LET’S GET REGAINING GROWING CONFIDENCE Page 10A Volume 140, Issue 10 Page 7A www.Polkio.com March 11, 2015 Superintendent selected Johnstone hired to lead Dallas schools By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The Dallas School District found what it wanted in its next super- intendent in Colorado. Michelle Johnstone, currently the su- perintendent of Brush School District in Brush, Colo., was offered and has ac- cepted the job as Dallas’ new superin- tendent starting July 1. Monday’s announcement ends a nearly nine-month search to find a new leader after former superintendent Christy Perry left to become the super- intendent of the Salem-Keizer School District last summer. “It’s an extremely good fit,” said Mike Blanchard, Dallas School Board chair- man. “A lot of the qualities we were looking for, she had.” Among those qualities was finding “an instructional leader that would work in collaboration with our staff and community,” Blanchard said. Dallas’ search involved community members, parents, district staff and the work of a 27-member panel that helped evaluate the 18 candidates who applied for the post. Ten candidates were inter- viewed and three finalists emerged. “I think in the end, we found a really good leader who really wants to come to Dallas for what we are about here,” Blanchard said. “The conversations with her were all about learning and that spoke volumes.” See SUPERINTENDENT, Page 5A 75¢ IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS NEWS Who killed Marvin Bluebird? That is the question for the cast of “Burden of Proof” to contemplate — and eventually reveal — when the murder mystery musical takes the stage at LaCreole Middle School on Friday and Saturday. As for the possible suspects — all with “colorful” names, think “Clue” — this show has more than enough to keep the audience guessing as the collec- tion of strange and shady characters gather for a party at the victim’s home on a dark and stormy night. Could it be the fortune-telling couple, the Greens? »Page 16A JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Michelle Johnstone has accepted an offer to become Dallas School Dis- trict’s next superintendent. POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY LEVY DEBATE FALLS CITY NEWS Small group reading time for first- and second- graders at Falls City Elementary School begins with, not a book, but stretching, singing and dancing. OK, so it’s not that unconventional — the phon- ics “dance-chant” helps them memorize letter sounds, and the movement is an energy outlet for a naturally fidgety age group. The best part? Seemingly, the students look for- ward to literacy song and dance. Second-grader Allyssa Hurst walked into the li- brary where Falls City reading specialist Suzi Spencer was waiting. »Page 15A INDEPENDENCE NEWS Steve Tillery steps out onto the playground at In- dependence Elementary School and is bombarded by kindergarteners. “Look what I can do!” says Kenya Greene, putting a hoola hoop over her head and spinning it around. She next challenges Tillery, 53, to jump rope with her, which he does, even though the rope was made for someone much shorter than himself. This will be the last year Tillery will be principal at IES, a post he’s held for the last seven years. He has taken a job as Western Oregon Universi- ty’s director of clinical practices and licensure. »Page 14A PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY THE ITEMIZER-OBSERVER Public safety units throughout Polk County have to work as a team to hold criminals accountable for their actions. All roads lead to Dallas When it comes to arrests, it is the county, not the cities, that is responsible for housing, prosecuting criminals Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories looking at issues and topics that surround the Polk Coun- ty public safety levy that will appear on the May 19 vote- by-mail ballot. By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — The night of Oct. 5, 2014, two men broke into several cars, including a truck, parked on Northwest Denton Avenue in Dallas and grabbed a safe containing a 45 mm pistol. With their action, the sus- pects — we will call them “Smash” and “Grab” — start- ed a law enforcement investi- gation that led to prosecution involving two police agen- THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK cies, the Polk County Jail, the Polk County District Attor- ney’s Office, Polk County Drug Court and Polk County Community Corrections. While this was no b l o c k - buster case — in fact District At- t o r n e y Aaron Fel- ton de- Silbernagel scribed it as “bread and butter” — it is an exam- ple of how the public safety departments in Polk County have to work as a team to hold criminals accountable. “It’s very much a system. People don’t quite fully get that,” said Marty Silbernagel, community corrections di- rector. “If you have more deputies on the road, that is only one piece. We need (deputy) DAs to prosecute and PO (parole officers) to supervise. If one of those is not there, it’s out of whack.” In an effort to keep that system in balance, the Polk County Board of Commis- sioners has placed a five- year, 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value tax levy on the May 19 ballot for voters to consider. Here’s a look at how that system works. — Dallas police, who took the victim’s report, was the first member of that team to work the case. Officers lifted fingerprints off the victims’ cars and sent them to the Salem Police Department Crime Lab for analysis. On Nov. 24, officers were given their first lead when the prints came back as those of Smash. Officers found and questioned him about the gun theft and other car break-ins. He ad- mitted his involvement and also told police about his partner in crime, Grab. Further interviews re- vealed the two had taken the pistol and sold it for methamphetamine and cash, with the help of a third suspect we will call “Middle- man.” After taking the gun, Smash and Grab hitchhiked to Salem to find Middleman. See ROADS, Page 5A MONMOUTH NEWS In a tie-breaking vote by Mayor John Oberst, Bar- ney & Worth Inc. was chosen March 3 to lead Mon- mouth’s community engagement process. The council was split down the middle between BDS Planning, a firm in Seattle, and Barney & Worth, based in Portland. Councilman Marshall Guthrie said he liked that BDS representatives didn’t come with a lot of preconceived perceptions about the community of Monmouth. “I thought they had other things going, includ- ing a distance from where we’ve been that would prove vital,” Guthrie said. »Page 3A POLK COUNTY NEWS The first Polk County Folklife Festival was all sun- shine and smiles on Saturday. Folklife celebrated the Willamette Valley’s varying cultures with music, food and art. It was such a suc- cess that organizers are already planning for 2016. “I think tally through the gate was about 650 at- tendees,” said festival program director Kurt Dugan. “That was about what we were hoping for, so we were really happy with the attendance.” Dugan said including vendors, musicians and festival staff, there were about 1,000 people roam- ing the Polk County Fairgrounds & Event Center. »Page 2A wed thu fri sat sun mon tue Independence Pub- lic Library hosts its weekly storytime session for young children and their parents. 10:30 a.m. Free. Ash Creek Arts Cen- ter is hosting a re- ception for its latest exhibit at MaMere’s Bed & Breakfast in Monmouth. 5 p.m. Free. The music of Radio- head will be featured during a concert by the Western Hemi- sphere Orchestra at Rice Auditorium. 7:30 p.m. $1-$3. The 2015 Rickreall Spring Gun Show is taking place at the Polk County Fair- grounds & Event Center. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. $6. Western Oregon takes on Western Washington in a GNAC softball dou- bleheader sched- uled in Monmouth. Noon. $4-$6. The annual member- ship meeting for the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce takes place at the Dallas Civic Center. 11:30 a.m. Free. Spring sports have arrived for area high schools, as Perry- dale hosts Gaston in nonleague baseball and softball action. 4:30 p.m. Free. Rain Hi: 58 Lo: 48 Morning Showers Hi: 66 Lo: 43 Mostly Sunny Hi: 68 Lo: 49 Rain Likely Hi: 61 Lo: 48 Showers Hi: 60 Lo: 41 Mostly Sunny Hi: 64 Lo: 42 Mostly Sunny Hi: 66 Lo: 44