FLASH HEADS TO NYC
FORD HOPES TO WIN
WESTMINSTER
DISTRICT
TITLE
Page 7A
Page 10A
Volume 141, Issue 6
www.Polkio.com
75¢
February 10, 2016
Former
WOU
students
guilty on
sex crimes
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Fractal art “mesmer-
izes” viewers at the Dal-
las Public Library’s Feb-
ruary art exhibit.
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Two
men were convicted on sex
charges on Feb. 3, Measure
11 crimes involving a sin-
gle victim.
Robert Godeaux Savoy
III, 23, was convicted of
first-degree rape, first-de-
gree sex abuse and third-
degree sex abuse.
Chr istopher James
Weekly, 23, was convicted
of first-degree sodomy,
first-degree sex abuse, sec-
ond-degree sex abuse and
third-degree sex abuse.
The incident occurred in
2014 in the city of Mon-
mouth while Weekly and
Savoy were students at
Western Oregon University.
The investigation by
Monmouth Police Depart-
ment and the disciplinary
process at WOU took some
time, District Attorney
Aaron Felton said.
Whether or not the vic-
tim also was a student is
unclear from court
records. Felton said he de-
clined to say anything that
may further identify the
victim.
The trial took place over
two days in front of Polk
County Circuit Court Judge
Norman R. Hill. Both
Weekly and Savoy waived
their rights to a jury trial.
“The case was tried by
Chief Deputy DA Jayme
Kimberly, who did an out-
standing job in getting jus-
tice for the victim,” Felton
said. “The investigation
conducted by detectives
from Monmouth Police
Department was thorough
and highly professional.”
First-degree rape and
first-degree sodomy are
Measure 11 crimes which
carry mandatory sentences
of 100 months in the De-
partment of Corrections.
Sentencing is scheduled
for 4 p.m. on Thursday in
Polk County Circuit Court.
Dallas man arrested
on homicide charge
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Police arrested
Cody Moore on Feb. 3 on
criminally negligent homicide
and irst-degree criminal mis-
treatment charges.
The charges are related to
the drowning death of a child
that occurred on Oct. 6, 2015,
according to a report from
Dallas Police. Moore, 21, of
Dallas was indicted on Feb. 3,
but Polk County Court records
didn’t reveal more details
about the incident, including
the name of the alleged vic-
tim or where it happened.
Moore is being held on
$50,000 bail and is scheduled
to appear for a pretrial confer-
ence on Feb. 25.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY
Faces after-school
program receives na-
tional attention from
Sen. Jef Merkley.
»Page 16A
INDEPENDENCE
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
The facade of the Blue Garden is nearly complete, except for its refurbished sign. It will once again grace the building
this week, with an informal “lighting,” the first in 30 years, scheduled for Thursday evening.
A sign of what’s to come
The classic Blue Garden building facade will be completed this week
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — For the first
time in about 30 years, the
old Blue Garden sign will
add its light to Main Street in
downtown Dallas.
Thursday the newly refur-
bished sign will be reinstalled
on the building, which is un-
dergoing major transforma-
tion of its own behind the re-
modeled facade.
Around dusk Thursday
evening, Blue Garden owner
Bob Collins will flip the
switch to light the sign.
It will be an outward indi-
cation of progress on a proj-
ect that Collins admitted has
been more work than he an-
ticipated. The building had
been declared a nuisance by
the city, and once he started
work, he knew why.
“The old girl was on her
last leg,” Collins said Mon-
day.
A portion of the ceiling
had collapsed, exposing the
interior to rain.
“It was all mold and
mildew,” he said, “and it was
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Blue Garden owner Bob Collins leans on the old counter
in what will soon be the remodeled cafe.
just ugly.”
Collins, who is financing
the remodel piece by piece,
persevered and has made
notable progress, starting
with abatement of the mold
and removal of all the old
kitchen equipment.
The building had been
locked up for 15 years when
he bought it, and Collins
found evidence of that —
old bottles of salad dress-
ing — in one of the freezers.
“It was just terrible,”
Collins said.
He decided the remodel
would have to be from the
ground up if he was going to
do it.
“It’s an overwhelming big
project, but we keep moving
forward on it,” Collins said.
“Every day we get a little
closer on it.”
Collins just finished in-
stalling new sewer lines, a
new grease trap and a new
storm drain that will keep
about a half a million gal-
lons of rain water out of the
city’s wastewater treatment
plant. He’s made necessary
repairs to the roof on two
levels. New plumbing and
heating systems are being
installed now.
“A lot of stuff that you don’t
really think of it having any-
thing to do with the restau-
rant, but it is just trying to
make it all correct,” he said.
Collins has completed a
seismic upgrade that will pre-
vent a complete collapse and
allow people to get out if a big
earthquake were to strike.
“I have enough lumber in
here that I could have
framed two ver y large
homes. We’ve lined all the
walls, we framed within the
frames,” Collins said. “It’s a
pretty big expense, but we
wanted to do it right.”
Collins believes he is fi-
nally at a point in the
restoration where he can
think about working toward
opening at least part of the
restaurant.
See GARDEN, Page 5A
Dallas Street hearing slated
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Dallas
City Council is holding a
public hearing Tuesday on
the proposal to ask voters
for a 10-year, $10 million
bond to pay for residential
street repair.
The proposal would have
the issue before voters in
May 2016 and is backed by
two citizens’ committees
that studied the condition
and funding options for resi-
dential streets.
The majority of funding
for streets — including street
maintenance, sidewalks,
street lights and other oper-
ations costs — comes from
state and federal gas tax rev-
enue. In the 2015-16 budget,
that amounted to about
$1,050,000, $270,000 of
which is allocated to street
and sidewalk repairs.
In recent years, the fund-
ing allocated to streets has
been dedicated to those in
town with the highest use,
collector and arterial streets.
The other approximately
$700,000 covers opera-
tions — personnel, materi-
als, and services, said City
Manager Ron Foggin at the
council’s Feb. 1 meeting.
Questions about the bond
election timing and other al-
ternatives — such as a utility
fee or revenue bond — were
also discussed at the meet-
ing.
Tuesday’s hearing will
provide citizens a chance to
comment on the plan.
“There will be plenty of
opportunity for folks to
come and talk about it, one
way or the other,” Mayor
Brian Dalton said. “We wel-
come that.”
Learn more
What: Residential
street funding public
hearing.
When: 7 p.m. Tues-
day, during the Dallas
City Council meeting.
Where: City Hall, 187
SE Court St., Dallas.
Of note: The council
will be taking comments
from residents about the
proposal to put a 10-
year, $10 million bond
on the ballot to pay for
residential street repair.
Master Gardeners get
ready for annual Moth-
er’s Day Plant Sale and
give out a few tips for
things to do in the gar-
den now.
»Page 5A
MONMOUTH
Western Oregon Uni-
versity’s fall freshman
enrollment has in-
creased, but overall en-
rollment has dropped.
»Page 3A
SPORTS
Central’s boys bas-
ketball team tries to
build of wins to make a
postseason push in the
Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence.
»Page 10A
POLK COUNTY
Don’t let scams get
the best of you. Just
hang up on suspicious
callers.
»Page 3A
Voting for
community
awards to close
Itemizer-Observer staf report
MONMOUTH/INDE-
PENDENCE — Online vot-
ing for the 51st annual
Community Awards Ban-
quet, hosted by the Mon-
mouth-Independence
Chamber of Commerce,
will close on Friday.
All chamber members
are included in the busi-
ness award categories, as
well as nomination forms
for First Citizen, First Jun-
ior Citizen, Distinguished
Service, Educator of the
Year, and Educator Sup-
port Staff of the Year.
The banquet will be at
6:30 p.m., with social
hour starting at 5:30, on
March 4 at Eola Hills Wine
Cellars.
Tickets are $40.
For more information,
to register, vote or nomi-
nate someone: www.micc-
or.org.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
ASL classes begin
today at Monmouth
Senior Center. Learn
the alphabet and
basic sentence
structure.
9-10 a.m. Free.
Meet other young
professionals at a
gathering at Wash-
ington Street Steak-
house. The group
meets monthly.
5:30-7 p.m. Free.
Enjoy lunch and
learn about rock
hounding at the
monthly potluck at
the Monmouth Sen-
ior Center.
Noon. Free.
Central High’s choirs
will host a dessert
and performance at
the school. The
evening is a
fundraiser for the arts.
7 p.m. $7-$10.
Celebrate Valen-
tine’s Day with
chocolate and music
at Dallas Alliance
Church, beneiting
displaced people.
2-4 p.m. Free.
A veterans support
group, Polk County
Battle Buddies,
meets at West Valley
Hospital. Dinner will
be served.
6 p.m. Free.
Learn all the tricks
of pruning grapes
from Master Gar-
deners through
hands-on training
at the Gentle House.
10 a.m. Free.
Cloudy
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