SMITH FINE ARTS SERIES HOFFMAN KICK STARTS ENTERTAINMENT NEW PASSION Page 9A Page 12A Volume 140, Issue 39 www.Polkio.com September 30, 2015 75¢ IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS NEWS The annual Dallas Booster Club Auction returns Saturday evening. Tickets for the event, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Dallas Nesmith Readiness Center, located at12830 Westview Drive, are $25 and will be avail- able at the door, organizer Michelle Nelson said. This year’s auction will include a variety of items to bid on, from house rentals at Sunriver to the chance to be a wrestling coach during the wrestling team’s Orange and Black scrimmage, to local artwork, a pair of grills and gift cards. Money raised supports Dallas High’s sports. »Page 20A FALLS CITY NEWS JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer From left, Netanya Welch with Vitis Terra Vineyard Services, left, and owner Namaste Dave Masciorini inspect grape coming off the vines at the vineyard outside of Dallas on Wednesday. Hot season, big wines Warm growing season should translate to flavorful wines in 2015 By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — The morning of the first day of fall, crisp and beautiful, set the perfect scene for wine grape harvesting at Na- maste Vineyard outside of Dallas. The calm morning was filled with the quick snip, snip, snip of clippers while workers deftly removing dark purple pinot noir grape clusters from the vines. The grapes harvested Sept. 23 will become the v i n e y a rd’s “Pro s p e r i t y pinot.” Owner Dave Masciorini was all smiles at the begin- ning of the earliest harvest on record at the vineyard. “I will have everything off before October, except Riesling,” he said, sitting abroad the tractor he uses to move full containers of grapes from Prosperity’s hillside rows. “That’s never happened before.” By that point in the har- vest, Masciorini was more than pleased with the growing season’s bounty. JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Namaste owner Dave Masciorini waits to haul grapes. The hot and dry summer prevented common plagues of mildew and late- season pressure from birds seeking to make a meal out of sweet grapes. The rain that’s visited the valley off and on since late August was just enough to help slow down ripening and balance out the acids and flavors. “When the rain started to come, if it would have gone steady, we would have had such an incredible year with this limp little finish,” he said. “We probably wouldn’t have been able to get it right.” Masciorini said 2015 and 2014 have been as good as it gets, even with record heat. “If this were the new norm — I don’t think it is — but that would be fantas- tic,” he said. “If this were the new norm, I would be able to sleep at night.” Bryan Croft, winemaker with Firesteed Cellars Win- ery in Rickreall, said he, too, is pleased with what has come in so far since the vineyard’s harvest that began Sept. 6. Firesteed’s harvest also is the earliest on record, thanks to an early bud break and bloom during the latter part of a mild winter. Combined with the heat of summer, Croft believes the 2015 wines will be very drinkable right away. “I think 2015 will be one of those years that is going to make a really big slash in the (wine) magazines,” Croft said. “It’s more of the blockbuster than the indie film. You don’t have to wait around.” In contrast, cooler years create wines with more subtle flavors and more acid, he said. Those wines typically age well as flavors develop over time. This year’s vintage will be the opposite. “You know they are going to be delicious (now),” Croft said. The season wasn’t per- fect, though. See WINE, Page 8A No easy fix for SW Polk Fire’s budget woes With eight freshmen and five sophomores, Falls City’s volleyball team has seen a resurgence in numbers. The dramatic increase also means the Mountaineers are among the youngest teams in the Casco League. Senior Allison Kidd has seen the volleyball squad grow from six players in 2014 to more than 20 in 2015. For some, high school athletics is a serious mat- ter — a place where student-athletes should focus only on the task at hand. Kidd doesn’t subscribe to that line of thinking. »Page 12A INDEPENDENCE NEWS The after-school program at Monmouth Inde- pendence YMCA, Go Club, is more than just a baby sitting service, said executive director Natascha Cronin. “It’s not just that we’re making sure your child is safe and dry and feeding them,” she said. “It really is a very different program than what it’s been in the past. We’re considering ourselves more of an exten- sion of the school day.” There’s plenty of play time, especially if it’s nice outside. Monday afternoon, about a dozen kids chased each other on the playground. »Page 20A MONMOUTH NEWS A new app for smartphones makes it easier than ever to find out more about historic buildings in the city of Monmouth. The app, Historic Monmouth Walking Tour, is available for both iPhones and Google formats. It cost about $6,000, which was paid for through a grant, said Mark Fancey, Monmouth community development manager. Once downloaded, the app provides users with information, pictures and history about 29 historic sites in Monmouth, including Western Oregon Uni- versity. »Page 2A By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY NEWS POLK COUNTY — For at least nine years, Southwest Polk Rural Fire Protection Dis- trict has spent more money than it has levied in taxes. Not because of frivolous spending, said SW Polk’s Fire Chief Fred Hertel — also Dal- las Fire & EMS’ chief — but rather the cost of doing busi- ness has simply overwhelmed the district’s tax rate. Measures 47 and 50, passed by voters in the late 1990s, at- tempted to rein in govern- ment spending by rolling back tax rates to 1993 levels. See DISTRICT, Page 8A THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK Polk County mental health workers and adminis- tration are in a “cooling off” period after unsuccess- ful negotiations over wages. “Basically, we’ve been bargaining with the coun- ty since June,” said Dustin Breitwieser, mental health counselor and member of the bargaining unit for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 173. “We have not been able to reach a settlement. They’re taking a hard line. They cited political reasons for not wanting to give us a raise. They won’t budget off 1.5 percent (cost-of-living adjustment) with us.” »Page 2A Graphic by KATHY HUGGINS/ Itemizer-Observer wed Grab a yoga mat and head to Rogue Farms Hopyard in Independence for some relaxation in the bines. 6 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 72 Lo: 47 thu fri sat sun mon tue It’s October, and that means it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Find out what you can do to prevent cancer at cancer.org. Imani Milele, a Ugandan children’s choir, will perform at First Christian in Dal- las to raise money for African orphans. 6:30 p.m. Free. Uninsured? Receive free medical and mental health care at the Polk Commu- nity Free Clinic at Trinity Lutheran. 7-11 a.m. Free. Practice your singing with free lessons for all ages at St. Thomas Epis- copal Church in Dal- las. 1:30-3 p.m. Free. Eating at Dairy Queen will help stu- dents in Monrovia, Liberia, build book- cases and buy books for a new library. 5-8 p.m. Cost varies . Author Steve Arndt will talk about Ore- gon Ghost Towns at the Monmouth Public Library dur- ing a presentation. 6 p.m. Free. Partly Sunny Hi: 72 Lo: 47 Mostly Sunny Hi: 73 Lo: 45 Partly Cloudy Hi: 72 Lo: 49 Sunny Hi: 78 Lo: 49 Sunny Hi: 75 Lo: 50 Partly Cloudy Hi: 75 Lo: 51