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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
LEARNING ABOUT FIBER FAIRVIEW Page 7A Volume 141, Issue 22 RELAY FOR LIFE Author shares story of hope DALLAS SOFTBALL FALLS AT STATE Page 10A www.Polkio.com June 1, 2016 $1.00 Remember the fallen DALLAS learn about what the city council is doing about the Dallas Aquat- ic Center. By Emily Mentzer »Page 2A The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — When Jeri Miller Houle was diagnosed with mul- tiple myeloma in August, 2012, it was as if she fell into a black pit of despair. After seeing her mother fight the same cancer for 10 years before dying from it, Houle said she was ready to give up on life. “I was done,” she said. “I didn’t want to do this. I was literally cutting my husband’s hair and my son’s hair and I said, ‘You guys are going to have to find another hair dresser.’ They said, ‘Stop it. You’ve got to fight.’” It was a turning point for her. “I’ve got to figure out how to fight,” she said. Houle, who graduated from Dallas High School in 1980, started treatment with a 10-second injec- tion in her stomach. Compared to the hours-long, intravenous chemotherapy her mother endured, she said treat- ment had come a long way. Part of the reason for advances in research are fundraisers such as Relay For Life, through the American Cancer Socie- ty. Relay participants raise money for research to help find a cure while raising awareness about cancer, including how to prevent the disease and how to spot it. The annual, 24-hour event takes place on Sat- urday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Inde- pendence Riverivew Park, 50 C St. Houle’s blood cancer was discovered after a Grand Canyon white- water rafting excursion for her 50th birthday. She said her husband had such bad kidney stones while there, they nearly had to evacuate him via air ambulance. When she got home, her back was in great pain. Not wanting to risk anything, Houle promptly went to the doctor. “I thought, ‘I am not going through what I saw (my husband) go through,’” Houle said. The doctor found some blood in her urine, and, though it could have been kidney stones, didn’t take any chances. Houle went for blood tests. See CANCER, Page 5A THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK IN YOUR TOWN FALLS CITY Meet Kyle Smith, a senior graduating from Falls City High School on Thursday. »Page 14A INDEPENDENCE Polk Fire no. 1 burns a manufactured home in Buena Vista last week to help train firefight- ers. »Page 6A MONMOUTH The peafowl who make their home near Monmouth elementary School are looking for more territory. »Page 3A PERRYDALE Perrydale presents “Seussical the Musical.” »Page 2A Top: Oregon Army National Guard soldiers helped put up the Avenue of Flags display in Dallas Cemetery Thursday. Monday, the American Legion held the hour- long ceremony honoring those who served our country. Other events marking Memorial Day were held in Inde- pendence, Grand Ronde and at Western Oregon Uni- versity. Center: Names of the fallen are displayed on the nearly 700 flags lining the roads through Dallas Cemetery. Right: The first flag of the display has a patri- otic sign affixed to it. The second flag honors POWs. SPORTS Dallas’ baseball team eliminated in the first round of the 5A state playoffs. »Page 11A Substance abuse training offered JOlene GuzMAn/Itemizer-Observer Lack of communication leads to confusion over lotto money By Jolene Guzman Inside The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — The Polk County Commission- ers have changed how the county distributes its share of video lottery pro- ceeds for economic devel- opment. That is within the board’s right. The only problem is the county had told the long- term recipients, the cities of Dallas, Independence and Monmouth, to expect an es- timated amount for this fis- cal year, ending June 30. As was practice, the cities budgeted the money and ex- pected it when the county • The Polk County Budget Committee ap- proved the 2016-17 budget on May 25. See Page 5A. received its distribution. They didn’t, and weren’t officially told until March or April they should not expect the money. Dallas already began spending its share on its “Take a Closer Look” mar- keting campaign. The amounts going to the cities aren’t huge — less than $20,000 for each city — but the lack of communication has left the cities “perplexed” as one city official described it. County Administrator Greg Hansen said he sent a letter to Monmouth in Oc- tober, informing City Man- ager Scott McClure that the county was consider- ing changes in economic development money dis- tribution and other pro- grams. Commissioner Craig Pope said the board decided to create a grant program that was open to private business and government bodies. He said that process would provide more infor- mation beforehand about how the money would be used and reporting on how the money helped the busi- ness or city after the grant is received. Hansen said making that change had been a long- term goal of the board. “Not that the cities were doing anything wrong with the money, the board just wanted a better feel for where the monies were going,” Hansen said. Hansen took responsibili- ty for the poor communica- tion with the cities, saying he should have informed them earlier that the change was coming. See LOTTO, Page 5A Itemizer-Observer staff report DAllAS — Polk County Family and Community Outreach will offer sub- stance abuse awareness training Thursday at 6:30 p.m. There is no cost to at- tend the training at Boll- man Auditorium at Dallas High School. The training is titled “Vaping, edibles, drink- ables and more. What le- galization and novel prod- ucts mean to our youth.” The training will help attendees understand youth marketing mes- sages, identify new and common drug delivery products, understand support systems available for youth and to have a basic understanding of laws and local statistical trends. The training is not ap- propriate for minors. For more information: www.co.polk.or.us/fco/ prevention/tobacco-pre- vention-and-education-0. wed thu fri sat sun mon tue Join Betty and oth- ers for a friendly game of Scrabble at the Independence Public library. Re- freshments served. 1 p.m. Free. Author Colleen Houck will talk about her new York Times bestsellers at the Dallas Public li- brary. 6:30 p.m. Free. listen to the stylings of Sean Jones at Western Oregon university, the finale for the Smith Fine Arts Series 2016-17. 7:30 p.m. $25-$28. Relay for life, a 24- hour American Can- cer Society fundraising event, kicks off at Riverview Park. 10 a.m. Free. Dallas Alliance Church hosts Bach, Beethoven and Be- yond, an evening of music and refresh- ments. 7 p.m. Free. It’s never too late to start learning an in- strument with the new Horizons Or- chestra, which meets at CHS. 6:30 p.m. $25/mo. Court Street will close for Dallas’ De- partment expo, a chance for the pub- lic to see and learn about city services. 4-7 p.m. Free. Mostly sunny Hi: 79 Lo: 54 Partly sunny Hi: 76 Lo: 53 Sunny Hi: 83 Lo: 57 Sunny Hi: 92 Lo: 60 Sunny Hi: 88 Lo: 56 Mostly sunny Hi: 81 Lo: 52 Sunny Hi: 77 Lo: 50
