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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
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