2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 28, 2015
Polk County News
Freight line expansion set
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Inde-
pendence will become a hub
of importing and exporting
goods via train and trucks
when White’s Hauling ex-
pands.
The company hopes to
have the new operation on
Hoffman Road up and run-
ning by June, said Cody
White, co-owner.
“Our plan is to connect to
the short line there with
(Portland & Western Rail-
road) and bring in a rail sid-
ing, or track, to both ship out
wheat and bring in grain,”
White said. “We’ll import-ex-
port basically anything the
local economy demands and
supports: timber, lumber,
steel.”
From the site, located be-
tween Marquis Spa and For-
est River, truckers will be
able to unload onto rail cars,
which will then connect with
the train, and vice versa, tak-
ing products from the rail car
and distributing them in
smaller loads via truck.
The operation will in-
crease truck traffic in the
area, but White said truck
drivers will be encouraged to
take Highway 99W and Hoff-
man Roads.
“They want us to use ex-
isting routes trucks should
take, the Hoffman-99 route
right there,” he said. “The
overpass is significantly safer
than turning onto Highway
51.”
Traffic should also be di-
verted from Stryker Road, a
concern of residents at the
Independence Airpark,
Tips to protect you
from scams offered
By Emily Mentzer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Cody White, co-owner of White’s Hauling, will begin a transloading operation in Inde-
pendence off Hoffman Road, similar to the company’s station in Brooks, this spring.
White noted.
“It will increase truck traf-
fic, but when the mill (Boise
Cascade) was up and run-
ning, there were quite a few
more trucks through there,”
White said.
Portland & Western will
likely not have to increase
rail traffic because of the op-
eration, said Larry Gomez,
assistant vice president of in-
dustrial development.
The goal of the new opera-
tion is two-fold, he said.
By using more rail trans-
portation, it cleans up main
corridors such as Interstate 5
by removing trucks from
traffic. Every rail car used re-
places four semi-trucks on
the roads, White said.
Secondly, the operation ex-
pands options for local farm-
ers to distribute products.
White said wheat farmers
may truck grain to Portland
— through “terrible” traffic
— or they can take it up the
Gorge to Biggs — “which is
in the middle of nowhere.”
“With this, we can load it
on rail and it opens up the
doors for a lot of people to
purchase this grain,” White
said.
White’s Hauling was start-
ed in the early 1970s by
Cody’s father and grandfa-
ther, who have developed re-
lationships with wheat farm-
ers and buyers.
“We already have a good
group of people that want to
take advantage of this,”
White said. “We also have a
lot of people who want to
purchase it up in that area
(Portland), so we have both
sides of it. We just want to
connect the two.”
The project is possible in
part through a ConnectOre-
gon grant for $842,320,
awarded through the Ore-
gon Department of Trans-
portation.
The Itemizer-Observer
Don’t Be a Victim
MONMOUTH — When it
comes to people trying to
get personal information of
any kind, it is not rude to
just hang up, close the door
or delete an email.
In fact, it’s the smartest
thing to do, said Ellen Klem,
director of consumer out-
reach and education for the
Office of the Attorney Gen-
eral, at a presentation about
how to protect against fraud
at the Monmouth Senior
Center on Monday.
“If Rachel from Card
Holder Services calls and
asks you to press 1 to be re-
moved from the call list, just
hang up,” she said.
Pressing 1 may remove
you from that list, but it
sells your phone number
and information to 200
other scammers. Even set-
ting the phone down in
front of the TV or making
loud noises lets her know
you’re home, Klem noted.
She said people who
commit crimes of fraud cast
a wide net, hoping to catch
one or two people who will
send money.
Another thing scammers
say they look for is “no tres-
passing” signs in urban
areas. These signs tell the
scammer that the person
living there is probably
older, single and has no
pets, Klem said.
Many of the people in the
a u d i e n c e o n Mo n d a y
shared stories of how they’d
been victims of scam — or
Ellen Klem of the De-
partment of Justice offers
these six “red flags” that
something is a scam:
• Receiving a phone
call, letter, email or some-
one at your door out of
the blue, unexpected or
uninvited.
• The scammer has in-
vented some kind of
emergency or urgent sit-
uation.
• Request for person-
al/financial information,
or asking you to click on
something online that
you don’t know what it is.
• Asking you to wire
money or send a prepaid
cash card.
• The scammer will in-
clude a level of secrecy,
such as this is a one-time
special offer just for you,
don’t tell anyone else.
• If it sounds too good
to be true, it probably is.
Klem said the facts
and story might change,
but these six signs point
to a scam 99 percent of
the time.
how they avoided it.
One man said he leaves
the names of other relatives
living with him on his mes-
sage machine, even though
he lives alone.
If you think you are being
exposed to a scam, or have
fallen victim to one, call
your local police depart-
ment or Department of Jus-
tice at 1-877-877-9392. For
more information: ore-
gonconsumer.org.
Nomination deadline for 2015 Dallas community awards is Friday
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Friday is the
deadline for nominations for
the Dallas Area Chamber of
Commerce’s 58th annual
Community Awards, “Com-
munity Champions.”
Each year, the chamber
recognizes individuals and
businesses in the Dallas area
that have made a positive in-
fluence on the community at
the awards ceremony, to be
held this year on Feb. 20 at
the Oregon National Guard’s
Nesmith Readiness Center.
Nominations can be sub-
mitted online at www.dalla-
soregon.org/awards, by
printed form available in the
chamber office or via email
to chamber@dallasoregon.org.
The award categories are:
First Citizen, Junior First Cit-
izen, Outstanding Organiza-
tion, Good Samaritan, Life-
time Achievement, Excep-
tional Family, Small Business
of the Year, Most Improved
Business of the Year, Ag Busi-
ness of the Year, and Busi-
ness of the Year.
A selection committee
consisting of previous award
winners will choose this
year’s award recipients.
Information about past
winners and award descrip-
tions are available on the
c h a m b e r ’s w e b s i t e a t
www.dallasoregon.org/awards.
Tickets are available at the
chamber office, 119 SW
Court St., Dallas, and Dallas
City Hall, 187 SE Court St.
Cost is $40 each.
For more information:
503-623-2564.
Jan. 19, 2015 and Feb. 13, 2015
Ben & Joe Flande
Proud Owners & Local Citizens
Must present this coupon
at time of service.
Not valid with any other offers.
Expires 02/28/15
Itemizer-Observer