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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2017)
City Beat — 5A Oregon legislature gets to work — 3A Theatre costumes wow — 6A $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017 SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 29 Power bills soar SLSD answers lock room accusations BY CAITLYN MAY cmay@cgsentinel.com BY CAITLYN MAY cmay@cgsentinel.com Social media erupted after ac- cusations of opposite gender fac- ulty entering Cottage Grove High School locker rooms came to light. Both South Lane School Dis- trict and Cottage Grove High School released statements noting student safety as the administration's top priority and during the Feb. 7 school board meeting, chairwoman Sherry Duerst-Higgins assured parents that the board had toured the facilities and discov- ered concerns to be unfounded. Social media posts stated that students had been made uncom- fortable by being subject to "unannounced" visits from opposite sex faculty while in the locker room. However, board member Taylor Wilhour stated, "That is not the case and it has never been the case. If an opposite sex member has to enter the locker room they are proceeded by a same sex faculty member to give the all clear." Moreover, the board explained that during its tour, the layout of the locker rooms differed from what some in the community might imagine. At Cottage Grove High School, lockers and showers are in a different area than the coaches offi ce and team rooms used to speak to players in a group setting. The board went on to explain that coaches offi ces also utilize blinds and blackout material for doors. "There is a great deal of protection against children being seen by adults, particularly by opposite sex adults," Wilhour said. The statement released by the school district noted protocols in place to avoid any possible issues concerning student safety includ- ing the all clear mandate before entering locker rooms and a new procedure by a female coach who now utilizes a store room to enter the team room and forgo the locker and shower area all together. Concerned parents can tour the facility by contacting CGHS. While temperatures have been dropping, residents in Cot- tage Grove noticed their power bills skyrocketing and accord- ing to EPUD, in some cases it’s to the tune of 64 percent or more. “We understand it’s a high bill,” said Patti Jo Angelini, a spokesperson for EPUD. “We know this can be quite a shock to a budget for a family.” In response, EPUD has set aside $50,000 to reduce bills for qualifying customers up to $300 for one bill. The compa- ny is also offering incentives to those customers who imple- ment cost-saving measures such as heat pumps and insulation. The cause of the spike, ac- cording to EPUD is a likely cul- prit: the weather. “As of mid-January we’ve had nine days where the tem- perature reached 32 degrees, 16 days where it was a high of 29 degrees and four days of 19 de- grees,” Angelini said. “It’s cold and when it’s cold outside, the heater is going to work longer.” Back-to-back winter storms added to the average customer’s power bill with freezing tem- peratures and many residents at home rather than at work. Cottage Grove residents were not the only customers to no- ticed a sizeable jump in their power bills. Customers as far Shooting at local restaurant a result of Super Bowl tensions Shot missed patron Theatre opens season with 'Starcatcher' BY SAM WRIGHT swright@cgsentinel.com The Cottage Theatre kicked off its 2017 season with a bang. Peter and the Star Catcher is the perfect play to kick off the 35th anniversary of the local theatre. The play is based on a novel of the same name by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The story follows the origin of Peter Pan and the land of Neverland. Lord Leonard Aster and his daughter, Molly, are tasked with bringing a trunk of precious cargo to the Kingdom of Rundoon aboard the Wasp. An identical trunk is served as a decoy and is scheduled to board the Neverland and take a safer route to Rundoon. The Never- land is captained by the sinister Bill Slank, who bought three orphans to help aboard the ship and are to work as helpers to the king of Rundoon. The trunks are switched and the mysterious Queen’s cargo turns out to be more than just shiny treasure. The play takes you right to the beginning of Peter Pan, and all the dots are pleasantly connect- ed. The play was overall the funniest the theatre has produced since my time in Cot- tage Grove (perhaps to be rivaled with the Putnam Spelling Bee). The play is built around complimentary characters, and the cast strongly displays the fun, wild and mag- ical dynamic between all of the characters. To start with, Joel Ibanez’s portrayal of Captain Slank’s surly attitude toward his subor- dinates sets the scene of nautical life of 19th century Great Brit- ain. The audience is immediate- ly set for an adventure. But other relationships, though not crucial to the plot, helped create a hilarious wonder to the story. A highlight of the play was the relationship between Alf (a Neverland crewman played by Dale Flynn) and Mrs. Betty Bumbrake (Molly’s nanny played by Keith Kessler). The two play a game of romantic cat and mouse until Alf goes too far and Kessler’s feminine voice is discarded (intentionally) and the manly interior of Kessler comes out to stop Alf’s relentless pursuit. The sudden switch had the audience aching with laugh- ter. Then enter the dimwitted Black Stache, whose intelligence is barely held up by his fi rst mate, Smee. The endless puns and away as Portland complained of bills doubling and tripling compared to normal monthly payments. PGE cited the cold weather as well, adding that when schools are closed due to accumlating snow, children are home all day and using more electricity. The higher bills got local attention as well with several social media posts dedicated to questions about the sudden in- crease. The most popular thread garnered over 300 comments with some local folks claiming an increase of up to $200 dollars from previous months. Pacifi c Power also pointed to the unusually frigid weather and noted that due to snow that caused traffi c delays and road closures, meter readers were not always able to reach homes. As a result, when those readers were delayed, it shifts the un- read days to a different billing cycle. Moreover, Pacifi c Power contends that if meter readers were unable to reach homes it was more than likely due to severe weather which would also have children home from school and their parents un- able to get to work essentially creating power usage in homes that would not normally occur during the week. If residents have questions concerning their bills they are encouraged to call their specifi c power company. BY CAITLYN MAY cmay@cgsentinel.com A Florence man is facing charges of second-degree disor- derly conduct, reckless endan- germent and unlawful use of a weapon after fi ring a semi-auto- matic weap- on inside BJs Restaurant and Brew house during the course of an argument with another patron. Donald, Princeton Bolden, 63, was inside the restau- rant, located at Valley River Center, during the Super Bowl when he report- edly became agitated at another patron. It is unknown if the ar- gument stemmed from the foot- ball game or the unidentifi ed patron's behavior while watch- ing the game. Bolden fi red one round, miss- ing the patron. According to authorities, the intended target of the gunfi re was unharmed while a server inside the restaurant suffered hearing loss. There were no other reported injuries. Re- ports from wit- nesses inside the restaurant note that the bullet missed the patron and hit the bar in- stead. More than 200 people were inside the restaurant when the inci- dent occurred at approxi- mately 6:30 p.m. when an off-duty police offi cer subdued Bolden until of- fi cers could arrive on scene. Bolden was taken in custody and booked in the Lane Coun- ty Jail. He is expected to be ar- raigned Monday afternoon. See Play pg.10 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 CONTENTS HIGH LOW 53 50 Calendar......................................... 3B Channel Guide Classified ads................................. 5B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B Some showers 1 Dollar Coffee with the Editor Every Tuesday 10 am @ Backstage Bakery Come chat about the community! S