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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 | OCTOBER 22, 2020 | $1.00 S entinel VOL. 131, NO. 42 • Est. 1889 Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! Get an insurance plan —not just a policy. Lane County placed on state’s coronavirus ‘Watch List’ Meanwhile, neighboring Douglas County calls on residents to curtail the spread County is connected — to a COVID-19. The assistance offered to a degree — to student social ac- dsherwood@cgsentinel.com particular county depends on tivities,” said Brown, referring the assessment of its needs, of- to cases which originated from On Oct. 16, Oregon Gov. Kate ten including epidemiological students attending the Universi- Brown placed Lane County on assistance and staffing support. ty of Oregon in Eugene. “Social the state’s COVID-19 watch list for the first time following “I think we’re doing a very good job in Cottage Grove. But a two-week increase in con- firmed or suspected cases in the the reality is, the rest of the county impacts us ... So we county. want to make sure to do our part if nothing else.” Benton, Clatsop, Malheur and Umatilla counties are also — Cottage Grove Mayor Jeff Gowing currently on the list. According to Brown, pres- ence on the watch list does not Brown stated that the Ore- gatherings, like off-campus par- indicate that the county is being gon Health Authority (OHA) ties, are incredibly dangerous moved back to Phase I and is is working with Lane County and spread this disease. Let me only a precautionary measure Public Health to address the be clear, though: it will take the intended to help policymakers county’s increase in community entire county working togeth- and COVID-19 response teams spread, which she attributed in er to bring these COVID-19 to prioritize resources and as- part to social gatherings. numbers under control. Once sistance to counties that are “There is no question that the COVID-19 is spreading in seeing the broadest spread of spread of COVID-19 in Lane the community, small family By Damien Sherwood & Mark Brennan (541) 942-0555 WEATHER Sunny skies with a high of 57 and a low tonight of 33. Full forecast on A5 COLUMNIST get-togethers can also lead to dozens of infections.” As of Oct. 21, the Universi- ty of Oregon had reported 319 cases for the month of October alone, an increase of 49 cases since the governor’s announce- ment. Overall, the university has reported 470 cases in the university community since June 1. Counties are placed on the watch list when there is a “spo- radic case” rate of 50 or more per 100,000 in the preceding two weeks and the county has more than 5 sporadic cases in the same timeframe. Sporadic cases are those which cannot be traced to a source, indicating community spread. SLSD delays implementing hybrid model Mary Ellen’s Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales B1 By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel. com COLUMNIST Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox. B1 Creative Chaos continues to provide small group activities such as mask making (left) and socially-distanced dancing (above) at Opal Center. • RECORDS Obituaries Official releases A2 The show must go on • LORANE NEWS B1 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B5-B6 Cottage Grove theaters look forward to ‘next act’ after the pandemic. PHOTOS BY DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /CGSentinel @CGSentinel See WATCH 6A By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 I f all the world’s a stage, this year has produced something of a tragedy. None may feel this so acutely as the performance arts as cur- tains have been drawn on theater shows in Cottage Grove since Oregon’s lockdown began in spring. This means local venues Cot- tage Theatre and the Opal Center for Arts and Education are navi- gating a year without the benefit of ticket sales. “Technically, under Phase 2, we could theoretically operate with a lot of restrictions,” said Susan Goes, executive director at Cottage Theatre. “We ran the arithmetic early on and figured we could get about 30 people in our auditorium.” The restrictions, however, would create intelligibility prob- lems, obstruct facial expres- sions and create challenges for close-quarters scenes on stage — not to mention cause concerns regarding singing and vocal pro- jection. The royalties paid per perfor- mance would outweigh the rev- enue as well. “It makes no sense economi- cally to perform with just 30 au- dience members,” said Goes. Spatial restrictions are espe- cially problematic for a modest venue like Opal Center. See THEATER 9A Performing All Phases of Automotive Repair Specializing in Gas & Diesel Engines Most Makes and Models FORD • GM • DODGE 5 41-942-2521 80408 Delight Valley School Road Cottage Grove, OR 97424 www.huddleaut omotive.com Due to the recent rise in COVID-19 infection and test positivity rates in Lane County and in the State of Oregon, South Lane School District (SLSD) has announced it will not begin its in-person hy- brid model which had originally been sched- uled to start on Nov. 2. “We look forward to bringing all students back into our buildings when county and state metrics allow us to do so,” announced the district in a newslet- ter. “For now, we will continue in distance learning. We will keep you updated about a potential start date for hybrid learning in our weekly newsletter for staff and families (The South Lane Connec- tion Download).” The Oregon Depart- ment of Education al- lows an exemption for K-3 students to attend in-person classes pro- viding certain metrics are met. Lane County surpassed those met- rics during the week of Sept. 13. To return to in-per- son instruction, school districts must be in a county that meets cer- tain criteria. See SLSD 8A