CELEBRATING THE SPIRIT
POLK COUNTY SPRING
OF COMMUNITY
SPORTS
GUIDE
Page 7A
Section C
Volume 141, Issue 10
www.Polkio.com
March 9, 2016
75¢
Carey OK
after car
accident
By Emily Mentzer
IN
YOUR
TOWN
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS
MONMOUTH — Jon
Carey, of Monmouth, was
running errands Wednes-
day morning as usual.
He went to a dentist ap-
pointment in Dallas and
was heading home to pre-
pare for
Central
High
School’s
girls bas-
ketball
team’s
playoff
game on
Friday —
Carey
Carey is
the team’s assistant
coach — when he decided
to stop off at Pressed Cof-
fee and Wine Bar for a cup
of joe and a scone.
Carey said he thought
he might drive by a place
in Dallas that rents lawn
equipment.
But he never made it
there.
“The next thing I re-
member, I have a vague
recollection of being in
the ditch, with broken
glass, that sort of thing
around me,” he said. “The
next thing I know is when
I was in the emergency
room. I have no real recol-
lection from the time I left
Pressed to the time we got
to the hospital.”
Carey was driving on
Highway 223 when his car
left the roadway near Mc-
Timmonds Creek Road
and struck some trees.
Lincoln County Deputy
Eric Larson was on his
way to a public safety ca-
reer fair at Western Ore-
gon University and caught
the whole thing on his
dash cam. He called it in.
Polk County Reserve
Deputy Eric Berry hap-
pened to be about two or
three miles away when he
heard the call.
“I overheard the call on
the radio,” he said. “I
thought since I was just a
few miles away, I would
lend a hand to Deputy
Larson, whatever assis-
tance he needed.”
The two deputies took
care of traffic, waiting for
medics.
“We didn’t want to re-
move him,” Berry said.
“Medics had the back-
boards to stabilize him.
We were waiting for them,
but then we heard a little
‘woof’ under the car and
the flames started shoot-
ing out, so that first plan
went out the window.”
After some effort, so did
Carey.
“We had to do some-
thing,” Berry said. “It
probably only took a
minute or two for that fire
to get into the cabin of
that vehicle. It was a very
good thing for him that
we were standing right
there.”
See CRASH, Page 6A
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
City council discusses
moving Bounty Market
from current location.
»Page 3A
EDUCATION
LaCreole students
are taking their robotic
designs to world com-
petitions.
»Page 14A
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer file
Pat Jaffer is delighted at the efforts of a Talmadge Middle School class when students deliver more than 2,000
pounds of food that was collected during a service-learning project in November 2015.
FEEDING THE BODY, SOUL
Pat Jaffer ‘retires’ from 23 years at Ella Curran Food Bank
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH/INDEPEN-
DENCE — Pat Jaffer spent
most of January hibernating
after stepping down from 23
years of coordinating the
Ella Curran Food Bank.
“I was tired,” she said. “I
didn’t realize how tired until
I stopped.”
Because of her tireless ef-
forts and dedication to the
f o o d b a n k , Ja f f e r w a s
named First Citizen at the
51st annual Monmouth In-
dependence Community
Awards banquet on Friday
night.
“I’m really honored to
receive this, but also very
humbled because there’s
so many people who do so
much in our community,”
Ja f f e r s a i d o n Fr i d a y.
“Monmouth and Inde-
pendence are communi-
ties where most of us have
enough to live off of and
HAUGEN’S GALLERI/ for the Itemizer-Observer
Jean Love awards Pat Jaffer with First Citizen at the Mon-
mouth Independence Community Awards banquet.
be happy. It’s our responsi-
bility and our pleasure to
reach out a hand to others.
Thank you, and let’s keep
up the good work in our
communities.”
Jaffer was part of the
board of directors that es-
tablished the food pantry in
1978, but didn’t begin volun-
teering there full time until
1993, after retiring from the
insurance business.
At the time, the Mon-
mouth-Independence area
didn’t have a food bank, Jaf-
fer said.
“Ella Curran was a
woman in Independence
who started giving out
boxes of food in 1977 when
there was a lot of need,” she
said. “She died in ’78 or ’79.
A group of us got together
and decided we really need-
ed a food bank.”
At first, donations were
strictly local, as the Marion
Polk Food Share was not yet
established.
The pantry was relocat-
e d a c o u p l e d i f f e re n t
times, from the old Presby-
terian Church annex on C
Street to the Community
Action building and finally
to the mall, where it re-
mains, though in a differ-
ent location than when it
first was moved to that
spot.
See FOOD, Page 6A
Fire at Forest River
caused by cigarette
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas firefighters examine the damage on Thursday.
DALLAS — Fire officials say Thursday’s fire at Forest River’s
Dallas plant was likely caused by a cigarette.
That determination was made after an Oregon State Fire
Marshal’s Office investigation.
Dallas firefighters know another thing for certain: the RV
trailer manufacturing plant’s interior sprinklers saved the
day.
“The sprinkler system, it worked perfectly,” said Fred Her-
tel, Dallas fire chief. “It’s just a little fire. The sprinkler system
prevented this from getting beyond our capabilities.”
Firefighters were called to the plant at 1429 SE Uglow Ave.
at about 11:55 a.m. By the time fire crews arrived, Forest
River’s workers had been evacuated.
The fire appears to have started on the outside of the
building and traveled up the wall. The blaze triggered the
sprinkler system, which knocked down the fire that had
spread to the inside of the building.
Hertel said given the size of the building, without the
sprinkler system, the fire could have easily gotten out of con-
trol. Thankfully, the blaze was contained to one section of
the wall on the backside at the plant.
See FIRE, Page 6A
FALLS CITY
Rates may increase
for water and sewer
fees.
»Page 2A
INDEPENDENCE
A new itness course
will come to the River-
front trail system.
»Page 2A
MONMOUTH
Western Oregon will
host the NCAA Division
II men’s basketball West
Regional this weekend.
»Page 12A
SPORTS
Central boys, girls
basketball teams see
rallies fall short in the
state playofs.
»Page 13A
Owner of pigs
still at large
Itemizer-Observer staf report
DALLAS — Dallas
Police Department is
still searching for the
owner of two pigs.
The pigs were found
in January in the area of
Oakdale and Hayter
streets.
They had been at a
foster home, but be-
came mischievous and
had to be moved, said
Lt. Jerry Mott in a post
on Dallas PD’s Face-
book page.
“These look like they
were possibly some-
one’s pet ‘mini-pigs’
that grew too big to be
house pets,” Mott said.
Police oicers are not
looking to take action
against the owners,
Mott said, but would
like to return the pigs or
get a release to re-
home the animals,
which are in temporary
care at a diferent
home.
Any information
about the owners of
the pigs may be report-
ed to Mott at: 503-831-
3516.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
The Western Ore-
gon University sym-
phony will perform
its winter concert at
Rice Auditorium,
open to the public.
7:30 p.m. $1-$3.
Young profession-
als: meet like-
minded people at a
monthly networking
meeting at White’s
Collision Service.
5:30 p.m. Free.
Grab an acoustic in-
strument and head
to Guthrie Park for a
music jam session,
or just come and lis-
ten for a spell.
7 p.m. Free.
Bring cash or food
to this month’s do-
nation yoga at Dal-
las Yoga and
Balance studio, ben-
eiting MS Society.
4:30 p.m. Free.
Daylight saving time
begins. Don’t forget
to set your clocks
forward by one
hour. The time oi-
cially changes at 2
a.m. on Sunday.
Curves in Independ-
ence kicks of its an-
nual food drive for
the Marion Polk
Food Share. The
drive runs through
March 25.
Have a pocket full
of change? Come to
the Polk County
Coin Club and see if
you have anything
special in there.
7 p.m. Free.
Rain
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Lo: 46
Showers
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Lo: 40
Showers
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Lo: 42
Rain
Hi: 51
Lo: 40
Showers
Hi: 51
Lo: 39
Showers
Hi: 51
Lo: 39
Showers
Hi: 52
Lo: 38