2015 Explore
Polk County
Volume 140, Issue 20
Section C, Inside
www.Polkio.com
May 20, 2015
75¢
IN YOUR TOWN
DALLAS NEWS
More than 900 Oregon Army National Guard sol-
diers from Oregon have been returning from
around the globe, and Dallas is looking to give
those from Polk County a warm welcome.
The Dallas Area of Chamber of Commerce is or-
ganizing a homecoming event Friday at noon on
Main Street, inviting all citizens to join in the show
of support.
Soldiers and families of those returning home
are asked to meet at the former Arctic Circle park-
ing at 11:45 a.m. to be escorted down Main Street.
»Page 3A
FALLS CITY NEWS
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Citizens gather around the new briefing room in Monmouth’s new police station at an open house on Saturday.
A NEW HOME
Residents tour MPD’s bigger, more secure place
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — The ex-
citement in the air was
palpable as Monmouth
residents crammed the
halls of the new police sta-
tion off Highway 99W on
Saturday.
Police personnel ranking
from officer through to Chief
Darrell Tallan pulled togeth-
er groups of five or six citi-
zens each to take on tours of
the station while others
waited their turn.
People ooh’d and ahh’d
over the new furniture, stor-
age areas and floors, peek-
ing into offices to get a bet-
ter look at what would be
off-limits for an average per-
son once the police moved
in.
“You can feel the excite-
ment in having a facility like
this,” said Don Ediger, there
for a tour of the new build-
ing. “I think it’s great.”
More than the overall
newness of the building and
its contents was the pride
the officers exhibited in
being given a new station by
a vote of the Monmouth
people.
“I can’t describe it in
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Dori Brodersen tries the new lockers in the evidence stor-
age area on a tour with husband Ray Brodersen.
words,” said Sgt. Isaiah
Haines.
“We are very ecstatic.”
The station has many fea-
tures the old one — which
was the Monmouth Public
Library before it was moved
to a new building — lacked,
from the front lobby all the
way back to the sally port
and secure parking for pa-
trol cars.
Along the tour, people re-
marked at the security and
space the new structure pro-
vided.
“This is a very nice floor,”
a young boy commented en-
thusiastically. “It’s very
smooth.”
Check online for May 19
special election results
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — Results
from the May 19 statewide
vote-by-mail general elec-
tion were being counted
Tuesday night after the Item-
izer-Observer had gone to
press.
Local election results were
posted online by Polk Coun-
ty. Log on to the Itemizer-
Ob s e r ve r ’s we b s i t e,
www.polkio.com, for links.
Statewide election results
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
are available through the
secretary of state office on-
line at http://www.sos.or.us
/elections and following the
links for “voter resources”
and “election results.”
The Itemizer-Observer will
provide election result sto-
ries online today (Wednes-
day, May 20).
Complete local election
results and coverage will ap-
pear in the I-O’s Wednesday,
May 27, print edition.
In the “soft interview
room,” built for speaking
with children or victims of
sexual crimes, Dori Broder-
sen took a seat, just to see if
it was comfortable.
She stood up, satisfied.
Monmouth Police De-
partment has spots for 13
sworn officers, including
nine patrol officers, Haines
said, noting a few vacancies
currently.
“We rely on reserves be-
cause sometimes we are un-
derstaffed,” he said. “We
have (six) reserves that sup-
plement patrol.”
Throughout the building,
security was paramount,
from the sally port — where
officers bring prisoners into
a secured garage area and,
from there, straight into a
booking room — to the evi-
dence storage — much big-
ger than the previous stor-
age area.
Evidence was stored in a
steel container in the park-
ing lot, Haines said. Other
evidence was processed in
the kitchen area, he noted.
Overall, the increased
sense of security was “huge”
for all the police staff,
Haines said.
See STATION, Page 14A
Holiday deadlines
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — The upcom-
ing Memorial Day holiday
has resulted in several
changes to the usual news
deadlines at the Itemizer-
Observer for the Wednes-
day, May 27, edition.
• All social news (wed-
dings, engagements, an-
niversaries, births and mili-
tary announcements) must
be submitted by Wednes-
day (today) at 5 p.m.
• All local items for the
Community Notebook and
Ready to see something spectacular? Falls City
has a circus coming to town, complete with a tradi-
tional big top.
The show will be May 27, so get ready for
thrilling trapeze and tight rope performances, a
“wild and crazy” unicycle troupe and the perform-
ing “Jungle Cats.”
A fundraiser for the Falls City Arts Council and
Falls City Parent Group, Culpepper & Merriweather
Circus will perform two shows at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday at the former mill lot across from the
post office, 123 Parry Road, Falls City.
»Page 5A
GRAND RONDE NEWS
The 13th annual Grand Ronde Memorial Day ob-
servance will start Monday at 1 p.m. at the West
Valley Veterans Memorial on the Grand Ronde Trib-
al Campus, 9615 Grand Ronde Road, between
highways 18 and 22, west of Spirit Mountain Casi-
no.
Yamhill County Veterans’ Services Administrator
Jerry Wilson and Oregon Department of Veterans’
Affairs Director Cameron Smith will be the featured
speakers at this year’s ceremony.
The West Valley Veterans Memorial was created
by Tribal Elder, Vietnam veteran and Veterans Spe-
cial Event Board Chairman Steve Bobb Sr.
»Page 7A
INDEPENDENCE NEWS
Central senior Taylor Knauss was sure of one
thing on Thursday afternoon. After competing in
the finals of the girls long jump, she was ready to
focus on her main event — the triple jump.
After scratching on her first two long jump at-
tempts, Knauss just wanted to get a mark on
record in her third and final attempt.
“I thought I’d do OK in the long jump and be in
the middle of the pack,” Knauss said. “I didn’t have
any hope after I scratched my first two attempts. I
thought oh well, let’s just bring it and see what
happens.”
»Page 10A
POLK COUNTY NEWS
Community Calendar must
be submitted by noon on
Thursday.
• Letters to the Editor are
due by 10 a.m. Friday, and
all obituaries should be
submitted by 3 p.m. on Fri-
day.
• All other news items
should be submitted by 5
p.m. Thursday.
The Itemizer-Observer of-
fice will be closed Monday in
observance of Memorial Day.
For more information,
call 503-623-2373.
Oregon Bureau of Land Management is holding
a series of open houses on its draft resource man-
agement plan (RMP).
Five of those meetings will be in Salem, includ-
ing one on Thursday at the Willamette Heritage
Center.
The draft RMP outlines how the BLM will man-
age its lands for the recovery of threatened and en-
dangered species, providing for clean water, and
producing a “sustained yield” of timber products,
among other objectives. There are 2.5 million acres
in Oregon, which includes a portion in Polk County.
»Page 2A
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Helping Hands food
bank is open for eli-
gible community
members, providing
food to those who
need help.
10 a.m.-noon. Free.
Come get your fresh
fruits and veggies at
the Dallas Polk
County Bounty Mar-
ket near the Acad-
emy Building.
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
Head to Guthrie
Park Community
Center and join in,
or just listen, to an
acoustic jam ses-
sion.
7-10 p.m. Donations.
Have a health ques-
tion? Polk Commu-
nity Free Clinic
provides care for the
uninsured and
under-insured.
7-10 a.m. Free.
Stroll the vineyards
at Left Coast Cellars
during “Sip and
Stroll.” Take a tour
and enjoy some
treats.
4:30 p.m. Free.
Happy Memorial
Day to all our read-
ers. See Page 7A for
events throughout
Polk County honor-
ing veterans who
have died.
Donate blood at
Western Oregon
University’s Werner
Center through a
Red Cross blood
drive.
11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Free.
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