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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 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 | NOVEMBER 12, 2020 | $1.00 S entinel VOL. 131, NO. 45 • Est. 1889 Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! Bundle home & auto to save $$. Workshop kicks off ‘Local Food’ discourse By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-0555 WEATHER Chance of showers with a high of 50 and a low tonight of 45. Full forecast on A5 Dozens of local stakeholders participated in a virtual Local Foods, Local Places Workshop on Nov. 5 and 6, generating action plans based around improving Cottage Grove’s food system. “I was really pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm of the local participants,” said City Plan- ner Amanda Ferguson, who serves on the program’s steering commit- tee. “We came up with some very tangible, positive actions to imple- ment community goals.” Participants represented a wide range of stakeholders including lo- cal farmers, food producers, grow- ers, tourism experts, nonprofits, garden managers, county, state, and federal agencies, and others interested in helping build Cottage Grove’s food-based economy. Earlier this year, the U.S. En- vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected Cottage Grove to participate in the Local Foods, Lo- cal Places Program, marking the city as the first in Oregon to re- ceive the opportunity. Sponsored by the EPA, the pro- gram has been used in several communities since its inception in 2015. Efforts have included pro- tecting air and water quality, pre- serving open space and farmland, boosting opportunities for local farmers and businesses, improv- ing access to healthy local food, promoting childhood wellness and engineering stronger local food economies. Work with these communities has seen projects such as opening year-round downtown markets, helping schoolchildren grow their own food, planning cooperative See LOCAL 6A COMMUNITY A mission for healing Honoring local veterans A3 HUMOR Teaming up with Bigfoot for ‘Black Friday shopping —B1 • RECORDS Obituaries Official releases A2 DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL The entrance to Camp Alma’s Veterans Legacy site, which helps prepare veterans to reintegrate. Camp Alma preps for a ‘reboot’ in provding a healing place for veterans • LORANE NEWS B1 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B5-B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE F ollowing the wrap-up of a seven-month pilot program, Camp Alma is preparing to reboot and welcome a new round of veterans to benefit from its rehabilitative services. “I hope we’re not shut down for any more than a month,” said Veterans Legacy Executive Direc- tor Dan Buckwald. Veterans Legacy is a nonprofit with a mission to provide veterans with a safe, supportive envi- ronment for healing and eventual reintegration into their communities. The group takes aim at veteran issues such as suicide, homelessness and unemployment by addressing afflictions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and associated traumas. At Camp Alma, the See LEGACY 7A SLSD updates its hybrid learning plan New metrics could mean quicker return to in-person learning By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com In light of Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement of changes to Oregon’s school metrics on Oct. 30, South Lane School District (SLSD) has updated its hy- brid learning model. “In short, they’ve made it easier for us to open to in-person learning for stu- dents,” said SLSD Curricu- lum Director Jeremy Smith during a virtual presenta- tion to parents on Tuesday. The new metrics high- light the importance of returning to in-person in- struction. Changes included a two-week “look back” at the metrics data rather than one week at a time over a three-week period and the removal of state positivity rate in favor of county posi- tivity rates. While the new guidelines will allow more students to return to in-person instruc- tion with health and safety measures in place, Lane County’s COVID-19 case rate is currently too high to welcome students back into classrooms. Even so, the relaxed re- quirements may allow stu- dents to return to in-school instruction under the hybrid model sooner than expect- ed. SLSD currently employs a Comprehensive Distance Learning method, in which most students attend virtual classes. The hybrid model would mean students split their learning time between home and the classroom. Standards for moving to a hybrid model are based on county case rate and test positivity. Oregon Health Authority data released on Monday listed Lane County cases at 133.6 per 100,000 with a test positivity of 7.6 per- cent between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7. A case rate of less than 100 is required to move into See HYBRID 9A LATEST NEWS : /CGSentinel Governor calls for ‘pause’ for 10 counties due to COVID-19 spike @CGSentinel By Ned Hickson nhickson@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Last Friday (Nov. 6), Gov. Kate Brown announced a two-week “pause” on social activities in five Oregon counties — Multnomah, Marion, Jackson, Malheur and Umatilla counties — as part of a re- newed push to slow record-break- ing coronavirus spread, warning Jim Goodling - Mike Grant 330 OR-99 Suite C • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-0165 that more severe restrictions may be needed without progress. The decision was then expand- ed on Monday (Nov. 9) to include Washington, Clackamas, Linn, Baker and Union counties based on the most recent per capita case counts. The pause — which applies to counties with more than 200 cas- es per 100,000 people over two weeks, or more than 60 cases over the same span for counties with fewer than 30,000 people — went into effect Wednesday and will continue through Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. “It would be great if the entire state ... took these directives seri- ously,” Brown said. Among other things, the di- rective prohibits indoor visits at long-term care facilities; encour- ages working at home; sets new capacity limits at restaurants to 50 people, including customers and staff; limits capacity at gyms to 50 people; and recommends either not gathering with people outside your household or at least capping group sizes to six people. See PAUSE 5A
