COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL DECEMBER 27, 2017
5A
Cottage Grove Retrospective
A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago
Changes, traditions headline 1987
happenings
Hearings on the Iran-Contra affair and
the summit talks between President Ron-
ald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gor-
bachev headed the national news scene in
1987.
Locally, Cottage Grove’s centennial, and
the way residents celebrated it, was perhaps
the biggest story of the year.
Cottage Grove’s 100th year brought
its share of change to the community. A
33-year-old Christmas basket program was
deemed obsolete and was cancelled. The
“Goose,” a train that has run in town since
1970, fell on hard fi nancial times and faces
an uncertain future.
While some traditions were altered, 1987
also was a time of new happenings. The
city took substantial steps toward develop-
ing its North Regional Park, a project that
could change the community substantially.
The fi rst ever music festival capped off the
centennial celebration. The festival may be-
come an annual event.
The following is a list of stories the Sen-
tinel staff deemed most important in 1987.
They appear in no particular order of impor-
tance.
City celebrates 100 years
Cottage Grove was incorporated as a city
on Feb. 11, 1887. The town began its eight-
moth celebration of its centennial in Febru-
ary. Several events were part of that celebra-
tion. One ceremony involved burying a time
capsule near city hall.
First music festival a success
Coiner Park was the site of Cottage
Grove’s fi rst music festival. The event was
originally planned to cap off the town’s cen-
tennial celebration. A total of 12 different
groups and artists performed at the two-day
event last September.
Organizers discussed the possibility of
making the music festival an annual event.
Several people involved with the festival
voiced opinions that a better facility was
needed to host the event.
Youngest person receives new heart
Jeremy Koertje, son of Mary and Howard
Koertje of Curtin, underwent a heart trans-
plant in April. At 21 months old, he was the
youngest person and one of only 50 children
in the world to receive a new heart.
The operation was performed at Oregon
Health Sciences University in Portland. The
family, including Cory, 5, and Joshua, 4,
have since moved to Hillsboro, where Jer-
emy, now 2, has been watched by doctors at
Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
Teen found guilty of murder
In April, a jury found Daniel Edward Bu-
chholz, 17, guilty of felony murder in the
death of 91-year-old George Small of Lon-
don on Oct. 30 1986.
Small had a fractured skull after he had
been struck on his head with his own cane.
A rifl e and $60-70 in cash were taken from
his home.
Buchholz’s co-defendant, Russel Dwayn
Cooper of Cottage Grove, testifi ed that Bu-
chholz suggested the idea of robbing Small
so the two could buy some more marijuana.
Both teens were remanded to adult court.
Buchholz faces a mandatory sentence of life
in prison with a minimum term of 10 to 25
years.
Cooper faces a maximum of 20 years for
the manslaughter conviction.
National Beat
News from the state and around
the nation
Family-
Care Pres-
ident Jeff
Heatherington said the state’s second-larg-
est Medicaid carrier will shut down after
failing to come to an agreement on a con-
tract for 2018. Oregon will have to move
more than 100,000 children and adults to
another provider.
From around the state
•
Oregon was named the ninth fastest grow-
ing state according to new Census estimates
released last week. The population grew
by 1.4 percent, bringing the state’s popula-
tion to a little over four million. Idaho was
ranked the fastest growing state.
•
The St. Helen’s police department arrest-
ed the abominable snowman on Monday.
The “arrest” was part of a communication
education program to crack down on drunk
driving during the holidays. Abominable T.
Snowman was arrested on DUI charges as
well as reckless driving.
Tidbits from 1977, SLSD, Animal House
When Cottage Grove rang
in the new year in 1977, local
children had no idea when their
holiday vacation from school
might end. Until a fi fth try to
win voter approval of the South
Lane School District’s budget
levy could be held Jan. 11, no
one was willing to guess when
schools would open again.
The levy was approved at
the January election, but school
fi nance, administration and
curriculum remained topics of
great local interest through the
year.
TA brief review of some of
the year’s events follows:
January:
As the result of a Jan. 11 elec-
tion victory for a trimmed ver-
sion of the South Lane School
District’s budget local schools
opened on Jan. 14. They had
been closed since before
Thanksgiving.
February
Darrell Langevin, principal
of Cottage Grove High School,
resigned to take a similar job in
Jefferson, citing the unstable
South Lane school situation.
Vice-principal Tom Turnbull
was named interim acting prin-
cipal.
March:
City manager Phillip Kushlan
told the city council that Cot-
tage Grove was showing signs
of becoming a genuine boom
town and advised councilmen
to examine the situation and
set a growth management pol-
icy without delay. Mr. Kushlan
cited applications for 300 new
living unites that had come be-
POLICE BLOTTER
fore the planning commission in
just two months as evidence of
this rapid growth. Mr. Kushlan
noted that such a growth rate
projected over the year should
be 16.5 percent, compared to
the city’s previous high of 3
percent.
April
The school district budget
committee approved a $5.6
million budget for 1977-78, a
1.8 increase over the previous
year’s.
May
The board of “Cottage
Grove’s own fair,” the Western
Oregon Exposition, appealed
to the community for help after
fi re heavily damaged its main
building.
June
City budget committee mem-
bers had a unique experience
– consideration of a balanced
budget, thanks to a three-year
serial levy approved by voters
the year before.
July
The annual Bohemia Min-
ing days celebration was pro-
nounced a success, including
a brand new features such as a
muzzle-loading exhibition and a
13-mile footrace.
August
The school board voted unan-
imously not to renew Superin-
tendent Mullen’s contract at the
end of the year.
September
South Lane students and
teachers went back to school
after a short summer vacation,
and the hospital narrowly avert-
ed a nurses’ strike.
Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504
December 18
December 19
A woman on 2nd St. reported that when she woke up she found
two bikes in her yard that do not belong to her.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Offi ce called the police department
at 3:32 a.m. to report that there had been three vending machines
burned at the Holiday Inn in Roseburg.
A business owner on Hwy. 99 observed an individual prowling in
the parking lot and then stealing a bag of cans from a donation bin.
A woman on N. River reported a suspicious subject after that
dogs began barking when an individual was looking through her
window.
weather forecast
THURSDAY Dec. 28
FRIDAY Dec. 29
42° | 35°
46° | 36°
Mostly Cloudy
Showers
SATURDAY Dec. 30
SUNDAY Dec. 31
44° | 34°
45° | 34°
Showers
Showers
MONDAY Jan. 1
TUESDAY Jan. 2
46° | 40°
41° | 37°
Showers
Showers
60% of smalled businesses
close their doors within
6 months following a
cyber-attack.
PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove
•
•
The U.N. voted to make the Trump Admin-
istration’s declaration that Jerusalem was
Israel’s capital as “null and void.” More
than 100 countries took part in the vote.
•
The Centers for Disease Control reported
that the life expectancy in America went
down for the second year in a row. Accord-
ing to the data, drug overdoses contributed
to opioid use was a major factor.
•
Vice President made an unannounced trip to
speak to troops in Afghanistan ahead of the
holiday weekend.
•
Thomas Cabrera, of Pembroke Pines, Flor-
ida, was charged with attempted murder af-
ter dragging a police offi cer for half a mile
in his car. Offi cer Jon Cusack was attempt-
ing to answer a call for a possible drug over-
dose when he approached Cabrera’s car.
The body camera footage shows Cabrera
wake up, roll up the window and step on the
gas with Cusack holding onto the car door
while the car reached speeds up to 60 miles
per hour. Cabrera was taken into custody
after leading law enforcement on a chase
with top speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
Cusack is expected to make a full recovery.
A disorderly subject was reported on Main St. when an individual
was seen swinging a stick at passing vehicles.
State
Representatives
December 20
-day
Call today (541) 942-0555.
Congress
passed a
sweeping
tax reform bill last week that will give eight
in 10 Americans a tax cut for the next 10
years while corporations will receive a per-
manent cut of more than 10 percent.
From around the nation
A hit and run was reported on Pennoyer Ave. when an individual
struck a car’s mirror. Approximately $200 in damage was done.
A dentist offi ce on 4th St. reported that someone cut down all of
their decorative bushes on the back of their property.
6
•
A man on Birch St. reported harassment after he was followed
around town being yelled and accused of things that he did not do.
Transmissions Plus &
AUTOMOTIVE
SPECIALTIES
PRACTICING THE ART OF TRANSMISSION REPAIR SERVICE SINCE 1991
Manual & Automatic
Transmission Repair
Tune ups
30-60-90K Services
Brakes, belts, hoses and
cooling system services
Muffl ers & Custom Exhaust
All makes and models.
MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE AFFORDABLY
WE LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WE WORK IN
“NO MONKEY BUSINESS!”
www.automotivespecialties.biz
DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS
541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE
Senator Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, OR 97440
Phone: (541)342-2447
E-Mail : sen.fl oydprozanski@state.or.us
Rep. Cedric Hayden, Republican
District 7 State Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/ hayden
E-Mail : rep.cedrichayden@state.or.us
Senator Ron Wyden
911 NE 11th Ave., Suite 630
Portland, OR, 97232
tel (503) 326-7525
Senator Jeff Merkley
(202) 224-3753
313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
