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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2018)
$1.00 S entinel C ottage G rove Est. 1889 PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Special Olympics cuts summer state competitions B1 Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL By Caitlyn May Community rallies to help family of fi ve aft er home is consumed by blaze On June 22, Elasah Smith and her husband Isaac left their home on Highway 99 to visit her mother. Less than 30 minutes later, their roommate called, panicked. Th e house was engulfed in fl ames. “Th at’s the strangest thing about it,” she said. “We could have been in the house.” Th e Smiths and their three sons, ages 10, eight and four, PHOTO COURTESY SOUTH LANE FIRE weren’t in the house that night Firefi ghters work to create ventilation after knocking down a structure fi re at the home but everything they owned of the Smith family last Friday off of Highway 99. was including the laptop 10-year-old Phoenix received a cook at Jack Sprats, had spent really strange,” Elasah said. “I I have that.’ But we don’t.” for his birthday three days ear- years developing. keep thinking, when people Since the fi re, the family has lier and all of the recipes Isaac, “We’re starting over and it’s ask what we need, I think ‘Oh, seen an outpouring of dona- tions and Isaac’s sister has set up a GoFundMe page for the family that has raised $885. Th e morning aft er the fi re, Elasah said she was grateful for the donations because she didn’t have new clothes for her sons to wear, their wardrobes having burned in the fi re. “It’s funny,” she said. “Th ere were only a few things not de- stroyed and one of them was the suitcase full of photos of the family and they didn’t even get wet. Th ey weren’t stuck to- gether or anything and it’s lit- erally all of what I had of the boys growing up and it was all in one place.” Elasah, who was born in Cottage Grove when the city still had a maternity ward, said the family is staying with her parents until they can get back on their feet. Th ey were renting the house See FIRE A8 New mural carries national cause By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com See MURAL A10 CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL The dream of turning the area on Row River Rd. into a BMX track could become a reality with community support. Getting BMX ‘back on track’ Th e grassroots project hopes to bring BMX racing back to Cottage Grove with the community’s help “It had been on my radar for a couple of years, ever since they fl attened it,” he said. “I heard that the city might be ok with building it again, so I called the city, met with Richard Meyers and they’re totally down with it.” Britz, a fi ve-year resident of Cottage Grove, works full-time and has taken on the BMX project with a few other “solid” dads. But according to city manager Meyers, there’s no city funding to replace the track. “It’s going to be really expensive,” Britz said, estimating a total cost of between $50,000 and $100,000. “It’s going to be a very big project. It will depend on the community to get By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Brandon Britz has had a BMX track on his mind for years. He grew up near a track in Eugene and when his oldest son recently took an interest in the sport again, he approached the city. COMMUITY HISTORY Grovers Relay for Life Wedding Tree topples Community members show support for cancer survivors High winds knock over a local iconic tree PAGE A3 PAGE A7 INDEX A new mural has landed in Cottage Grove and it’s carry a cause. Th e butterfl y mural that has attracted attention on 10th St. is part of a larger project that was presented to the city council Monday night. Planning and develop- ment director Faye Stew- art presented a resolution to the council in support of the Endangered Species Mural Project being coor- dinated by Portland-based artist Rodger Peet. “Peet reached out to Kim Johnson, an old friend and owner of the Bohe- mia building at the corner of 10th and Washington streets, to see if she might be interested in hosting one of the murals on the wall of her development Food Hub,” Stewart wrote in his recommendation to the council. Th e mural project, spon- sored in party by the Cen- ter for Biological Diversity, is a national eff ort to create murals featuring endan- gered or threatened species in the areas they’re found. Th e resolution passed Monday night aims to sup- port the project’s goal of raising awareness and the Calendar ...................................... B12 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Th e Cottage Grove City Council agreed to cover the permit fees for Habitat for Humanity’s latest project, house number 14. Linda Oxley, fi eld oper- ations manager for Habitat for Humanity, appeared before the council Monday night to inform the board that the organization had approved a homeowner for its 14th house to be com- pleted in Cottage Grove. Th e house, which will be located on Harvey Lane on the last of three parcels owned by the organization, will have two bedrooms and, in total, be comprised of approximately 936 square feet. “Th e individual that was approved is currently living in substandard conditions,” Oxley told the board, not- ing that the organization helps those who can’t af- ford a home by off ering an aff ordable mortgage and a no-interest loan. Last year, Habitat for Hu- manity completed “lucky house number 13” and, according to the city, the latest project’s permit fees should be less than the $3,074 paid on house 13. Councilor Jake Boone inquired as to the exact amount the city was agree- ing to cover but, according to city manager Richard Meyers, the exact amount cannot be calculated until the plans are submitted to the city. Oxley informed the board that plans are due into the city by July. “With our new building inspection program, we will not be paying a con- tracted inspector to per- form the plan review or inspection,” Meyers wrote in his recommendation to the board. “All the services would be performed with staff . We would only have to pay the state surcharge.” Habitat for Humanity See HABITAT A10 EARLY DEADLINE The Sentinel will be closed in observance of the Fourth of July holiday. Deadline for the July 4 edition will be June 28 at noon for all editorial and advertising submissions. 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 37 Rain Country Realty Inc. RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Alan D. Walker A Masters Level Christian Counselor Offi ces in Cottage Grove, Yoncalla, and Roseburg 541-817-6271 AlanWalkerPACf@gmail.com • AlanDWalkerCounselor.com Council votes to cover ‘Habitat’ fees See BMX A8 Marriage & Family Counseling Learn to positively overcome confl icts and create stronger relationships for life. For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. CGSENTINEL.COM Fire claims home, family of fi ve safe cmay@cgsentinel.com WED 74º/49º Licensed in the State of Oregon RainCountryRealty.com • raincountryrealty@gmail.com 1320 Hwy 99 • 541-942-7246