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.
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