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Lane County progresses to ‘Moderate Risk’ status, Douglas still ‘Extreme’
By Chantelle Meyer
(541) 942-0555
INATE US
M
NT
S entinel
Est. 1889
NO
C ottage G rove
THURSDAY EDITION | MARCH 11, 2021 | $1.00
U
S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , C RESWELL , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA
This past Tuesday (March 9), Or-
egon Gov. Kate Brown announced
updates to county risk levels under
the state’s public health framework
to reduce transmission and protect
Oregonians from COVID-19.
The framework uses four differ-
ent risk levels for counties based on
COVID-19 spread — extreme risk,
high risk, moderate risk and lower
risk — and assigns health and safe-
Partly sunny skies
with a high of 57 and
a low tonight of 30.
Full forecast on A5
ty measures for each level.
Effective tomorrow (March 12)
through March 25, there will only
be two counties — Douglas and
Coos — remaining in the “extreme
risk” level, nine at “high risk,” 12 at
“moderate risk” and 13 at “lower
risk.”
Lane County shifts down to
moderate risk after just two weeks
at high risk, along with four other
counties.
“We are largely seeing case rates
decline across the state, with the
most counties in the lower risk lev-
el since the framework was intro-
duced in November,” said Brown.
“This should serve as a reminder
that when we follow the health
and safety measures we know
work against this virus, we can tru-
ly make a difference in infection
spread.”
Additional restrictions are lift-
ed as counties reach fewer cases of
community spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, this will mean:
• Eating and drinking establish-
ments: indoor dining is allowed
with 50 percent capacity; indoor
tables can have a maximum of six
people; outdoor dining can have a
maximum of eight people
• Entertainment establishments:
indoor capacity can have 50 per-
cent capacity up to 100 people
• Indoor recreation and fitness:
indoor capacity can have 50 per-
cent or up to 100 people; indoor
full-contact sports still prohibited.
See MODERATE 8A
Savage appointed
to Ward 1 seat
by city council
Standout student art
BETTY KAISER
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.
com
Cook’s Corner
A5
SPORTS
Lady Lions sweep
Falcons
B1
• RECORDS
Obituaries
Official releases
A2
• LORANE NEWS
A5
• CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
B5-B6
FOLLOW
U S FOR THE
LATEST NEWS
:
/CGSentinel
@CGSentinel
A
rtistic submissions from local youths are on display
this month at the Opal Center downtown in the first
annual Crafty Mercantile/Opal Center Student Art
Contest. Local student artists ages 5 to 18 participated by
creating and submitting original artwork. Local artists
Paula Goodbar, Thi Nguyen and Alex Ihnat judged a total of
58 entries. Prizes included art supplies, gift certificates and
art classes. (See “Art” on page A8 for a list of winners)
PHOTOS BY DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
City mulls over street construction issue
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.
com
The Cottage Grove
City Council groped for
answers during its regu-
lar session Monday night
regarding a construction
mistake within the Safe
Routes to School project
that may cost the city as
much as $58,365.
The issue was brought
to the attention of city staff
two weeks ago by Wildish
Construction when it be-
came apparent that the
gutters and entrances to
three corners of the inter-
section at South Eighth
Street and Taylor Avenue
handicap ramps were low-
er than the adjacent street
elevation.
At certain points, the
road was measured to be
more than eight inches off.
Mayor Jeff Gowing ex-
pressed his astonishment
at the magnitude of the
mistake during the meet-
ing.
“I can’t believe the guys
See STREET 6A
In a 5-1 vote on Mon-
day night, the Cottage
Grove City Council ap-
pointed Chalice Savage
to the council’s Ward 1
seat.
The position has been
vacant for more than a
month due to the resigna-
tion on Feb. 5 of former
Councilor Jake Boone,
who stepped down to
pursue the newly-created
position of Assistant to
the City Manager.
“That was a tough pan-
el to decide from because
we had six really good
candidates,” said Mayor
Jeff Gowing.
Councilors
inter-
viewed the six applicants
for the Ward 1 position
before the council’s reg-
ular session on Monday
night. Other applicants
included Ward 1 res-
idents Scott Borgioli,
Duane Taddei, Jennifer
Crosby, Donn Rust and
Billy Reed.
The
six-member
council asked applicants
questions on an array of
topics including familiar-
ity with city code, com-
munication with other
Ward 1 residents, ideas
for civic engagement and
what applicants believed
were the city’s main
challenges.
As a guard against
unfair advantage, candi-
dates were asked not to
listen in on others’ inter-
views.
During her interview,
Savage said she hoped to
bring her communication
See SAVAGE 9A
Cleanup event to target Umpqua Forest destinations
541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Lovers of the outdoors will get a
chance this weekend participate in
an effort to clean up and maintain
the natural beauty of their local
countryside.
On March 13 and 14, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days, volun-
teers are heading into the wilder-
ness under the banner of the “TAZ
Cleanup” to pick up and haul out
garbage from beloved natural des-
tinations.
The project has been organized
by Phillip Miller, who hosts an out-
door travel Youtube channel called
+ 100% Contactless Service & Fully Insured
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• Complete lawn care packages
• Trimming, weeding & mulching
• Custom/one-time service options
PO Box 341, Cottage
Grove, Oregon
541-731-8528
prasadalandscapes.com
“The Adventure Zombie,” or TAZ
for short.
Miller aims to raise awareness
and clean up the outdoors with the
event.
“I’m not in it for the publicity,”
he said. “It’s not about my Youtube
channel. It’s about going out there
and picking up trash and doing the
right thing.”
The cleanup will focus on spots
in the Umpqua National Forest
including Brice Creek, Bohemia
Mountain,
Spirit/Moon/Pinard
Falls areas and other trails.
The idea for the event formed
See TAZ 11A