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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2017)
$1.00 $ 0 0 S entinel C ottage G rove AWARD WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 SOUTH LANE AND DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2017 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL CGSENTINEL.COM "WE ARE A VILLAGE" A mother asked her city to help save her son. Nearly two years later, there was House Bill 3030. I t was raining the night Karen cmay@cgsentinel.com Munsell’s phone rang a little after 4 a.m. Her son had been at a party and now he was sit- ting in his car, an inch to the left of death with no idea of where he was. He’d crashed into a cement wall. He was panicked. So was Karen. That was December 11, 2015. In the two years that have passed, Munsell has written letters, researched state law, spoken at city council and school board meetings, the state legislature, con- fronted every smoke shop owner in the city and collapsed sobbing into several pairs of arms in a quest to save her child and prevent another moth- er from getting that panicked, 4 a.m. phone call. Now, she waits to see if the Oregon Legislature will ban the drug that nearly killed her son. “He didn’t spend Mother’s Day with me," Munsell says. But her tone is no longer weighed down with the anguish and disappointment of those dark days when she no longer knew the boy standing in front of her, screaming. Now, her words escape a tightly guarded smile, holding cautious optimism because this is a day-by-day victory. “He went fi shing. Do you know how long it’s been since he’s been fi shing?” she asked. The answer is years. On December 11, Munsell sprang from bed with her husband, Graig. Their son was begging for them to come get him, but he didn’t know where he was. “All he kept saying was that he was in an acci- dent and he thought he was in Veneta,” Munsell said. “He was house sitting for his brother and all By Caitlyn May Above, Don Williams, Cindy Weeldreyer, Tom Munroe, Karen Munsell, Richard Meyers, Scott Shepherd and Krista Parent pose for a photo. Below, Munsell holds two whip-its like the ones she found in her family's shop. EDUCATION Kennedy's new name Results from superinten- dent investigation. PAGE A11 Kennedy Alternative High School got a new name PAGE A7 INDEX POLITICS Investigation results he kept saying was that he had to get back to take care of his brother’s dog.” The line would hold their son’s desperate cries for help before going dead only to ring again pressing the pair on where they were and to please hurry. “We drove toward Veneta,” Munsell said. “I tried to get him to tell me what he saw around him, trying to fi gure out where he was. And then the last time he called me he said he heard water and all I could hear were semi trucks and I just kept asking him ‘Where are you?’” After stopping at a convenience store to ask if the clerk had seen an accident, the couple stood outside. “I said, Graig we need an angel.” Then her phone rang. “He said, ‘Is this Karen?’ And I said ‘Yes,’ and he said ‘My name is Robert and I’ve found your son.’” Robert was a retired paramedic and he stayed with their son until they arrived. The car was to- taled but their son was still conscious and another car sat at the scene. “He must have been calling his friends when he was hang- ing up on us,” Munsell said. Half a dozen young men exited the car and lit Graig’s PERSONAL BUSINESS BENEFITS SURETY temper. (541) 942-0555 “His son PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove has been in an accident, For a complete six- we’re standing Please see VILLAGE PG. A3 Calendar ...................................... B11 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 AD 6x2 cgnews@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-3325 ph • (541) 942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove _______________ VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 47 i WED 70º/44º i i day forecast please see page A5.