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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
$1.00 PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY C ottage G rove S entinel (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Catch-up on a weekend full of sports around Lane and Douglas county. B1 WED 48º/45º SO OUTH LANE AND DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 SOUTH WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. CGSENTINEL.COM He LATHAM ELEMENTARY HANGS ON No au bla bla Board to decide school's fate at February meeting The little school that opened in 1853 as a log cabin has been given a reprieve. The South Lane School Board agreed not to make a decision on the fate of Latham Elementary School until its February meeting after more than a dozen parents crammed into the district offi ce to plead with the board not to close the doors on Latham. Conversations surrounding the possible closure of Latham be- gan last month after board member Jerry Settelmeyer suggested the school’s failing infrastructure and low enrollment would eventually By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com lead to its closure and urged the board to make the decision sooner rather than later. “A piece of paper we saw a month ago showed $180,000 differ- ence next year,” he said Monday night. “That’s two of our cut days. How does that effect our other kids?” During the last school board meeting of 2017, Superintendent Krista Parent presented the possible fi nancial savings of closing Latham at the board’s request. A run-down of basic costs currently being accrued by the school showed a possible savings of $187,397 in staffi ng costs as well as $46,429 in electricity and utilities. An estimated $200,000 yearly savings for the school district that faced at least four cut days from the school calendar when the 2017 state legislative session began. Both parents and teachers and combinations of both spoke before the board on the assets Latham affords its students. Ashley Rigel apologized in advance for leaving immediately following her com- ments to the board—it was her son’s 8th birthday. “He told me to go save his school,” she said, noting that Latham was her family’s best, last option. “We didn’t want our child in South Lane School District but we love Cottage Grove. We looked Please see LATHAM PG. A7 Champs Local 'Rosie the Riveter' rings in 100 County clears way but no for Drain cheer Lack of parade for football team explained tax district By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com LEGISLATURE PHOTO COURTESY CARROLL NOEL Cottage Grove resident and former Rosie the Riveter Alice Heiney rings in her birthday during a party at the Elks' Lodge in Cottage Grove on Saturday, Jan. 6. Heiney, whose actual birthday is Jan. 2, worked as an ammunition inspector in Denver during World War II and is active in the local Rosie the Riveter Association. Approximately 85 people came to celebrate the milestone, and according to Heiney's son Carroll, the party went off without a hitch. "It was very nice," he said. "There was a bit of a reunion around her birthday and when she left I said, 'I'm going to go take a nap, what about you?' And she said, 'No, I'm too excited.'" MAYOR ISSUES STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS The full transcript of the state of the city address given by May- or Jeff Gowing during the Monday, Jan. 8 city council meeting: This past year was a very busy year, it seemed like there was something going on every week. The parks stayed busy through the summer months with the concerts in the park, BMD, Home Free concert, and of course the return of the Eugene Symphony. The Mayors bike ride on Row River Trail, and yes I rode the whole trail. We also had events such as Kickin' with the Cops at city hall and Party in the Park with the public works equip- ment and employees. The South Valley Farmers Market set up on Thursday's downtown and moved inside to the Armory for the winter months. Celebrating is something we like to do in Cottage Grove, so re- member to mark your calendar for 8/18/18 when the community gets back the World Record for the largest Toga Party in celebra- tion of the 40th anniversary of the fi lming of the movie Animal House. We started the year with the retiring of two department heads, Jen Wellman, Public Works and Howard Schesser, Community Development. This resulted in the combination of both depart- ments and the hiring of Faye Stewart to oversee those depart- ments and reducing administrative cost in excess of $125,000. Police Department upgraded the analog radios to new digital radios. This will allow the police to communicate with other agencies throughout the county and help them be more effi cient and safer. They have also fi lled their fi nal open position which will help since the case numbers have increased by over 800 from 2016. The Community Service Offi cers along with patrolling ille- gally parked vehicles cover jail duties in place of police offi cers. The CSO's cover over 1000 hours a year in the jail that would otherwise be done by patrol offi cers. The Engineering Division hired Ryan Sisson, a civil engineer, to assist City Engineer Ron Bradsby, for project development and management. Completed construction of the Taylor Pump station Please see CITY PG. A7 GOVERNMENT Panic at the pump Carted away A new law governing gas stations has residents confused. PAGE A7 The city tackles the shopping cart crisis--again. PAGE A3 INDEX When the Cottage Grove High School football team beat Marshfi eld 48-14 in late November to win the fi rst state championship in school history, the players got a lot of things: a trophy, a plaque from the Cottage Grove City Council and recognition from the South Lane School Board. What they didn't get is a parade. The lack of a public celebration irked several members of the community but according to athletic director and head football coach Gary Roberts, the decision not to have a parade was made in the spirit of equity. "The biggest thing is that we hadn't done one in the past for the basketball team when we won in 1991," he said. "Or the soccer team when we won around '01. I didn't want it to look like we were doing something specifi cally for the football team that we wouldn't, or didn't, do for other teams." The Lions win during the 4A state championship came after the team had made the play-offs three times in the last three years without ever taking the trophy home. It's a feat that garnered attention and questions from several members of the community when the team didn't march down Main St. "I have gotten some calls," Roberts said. "Believe me, I would love to have one but I didn't want to do something we didn't do for others." City Manager Richard Meyers also said he would have been happy to see a parade but the decision was not one for the city to make. "I think it was a holiday weekend if I remember and then after they came home, if someone had asked us, we would have been happy to have a parade," he said. Roberts said a public event may be held when the team recieves its championship rings and he will consider holding a parade for winning teams in the future. COFFEE WITH THE EDITOR Have a news tips? Want to talk about community events? Have a question? Stop by Backstage Bakery. The LAST THURSDAY of every month from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Calendar ...................................... B11 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 The Mildred Whipple Library in Drain is one of the only facilities that remains closed after a 2017 decision by the Douglas County Commission to no longer fund the county's library system. That may soon change. A local group dubbed Friends of the Mildred Whipple Library, has manned an effort to create a special tax district to fund the library which has been closed since June. The fi rst step is a public hearing before the county commission which took place Jan. 3. "It was a very positive meeting and hopefully the second hearing will be great too," said Valarie Johns, head of the library group. A second hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7, after which the group's proposition can be placed on the ballot for approval. "It's the same rate as the county wanted but we get more," Johns said. The proposed tax district would impose a 44 cent per $1,000 of assessed value tax on homeowners to fund the library. In November of 2016, Douglas County voters were asked to approve a tax at the same rate to keep the library system operating. That measure was voted down. "We will get an extra day. The county proposed the same rate but that was with the library open for three days. This will get us four days a week, 24 hours a week," Johns said. The tax is proposed to only affect those within the district inside of Drain, rather than residents county-wide. Drain residents can currently obtain a free library card for the facility in Yoncalla which was also closed by the commission's decision but has since begun operating with volunteers--as has nearly every other Douglas library other than Drain and Roseburg. "We don't have the volunteer base to do that," Johns said. 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 130 • NUMBER 24 Rain Country Realty Inc. RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Licensed in the State of Oregon RainCountryRealty.com • raincountryrealty@gmail.com 1320 Hwy 99 • 541-942-7246