We at The Chronicle admire our fearless leader, our publisher, Noel Nash. Over the months we have come to know him as a good man, a generous community leader, intelligent, fun, ethical, and open-minded. Noel is a leader and business owner who motivates team spirit, lifts morale, demonstrates fairness and empathy for his community, and works harder than anyone in publishing. He cares about the community he serves. His motives are not driven by the desire to earn a paycheck the hard way (newspaper publishing is not for the weak of heart), Noel genuinely seeks to serve his community.

In 30 years of living in Oregon, I had never visited Mary’s Peak until last Monday. “The native Kalapuya called the Peak tcha Timanwi, or ‘place of spiritual power.’” Southwest of Philomath, it is the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range. Atop the mountain, there are stunning views of the ocean, Coast Range, Cascades, and valley floor. The outing gave rise to some random reflections with no single unifying thread. The late comedienne Joan Rivers once undressed a heckler offended by Rivers’ delivery of a ‘Helen Keller’ joke. The heckler must have had a death wish when he shouted, “Blindness is not funny” to Rivers, a veteran of fifty years in comedy. Instead of brushing off the heckler as she easily could have, Rivers stopped her act, and told the righteous fool that her mother was blind, and “explained” that laughter is how we survive the things that cause us the greatest pain. Amen.

SPRINGFIELD – With evacuees from the Holiday Farm and other fires having temporarily left their homes or in some cases lost their homes, Springfield residents and businesses have stepped up to help. The City Council passed a resolution Monday, Oct. 19, in support of temporarily allowing RVs to be parked on private property due to the heightened need for temporary housing in our community. City staff established guidelines for the temporary measure and continue to uphold safety and health standards aimed at protecting the occupants of the RVs. The guidelines do not apply to RV Parks, manufactured dwelling parks, or campgrounds or to churches.

Last week we traced a few of the reasons that citizens of Cottage Grove so passionately viewed Mt. David as public space. Generations of Grovers had used this hill as their collective backyard. When it snowed, every kid in town who had a sled would be riding down its slopes. Those not so blessed would use a piece of cardboard or even just their breeches. Often the sledding was accompanied by a festive bonfire on the summit. Fire was a common occurrence on Mt. David. Mostly a grass pastureland, it was common for fires to start with a little help from kids with matches or other careless acts. It was understood that it was a community effort to put out the blazes, so everybody pitched in for the common good.

In September, the Oregon Secretary of State reported that 2,924,292 people registered to vote in the state. With the elections approaching, people are rushing to get registered. People are getting pushed by many to register. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, celebrities, and friends are pushing for individuals to not only register, but to vote in the upcoming elections. Significant attention is being paid to the presidential election. For some who are torn and don’t see a good option in either candidate, they will refrain from voting. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 61 percent of the voting-age population is voting. A little under half did not vote. Had those people voted, there could have been a different result in the 2016 elections.

SPRINGFIELD – Originally, Springfield City Council Ward 3 candidate Johanis Tadeo said he did not even want to run for council, but was not seeing anyone advocate for marginalized voices; he was tired of waiting for someone else to do it. “I understand I’m a different type of candidate,” Tadeo said at the Oct. 20 Candidate Roundtable discussion through the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Government Issues and Economic Development Committee. Tadeo, whose background is as a grassroots community organizer, is running against Kori Rodley for the seat.

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield City Council strategized this week how to address a persistent structural deficit in its general fund. The city’s projections for the 2022 fiscal year will be the first year to dip below the healthy reserve of operating expenditures. If council does nothing, by 2026 the operating expenditure ending cash will be at 0%, said the city’s director of finance, Nathan Bell. A healthy reserve is usually between 20% to 25%, Bell said. With the projection showing FY22 at 19%, he assured council that it was “doable” to bring into a healthy reserve level.

What’s in a bark? Have you ever wondered what your dog is saying when they bark? It could be “I hear a noise!”, “I’m nervous!”, “I’m bored!”, “I want to visit with that dog!”, “I want that!” Those are the 5 main statements I hear every day from dogs. Let’s take a look at those barks: Boredom Barking — I hear this from dogs who are left alone a lot. It’s a sad rhythmic tune of 4 medium tone barks. This can be alleviated with increased exercise and mental stimulation. A good long “sniff walk” can brighten up your dog’s life! 20 minutes of walking with your dog, letting them periodically stop to sniff for 10-30 seconds, twice a day does wonders for them. And many people don’t realize how much most dogs love toys! Invest in a couple interactive toys to leave with your dog to play with. A stuffed Kong is always a hit at my house.

LORANE – Our ballots arrived in the mail last week and we marked them right away and dropped them into the big white ballot box in the Walmart parking lot in Eugene on Monday when we went to town. It felt good, knowing that we have done our parts in such an important responsibility in the democratic process. A few days later, we went to the website set up by the Oregon Secretary of State (google “My Vote Oregon”), and checked the status of our ballots to make sure they had been received. Sure enough, after filling out my info, a screen popped up with the notation, “Your ballot was received on October 20, 2020.” Our votes will be counted.

Sept. 16, 1970 – Oct. 17, 2020

May 29, 1951 – Oct. 16, 2020

Jan. 29, 1935 – Oct. 9, 2020

June 3, 1953 – Oct. 8, 2020

Sept. 15, 1923 – Oct. 2020

March 24, 1950 – Oct. 12, 2020

Jan. 16, 1969 – Oct. 21, 2020

When Jason Bush, building official for the cities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Veneta and Coburg, first got a call from Jayson Southmayd on July 6, he originally thought that he was getting involved in a small contractor-builder dispute with minor issues. It wasn’t until he went out to see the property the two days later that he realized how much trouble the Southmayds faced. “Never have I been as affected by someone as I was then,” Bush said. “He’s a veteran and my whole family is veterans. For someone to go out and fight for our rights, it’s heartbreaking to me to see him go through something that is so given to the average family.”

Ivan DelSol is a political candidate running against incumbent Cottage Grove Mayor Jeff Gowing (The Chronicle, Oct. 8). DelSol was born under the sun sign Scorpio during the lunar Year of the Pig. Scorpio-Pigs are known for being smart and good-natured. They have a passion for human services and for changing and creating policies that regulate human services, such as Hillary Clinton (Scorpio-Pig). Scorpio-Pigs are passionate about reaching goals and fulfilling objectives, and they are sweet, empathetic, and kindhearted.

im Lukehart, lead custodian at Briggs Middle School, is spotlighted for Springfield Public School’s Humans of SPS, which took a hiatus over the summer. Lukeheart, who is a former military police officer, said he runs a pretty tight ship but that he and his colleagues enjoy the work.

Creswell School District has implemented 58 hotspots in the community and are directly impacting 99% to 100% of their students. That breaks down to 13 hot spots for high schoolers, 12 for middle schoolers and 33 elementary schoolers. “Hot spots were a hot item,” said Joel Higdon, director of technology services and facility ops. Each hotspot costs $100 and they have only had to replace a couple that didn’t work.

Superintendent Mike Johnson said comprehensive distance learning will be extended into November based upon Lane County’s surge in COVID-19 cases. “Realistically, winter brings in hard times and a lot of viruses,” he said. “People get sick in winter and so I’m not holding out on being in person before winter break. A lot of districts are looking to spring break.”

Ballot Measure 20-316 is not fair, equitable or beneficial for Pleasant Hill taxpayers. This measure proposes the dissolution of the Pleasant Hill Fire District (PHFD) and annexation into the Goshen Fire District. As background information, PH and Goshen agreed to share the services of a common fire chief in 2013 to reduce the total expenses being paid for the two Chief positions. The good news is this agreement has been in place since that time and results in a net savings to both fire departments. Additionally, the combined staff of our two fire departments is over 50 volunteers and career staff according to a recent public document. However, Measure 20-316 would implement other factors which are detrimental to Pleasant Hill taxpayers.

Use-of-force expert Rick Braziel said at this week’s Springfield City Council meeting that he will focus on getting “the rest of the story” from the July 29 protest in Thurston. City leaders hired Braziel to further investigate the conflict between officers and protesters. City manager Nancy Newton said that hiring Braziel will help “effectively evaluate how we grow and learn from this experience.”

SPRINGFIELD – The city council decided to keep the status quo and put off appointing a new mayor, leaving council president Joe Pishioneri to fill those duties. The mayor’s position has been vacant since August. Councilors decided during the Oct. 19 meeting that with six meetings remaining in 2020 it was best to wait until the new year. They also appointed council president pro-tem Marilee Woodrow to assist him. Council members said they will meet again after the election to give the new Ward 3 councilor an opportunity to weigh in on the formal appointment.

The increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in Lane County and all over the country necessitates that we continue protecting ourselves and our loved ones as best we can. Wearing masks, social distancing, hand washing, and not seeing our loved ones as often as we would like are taking their toll on many of us, but we cannot let up our vigilance. The first three things have been easy for Jim and I to assimilate. They are simple inconveniences that seem almost natural to us when we are out and about these days. The hard part is not being able to spend more time with our son and daughters; our grandchildren and great-grands.

If you look around there is little doubt that with the certainty of the sunrise, winter will soon be here. Rain is in the forecast for this weekend and the comfortable 60-degree daytime temperatures that we have enjoyed will retreat to a more seasonal range in the 50s. And across our region for the first time since late last winter, low temperatures in the 30s are also in the forecast. Nothing out of sorts here; typical fall pattern and weather. At the top of the report, it’s hard to overlook that one of our counties, in fact one of our state’s premier fishing resources, was badly damaged by fire this season. Sadly, with McKenzie so compromised this fall, it clears the table of a lot of nearby opportunities for local anglers.

In their own words: Candidates make their cases to voters

SPRINGFIELD – Kori Rodley told attendees that she remains focused on housing and living-wage jobs – both exacerbated by the pandemic, she said. The remarks came during the Oct. 13 Business Roundtable sponsored by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Government Issues and Economic Development Committees. Rodley is facing Johanis Tadeo for the Ward 3 position on city council.

In their own words: Candidates make their cases to voters

Mount David, a silent witness to Cottage Grove’s birth and growth, stands over our town. It has served a variety of roles in the city’s history. An early water system had its reservoir there in the 1890s. Early photographers documented the town’s growth with panoramic views from its slopes. One slick huckster used it to separate many citizens from their hard-earned cash. But mostly the bucolic hill came to be regarded as common space by Grovers, the perfect place for a walk, picnic, or just to pause and reflect.