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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2015)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 14, 2015 4A How to Contact Officials LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Support to DHS athletics greatly appreciated On behalf of the coaches here at Dallas High School, we just want to thank the boosters for a great auction. Also, we hope to encourage the parents of younger (sev- enth, eighth, ninth graders) youth to come up and fill that vital void. We use those funds to upgrade facilities, purchase uniforms, equipment, hire additional coaches, you name it. Some of our boost- ers have held offices now for close to a decade. They’ve been loyal and sup- portive, but they are due for a reprieve. Thanks once again you guys! Tony Olliff Dallas Friends, family supportive in a time of need Awesome people you should know about and their giving. After Larry Wildman’s passing Sept. 24, Jim and Annastasia Brown with their hired man, and my family came on Sept. 26 and totally prepared the or- chard for winter. Larry had been concerned he could not do it for two or three months and now it’s done. I am blessed and looking for- ward to next year’s crop. staying local. So when State Rep. Paul Evans made good on his promise to promote local businesses by hosting a fundraiser at the Inde- pendence Grill on Main Street, I was thrilled. My family eats there all the time and we really enjoy propri- etor Greg Peterson's food and the grill's atmosphere. To be able to go there last Monday night and talk with Rep. Evans, who under- stands just how important "Main Street" is, makes me feel good about the future of District 20. Shannon Cockayne Independence Loud cars are a noisy nuisance Pat Wildman Dallas Rep. takes pride in ‘staying local’ I'm a firm believer in What's the deal with people and their overly loud trucks and cars? Some trucks are loud just by being diesels, but others are just made to be loud and rude intentionally. You may like the sound of your "Fast and Furious" wanna- be hopped up street drifter (FYI you're not Paul Walk- er). Not his fault but, look what speed did to him. I doubt your neighbors enjoy having that thing start up and drive down your street at 6 a.m. in sec- ond gear with your win- dow-shaking music thumping. As for the older diesel trucks that you "used" to use to pull your fifth wheel with, you don't use it for that anymore, so do your neighborhood a favor and get a quieter ve- hicle that doesn't sound like 100 marbles in a clothes dryer. I'm sure people who like their neighborhoods quiet would really appreciate it. Ali Rion Dallas Report not high on use of legal pot Oregon has legalized marijuana we find out things aren’t so good in Col- orado. A study in Colorado by the Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Traf- ficking (180 pages long) proved what the proponents of legalization claimed was absolutely false. They stated that traffic fatalities would reduce as people switched from alcohol to marijuana and the marijuana doesn’t impair driving to the same degree. It was stated by the proponents with the imple- mentation of tight regula- tions would prevent in- crease of use especially among the youth. Oregon needs to take notice. In Colorado marijuana related traffic deaths dou- bled from 47 to 94 per year between 2009 and 2014. Colorado’s marijuana-relat- ed Emergency Room calls have increased since 2009 by more than 10,000 per year and Emergency Room visits have doubled from about 8,000 to more than 18,000. Moreover, Colorado’s marijuana-related hospital- izations have nearly tripled since 2009. The annual cost of that increase in hospitals from about 4,400 to nearly 11,500 per year would ex- ceed $50 million. Pro-marijuana folks promised with the new taxes on sales, significant new state and local revenue would be generated. Actual- ly it has only generated a disappointing seven-tenths of one percent of state rev- enue. Self-reporting use of mar- ijuana among Colorado children between 12 and 17 of age is now more than 50 percent higher than the na- tional average. Last year over 5000 Colorado school children were expelled for the use or distribution of marijuana. Oregon schools graduation rate is already bad without adding this. All this has been reported in Colorado in a state where three-fourths of local juris- dictions have enacted out- right bans on marijuana for recreational use (228 of 371). I think the people of Ore- gon need to take a long look at what they voted into law. Oregon can’t afford what Colorado is going through. Bill Kluting Monmouth PUBLIC AGENDA GUEST COLUMN Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov- ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County. To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503- 623-2395) or email (ionews@polkio.com). — WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14 • Monmouth Library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth Public Library meeting room, 168 S. Ecols St., Monmouth. 503- 838-0722. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. • Monmouth Park and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun- teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722. THURSDAY, OCT. 15 • Polk County Fair Board — 8 a.m., Polk County Fairgrounds and Event Center, Main Building, Meeting Room No. 2, 520 S. Pa- ciic Highway (99W), Rickreall. 503-623-3048. • Dallas Economic Development Committee — Noon, City Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502. • Independence Parks and Recreation Board — 6 p.m., In- dependence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503- 838-1212. • Monmouth Arts and Culture Commission — 7 p.m., Vol- unteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722. MONDAY, OCT. 19 • Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., City Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dal- las. 503-831-3502. TUESDAY, OCT. 13 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. • Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0722. School year off to great start The school year is off to a great start, and we already have quite a bit to celebrate. First, thank you to those who attended the Dallas H i g h S c h o o l Booster Club annu- al auction. Johnstone It was an impressive show of support and commitment to our kids! Secondly, Craig Button, PE teacher at Whitworth Ele- mentary, was named Distin- guished Educator for Sep- tember. From the voice of students, “Mr. Button is there to always help us and never gives up on us.” Third- ly, our district is receiving a CLASS Grant for $323,451. These dollars will be used to support instruction. It is not a coincidence that all three of these celebrations involve our staff, parents, and com- munity, and I appreciate each partner for their shared investment in our kids. As we focus on our board goal to increase student achievement, we have a new best practice starting called “instructional rounds.” The concept is taken from the medical rounds model used in teaching hospitals. One day each month, all of our district administrators gath- er in one school to observe the teaching and learning that’s going on in classrooms in that particular building. The observations are used to help support the building principal’s efforts to elevate student learning. The goal is to view what is happening in the classroom through the eyes of the student. Our first instructional round was at Dallas High School, and we look forward to continuing this valuable learning expe- rience. As we work and learn to adjust our practices to meet the needs of our students, listening and gathering the viewpoint of our community is important. If you have questions or ideas to share there are three approaching opportunities to do just that: Dallas Retire- ment Village on Oct. 22 be- ginning at 9:30 a.m., Mc- Donald’s on Oct. 23 begin- ning at 8 a.m., and Pressed Coffee & Wine on Nov. 3 be- ginning at 7:30 a.m. These are informal coffee conver- sations and I look forward to meeting with you and hear- ing your ideas. Thank you for your inter- est and support of our dis- trict. GOVERNOR Gov. Kate Brown (Dem.) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4582 Email: via website, http://governor.oregon.gov/ — STATE LEGISLATORS Sen. Arnie Roblan (District 5, Democrat) S-417 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan Sen. Jackie Winters (District 10, Republican) S-301 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1710 sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters Sen. Brian Boquist (District 12, Republican) S-305 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1712 sen.brianboquist@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist Rep. David Gomberg (District 10, Democrat) H-471 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1410 rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg Rep. Paul Evans (District 20, Democrat) H-281 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1420 rep.paulevans@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans Rep. Mike Nearman (District 23, Republican) H-378 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1423 rep.mikenearman@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman — U.S. CONGRESS Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.) 221 Dirksen SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-5244 Fax: 202-228-2717 Salem oice: 707 13th St. SE, Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-589-4555 Email: via website, www.wyden.senate.gov Michelle Johnstone, Ed.D. Superintendent Dallas School District No. 2 WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Each writer is re- stricted to one letter per 30-day period. Letters that are libelous, obscene or in bad taste will not be printed. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the accuracy of facts presented by letter writers. Letters must include the au- thor’s name, address and tele- phone number. This includes letters submitted via the I-O’s website. Names and cities of res- idence are published; street ad- dresses and telephone numbers are used for veriication pur- poses only. Letters must be submitted from individuals, not organiza- tions, and must be original sub- missions to the I-O. Letters of thanks to busi- nesses, individuals and organi- zations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. Fax: 503-623-2395. Email: ionews@polkio.com. Oice: 147 SE Court St., Dallas. Sen. Jef Merkley (Dem.) 313 Hart SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Fax: 202-228-3997 Salem oice: 495 State St. SE, Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-362-8102 Email: via website, www.merkley.senate.gov Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.) 108 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5711 Fax: 202-225-5699 Salem oice: 544 Ferry St. SE, Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-588-9100 Fax: 503-588-5517 Email: via website, www.schrader.house.gov — POLK COUNTY Board of Commissioners 850 Main St. Dallas, OR 97338 Phone: 503-623-8173 www.co.polk.or.us — CITIES Dallas 187 SE Court St. Dallas, OR 97338 503-623-2338 www.ci.dallas.or.us Falls City 299 Mill St. Falls City, OR 97344 503-787-3631 www.fallscityoregon.gov Independence 555 S. Main St. Independence, OR 97351 503-838-1212 www.ci.independence.or.us Monmouth 151 W. Main St. Monmouth, OR 97361 503-838-0722 www.ci.monmouth.or.us HOW TO REACH US Vol. 140, No. 41 (USPS) - 437-380) The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875 Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR. Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street Dallas, Oregon 97338 Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Polk County — One Year $27 Other Oregon Counties — One Year $33 Outside of Oregon — One Year $38 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, Oregon 97338 The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no inancial responsibility for errors in adver- tisements. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault. 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