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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 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 | SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | $1.00 S entinel VOL VOL. 131 131, NO. NO 37 • Est. 1889 Your Y our Loca Local al N News e w s 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 ! Get an insurance plan —not just a policy. (541) 942-0555 WEATHER Chance of showers with a high of 75 and a low tonight of 53. Full forecast on A5 COLUMNIST Mary Ellen Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales. B1 COMMUNITY DAMEIN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Community members collect donated items for those in the area forced to evacuate their homes due to the wildfires. CG accepting donations for displaced families By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Local Rosies celebrated A5 • RECORDS Obituaries Official releases A2 • LORANE NEWS B1 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B5-B6 The City of Cottage Grove opened the Community Center last Wednesday (Sept. 9) after- noon to begin accepting dona- tions for people impacted by the area’s wildfires. “The goal is to help affected members who have been dis- placed by the fires and whatever immediate needs they have as they’re evolving,” said Patrol Ser- geant Shawn Branstetter, who co- ordinated the donation drive. After noticing some online ef- forts of Cottage Grove residents to help those in need, Branstetter decided to use the police depart- ment’s Facebook platform to bet- ter organize the response. Branstetter himself will be tak- ing Community Center collec- tions up to the Springfield area. While the items are being col- lected as part of a relief effort for people displaced in the Thurston/ Springfield area, anyone who has been affected are encouraged to make use of the collection. “Plenty of people who have been affected by it are in our community now … or have family members who have been affected in the Springfield and Thurston area,” said Branstetter. “It’s close enough that affects ev- erybody.” Hotels in Cottage Grove have South Lane School District delays start of school By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com The South Lane School District (SLSD) Board voted on Monday (Sept. 14) to adopt a revised calen- dar for the 2020-21 school year, de- laying the start of the fall term until Sept. 28. Officials proposed the week-long delay of the first day of school due to the challenges posed by the com- pounding impacts of the pandemic and area wildfires. “We simply need more time to get all of the conferences done,” said Su- perintendent Yvonne Curtis during the meeting. “We also need time for transportation to get all of the bus routes done.” Curtis said she had received many messages from district staff about the level of stress caused by the re- cent fires, including the amount of smoke in a building causing head- aches. “There was quite a bit of feed- back from staff on this and it was all very much in favor of delaying,” said board member Taylor Wilhour. “People were saying things like, See SLSD 9A Though improving, air quality remains unhealthy FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /CGSentinel @CGSentinel By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel. com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Extreme fire events in the Pacific Northwest con- tinue to impact the daily lives of those in the Willa- mette Valley and beyond. Darkened skies and air filled with particulate mat- ter have forced much of the population indoors to wait out the smoke blan- keting the region. In just a week, more than a million acres of Oregon have burned, said Gov. Kate Brown in a press briefing, compared to the 500,000 acres which burn in a typical year. Across the western United States, at least 87 wildfires are still burning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Oregon itself has so far lost or sustained sub- stantial damage to several towns such as Detroit, See SMOKE 6A PHOTO BY SAMANTHA DUNCAN Smoke and haze blots out the sun in Cottage Grove as regional fires continue to burn. See DONATIONS 7A City donates to USS Oregon; makes fi rst use of MUPTE By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel. com In a 3-2 vote, the Cot- tage Grove City Coun- cil opted to contribute $1,000 to support the commissioning ceremo- ny of the newly-named USS Oregon (SSN 793) submarine. “If we do contribute, we can be named as the ‘City of Cottage Grove’ on the plaque that’s in- side the boat so that the crew will recognize those entities or communities that are part of Oregon,” explained City Manager Richard Meyers before the vote. According to a letter sent to the City of Cot- tage Grove by the USS Oregon (SSN 793) Com- missioning Committee, a See CITY 8A Assisted Living & Memory Care New Luxury Suites Join us for a tour available October 2020 170 Melton Rd. Creswell, OR • (541) 658-5301 1425 Daugherty Ave, CG 541-942-0054