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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2015)
GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY PLAYER OF THE YEAR AT DARYLL’S Page 7A CHS SOFTBALL Page 10A Volume 140, Issue 24 www.Polkio.com June 17, 2015 75¢ IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS NEWS Blue Garden’s sign is gone, but downtown Dallas history buffs shouldn’t fret. It will be back — re- stored — soon. The building’s new owner, Bob Collins, had the iconic sign, put up in 1924, taken down last week to be assessed and refurbished by Martin Bros Signs out of Salem. “The idea is to do as little to it as we can,” Collins said. “We are trying to keep as much of it original as possible.” Collins estimates the sign will be gone three weeks to a month and return, he hopes, as good as new. »Page 2A FALLS CITY NEWS EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer Lt. Rick Igou has a memory — good or bad — of nearly every home and business within Independence city limits. LIVING HIS DREAM Rick Igou to retire after more than 30 years in law enforcement By Emily Mentzer Meet Rick The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — A po- lice officer visited a fourth- grade classroom and brought along his police- issue Harley Davidson. A young Rick Igou sat in that classroom, spellbound. “He (the officer) was on one side of the room and it was parked on the other side of the room,” Igou, now 50, recalled. “He would ask the motorcycle questions, and the motorcycle would an- swer him. That was it. I was hooked. The mind of a 9 or 10 year old, right?” Of course now he realizes the motorcycle in his fourth- grade classroom wasn’t ac- tually doing the talking, but it was enough to make him commit to a career in law enforcement that would span 32 years. Independence Police Lt. Igou will retire from the de- partment on June 30 after spending his adult life in law enforcement. The Central High graduate Photo courtesy of Independence Police Department Heidi and Rick Igou look forward to spending the Fourth of July someplace besides Rick’s patrol car this year. Rick said Heidi has been integral to his success as a policeman. and Rickreall native, Igou spent his younger years preparing for his career, even enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves as military police officer when he turned 18 while he went to Western Oregon State College, now Western Oregon University, for criminal justice. One of the biggest chal- lenges of his career has come from the changes in technology, Igou said. “I started out and we hand-wrote reports,” he said. “Now everything’s fully computerized. Where we used to just get in a car and go out and do police work, Rick Igou, 50, started his career in law enforce- ment in the Marine Corps Reserves at the age of 18. He was in uni- form with Monmouth Police Reserves by the age of 21. Rick plans to travel and get back to an old favorite hobby: wood working. A celebration of his career and retirement will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on June 30 at the I n d e p e n d e n ce C i v i c Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. nowadays you have to come back and be a slave to the computer, so we’ve lost some of that contact.” It’s sad in a way, but also a huge benefit. While officers spend more time writing re- ports on the computer, re- ports also are more detailed, Igou said. See IGOU, Page 14A Fight for fifth-years not over yet The July 3 celebrations in Falls City appear to be in jeopardy due to concerns over insurance. The Falls City Booster Club had taken over coor- dinating the event for the first time this year and had planned to make it a fundraising event by charging for parking or admission for those not parking. However, those plans were nixed at Thursday’s Falls City City Council meeting when the city’s in- surance company and city attorney said charging for the event would increase the city’s liability too much. »Page 13A INDEPENDENCE NEWS When one of Central High’s newest graduates, running back/defensive back Wes Riddell, takes the field at the Les Schwab Tires Bowl in Hillsboro on Saturday, he knows it’ll be a challenge. The all-star game for seniors in Class 6A and 5A features some of the best football players in the state of Oregon. “I’m expecting quite a bit of good competition,” Riddell said. “I get to go against some of the best players in Oregon. It’s going to prepare me, and I’m just excited to have some fun with it.” Panthers coach Shane Hedrick will serve as one of the assistant coaches for the South team. »Page 11A MONMOUTH NEWS Monmouth City Council approved expanding the city’s chicken ordinance to include ducks. Under the new rule, which will go into effect sometime this summer, the ordinance, which al- lows five hens per residence, will be altered to allow ducks as well. The number of total poultry will remain five, but property owners may choose to have a mix of fowl. Marianne Novotny of Monmouth testified at the council’s June 2 work session that she hadn’t come across any issues with poultry, including ducks, in her research of city codes that allow the birds. »Page 3A Amendment to Senate Bill 418 may see Extended Campus type programs end By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — Same idea, differ- ent bill. Another bill proposing the end of high school fifth-year programs, like those in Dallas, Falls City and Central school districts, is sitting before the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means subcommittee on education. The second bill aiming to end the programs introduced this session, the proposal is included in an amendment to Senate Bill 418, legislation intro- duced to create statewide funding mechanisms for accelerated college credit programs in high schools. The amendment, proposed by Rep. THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK Mark Johnson (R-Hood River), would limit programs to the schools that had them in the 2014-15 school year and phase them out by 2018. SB 418 would establish a pilot pro- gram including schools with fifth- year offerings, as well as a taskforce to study how those programs benefit students. Fi f t h - y e a r p r o - grams allow students Green to defer receiving a standard high school diploma to pur- sue an advanced diploma and attend classes at a community college. Be- cause they are still considered high school students, the state school fund wed Enjoy a fun-filled evening of music, food and craft beer at Rockin’ the River, an auction benefit for LWC at Rogue. 5-8 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 71 Lo: 51 pays for expenses. SB 418’s taskforce would be asked to make recommendations of how to ex- tend benefits of fifth-year programs statewide while simultaneously shut- ting down fifth-year options in the 26 districts that have them. A similar bill, Senate Bill 322, died in committee earlier this year after dis- tricts with the programs agreed to work with lawmakers to solve concerns — namely funding — about offering fifth- year programs. Those in favor of ending the pro- grams cite the use of the K-12 funding for a first year of college as problematic and unfair to students in districts that do not have such programs. See SB 418, Page 14A PERRYDALE NEWS After more than a year of negotiations, the Perry- dale School Board and the Associated Perrydale Teachers (APT) have approved a three-year con- tract. The new contract includes the current (2014-15) school year and expires June 30, 2017. Both sides were able to hammer out an agreement during a five-hour face-to-face meeting earlier this month that included the district’s lawyer, Superintendent Eric Milburn, and teacher group’s representative. In previous mediation sessions, the two groups were kept in separate rooms. »Page 15A thu fri sat sun mon tue Get lost in the sto- ries told by award- winning Christopher Leebrick at Wagner Community Library in Falls City. 10 a.m. Free. Celebrate the art of Dallas painter Deb- bie Howe at this month’s art display at the Dallas Public Library. 4:30 p.m. Free. Support Partner- ships in Community Living while enjoy- ing great food and wine at Eola Hills Wine Cellars. 5 p.m. $25. Celebrate Father’s Day by taking Dad to the annual Dallas Fire and EMS break- fast for pancakes and all the fixings. 7-11 a.m. $5. Learn more about continuing your ed- ucation at this month’s Dallas Chamber’s lunch- eon. Noon. $10-$15. James2 Community Kitchen serves a free meal to anyone who wants one at St. Philip Catholic Church. 4:30 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 75 Lo: 51 Sunny Hi: 75 Lo: 50 Sunny Hi: 79 Lo: 52 Sunny Hi: 82 Lo: 52 Sunny Hi: 77 Lo: 53 Sunny Hi: 80 Lo: 51