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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018
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Swinging Bridge cost nears $1 million
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove City councilors were shocked at a March 12 agen-
da item that called for their permission to apply for a grant to repair
the Swinging Bridge. The document placed in front of them showed
the price jumping to more than $750,000. But, it was incorrect.
The price was actually closer to $1 million.
A call had come in after informational packets for the city council
meeting had been completed and the actual cost estimate for repair-
ing the Swinging Bridge was $950,805.50.
The estimate was completed by OBEC—the company the city
uses for bridge inspections and design work—as a way for the coun-
cil to have an accurate number as it prepares to apply for grants to
fi x the bridge that has been out of commission for more than a year.
The actual cost of the bridge is approximately $500,000—up from
12 months ago when the board was presented with three options to
replace the bridge. During the March 27, 2017 city council meeting,
city engineer Ron Bradsby informed the board that a replacement
structure that would have similar movement to the current Swing-
ing Bridge would cost approximately $260,000. It was the option
the board voted to support but according to Bradsby at the time, the
option would create a bridge that did not meet state codes.
"Basically, the option is using the existing bridge and replacing
the aspects that have failed like the upper cables and the decking,"
Bradsby told The Sentinel. While the replacements would enable to
bridge to swing, OBEC reported that it would exceed the 50 pounds
per lineal foot safety standard.
Public Works and Development Director Faye Stewart was not
on the job last year and said he’s not sure where the costs laid out
at the March 27 meeting came from. Speaking on current costs, he
said the estimate includes approximately 30 percent in contingency
fees which he noted was high. Other than the $500,000 in construc-
Please see BRIDGE PG. A6
They know what you call
them...
Guns and
our Schools
"BAD KIDS"
But they're taking back the
title because this is their
school. And their story.
Part II
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
B
ill Thompson taught in the South Lane School District for 40 years. In the beginning, he’d conduct locker
checks on his own. Towards the end, he’d wait for law enforcement.
“I found weapons from pencils to switchblades to loaded pistols,” he said. “Living in a rural town like
Cottage Grove is much different than a city environment. This was in 1977, students would bring rifl es in their
cars to go hunting after school.”
Jeff Gowing went hunting after school. And before school. And sometimes cut school to go hunting.
“It was normal back then to see a gun in
the gun rack on a truck in the parking lot,”
he said.
Gowing has spent his life in Cottage
Grove, outside of his military service, and
now serves as the city’s mayor, elected in
2016. He remembers the shooting at Thur-
ston High School in 1998 when Kip Kinkel
killed his parents and then two of his class-
mates. Gowing was working the swing shift
and remembers his boss calling to tell him
about the shooting.
“He said 'if you’re connected in anyway
and need not to come in, stay home,'” Gow-
ing said. “That’s another one, it really both-
ered me because when you start looking at
the issues, his parents they said he had an
obsession with guns so they bought him guns
hoping he’d get over it. He killed his parents
and stayed in the house with them overnight.
That’s something deranged going on. I have
an issue with the parenting on that one.”
Kinkel was 15 when he committed the
crime. The federal Gun Control Act (GCA)
prohibits the sale of shotguns, rifl es and am-
munition to individuals under the age of 18.
The sale of fi rearms outside of shotguns and
rifl es are restricted until the age of 21. How-
ever, the law is less strict on who can pos-
sess a gun and often times, the line is drawn
between rural and metropolitan areas where
gun culture and gun control vary.
According to a 2017 survey conducted by
the Pew Research Center—a non-partisan
organization that surveys individuals on na-
tional trends and social issues—46 percent of
adults in rural areas identifi ed as gun owners
compared to the 28 percent in suburbs and
19 percent in urban areas. Individuals in rural
Please see GUNS PG. A7
An integral part of the Kennedy High School education experi-
ence is the act of being outside.
For students at this alternative high school, where the norms of
school and sitting in a desk every period are resisted these students
can often be found in wetlands, gardens and forests as they learn
about what it means to create both a sustainable world and life.
Through fi eld trips or working to preserve the wetlands at Quamash
this has become their new normal.
“But it’s fun because they are out in nature,” said Principal Halie
Ketcher as she discussed students going on a fi eld trip to the Leaburg
Dam. It’s not just a one-liner from a principal promoting what the
school is doing but rather the unoffi cial model for the school.
Fun because they are out in nature.
***
While nature can be fun, it can also be messy. Or more accurately,
muddy.
On a wet Wednesday in early March, a group of about 15 students
and a teacher take a bus to Quamash Prairie Wetlands in Creswell.
The 265-acres that are managed by Lane County Waste Manage-
ment has been developed to be, according to the county, an “out-
door classroom.”
Through a grant process, students at Kennedy have worked at
Quamash since November of 2010 to help with wetland restoration.
This can take a number of different shapes but on this particular
day, a cold and rainy morning that seems to prove that Northwest-
ern weather stereotypes are accurate, the students were working on
clearing fencing and removing barbed wire from a section of the
property. They earn credit and money that helps sustain other fi eld
trips.
The rain doesn’t impact the students as the mood has a greater
feel of hanging with friends then working on a school day. Equipped
with saws and clippers, they poke fun at each other, talk about the
world and are reminded by teacher David Heritage to both keep
working and not use inappropriate language.
“It’s okay they can’t put that in the press,” retorts a student. “Cuss
words can’t be in the Sentinel.”
***
When it comes to sustainability at Kennedy, principal Ketcher is
looking at the bigger picture.
“Essentially the idea of the sustainability is around the environ-
mental sustainability so we’re teaching about ways of being that
help sustainability in the environment. But more so the part that is
not as obvious is we are talking about the sustainability of educa-
tion,” she said. “And that we want them to be learning things, things
here on a daily basis that are going to be relevant to their life after
they leave school.”
For a number of reasons the traditional education model was not
working for this group of students. While a statistical few of these
students will go on to pursue higher education, the reality is that
these students will be working in the world and most likely in Cot-
tage Grove.
“The part that we’re really passionate about is the sustainably
around what they’re learning here is going to sustain them through
their adult life. And we’re going to be sending kids out after gradu
Please see KENNEDY PG. A8
EDUCATION
Souper event
Board moves forward
The annual Souper
fundraiser draws big
crowd. PAGE A11
The South Lane School
Board moves forward
with superintendent pick
process. PAGE A8
INDEX
COMMUNITY
COFFEE WITH THE EDITOR
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Stop by Backstage Bakery.
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Calendar ...................................... B11
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
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