Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015 4A
EDITORIALS
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Kindergarten tests
leave us wondering
Kindergarteners statewide were tested during the first
few weeks of school in September. Last week, the Oregon
Department of Education released the results of those tests.
The assessment is intended to show where kids are on
the first day of entering the public school system, more of
an analysis of pre-kindergarten education than anything
having to do with K-12.
Children are given simple math problems and asked to an-
swer them. Their score reflects how many they got right out
of 16. They are then shown a sheet of 100 English letters, in-
cluding duplicates, uppercase and lowercase letters. The
teacher points to a letter and notes if the child can recall the
name of the letter. However many they can recall in 60 sec-
onds is their score. State average for this test is 17.7. So, on av-
erage, Oregon children can recall 68 percent of the alphabet.
Having such a large choice for letters and sounds seems
unreasonable. Even when using both lowercase and up-
percase letters, why not give children just 52 choices?
ODE representatives say children are not expected to
score 100 on these tests — even though two Oregon
kindergarteners did score 100 — but that is how the score
is listed: 0-100.
We wonder about the methodology and timing of an as-
sessment such as this. Because the results aren’t released
until halfway through the school year, most of our local
teachers cannot use the information to guide curriculum.
They continue, instead, to do what kindergarten teachers
have done for decades: their own assessments.
The state and our public schools are so obsessed with
testing and assessments, we wonder if they are not failing
our children. It makes us long for the days of stressing the
three Rs, “Sesame Street” and “School House Rock.”
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County.
To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the
actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503-
623-2395) or email (kholland@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Polk County Extension Service District Board — 12:30
p.m., Polk County-OSU Extension Service Office, 289 E. Ellendale
Ave., Suite 301, Dallas. 503-623-8395.
• Polk County Public Safety Local Option Tax Hearing — 6
p.m., Monmouth Public Library, 168 Ecols St. E., Monmouth.
Polk County Board of Commissioners-hosted public forum to
discuss proposed countywide public safety levy. 503-623-8173.
• Luckiamute Valley Charter School Board — 6:30 p.m.,
Luckiamute Valley Charter Schools, Bridgeport Campus, 17475
Bridgeport Road, Dallas. 503-623-4837.
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722.
THURSDAY, JAN. 22
• Polk County Public Safety Local Option Tax Hearing — 6
p.m., Chemeketa Viticulture Center, 215 Doaks Ferry Road NW,
West Salem. Polk County Board of Commissioners-hosted pub-
lic forum to discuss proposed countywide public safety levy.
503-623-8173.
FRIDAY, JAN. 23
• Polk County Health Advisory Board — Noon, Academy
Building, Room 214, 182 SW Academy St., Dallas. 503-623-9289,
ext. 2332.
MONDAY, JAN. 26
• Dallas School Board — 2:30 p.m., Oakdale Heights Elemen-
tary School, 1375 SW Maple St., Dallas. 503-623-9664, ext. 2334.
• Independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence
Public Library, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1811.
TUESDAY, JAN. 27
• Independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence
Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Polk County Public Safety Local Option Tax Hearing — 6
p.m., Roth’s Fresh Market, 1130 Wallace Road NW, West Salem.
Polk County Board of Commissioners-hosted public forum to
discuss proposed countywide public safety levy. 503-623-8173.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173.
GOVERNOR
Gov. John Kitzhaber (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4582
Email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Public safety levy
must get on ballot
Someone is trying to
break into your house. You
call 9-1-1. The person says,
“sorry, there’s no one on
duty to respond.” Wait, it’s
only 11 o’clock (a.m. or p.m.
— doesn’t matter).
A drunken driver nearly
sideswipes you as he or she
weaves from lane to lane well
over the speed limit. You pull
over, stop and report it only
to receive the same response.
An apprehended felon
does not get prosecuted be-
cause the district attorney’s
office does not have ade-
quate staff.
The foregoing may sound
like the plot for a scary
movie. It’s not. It is reality.
Polk County public safety
funds are at an all-time low.
There are too few patrol offi-
cers to cover the county full
time. There are too few pros-
ecutors to handle what ar-
rests are made.
The remedy for this situa-
tion is relatively simple — get
the public safety levy on the
ballot for the May election.
Proposed cost is 45 cents per
$1,000 of assessed property
value. Do the math. On a
$200,000 home, that would
be $90 per year. That’s 25
cents a day, folks. Pretty inex-
pensive for peace of mind.
For all the facts, attend
one of the commissioner
hearings on the issue being
held in the next week (see
schedule under “Public
Agenda” on this page).
Russ Noll
West Salem
Don’t blame police
for recent car thefts
This is in response to the
letter “Public responsible for
crime in area” (Jan. 7 Itemiz-
er-Observer).
I believe that the residents
of Polk County are tired of
having their taxes increased
to fund public safety meas-
ures. When the county
would like to sit down and
disclose what it spends its
money on and why it is
short when it comes to hav-
ing 24/7 patrols on the
street, then the citizens of
Polk County may just pass
your public safety measure.
To blame the sheriff’s of-
fice for the theft of these two
Toyota trucks is wrong.
These where stolen within
the city limits. This would be
Dallas Police Department’s
jurisdiction. I do believe that
the officers of Dallas do a
fantastic job preventing
crime in the Dallas area, but
again can’t be everywhere at
the same time.
It is great to blame the po-
lice in the time of reduced pa-
trols, but let’s look at the cir-
cumstances as to when and
how these trucks were stolen.
I am sure it came to a great
shock to the owners, but yet
did they contribute to the rea-
son these trucks where stolen?
In times of shorten pa-
trols, we must come togeth-
er as a community and start
policing our own neighbor-
hoods while at the same
time we should stop using
this as a scare tactic to vote
in a levy to raise our taxes
for increased patrols.
David Christensen
Independence
Wrestling event at
DHS was first-rate
At a time when we often
hear from correspondents
regarding what our schools
are not doing right, along
comes the Brunner Invita-
tional Wrestling Tourna-
ment, held Jan. 10 at Dallas
High School, to prove just
the opposite.
The tournament featured
several of the state’s top
teams from recent seasons,
including Dallas, Crook
County and Willamina. An
abundance of great wrestlers
were competing.
However, the most im-
pressive aspect of the event,
named to honor Janet Brun-
ner, arguably the best
wrestling tournament direc-
tor ever, was the atmosphere
of good sportsmanship and
positive attitudes. Everything
about the tournament was
first-rate: wrestling, coaching
and officiating — even the
clam chowder, among other
items at the concession table
— was top-notch.
Alice Bibler did a wonder-
ful job as tournament direc-
tor. Coach Tony Olliff and his
staff did their share in insur-
ing a positive atmosphere.
Well done, DHS.
Paul Mannen
Dallas
No excuse for not
supporting levy idea
I view citizen refusal to
fund countywide law en-
forcement to be a self-cen-
tered logically flawed excuse
perpetrated by those who
seek local government flexi-
bility or personal political
power at the expense of
other county residents. Polk
County residents can no
longer wait for someone else
to pay for our law enforce-
ment services.
Yes, there are those of you
who view a public safety
property tax levy as a pig in
a poke. The excuses I have
heard include:
• Let someone else pay for
county services — commu-
nity responsibilities are not
mine.
• At the final hour some-
one else, federal grants or
increased timber harvest
severance taxes, will once
again fund Polk County
public safety services as they
have in the past — wishful
magical thinking.
• There really are ade-
quate funds tucked away to
support Polk County public
safety needs — distrust and
flawed information.
• I have been the victim of
an unjust application of the
law by county law enforce-
ment personnel, so I refuse to
support any public safety tax
measure — injustice collecting.
• Increases in property
taxes are never a good thing
— anti-government thinking.
• I am land rich but cash
poor — cannot afford $90
more a year on a $200,000
home to fund the sheriff, the
district attorney, parole/pro-
bation, the county jail, etc.
Sadly, such reasoning does
not bring back the levels of
law enforcement and public
safety the citizens of Polk
County deserve. Join me and
support law enforcement
and public safety in Polk
County by asking our county
commissioners to once
again submit a public safety
levy to Polk County voters.
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David Gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
U.S. CONGRESS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. SE,
Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
Email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
E.M. Easterly
West Salem
Warm clothing
drive a success
We would like to thank all
the people who made our
“Warm & Fuzzy” clothing
drive for 2014 so successful.
Every year we are amazed
at the generosity and the
amount of warm clothing
that is donated for those in
need in Polk County. We re-
ceived coats, sweaters, hats,
gloves, scarves, socks and
cash to buy needed things to
make someone’s winter
warmer.
Thank you Starlite Lanes
staff for once again allowing
your business to serve as a
drop site for our mission.
Deb Darr
Falls City
(More LETTERS, Page 5A)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. SE,
Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
Email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE,
Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
Email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
POLK COUNTY
Board of Commissioners
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIES
Dallas
187 SE Court St.
Dallas, OR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 Mill St.
Falls City, OR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. Main St.
Independence, OR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. Main St.
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
Vol. 140, No. 3
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards
from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Periodicals postage paid at
Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR.
Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street
Dallas, Oregon 97338
Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Polk County — One Year $27
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Outside of Oregon — One Year $38
POSTMASTER:
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The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in adver-
tisements. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement
which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault.
NEWSROOM
Nancy Adams ...............Publisher ...........................................................................nadams@polkio.com
Kurt Holland..................Managing Editor...........................................................kholland@polkio.com
Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
Emily Mentzer ..............Monmouth/Independence Reporter ..................ementzer@polkio.com
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