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 | DECEMBER 24, 2020 | $1.00
S entinel
VOL. 131, NO. 51 •
Est. 1889
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Lane County Chambers of Commerce unite in plea to Governor
CG Chamber President & CEO Shauna Neigh joined five chamber presidents seeking relief for local small businesses
“They’ve done the best they can ...
without support to meet mandated
changes.”
By Ned Hickson
and Damien Sherwood
(541) 942-0555
WEATHER
Clouds and sun with
a high of 52 and a
low tonight of 37.
Full forecast on A5
COLUMNIST
Cottage Grove Sentinel
Leaders representing many of
Lane County’s small- and medi-
um-sized businesses across the re-
gion have sent a co-signed plea for
support to Governor Kate Brown
and elected representatives on be-
half of their constituent businesses.
Co-signers included Cottage
Grove Chamber President & CEO
Shauna Neigh, along with chamber
presidents from Springfield (Von-
nie Mikkelsen), Eugene (Brittany
Quick-Warner), Florence (Betti-
—Shauna Neigh, Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce
na Hannigan), Oakridge Westfir
(Lynda Kamerrer), as well as CEO
of Travel Lane County Kari West-
lund — all of whom are asking for
financial and regulatory relief.
“Too many of our small busi-
nesses will not survive the winter.
The health and welfare of our fami-
lies and communities cannot thrive
without them,” said Quick-Warner.
“They didn’t ask for this. They
didn’t vote for this. Their condi-
tion is no fault of their own and
the economic damage to our local
The Joy of Giving
businesses and families statewide is
in the billions of dollars, not mil-
lions.”
Hannigan added that, “If a small
business dies it impacts more than
just the owner,” explaining that the
repercussions not only impact em-
ployees and their families but also
business property owners and their
families, and the vendors to those
businesses and their families. “If
this keeps up, the only take-out
food will be from the state’s bread
lines,” said Hannigan.
“You can hear the despair in
See LETTER 6A
COVID-19 vaccine
arrives at Lane
County hospitals
By Ned Hickson
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
As COVID-19 immuniza-
tions began arriving around the
state last week, Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) fi nalized its
recommendations for who will
be the fi rst to receive doses of
new COVID-19 vaccines.
Oregon’s Phase 1a COVID-19
Vaccine Plan and Recommend-
ed Sequencing aligns with fed-
eral Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP)
and Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) guide-
lines for broad groups to be
Betty Kaiser’s annual
Christmas letter
B1
CHRISTMAS TALE
See PLAN 7A
Governor gives
update on results
of Special Session
Special holiday
editorial
B3
By Mark Brennan
for The Sentinel
• RECORDS
Obituaries
Official releases
A2
• LORANE NEWS
B1
• CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
B5-B6
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PHOTOS BY GARY MANLY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Community Sharing and the Tree of Joy program distributed food boxes and gifts to the communi-
ty on Monday at Trinity Lutheran Church. Both groups more than doubled their output from last
year. In all, 484 Christmas food boxes and 538 gifts for school-age children were passed out to
scores of vehicles driving by the church while some portion of the donations were even delivered
to families. This year was marked by a collaboration with Be Your Best and the Rural Organizing
Project. “We’re just so grateful for the help from [those groups],” said Community Sharing Executive
Director Mike Fleck. “It was a great success with their help.” Tree of Joy volunteer Joyce Settelmeyer
said an influx of local generosity and leftover toys donated from the Toys for Tots program helped
exceed expectations. “I’m always impressed with how generous our community is,” she said.
Governor Kate Brown held a
news conference Tuesday after-
noon to update the public on the
arrival of the fi rst shipment of
COVID-19 vaccines produced
by Pfi zer-BioNTech and plans
for the distribution of those and
another vaccine from Moderna,
which is scheduled to arrive
soon. Brown also discussed the
results of a special session of
the Oregon Legislature called
by the governor to deal with
See BROWN 8A
/CGSentinel
@CGSentinel
Swinging Bridge recognized with merit award for engineering
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
The J. Polk Currin Swinging
Bridge received more recognition
this month when it won an Award
of Merit for Small Projects under
$10 million from Engineering
News Record (ENR) Northwest.
“I was very excited to learn that
our Swinging Bridge project was
recognized a second time by lead-
ers in the engineering field,” said
Friends of the Swinging Bridge
member Dana Merryday, who at-
tended the virtual event. “In both
cases the awarding organization
recognized the innovative mix of
modern and durable materials
while preserving the original de-
sign and feel of the original. They
also noted that the community was
very determined to bring back this
historic bridge…”
ENR is an industry publication
and annually recognizes major
projects. The Northwest region
includes Oregon, Washington and
Alaska.
The bridge has been a promi-
nent city landmark since the 1920s,
but was closed in 2016 after being
deemed unsafe by the city.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP
All services are completely free.
LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES
Rural Program
508 E. Whitaker Ave. Cott age Grove
Monday - Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm
Offi ce & 24/7 Crisis Line: (541) 767 - 3823
Performing All Phases of Automotive Repair
Specializing in Gas & Diesel Engines Most Makes and Models
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80408 Delight Valley School Road
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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A community-led push to re-
store the iconic structure result-
ed in a project which enlisted the
design and construction expertise
of Ausland Group and Hamilton
Construction.
The new suspension design
aimed to capture the distinctive
swinging and aesthetic character
See AWARD 10A