Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 14, 2015 4A
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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
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The deadline for letters to the
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—
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
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Outside of Oregon — One Year $38
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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.
NEWSROOM
Nancy Adams ...............Publisher/Editor .............................................................nadams@polkio.com
Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
Emily Mentzer ..............Monmouth/Independence Reporter ..................ementzer@polkio.com
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