years later, the company
joined several other local busi-
nesses and movers and shakers
at the 68th Annual Cottage
Grove Chamber of Com-
merce Awards and Installation
Banquet on Saturday Night.
Smith-Lund-Mills, which was
credited with serving over
15,000 families in the local
area, picked up an award for
its 50 years with the chamber;
a feat no other local business
has achieved. When accepting
the award, Doug Lund told the
crowd, “The Cottage Grove
Chamber of Commerce to me,
is a philanthropic octopus with
arms reaching out everywhere.
God bless Cottage Grove and
the chamber.”
The message was received to
a standing ovation with the
crowd decked out to the nines
to celebrate the event and its
red carpet theme. The armory
was transformed into a Holly-
wood ballroom while Master
of Ceremonies Diana Knous
of Pacifi c Power, lamented her
inability to tell a joke but kept
the crowd engaged throughout
the four-hour banquet.
While the majority of the event
was dedicated to the presenta-
tion of awards, it began with
a transition from the current
chamber board president to the
2017 president, Candy Solsby.
Chamber Executive Director
Travis Palmer presided over
2016 president Joe Raade’s exit
saying, that while the chamber
traditionally gifts the outgoing
president with a clock to mark
the time spent in the position, it
wasn’t the case for Raade.
“Anyone who’s ever been in
Joe’s offi ce, the thing they will
notice is, it’s full of clocks,”
Palmer said. “So we mount-
ed his gavel on the plaque
instead.”
New president Solsby took to
the podium just before dinner,
stepping into her new position
and graciously accepting a faux
gavel decorated in glitter and
rhinestones. She told the crowd
of her Cottage Grove roots; her
mother a bank teller in the city
and her father the former fi re
chief. “I’m grateful they were
my parents,” she said. “They
taught me courage. The taught
me kindness but growing up
with a fi re chief had its chal-
lenges. Nothing stayed plugged
in and we couldn’t have can-
dles in the house.” Now, mar-
ried to the fi re marshal, Solsby
drew the audience’s attention to
the battery-operated candles on
the table.
“Cottage Grove is a friendly
city,” she concluded. “I’m
going to ask you to go against
everything your parents told
you and talk to strangers.”
Solsby’s speech earned ap-
plause that continued through-
out the night as awards were
presented and organization
after organization made their
case, laying out their service to
the city.
Teacher of the Year went to
Kerry Clauson who thanked her
See Chamber pg.11
CONTACT US
WEATHER
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
The Cottage Grove Sen-
tinel took home Business of
the Year at the 68th Annual
Cottage Grove Chamber of
Commerce Awards and In-
stallations Banquet on Satur-
day, Jan. 21. General Manag-
er Gary Manly accepted the
award on behlf of the staff
saying the honor was a sur-
prise and the Sentinel staff
wouldn't let the community
down. The Sentinel was one
of four businesses up for the
honor and one of 22 business-
es that served as a table spon-
sor for the event.
The Cottage Grove Sen-
tinel has been in operation
under different banners since
1889. Manly said, "We are
truly honored to be chosen
as 2016 Business of the Year
from a list of extraodinary
nominees who are equally
deserving."
CONTENTS
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LOW
48 35
Calendar......................................... 3B
Channel Guide
Classified ads................................. 5B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
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