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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2019)
$1.00 S entinel C ottage G rove 3 PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Pair of CG big men make their presence felt on court B1 Est. 1889 Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2019 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Health offi cials and hospitals brace for potential measles outbreak as fi rst case surfaces in Oregon Lane County Public Health (LCPH) has issued a general health alert aft er 22 cases of measles were con- fi rmed in Southwest Wash- ington — and one in Port- land last Friday. Th e department is en- couraging the public and medical professionals to watch for symptoms and take steps to reduce the vi- rus’s spread. Individuals with con- fi rmed cases were reported by LCPH to have traveled throughout the Portland Metro area during their communicable period, prompting health offi cials to issue a warning down the Patrick Luedtke in a press release. Clark County Public Health has so far confi rmed at least 31 cases this year alone. Th e county is located directly across the Colum- bia River from Portland, including Vancouver, Wash. Measles is a highly con- tagious virus which can cause a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Two or three days aft er symptoms begin, tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth, an early sign of in- fection. Th is is followed by a rash of fl at, red spots which cover the body and are ac- companied by a high fever. Th e rash and fever will COURTESY PHOTO typically run their course aft er a few days, though in PeaceHealth South West Medical Center in Clark County Washington is among the hospi- rare cases it can cause en- tals responding to an outbreak of measles, which was offi cally confi rmed in Oregon's cephalitis (infection of the Portland area last Friday. brain), pneumonia, and low happens daily between us measles, we are concerned birth weight in babies born I-5 corridor. “Given the proximity of and the greater Portland about the risk of exposure,” to infected women. these cases to Lane Coun- Metro area, and the partic- said Lane County Senior See MEASLES 6A ty, the amount of travel that ularly contagious nature of Public Health Offi cer Dr. City Council votes to enter IGA with LTD By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Th e City Council voted unanimously on the direction of Cottage Grove’s transportation op- tions Monday night. At issue was an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Cottage Grove and Lane Transit District (LTD) in which LTD provides funding to the city to cover the cost of operat- ing a Mobility on Demand (MOD) Pilot Project. Councilor Kenneth Roberts was absent from the vote. MOD, a transportation service billed as hav- ing “an infi nite number of on-demand stops” in Cottage Grove, launched Jan. 14 and is slated to continue through Feb. 2, 2020. Th e service al- lows passengers to book trips anywhere within the city by using a mobile app, the website or with a phone call. Passengers can schedule their pick-up and drop-off times and locations for the cost of $1 per ride. As part of the project, local transportation service South Lane Wheels has been contracted by the city to provide the operational end of the MOD program with two of its shuttle buses. Th e need for the MOD project comes with a planned reduction of trips by LTD to the Cottage Grove area. Th e city’s Route 98 loop is scheduled on Feb. 3 to end service of four weekday trips and slightly alter another two, greatly reducing LTD bus options for midday commuters. Because failure to approve the agreement would end the MOD Pilot Project and no more changes to the LTD route can be made until June, approval of the agreement was a forgone conclusion for many. “We’re between a rock and hard place on this HOUSING Saving Jimmy CG receives grants Mary Ellen "Angel Scribe" shares the story rescued dog Jimmy Two CG housing projects among those to receive Housing Improvement Grants. PAGE A3 PAGE A5 INDEX COLUMNIST PHOTO BY PETER MCLAUGHLIN/BUSDRAWINGS.COM A Route 98 bus heads to Cottage Grove. Trips down the Cottage Grove loop will be reduced start- ing Feb. 3, though the new Mobility on Demand service is expected to pick up the slack. one,” said Mayor Jeff Gowing in an agenda ses- sion on Friday. “If you don’t adopt the MOD, you don’t have the loop and you don’t have the connector route,” explained City Manager Richard Meyers at the same session. “If you do the MOD, you may not have the loop, but at least you have the MOD there.” Entering the agreement was delayed at the The Flower Basket and Gift Boutique “A Flower Shop and so much more” Creative Floral Arrangements • Jewelry • Balloons Home Décor • Fine Gifts • Boutique Clothing & Accessories 119 South 6th Street • 541-942-0505 previous City Council meeting to address mi- nor concerns and a slightly revised contract was presented Monday night, notably with a require- ment that LTD obtain written consent from the city before any contractual changes are made. According to the agreement, LTD is provid- ing $146,760 for the cost of operating the MOD system with South Lane Wheels. Calendar ...................................... B12 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. CGSENTINEL.COM Lane County on alert for measles, influenza By Damien Sherwood WED 55º/39º See LTD 9A SLSD board set to address Latham, new priorities By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Sometimes no news is good news; particularly when talking to your au- ditor. In a special session Jan. 22, the South Lane School District (SLSD) Board heard from Albany-based accounting fi rm Accuity, LLC, who reported no ma- jor fi nancial fi ndings in its audit of the district’s previ- ous fi scal year. Th ough the district end- ed the year with a negative net position of $7.7 mil- lion, auditor Kori Sarrett reassured the board, “You are very similar to other school districts in the state of your size. Th at negative is coming from PERS lia- bilities. … We expect that the PERS liability will sta- bilize and we will stop see- ing it grow as much as it has been,” Sarrett said. “Th ere’s really nothing we can do about it in the short term,” said the dis- trict’s business supervisor Phil Scrima. “Long-term, it’s an issue.” A clean bill of health for the SLSD’s fi nancial books is more good news for a district whose fi nancial in- tegrity with the communi- ty has paid off in previous years, as with the passing of a 2016 bond which saw the construction of the new Harrison Elementary School and other projects. And a new project may be just on the horizon. On Jan. 7, the board decided in a 5-2 vote to close Latham School aft er months of deliberation on the issue. In last week’s meeting, Interim Superintendent Larry Sullivan elicited ideas from the board re- garding the Latham School transition. A desire to honor the school’s history and com- munity was thematic to the input. “I think there should be some reference to the his- tory of Latham,” said board member Merlene Martin. “Th e history of Latham is very important to our town.” See SCHOOL 6A 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 XX Emerald Valley Armory, LLC Handguns • Long Rifles Concealed carry classes Tues. - Sat. 10-6 147 E. Oregon Ave. Creswell, OR 97426 541-895-2666