DALLAS TRACK REACHES
WEAVER NAMED PLAYER
12 YEARS OLD
OF
THE
YEAR
Page 10A
Page 10A
Volume 141, Issue 23
www.Polkio.com
June 8, 2016
$1.00
Sheriff schools program needs help
PCSO is asking businesses to contribute to fund for drug, online safety education materials
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Sheriff
Mark Garton wants his
deputies to have a bigger
role in
P o l k
C o u n t y ’s
schools
a n d h e’s
launched a
fundrais-
ing cam-
paign to
Garton
help make
that hap-
pen.
Now that the Polk County
Sheriff’s Office is approach-
ing full staff and 24-hour pa-
trol coverage, he would like
to have deputies teaching
children about drug preven-
tion and
online
safety.
While
police of-
ficers have
plenty of
experience
with both topics,
they might not know how to
convey those messages to
children in a classroom set-
ting.
That’s why Garton is ap-
pealing to businesses to help
purchase educational mate-
rials sheriff’s office employ-
ees can use in schools.
In the past, Garton has de-
signed his own presenta-
tions, but the process is time
consuming and frequent up-
dates are needed as drug-use
and social media trends shift.
To solve that problem, the
sheriff’s office is in a part-
nership with the National
Child Safety Council, which
provides materials and up-
dates appropriate for teach-
ing any age group, including
adults.
“It’s an all-inclusive pack-
age,” Garton said. “Any po-
lice officer can grab it and go
teach that topic.”
Materials are costly, about
$1.90 per child, and grants are
virtually non-existent for this
purpose, with the exception
of gun safety programs,
“Eddie Eagle” and “Project
Child Safe,” Garton said.
Businesses in Polk County
were sent letters requesting
assistance in late May, but
Garton stressed donations
are voluntary.
“This is not a tax,” he said.
“This is something we want
to provide that we can’t pro-
vide now.”
He said the office has al-
ready received about a
dozen donations, a few of
them substantial.
Garton would like to have
enough funding available by
early July to have materials
in hand before school be-
gins in September.
Sheriff’s office officials are
meeting with school dis-
tricts to see what programs
may be the most helpful for
the issues students face. The
National Child Safety Pro-
gram offers a wide variety of
programs, so Garton can
order materials based on
what is needed.
“We don’t have to do the
same thing in all schools,”
he said. “We can tailor it.”
Garton said all schools
would like drug prevention
presentations.
Other common requests
include online and social
media safety for children
and parents.
“That is something that
we feel is important if they
(schools) want it, and they
do,” he said.
See EDUCATION, Page 5A
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
All six schools in Dal-
las School District will
be tested for lead.
»Page 3A
FALLS CITY
See more photos
from Falls City High
School’s graduation
ceremony online at
www.polkio.com.
»Page 14A
INDEPENDENCE
May the cure be with you
Central senior Han-
nah Boyack looks for-
ward to next step after
high school.
»Page 12A
MONMOUTH
Monmouth Main
Street Amphitheater is
over budget by about
$20,000.
»Page 5A
PERRYDALE
Senior Hannah Hal-
lock prepares for a new
experience at Western
Oregon.
»Page 12A
SPORTS
Triathlon field games
proves a more difficult
challenge than it first
appeared.
»Page 10A
EDUCATION
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
The Polk County Relay for Life hit Riverview Park in Independence on Saturday and Sunday. The event raised money for cancer research, cele-
brated cancer survivors and remembered those who have been lost. For more on Relay for Life, see Page 7A.
Monmouth blaze caused by electrical wires
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — A fire de-
stroyed the home of Sandy
Newland, 137 College St. N.,
in Monmouth on the
evening of June 1.
The call came in at 8:25
p.m. Firefighters from Polk
No. 1 and Dallas Fire were on
scene in about five or six
minutes, Polk No. 1 Assistant
Chief Neal Olson said.
Crews from Dallas Fire
knocked out a chain link
fence to access the roof,
where they cut a hole to fight
the fire. The blaze was bat-
tled from both outside and
inside the home.
Olson said a couple of
things made the fire difficult,
including access.
“I’m worried about the
structural integrity,” Olson
said. “We already had the
roof collapse in the garage.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
We don’t want to send any-
one in there if the roof’s
going to collapse.”
One reason for the quick
response was the fire depart-
ments were in training. About
35 firefighters responded and
had the fire contained and
under control in about 30
minutes, Olson said.
Olson said the residents
were not home at the time of
the fire, but witnesses re-
ported seeing a dog run
away.
The family dog, Bear, was
found the next day and re-
turned to Newland and her
grandson, who she raises.
A car parked in the drive-
way also caught fire, but was
extinguished before the car
was engulfed in flames.
The heat caused a power
line that had been connect-
ed to the house to drop onto
a car port.
See FIRE, Page 5A
Senior Alicia Scherer
ready to take on the
film industry.
»Page 12A
Retire tired
American
flags at Elks
Itemizer-Observer staff report
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Firefighters work to contain a blaze at 137 College St. N. in Monmouth on June 1.
INDEPENDENCE — The
Independence Elks Lodge
Post 1950 will team up
with the Boy Scouts to re-
tire old flags on Tuesday,
Flag Day.
The Scouts will receive
the keys to the old flag
drop box, located in front
of the Elks Lodge, at 5:45
p.m. The ceremony will
follow at 6.
Flags will be properly
and respectfully disposed
of behind the lodge, at
289 S. Main St., Independ-
ence.
The public is welcome
to attend the ceremony.
Bring old, tattered flags to
be retired with you.
For more information
on how to respect the
American flag: www.mili-
tary.com/benefits/re-
sources/us-flag-code.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
The Polk County
Master Gardeners
will discuss land-
scaping at its meet-
ing at Trinity
Lutheran Church.
7 p.m. Free.
Polk County’s
Young Professionals
will meet at Country
Financial in Dallas
for a social network-
ing event.
5:30 p.m. Free.
Rock out with or
enjoy the music at
the Guthrie Park
Acoustic Music Jam
Session
6:30 p.m. Free (do-
nations accepted).
Ash Creek Arts Cen-
ter will host its free
Second Saturday
Family Art Program
where kids will
make windsocks.
2 p.m. Free.
Enjoy a hearty meal
at the Buell Grange
Breakfast, including
pancakes, hash
browns, French
toast and sausage.
8 a.m. $6.
It’s never too late to
learn a instrument
with the Willamette
Valley New Horizons
Orchestra.
6:30 p.m. $25
monthly fee.
Take a moment to
celebrate the Amer-
ican Flag.
All day.
Cloudy
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Showers
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Lo: 48
Partly sunny
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Lo: 51
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Lo: 49
Partly sunny
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Lo: 47