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C ottage G rove
Est. 1889
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Top ranked Lions stay undefeated
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Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2018
CG High School
readies for
report card
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
ODOE will soon
release its annual
school report
Cottage Grove High
School’s class schedule has
usually incorporated un-
conventional things like
Lion Pride breaks to allow
students the opportunity
to grab a second breakfast,
making the school day orig-
inal. Th is year, it’s institut-
ing the remix.
“Gary Roberts is han-
dling the Wednesday re-
make and I’m not saying
it’s going to go off without a
hitch, but it’s an interesting,
new way to approach
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see page A5.
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Planning for an uncertain future
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
What happens when a child with
disabilities outlives their parents?
Th ese families are asking themselves
the same question
Grant was born in Cottage
Grove when babies were still
born in Cottage Grove. He
came a few months early, in
one of the city’s two birthing
houses and has watched hous-
es go up and trees come down;
he remembers when they built
the Dairy Queen on Highway
99 and can name the year every
neighbor on his block moved
in. He’s lived in the same
house his entire life — he’s just
worked out a deal to have the
exterior painted again, the fi rst
time since his mother commis-
sioned the same work just pri-
or to her passing 30 years ago.
Th irty years is what Grant, now
70, fi gures he may have left .
“My uncle, who they say I’m
built like, he lived just short of
his 100th birthday,” Grant said,
his inherited build standing
well short of six-feet and eas-
ily tucked into the same size
clothes he wore as a teenager
when he graduated from Cot-
tage Grove High School. Th e
wiry tuft of his beard lays fl at
against his chin and billows out
before settling just above his
neckline and his eyes,
See FUTURE 9A
CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Grant has lived in his house in Cottage Grove for 70 years and
hopes to continue doing so despite outliving his parents’
plans for his care.
"Shrek" takes the stage
See CGHS 8A
Lane County
releases fi rst
suicide study
More than 1,000
individuals died by
suicide since 2000
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Lane County Public
Health reported earlier this
month that between 2000
and 2016, 1,079 people died
of suicide in Lane County
— a rate 50 percent higher
than the national average.
It was only one of several
grave statistics included in
the organizations fi rst com-
prehensive suicide report
aimed at providing insight
and recommendations to
help stem suicide in the
community.
“I think that we defi nitely
know that we have a higher
unemployment rate, we
COURTESY PHOTO
Princess Fiona (Melissa Miller), Donkey (Matt Arscott) and Shrek (Mark VanBeever) will hit the stage this weekend for Cottage Theatre’s rendition
of “Shrek, the Musical.” Tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit cottagetheatre.org.
See SUICIDES 10A
Cottage Grove community members come together to help ‘Miss Kitty’
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Before Cottage Grove had the
internet, it had Kitty Slack.
From her counter at Cottage
Grove Answering Service on Ad-
ams Avenue, Slack did much more
than answer the phone.
“You could call Kitty and say, ‘I
need some gravel spread,’ and she
would get you in touch with the
right person.”
Steve Nisewander outsourced
his answering service for two of
his businesses to Slack for over 20
years — along with 78 other local
businesses who relied on her to an-
swer their phones in a fashion more
familiar to movie-going audiences
CITY
Having a ball
Forum
Third annual Mayor's Ball
to be hosted at Armory
Candidates speak during
election forum
PAGE A5
PAGE A3
INDEX
COMMUNITY
than modern day cell phone users.
“She had the old fashion punch
board and she’d be able to be on the
phone with, say ... a doctor’s offi ce
... and someone else would call and
she could go to them and be able to
return to the fi rst call and keep it all
straight. It was amazing,” said Gail
Hoelzle, a local Main Street busi-
ness owner who utilized Slack’s ser-
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vices and retained her friendship.
Once, when Hoelzle’s daughter
was traveling and they hadn’t heard
from her, Slack was able to tell them
why.
“I called her and said, 'yeah,
United has some delays' and I have
no idea how but she just knew,” she
said.
Slack, knew everything.
Calendar ...................................... B12
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
If sirens were ringing through
the streets, residents called Slack
to fi nd out why; always receiving a
traffi c report of a local accident or a
detour in case of a house fi re in the
process.
When calls came in for local
physicians’ offi ces, Slack knew the
See KITTY 11A
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 50
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