CELEBRATING HERITAGE
DALLAS FOOTBALL
HOPS FESTIVAL
CATCHES
FIRE
Page 7A
Page 10A
Volume 140, Issue 38
www.Polkio.com
September 23, 2015
READY OR NOT?
IN YOUR TOWN
DALLAS NEWS
Is your family
or business
ready for an
emergency?
The magic word in Kari Witt’s kindergarten class
Thursday is “school.”
To her students, the district’s youngest, school
still may seem magical.
For some, it’s the first time they have been in an
educational environment and away from their par-
ents for an extended period of time. They are learn-
ing not just reading, writing and math, but how to
be students.
Concepts such as raising your hand before
speaking, waiting your turn to speak, lining up and
eating in a group setting are new for them.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
Editor’s note: This the
third 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 — The
shaking has stopped. You are
alive and in one piece.
You breathe in, but soon
realize there’s something
you haven’t thought about:
What’s next? Where is my
family? Are they safe? Can I
get to them?
“What do you do? You sit
there and worry,” said Kimber
Townsend, Polk County Com-
munity Emergency Response
Team (CERT) manager.
But you didn’t have to if
you had made a plan and
stored supplies and food.
The predicted Cascadia
subduction zone earth-
quake, that could rock the
Northwest with 9.0 magni-
tude shaking and a tsunami
on the coast, need not vic-
timize us twice: once with
what could be considerable
damage and destruction,
and again with helplessness
caused by a lack of resources
and planning.
Every family should have
a plan, Townsend and other
local leaders urge. The time
to do that is now while the
600-mile fault off the coast
remains dormant.
Preparation is needed
The process doesn’t have
to be overwhelming or be-
come a financial hardship —
even though the state esti-
mates basic services, like
electricity, will be down for
at least three months — and
can be tackled step by step.
“Preparedness does not
have to be expensive,” said
Althea Rizzo, the geologic
hazards program manager
for Oregon Emergency Man-
agement. “Having a discus-
sion tonight at dinner could
be the first step. That doesn’t
cost anything.”
While a 72-hour kit may be
woefully inadequate for a dis-
aster of Cascadia’s propor-
tions, it’s a good place to start.
Being prepared will help not
only you and your loved ones,
but the entire community, said
Polk County Emergency Man-
ager Dean Bender said.
“Start working away at it.
Take a few things a month,”
he said. “If people become
self-prepared, it takes the
burden off government be-
cause we are not going to
have the people to come
help them.”
He said the scenario for
Polk County, a mostly rural
county, is that police depart-
ments likely won’t be at full
strength and largely volun-
teer fire departments also
will struggle to get personnel
to work while they care for
their own families.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
75¢
»Page 14A
FALLS CITY NEWS
Remember “MANOS: The Hands of Fate?”
Largely regarded as one of the worst movies of
all time, the now nearly 50-year-old film may have
a sequel in the works.
Falls City resident Jackey Raye Neyman Jones —
Debbie in the original cult classic b-movie — will
be producing it with Seattle-area filmmaker Tonjia
Atomic as director.
For fans of the original movie, made famous re-
cently by a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode,
will be thrilled to know the sequel “MANOS Re-
turns” features Jones, and her father Tom Neyman,
The Master.
»Page 5A
OREGON RESILIENCE PLAN/ for the Itemizer-Observer
Damage from the Cascadia subduction zone will vary based on location. In the
Willamette Valley we can expect moderate to heavy damage to buildings and roads.
If the earthquake were to
happen in the middle of the
night, highly populated West
Salem may be left with few, if
any, police officers on duty,
only one manned fire sta-
tion, and vulnerable bridges
between it and the closest
source of help, Bender said.
It could remain that way
for some time as state and
federal agencies scramble to
send assistance.
“They are not coming to
Polk County. They are going to
Portland. They are going to
Salem, Eugene,” Bender said.
“They are going to go to the
larger population areas be-
cause you get the biggest bang
for your buck. We are going to
be on our own for a while.”
Dallas City Manager Ron
Foggin said if uninjured sur-
vivors can take care of them-
selves for a while, the city
could focus on responding
to true emergencies.
“We are going to need
people to be self-reliant dur-
ing those times, to be able to
help themselves and help
their neighbors,” he said. “If
we are not having to worry
about healthy people who
just don’t have a supply of
drinking water, we can con-
centrate on those (who real-
ly need help).”
Juan Navarro, 22, has already had a great impact
on others, inspiring high school students and
politicians in Washington, D.C.
Navarro, the new community liaison for Inde-
pendence, testified in front of the Oregon State
Legislature in favor of Undocumented State Tu-
ition, which allows undocumented residents of a
state to receive in-state tuition rates.
Navarro, who is vocal about his undocumented
status, was born in Mexico, but said he grew up in
Stayton.
“I learned English in Stayton, went to school in
Stayton, my first girlfriend was in Stayton,” he said.
»Page 2A
MONMOUTH NEWS
Monmouth Independence Networks board of di-
rectors believes it needs to stop “playing small ball”
and refocus on the big picture.
But before that, the board addressed whether
MINET employees should receive free cable, tele-
phone and Internet as a perk of working there.
MINET General Manager Don Patten said board
members need to focus on “appropriate agenda
items” that will move the company forward.
“Too much negative attention is being attached
in public and press to the board, and, by associa-
tion, to MINET,” he said.
»Page 2A
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
First aid kits and other medical equipment, including
clotting sponges, should be included in emergency kits.
POLK COUNTY NEWS
Cascadia earthquake series
• In the first story in the Aug. 26 issue of the I-O, we
outlined how the predicted Cascadia subduction zone
earthquake would affect Polk County and how state
and local officials have been planning for it.
• The second story in the series, published on Sept.
9, detailed what plans Polk County government,
school districts and cities had to deal with disasters
now and what more could be done to better prepare
for Cascadia.
• This week we address what individuals and fami-
lies should be doing to prepare themselves for “The
Really Big One.”
Make your plan
Creating such self-suffi-
ciency requires thinking
ahead and organization.
Townsend said first make a
plan for your family, taking
into account different sce-
narios, such as if the quake
were to strike during the
work or school day.
She said to establish a
meeting point if family
INDEPENDENCE NEWS
members are away from
home and create backups.
Trying to call each other, un-
less done quickly, probably
won’t work.
See PREPARED, Page 13A
When a government agency needs a service,
employees use a preferred provider list.
That list is lacking in businesses from Polk Coun-
ty.
Government employees must open a phone
book or open bidding, said Chelsea Metcalfe, direc-
tor of the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce.
Metcalfe and Jean Love, director of the Mon-
mouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce,
have teamed up to provide a free open house
where businesses throughout the county may
come and learn how to get on one of those lists.
»Page 6A
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Pack your favorite
beverage and go to
St. Thomas Episco-
pal Church for a riv-
eting discussion of
science and religion.
7 p.m. Free.
Dallas Senior Center
will kick off its ninth
annual music jam
for all singers, musi-
cians and music
lovers of any age.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Oregon Poet Laure-
ate Peter Sears will
read his poetry and
discuss the role of
poet laureate at the
Dallas library.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Check out what’s
new at Polk Fire Dis-
trict No. 1 during its
open house at Sta-
tion 90 in Independ-
ence.
1-4 p.m. Free.
Tonight, a complete
lunar eclipse will co-
incide with a “super
moon,” an event that
won’t happen again
for 18 years.
7:11 p.m. Free.
Celebrate National
Good Neighbor Day
by taking a moment
and catching up
with or doing a quick
kindness for those
who live nearby.
James2 Community
Kitchen offers a free
meal to all who are
hungry each Tues-
day at St. Philip
Catholic Church.
4:30-6 p.m. Free.
Sunny
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Mostly sunny
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Showers
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Mostly cloudy
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Lo: 47