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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2019)
THURSDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 5, 2019 | $1.00 CGSENTINEL.COM 3 Est. 1889 S entinel C ottage G rove VOL. 131, NO. 47 S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , C RESWELL , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! PERSONAL | BUSINESS BENEFIT PLANNING | SURETY Increased demand puts strain on Creswell pantry By Joshua Leach Intern for The Sentinel (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com /Cottage-Grove WEATHER Susan Blacknik strolled through rows of shelves at the Creswell Food Pantry. She passed emp- ty spaces and cases upon cases of canned beans and pureed pump- kin. “I don’t like to see bare shelves over there, and there’s more bare shelves than I’ve seen since I start- ed six years ago,” she said. With the winter months approaching, Blachnik, the pantry manager, said food stocks always get a little lower, but a drive held by Creslane Elementary and South Lane County — Susan Blacknik, Creswell Food Pantry Fire & Rescue brought in 3,844 pounds of food Those supplies help maintain a on Nov. 21. However, by Nov. 22, that much and then some shopping-style experience for pan- try patrons. That shopping style was gone. Cloudy skies with a high of 51 and a low tonight of 46. Full forecast on A5 “We were giving everyone 5 pounds [of food] per person. Now we’re down to 2 pounds.” Snapp House preserves early CG medical history COMMUNITY lets clients get prod- ucts they actually like and will eat, something that’s hard to do with- out a lot of stock. “If you don’t like lentils, you don’t have to take lentils,” said FOOD for Lane Coun- ty spokesperson Dawn Marie Woodward. See PANTRY 7A Council reviews city justice system, housing By Damien Sherwood By Cindy Wheeldryer Special to The Sentinel T New ‘sign of the times’ at the Opal A3 CINDY WEELDREYER/FOR THE COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL SPORTS — B he familiar Queen Anne-style house on South River Road, at the confluence of Silk Creek and the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, is a mu- seum maintained by the Prospectors and Gold Diggers Club showcasing early medical practices. It is Cottage Grove’s only Victorian-era house open to the public and this weekend it is decorated in its holiday finery for the annual Dr. Snapp’s Holiday Bazaar and Open House, Dec. 6-8. Built in 1886 by one of the town’s early doctors for his wife, it was originally located near the corner of South River Road and Main Street. In 1966, the Lane County A special holiday event will be held at the histor- ic Dr. Snapp House beginning Friday. See SNAPP 10A Swinging back into action The ‘Team’ mentality for CGHS wrestling B1 • RECORDS Obituaries Police Logs Official News A2 • LORANE NEWS A5 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B8-B9 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : GREG LEE/FOR THE COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL The City of Cottage Grove held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly constructed J. Polk Currin Swinging Bridge on Saturday, Nov. 30. Speeches were given by Mayor Jeff Gowing, former Mayor Hall McCall, Susan Christian (daughter of the previous bridge’s designer Roger Sinclair) and Friends of the Swinging Bridge member Dana Merryday, who received a ceremonial screw nut for spearheading the project. ”It’s really a part of the fabric of our community,“ said Merryday as he gave thanks to the com- munity. Local fundraising contributed $18,055 to the $803,354 project. dsherwood@ cgsentinel.com A municipal court re- port to City Council on Nov. 25 by Municipal Court Judge Martin Fisher highlighted concerns and hopes in Cottage Grove’s justice system during the City Council meeting. The Cottage Grove Municipal Court, which handles traffi c violations and misdemeanor crimes, saw its upward trend of criminal citations and non-criminal violations continue in 2019. During the year, the court took on a criminal caseload 116 percent that of its previous fi ve-year average with non-criminal violations 121 percent of average. Meanwhile, as- sessed fi nes were 114 per- cent of average and fi nes collected increased to 143 percent. “The number of fi nes assessed and collected had increased over the last year, which frankly I found astonishing,” said Fisher to the council, “be- cause on the criminal side of our docket, fundamen- tally we no longer impose fi nes except for very, very limited circumstances.” The report states that the court has “more often than not declined to im- pose fi nes as a condition of criminal judgement.” Fisher speculated that increased traffi c enforce- ment has brought in more fi ne revenue, though he noted in the report that there is no way to distin- guish between criminal See COUNCIL 6A /CGS ENTINEL @CGS ENTINEL CGS ENTINEL . COM South Lane School District names interim superintendent 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By Nick Snyder nsnyder@cgsentinel.com South Lane School Dis- trict (SLSD) board mem- bers entered the 2019 school year knowing that finding a permanent super- intendent was a top prior- ity. Then, in October, act- ing interim superintendent Larry Sullivan announced his resignation due to sud- den health concerns. The members of the school board were then tasked with finding an in- terim for the interim. On Monday, Dec. 2 at SLSD’s monthly board meeting, the hectic, emer- gency search came to a smooth end as Yvonne Curtis was named as Sulli- van’s replacement. The board will continue their search for a perma- nent district head through- out the school year with Curtis at the helm through June. It was over a month and half ago that board mem- bers Sherry Duerst-Hig- gins and Alan Baas learned of Sullivan’s ailment, weeks before his resignation was publically announced. Finding a replacement on What is Rotary? :ŽŝŶƵƐĂƚŽŶĞŽĨŽƵƌǁĞĞŬůLJŵĞĞƟŶŐƐƚŽůĞĂƌŶŵŽƌĞ͘ Thursdays at 12pm Performing All Phases of Automotive Repair ůdĂƉĂƟŽDĞdžŝĐĂŶZĞƐƚĂƵƌĂŶƚ Specializing in Gas & Diesel Engines Most Makes and Models ϳϮϱ͘'ŝďďƐǀĞ͘ ZŽƚĂƌLJůƵďŽĨŽƩĂŐĞ'ƌŽǀĞ 541-554-6946 FORD • GM • DODGE 80408 Delight Valley School Road Cottage Grove, OR 97424 www.huddleaut omotive.com such short notice seemed a daunting task for the board, but the strengths of the dis- trict office shone through in the process. “I think we have a very confident staff,” Du- erst-Higgins said, See SLSD 10A
