MOVIES WE LOVE
OUT FOR WINS
TIS THE SEASON
WRESTLING
Page 7A
Page 10A
Volume 140, Issue 50
www.Polkio.com
December 16, 2015
75¢
The weather outside is frightful
Out-of-town visitor surprised as tree crashes outside his window Thursday
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Lee Wanner
couldn’t believe he eyes.
Looking out of his win-
dow on the second floor of a
home on Southwest Oak
Street, he saw the large oak
tree in his front yard moving
in an unusual way.
Not swaying in the wind,
but falling.
“It was weird, kind of sur-
real,” Wanner said Thursday,
just minutes after the large
and healthy oak crashed to
the ground.
The tree falling caused
minimal damage, missing
the house, owned by Jan and
Wayne Rickert — Wanner is
their nephew — and the
Farmers Insurance building
next door. The only casual-
ties beyond the tree, were
the sidewalk — a large slab
was ripped up — and Jan’s
f l owe r g a rd e n p l a n t e d
around the tree.
If the tree had fallen in the
direction of the house, it
would have fallen through
Wanner’s bedroom and may
have damaged the living
room where Jan and Wayne
were sitting.
“If it had to fall, it picked
the best place,” Jan said star-
ing at the tree, the shock still
evident in her voice. “I’m
just thinking maybe some-
one is looking after us.”
Jan Rickert guesses the
soggy ground from days of
soaking rain and the wind
that accompanied Thurs-
day’s storm combined to
bring the tree down.
“I came downstairs and
said ‘Did you see that?’”
Wanner said. “The tree is
gone.”
Jan said it sounded like a
loud thunder clap, not a tree
falling in her front yard.
“It never occurred to me
that that big guy would go,”
she said.
Wanner, who recently
moved from California, had
been looking forward to see-
DALLAS
City Manager Ron
Foggin gets a raise for a
job well done.
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY
Falls City City Council
takes no action on mar-
ijuana, medical or recre-
ational.
»Page 14A
INDEPENDENCE
City OKs payment on
Minet’s behalf for De-
cember debt service
amount due.
»Page 13A
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon Uni-
versity’s men’s basket-
ball team scores anoth-
er win, bringing the
team to 10-0.
»Page 12A
Hadley,
Schellenberg
honored at
Farm Bureau
meeting
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Lee Wanner was surprised
to watch the oak fall.
ing the “seasons” in Oregon.
This probably wasn’t what
he had in mind, with the
storm that hammered the
Northwest with heavy rain,
thunderstorms, and flood-
ing last week.
“I think it’s your fault,” Jan
said to him jokingly.
“I’m just thankful the
damage was as minimal as it
was,” she added.
Itemizer-Observer staf report
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
The trunk, spanning nearly 6 feet, took a large slab of concrete with it when it tipped
over, but fell between two buildings, causing minimal damage.
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
MONMOUTH
An old, otherwise healthy oak fell on Southwest Oak Street after drenching rains and strong winds on Thursday.
Townsend teaches others to ‘pay it forward’
MONMOUTH — Thurs-
day evening, Kimber
Townsend picked up two
Christmas trees, stands and
lights to deliver to families
who otherwise would not
have them.
They were purchased at
the Central High School sen-
ior class lot and left there
with Townsend’s name on
them. It was just a small
token of paying it forward,
inspired by a post on Face-
book by Townsend.
“One of the families I
know is a single mom who
has a disability,” Townsend,
45, said of the recipients of
the trees. “I’m told she’s
working very hard at that.
My thought goes to, a
Christmas tree will be nice
… but what makes a differ-
IN
YOUR
TOWN
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Kimber Townsend takes a rare break at the coffee shop at Western Oregon University’s
Werner Center. Townsend, 45, of Monmouth, works full-time at WOU.
ence for her, not just today,
but in a couple of months.”
wed
Learn to paint with
good friends, food
and drinks at the
Boondocks in Falls
City each Wednes-
day.
7 p.m. $30.
Showers
Hi: 45
Lo: 41
Townsend decided to see
if the city of Independence
thu
Put your favorite
“ugly” Christmas
sweater to the test
at the Dallas Area
Seniors holiday
music jam.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Rain
Hi: 50
Lo: 45
would accept donations to-
ward a stranger’s utility ac-
count. They would.
She can’t wait until the
woman gets her first bill
with a negative balance.
“What a surprise for
mom,” Townsend said. “I
can imagine the fun of her
calling city hall and saying,
‘there’s been an error on my
bill.’ Oh no, someone made
a donation on your account.
How cool is that?”
See TOWNSEND, Page 5A
SUNRIVER — The
Oregon Farm Bureau
Federation held its
83rd annual meeting at
Sunriver Resort Dec. 8
through Thursday.
Four of ive resolu-
tions submitted by Polk
County Farm Bureau
were adopted. Those is-
sues included prevent-
ing the cross pollina-
tion of crops, requiring
grazing of forestland to
prevent forest ires, re-
quiring local farm serv-
ice agencies to enforce
noxious weed control
on government-owned
land, and the establish-
ment of a state Farm
Bureau political educa-
tion advisory commit-
tee to the federation’s
board of directors.
K athy Hadley, of
R i c k re a l l, wo n t h e
statewide Young Farm-
ers and Ranchers Dis-
cussion Meet and will
compete for the na-
tional title at the Amer-
ican Farm Bureau annu-
al meeting in Orlando,
Fla., in January 2016.
Don Schellenberg, of
Dallas, was inducted
into the Oregon Farm
Bureau Hall of Fame in
recognition of his 47
years of service to Farm
Bureau.
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Calling all teenagers
to Dallas Public Li-
brary for a Christ-
mas party involving
food, cookie deco-
rating and a movie.
5:30 p.m. Free.
New Life Nazarene
Church will host its
annual clothes give-
away at Jinett’s
Closet for anyone
who needs it.
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
A free concert fea-
turing scripture, and
adult, bell, children
and youth choirs
will be at Trinity
Lutheran Church.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Join other Star Wars
fans at Independ-
ence Public Library
for a marathon of
the ilms, Episodes
IV, V, and VI.
1-8 p.m. Free.
Today marks the
shortest day of the
year, the Winter Sol-
stice. After today,
the days will start
getting longer
again.
Showers
Hi: 48
Lo: 38
Partly Cloudy
Hi: 45
Lo: 39
Rain
Hi: 45
Lo: 38
Rain
Hi: 48
Lo: 40
Showers
Hi: 46
Lo: 39