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
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Lo: 54
Partly sunny
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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
