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Cottage Grove girls have it. B1
SOUTH LANE AND DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018
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City Councilor Amy Slay resigns
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
City Councilor Amy Slay
When Amy Slay bought her
house in Cottage Grove she
promised herself that it would be
where her two sons lived when
they started kindergarten and on
their last day of high school.
She missed it by two months.
“It’s nothing exciting, I just
bought land outside of city
limits,” Slay said in response to a
social media post that announced
her resignation from Cottage
Grove City Council. To sit on the
board, members are required to
be city residents and beginning
in March, Slay no longer will be
living within city limits.
Instead, she’ll be settled on
her fi ve-acre property located
approximately 17 miles outside of
town where she’ll raise chickens
and take a little time to herself
after getting her youngest son off
to the U.S. Air Force.
Slay, who has championed the
local police force, said she will
continue to do so and remain the
driving force behind Kickin’ it
with the Cops, a get-to-know-you
event that started last summer as a
way for the community to engage
with local law enforcement.
That’s where her offi cial
involvement will end, though she
said she will have a continued
interest in community events and
projects.
WED
60º/42º
For a complete six-
day forecast please
see page A5.
“I was grateful for the
opportunity to serve,” the Cottage
Grove native said. “I was an at-
risk kid, never expected to do
anything but I got my GED and
it’s a reminder that you can do
anything.”
Slay's resignation is effective
Feb. 28.
The city council will discuss
how to proceed in fi lling Slay's
seat during the Feb. 12 meeting at
7 p.m. in city hall.
Latham
lives
School will stay
open through
2018
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
“That number doesn’t seem
insurmountable.”
“It’s $1 million.”
“Well, $800,000.”
The exchange between
South Lane School Board
members Taylor Wilhour and
Sherry Duerst-Higgins during
Monday’s school board meet-
ing summed up the district’s
position on Latham Ele-
mentary School. There’s not
enough money to fi x it and
too few resources to close it
for the 2018-2019 school year
leaving parents, teachers and
students in limbo for another
year.
Latham’s attendance has
dropped to approximately 94
students and the building it-
self, more than 100-years-old,
is in need of serious repair.
South Lane Maintenance
and Facilities Supervisor
Matt Allen ran numbers for
the board on Monday, giving
Please see LATHAM PG. A9
EPUD
apologize s
for high
bills
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
RELAY FOR LIFE KICKS OFF
READY, SET, RELAY-Relay for Life kicked off the 2018 sea-
son at the Cottage Grove Armory on Saturday, Feb. 3. The event,
dubbed a pep rally, ran for two hours with family-fun events sched-
uled including door prizes. South Lane County Relay for Life will
hold its annual event, aimed at raising funds to fi ght cancer, on June
23. Photos by Greg Lee.
In April of 2017, the
Emerald People’s Utility
District (EPUD) created a
new tiered rate system. In
December, customers saw
power bills increase, in
some cases, by hundreds of
dollars.
EPUD apologized.
“Over the past month,
many of you have voiced
concerns about high elec-
tric bills and the tiered
rate structure that was im-
plemented in April 2017,”
General Manager Scott
Coe wrote. “Your phone
calls, emails and public
statements helped us real-
ize we did not adequately
prepare you for the impact
this structure could have on
bills during winter months.
We also did not clearly
communicate why we felt
this was the right thing to
do.”
Please see EPUD PG. A7
ENTERTAINMENT
Dam project
Noises off
Army Corps works on
Cottage Grove damn.
A review of Cottage
Theatre's latest play. PAGE
PAGE A8
A10
INDEX
COMMUNITY
COFFEE WITH THE EDITOR
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Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
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