Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • may 25, 2016
ELECTION RESULTS
Wheeler, Nearman keep seats Falls City voters
Incumbents re-elected to commissioner, House District 23
By Jolene Guzman
Incumbents take the day
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Polk County
Commissioner Jennifer
Wheeler and Rep. Mike
Nearman, both incum-
bents, won their respective
races on May 17.
Wheeler, of Independ-
ence, won re-election for a
second time, defeating op-
ponent
Te r re n c e
Taylor, of
W e s t
Salem, by
a 76.97
percent to
22.48 per-
cent mar-
Wheeler
g i n . Sh e
received 13,476 votes to
Taylor’s 3,935 in the race for
Polk County Commissioner,
position No. 1.
She was back to work on
May 18, reviewing budgets
for Polk County OSU Ex-
tension and Grand Ronde
Sanitary District before
taking Thursday and Friday
polk County Commissioner, position No. 1
Jennifer Wheeler: 13,476 (77 percent)
Terrence Taylor: 3,935 (22 percent)
house District 23, republican nomination
mike Nearman: 5,169 (57 percent)
Beth Jones: 3,776 (41 percent)
off to recoup from the
campaign.
“I’ve got a lot of good
things that I’m working on,”
Wheeler said. “It’s good to
be able to refocus on that.”
On the horizon is giving
final approval to the Polk
County budget, overseeing
the process of hiring a vet-
erans service officer, and
opening an office for the
new program set to launch
in January.
“I’m hoping to get a little
more active on the veteran’s
subcommittee of the home-
less initiative,” she said, re-
ferring to the Mid-
Willamette Homeless Initia-
tive task force working on
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $7.25
Children $6.75 • Senior $7.00
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Passes not allowed
on starred items.
Friday - Monday May 27 - May 30
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(11:35 2:05 4:35) 7:05 9:25
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(11:30 2:45) 6:00 9:15
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Digital) (PG13)
(11:25 12:45 2:00 3:25 4:40) 7:20 10:00
MONEY MONSTER (Digital) (R)
6:05
XMEN: APOCALYPSE (Digital) (PG13)
(12:05 3:15) 6:25 8:10 9:30
ANGRY BIRDS (Digital) (PG)
(12:10 2:30 4:50) 7:15 9:20
THE NICE GUYS (Digital) (R)
(11:30 2:00 4:35) 7:10 9:50
NEIGHBORS 2 (Digital) (R)
(12:45 3:00 5:15) 7:30 9:45
Tuesday - Wednesday May 31 - June 1
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(2:05 4:35) 7:05 9:25
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(11:30 2:45) 6:00 9:15
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Digital) (PG13)
(12:45 2:00 3:25 4:40) 7:20 10:00
MONEY MONSTER (Digital) (R)
6:05
XMEN: APOCALYPSE (Digital) (PG13)
(12:05 3:15) 6:25 8:10 9:30
ANGRY BIRDS (Digital) (PG)
(12:10 2:30 4:50) 7:15 9:20
THE NICE GUYS (Digital) (R)
(2:00 4:35) 7:10 9:50
NEIGHBORS 2 (Digital) (R)
(12:45 3:00 5:15) 7:30 9:45
strategies to reduce home-
lessness in Polk and Marion
counties.
Near-
man, of
I n d e -
pendence,
survived
his pri-
m a r y
challenge,
defeating
Nearman
Dallas res-
ident Beth Jones for a
chance to battle a familiar
opponent for House Dis-
trict 23 in the general elec-
tion.
House District 23 in-
cludes portions of four
counties: Polk, Marion,
Benton and Yamhill. Near-
man won three of the four
races, in Benton, Marion
and Yamhill counties, by
significant margins on his
way to a 5,169 (57.41 per-
cent) to 3,776 (41.94 per-
cent) victory.
In Polk, Jones won 2,328
(51.33 percent) to 2,160
(47.63 percent).
Nearman’s victory sets up
a race in November against
Jim Thompson, who ran
unopposed for the Inde-
pendent nomination.
The two have met in an
election before.
In the 2014 primary,
Nearman upset Thompson,
then the Republican in-
cumbent, and proceeded to
win the general election.
Nearman did not return a
call requesting comment by
press time.
Voter turnout for the May
17 primary was nearly 49
percent in Polk County,
with almost half the ballots
turned in the last two days
before election night.
Prevent campfires from going wild
itemizer-observer staff report
POlK COUNTY — Sitting
around a campfire is one of
the special times we all enjoy,
but campfires are also a major
cause of wildfires. may is
Wildfire Awareness month,
and Keep Oregon Green, the
Oregon State Fire marshal,
and the Oregon Department
of Forestry urge Oregonians
to follow these basic outdoor
safety tips:
Call your local forestry or
fire district to learn if there
are any current campfire re-
strictions at your recreation
destination. Portable camp
stoves are a safer option to
campfires at any time of year.
Where campfires are al-
lowed, avoid building the fire
near your tent, structures, ve-
hicles, shrubs or trees, and be
aware of low-hanging
branches overhead. A camp-
fire is less likely to escape
control if it is kept small.
A campfire left unattended
for only a few minutes can
grow into a costly, damaging
wildfire. Never use gasoline or
other accelerants (flammable
or combustible liquids) to
start or increase your camp-
fire.
Have a shovel and a bucket
of water nearby to extinguish
any escaped embers.
For more, polkio.com.
Thursday June 2
JUNGLE BOOK (Digital 2D) (PG)
(2:05 4:35)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Digital) (PG13)
(11:30 2:45)
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Digital) (PG13)
(12:45 2:00 3:25 4:40)
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2 (Digital) (PG13)
(5:00)
XMEN: APOCALYPSE (Digital) (PG13)
(12:05 3:15)
ANGRY BIRDS (Digital) (PG)
(12:10 2:30 4:50)
THE NICE GUYS (Digital) (R)
(2:00 4:35)
NEIGHBORS 2 (Digital) (R)
(12:45 3:00 5:15)
10:00
9:50
9:30
9:20
9:50
9:45
2015 Relay for Life
of Polk County
Relay For Life of
Polk County will
take place at
Riverview Park in
Independence
June 4~5.
If you or someone you know is interested in sponsorship, contact
Lyla Bruce at 503-508-9277, or online at aquarius1251@yahoo.com,
or visit our website at www.relayforlife.org/polkcountyor
certified on June 6.
In the meantime, Thomp-
son is seeking feedback from
the community and waiting
to take direction from the
school board on the district’s
next steps.
The district has a survey
on its website asking for in-
formation from people
about why they voted “yes”
or “no” on the issue.
Thompson’s asking if the
cost of the bond — $1.30 per
$1,000 of assessed value on
properties — was too high or
if the proposed building was
too big.
Also, the survey asked if
other factors played a role,
such as the need to upgrade
the city’s sewer facilities in
the near future.
Falls City School Board
will meet next on June 21,
so Thompson will ask then
if he should look into put-
ting another proposal on
the ballot and, if so, when.
He said he’s also gathering
the information the district
will need to apply for the
same state grant for facilities
construction it was awarded
this year.
“The need has not gone
away,” Thompson said.
He said at this point, he
isn’t deterred from asking for
voter support again depend-
ing on the survey responses
and the board decision.
“Losing by 11 votes, that
doesn’t make you weary; it
makes you determined,” he
said. “Are you kidding, 11
votes? We can do this.”
Wagner Library’s future uncertain
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
it open until long-term funding
sources could be found. The
trust was originally created to
pay for library materials.
The city has been manag-
ing that budget, and mayor
Terry Ungricht is concerned
about the money running low
after this fiscal year. He said a
discussion between the city
and the school district, which
owns the library property and
employs librarian Cynthia
Hovind part-time, would be
welcome.
To see an expanded version
of this story, visit polkio.com.
All types: for homes, offices, equip-
ment. Also, repairs, RV cushions,
slipcovers, High Quality since 1966
Winters Sewing
503-838-4999 or 503-375-9266
Emmy
Joseph
440 E. St • Independence, OR 97351
www.winterssewing.com
Serving Polk County 16yrs
What’s YOUR
neighbor up to?
A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV
Please join me in thanking our eight most recent sponsors of Relay For Life
of Polk County:
Elkay Manufacturing • Mungo Signs & Screen Printing
Oregon Endodontics • Dallas Glass • South View Medical Arts
Squirrels Taxi Service • Siletz Trucking
Van Well Building Supply
• Monmouth-Independence
Rotary
• First Community Credit Union
• Western Days
• Pressed Coffee & Wine Bar
• Limeberry Frozen Yogurt
• MINET Communications
• Mid Valley Ford
• Dallas Aquatic Center
• Dallas Rotary
• Mitch Ratzlaff State Farm
• The Three Legged Dog
• James W. Fowler Co.
• Republic Services
• Statewide Rent-A-Fence
• Her & Him Events Wedding
Planner and DJ
• White’s Collision Service
• City of Independence
• Bollman Funeral Home
• Dr. Michelle Hasbrook. DDS
• Central Lions Club
• Brandt Sanitary Service
• Royal Flush/Tony Teal
• Avenue Mortgage
• Buhler & Meyer CPA’s
• Farnstrom Mortuaries
FALLS CITY — Work on
building a new multipur-
pose gym facility at Falls City
Elementary doesn’t appear
like it will happen this year.
Falls City Schools Super-
intendent Jack Thompson is
still holding out hope, how-
ever slim.
He’s c l i n g i n g t o t h e
c h a n c e t h a t t h e re a re
enough ballots left to be
counted in the May 17 pri-
mary to change the outcome
of Measure 27-118.
The measure would have
provided a $2 million prop-
erty tax bond in addition to a
$2 million state grant to
build a new gymnasium and
cafeteria at the elementary
school.
Final unofficial results
have the measure failing
188-177, a mere 11 votes.
The grant depended on vot-
ers approving the ballot
measure, so the district will
not receive that money ei-
ther.
“It was disappointing, but
there’s still hope,” Thompson
said. “There are still votes
out there to count.”
Ballots continue to come
in from other counties —
meaning they were dropped
in a box in another county
and not delivered to the Polk
County Clerk’s Office on
election night.
Those ballots will be
rounded up and counted be-
fore the election has to be
Stephen
You’ve heard the term “think outside the box.” Cancer researchers are doing
just that in finding strategies that will personalize a patient’s treatment. One
strategy used by Dr. Ross Cagan, from Mount Sanai Hospital, uses the fruit
fly! The fly’s DNA is changed to match the patient’s, and when it develops
the matching tumor, drug testing begins. This enables Dr. Cagan to find the
best drug combination to destroy the tumor, and he passes his findings onto
the patient and oncologist. Funded by the American Cancer Society, Dr.
Cagan’s research has helped real patients at Mount Sanai.
• West Valley Hospital
• West Valley Physicians &
Surgeons Clinic/
Dr. John Hadley
• West Valley Surgical Specialty
Clinic/Dr. Alison Smith
• Monmouth Medical Center/
Dr. Charles Essex
• The Majestic/Ray Stratton
• B.P.O.E. Independence #1950
• Polk County Itemizer-Observer
• Washington St. Steakhouse
& Pub
• Eola Hills Wine Cellars
• Hancock Forest Management
• Rolling Prairie Farms
• Dutch Bros Coffee
• Pfaff-Karren Insurance
• Dallas Retirement Village
• Bookey Strong
• West Valley Taphouse
• Dallas Family Medicine
• NW Natural
• Woolsey Family Dental
• Partnerships In Community
Living, Inc
• Salem Sand Club
• Les Schwab Tire Centers of
Dallas, Independence,
West Salem
• H & R Block of Dallas,
Monmouth
• Dallas Fire & EMS Services
• Polk County Association of
Realtors
The Itemizer-Observer
Furniture Upholstery
From Fruit Flies To Elephants
A second “out of the box” strategy is the study of elephants which have a
much lower rate of cancer than people do. Humans only have two “p53”
genes that help isolate and fight cancer cells. Elephants have 40 of these
genes which lowers their cancer rate to only 5%! Utah oncologist and re-
searcher Joshua Schiffman says "After 55 million years, elephants have fig-
ured out how to become cancer resistant. Now it's our turn to learn from
elephants to try to see if there's a way to apply this to people." Thanks to
the generosity of Relay sponsors, “out of the box” research is proving to be
a game changer in the fight against cancer!
By Jolene Guzman
FAllS CITY — Now that the
may 17 primary election has
passed, the Falls City School Dis-
trict and city will turn their atten-
tion to another issue: the future of
the Wagner Community library.
The council and the school
board are slated to meet to dis-
cuss the library situation, possi-
bly in June.
The library is operating on
money from the Wagner Trust,
which was released to the city
in 2014 for the purpose keeping
7:05 9:25
6:00 9:15
7:20
7:25
6:25
7:15
7:10
7:30
reject gym bond
CAll ToDAY for A No-ChArGE EvAlUATioN.
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