Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 17, 2015 5A
Polk County News
Sheriff’s, district attorney’s offices filling vacancies quickly
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Residents
of Polk County may soon see the
results of the public safety levy
voters approved in May as the
county sheriff’s and district at-
torney’s offices work quickly to
add staff.
The election was less than a
month ago, and the Polk County
Sheriff’s Office has already picked
up two certified officers, both from
Monmouth Police Department,
Sheriff Bob Wolfe said.
One of those officers was former
sheriff’s deputy Casey Gibson
Wolfe had to let go last year as part
of budget reductions.
“He came back to us when we
got the funding,” Wolfe said.
Interviews with several more
“lateral” candidates like Gibson —
meaning already certified officers
who won’t require as much train-
ing — are scheduled over the next
few weeks.
At the same time, the office has
received more than 100 applica-
tions for non-certified spots.
Anyone hired out of that group
would have to be sent through 16
weeks of officer training and, after
that, supervised field training.
Wolfe said it will take 18 to 24
months for those deputies to be
able to function on their own.
For that reason, the office has
placed a priority on hiring already
certified officers.
Depending on how the inter-
views with that group goes over
the next few weeks, patrol shifts
could increase to 20 hours per day
by August or September.
Wolfe also is placing a priority
on getting the Polk County Intera-
gency Narcotics Team (POINT) ac-
tive again.
“We are moving, but we are also
being careful,” Wolfe said. “I would
rather be a little bit slower and
make sure we get it done right.”
OBITUARIES
James C.
Martensen
April 22, 1928 – June 7, 2015
James C. Martensen, 87,
of Dallas, formerly of Flo-
rence died June 7 in Dallas.
He and his wife lived in Dal-
las for the past two years
with their daughter, Carol.
He was born to Joseph
Henry Martensen and Clara
Pearl Dunlap in Westfir.
In 1951, he married Hazel
Elma Sisson, and they lived
in Tillamook where he
worked as a school bus driv-
er. The couple later moved
to Florence with their two
children and they lived there
for more than 60 years. He
w o rk e d a t t h e Ca n a r y
sawmill for 10 years and
owned his own business in
the construction industry
until his retirement in 2010.
James had a passion for
trains, music and dancing.
Survivors include his wife,
Hazel; daughters, Carol
Massey and Merry Berg; and
four grandchildren.
Memorial service is July 4
at 1 p.m. at the Kingdom
Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
1961 SE Miller Ave., Dallas.
Hanna E. Mills
June 6, 2015
Hanna E. Mills, 84, of Dal-
las died June 6 in Dallas.
She was born in Germany.
She met Dale E. Mills while
he was in the military sta-
tioned in Germany. They
married on May 18, 1971, in
Kaiser Slautrn, Germany.
She became a U.S. citizen
after moving here in 1972.
She was very patriotic for
the USA and loved animals.
Survivors include her
daughter, Linda (Otto) Bonaf
of Germany; stepdaughter,
Marjorie (Howard) Malm of
Dallas; and five grandchil-
dren.
Private burial will be at
Dallas Cemetery.
Contributions are sug-
gested to Willamette Valley
Hospice or the Humane So-
ciety.
Dallas Mortuary Tribute
Center handled arrange-
ments. To send an online
condolence: www.dallastrib-
ute.com.
Diane Lee Elliott
March 7, 1948 – May 26, 2015
Diane Lee Elliott, 67, of
Dallas died May 26 in Dallas.
She was born in Ingle-
wood, Calif., to Benjamin
and Mari-
on Elliott.
Diane
loved to
take pic-
tures, read,
study the
Bible and
a t t e n d
church with her friends.
She was preceded in
d e a t h by h e r b r o t h e r,
Dwaine.
Survivors include her
brothers, Dennis, Dale and
Dean; children, Rachel Wid-
gren and Russell Boulware;
and several grandchildren.
Diane’s memory will be
celebrated on Saturday at 11
a.m. at Ash Creek Bible
Church, 1483 16th St. N.,
Monmouth. Lunch will be
served following the celebra-
tion.
Glen Edward Clark
May 6, 1941 – June 13, 2015
Glen Clark, 74, of Salem
died June 13 in Salem.
Glen taught social studies
and was the boys head bas-
ketball coach at Central
High School in Independ-
ence, leading the Panthers to
a state championship in
1975.
In 1986, Glen became vice
principal/athletic director at
Dallas High School, and in
1990, he went to Salem and
was the director of counsel-
ing at Sprague High School.
After retiring in 2001, he
spent the next 10 years
working for the Western Ore-
gon University Education
Depar tment, where he
worked to prepare the next
generation of educators.
Memorial service is Satur-
day at 11 a.m. at The Peoples
Church in Salem with a cele-
bration of life reception im-
mediately following.
Contributions are sug-
gested to World Missions in
care of The Peoples Church.
More OBITUARIES,
Page 6A
In the meantime, the office has
changed its non-patrol hours call
out procedures.
With more overtime funding
available, the standards on call
outs have been loosened, meaning
the office will be responding to
more incidents during off hours.
District Attorney Aaron Felton
said in his office the hiring process
is “ahead of schedule.”
Interviews for all five posi-
tions — three prosecutors, an of-
fice assistant and a legal assis-
tant — were held last week.
For the prosecutor positions,
there were 40 applicants.
“I’m very pleased with the pool of
applicants,” he said. “There are a lot
of very talented people who want to
come work for Polk County.”
Originally Felton believed his of-
fice could be at full staff by the end
of summer, but now that may hap-
pen sooner, depending on how
quickly those hired can get started.
Hiring is underway for the Polk
County jail as well.
While the levy authorized hiring
five jail deputies, Wolfe will be hir-
ing up to seven because of vacan-
cies.
The deadline to apply is Thurs-
day, but as of last week, more than
70 applications had come in for jail
deputy positions.
Expect delays on Hwy. 99
ODOT begins pavement project throughout summer
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SALEM — A contractor
working for the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion began a pavement
preservation project on
Highway 99W between
Amity (milepost 45) in
Yamhill County and Hoff-
man Road (milepost 62) in
Polk County.
The work will be com-
pleted by Oct. 31.
The project will replace
the pavement that has be-
come substandard
throughout this area of
Highway 99W.
In addition to the grind
out, paving and striping,
the project includes new
bridge rail and guardrail ap-
proaches, and improve-
ments to the railroad cross-
ing where the Portland &
Western Railroad crosses
Highway 99W at milepost
52, south of Amity.
Most of the work will be
done during weekday
evenings from 7 p.m. to 6
a.m., but there will be some
daytime work.
There will be a one week-
end full closure of Highway
99W in late summer to
complete the railroad im-
provement work.
Solution on Page 2A
During the full closure, a
detour and flaggers will be
employed.
During all other con-
struction, two-way traffic
will be controlled using
flaggers and pilot cars.
Travelers can expect up
to 20-minute delays.
Temporary signage will
be posted at various loca-
tions warning travelers of
the scheduled work and
possible delays.
Motorists are urged to be
alert while driving through
the construction zone, to
drive slowly and proceed
with caution.