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Cottage Grove Wednesday, April 8, 2026

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Wednesday APRIL 8, 2026 | 137 years

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WHERE THEY ARE NOW

Cottage Grove artist steps into the spotlight in London CINDY WEELDREYER Cottage Grove Sentinel

Courtesy from Cottage Theatre

Cottage Theatre gave Actor Bradyn Debysingh (with hat) a solid foundation to support his current role in London’s Phantom of the Opera.

When Cottage Grove’s own Bradyn Debysingh steps onto the stage of The Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End, he carries the imprint of a small town that shaped him, a community that nurtured him, and a childhood steeped in both the arts and the deep human connections that define life in Cottage Grove. “CG is such a unique place. It is so small yet so packed with caring and artistic people,” he said. Debysingh’s roots run deep in Cottage Grove. He is a proud 2017 graduate of the Academy for Character Education (ACE) Charter School. He spent countless hours in and around McCoy’s Pharmacy, the family business where his father, pharmacist David Debysingh, became a familiar face to generations of locals. “Seeing how my dad cared so individually for so many people deeply impressed upon me the importance of treating every person with the same dignity and respect you would give to your closest friends and family,” he said. His mother, Terri, helped plant the seeds of artistic curiosity that would eventually grow into a career on some of the world’s most iconic stages. She became so involved in his theatre life that she eventually joined the Cottage Theatre Board of Directors. Cottage Theatre (CT)

became the place where those seeds took root. Bradyn’s first role came at age nine, when he was cast as the Beast in a children’s production of Beauty & the Beast. “I was a bit spooked by my own mask… but I had caught the bug nonetheless,” he laughed. CT’s melodrama camps, directed by Catricia Mayhew and Janet Rust, gave him foundational skills in singing, acting, and tap dancing. He went on to perform in She Loves Me, Annie Get Your Gun, and Singin’ in the Rain, where he starred as Don Lockwood in a Cottage Grove High School production. Cottage Theatre Executive Director Susan Goes, who watched Bradyn grow from a shy nine year old in a Beast mask to a confident young artist, said his journey has been a joy to witness. “There’s nothing we love better at Cottage Theatre than seeing young people find themselves on stage. Bradyn was a faithful participant in our summer melodrama camp for many years… All of us at Cottage Theatre are so honored to have played a small role in fueling Bradyn’s current success.” Her words echo what many in Cottage Grove remember: Bradyn wasn’t just talented — he was grounded, kind, and deeply committed to the craft from the beginning.

A SCHOLAR-ARTIST

Pacific Power, PGE raise residential electricity rates again for Oregon customers than twice the rate of inflation since 2020 That’s due in large part to explosive demand for energy from a massive new industrial customer: data centers. PGE absorbed the most data center load growth of any private utility in the state during the last decade, according to a Sightline Institute analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration data. As a customer class, residential users’ demand on PGE’s system has grown by about 1% a year during the last 10 years, or about 10% in the last decade. Demand from the class of industrial power customers that data centers fall into grew nearly 70% during that same period. The Public Utility Commission at Robert Zullon / States Newsroom the end of April will decide whether Electricity rates are rising in 2026 for customers of Oregon’s to approve the company’s plan to two largest utilities comply with a new law requiring it Officials with the Citizens’ Utility charge tech companies for any new Commission, in an email. They’ve infrastructure needed to get power been filing piecemeal requests to the Board, a watchdog group estabto the data centers. The citizens’ commission for tweaks to their rates lished by Oregon voters in 1984 to represent the interests of utility con- board has accused the company of over the winter. attempting to skirt the law. sumers, said it’s created an unusual “That means several filings that Pacific Power serves Lane situation with less time and informahistorically would take effect at County, including Cottage, Creswell, tion to review an amalgamated rate different points in the year are now and Junction City. increase and to possibly petition it. aligned to take effect April 1. The https://oregoncapitalchronicle. “It’s usually pretty tight on the timing each year depends on all of com/2026/03/31/pacific-power-pgedeadline between when we know these moving parts and can vary,” what the rate increase is and when it raise-residential-electricity-ratesexplained Young. again-for-oregon-customers/ goes into effect, but this does seem Commission Chair Letha Tawney Oregon Capital Chronicle is part tighter than usual. The CUB team is said in a statement that the rates of States Newsroom, a network of very frustrated with this whole situreflect “the real costs of delivering ation,” Charlotte Shuff, a spokesper- news bureaus supported by grants power safely and reliably.” “As fuel prices, wholesale market son for the board, wrote in an email. and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon It’s the sixth year in a row the conditions and renewable energy Capital Chronicle maintains editocommission has allowed the comcosts shift, we must update rates so rial independence. Contact Editor panies to raise rates on residential they accurately reflect the cost of Lynne Terry for questions: info@ customers, and those rates today efficiently maintaining the service are more than 50% higher than they oregoncapitalchronicle.com. customers depend on every day,” were just five years ago — more she said.

ALXE BAUMHARDT Oregon Capital Chronicle

The 1.5 million Oregon households who receive electric service through Pacific Power or Portland General Electric will pay more this year. The state’s Public Utility Commission — a three-person governor-appointed group charged with regulating the rates of privately owned electric and gas utilities in Oregon — approved both monopoly electric utilities’ requests to raise rates on residential customers at a meeting Tuesday, March 31. PGE rates will increase by 5%, a roughly $8 per month increase for the average customer, while Pacific Power’s 4% increase equates to more than $5 per month, according to the commission. Representatives for Pacific Power said in an email that most residential customers will see a 3% increase while customers in Albany will see the full 4% increase due to a city-wide street remodeling project. The increases take effect Wednesday, April 1. The truncated period between approving the increases and their effective date is due in part to a new law, the FAIR Energy Act. The law bans private utilities from raising rates between Nov. 1 and March 31, so ratepayers are not hit with bigger bills in winter when usage is highest. The companies requested the increases due to higher fuel costs, as well as investments in grid infrastructure, wildfire mitigation and clean energy and efficiency programs, said Kandi Young, a spokesperson for the Public Utility

EMERGES

Bradyn’s academic path is as impressive as his artistic one. A self described autodidact, he credits ACE with giving him a classical education rooted in languages, history, and critical thinking. “Latin taught me the value of going to the roots of things… to find the most essential kernel of truth,” Debysingh said. He went on to earn a BFA in Musical Theatre and a BA in Classics at Samford University, followed by a Master of Music from Northwestern University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Voice from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Mentors along the way sharpened both his technique and his sense of vocation. One See SPOTLIGHT Page 6

Motel fire leaves one dead STAFF REPORT Cottage Grove Sentinel

One person has died, and three others were sent to the hospital following a fire at a Cottage grove motel. On April 2, 2026, just after 2:30 a.m., Cottage Grove Police Department (CGPD) officers were on patrol in the 1200 block of N. Highway 99 when they saw flames and smoke coming from the Relax Inn located at 1030 N. Highway 99 just after 2:30 a.m. April 2. “Officers immediately notified South Lane 9-1-1 and responded to the scene where they assisted tenants of the motel with evacuating their rooms.,” according to CGPD Chief Corty Chase. South Lane Fire and Rescue crews were dispatched, and they arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. “One person was found deceased in a room that was heavily damaged by the fire,” Chase said. “Three other people from an adjacent room were able to escape. They were transported to Peace Health Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend with unknown injuries. There were no other reported injuries.” The Cottage Grove Police Department, South Lane Fire and Rescue, and Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office were investigating the incident as of April. The name of the deceased was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. If anyone has any information about this investigation, they are asked to call the Cottage Grove Police Department at 541-942- 9145.

Courtesy from Cottage Police

INDEX

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