Hometown Newspaper of Tony and Barbara Swan
Serving the Sweet Home community since 1929
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Vol, 83, No. 17
75 Cents
Lifesaver
Custodian
credited with
aiding choking
third-grader
By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
When 8-year-old Mary Maschke
started choking during lunch on April
17 at Oak Heights Elementary, custo-
dian Dennis Hooper didn't have time
to wonder what to do.
He hasn't had formal training, but
he had to act immediately. He did and
saved her life.
"I was laughing really hard be-
cause one of my friends said something
really funny at lunch," Mary said. She
had a grape in her mouth, and when
she laughed, she choked on it. "I was
really scared."
"Mr. Hooper saved my life, and
Mrs. (Debbie) Danielson got me all
fixed up," Mary said. Danielson cleaned
Mary up, got her a drink of water and
tended to her.
"I said, thank you," Mary said.
Hooper, who has been custodian at
Oak Heights for 12 years, was stand-
ing about 10 feet away during lunch in
the school's gym, he said. The gym is
filled with some 200 students at lunch-
time.
"You couldn't really hear anything
but jabbering, things clattering togeth-
er," Hooper said. He heard someone
slap the table. "I look up and she's
standing fight there in front of me."
He isn't part of the monitoring
system there, he said. No one is any
more. Monitors have been cut. There
• See Choking, page 3
L
Photo by Sean C. Morgan
Oak Heights custodian Dennis Hooper appears with Mary Maschke, 8, who choked on a
grape during lunch last week. He was near her, and despite no formal training, responded
immediately to help Maschke.
City budget
for 2012-13
14% leaner
By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The city of Sweet Home's proposed 2012-
13 budget is 14 percent smaller than the 2011-
12 fiscal year. Proposed expenditures are 15
percent lower.
The total budget for the 2012-13 fiscal
year, which begins on July 1, is $22 million,
down from $25.7 million. Excluding transfers,
contingencies and unappropriated fund bal-
ances - leaving only expenditures - the budget
decreases from $20.2 million to $17 million.
"During these past few years, the city has
been confronted with significant reductions in
property tax revenues, experienced declines in
various revenue sources, all while continuing
to experience increases in operating expenses,"
said City Manager Craig Martin Thursday eve-
ning, as he introduced the budget proposal. "To
address these issues, proactive steps are being
taken by staff to limit funding requests and re-
duce expenditures whenever possible across all
city operations."
The budget reduces capital outlays by $2.5
million, materials and services by $600,000 and
personnel by $83,000 based on eliminated po-
sitions in the General Fund, Library Fund and
Police Services Fund. Debt service increases
by $67,000. Contingencies and ending fund
balances increase by $49,500.
Personnel cuts include one position in the
Building Division, a police officer, a dispatcher
and a half-time library assistant.
General employees may receive a 3-per-
cent step increase if eligible, based on work
performance, while police employees will re-
ceive a 3-percent general wage increase. City
positions have a maximum of five steps
Hansurance coverage is expected to in-
crease by 10.6 percent, and dental insurance is
estimated to increase by 9.1 percent.
Overall, the general fund would decrease
by $259,000. The Police Department is de-
creasing spending by $142,000.
The water utility budget decreases by
• See Budget, page 7
Linn Shuttle rapidlyreaching capacity, thanks to growing ridership
By Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
The recent sharp increase in
fuel prices has increased ridership
of Linn Shuttle buses to the point
that many are jammed, Manager
Ken Bronson said last week.
"We're just packing them
in," he said. "Especially in the
morning. I'm a little concerned
about the last route (of the day).
We're filling that bus."
Linn-Benton Community
College students traveling to Al-
bany and Lebanon account for
about 180 of the approximately
300 people who ride the bus ev-
ery day.
Student fees at the college
include transit costs, so students
ride for free instead of paying the
$1 fare per trip.
Bronson said ridership,
which increased 50 percent be-
tween the falls of 2010 and 2011,
has increased another 21 percent
since last fall,
He said he's running three
Express buses on routes 1,3 and
4 - two in the morning and one
in the afternoon - in addition to
the regular six routes the service
operates: three shuttle buses, two
buses specifically for the devel-
opmentally disabled, and one
Dial-a-Bus.
The Express bus is making
trips from the stop at Wal-mart
in Lebanon to the Albany LBCC
campus, then comes back to Leb-
anon and reloads. Meanwhile,
the regular shuttle bus makes its
stops in Sweet Home, where it
is nearly full before it leaves for
Lebanon.
"That's why we have an Ex-
press bus, to take the overload,"
Bronson said.
He said he hasn't come up
with a plan to handle any more
increases in demand.
"We're out of funds to ex-
pand any more," he said. The
service's approximately $500,000
annual budget is funded primarily
• See Shuttle, page 2
Photo by Scott Swanson
Linn Shuttle manager Ken Bronson stands next to one of his buses, which
on some routes are nearly exceeding capacity thanks to increased riders.
