Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 20, 2016 5A
Calmlee’s Bookstore offers readers (real) page turners
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
A good read
DALLAS — Tired of look-
ing at screens? A recently
opened store in downtown
Dallas has just the remedy:
books.
Paperback books, to be
specific, is the specialty at
Calmlee’s Bookstore on
Southwest Court Street.
“It’s all new books, and
eventually I’m going to have
comic books, too,” said
owner Chris Mann Monday.
Mann said it was an acci-
dent, really, but he found a
weakness in the e-reader
market. He said people are
more frequently using e-
readers for newspapers,
magazines, and newly re-
leased books.
“It’s normally new books
that are still in hardcover,”
he said of what people buy
with e-readers. “In paper it’s
$30. If you buy the e-book,
it’s $15. But the mass market
paperback is still cheaper
than that.”
Mann said he had been
thinking of owning a book-
store for some time before
opening Calmlee’s in No-
vember of last year.
W h a t : C a l m l e e ’s
Bookstore.
Where: 147 SW Court
St., Dallas.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday-Saturday.
Contact: 503-623-
3025, or ind Calmlee’s
Bookstore on Facebook.
“I was selling on eBay, sell-
ing used CDs and used
DVDs,” Mann said. “I got this
book vendor by accident and
realized it’s a lot cheaper than
I thought to open up a store.”
For now, Calmlee’s shelves
are stocked with best-selling
titles and genres. But cus-
tomers are not limited to
what is in-store. For those
looking for something hard-
er to find, Mann can order
nearly any title.
Calmlee’s is hosting its
first author event on Jan. 30
from 2 to 4 p.m. with Oregon
author Carl Lee Scott, whose
debut, “The Vow,” was pub-
lished in 2015. The novel is
about a woman trying to
prove an active serial killer is
on the hunt in Salem.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Chris Mann opened Calmlee’s Bookstore in November 2015, stocking his store with best-selling mass market paper-
backs, which still are cheaper in print than on e-readers. He is planning to carry comic books in the future.
Mann said he’s hoping to
host more authors in the fu-
ture, but his first few months
have been about letting peo-
ple know that Dallas has a
downtown book store again.
“It’s just taking time to get
the word around,” Mann
said. “I know it’s going to
t a k e s o m e t i m e, s l ow
growth, to build a real steady
customer base.”
IndyWorks app may streamline service to citizens
lem,” Kistler said. “So if it
goes beyond that time, a
manager will get alerted as
well as the employee in
charge of the problem.”
Kistler said he hopes the
app will help curb commu-
nication issues between city
government employees and
citizens.
Before, either the com-
plaint is made and fixed
without the citizen knowing
when or how; or a city work-
er doesn’t get all the infor-
mation he or she needs to fix
the concern, Kistler said.
“Also, let’s say someone
scribbles something down
on a sticky note because
they’re on the main phone
and things are blowing up,”
he said. “And it falls through
the cracks. And you have an-
other upset citizen.”
Now, even if someone
makes a report at the front
desk, someone can enter it
straight into the IndyWorks
system.
The app was created with
PublicStuff, and costs the
city $5,000 per year for the
setup and ongoing mainte-
nance.
For more information:
ci.independence.or.us.
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — See
something awry in the com-
munity? Don’t try to remem-
ber to let city hall know
about it later; download the
IndyWorks app for free and
report it on the spot.
The app for Android and
iPhone allows citizens to re-
port issues such as potholes,
broken streetlamps or over-
grown vegetation, as well as
ask questions about Inde-
pendence city government.
“What this does is let the
resident submit different
types of requests that auto-
matically starts a whole
chain of events on the back-
end,” IT Manager Jason
Kistler said.
Citizens are notified of the
progress of their complaint
or report. Other residents
may choose to follow the
progress, too.
For example, a citizen
may report a pothole on a
main street in town — com-
plete with a photo, if they
like.
“So say someone else sees
it and they say, ‘yeah, I want
that fixed, too,’” Kistler said.
“They hit ‘follow,’ and any
updates you get, they will
also get. It’s a whole different
level of transparency going
on.”
Submitting a report is
slightly more complicated
than posting to Instagram or
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Citizens can report issues
on IndyWorks app.
Facebook from a cellular de-
vice. The app may also be
accessed via the city’s web-
site for people who would
prefer not to use their cell-
phones that way, Kistler
said.
Just about 24 hours after a
broken crosswalk sign was
reported using the app, pub-
lic works had repaired it.
“We assign a typical
amount of time that it would
take to resolve that prob-
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Jason Kistler, Independence IT manager, takes a photo of a sign that blew down in the
last wind storm using the IndyWorks app. The sign was fixed about 24 hours later.
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11 a.m. to 1 p.m. • Friday, Jan. 29
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Bowl of Stew,
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For information 503-623-8442
Supports Projects of Dallas Naomi Chapter #22, Order of Eastern Star
West Valley Housing Authority will hold
their Work Session Meeting on Wednesday
January 27, 2016 beginning at 11:30 a.m.
at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Oregon. The
Regular Meeting will be held on Wednes-
day January 27, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at 204
SW Walnut in Dallas, Oregon. An Execu-
tive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660 will
be held immediately following the Regular
Meeting, if required.
Agenda for the meeting is posted on the
Housing Authority website at www.wvpha.org.
The location for the meeting is handicapped
accessible. Please advise the West Valley
Housing Authority if you need any special ac-
commodations to attend the meeting. For in-
formation, please call 503-623-8387, TDD
1-800-735-2900.
An informative class offered by Matt Davies, Professor of Religion
Understanding Islam
To be held at Trinity Church, 320 SE Fir Villa Rd, Dallas, Oregon • 503-623-2233
American Muslims ..................Sunday, January 24, 6:30-8:00 pm
Session 3 of 3. Class will include a lecture followed by a half-hour question and answer session.
Free
Open to the community. Childcare provided.