6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 29, 2017
YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD TESTIFIES ON HB3030
Cottage
Grove
City
Council
has
cgsentinel.com
six councilors, one
mayor and a little bit
of help every oth-
er Monday during its regularly scheduled meet-
ings in the form of a youth representative from
the city’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC). The
efforts of the city’s government-minded youth
have reached the Oregon State Legislature and
captured the interest of out-of-state universities
this month.
“We had the University of Delaware contact us,
interested in how our YAC program works,” Cot-
tage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers said.
The university is reaching out to similar programs
nationwide in an attempt to collect data on what
works and what doesn’t to make youth-driven
councils thrive in relation to local government.
And Cottage Grove’s Youth Advisory Council
is thriving. Every other Monday, one representa-
tive joins the city council to hear comment and
staff reports on important city issues and each
youth representative "votes" along with the coun-
cil. Oftentimes, representatives bring issues im-
portant to Cottage Grove's youth to the attention
of the city council.
The group, made up of students from the South
Lane School District, added to their activities and
By Caitlyn May
headed to the legislature last week to testify on
House Bill 3030.
Members who made the trip included, Ian
Dukes, Emma Meyers, Jennifer McReynolds,
M.J. Raade and Tori Raade.
“They brought the issue up last year and rep-
resentative Cedric Hayden moved it through the
legislative process,” Meyers said. The issue at
hand is the dangerous practice of “whippets,” or
nitrous oxide containers. Teenagers have been
known to abuse the containers to get high and the
bill prohibits retail businesses from selling the
containers to anyone under the age of 18.
“It’s great that they’ll get to go and be a part of
this process,” Meyers said.
HB3030 would restrict the sale of nitrous oxide
to individuals under the age of 18. After the bill's
hearing, it is eligible to be scheduled for a work
session and eventually make its way to the house
fl oor.
According to the city, the youth advisory coun-
cil originally raised the issue of nitrous oxide to
Hayden last year during a similar trip to Salem to
visit the legislature.
The YAC students are also expected to visit the
legislature this June to meet with government of-
fi cials and tour the capitol, including the famous
“Golden Man” statue that sits atop the capitol
building.
Pets Tips 'N' Tales
By Mary Ellen, "Angel Scribe"
W
hile in her kitchen Sonja's cattle dog,
Ben, suddenly went bonkers!
You know how a dog acts, said
Sonja,when they pick up a nasty sticker, cactus
spine or something that they can't get rid of it?
Well! Ben was insanely zooming around the room
with his tail between his legs!
He was favoring his left thigh, so she ran after
him trying to stop him. Her plan was to investi-
gate his leg by running her hands over it, but he
just would not stop.
I grabbed his leash and as he sped by me, said
Sonja, I looped it around his neck, stopping him
and ran my fi ngers through his fur. I found and
brushed out a little lump.
Used to Oregon sticker burrs, what she found
explained Ben's predicament, but now it became
hers!
Well,continued Sonja, that lump turned out
to be a very angry wasp! Only European Honey
Bees leave its stinger in the skin, but other vespids
like wasps, bumble bees, yellow jackets, and hor-
nets can sting repeatedly with no harm to them-
selves. A small grumpy wasp had stung poor Ben
over and over.
Then that darn critter took off after Sonja,
stinging her three times through her jeans!
Sonja continues, Ben and I ran outta Dodge,
straight out the front door! Those stings hurt!
Then, we cautiously walked around to the back
door, into the laundry room, where I gave Ben his
doggy sting medicine, before l quietly sneaked
into the bathroom to fi nd a "Sting Stick" for my-
self.
The Youth Advisory Council traveled to Salem to testify before the legislature on House Bill 3030.
After we were fi xed up, it was time to strap on
the guns and go after that !!@&^^$@!!! wasp! I
was hoping that the crazed insect had headed to
where all fl ying things go to bonk themselves to
death, against a window.
Usually, I gently place a cup over an inside in-
sect, and slip a piece of stiff paper between the
cup and window, before righting the cup, using
the paper as a lid and carry the innocent insect
outside to let them free. Not this time!
I hauled out the heavy guns! I chose my largest
fl y swatter and swatted that bug to death, several
times for both Ben and me. It was sheer unadul-
terated revenge! Imagine that wasp stinging my
innocent dog! I hope that mean wasp is in insect
hell populated by giant spiders and praying man-
tises the size of Tyrannosaurus Rex's!
I wish I knew why that thing went after Ben.
The dog wasn't doing anything, but joyfully fol-
lowing me as I was unloading the car. But, grate-
fully, we will never know as the wasp can't talk
because it is in insect hell.
TIPS
Dog breed's skills are so different! said Son-
ja, My ex-Marine friend's service lab, Sarge, re-
trieves his food dish to get his chow. Sarge holds
the dish up while Joe puts in the kibble, then Sarge
carefully sets it down and begins eating. Once the
dish is empty, Sarge picks up the bowl and car-
ries it over to the sink. Unlike most untrainable
human relatives, Sarge then drops the dish in the
sink for washing!
Once in a while I tell Ben, "FIND YOUR
DISH". When I do this, he looks at me as if I am a
teensy-weensy dim, then he runs over and whaps
his dish, hard, with a fore-paw, sending it banging
across the room! He cracks me up!
I also keep an umbrella at each outside door, so
when I head out on a rainy day I have an umbrella
on hand.
When a foster dog arrives, I teach them about
umbrellas. Most rescues are scared of the myste-
rious contraptions. To disarm their fears, I open
an umbrella, put it upside down, and place several
kibbles in it.
This has accidentally interfered with my les-
son, Find your dish.
I once sent a new dog to the kitchen with the
cue, Find your dish. Drum roll! She came back
dragging my umbrella! At least, she knew where
the kibble can be found!
Share your pet tips and tales.
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