STRETCH, BREATHE
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HIS
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Page 7A
Volume 140, Issue 2
www.Polkio.com
Page 10A
75¢
January 13, 2016
Hoffman
Road
project
would be
costly
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Dallas Fire & EMS
gets grant to buy
equipment that lends
ireighters “helping
hand.”
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — After
a bicyclist died after being
hit from behind on Hoff-
man Road, some in Mon-
mouth have requested
that the city do something
to prevent future deaths.
John Shapely, of Inde-
pendence, was killed on
Dec. 30 in the 9000 block
of Hoffman Road while
traveling on his bicycle.
Sheriff Mark Garton said
Shapely was wearing dark
clothing and no helmet.
He said that area of Hoff-
man Road is unlit, and the
road is very narrow with
no bike lanes or sidewalks.
Monmouth City Coun-
cilman Marshall Guthrie
said Monmouth should
make more of an effort to
increase bicycle safety, in-
cluding rejecting any new
plans that do not include
bike lanes; outfitting cur-
rent streets with high bicy-
cle and vehicle traffic with
“sharrow” markings; and
taking an inventory of
street lights to make sure
visibility is sufficient for cy-
clists and pedestrians on
every city street.
The area in question is
outside the jurisdiction of
the city, City Manager
Scott McClure said.
Todd Whitaker, Polk
County Public Works direc-
tor, said it would be very
costly to do a road-widen-
ing project on Hoffman.
“What would probably
be more practical, but still
very expensive, is to widen
for bike lanes” but not for
sidewalks, Whitaker said.
The project would likely
cost between $2 million and
$3 million, at a very rough
estimate, Whitaker said.
“The right way to go
about that would be to go
through federal or state
grants for an enhanced
project, something like
that,” he said.
That stretch of road is
within the Monmouth
urban growth boundary,
so will likely be part of the
city of Monmouth eventu-
ally, and traffic is likely to
increase because of hous-
ing developments in that
area, Whitaker said.
“I think there is an in-
creasing need there, but
we lack the resources in
our budget to make that
change,” he said.
At the same time, he
said the county would en-
tertain the idea if Mon-
mouth put a grant appli-
cation together to widen
the road.
“You don’t just snap
your fingers and solve that
problem,” Whitaker said.
“It takes years to develop.”
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY
Falls City City Council
to hold public hearing
on raising utility reserve
fee.
»Page 5A
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Thomas Hutchinson starts up his computer before his third field training shift.
INDEPENDENCE
MORE DEPUTIES
Golden Horse Cafe is
latest gem of a restau-
rant in downtown Inde-
pendence.
»Page 3A
Sheriff’s office returns to 20-hour patrols, months ahead of schedule
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — The
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
moved to 20 hours of patrol
Sunday, increasing coverage
hours ahead of schedule.
Sheriff Mark Garton said
the unexpected outcome is
the result of being able to
hire five officers who were
already certified to fill spots
provided for with the voter-
approved public safety levy.
Certified officers still have
to go through field training
before they can patrol solo,
but don’t have to attend the
Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training 16-
week program for new offi-
cers.
On Jan. 1, the office had
enough deputies who had
completed training to add
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Deputy Mike Stevenson is one of several new deputies.
another 10-hour shift.
Garton said the timeline
often quoted during the levy
campaign of 18 months to
recruit and train a new
deputy for duty was realistic.
“Those five certified
deputies are really what
changed that dynamic,” he
said. “We didn’t expect to get
that many. We expected
maybe one or two. But five?
That’s great. If we didn’t get
those, we wouldn’t be talk-
ing about this now. We’ve
been fortunate.”
Garton said restoring pa-
trol hours has required plan-
ning — and finding the right
people to do the job.
The hiring process itself
can take months, and if a re-
cruit passes written testing
and interviews, but fails a
background check, the
process has to start over
again with a new recruit,
Garton said. Only after that
is complete can a deputy
begin training.
“We can’t minimize the
training or rush through it,”
Garton said. “We owe the
citizen’s a high level of serv-
ice and we can’t just settle.”
See SHERIFF, Page 5A
PCL makes progress in employment for all
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — It no longer mat-
ters if you have an intellectual or devel-
opmental disability when it comes to
finding gainful employment.
Action on a 2008 governor’s execu-
tive order, “Employment First,” has
started, and so far, Partnerships in
Community Living Inc. has helped find
jobs for 45 of its clients.
The order was part of a settlement in
a class-action lawsuit between people
with intellectual and developmental
disabilities and Gov. Kate Brown,
brought about because of sheltered
workshops, where those with disabili-
ties would go to work for subminimum
wages.
It took a couple of years to get the
programs rolling because the state sys-
tem wasn’t ready to handle the
changes, said Erica Brown, director of
employment at PCL.
She called it a civil rights movement.
“It’s the last population of people
who were expected to work in a place
that they pay subminimum wage,”
Brown said. “Some people have worked
Photo courtesy of Partnerships in Community Living Inc.
Jeff dusts displays at Independence Heritage Museum.
for as little as $10 a month, and go to
work every day.”
It hasn’t been necessarily easy, but
Brown said PCL has been successful in
finding employment for its clients by
finding out where their strengths and
weaknesses are, as well as helping em-
ployers find out what they need help
with.
See WORK, Page 5A
MONMOUTH
Monmouth City
Council debates ex-
tending waterline to
property outside city
limits.
»Page 2A
Marijuana
processing plant
hosts town hall
INDEPENDENCE —
More than 65 people at-
tended a town hall meet-
ing on Monday to discuss
a potential cannabis pro-
cessing facility on Stryker
Road in Independence.
The area is zoned for
heavy industrial.
Mark Jennings, Presi-
dent of Pure Botanicals, a
consulting irm, was on-
hand to discuss the plans.
The company is interest-
ed in buying 1.2 acres to
build a 5,000- to 7,000-
square-foot building that
will extract CBD oil from
plants and put into gel cap-
sules for medical purposes.
The facility would not
grow its own plants, in-
stead receiving raw prod-
uct.
Jennings said there
would not be heavy traic,
with small box trucks
bringing in raw product
one every few weeks or
once a month.
The company plans for
eight to 10 employees to
be at the facility.
“We want to make a
minimal impact to the
community,” Jennings
said. “We want to be just
another industrial build-
ing on the side of the
road. We like this area be-
cause it’s away and quiet.
We can be on our own in-
stead of in the hustle and
bustle of Portland. We’re
not here to make a ruckus.”
Nearly all comments
from the public spoke
against having the facility.
For more on this story,
see the Itemizer-Observer
website: www.polkio.com.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Monmouth and In-
dependence mayors
will update citizens
on the “State of the
Cities” tonight at
Western Oregon.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Young professionals
will gather to net-
work at Veal Bike’s
Plus. The after-hours
social event is for
those aged 21-45.
5:30 p.m. Free.
The Smith Fine Arts
Series continues
tonight with Ten
Strings and A Goat
Skin at Rice Audito-
rium at WOU.
7:30 p.m. $11-$28
“Ant-man” is the
movie on tap for
teens at the Dallas
Public Library this
afternoon, complete
with snacks.
5:20 p.m. Free.
Try lying without
the risk with Dallas
Wingdingers RC Fly-
ing Club, which
meets monthly at
Whitworth school.
1-3 p.m. Free.
Happy Martin
Luther King Jr. Day.
Our oice is open,
but many govern-
ment and school of-
ices are closed in
honor of the day.
It’s Lego Mania at
Independence Pub-
lic Library today,
part of the winter
fun club, featuring
activities all season.
4 p.m. Free.
Rain
Hi: 45
Lo: 38
Rain
Hi: 43
Lo: 34
Partly cloudy
Hi: 46
Lo: 38
Rain
Hi: 48
Lo: 36
Rain
Hi: 47
Lo: 36
Rain
Hi: 46
Lo: 38
Rain
Hi: 47
Lo: 35