'1 Nt "r,,, - January 4, 2012 VouR COMMUNITV/OPINION Page 5
We review top news of 2011: July through December
Editor's note: This is the con-
tinuation of our review of the major
news events of 2011. The events of
January through June appeared in
the Dec. 28 edition.
July
A survey on the city's web-
site showed the majority of respon-
dents favored allowing residents to
own chickens, which at that time
were severely restricted within the
city limits.
liThe U.S. Masters Swimming
One-Mile Open Water Champion-
ships were held on Foster Lake.
Kimber Swanson was named
Sportsman's Holiday Queen.
The School Board approved
four furlough days for the 2011-12
school year to save roughly a quar-
ter million dollars and bolster end-
ing fund balances.
The teachers union and
School District reached an agree-
ment that had no increases to sal-
ary or benefits during the 2011-12
school year although it will give a
step increase to eligible teachers at
the end of the year.
The College of Osteopathic
Medicine of the Pacific Northwest
opened in Lebanon.
Don Schrader began work-
ing as School District 55 superin-
tendent.
The Rick McKay Corpo-
ration won the Logger Olympics
Working Loggers Relay.
Dr. Henry and Mollie
Wolthuis were named Tree Farm-
ers of the Year by the Linn Coun-
ty Chapter of the Oregon Small
Woodlands Association for their
120-acre Wiley Creek tree farm.
Sweet Home police officers
began wearing video recorders as
part of their uniforms. The cameras.
are used when officers respond to
calls for service.
August
Randy Nicholson placed
first in the Texaco Country Show-
down at Linn County Fair and then
performed at the Oregon Jamboree.
Tristan Nichols and Trevor Tagle
finished second in the showdown.
All three are from Sweet Home.
Fifteen students from Josai
University High School in Tokyo
spent two weeks in Sweet Home,
with visits to Chafin Farms for
shooting demonstrations, a hayride
and cowboy photos and locations
around the state.
Performing at the annual
three-day camping and country
music festival The Oregon Jam-
boree were Clay Walker, Jo Dee
Messina, Darius Rucker, Margaret
Durante, Laura Bell Bundy, Saw-
yer Brown, Jason Jones, Jerry Jeff
Walker, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Ronnie Dunn, Collin Raye and
Lady Antebellum.
Photo by Scott Swanson
The former Cascadia School burns on Nov. 19.
II Notes
From page 4
Internet - Our website,
sweethomenews.com, thus far is all
free-access. That will change, even-
tually, and when it does, the website
will become a more integral part
of improved service to subscribers.
More on that when it happens.
Delivery - As you know if
you read my column from a couple
of weeks ago, we're in the process of
trying various options on how best
to deliver the newspaper and the Ex-
tra (which currently is carrying the
advertising inserts that were previ-
ously included in your newspaper).
This has been a problem area for
some time, with changing deadlines
and rising prices at the Post Office.
Whatever the solution is, it will be
one that will get you your paper in
the most timely, reliable and afford-
able way.
The more we can keep our de-
livery costs down, the less chance of
price increases for subscribers. We
don't like raising prices any more
than you like paying them.
Subscribers -Although our
subscriber base is pretty steady, the
economy has definitely taken a mall
toll on our readership the last couple
of years. We're aware that some of
our readers are in financial straits,
and although The New Era actually
costs you less each week than you'd
pay for a cup of coffee, we know
even that is tough for some. So if
you have ideas that would make it
easier on your budget to pay the $32
local annual subscription fee, tell
US.
if you've got comments, feel
free to e-mail them to me at scott@
sweethomenews.com or call me at
(541) 367-2135.
Happy New Year?
Photo by Sean C. Morgan
Medics load Robert Walter Graf of Portland onto a REACH air ambulance waiting on Highway 20 near The
Point Restaurant and Shea Point on Aug. 25. He sustained critical injurie in a crash on Highway 20 in front of
the Waterhole.
The Jamboree announced
during the show that Rascal Flatts
would perform next year, and
Neal McCoy would be the emcee
all weekend long. Since then, the
Jamboree has announced headliner
Dierks Bentley.
Air Force bomb experts
removed a dummy round from a
Vietnam-era cluster bomb from the
Sweet Home Police Department
parking lot. A Sweet Home man
had found the device on a trail in
Foster and taken it to the Police
Department. It turned out to be a
dummy round for use in training.
The Linn County Sheriff's
Office showcased its new marine
patrol boat.
Geuevieve Rice turned 100
years old on Aug. 12.
Numerous bands from
around Oregon performed at the
second annual Psychostock held
over two days at Sankey Park.
A&W celebrated its 50th
anniversary.
Mark Joseph Hardin, 49,
was reported missing. Searchers
looked for him for about 10 days
but were unable to locate him. He
disappeared in the Upper Calapoo-
ia area near Holley. He had been
reported missing on Aug. 7. He re-
mains missing.
A reported pipe bomb turned
out to be a plastic "Star Wars"
lightsaber toy. The Oregon State
Police Explosives Unit responded
to render safe and then recover the
device.
Sweet Home police re-
ported an increase in automobile
break-ins. Some 38 of 71 unauthor-
ized entries into motor vehicles oc-
curred between July 1 and Aug. 4.
Alfred Finnell turned 100
years old on Aug. 21.
Manager Don Friesen re-
tired from Industrial Welding Sup-
ply after 42 years.
September
The Sweet Home Rodeo re-
ported cutting its deficit to less than
half, from $13,000 to $6,000, after
its performance in July.
The Boys and Gifts Club
reported that it was renovating
Roy Johnston Field at Hawthorne
School. The field is home to Sweet
Home's summer youth baseball
and softball programs.
Kambria Schumacher of
Crawfordsville won the Sprint
Triathlon portion of the Best in
the West Triathlon held at Lewis
Creek Park. Other winners were
from elsewhere in Oi'egon.
The Mid-Valley Chapter of
the Vietnam Veterans of America
opened a fishing dock at a secret
location outside Leba non to be
used as a fishing getaway for vet-
erans staying Veterans Administra-
tion hospitals and homes.
Sweet Home High School
business teacher Michael Mor-
rell was arrested on four counts of
third-degree sexual abuse in con-
nection to incidents involving a
Lebanon high school student. The
case remains under way in Linn
County Circuit Court.
A mild summer tumed hot,
and fire danger briefly spiked to ex-
treme early in the month.
The Sweet Home Police
Department celebrated its 100th
anniversary.
Rose Peda was named di-
rector of the Sweet Home Public
Library.
Searchers located the body
of a missing Corvallis man, Timo-
thy Misner, 45, in Foster Lake near
Lewis Creek Park. His vehicle had
been located at the park. The sher-
iff reported that there was no evi-
dence of foul play.
Forest Protection Supervi-
sor Jim Basting retired from the
Oregon Department of Forestry
Sweet Home Unit after 42 years in
the fire service.
Victoria Sophia Richards,
40, died in the motorcycle crash
on Foster Dam. The alleged driver,
Bobby Ray Hancock, 40, was ar-
rested for criminally negligent
homicide and second-degree man-
slaughter. The case remains under
way in Linn County Circuit Court.
October
After learning about the
impact of an aquatics district on
the local police and library levies,
School District 55 and aquatics
committee members agreed to pur-
sue a local option levy through the
district, which imposes no impact
on general government funding.
Increasing ridership prompt-
ed Linn Shuttle to add buses.
Sunshine Industries pur-
chased land off Clark Mill Road
for a new building to replace its
existing facilities, which are dete-
riorating.
The U.S. Postal Service met
with Cascadia residents to explain
why Cascadia Post Office may
be among numerous post offices
closed around the nation. Cascadia
residents told the Postal Service
that they need their Post Office to
remain open. A decision by head-
quarters in Washington, D.C., is
expected in January.
The body of Cody Myers,
19, of Lafayette was located inside
a Jeep near Yellowbottom Camp-
See Revew, page 7
LETTERS TO TIlE LDNTOR
Wolf columns make
interesting points
Editor:
Interesting pro/con on wolves
in Oregon (Dec. 28). Daiute's "pro"
seemed to be supported by easily
verifiable data- although presented
in a somewhat combative style. Her
points have been discussed by all
interested parties with at least some
effort to work out compromises.
Rouse's offering was no less
combative but relied more on per-
sonal anecdotes (shades of Shosta-
kovich's Peter and the Wolf). Data
on wolves' positive impact in Yel-
lowstone is easily accessed, as are
the formal stances taken by both
sides.
I have seen wolves in the
wild (B.C. near Head-Smashed-
In), badgers, deer, of all sorts in
Europe/ USA/ New Zealand, an-
telope, wild boar in Germany and
Turkey, predators and prey alike.
I even saw a wolverine outside of
Spearfish, S.D. I enjoy them. I seek
them out and try to shoot pictures
of them.
Mr. Rouse's statement that
a pack of'10 wolves kills three to
four deer a week pales against the
take of the Cottage Grove family
that emptied a valley of game. The
ODFW reported that last year's li-
censed take of game animals was
exceeded by that of poachers. So
does one stand behind the game,
the hunters, the poachers, or the
ranchers? Could we at least con-
sider the wolf?.
I did note the differentiation Mr.
Rouse made on the several types of
wolves. I do not know much about
the evolution of the wolf. That is, if
one believes in evolution - if not,
maybe they were put here by God .
(Oops?)?
Jim Elkins
Sweet Home
