COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 5, 2017 7A A word from the Editor Dogs under construction Construction safety offi - cer, Pearl, wears a pink hard hat while keeping work sites in compliance with rules. She monitors workers safety, and when they are injured, she ap- plies fi rst aid or calls 911. She is a purr-fect multi-tasker as a fl agger doing traffi c control, guiding pedestrians, keep- ing cars from colliding, all the while supervising construction materials; steel beams being off loaded from trucks, cranes and zoom booms. During coffee breaks, Pearl walks her two Chihuahuas, Bil- ly and Pepe. "My boss and the crew like dogs," said Pearl. “One advan- tage of having dogs on sight is that when the offi ce is empty Billy sounds his high pitched bark-alarm when anyone enters. Billy was my birthday pres- ent. I found him on a dog adop- tion sight, used GPS, and drove 1 ½ hours into the boonies for him.” Pepe, born in Oregon, was fl own into Vancouver, Cana- da on Christmas Eve. A lady picked him up, then for some unexplained reason, a day later, dumped him off in a humane shelter's parking lot after clos- ing time. “My friend fostered Pepe for a week,” said Pearl, “then I puppy-sat him while she was on vacation. All the little guy want- ed to do was hide. When my friend returned to pick him up, Pepe was sitting beside me, and he squished into my side. It was obvious that he wasn't planning on leaving and he didn't!" One day after work, her son, Duncan, the dogs, and Pearl were at a “Bark Park” when they saw a crowd of people watching a man trying to untangle a fl ap- ping, upside down crow entan- gled in fi shing line, from a tree. Always ready to respond to an emergency, she offered to climb the tree. Duncan said, “No! The bird will peck you to death.” Pearl, raised on a farm, knew how to handle birds, so she said, “Give me a boost up.” And up she went. At fi rst the frightened crow pecked at her, but with her knowing touch, he relaxed, as she helped him. The other crows, in the nearby trees, were cawing up a symphony, but none interrupted their buddy’s rescue mission. This was no easy task. While untangling the bird, Pearl gen- tly talked to it. The fi shing line was wrapped tightly around a branch and its right foot. Using her “on the spot” safety skills, she bit the line, breaking it, and released its foot. The bird would not put any weight on his sore leg, so Pearl gently massaged his leg and foot. “His leg was loose and un- responsive to my touch,” said Pearl. “I worried it was broken or that the circulation had been cut off too long and died. After the massage, he immediately gripped my fi nger with the right foot. The crowd and I were ju- bilant that it just need- ed rest and massage, which is good for all of us!” Before the beau- tiful wild- black bird fl ew away, Pearl kissed it on its head. She then opened her hands. The crow spread his wings and fl ew away. “I was thrilled,” said Pearl. “Imagine rescuing a bird! Undeniably, discarded fi shing lines harms animals. I have seen a deer struggling entangled in a wad of line by its horns and right foot. I trained my children to pick up pop cans, plastic drinking pop can holders, and plastic bags, because discarded garbage starves and kills land and sea wild life.” Pearl has two confessions, “Pepe does the ‘grandpa dance. He stands up on his hind legs, tucks in his three chins, and does a weird wiggle reminding me of dancing grandpas at wed- dings. And Pepe has a thing for Victoria’s Secret! He eats my underwear! Life with animals never has dull moments!” TIPS “At work, I keep my pockets full of a variety of dog treats. It is a win-win situation. I’ve learned the pet parents and dogs’ names, the crew love dogs, and the dogs love the treats!” Share your pet tips and tales. angelscribe@msn.com “Follow” Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ PetTipsandTales Humane Society for Neuter/ Spay Assistance Program. (541) 942-2789 They say the only constant in life is change. That may be true but you all have been incredibly patient with us as we re- vamped, renewed and readied for the next 128 years. Over the last three and a half months we have updated the front page to refl ect the modern times we're in but without sac- rifi cing where we came from and the century of public ser- vice The Sentinel has completed for Cottage Grove. We've done away with the Friday Update and replaced it with Capi- tol Beat; a column that hopefully keeps you up-to-date on the happenings at the state legislature and how the laws it passes and debates can affect us here in Cottage Grove. We've be- gun adhering to our century's-old commitment to cover North Douglas County as well as Lane County and we no longer use articles that were written outside of Cottage Grove and gleaned from a third-party news site. In fact, our story count has in- creased substantially and we seemed to have fi nally found a proof-reading process that eliminates those pesky typos and errors on the front page and throughout the paper. We've made these changes with you, our readers, in mind, striving to bring you accurate, sourced and local news that is worth paying for and informs you on issues important to you and this community. We hope you've come to appreciate The Sentinel's transformation. But now, we ask you to bear with us as we embark on the home stretch of our renovation: a new website. While we are excited about this new way to spread the news, it's important to note that the changes come from the top. All newspapers in our company have undergone a digital face lift and as such, only so much of the design and user interaction is under our control. That being said, we doubt their will be any issues going forward. The new website is faster, cleaner, easier to navigate and allows us to provide the entire news- paper to our digital readers, as well as keep you updated on news throughout the week. No more waiting until Wednesday to read breaking news. Readers who subscribe will now be able to read stories in a timely manner, view photo galleries and watch video of public meetings and events when included in the story. If you're already a subscriber and we have your email, you're covered. You will be able to access all of the stories, photos, videos and audio on our new website. If you're not already a subscriber, you will be able to view up to 10 stories per month before we ask you to subscribe. However, some stories will be behind a blocked pay wall you will not be able to reach even if you have yet to use your free 10 stories. I promise they will never be stories imperative to your safety and we will never hide information about public meetings or breaking news that is important to you. However, 'enterprise stories' such as 'The top 10 cold cases in Cottage Grove' may end up behind that hard wall. It's not imperative to your safety and it isn't a matter of public health or knowledge but it sure would be fun to read. And we want you to read it but we'd also love for you to sub- scribe. It helps us keep the lights on and the presses running. So that's it, we're in the home stretch. We hope you check out the new site. Let us know what you think and if you'd like to subscribe, come on in or call and we'll get you taken care of. If not, you have 10 free stories to read a month. We hope you enjoy them and continue to read The Sentinel. Cottage Theatre presents 2017 The Musical Comedy Whodunit Enter to win 4 tickets to COTTAGE THEATRE * Looking for something to do with the kids? Want to fi nd this week’s best shopping deals? Curious about the latest local developments? April 7 – 30 Book by Rupert Holmes Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb Original Book and Concept by Peter Stone Additional Lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes Directed by Janet Rust Sponsored by: Music Direction by Chris Holt We have you covered with locally focused coverage of everything from jobs, politics and education to sports, shopping, dining, entertainment, comics and more. Expand your mind with the kid scoop page each week! Start your $29 Subscription* today, and start getting more out of every week in South Lane & Douglas Counties! S entinel C ottage G rove Matthew A. Parsons Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance Thursday−Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $15 Youth (age 6−18) 541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove www.cottagetheatre.org 541-942-3325 www.cgsentinel.com * New subscribers available through 04.28.17.