Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 25, 2015 3A
Active-shooter drill tests local agencies
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — At
10:21 a.m., Tuesday the first
calls for help came in.
A shooter is at Central
High School. Shots were
being fired in the women’s
restroom and main hall of
the school.
Police cars from all local
agencies converged on the
school within minutes, offi-
cers leaping from their cars,
armed with rifles.
They scrambled, looking
for an open door to the
school.
Inside is panic. Teachers
are trying to keep students
safe and out of the path of the
shooter. Students and staff
hide and barricade them-
selves. But some were too
close and had to play dead to
escape with their lives.
This was just a drill.
But the urgency, the simu-
lated panic and injuries, the
unpredictable behavior of
students, and communica-
tion breakdowns with emer-
gency responders were all re-
alistic — and will teach emer-
gency crews what to do if the
real thing were to happen.
Independence Police
Chief Bob Mason, part of the
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Medics pretend to treat critically injured students during
a drill at Central High School on Tuesday.
command group on the
scene, said officers and
paramedics arrived only
knowing what had been dis-
patched to them. It stayed
that way throughout the ex-
ercise.
About 45 minutes into the
drill, he said it was going well.
“The shooter had been
brought out and the injured are
being brought out,” he said.
“Most of that is going well.”
On the radios behind him,
someone calls in that they
have found a group of stu-
dents in a barricaded room
and they are trying to get
them out.
“We haven’t done a sec-
ondary sweep yet,” he said.
“I’m guessing in the second-
ary sweep they will find
some who hid really well.
The kids get into this.”
Ethan Davis and Taylor
Buccello were two student
volunteers who participat-
ed. They were caught in the
main hall and told by a
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
First responders wait for the all-clear and police escort to enter Central High School
and help any wounded during an active-shooter drill on Tuesday.
teacher to hide under the
benches. Neither thought
that was a good idea be-
cause they were in the open
and near the shooter, but
obeyed anyway.
“We had to play dead in-
stead of actually being able
to hide,” Bucello said.
Their friend had a gash on
her leg and Buccello had to
use her jacket as a tourni-
quet. They waited for police
to escort them to safety, hav-
ing to carry their friend to
paramedics for treatment.
Buccello said if that had been
a real scenario, they believe they
would have been shot.
“I would have ended up
dead if I did what I did,”
Davis said.
He probably wouldn’t
have listened to the teacher.
“I would have followed
whatever my gut instinct
told me to do,” he said. “I
probably would have been
all the way to Salem by now.”
But that was all part of the
process.
What did they learn from
the drill?
“To take care of the in-
jured and go over my (first
aid) more often,” Davis said.
Falls City high school Dallas seeks new
maple trees removed owner for building
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — Two maple
trees that adorned the en-
trance of Falls City High
School for at least a century
were taken down earlier this
month after they were de-
termined to be a safety haz-
ard.
A year ago, the district had
them evaluated by an ar-
borist with R&R Tree Service.
The resulting report gave a
three word recommenda-
tion: “Remove and replace.”
The sad, but necessary
job was completed in stages
this month, first with the
trees being cut and then
with the stumps ground
down.
“Both the trees were rot-
ten inside,” said Superinten-
dent Jack Thompson.
He said one of the trees
had only about eight inches
of living tree around the out-
side, the rest of the core was
Saturday
Nov. 28th
11am to
8pm
Education
rotten. Strangely, that tree
had another one growing in-
side of it.
“Everybody in town was
understanding,” Thompson
said, especially after people
could see the rot inside the
trees. “Still, it was a sad day.”
The work was done not a
minute too soon.
Recent wind storms may
have proven too much for
the poor, bedraggled trees.
“When we had that big
wind storm, we were all say-
ing how glad we were that
the trees were down because
we could have had some
pretty good sized branches
breaking off in the wind,”
Thompson said.
He said conversations are
ongoing about what should
replace the trees, but noth-
ing has been decided yet.
On Nov. 17, the Falls City
School Board turned its at-
tention to buildings, specifi-
cally the proposed gym at
Fa l l s C i t y E l e m e n t a r y
School.
The board voted to hire an
architect, AC + Co Architec-
ture, to help the district with
cost estimates and plans.
Thompson said, thus far,
he and the board haven’t
heard any objection to the
idea of building a gym, but
have heard plenty of ques-
tions.
“People have been saying
‘We like the idea, but what is
it going to cost and what will
it look like?’” Thompson
said.
He said the architect will
help answer those ques-
tions.
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By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The city of
Dallas is looking for a new
owner for the long-vacant
former Carnegie Library
building in downtown Dal-
las.
The city issued a “request
for proposals” for purchase
and redevelopment of the
building located at 187 SW
Court St. Proposals are due
by Dec. 3.
Built in about 1911, the
building has three levels
and a total of 4,838 square-
feet. The city of Dallas is the
current owner.
“Originally, the building
was constructed as a public
library based on a grant the
city received from the
Carnegie Foundation,” the
proposal read. “The build-
ing served as the Dallas
Public Library until 1990.
Since that time, it has
served as the Polk County
Historical Museum and of-
fices for local parks and
recreation program servic-
es.”
City officials have said
even if an acceptable pro-
p o s a l i s n’t s u b m i t t e d
t h r o u g h t h i s p r o c e s s,
maybe the city will find
good ideas for what to do
with the old vacant build-
ing.
A committee designated
to evaluate proposals is es-
timated to have its find-
ings finished by mid-Janu-
ary.
Have an idea? For more
information about what is
required to submit a pur-
chase and redevelopment
proposal, go to www.ci.dal-
las.or.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AI
D=390.
Downtown Dallas Merchants
Holiday Turkey Winners!
Three additional turkeys were donated to the
Dallas Food Bank. The turkeys were purchased
through Dallas Safeway and the winners
should pick them up there by November 25th.
A-Team Locksmith ...................................................Billie Rowe
Brixius Jewelers .......................................................Laura Rice
Capitol Auto West Valley Chevrolet....Melvin & Patricia Flippo
Country Insurance .............................................Lynette Stowell
Courtyard Coffee House..........................................John Allred
Court Street Hair ...................................................Mark Sinclair
Dallas Alteration Center ...........................Catherine Camareng
Dallas Antique Mall ................................................Tyler Walker
Dallas City Cleaners ................................Libby Hamler-Dupras
Dallas City Vapors Vapors ...............................Mikayla Mosher
Dallas Yoga & Balance Studio...................................Sue Zdun
Domino's Pizza .......................................................Joline Davis
First American Title..........................................Irma Hernandez
Four Season's Styling Center...............................Doris Jeffers
Grandma's Attic Sewing Emporium................Anona Hamilton
Harvest CrossFit.....................................................Matt Mosley
Heartstrings Florist & Artisans...........................Connie Morris
Home Comfort ...................................................Juanita Howard
House of Floors ....................................................Donna Faxon
Jake's Garage ..................................................Mary Ann Moore
Just Stuff ............................................................Pam Lawrence
Old Mill Feed & Garden ....................................Katrina Gunther
Polk Co. Itemizer-Observer Newspaper .......Joetta Chrissakis
Pressed Coffee & Wine Bar ...............................Harley Skaggs
Shear Perfection .................................................Marydel Kersh
Some Things .........................................................Ashley Slaon
The Dallas Forty.....................................................Jeff Woosley
The Decorated Wall .................................................JoAnn Beal
The Fox Theater ......................................................Lupe Torres
Tim's Automotive Specialties ..................................Don Culler
West Valley Taphouse........................................Don Rodenfels
World Gym..........................................................Woody Tiernan