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Page 11A
Volume 141, Issue 11
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75¢
March 16, 2016
IN
YOUR
TOWN
‘ELITE’ COMPANY
DALLAS
Dallas School Board
considers a remodel of
restrooms.
»Page 13A
FALLS CITY
Falls City takes the
irst steps toward start-
ing Neighborhood
Watch.
»Page 6A
INDEPENDENCE
Billy the Toymaker
ofers unique treasure
hunt in downtown In-
dependence.
»Page 2A
MONMOUTH
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Monmouth Hard-
ware has moved to a
new location for the
irst time since the
1960s.
Western Oregon players celebrate after winning the NCAA Division II West Regional title on Monday evening.
»Page 3A
WOU advances to the Elite Eight
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon seniors Julian Nichols, left, and Andy
Avgi celebrate moments after defeating the University
of California, San Diego on Monday night.
MONMOUTH — The
Wolves aren’t done dancing
yet.
Western Oregon’s men’s
basketball team defeated
the University of California,
San Diego 60-55 on Mon-
day night to advance to the
Elite Eight on March 23.
“I couldn’t be prouder,”
WOU coach Jim Shaw said.
“... Both teams played like
teams that expected to win
and are used to winning.
There weren’t a whole lot of
mistakes.”
The Wolves took the
NCAA Division II West Re-
gional crown after a tightly
contested matchup with
the second-seeded Tritons.
Defense ruled the day, as
UCSD held WOU to 36 per-
cent shooting from the field
and the Wolves held the Tri-
tons to 41 percent.
Scoring chances came at
Local girls basketball
players earn all-region
recognition.
Marching On
What: NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Who: No. 1 Western Oregon vs. Kutztown/Liberty.
When: Wednesday, March 23.
Where: Dr. Pepper Arena, Frisco Texas.
What’s at stake: The winner advances to the national
semifinals on March 24. Semifinal winners meet in the Di-
vision II championship game on March 26.
a premium, but Western
Oregon made sure it didn’t
give the Tritons any extra
opportunities. In total, the
Wolves had zero turnovers.
“I think that’s what we
pride ourselves on is con-
trolling the tempo and ball
control,” senior guard Julian
Nichols said. “My job is to
run the show and make
sure we run a play and run
it well. We did that from the
beginning of the game. It’s
tough to go an entire game
with no turnovers. That
speaks for itself.”
Senior forward Andy
Avgi scored a game-high
25 points.
Nichols struggled from
the field, shooting 2 of 12,
but hit his lone 3-pointer of
the game to give the Wolves
a 55-52 lead with 1 minute
and 13 seconds left in the
game.
“I told Julian, he went 2 of
12, but he picked a hell of a
time to make a 3 out of that
corner,” Shaw said.
The Wolves built the lead
to six when Avgi converted a
3-point play to put WOU up
58-52 with a minute left and
Western Oregon held on
from there for the victory.
See ELITE, Page 11A
Police stop suspected burglary
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Break-
in, interrupted.
That is what happened
early Friday morning on Red
Prairie Road, according to
the Polk County Sheriff’s Of-
fice.
At about 6:40 a.m., a caller
dialed 911 to report what
was believed to be a burgla-
ry in progress in the 8500
block of Red Prairie Road
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
outside of Sheridan. The
caller said a male subject
had broken into the house
and was still inside. The
owner of the home was
away at the time.
Polk County Deputy Jason
Ball responded to the call,
with back up from a Dallas
Police officer because of the
seriousness of the call. Once
on scene, the officers sur-
rounded the residence and
called for the suspect to step
outside the home.
The sus-
pect, iden-
tified by
police as
Bradley
Bond, 38,
of Mon-
mouth,
emerged
Bond
from the
house a few minutes later
and surrendered without in-
cident.
Bond was arrested and
charged with first-degree
wed
thu
Check out the quilt
display at Dallas
Public Library, fea-
turing quilter Janice
Ames, the artist for
the month of March.
Free.
Happy St. Patrick’s
Day! Monmouth
Senior Center’s soup
and pie sale is
today, while Dallas’
sale is Friday.
11 a.m.
Mostly sunny
Hi: 57
Lo: 36
Sunny
Hi: 62
Lo: 37
fri
Faith Evangelical
Free Church will
host a bluegrass
music jam, open to
listeners and musi-
cians of all ages.
7-10 p.m. Free.
Sunny
Hi: 63
Lo: 43
burglary, first-degree tres-
pass, second-degree theft,
second-degree criminal mis-
chief and possession of
methamphetamine.
O re g o n St a t e Po l i c e
troopers arrived on scene
after the arrest and helped
search the home to make
sure no one else was inside.
Police found no other sus-
pects.
Investigation into the in-
cident revealed a side door
to the home had been
SPORTS
forced open. Police found a
crowbar in Bond’s vehicle,
which could have been used
to pry open the door. Offi-
cers also found metham-
phetamine in the car.
Bond was taken to Polk
County Jail, where his bail
was set at $77,000. He post-
ed bail and was released on
Saturday.
He is scheduled in Polk
County Circuit Court on
March 29 at 9 a.m. for an ar-
raignment.
»Page 12A
EDUCATION
The United Way of
the Mid-Willamette Val-
ley is holding a book
drive increase children’s
home libraries.
»Page 14A
Central High to
host job fair
Itemizer-Observer staf report
INDEPENDENCE — A
job fair on March 23 will
bring 31 businesses
and organizations to
Central High School.
The fair, sponsored
by WorkSource Oregon,
Sedcor, the city of Inde-
pendence, the Mon-
mouth-Independence
Chamber of Commerce,
the Dallas Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, Incite
and local staing agen-
cies, will be from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m.
The event is free. Job
seekers and attendees
may park in the east
parking lot at the
school. Early entrance
will be available for job
seekers registered with
WorkSource Oregon’s
fast pass system.
For more informa-
tion: Neil Johnson, 503-
378-8120; AJ Foscoli,
503-931-2429.
sat
sun
mon
tue
Polk County Mu-
seum will host Fam-
ily Day, with
scavenger hunts,
dress-up and vin-
tage costumes.
1:30 p.m. Free.
Come take light
with the Dallas
Wingdingers RC Fly-
ing Club, which will
host an indoor ly at
Whitworth.
1 p.m. Free.
If you’re itching for
some music, play
with the Willamette
Valley New Horizons
Orchestra.
6:30 p.m. $25
monthly fee.
Indy public works
employees will
present “Bob the
Builder” at the Indy
Public Library for
kids and families.
4 p.m. Free.
Cloudy
Hi: 58
Lo: 44
Showers
Hi: 58
Lo: 44
Showers
Hi: 54
Lo: 43
Showers
Hi: 56
Lo: 43