Polk County News
DEADLINES
NEWS DEADLINES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Thursday.
Community events —
Noon on Friday for both the
Community Notebook and
Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on Monday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
Monday.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on Monday.
Classified line ads —
Noon on Monday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — Noon
on Friday.
CORRECTIONS
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to
publishing accurate news,
feature and sports reports. If
you see anything that re-
quires a correction or clarifi-
cation, call the newsroom at
503-623-2373 or send an e-
mail to nadams@polkio.com.
WEBSITE
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items, in-
cluding additional photos,
that do not appear in print
due to space limitations.
The Itemizer-Observer is
also on Facebook and Twit-
ter. Watch for breaking
news, links to stories, sports
scores updates and more.
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 14, 2015 3A
Local businesses to take part in Speed Pitch
Polk County businesses to participate in an event featuring a travel writer from Salem
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Why is
the Pink House pink? What
made Maggie Triplett want
to open a flower shop? What
is the story behind Brixuis
Jewelers?
All of these stories can be
shared with a travel writer in
a speed-dating sort of for-
mat between 10 a.m. and 2
p.m. on Thursday at the Polk
County Fairgrounds & Event
Center.
“It’s trying to get business-
es to think a little outside of
the box and realize what
they’re doing is really cool,
and it’s not being done
everywhere and anywhere,”
said Chelsea Metcalfe, exec-
utive director of the Dallas
Chamber of Commerce and
Visitor’s Center.
Business owners may
come to the fairgrounds and
have a 15-minute “date”
with a travel writer from
Travel Salem, “our big sister
for tourism,” Metcalfe said.
“They have connections
with all the national maga-
zines and statewide maga-
zines,” she said. Those mag-
azines look to Travel Salem
for information. “They
HIGH LOW
Oct. 6................. 77
Oct. 7................. 66
Oct. 8................. 71
Oct. 9................. 75
Oct. 10 .............. 74
Oct. 11 .............. 69
Oct. 12 .............. 74
51
55
53
47
57
48
45
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — In-
dependence City Manager
David Clyne requested re-
placement on the board for
Monmouth Independence
Networks (MINET).
Clyne, who has served as
the board chairman for
MINET since July 2014, said
in a memo to the Independ-
ence City Council that he
would like to change his sta-
tus on the MINET board
from voting to nonvoting.
“My decision comes after
long consideration of my
ability to be an effective ad-
vocate for the city’s posi-
tions,” he said in the memo
to the council. “There are
several barriers to that effec-
tiveness, not the least of
which is the difficulty in
having a key employee of
the organization also serving
on the city council. This
makes the same person both
a subordinate and a supervi-
sor, obviously a challenging
The Colors of Fall
RAIN
.00
.03
.00
.01
.16
.00
.00
Rainfall during Oct. — .20 in.
Rain through Oct. 12 — 17.32 in.
What: Speed Pitch, 15 minutes to talk about your business’
story to a Travel Salem writer.
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Polk County Fairgrounds & Event Center, 520 S. Pa-
cific Highway W., Rickreall.
Admission: Free.
Of note: Everyone has an interesting story to tell. This is a
chance to get that information out there for wider coverage
and possible press.
For more information or to RSVP: www.dallasoregon.org,
or call 503-623-2564.
would like to get informa-
tion about our local busi-
nesses to pitch out. You
never know who might pick
up on that story.”
Dallas Chamber of Com-
merce is working with Mon-
mouth-Independence
David Clyne steps down from MINET board
WEATHER
RECORDED
Business speed dating
Chamber of Commerce on
this “Speed Pitch” event.
“We’re trying to do more
cooperation with each other,”
Metcalfe said. “We don’t want
our individual communities
invited, we want all of Polk
County businesses to come
have this opportunity.”
Once the interviews are
completed, Travel Salem will
have a “little mega database
about our cool businesses
here,” Metcalfe noted.
“If someone calls, or if it’s
a slow time in the news, they
can say, ‘Oh that was kind of
cool. Let’s do a feature on
that,’” she said.
situation even with extreme
care and separation of
roles.”
Marilyn Morton, Inde-
pendence city councilor,
works as an administrator at
MINET.
Clyne also cited other re-
sponsibilities for his request
to step down.
He has recently been ap-
pointed to the governance
board for the Local Govern-
ment Personnel Institute
and has spent a lot of time
overseeing the reconstruc-
tion of the Valley Concrete
site. He said negotiations
have been difficult with the
Teamsters, along with other
ongoing efforts.
“Reducing my role with
MINET will allow me to put
more focus on these very
important responsibilities,”
Clyne said.
Mayor John McArdle rec-
ommended filling Clyne’s
position with Greg Ellis, for-
mer Independence city
manager. Ellis, of Independ-
ence, has a long history with
MINET, back to its founding
in 2004.
The intergovernmental
agreement, signed by both
Monmouth and Independ-
ence city councils, allows
the appointment of some-
one other than the city man-
ager to the MINET board, at
the council’s discretion.
The council made a deci-
sion at its Tuesday meeting
after press time.
• Any delivered load of bark from
3 yards within Independence,
Monmouth, and Dallas
• And from 5 yards to unit sizes to
Independence, Monmouth, Dallas,
Salem, Corvallis & surrounding areas.
www.marrbrosbark.com
875 S. Pacific Hwy • Monmouth
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Students walk about Western Oregon’s campus on Fri-
day afternoon.
503-623-8361
201 NE Polk Station Road, Dallas, OR 97338
www.TheCapitalFord.com
DALLAS FIREMED
PARAMEDIC AMBULANCE MEMBERSHIP
Support Your Local Ambulance
Open Enrollment September - October 31st
DIAL
9 1 1
FOR MEDICAL
EMERGENCIES
$65 per household $75 per household
within city limits
outside city limits
24 hours a day, year-around Emergency
Medical Service Membership
For assistance call: CITY OF DALLAS AMBULANCE 503-831-3508
Offered to the communities of Dallas, Falls City, Rickreall, and surrounding areas
Enroll and pay online at www.dallasor.gov