Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 18, 2015
Police ‘academy’ open to Indy residents
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — In-
dependence Police Chief
Bob Mason announced a
new community police
academy, which will start in
February 2016.
“This concept is not nec-
essarily new, but it’s new to
Independence,” Mason said
at the Nov. 10 Independence
City Council work session.
In other cities, police de-
partments hold a citizens’
academy, where residents
may learn more about the
inner workings of the de-
partment. Mason said IPD is
Police
not using the term “citizen”
because not all residents of
Independence are “citizens.”
“The program is about
bringing people who are not
in law enforcement and
spending a good amount of
time showing them what we
do and why we do it,” he said.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Motor home fire results in death
DALLAS — Southwest Polk Fire and the Dallas Fire Depart-
ment responded to a structure ire in the 4000 block of Van Well
Road Friday at 2:40 a.m.
Upon arrival, responders found a motor home fully engulfed
in lames. The ire department took action and determined
there was a deceased person inside, identiied as 36-year-old
Tobias Schulson, who was living in the motor home at the time
along with his dog.
The Polk County Sherif’s Oice was called and responded to
the scene.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner determined the cause of
death was accidental due to smoke inhalation.
The Polk County Sherif’s Oice is being assisted by the Ore-
gon State Police and the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
An investigation is ongoing, but foul play is not suspected.
Detectives learned an electric heater was being used in the
motor home during the night. The heater is the suspected
source of the ire, according to arson investigators.
Polk Extension to hold sewing classes
DALLAS — Polk County 4-H will host STEP (Short Term Edu-
cational Programming) sewing classes for youth on Tuesday
and Dec. 7.
Beginners attending the class will learn to make small
sewing gifts. More experienced sewers will make pajama pants.
The class sessions, open to students in third through 12th
grade, are from 3:30 to 5:50 p.m. at the Extension Oice, 289 E.
Ellendale, Suite 301, Dallas. Admission is $2 for 4-H members
and $3 for non-members. Preregistration is required by Mon-
day.
You do not need to be a 4-H member to attend. For more in-
formation or to register: 503-623-8395.
Boondocks to hold weekly workshops
FALLS CITY — Want to try your hand at painting? The Boon-
docks, 318 N. Main St. in Falls City will give you a chance every
Wednesday through the rest of the year, starting this evening.
Admission to “Painting, Canvas and Cocktails (or soda pop)”
is $30 and including all the supplies required, paint, canvas and
instruction. No experience is necessary. Your irst beverage and
a snack is included in the cost.
For more information: The Boondocks, 503-787-2700.
Enjoy lunch with us...
Chicken Noodle or
Vegetable Beef Soup,
Salad & Pie
Friday, Nov. 20
Dallas Civic Center
11 am - 1 pm
$7 per person
Sponsored by Naomi Chapter 22OES
If you liked our Stew Biscuits, you’ll love our
soup, salad and pie!
Mason added that he
hopes the program will help
ramp up volunteer pro-
grams for the PD, as well as
for the city.
“We very much hope to
make it fun and that people
will enjoy it,” he said. “We
hope to get some people in
here who want to volun-
teer.”
He said he may require
volunteers to participate in
the academy.
Mason noted that the de-
partment occasionally has
retried law enforcement or
others who want to come in
and help with cold cases or
give advice on investiga-
tions.
Because this is the first
time IPD has run an acade-
my program for residents,
Mason said the class will be
limited to 15 participants.
It will be on Wednesdays
from 6 to 9 p.m. starting Feb.
3. There will be three Satur-
day classes also, for a total of
48 hours of instruction.
Graduation will be held in
April.
Applications are due Jan.
8, 2016. Participants must be
18 years or older, have a
valid driver’s license, have
no felony convictions, have
no misdemeanor arrests in
the 12 months prior to the
academy, must live or work
in Independence city limits,
and cannot miss more than
eight hours of class time to
graduate.
Topics will include com-
munity crime prevention,
confrontation and firearms
situations, body worn cam-
eras, emergency vehicle op-
erations, patrol and traffic
control, and dispatch/com-
munications systems.
For more information or
to apply: Lyle Gilbert, 503-
838-1214, email lgilbert@
ci.independence.or.us, or
apply online at IPD’s web-
s i t e , w w w. c i . i n d e p e n
dence.or.us.
Falls City defines ‘meeting’
Council also ‘hits a wall’ in deterring marijuana shops
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — The char-
ter of Falls City states that
city councilors cannot miss
more than five council
meeting in a year.
It left it up to interpreta-
tion what should be consid-
ered a “meeting.” Thursday,
the Falls City City Council
cleared up that ambiguity.
The discussion was
prompted by the number of
absences Councilor Julee
Bishop has logged during
the year. She has missed two
regular meetings, a special
council meeting and a two-
day workshop.
Bishop, a bus driver for
the Falls City School District,
said her work schedule can
conflict with meeting times,
especially if they are sched-
uled during the day.
In his report to the coun-
cil, Mayor Terry Ungricht
said he believes she has
missed four meetings, based
on the legally required no-
tices provided. The two-day
workshop had just one no-
tice.
Councilor Tony Meier said
he wanted to be clear on the
definition of a meeting for
future reference.
“The reason being, when
we put this in, it was so it
wouldn’t be political — that
somebody missed a certain
amount of meetings, it was
just automatic, they are
Government
gone,” Meier said.
Councilor Jenn Drill sug-
gested the council use Un-
gricht’s definition, calling a
meeting any that required
public notice for the purpos-
es of the charter require-
ment.
“I think we make this
black and white and say it’s
five posted meetings,” Drill
said. “If you don’t make five
throughout the year, then
you are off the council.”
Bishop said that could
cause problems for anyone
with a job.
“There are times when I
will have trouble getting
here because of my work,”
Bishop said, adding the
council should avoid sched-
uling meetings during the
day. “I think down the road
you are going to run into
some real problems.”
Ungricht said the council
will have to be aware of that
issue in the future.
“We are going to have to
make a more concerted ef-
fort to make sure everyone
will be available,” he said.
On another issue, recre-
ational marijuana dispen-
saries, the council is back to
square one. The council’s
position was to prevent dis-
pensaries from opening in
town without having to send
the issue to voters.
After consulting with the
city attorney, Ungricht said
that may be the only option
left to the city.
The council directed Un-
gricht to explore proposing
that dispensaries not be al-
lowed within a 1,000 feet of a
city park, essentially leaving
no locations in town.
“The attorney advised me
that there’s a difference be-
tween making it difficult to
locate and making it impos-
sible,” Ungricht said. “If you
are making it impossible, you
are implementing a ban.”
According to the state law
governing recreational mari-
juana use, the only way for
Falls City to implement a
ban is to let the citizens vote
on it.
If a ban proposal is suc-
cessful, the city would re-
ceive no tax revenue from
marijuana sales, Ungricht
said.
He said without the park
restriction, there are two
areas in town where a dis-
pensary could be located.
The city doesn’t have any
method of rejecting an ap-
plication at this time.
“I know what the intent of
council is,” he said. “I’m say-
ing I’ve hit a wall.”
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
In the Nov. 11 story, “Col-
lege Application Week helps
70 students sign up,” it was
not made clear that Gear Up
stands for Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for
Undergraduate Programs.
Also, Warner Pacific College
was the only Oregon univer-
sity that removed application
fees for the event, said Dana
Beck, communications spe-
cialist for the organization.
In the Nov. 4 story, “Photo-
graphic Adventurer” the
phone number to contact
photographer Ron Mittag
should have been listed as
602-448-3636.
The I-O regrets the errors.
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 is online at
www.polkio.com, on Face-
book and Twitter.
WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
Nov. 9................ 54
Nov. 10 ............. 53
Nov. 11 ............. 56
Nov. 12 ............. 50
Nov. 13 ............. 58
Nov. 14 ............. 61
Nov. 15 ............. 58
Nov. 16 ............. 49
.01
.T
.16
.07
.07
.T
.77
.37
Rainfall during Nov. — 2.64 in.
Rain through Nov. 16 — 23.43 in.
Open
7 days
a week!
1331 Monmouth St, Independence
Central Plaza • 503-838-0008
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54
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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.
Are you ready
for the holidays?
Is your hair?
New
Booksto
re
in Dallas
!
Hours: 10am - 5pm ~ Closed Sundays
DEADLINES
Pick up &
Drop Off
Christmas Bazaar
November 20th & 21st
Fri. 10 - 6 • Sat. 10 - 4
VFW Hall 771 NE Main St., Willamina
Raffle Drawing Sat. 4 pm
Contact: Vickie, 503-843-7444; Jean, 503-876-3784
Tables $10.00
Lunch each day
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $7.25
Children $6.75 • Senior $7.00
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Friday - Tuesday Nov. 20 - Nov. 24
LOVE THE COOPERS (Digital) (PG13)
(12:10 2:25 4:50)
PEANUTS MOVIE (Digital 2D) (G)
(11:45 2:00 4:15)
MARTIAN (Digital 2D) (PG13)
THE NIGHT BEFORE(Digital) (R)
(12:15 2:40 5:05)
THE HUNGER GAMES
MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (PG13) (Digital 2D)
(12:40 3:40)
THE HUNGER GAMES
MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (PG13) (Digital 2D)
(12:10 3:10)
SPECTRE (Digital) (PG13)
(11:50 3:05)
THE 33 (Digital) (PG13)
(1:40 4:30)
SECRET IN THEIR EYES (Digital) (PG13) (11:45 2:15 4:45)
7:20 9:50
6:30 9:25
7:30 9:55
6:40 9:35
6:10
6:15
7:10
7:15
Wednesday - Thursday Nov. 25 - Dec.
PEANUTS MOVIE (Digital 2D) (G)
(11:30 4:30)
CREED (Digital) (PG13)
(1:35)
LOVE THE COOPERS (Digital) (PG13)
VIKTOR FRANKENSTEIN (Digital) (PG13) (11:40 2:15 4:50)
THE GOOD DINOSAUR (NEC DOLBY 3D) (PG)
(1:40)
CREED (Digital) (PG13)
(4:00)
THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Digital 2D) (PG) (12:00 2:20 4:45)
THE GOOD DINOSAUR (NEC DOLBY 3D) (PG)
THE HUNGER GAMES
MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (PG13) (Digital 2D)
(12:40 3:40)
SPECTRE (Digital) (PG13)
(11:50 3:05)
SECRET IN THEIR EYES (Digital) (PG13) (11:45 2:15 4:45)
THE NIGHT BEFORE(Digital) (R)
(12:15 2:40 5:05)
★ Subject to Change
9:05
9:20
9:45
9:40
3 ★
6:50 9:15
7:20 9:50
7:00 10:00
7:10
9:30
6:40
6:15
7:15
7:30
9:35
9:20
9:40
9:55
Ben Meyer, AAMS ®
Bob Timmerman
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
503-606-3048
503-623-5584
193 E. Main Street Mon-
mouth, OR 97361
159 SW Court Street
Dallas, OR 97338
Kelly K. Denney
Financial Advisor
503-623-2146
244 E. Ellendale, Suite 2
Dallas, OR 97338