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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2018
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Suspects arrested
in kidnapping
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Local authorities report
that Dustin Michael Borg,
31, and Kristie Marie Jones,
28, have been arrested on
charges of kidnapping,
robbery, theft and felony in
possession of a fi rearm.
Th e couple was located at
a hotel on W. Sixth Street in
Eugene.
In the early morning
hours of Aug. 8, Cottage
Grove police reported that
an individual was parked
on the 700 block of Gibbs
Ave. in Cottage Grove when
two individuals, a man and
a woman, approached the
car with a handgun and
used it to gain access to the
victim’s car.
“Th e victim was then
driven to an undisclosed
location and subsequently
released,” a statement is-
sued by CGPD read.
Th e victim was reported-
ly able to return to Cottage
Grove to report the inci-
dent.
A third person, Cottage
Grove resident Leon Paul
Meiser, 56, was also arrest-
ed at the scene for violation
of his parole.
Jones will face robbery
in the fi rst degree, kidnap-
ping in the second degree,
unlawful entry of a motor
vehicle and theft .
Borg faces the same
charges as well as unlawful
use of a weapon and felon
in possession of a fi rearm.
WED
91º/58º
For a complete six-
day forecast please
see page A5.
CGSENTINEL.COM
Wildfi re evacuees fi nd shelter in CG
and more oft en — driving fam-
ilies from their homes under
the threat of fl ames.
“Basically, right now, every-
where around them is on fi re,”
Barrong, executive director for
the Oregon Aviation Historical
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Welcome by residents
helps family to make
temporary move
permanent
E
very June for the last few
years, Cassandra Bar-
rong’s family gathers
all their important papers,
clothes and momentos and
gets ready to run.
For generations, they’ve
been living in Shasta Coun-
ty, California but for the last
six years, the family has been
under mandatory evacuation
at least once or twice a year as
wildfi res continue to plague the
area, becoming more common,
more dangerous and — more
ing the neighborhood, the Carr
Fire, has burned more than
200,000 acres and more than
1,000 residences, making it one
of the most destructive fi res in
California history.
As of Monday, July 13, the
for a little while,” Barrong said.
And while she appreciated the
welcome her grandmother re-
ceived in Cottage Grove, Bar-
rong said her family may not be
visitors much longer — instead
they plan to move to Cottage
Grove to escape the fi re sea-
son in California that contin-
ues to grow each year.
“So, right now my moth-
er is packing up things like
the furniture my grandfather
built because you can’t replace
that,” Barrong said. She also
said that being under evacu-
—Cassandra Barrong ation so oft en has taught her
family what really needs to
make it into a suitcase.
“People always think about
fi re was 59 percent contained what they want, sentimental
with no expected date for full things, but they don’t always
containment.
think about what they need,”
“My grandma just went
See EVACUEES 8A
home, she was here with me
“Last year there was a burn in the
area so when the fi re came down,
there was nothing left to burn.”
Society said. “Last year there
was a burn in the area so when
the fi re came down, there was
nothing left to burn.”
Th e fi re currently threaten-
Outlying schools may
receive wifi upgrade
Improved Wi-Fi con-
nections could be coming
to the South Lane School
District schools which
fall near or beyond the
city’s limits — Al Kenne-
dy High School, Dorena
School, London School and
Latham Elementary School
— perhaps as early as this
school year.
Last year, technology
administrator Jesse Baber
applied for federal funding
from the Universal Service
Fund (USF). Th e Federal
Communications
Com-
mission (FCC) funds the
USF by charging telecom-
munication companies a
quarterly fee which is then
seen as a charge on con-
sumers’ phone bills.
Th e USF then funds four
diff erent programs with the
goal of universal service.
One of the programs is for
schools and libraries. If
SLSD receives the funding,
the schools that are not in
town would have improved
wireless connections.
“Th ese schools don’t
have any sort of commer-
cially available internet that
we can get. A number of
them are done over radio.
Th e one to Dorena goes
over two radio hops. One
of those hops has no pow-
er so it’s solar and propane.
And as you can imagine,
during the testing season
it’s always a little tricky to
make sure that stays on,”
said Baber to the board
at Monday’s school board
meeting.
As of now, London
School has a 20-megabit
connection for the whole
school.
Baber reported that if
they received this funding,
this number would grow
to 10-gigabits which is 500
times more digital storage
than they have now.
“I guess a good way of
explaining is it is right now
[Kennedy, Dorena, London
and Latham] are very out
of town and with this addi-
tion, it’s as if they become
an in-town school from my
perspective,” said Baber.
To implement the fi ber
optic cables and get this all
ready for the schools to use
would cost an estimated $1
million. Th e USF would
fund 80 percent and the
state of Oregon is expected
to cover 10 percent.
Th e rest may be matched
by an additional state orga-
nization and if not, there
are some funds set aside for
technology from the 2016
CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
A participant in last week’s protest makes his feelings known regarding the local Special Olympics program.
Volunteers question Special Olympics funds
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
See Wi-Fi 11A
COMMUNITY
Th e local Cottage Grove Special Olym-
pics program volunteers are confused but
it’s not their fault. Th is is according to
Special Olympics Oregon CEO Britt Oase.
Th e statement came days aft er local
volunteers questioned the organization
regarding the whereabouts of $50,000
BUSINESS
Lorane News
New eatery on Ninth St.
Lorane gets new mural
Mother, daughter open
new bakery, coff ee shop
PAGE 7A
PAGE 11A
www.homesteadcg.com
INDEX
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Homestead’s
Animal House Party!
August 18th
9am-3pm
Specials,
Wine Tasting, Do or
Prizes, and More!
willed to the local group by former Cot-
tage Grove counselor and Special Olym-
pics supporter Michele Portmann.
“In our recent conversations with local
program coordinators, in both group we-
binars and individual calls and meetings,
we have found there to be an inconsistent
understanding of the Special Olympics
Oregon business model that has been in
place, how funds are allocated and how
Calendar ...................................... B12
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
to interpret the internal reports they have
received,” Oase said in an emailed state-
ment. She went on to say the “inconsis-
tent understanding” was not the fault of
the local group and that the organization
was working with all 30 programs under
its umbrella to “evolve the system to better
refl ect the fi nancial challenges” the
See FUNDS 8A
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
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