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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2020)
S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , C RESWELL , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA C ottage G rove THURSDAY EDITION | JULY 16, 2020 | $1.00 S entinel VOL. 131 131, NO. VOL NO 29 • Est. 1889 Your Loca Local al N News e wss Delivered D e l i v e r e d Your Y ou ur Way: W a y : In I n Print. P r i n t Online. O n l i n e On O n the t h e Go! G o ! Bundle home & auto to save $$. INSIDE: Your 2020 edition of “The Nugget” LCPH urges people to ‘stay home’ as COVID cases rise A spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in rural communities raises concerns for health officials By Jared Anderson & Ned Hickson (541) 942-0555 WEATHER Sunny skies with a high of 87 and a low tonight of 57. Full forecast on A5 CONSTRUCTION for The Sentinel “The best thing to do is try and stay home as much as you can,” said Lane County Public Health (LCPH) Public Information Offi- cer Jason Davis when asked what area residents should do to com- bat the rapidly growing spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. “This virus, for it to succeed, has to have close contact between peo- ple,” Davis continued. “We are di- rectly contributable to its success. If we take close contact out of the equation, and essentially cut the gas lines for the disease, we make it so it can’t do its job. Stay home. Don’t be the person that contracts it.” The advice comes just days after Cottage Grove recorded a spike in COVID-19 cases, which now sits at 10. While that number seems small, the issue is the virus’s ca- pacity for exponential community spread. “COVID spreads quickly,” Davis said. “It can go from no communi- ty spread to community spread in two days. These definitions aren’t really super helpful, other than ‘Right now, right here, I’m safe.’ But DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL As Phase Two of the state’s re-opening continues, the inevitable in a few hours, you might have increase of visitors to rural areas has coincided with an increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases in those areas, including Cottage Grove. See LCPH 6A City creates loan program for small businesses All charged up The city has set aside $100,000 for small business assistance Update on area improvement projects — A3 By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com COMMUNITY — C The Gran Fondo returns July 25 B1 DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • RECORDS Obituaries Police Logs Official releases A2 • LORANE NEWS A5 On July 9, Cottage Grove city staff completed installing and activating two new electric vehicle (EV) stations, allowing EV owners to now charge their cars while shopping or eating downtown or using the Community Center or library. Less than two hours after activating the stations, the city had its first customer. The EV stations are located at the Community Center and in the parking lot across from City Hall on East Main Street. The stations were funded by a grant from Pacific Power. Podcast ‘Encounters’ topics in The Grove • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B7-B8 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Binding people of diverse view- points poses a challenge in turbu- lent and polarizing climates, but podcasters Josh Fattal and Rosie Foraker are hoping a modern solu- tion can help solve this age-old problem. The hosts of the Encounter Cot- tage Grove podcast have been dig- ging their fingers into the soil of small-town concerns for a couple months now, while attempting to place the community in a broad- er national and sometimes global context. “It’s the idea that each person is a mystery unto themselves and we are encountering each other,” said Fattal. “And part of the podcast is exploring each other. But it’s also exploring each other and hav- ing the town encounter itself in a sense.” Foraker also sees the podcast as a timely project allowing the hosts See PODCAST 7A Emergency loan and grant programs have launched in both Cottage Grove and oth- er Lane County cities in an effort to provide relief for small business suffering from the economic slump caused by the public health crisis of COVID-19. “We encourage everyone to share the word, spread it around and get some applica- tions in from Cottage Grove for that funding,” said City Manager Richard Meyers at a July 13 City Council meeting. The City of Cottage Grove has set aside $100,000 for small business assistance as part of the city’s 2020-21 bud- get. Part of these funds will be used as a match for $25,414 from Business Oregon in a grant program and a remain- ing $74,500 will be loaned through the city’s own loan program. The grant was established by Lane County and third-par- ty fi nancial institution Com- munity Lending Works, in partnership with the cities of Coburg, Cottage Grove, Creswell, Eugene, Florence, Lowell, Springfi eld and See LOAN 8A /CGSentinel @CGSentinel City applies for ODOT grants to improve vehicle, pedestrian pathways 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com The Cottage Grove City Coun- cil voted Monday to authorize the city’s application for two Or- egon Department of Transporta- tion (ODOT) Transportation and Growth Management grants to improve vehicular and pedestrian Jim Goodling - Mike Grant 330 OR-99 Suite C • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-0165 pathways in town. The council had previously iden- tified a high-priority need for im- provement of the city’s pedestrian and bicycle system, particularly those relating to the Safe Routes to School project. A grant request of $150,000 was approved to fund the development of a bicycle and pedestrian plan, which will include a Safe Routes to School action plan and a com- prehensive ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) transition plan for public rights-of-way and facilities. A 12 percent local match of $18,000 will be provided through engineering and planning staff support. A second ODOT Transportation and Growth Management Grant request for $200,000 was also au- thorized to fund the development of a Highway 99 Corridor Plan through the city. The plan will study ways to im- prove the function, access, accessi- bility, multi-modal use and See CITY 8A