4A | AUGUST 19, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
damien Sherwood, editor | 541-942-3325 | dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Opinion
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
Emergency preparedness
is a critical precaution
We’ve been in fire
season for some time
now and it is very im-
portant for anyone who
lives in our rural and
wildland urban inter-
face (WUI) areas to be
familiar with the coun-
ty’s evacuation levels
and notification meth-
ods.
It is also crucial to
have a family emer-
gency plan that you’ve
practiced in advance
with your two-weeks-
ready supply kit or ‘go-
bag’.
Emergencies
can
come at any time and
in any season. Here is
how to be prepared:
Know the three
evacuation levels:
Level 1 - BE READY:
This means pack your
valuables and sup-
plies that you’ve gath-
ered to be two weeks
ready. This includes
important documents,
medical
equipment
or medication, extra
food, water, clothing
and more. There are
numerous checklists
available online to help
you ensure you have
everything you need.
Additionally, prepare
your home both in-
side and out. Shut your
windows and doors,
remove flammable ob-
jects and place them
away from the home,
shut off gas at the me-
ter, turn off pilot lights
and BBQ appliances.
Leave your lights on
inside and out so fire-
fighters can see your
house when it is smoky.
Connect your garden
hose but don’t leave
your sprinklers run-
ning as they can affect
water pressure. Make
sure your pets are near-
by and prepare farm
animals for transport.
Finally, check on
your neighbors!
tion you will receive.
Do not stop for any
further items to find
or pack. Stay calm and
follow your family
emergency plan. Please
follow instructions of
law enforcement and
emergency managers
promptly.
How will I be noti-
fied of an emergency?
There are a variety of
notification methods
and it is important to
From Your Commissioner’s Desk
Heather Buch
Lane County Commissioner
District 5
Level 2 - BE SET:
Monitor the news ei-
ther on television, ra-
dio or the Sheriff and
local fire department’s
social media pages.
Review your family
emergency plan and
ensure your supply kits
are in your vehicle.
This may be the last
notification you’ll get.
If you feel unsafe, you
could leave the area
now and take this time
to help others that may
need extra time to
move out of the area.
Don’t wait to be or-
dered by authorities to
leave.
Level 3 - GO NOW:
Immediately evacuate!
This is the last notifica-
utilize them all:
1. Your Neighbors –
#1 Best return on in-
vestment when all sys-
tems fail
2. Landlines (reverse
911)
3. Cell phones (Wire-
less Emergency Alerts)
4. Radio (Emergen-
cy Alerting System or
EAS)
5. TV (Emergen-
cy Alerting System or
EAS)
6. Identify your trust-
ed sources for informa-
tion
a. Emergency Call
Center 541-682-3977
b. Lane County Face-
book Page
7. Sign up for county
emergency alerts here:
w w w. l ane c ou nt yor.
gov/emergencyalerts
Create a Wildfire
Action Plan
This plan should in-
clude all members of
your family and could
be different from fam-
ily to family.
Some critical items to
determine are mapping
various escape routes,
designating an emer-
gency meet up loca-
tion, pet and livestock
transport locations and
designate an out-of-ar-
ea friend or relative as a
single point of contact
should you be separat-
ed.
Ensure you have fire
extinguishers nearby
and train family mem-
bers on how to use
them.
Make sure each fam-
ily member knows how
to shut off main control
systems.
Also, keep extra
emergency supply kits
in your car (I have a
go-kit in my trunk at
all times).
This is a summary
of some widely recog-
nized emergency pre-
paredness techniques.
You can find more
comprehensive check-
lists and information
at www.ready.gov or at
www.lanecounty.org
and click on Emergen-
cy Preparedness.
Stay Safe!
USPS#133880
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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Oregon federal
representatives
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
• Heather Buch
Lane County Commissioner
- District 5
Email: Heather.Buch@lane
countyorg.gov
125 E. Eighth Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Or call 541-682-4203
S entinel
C ottage G rove
541-942-3325
LETTERS
Administration
Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher
Governor Sells Out Our
High Schoolers
Once again, Governor Kate
Brown has bypassed public ad-
ministration process and public
comment by signing a law un-
der the table to please her woke,
social flavor of the month poli-
ticians and school officials sup-
porters.
This time, because these people
are embarrassed that too many
minorities flunk high school
math and reading proficiency
tests, she signed a law that elim-
inates these tests. She signed this
law on July 14 without issuing a
press release or entering it into
the public record.
How progressive!
Oregon already is well into the
lower half of all states in stan-
dardized tests results, according
to a recent U.S. News and World
Report assessment, among oth-
ers.
Instead of working to improve
grades she is dumbing down Or-
egon’s high schoolers. They may
graduate believing educators
who say they have the requisite
life skills to make it in the world,
but how many employers will
hire them suspecting they cannot
count or communicate?
Ironically, this misbegotten
cave-in will hurt most the mi-
norities these elitists profess to
shield. Minority students some-
times have a steep educational
and economic hill to climb. This
law will not aid their ascent.
The law shields only those who
have abdicated their responsibili-
ty to prepare our students for the
work force.
—Robert Tully
Cottage Grove
Taxpayer Gets
Stiffed Again
In this week’s Sentinel (Aug.
12), it ran an article about the old
Harrison School site.
First, the South Lane School
District sold the old Harrison site
because it was old, had asbestos
and lead issues and we were told
we needed a new school. So, we
had a bond measure and built a
great new Harrison School.
The SLSD sold the old site for
$345,000 less than the appraised
$745,000 because of the above
stated issues.
Contractor A buys it under
the conditions listed in the pa-
per; take out asbestos and lead
and upgrade facilities or tear it
all down. Contractor now says he
did not see any of the listed con-
ditions in the contract and has
not done any of the corrections
determined by SLSD.
Contractor A says, “There was
no requirement or preference
communicated to interested pur-
chasers that the old school build-
ing be renovated or removed.”
Are you kidding me? Is the
SLSD competent enough to put
such important things in writ-
ing or is the contractor blowing
smoke?
And now the ACE school is
looking to buy the property, and
who do you think helps fund
ACE coffers? Why, I believe it is
SLSD.
So, not only did the property
get sold for under value, but now
ACE will be asking for monies I
am sure are from SLSD to help
make the school safe for their
kids, which is striking because
SLSD could not put money in the
old site and make it safe for kids
before they got the bond measure
to build the new school — but
will it now budget monies to ACE
to correct these safety issues?
You guessed it — a shell game.
And who will finally pay for it?
Why, you and me.
I truly hope I am all wrong on
this issue. We will see.
—Rod Cameron
Cottage Grove
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