MEET YOUR NEW
PIRATES VS. FALLS CITY
PRINCIPALS
FOOTBALL
Page 13-14A
Volume 140, Issue 36
www.Polkio.com
Page 10A
September 9, 2015
75¢
IN YOUR TOWN
Will they
stand
or fall?
DALLAS NEWS
The art of the spoken word — storytelling — will
be the focus Dallas Public Library’s “Storytelling
Festival” Friday and Saturday.
The first-of-its-kind festival for the library will
feature an evening performance for adults by Port-
land Story Theater, a troupe of professional story-
tellers. Saturday, a number of storytellers with tales
suitable for all ages will perform at the library
throughout the day.
Mark Greenhalgh-Johnson, the Dallas library man-
ager, said events like this are growing in popularity,
perhaps filling a void left by social media culture.
»Page 3A
FALLS CITY NEWS
Itemizer-Observer staff
Some buildings — even old ones — will stand during and after a 9.0 earthquake, while others will not.
Are Polk County governments ready for the ‘big one’?
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
Editor’s note: This is the
second in a series of three sto-
ries exploring what would
happen during and after the
predicted 9.0 Cascadia sub-
duction zone earthquake.
POLK COUNTY — It was a
coincidence that Falls City
City Councilor Jenn Drill vol-
unteered to lead the “simpli-
fication” process of the city’s
emergency operations plan
during the council’s goal set-
ting session in March.
Her objective was to make it
more user-friendly and tai-
lored to Falls City’s needs, in-
stead of a mass of unnecessary
detail kept in a hefty binder.
“Nobody wants to go
through a thick notebook in
the middle of a disaster,”
Drill said.
Little did she know that by
the time the committee had
met twice, “Cascadia sub-
duction zone earthquake”
would become a fearsome
phrase.
The possibility of such a
disaster put the committee’s
work in focus.
Falls City, of all the cities in
Polk County, needs extra or-
ganization and cooperation
in what could be an extend-
ed period of isolation as as-
sistance makes its way there.
Drill said the city, Falls City
School District, area church-
es and business will compile
resources — generators, fuel,
water filtration equipment,
food and supplies — and
designate emergency opera-
tions centers.
Two command centers will
be set up, one on the north
side of the Little Luckiamute
River and one on the south
side, just in case the bridge
spanning the river collapses.
All partners know that the
city may be on its own for a
longer time than others,
meaning the town will have
to be resourceful, Drill noted.
Falls City School District
isn’t much further behind in
its own preparation, except
for seismic upgrades to
buildings, a common issue
for schools and municipali-
ties across the state.
Aging school buildings,
city halls, and police and fire
stations in Oregon could
suffer significant damage —
or collapse — in a major
earthquake. In Dallas School
District, all of its buildings,
with the exception of one,
are in the “high risk of col-
lapse” category. Monmouth
and Dallas city hall, both
built in the 1920s or 1930s,
are in need of upgrades.
Oregon’s legislature allo-
cated $330 million in its last
session for seismic upgrades
to public buildings, including
$175 million in grants going
to schools this biennium.
The application period
opens this fall and most
local jurisdictions are look-
ing into applying for grants.
In Falls City, in the mean-
time, the district has 55-gallon
drum emergency kits at its
schools with basic supplies.
“They are not going to
save everything, but will
meet some basic needs,”
Falls City Superintendent
Jack Thompson said.
Thompson said, if the
earthquake were to happen
during the school day, stu-
dents and staff are familiar
with protocol as the dis-
trict — and all others in the
state — are required to do
two drills each year.
See QUAKE, Page 9A
Oregon’s Infrastructure Finance Authority (IFA)
has awarded the city of Falls City a $20,000 grant to
complete a new water master plan.
Falls City City Council will review the agency’s
award letter, sent on Aug. 28, at its meeting Thurs-
day. The council will give final approval once the
agency send the city its grant contract.
The project will cost $80,000. Mayor Terry Un-
gricht said the city has budgeted $60,000 of its
own money for the plan, but will still look for other
grants or other resources to help offset that cost.
»Page 5A
INDEPENDENCE NEWS
Central senior Kylie Nash isn’t a fan of downtime.
From volleyball in the fall to basketball in the
winter and softball in the spring, Nash isn’t one to
enjoy idle time.
“I definitely couldn’t see myself dropping a
sport,” Nash said. “I need to be in sports. It keeps
me busy.”
As she enters her final season with the Panthers,
Nash is focused on enjoying the present.
“It’s not much different,” Nash said. “It’s still varsi-
ty. It makes it fun and helps me lead even more be-
cause they see me in a leading role more so than in
my younger years.”
»Page 10A
MONMOUTH NEWS
Lending a helping hand
Kim Seidel is thrilled to return to Monmouth to
work as the principal at Monmouth Elementary
School.
“I went to Western Oregon University,” she said.
“My husband and I met here. We both said if we
ever have the opportunity to live back in Mon-
mouth, we’d do that. We brought our three kids
with us.” Seidel had wanted to be a teacher since
she was 7. Now 36, she spent 14 years in Tillamook
at a fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade school. “I’m real-
ly excited to be in a school with younger grades,”
Seidel noted. “You really miss that.”
»Page 14A
POLK COUNTY NEWS
The man Candy Fryrear loves, and has been mar-
ried to for 46 years, is sitting right next to her, and
yet he may as well be across the world.
“I’m an Alzheimer’s widow,” she says.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are dis-
eases that attack the mind, robbing patients of
their memories before moving on to kill the body.
The first casualties are the people who love them.
Denny, 74, doesn’t really remember Candy —
sometimes he does, she says, “but a lot of times I
think he just thinks I’m his mother,” — but he
smiles a lot.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
»Page 6A
Mikela Bruer helps Emie Olbregts with her locker during Dallas High School’s first day of school on Tuesday.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
wed
Hear from Commis-
sioner Mike
Ainsworth at the MI
chamber luncheon
today at the Indy
civic center.
Noon. Free.
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 51
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
9:30 a.m., 7 p.m. $22.50.
Grab your garden
gloves and head to
the Gentle House at
WOU for a garden
work party followed
by lunch.
9 a.m.-noon. Free.
Apples and pears
are in season, and
what better place to
pick some up than
at Independence
Riverview Market?
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free.
Buell Grange will
host breakfast this
morning at the
grange, complete
with eggs, sausage,
and pancakes.
8-11 a.m. Free.
Head down to Main
Street Park in Mon-
mouth to help tear
down the stage now
that the summer
festivals are over.
5 p.m. Free.
Explore the world of
coin collecting with
others who have
collected for years
at the Monmouth
Senior Center.
7 p.m. Free.
Sunny
Hi: 88
Lo: 54
Sunny
Hi: 94
Lo: 56
Sunny
Hi: 90
Lo: 56
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 53
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 52
Sunny
Hi: 75
Lo: 49
Ladies Bible study
begins at Evangeli-
cal Bible Church in
Dallas today. Two
times are available
for women.