HIT THE GREENS
DALLAS TRACK HEADS TO
GOLF POLK CO.
DISTRICT
MEET
Page 7A
Page 11A
Volume 141, Issue 19
www.Polkio.com
May 11, 2016
$1.00
DWINDLING DONATIONS
Dallas Food Bank sees fewer ‘extras’: soap, shampoo, juice, coffee, pancake mix
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Rising costs
and shrinking donations
ARE forcing the Dallas Food
Bank to reduce what it gives
to clients.
Now the organization is
hoping the community can
provide a helping hand.
The food bank still pro-
vides the basic items needed
in the emergency food
boxes, but now can only give
out toiletries when they are
donated. Certain food items,
such as juice, coffee, and
pancake mix, are no longer
purchased either.
Those are not “essential”
items, said volunteer Mona
Ordonez, but the toiletries
and cleaning supplies
helped fill another unmet
need for families.
“Eve r yo n e g o t t o i l e t
paper, laundry soap, dish
soap and a bar of soap. If
you can’t buy food, you can’t
buy that,” Ordonez said.
“That’s just pretty essential,
and now we’re not buying
that anymore because we
need to buy food. That is the
most important thing. We
are first and foremost a food
bank.”
She noted that the Dallas
community has been more
than generous. The food
bank is the beneficiary of nu-
merous grants, food drives
and donations from Walmart
and Safeway, private dona-
tions, and gifts of pet food
from local vet offices.
That generosity hasn’t
kept pace with the cost of
running the operation.
Vo l u n t e e r L e o n a r d
Hlavinka, who has worked
with the food bank since the
early 1980s, said the organi-
zation has lost some donors
in recent years.
“They’ve dropped off and
we don’t get anyone to fill
Police look
for crash
witnesses
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — The Dallas
Police Department is look-
ing for witnesses to Thurs-
day night crash in the 800
block of West Ellendale Av-
enue.
At about 9:38 p.m., Dal-
las officers responded to a
report of a motor vehicle
accident. According to po-
lice, an adult male had
crashed a 1996 Mitsubishi
Eclipse into mailboxes and
a tree. The driver was
transported to a hospital.
Speed and alcohol use
are believed to be con-
tributing factors in this
crash, according to police.
This case remains under
investigation and no fur-
ther details are available.
If you are a witness to
this crash, contact Senior
Officer Colby Hamilton at
503-831-3516.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Chen’s  Family  Dish
reopens  at  new  loca-
tion near Safeway. 
»Page 5A
FALLS CITY
Falls  City  volunteers
complete  and  install  a
new welcome sign.
»Page 2A
INDEPENDENCE
Central  tennis  pre-
pares for district. 
»Page 11A
MONMOUTH
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas Food Bank volunteer Carol Gagznos packs food on Friday morning. The food bank needs more donations.
You can help:
Dallas  girl  heads  to
state golf tournament.
»Page 11A
EDUCATION
is going up, slowly,” Gary
Medsker said. “We don’t turn
anyone away; we just give
them what we can.”
Dallas Food Bank can
help up to 18 clients (indi-
viduals or families) per day
Monday through Friday. In
2015, 2,895 food boxes were
provided to people in need.
As an “emergency” food
bank, it provides enough
nutrition to last four or five
days. Ordonez said they like
Falls  City  students
study  the  physics  of
roller coasters in prepa-
ration to ride.
»Page 14A
POLK COUNTY
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Donated bread items are staples at the food bank.
to give more when they can,
but, sadly, that is becoming
more difficult.
“We’re here and we fill a
big need in the community,”
Ordonez said.
Fire responses need improvement
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — A master plan
recently completed on Dal-
las Fire and Southwest Polk
Rural Fire Protection District
reveals that response times
to fires for both agencies are
far slower than established
standards.
For Dallas, the response
time to a fire is within 18
minutes, seven seconds, 90
percent of the time. For
Southwest, it’s within 24:14,
90 percent of the time.
In 2015, Dallas responded
to 36 total fires, including
grass and wildland fires,
while Southwest took 49 fire
calls. Dallas and Southwest
Chief Fred Hertel said that in
the last year, three people
have died in fires in Dallas.
The target response time
is about seven minutes on a
“priority structure fire” and
14 minutes for a medium
risk structure fire, said Joe
Parrott, a consultant with
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Dallas Fire responds to a fire in March at Forest River.
Emergency Servicing Con-
sulting International, which
completed the joint plan.
Dallas and Southwest fire
departments have worked
together under a contract for
decades. While Southwest
has its own board, Dallas’s
administrative team over-
wed
thu
Come improve flexi-
bility, balance and
agility at the gentle
Tai Chi stand or sit
at the Dallas Aquatic
Center.
11 a.m. Free.
Experience the
bounty of Polk
County Bounty Mar-
ket at the Academy
Building lawn each
Thursday.
Sunny
Hi: 83
Lo: 47
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 50
»Page 5A
SPORTS
What: Dallas Food Bank.
Where: 322 Main St., on the bottom level of the complex
at the end of the drive way ramp.
When: 8:45 to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information or to provide a donation: 503-
623-3578.
their places,” Hlavinka said.
It costs about $4,000 per
month to run the food bank.
That money pays for rent,
supplies and purchase of
high-protein food to supple-
ment donations. The staff is
all volunteer, Ordonez said.
The shortfall is happening
at a time when the need for
the food bank is growing.
“There’s been no reduc-
tion. I think probably the
number of people we serve
Western Oregon Uni-
versity  students  plan
two  events  to  benefit
local youths.
fri
Congratulations to
three officers who
graduate today
from Oregon Dept.
of Public Safety
Standards and
Training.
Sunny
Hi: 83
Lo: 50
sees both operations.
In addition to response
times, the report pointed to
financial and staffing issues
for both agencies.
Parrott said the response
times illustrate the challenge
facing departments that de-
pend almost completely on
volunteers, which both
agencies do.
“That’s the reality of a vol-
unteer system,” Parrott said.
“Folks have got to come
from home or work or wher-
ever they are at, to the sta-
tion and then out on a fire
truck. It’s just the way it is.”
In Dallas, having people
available to respond is an
issue during the day when
most volunteers are at work,
many out of town. Coinci-
dentally, that is also the time
of the highest call volume,
Hertel said.
Performance in the other
two pieces of the response
puzzle — the time it takes for
dispatchers to notify emer-
gency responders and actual
travel time to scenes — are
on target or just a little off
within Dallas.
Southwest has a difficult
time reaching some parts of
its coverage area in a reason-
able time because of the dis-
tance from the fire station.
See FIRE, Page 5A
Polk County commis-
sioner  incumbent  Jen-
nifer  Wheeler  and  chal-
lenger  Terrence  Taylor
face off on economic is-
sues in Polk County.
»Page 2A
Relay seeks
canned food
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK  COUNTY  — Polk
County  Relay  for  Life  is
holding  a  canned  food
drive  from  now  until  the
event, on June 4 and 5.
Organizers  are  taking
donations of small, 2- to 4-
ounce  cans  of  food,  or
small  cans  of  cat  or  dog
food,  to  weigh  down  Lu-
minaria  bags,  which  line
the  track  Saturday
evening. 
Cans  can  be  delivered
to  the  Dallas  Fire  station,
915  SE Shelton  St.,  Dallas,
during business hours. 
After  Relay  for  Life,  the
food will be donated to the
Salem  Cancer  Institute
pantry,  benefiting  patients
going  through  treatment,
and the local animal shelter.
Relay  for  Life  is  a  24-
hour event to raise aware-
ness  about  and  money  to
cure cancer of all kinds.
For  more  information
on  getting  involved  with
Relay  for  Life:
sat
sun
mon
tue
Grab your partner
and do-se-do at the
Guthrie Park Coun-
try Dance at the
community center
on Kings Valley Hwy.
7-10 p.m. $5-$15.
Learn about the
hobby of flying re-
mote-control air-
craft at the
Wingdingers club at
Whitworth gym.
1-3 p.m. Free.
Veterans can find
support in others at
the monthly Battle
Buddies group,
which meets at West
Valley Hospital.
6-8 p.m. Free.
Officer Indy will be
at the Independ-
ence Public Li-
brary’s spring fun
club. Come learn
about public safety.
4 p.m. Free.
Showers
Hi: 63
Lo: 49
Cloudy
Hi: 69
Lo: 48
Mostly sunny
Hi: 70
Lo: 48
Mostly sunny
Hi: 68
Lo: 46