Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 4, 2015 5A
Polk County News
House fire takes woman’s life
Itemizer-Observer staff report
D A L L A S — A Da l l a s
woman was found dead fol-
lowing an early morning
house fire in the 600 block of
Southwest Wyatt Street in
Dallas on Thursday.
No foul play is suspected,
Dallas police said.
Firefighters, medics and
police officers were called to
a report of a house fire at
about 5:35 a.m. Thursday. A
neighbor who noticed the
fire called 9-1-1.
Emergency crews arrived
to find extensive fire involv-
ing the structure and later
discovered the resident, Amy
Stalnaker, 52, dead inside the
home. The cause of death is
undetermined, but is not
being investigated as suspi-
cious.
An investigation found the
fire also was accidental, al-
though the exact cause is un-
known at this time.
“There were several possi-
ble causes of ignition,” said
April Welsh, a Dallas Fire De-
partment spokeswoman.
DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT/for the Itemizer-Observer
Dallas firefighters and police officers monitor what remains of a home on Wyatt Street
in Dallas Thursday. Emergency crews found an occupant of the home dead inside.
Stalnaker’s two dogs, both
labs, one a puppy, were able
to escape the fire.
Dallas police and fire de-
partments were assisted in
the investigation by the Ore-
gon State Fire Marshal’s Of-
fice, the Polk County Medical
Examiner’s Office, the Ore-
gon State Police Arson Unit
and the Polk County District
Attorney’s Office.
Accident on Hwy. 22
snarls Friday traffic
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — A
three-vehicle crash on
Highway 22 at milepost 14
east of Kings Valley High-
way on Friday afternoon
had traffic down to one lane
of travel for about an hour.
Danny Lee Robertson,
46, of Dallas was traveling
westbound on Highway 22
in a green BMW when he
swerved into the eastbound
lane, striking a Mack semi-
truck, driven by Timothy
James Brian, 30, of Mon-
mouth. Robertson’s vehicle
spun into a Kia Sedona,
driven by Anthony James
Hadley, 43, of Willamina.
All three vehicles were
towed from the scene.
Hadley and his three pas-
sengers were transported to
West Valley Hospital by
family friends after being
evaluated by medics on
scene.
Robertson was extricated
from his vehicle and trans-
ported to Salem Hospital
with serious injuries. On
Monday, Salem Hospital’s
public information officer
said Robertson had been
treated and released.
No citations were issued.
Dallas Fire District and
Emergency Services re-
sponded, as well as Polk
County Sheriff’s Office, the
Oregon Department of
Transportation and Oregon
State Police.
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WOU bomb threat
forces evacuations
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — A hand-
written note detailing a bomb
threat at Western Oregon Uni-
versity on Friday had three
buildings evacuated and
streets closed on campus.
A f t e r b u i l d i n g s we re
searched, nothing of concern
was discovered, said Rebecca
Chiles, director of WOU public
safety, in an email to students.
The note was found at
about 3 p.m. on Friday, al-
though the exact details of
how it was discovered are un-
clear, said Lisa Catto, public
relations specialist for WOU.
“The note specified that
there was a bomb threat for
the Natural Sciences Building
and the Health and Wellness
Center, so we evacuated those
buildings and called Mon-
mouth Police Department,”
Catto said. “The note specifi-
cally detailed those buildings.”
Bellamy Hall, north of the
Natural Sciences Building,
also was evacuated because of
its proximity to the potential
targeted buildings, Catto said.
Monmouth Avenue and Jack-
son Street were also closed off
for about two hours.
About 50 people were im-
pacted by the evacuation, she
said.
“Friday afternoon, it’s so
slow on campus, most classes
are Monday through Thurs-
day,” Catto said. “I was stand-
ing out there trying to help
out, and there was a dozen
students who were wanting
to get to the library or the stu-
dent union.”
No evening events were
affected. By 5:30 p.m., a cam-
pus-wide email went out to
all students detailing that the
bomb threat had occurred
and nothing had been found.
The campus alert system
was not used. Catto said that
was because there was a
danger of cellphones trigger-
ing an explosion.
“You don’t want cellphones
going off in a bomb situation,”
she said. “So if we sent out an
alert, if their (students’) cell-
phones went off if they were
walking nearby, it’s possible it
could have set off that device.”
Oregon State Police was
on standby in case a bomb
was found, Catto said.
Monmouth Police Depart-
ment responded to the inci-
dent at about 3:15 p.m., Sgt.
Kim Dorn said. The respond-
ing officer was on scene for
about two hours.
Monmouth’s Everbridge
community notification sys-
tem did not send out any
alerts of the situation be-
cause Monmouth PD was as-
sisting WOU, Dorn said.
“They (WOU) have the
ability to notify their staff
and students if they feel it is
necessary,” Dorn said.
MINET raising TV rates
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — MINET,
Monmouth-Independence
Networks, is changing its rates
for cable television and data
packages, effective April 1.
Corporate Finance Officer
Mark Thoenes said the com-
pany will not be able to pay
its debt obligations in June,
in spite of the rate changes.
He said given MINET’s
current cash position, if the
company paid the debt serv-
ice payment owed in June,
there would be no money left
for operations.
The two most popular
cable television packages —
the expanded package and
the digital package — each
will see increases of less than
$10 a month.
The MINET finance com-
mittee recommended the in-
creases to television services
because broadcasters had
been increasing subscriber
fees exponentially, said Mar-
ilyn Morton, office adminis-
trator.
“Some broadcasters upped
their rates 308 percent in one
year,” she said. “That’s a hefty
raise. We have to pay per sub-
scriber.”
Broadcasters include chan-
nels such as the Discovery
Channel, History Channel or
Military Heroes Channel.
Often, if a viewer wants access
to just one of those channels,
he or she must subscribe to all
of them, Morton said.
The other change in rates
affects data customers.
Those who were subscribed
to receive 20 megabits of
data will now get 30 Mbps for
$40, down $1, Morton said.
New to the data offerings
is 75 Mbps speed, she said.
MINET has added 75 Mbps
and decreased the monthly
cost of 100 Mbps plans.
“It used to be $164,” Mor-
ton said. “We’ve dropped it to
$80.”
The reorganization of rates
and data plans is part of
MINET’s plan to increase cus-
tomers by offering a wider
range of services and decrease
the loss the company was see-
ing in television revenue.
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