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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2016)
DEMARINI DIRTBAGS PUT SCHOOL RIVALRY ASIDE TO COME TOGETHER Volume 141, Issue 28 Page 10A www.Polkio.com July 13, 2016 $1.00 Deputy involved in shooting IN YOUR TOWN By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS WEST SALEM — Polk County Deputy Casey Gib- son shot a man on July 5 during an attempt to take him into custody on High- way 22. The man, Joshua A. Bolster, 29, of Salem, was transported to the Salem Hospital where he died from his injuries. According to reports from the Oregon State Police, Bol- ster had earlier been seen trespassing at his ex-girl- friend’s apartment in Mon- mouth, harassing her. He left the scene before Monmouth officers arrived, but had a confrontation with another tenant of the apart- ment complex, during which he reportedly pulled a knife, according to OSP reports. Monmouth officers pro- vided a description of the suspect and his vehicle to other local police agencies in an attempt to locate him, in- cluding that he may have been armed with a knife, ac- cording to OSP. Police had probable cause to arrest the man on charges of trespass- ing and menacing, according to OSP. At about 9:45 p.m., Polk County deputies located the vehicle on Highway 22 near Doaks Ferr y Road and stopped the car, OSP said. Deputies attempted to arrest the man. During the confrontation, Gibson fired shots and hit Bolster, according to OSP. An OSP trooper arrived on scene in response to requests for assistance by Polk County deputies after shots had been fired. The arriving trooper took part in attempts to take Bol- ster, who was not complying with officers’ commands, into custody and employed less lethal means to do so, accord- ing to OSP reports. “Less than lethal means” can define many different methods, said Sgt. Kyle Hovee, public information officer for OSP, including anything from a Taser to an impact weapon. The exact details of the confrontation are under in- vestigation, District Attorney Aaron Felton said. See DEPUTY, Page 7A New irrigation sys- tem installed at LaCre- ole Middle School. »Page 11A EDUCATION Perrydale works on installing new parking lot. »Page 5A FALLS CITY Falls City’s budget fo- cuses on infrastructure improvements. »Page 3A INDEPENDENCE JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Austin Champ, left, and Jesse Friedow are Dallas’ first paid firefighters. The two will provide seasonal help to the Dallas Fire Department during the peak fire season. Dallas fire gets help The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The Dallas Fire Department has been all-volunteer since 1878. That changed on July 5. Since the department’s first days, only fire adminis- trators have received a regu- lar paycheck for their serv- ices. All other firefighters have been volunteers. That means Austin Champ and Jesse Friedow are making history in Dal- las, being the first paid fire- fighters in the department, even if that status is tempo- rary. The pair will serve as sea- sonal firefighters and EMTs responding to daytime calls for the fire department and Emergency Medical Serv- ice’s third ambulance. Both have served the department as volunteers — eight years for Friedow, 26, and 5.5 years for Champ, 24. “I’ve been here eight years on the volunteer side, and just seeing the new di- rection of the organization, it’s cool in a way because we are setting a precedent,” Friedow said. “We are mak- ing history. At the same time, we are still here for the community just in a differ- ent capacity than we were before.” The two positions are budgeted for four months, through what should be the end of fire season, said de- partment spokeswoman April Welsh. She said master plans written for Dallas Fire & EMS and South West Polk Rural Fire Protection Dis- trict clearly illustrated the need for better daytime re- sponses in Dallas, and hir- ing seasonal firefighters for this year was a direct result of that. “There will be a decrease in response times, which will be a benefit to our com- munity,” she said. “Our goal is to get the best service for our citizens.” Welsh said the depart- ment will keep close track of response times while Champ and Friedow are on shift. “During that time, we will be doing a lot of data collec- tion,” Welsh said. “We are really going to be focused on the data.” The master plan revealed that Dallas Fire responded to fires within about 18 minutes 90 percent of the time, far from the depart- ment’s goal of seven min- utes for priority fires and special operations incidents within the city limits. “The master plan was an eye-opening document,” Welsh said. Friedow said even since he began volunteering in 2008, he’s seen the changes causing the longer re- »Page 2A MONMOUTH Seasonal firefighters to assist with fire season in Dallas By Jolene Guzman New owners mix the old and the new at Brew Coffee and Tap House. sponse times. “Since then, losing busi- nesses in town, especially the mill, we’ve lost quite a few people,” he said. When not on calls, the pair will be maintaining fire engines and the fire station, including long-deferred tasks the department’s ad- ministrative staff have not had time to complete. “There is a list that Chief (Fred) Hertel has provided us,” Champ said. “I think he’s been building on this list since he became the chief here.” Friedow and Champ will be at the station during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, so the equipment bay doors will be open and the public is invited to check out the sta- tion and ask questions about the department. “We really encourage the community to stop by,” Welsh said. Western Oregon breaks ground on new health and counseling center. »Page 12A SPORTS Devon Alexander heads to Las Vegas and Germany to chase pro basketball dream. »Page 10A WOU water levels safe Itemizer-Observer staff report MONMOUTH — Initial testing of drinking water at Western Oregon Uni- versity showed results below or well below levels considered dangerous by the Environmental Protec- tion Agency. Samples were collected by Physical Plant person- nel under the direction of a certified DEQ third-party lab and sent to outside labs for analysis. Addition- al locations will be tested in the coming weeks. Charter outage puts businesses in tough spot By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Damage to a fiber- optic line serving the Dallas area caused Charter customers to lose service for much of the day on July 6. Bret Picciolo, director of re- gional communications-north- west said the damage occurred in a remote wooded area that was difficult for crews to access, lead- ing to the extended duration of the outage. THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK The damaged line is operated by a third party. “We worked closely with them to restore service as quickly as pos- sible,” Picciolo said. Service was restored around 9 p.m., Picciolo said. The location and cause of the damage was not made available. “This was an unusual instance of damage to the network in a re- mote area that was not caused by Charter,” Picciolo said. “It does not reflect a typical customer experi- ence.” Losing service throughout the day left several area businesses in a difficult spot. Barbara Powers, of Wall Insur- ance, said her office effectively was closed for the day. “The outage shuts us down completely,” Powers said. “Our en- tire book of business, all client files and data, are on a secure server which we access via the internet. To top it off, we have an internet phone system, so that is shut down also. We lost a day of business/pro- duction and gained a day of ex- treme frustration, not just for us, but for our customers who called our number and did not get an an- swer.” Marshall Sowell works at a local auto repair shop. “I wasn’t able to receive or place any phone calls,” he said. “I wasn’t able to order parts. I wasn’t able to check my customer database or repair information. My business basically stopped for the whole day.” Sowell switched to Charter in January and had little to no issues until the summer. “My service has been off and on pretty much since the beginning of June,” Sowell said. “I have intermit- tent connection. The telephone doesn’t work for hours at a time. I actually have the numbers of the three local technicians in my phone.” According to Charter, there are a large range of issues that could cause intermittent issues. Charter recommends making sure up-to-date equipment is being used. wed thu fri sat sun mon tue Western Oregon hosts the latest edi- tion of its Summer Heatwave concert series featuring JT Tourist. Noon. Free. Looking to network? Check out the Young Professionals Networking at Wells Fargo in Dallas for those aged 21-45. 5:30 p.m. Free. The River’s Edge Summer Music Se- ries in Independ- ence is ready to rock with blues artist Ty Curtis. 7:30 p.m. If you’re on the hunt for fresh and unique products, check out the Independence Farmers and Riverview markets. 9 a.m. The 84th Mon- mouth High School reunion will be held at the Historic Gen- tle House in Mon- mouth. 11:30 a.m. Free. Kids looking to stay active? Check out the week-long jump rope camp at Whit- worth Elementary School. 9 a.m. $20-30. Do you have a pas- sion for coins? Check out the Polk County Coin Club at Monmouth Senior Center. 7 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 79 Lo: 51 Sunny Hi: 82 Lo: 52 Sunny Hi: 77 Lo: 53 Partly cloudy Hi: 74 Lo: 52 Cloudy Hi: 74 Lo: 54 Cloudy Hi: 72 Lo: 51 Partly cloudy Hi: 73 Lo: 52