Oct. 26, 1972
A tentative proposal to renovate the high school was approved by the school board and the architects were instructed to begin work on preliminary schematic drawings.
A rough estimate of the cost was $2.25 million, $400,000 less than a proposal that was defeated by voters last fall. The current proposal calls for demolishing the east center portion of the old school building and construction of two new classroom wings to the rear of the buildings.
The City Council authorized the purchase of a new computerized billing machine, which is needed to update the current 15-year-old system and accommodate a larger capacity of work.
The new machine will cost $8,372, which was anticipated and included in the budget. The current machine only does billing and takes five days just to complete water and sewer statements, and had been out of order several times in the past year.
The new machine will also be able to reject human errors and bill for bonded liens assessments, accounting, payroll and budgetery work. It will also compute interests and other types of rates, which is currently done by hand.
The Hofheins property, 17.25 acres in the middle of Sweet Home, has been a topic of discussion this past year.
The fire department has had several calls to the area, and the school board was, until this week, considering purchasing the property for the high school.
The city has been concerned about the hazards on the property, but has no interest in purchasing it.
Friesen Lumber Co. and Oregon Plywood once ran busy operations there, but closed down about 10 years ago until it was purchased by investor Robert F. Hofheins, who appears to not live in the area.
Since then, logs, debris, delapidating buildings and nature have caused nuisance issues for the city to contend with.
The Sportsman’s Holiday steering committee discussed ways to make the event a profitable one for the community.
Chairman Gene Collins said he talked to former U.S. Sen. Wayne Morse about the possibilities to receive federal funds toward building a community center if the event can be put on a profit-making basis to start a local fund. Further study of various phases for other project ideas still need to be considered.
Oct. 22, 1997
Linn County divers retrieved a car that went over an embankment into Foster Lake across from North River Drive from Marks Ridge Road.
Only minor injuries were reported among the six persons in the car.
Driver Anthony Cole, 20, went into the lake at about 1 a.m. after he noticed his brakes weren’t working as he was coming down the hill off Mark’s Ridge.
The car rolled three times, bounced and landed right-side-up in the lake.
The passengers had to roll down the windows in order to escape. Cole and two of his passengers were cited for minor in possession.
The Linn District of the Oregon Department of Forestry reported a mere nine fires during the fire season this year, encompassing less than five acres.
The assistant district forester said it was the lightest fire season he’s seen in his 10 years in the district. It’s the same statewide, which had nine major fires encompassing 1,249 acres on lands protected by the Department of Forestry.
The annual average is 31 fires over 21,034 acres.
Recently enacted legislation begins this week, allowing the police to tow the cars of drivers who are driving while suspended or revoked, uninsured or under the influence.
Police Chief Bob Burford said there is a “tremendous” number of cars on the street driven by suspended or uninsured drivers, those who “have no business driving.” He believes the Legislature created a “wake up call” that this is not acceptable.