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GOVERNMENT
CITY READY TO FIGHT STATE ON IMMUNITY LAWS
By Caitlyn May
The Cottage Grove City Council voted
unanimously to adopt a resolution recom-
mending the restoration of recreational immunity rights during it's
Monday, Feb. 13 meeting.
The issue fi rst appeared earlier this year when the Oregon Leg-
islature introduced several bills concerning the matter, particularly
Senate Bill 504 which would effectively hold city employees re-
sponsible in some cases of injuries on city property meant for rec-
reation. Initially, recreational immunity barred legal action against
cities due to the inherent nature of recreation. However, after the
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Johnson v. Gibson court case was decided in which a city's employ-
ee was not covered under recreational immunity, the lines blurred.
City Manager Richard Meyers spoke previously on the issue not-
ing that, if Senate Bill 504 were to pass, parks inside of Cottage
Grove would be closed and possibly sold, citing the city's inability
to hold and afford such a liability. It is the city's contention that it
is unable to maintain parks without employees and SB504 would
cause a liability to that maintenance.
In a memorandum to the council Meyers wrote, "Failure to restore
recreational immunity could have major impact on the health and
livability of the community. Recreation is important to the physical
, mental and fi nancial health of Cottage Grove." He went on to note
that both city parks and private property used for recreation could
be effected by the change.
During Monday night's meeting, Meyers noted that the resolution
had been prepared by the League of Oregon Cities and would used
by the organization to lobby the legislature on behalf of Oregon
cities to restore recreational immunity.
The city has deemed the issue a "top priority" for the 2017 ses-
sion of the Oregon Legislature.
COMMUNITY
Dojo urges unity
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Since the
conclusion
of the 2016 election cycle, news
talk shows, commentary, maga-
zines and other outlets have re-
fl ected a divided America with
polling by the Pew Research
Center supporting its claims.
According to polls, Americans
are divided along party lines
and with several protests taking
place across the county. March-
es have been completed and
more organized over issues of
race, women's rights and repro-
ductive rights, the divide does
not seem to be yielding.
In Cottage Grove, however, a
shop on Main St. has taken its
own course of action to stem
the growing tide of partisan
ship and political and social dis-
course.
ATA Martial Arts, located
at 802 E. Main St., painted its
front window with a message:
Love one another.
The message in full reads:
"Trump lover? Clinton lover?
None-of-the-abovover? Black?
White? Red? Brown? Or some
other color? Each woman is
a sister here and every man a
brother. Let us put our judge-
ments down and love one an-
other."
Owner and instructor Erin
Lauraine said the message is
Please see DOJO PG 8
Dog park opens
EDUCATION
By Sam Wright
ROSIE THE RIVETERS VISIT
COTTAGE GROVE CLASSES
Opal Nelson earned
$1 a week as a maid in
cmay@cgsentinel.com Indiana. But it wasn't
enough. When a girl-
friend suggested they try their luck in Cali-
fornia and answer the call for workers at an
aircraft plant, she hopped on a Greyhound
bus and headed west.
"We had $20 between us which shows
how far we planned ahead," she said. The
money got them as far as Denver, CO
where they took on jobs as wait-
resses to earn the rest of the fare
to California.
That was 70 years ago. On
Friday, Feb. 10, Nelson joined
three other women during a pre-
sentation to Cottage Grove High
School students, each reminisc-
ing of their time spent helping
the war effort as Rosie the Riv-
eters.
Between 1939 and 1943,
women made up 65 percent of
the workforce, aided by a gov-
ernment-funded campaign uti-
lizing a partially fi ctional char-
acter, "Rosie the Riveter." They
built tanks, ships, guns and
other wartime necessities be-
fore being asked to leave their
positions when men came home
from the war.
GOVERNMENT
Nelson worked eight-hour shifts build-
ing A-20 aircrafts under intense security.
Each morning and night her lunch box was
searched and she worked her days away in
a factory camoufl aged to look like the road-
way from the air.
Alice Heiney, 99, worked in a similar
factory.
"We didn't have all the cell phones and
things people have now," she said. So, there
was no phone call informing her or her
family of the attack on Pearl Harbor. "The
paper boys were selling papers and yelling
about it. 'Read all about it! Japanese bomb
Pearl Harbor!'"
Heiney had a four-year-old daughter who
she left with her own mother while she
went to work checking cartridges for de-
fects 13-hours a day.
Doris Graham worked long hours as
well, on her feet nine hours a day, six days
a week. "Then it was Sunday and there was
Please see ROSIE PG 8
COMMUNITY
Pump station update
Tiny home plans
Taylor Pump Station asks
for more money from
council. PAGE A6
Plans for a tiny home de-
velopment may face issues
from city. PAGE A6
INDEX
By Caitlyn May
Calendar ...................................... B11
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
swright@cgsentinel.com
Steve Nisewander has been
working for around a year to
ensure our four-legged friends
have a place to safely run free
off leash. With the help of his
children, Nisewander bought
the car wash on Main Street that
had an unused plot of land be-
hind it. Back in the 70s, the plot
used to be part of a putt-putt
golf course.
“To help my kids pay for their
college tuition, I told them to
buy a business. They each own
40 percent of the car wash and I
own 20,” Nisewander said.
In the past year, Nisewander
decided it would be helpful to
the community if there was a
dog park in the area. The park
is now fully fenced in with two
double-gated entrances and
is open to the public with two
waste bag stations and a picnic
table. But Nisewander says the
park isn’t completely fi nished
yet.
“We still want to put in a few
benches for people to sit down,
and I’ll be able to lay the con-
crete foundations down pretty
soon,” he said. Currently, there
is only one picnic table for com-
munity members to sit at while
their dogs run around.
Nisewander has paid for most
of the park out of his own pock-
et. He received about $250 from
a gofundme.com page and also
received a small grant. The city
offered to pay for the signage
around the park and for a small
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S
parking lot. A few people also
donated some of the fencing
for the park, but Nisewander
says he has put in about $2,000
of his own money into the proj-
ect.
According to Nisewander, the
most challenging part was put-
ting the time and labor into con-
structing the fencing and waste
bag stations.
“It was hard at times, espe-
cially with the weather,” he
added. In this past December
and early January, Nisewander
had begun part of the fencing,
but due to poor weather condi-
tions, he would have to stop for
a few days because the ground
was too muddy.
“People would stop me and
ask when I would be done, but
I couldn’t lay in the foundation
because of the bad weather,”
Nisewander said.
The benches should be added
over the next month or two, and
Nisewander also wants to put
in a couple of water stations for
the dogs, along with a barrel for
people to leave dog toys.
“Someone asked if I had any
water with me and I brought out
our dog’s water bowl and about
10 dogs swarmed the bowl to
get a drink,” laughed Nise-
wander’s wife, Mary, who has
helped supervise the project.
Nisewander says that there
has been a good amount of traf-
fi c now that the park is com-
pletely fenced in. He said that
any donations are welcome to
help extradite the completion of
the park.