Hometown Newspa aer of Angie Stevens
Serving the Sweet Home community since 1929
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Vol. 83, No. 26
75 Cents
By Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
An Oregon Department of
Transportation employee says he
was reacting out of "instinct" when
he dived into a pond along High-
way 20 last week to rescue a Sweet
Home man from a submerged truck
crash that left the victim's truck
submerged in a pond.
Troy Elverfeld broke a win-
dow in Dean H. Stillwell's pickup
Tuesday afternoon and pulled an
apparently nearly unconcious Still-
well from the truck, which had
been shoved into the pond during
a traffic accident.
According to Oregon State
Police, the incident occurred at
says
approximately 3:24 p.m. Tuesday,
June 19, on Highway 20 just east
of the Highway 26 intersection.
Eastbound traffic was stopped
near milepost 7 for ODOT road-
work, when a 1996 Dodge pickup
pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with
hay, driven by John L. Olson, 21,
of Sisters, failed to stop in time.
According to OSP, Olson's pickup
crashed into the rear of a 1970
Chevrolet pickup driven by Dean
H. Stillwell, 56, of Sweet Home,
causing a chain-reaction crash in-
volving three other vehicles.
After being struck, Stillwell's
pickup slammed into the back of
a 2003 Dodge Caravan driven by
Shirley Harrison, 81, of Albany.
Stillwell's pickup then careened
across the westbound lane and off
the roadway into a bordering pond
where it became completely sub-
merged, the OSP said.
Elverfeld, 47, of Lebanon, said
he saw smoke from where he was
working down the road, installing
white reflector posts as part of an
ODOT project.
"I heard on the flagging radio
that there had been an accident," he
said. "I saw the black smoke and
thought,'Oh gee, I'd better get over
there and see if I can help.'"
Elverfeld said he drove the
backhoe he was operating over to
See Rescue, page 8
Photo courtesy of Oregon State Police
Dean Stillwell's truck sits submerged in a pond off Highway 20following
an accident in which his vehicle was pushed into the water.
Members of the county
Major Accident Investi-
gation Team work at the
scene of an accident in the
4800 block of Main Street,
where a 93-year-old man
who was struck by a van
Thursday afternoon, June
21, as he crossed Main
Street in his motorized
wheelchair. Fritz Cole
was pronounced dead at
the scene. For more on
the crash, see page 9.
Photo by
Scott Swanson
Census: SH
population
8,925 in "10
By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Sweet Home's population has
grown just over 10 percent in the
past decade, according to recently
released U.S. Census data for the
city.
Census results, from data gath-
ered in 2010, indicate that Sweet
Home's population was 8,925 in
2010, up from 8016 in 2000.
The Portland State Population
Research Center independently esti-
mated Sweet Home's population at
9,070 in July 2010, the largest ever.
Portland State estimated Sweet
Home's population at 9,005 last fall.
See Census, page 7
SH aluin gets big honor from Boeing
By Scott Swanson "It was a pretty big honor to "After that, engineering school
Of The New Era receive that kind of award," said got pretty busy and I ended up
Nancy Adcock wasn't really Adcock, who's been with Boeing switching gears, getting more into
sure what was next when she left for 11 years. "They only give it to the engineering side of things," she
Sweet Home High School in 1996 one person every year. It seemed said.
and headed for Oregon State Uni- like, from what I could tell, most of She said she appreciates what
versity, the folks who were up for nomina- her high school experience did for
A star basketball player at tion had been in the company a lot her, back in the days when "Mr.
Sweet Home, she'd gotten inter- longer than I had - 20 or 30 years. (Dan) Tow was single."
ested in engineering after meeting It was a pretty big surprise to fol- "Sweet Home High School
her older sister's boyfriend, who low in the shoes of the person who didn't have all those opportuni-
worked at Hewlett-Packard and let got it last year." ties for specialized classes, but one
her job shadow with him during her Adcock is the daughter ofthing they did have was excellent
senior year. That, and encourage- Butch and Polly Adcock of Se- teachers in math, English and the
ment from science teacher Cheryll quim, Wash formerly of Sweet sciences," she said. "I think that re-
Munts prompted her to give engi- Home. ally helped me in my transition to
neering a try. She was a cross-country run- Oregon State. I had a solid basis in
"Between Mrs. Munts and my ner and basketball player in high math, science and English."
sister, I went into it," she said. school, earning all-conference Her first big break came when
Her decision paid off over the MVP honors as a senior on the she got a job in the mechanical en-
years, most recently when Adcock, hardcourt. At OSU she walked on gineering shop at OSU, where she
now 33, was. named the Boeing and played two years, earning a learned from shop manager Steve
Corp.'s 777 Engineer of the Year scholarship with the Beavers as a
for 2011. guard. See Adcock, page 16
SPORTSMAN'S llOLIbaV COURT 2012
Candalynn Johnson
Candalynn John-
son, 17, is the daughter
of Charles Johnson and
Katie Johnson.
She will be a senior
at Sweet Home High
School, where she is
active in cross country,
Key Club, Drama Club
and choir.
She is among four
Sportsman's Holiday
princesses, including
Chancey Fuesler, Anne
Marie Miller and Kayla
Mackenzie Wickline.
Johnson enjoys
reading, running, acting,
See Court, page 3
I oH!!UII!I!!! II
