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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018
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CGSENTINEL.COM
Cottage Grove celebrates its graduates
Council
approves
IGA with
Veneta
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
More than 100
CGHS students
turned their tassles
aft er graduating
on Saturday.
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Th e Cottage Grove City
Council has voted unani-
mously to continue on with
its plan to do business with
Veneta despite a change in
a rule handed down by the
building codes division that
initiated the need for the
partnership before subse-
quently eliminating it again.
Planning and community
development director Faye
Stewart addressed the council
Monday night concerning an
intergovernmental agreement
(IGA) with Veneta that would
see Cottage Grove provide a
building inspection service
for the community.
In December of 2017, Cot-
tage Grove’s City Council
approved the creation of an
in-house inspection program
aft er authorities at the state
level indicated it violated the
state’s constitution for a mu-
nicipality to contract the ser-
vice out to a third party. At
the time, the city approached
Creswell, which expressed
interest in forming a partner-
ship and partaking in the
It was a remarkable day
for remarkable students at
a remarkable school.
Cottage Grove High School
Principal Mike Ingman re-
minded the family and friends
who gathered in the school’s
gymnasium on Saturday of that
fact just prior to watching the
class of 2018 walk across the
stage.
Th e graduation ceremony,
which was moved indoors af-
ter an increasingly wet weath-
er forecast, was Ingman’s fi rst
as principal at Cottage Grove
High School. He was appointed
CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove High School students throw their hats into the air in celebration after they
were offi cially acknowledged as graduates by principal Mike Ingman on Saturday.
as interim principal aft er for-
mer principal Iton Udosenata
announced he would be taking
a position in North Eugene.
At the time, Ingman served
as principal of South Lane’s
Kennedy High School. Ken-
nedy’s GED specialist Halie
Ketcher was moved into In-
gman’s position and Ingman
moved to the high school, both
Ketcher and Ingman having
the ‘interim’ designation in
their titles removed earlier this
year.
“Jacob Woods struggled as
a freshman,” Ingman told the
crowd. He relayed how the
senior had failed to qualify
academically for track before
eventually raising his grades
and going on to win two state
titles — a fi rst for the high
school since 1991. “Jacob
Woods is a remarkable stu-
dent at a remarkable school,”
Ingman said.
Th e list went on.
Ingman congratulated stu-
dents who had encountered
deaths in the family, illness and
homelessness to reach gradua-
tion.
Just over 100 students turned
their tassels on Saturday in-
cluding four valedictorians:
Faryn Dahlen, Spencer Falk,
Kate Kyle and Cooper Ladd
and salutatorian Jordan Hage-
wood.
“Today marks the day we’re
not only handed a diploma, but
we’re handed the world,” Ladd
See CGHS A11
They've always been
Good Kids
And they're ready to continue their story
See IGA A11
No cause
found for
mill fi re
By Zach Silva
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Th e Whitsell Mill fi re that
occurred in Saginaw on May
27 has been ruled accidental,
according to a press release
from South Lane County Fire
and Rescue. However, the in-
vestigation that was complet-
ed with assistance from the
Oregon State Fire Marshal's
Offi ce, Oregon State Police
and the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Exp-
lo-sives did not fi nd the cause.
“While the exact cause of
the fi re remains undeter-
mined and may likely never
be known, fi re investigators
located an area inside the mill
where they believe the fi re be-
gan,” the press release read.
Th e fi re, which destroyed
the entirety of the more than
180,000 square-foot area of
the mill along with some sur-
rounding area that continue
ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Zach Chee receives his high school diploma during a graduation ceremony held at Kennedy High School on Saturday, June 9.
Editor’s Note: Th is is the fi nal installement of an ongoing series that began aft er a conversation with staff members at Al Kennedy High School in early
September. Th e Sentinel had approached the district about chronicling the teachers and students at Kennedy to tell the story of alternative education
through the lens of those on the ground. District administrators thought it was a great idea; Kennedy staff had questions. Eight educators sat in a room
with a newspaper editor. At the end, they’d come to an understanding: Th e truth is the truth and the kids come fi rst. Over the course of the 2017-2018
school year, Th e Sentinel has been telling the story of the educators and their students as they've navigated a location change, funding gaps and the honest
narrative that, sometimes, working hard isn’t enough — and an education doesn’t fi x everything. Th e stories have been of triumph, tragedy and truth
as the tribe at Kennedy continued its eff orts to slingshot students up and over the barriers to progress through understanding, commitment and engage-
ment... all the while acknowledging the unfortunate reality that some kids won’t make it.
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
See FIRE A7
Th ere’s nothing like a Kennedy High School
graduation.
It’s not unlike Kennedy itself; fi ercely intimate,
resting its attention on the accomplishment rather
than the adversity and serving as a platform for its
CRIME
Swinging Bridge
Vandalism on Main St.
An event Saturday is aimed
at raise money for the
Swinging Bridge project
Vandals break windows of
Wolfclan shop
PAGE A5
PAGE A6
34th
Anniversary
Sale
INDEX
COMMUNITY
students to gain equal footing as they step into the
world. It casts aside the generic in favor of engage-
ment and is unapologetically its own entity that op-
erates through the lens of reality rather than from
the podium of intention and is supported by a band
of educators who relentlessly advocate for the most
equitable approach to a, sometimes, unconventional
circumstance.
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Calendar ...................................... B12
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
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_______________
VOLUME 130 • NUMBER 36
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
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June
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“I shouldn’t have said anything about the nice
weather. Th at’s ok, this is so Kennedy. It’s how we
roll,” Principal Halie Ketcher told the crowd gath-
ered on Saturday, June 9 to watch 42 Kennedy High
School students graduate as sheets of rain threatened
the outdoor ceremony.
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