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
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
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CONTENTS
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Calendar......................................... 3B
Channel Guide
Classified ads................................. 5B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
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