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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
$1.00 S entinel C ottage G rove 3 PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Lions find early-season track and field success B1 Est. 1889 Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL CGSENTINEL.COM Free STI testing invites conversation for sexually active seniors By Jared Anderson for The Sentinel The countdown to summer just got a little longer By Zach Silva COURTESY PHOTO At the March South Lane School District (SLSD) board meeting, the board unani- mously agreed to superinten- dent Larry Sullivan’s proposal that the district will be adding three school days to make up for days that were cancelled due to February’s histor- ic snowstorm. This year, six school days were cancelled in addition to a pair of two-hour delays. “We have lost six days of school this year to inclem- ent weather. What that really means is that our children have lost six days of instruc- tion and learning time,” Sulli- van told the board on March 11. “What I’m going to rec- ommend to the board is an adjustment to our school cal- endar.” The last day of school for students was scheduled for June 13 but days will now be added on June 14, 17 and 18 for students; teachers will have an inservice day on the June 19 to finish out the year. “We’re above the minimum but again, we’re not about minimums here,” Sullivan said at the meeting when asked if the district had fulfilled the minimum hours needed in a school year. In addition to helping stu- dents learn, board members also expressed that having ad- ditional days would also help classified employees. “Three days of pay for our classified is a lot of money. A lot of our classified employees, you know, they don’t make a lot of money. And so three days can impact them greatly,” said Merlene Martin. Districts across the area are looking for similar solutions to add days to the school year. For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. Having ‘The Talk’ with seniors SLSD adds days to school calendar zsilva@cgsentinel.com WED 63º/45º Living an active lifestyle at an older age has become more common, and along with it has been a rise in sexually transmitted infections in seniors. “We have seen a huge spike in sexually transmitted infections (STI) in older populations,” Moni- ca Miley of the Eugene-based non- profit HIV Alliance said. “You get people who are a little older and think the reasons to use a condom are for pregnancy. Or they think STI’s don’t happen because they’re too old. That’s not true. If the parts work, you can get infections.” Nationwide, the numbers are rapidly increasing for older Amer- icans. According to a September 2017 report in AARP, there were 43,409 reported cases of chlamydia among people 45 and older in 2016, up from 38,185 reported cases in 2015 and 26,405 in 2012. Gonorrhea had 33,879 report- ed cases last year in the same age group, up from 26,005 in 2015 and 16,257 in 2012. “I think, in a lot of our older pop- ulations, it was much more taboo,” said Emily Pfaff, physician assistant with PeaceHealth Medical Group Walk-In Clinic at Peace Harbor Hospital. “You didn’t talk about it, so they may not mention it or tell you about their sexual history.” See TALK 11A Stepping up to the ‘Challenge’ M ore than 30 aspiring entrepreneurs gathered at The Brewstation on March 13 to kick off this year’s “Business Challenge,” which fosters new business endeavors through mentorship and educational workshops — all of which is free. A total of $10,000 will be awarded to aspiring business owners whose presentations are judged to be among the best by Challenge Team members, which includes a four-part course that began today at Lane Community College in Cottage Grove. Workshops will focus on everything from creating a business plan and budget forecasting, to making a pitch to investors. “The main criteria is simple: Does it create more jobs? Then you should be a part of this,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Travis Palmer (far right) said during last Wednesday’s kick-off Networking Event. Sessions continue March 27, April 3 and April 4, with the final pitches set for May 22. For more information, call 541-357-1930 or visit www.cgbizplan.com. PHOTOS BY NED HICKSON/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL first-hand look at Snowmageddon 2019 as told by those who lived it... By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Putting a happy face on the storm School may have been out, but cars were still slowing down in front of Lincoln Middle School. Brian James, whose house sits across from the school, built his third and biggest snowman on the street, this time measuring 17 feet tall. “It took two days,” James said. “We started Monday morning and by Tuesday night got it COMMUNITY ARTS Showing Appreciation Local Author’s new book Magnolia Gardens brings lunch to SLCFR crew as a show of gratitude Local author releases first book and will host a book signing next month in Cottage Grove. PAGE A6 PAGE A3 INDEX Editor’s Note: Though remnants from the Feb. 24 snowstorm that brought Cottage Grove and the surrounding communities to a standstill have near- ly all melted away, the stories that came as a result of that crisis — and the examples of neighbor help- ing neighbor — are still being shared. Undoubtedly, they will remain part of the community conversa- tion in the weeks, months and perhaps even years ahead. The Sentinel will continue to chronicle those stories as a way of offering future generations a 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 done.” James’ family had been planning on making a giant snowman this year and had already made some of the parts. “My daughter had been praying like crazy that we’d get some snow,” James said. “Well, we got the snow.” James, 42, got the idea from the internet and set to work building props about a month ago. When the snow came, the family built three different- ly-sized plywood boxes. After filling the biggest with snow, they leveled it off and put a smaller box on top. They repeated the process of stack- ing and packing each box with snow until it stood three boxes high. “Then we stripped off the boxes, shaped the head and shaped the body,” James said. Calendar ...................................... B12 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 The snowman also presented a promotional opportunity. James’ wife, Jeri, runs a local country music podcast Red Dirt Roots Radio from a small studio in the house. James put up a sign advertis- ing the podcast for the first couple days. “At first I kind of did this promoting her radio station,” James said. “And then I pulled the sign down so everyone could have fun with it without any marketing going on.” Previous snowmen built by the James family received some attention, but not always the kind they wanted. “Three years ago we built a pretty big one across the street and then last year we built one in the yard,” James said. Pointing to snow bank sitting in See STORIES 7A 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 131 • NUMBER 12 EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! EUGENE CRESWELL 622 E. 22nd Ave Suite C 195 Melton Rd. 5 41. 6 8 6 .17 3 2 541.686.1732 or visit us at www.thornton-ortho.com GIVE US A CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TODAY!
