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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2019)
$1.00 3 S entinel C ottage G rove PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS A wrap-up of the McKenzie 1A Hoops Classic B1 Est. 1889 Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2019 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. WED 52º/37º CGSENTINEL.COM The Year in Review 2018 A recap of the Top 10 stories from the past year COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL FILE PHOTOS From left: New interim superintendent Dr. Larry Sullivan shakes hands with school board chair Alan Baas after being appointed to the position; After a February fire at an abandoned house, the city began exploring options for dealing with zombie houses; Greg Howe emerges from a sea of blackberry bushes with Anna the dog who had gone missing for 18 days. By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com A s the community settles into 2019, The Sentinel staff has looked back at the past year and compiled the big- gest stories of 2018. Here are the top 10 stories (and honorable mentions) in no particular order. Latham Elementary The decision to close Latham Elementary or allow it to remain operational for anoth- er five years is set for the January meeting of the South Lane School Board but the process started back in January of 2018. Conversations began revolving around how much the district could save if it closed the 165-year-old school but quickly centered around how passionate the Latham commu- nity was about retaining one of the few small schools in the community. In January of last year, a report to the school board noted that Latham had 94 students en- rolled (down from 111 students the year be- fore) and that number has since dropped to around 80 but parents turned out in force to information sessions and school board meet- ings to advocate for their small school. At the time, the district reported it could save $187,397 in staffing costs and approxi- mately $50,000 in electricity and other utili- ties if it closed the school. Moreover, it warned that Latham would need substantial repairs in the coming years, including a new boiler that came with a large price tag. In total, repairs and upgrades to the school are expected to run approximately $775,000. On Dec. 18 of this year, the school board reviewed the “Latham School Report” com- piled by district staff that outlined student en- rollment, transportation options, budget and other factors in keeping Latham School open. “I guess, there’s nothing good to say about facilities and maintenance. And the commit- ment this district would have to make for the students and staff and the school to continue, it just does not — I don’t know of any person who would say that would be a good invest- ment,” said board member Jerry Settelmeyer during the meeting. Latham parent Andrea Griffith who has a third grader at the school also attended the Dec. 18 meeting. Griffith chose Latham for the size of the school in addition to the com- munity it provides and noted that if the dis- trict closes the school, she plans to take her child out of the district. “It sounds to me, as a parent, that they’ve already made their decision. And my kid is going to lose out because they didn’t do their jobs and put the money where it should have been and it makes me mad,” said Griffith. “And very sad because there are a lot of kids who are going to miss out on a lot of stuff at Latham.” The school board was expected to make a decision about Latham’s future at its January 2019 meeting. Wolfclan Armory In March, a sign appeared on Main Street announcing the coming of a new business: Wolfclan Armory. The store — which sells Protestors gather outside the Wolfclan Armory after reports of the owners’ ties to white supremacy emerged. survival gear, swords, knives and apparel — drew protests shortly after the sign appeared. Protestors cited the owners’ son Jacob Las- key who served 11 years in federal prison for a hate crime after throwing rocks with swasti- North Douglas raises $10,000 for kindergartener with rare cancer By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Syra Barklow loves the cartoon "PJ Masks." She spent Halloween as one of the main characters, Owlette, running around her neighborhood just like every other six-year-old. The next day, the headaches started. “I thought she had some kind of virus going around,” said her moth- er, Danielle Barklow. But by Nov. 19, the headaches hadn’t gone away and Syra became lethargic; she was losing weight and refused to eat or drink. “They drew her blood and noth- ing was wrong,” Barklow said. Syra underwent her first CAT scan. “The doctor came into the room and said there’s nothing wrong with her body, there’s something wrong with her head,” Barklow said. “I thought he was going to say she was depressed or something but he said they found a large tumor and she had to be rushed to Portland. I thought he was going to say he was kidding.” The November night’s weather didn’t allow for Life Flight so Syra was loaded into an ambulance with her mother and bussed to Portland See BARKLOW 6A FEATURE School grants Offbeat Oregon Four local schools receive grants from Northwest Credit Union program The tale of how a 1930 summer shipwreck could never happen today PAGE A9 PAGE A5 INDEX EDUCATION where she underwent her first MRI. “They said she needed emer- gency surgery at 7 a.m. They cut a huge horseshoe shape in her head and they said they got it all,” Barlow said. An analysis of the tumor revealed a devastating diagnosis: ependymo- ma. The cancer is rare and affects the brain and spinal cord. It’s ag- gressive and is often found in young children. Syra started radiation four days before Christmas. “With the radiation, they say it’s Michele Monroe, LCSW Counseling Services 541-255-8822 • 1450 Birch Ave • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 • Individual and Family Counseling • Insurance and Sliding Scale • Accepting New Clients • Weekend and Weekday Appointments Available kas drawn on them through the windows of a synagogue in Eugene. The Laskeys denied claims of racism and appeared at a March city council meeting in- forming the board that their son had made mistakes in his life and had served his sen- tence. They also informed the board that they were Christians. Laskey was arrested again in January of 2018 for a stabbing incident. Racist posts re- mained on the Wolfclan Armory Facebook page with Laskey’s family telling local media they did not know how to access the page. A post inviting residents to the store’s Cottage Grove opening was posted after Laskey was arrested. By April, signs began appearing around Main Street on business windows that read “Cottage Grove United Against Hate” with business owners citing the uproar over Wolf- clan Armory. In June, Laura Rose broke the windows at Wolfclan Armory with the pole of an Amer- ican flag, walked across the street, sat on a bench and waited for police. The 31-year-old was arrested and charged. She was given a plea deal in November of 2018. Superintendents The allegations against Dr. Krista Parent See REVIEW 3A Looking back at Latham Before a decision on the future of the school is made, a look at the history of the 165-year- old school By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com B efore Cottage Grove became a city (1887), before Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president (1861) and before Oregon became a state (1859) there was a small school that opened in the Territory of Oregon. The first school in the area estab- lished by settlers, and what would soon Calendar ...................................... B11 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 become known as Latham School, opened its doors in 1853. With the exception of when a Missouri fam- ily moved into the schoolhouse and refused to leave thus cancelling the school year, the school has been a con- stant presence for the past 165 years. More than 40 schools have come and gone in that time but Latham has al- ways found a way to survive. But the ultimate fate of the school – whether it will stay open for at least another five years or close at the end of the school year – looks bleak. A de- See LATHAM 6A cgnews@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-3325 ph • (541) 942-3328 fax P.O. 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