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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2016)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 20, 2016 4A How to Contact Officials EDITORIALS Pokemon Go unites people Regardless of whether you’re Republican or Democrat, there is one thing that has been uniting people: Pokemon. The app “Pokemon Go” was made available on July 6, and has done for playing outdoors what Harry Potter did for reading. People are outside. They are meeting face to face. It is a social media game that has managed to accomplish what other games haven’t: it has re-invigorated the society to be social. Granted, we have all heard reports about criminals tak- ing advantage of Pokemon spawns to rob people; others have walked into traffic or off cliffs. We have seen the footage of people swarming Central Park in New York City hoping to capture a rare Pokemon. On the other hand, we have heard reports of people dis- covering dead bodies and guns. We have heard of commu- nities gathering in the park, supporting local businesses, mingling with homeless and each other. We have heard about children wanting to go for more bike rides, adults taking more walks — all in the name of Pokemon. The game has meshed real life with fantasy, allowing people a chance to catch Pokemon — little imaginary monsters — on their cellphones. The creatures could ap- pear anywhere, so people are on the lookout to “catch ’em all.” We aren’t sure how long the craze will last. The app’s cre- ator says advertisements are coming soon, which may make the game less fun for some. But we are happy to see people talking to each other in real life again, sharing a common interest. PUBLIC AGENDA Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov- ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County. To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via fax (503- 623-2395) or email (ionews@polkio.com). — WednesdAy, July 20 Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk Coun- ty Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. Rickreall Watershed Council — 2 p.m., Delbert Hunter Ar- boretum House, Dallas City Park. 503-623-9680. Chemeketa Community College Board — 4:30 p.m. work- shop; 5:30 p.m. executive session; 7 p.m. regular session, Chemeketa Polk Center, 1340 Holman Ave., Dallas. 503-399- 2517. Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. ThuRsdAy, July 21 Monmouth Arts and Culture Commission — 7 p.m., Volun- teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. Independence Parks and Recreation Board — 6 p.m., Inde- pendence Civic Center, third floor, 555 S. Main St., Independ- ence. 503-838-1212. Polk County Fair Board — 8 a.m., Polk County Fairgrounds and Event Center, Main Building, Meeting Room No. 2, 520 S. Pa- cific Highway (99W), Rickreall. 503-623-3048. Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council — 5:30 p.m., Salemtowne Breezeway Room, West Salem, 503-623-9680. FRIdAy, July 22 Polk County health Advisory Board — Noon, Academy Building, room 212, 182 SW Academy St., Dallas. 503-623-8175 ext. 2112. MondAy, July 25 Independence library Board — 4 p.m., Independence Pub- lic Library, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1212. dallas school Board — 6:30 p.m., Dallas School District of- fice, 111 SW Ash St., Dallas. 503-623-5594. TuesdAy, July 26 Independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. Monmouth senior Advisory Board — 1 p.m., Monmouth Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503- 623-8173. WednesdAy, July 27 Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk Coun- ty Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. GOVERNOR Gov. Kate Brown (dem.) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4582 Email: via website, http://governor.oregon.gov/ — STATE LEGISLATORS sen. Arnie Roblan (District 5, Democrat) S-417 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Great work on football field We would like to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers who showed up this past week to work on the irrigation system at LaCreole football field. It’s wonderful to see the community come together for the betterment of our complexes for kids. It didn’t go unnoticed. Mike and Renee Sonday Dallas Marijuana grow is right in backyard We have lived in Polk County for 38 years raising our family in a wonderful, safe, family oriented neigh- borhood. We are now perplexed, for over our back fences, there is a marijuana growing op- eration run by two corpora- tions that are leasing the property behind us. They have brought in two blue shipping containers to be used as offices. We wondered if they had a license and legal permits for their business. The Polk County Sheriff’s Depart- ment and the land use of- fice referred us to the OLCC in Salem, who told us that the information was confi- dential and they couldn’t tell us. The land behind us that they are leasing has access off of Lee Road, but they choose to trespass across our private road to put in their barbed wire fences and electric gates, deliveries of water tanks, plumbing, rock, etc. Everything seems to be a big secret and our govern- ment will tell us nothing. Who do we turn to? We want to thank our commissioner, Mike Ainsworth, for voting against this activity. Shame on our other two commis- sioners for voting this into our backyards and neigh- borhoods where children are present. Jim and Kathy Bobeda Dallas Country living comes with noises I am quite familiar with the rural area in which a local resident recently re- ceived an anonymous letter about noise. My family home of 40 years is there. This is not a residential area or a gated community with its laws, by-laws and ordinances. This is an area of randomly placed houses along a country road, sur- rounded by farmland and separated one from another by acreage. It is a storybook fantasy that a rural countryside is quiet and peaceful. In spring, we hear the repetitive booms of the wa- terfowl guns, a system de- vised to prevent birds from damaging vulnerable crops. We hear the loud banging of the machine shop across the way, the humming of the pump in the river. The smell of the local dairy greets our senses, as well as the whirring and grinding of farm machinery. Dust settles indiscriminately over lawns, shrubs and porches. These things are familiar, comfortable; this is home. Life in rural America will carry on, as will the genera- tional behaviors of the resi- dents. Anyone troubled by the uncustomary noise could easily say so, since commu- nication is open between neighbors here. Two weeks ago, a local family gathered to celebrate the graduation of two young men home on leave. These men have endured intense physical and academic training. Who can blame them for kicking up the dust with some target practice? I say, “Congratulations, men!” A complaint in the form of an anonymous hate letter attacking this family is downright un-neighborly. It is out of character and out- side of the country ethics. I have one question of our poisonous pen pal: “Y’ain’t from here, are ya?” Karin McKinny Independence Dallas firefighters seek volunteers Over the past several weeks, the Itemizer has done a great job keeping its readers informed on activi- ties at Dallas Fire & EMS. You have read about the ex- ternal evaluation, response times, and the two new sea- sonal firefighters who will bolster daytime response over the summer months. The Dallas area has been served by a professional vol- unteer fire department since 1878. Dedicated men and women have freely given their time to help their neighbors. Dallas is the largest city in the state to still be served by a volunteer fire department (EMS is staffed by a paid crew of four 24/7) covering approxi- mately 33,000 residents within a 125-square-mile re- sponse area. We are fortunate to have visionary leadership, excel- lent training, quality equip- ment, and great community support from both residents and the city’s elected offi- cials. You may not know that Dallas Fire is dispatched to more than 1,000 calls each year. We are part of the com- munity health care system as 60 percent of the fire de- partment incidents today are assisting our EMS crews or providing initial medical assistance when both Dallas medic units are on calls and an ambulance from a neigh- boring community arrives to transport the patient. The call volume for the fire de- partment has increased by 40 percent over the last five years. Dallas EMS call vol- ume has also increased to more than 3,200 incidents last year. We are fortunate to have a dedicated group of volun- teers, but our numbers are smaller than years past and our demand for service con- tinues to increase as the size of Dallas grows and our population ages. Our doors are always open to community mem- bers interested in joining our team. You won’t receive a pay check, but you will have the satisfaction know- ing you helped. sen. Jackie Winters (District 10, Republican) S-301 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1710 sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters sen. Brian Boquist (District 12, Republican) S-305 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1712 sen.brianboquist@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist Rep. david Gomberg (District 10, Democrat) H-471 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1410 rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg Rep. Paul evans (District 20, Democrat) H-281 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1420 rep.paulevans@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans Rep. Mike nearman (District 23, Republican) H-378 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1423 rep.mikenearman@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman — U.S. CONGRESS sen. Ron Wyden (dem.) 221 Dirksen SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-5244 Fax: 202-228-2717 Salem office: 707 13th St. SE, Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-589-4555 Email: via website, www.wyden.senate.gov Eriks Gabliks President Dallas Volunteer Firefighters Association WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day period. Letters that are libelous, ob- scene or in bad taste will not be printed. Attacks by name on businesses or individuals will not be printed. Letters to the editor that are obvious promotions for a busi- ness, products or services will not be printed. For the full letters policy, see www.polkio.com. sen. Jeff Merkley (dem.) 313 Hart SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Fax: 202-228-3997 Salem office: 495 State St. SE, Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-362-8102 Email: via website, www.merkley.senate.gov Rep. Kurt schrader (dem.) 108 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5711 Fax: 202-225-5699 Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE, Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-588-9100 Fax: 503-588-5517 Email: via website, www.schrader.house.gov — POLK COUNTY Board of Commissioners 850 Main St. Dallas, OR 97338 Phone: 503-623-8173 www.co.polk.or.us — CITIES dallas 187 SE Court St. Dallas, OR 97338 503-623-2338 www.ci.dallas.or.us Falls City 299 Mill St. Falls City, OR 97344 503-787-3631 www.fallscityoregon.gov Independence 555 S. Main St. Independence, OR 97351 503-838-1212 www.ci.independence.or.us Monmouth 151 W. Main St. Monmouth, OR 97361 503-838-0722 www.ci.monmouth.or.us HOW TO REACH US Vol. 141, No. 29 (USPS) - 437-380) The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875 Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR. Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street Dallas, Oregon 97338 Phone: 503-623-2373 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Polk County — One Year $35 Other Oregon Counties — One Year $40 Outside of Oregon — One Year $45 PosTMAsTeR: send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-observer, P.o. Box 108, dallas, oregon 97338 neWsRooM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com dIsPlAy AdVeRTIsInG Heidi Leppin .................Display Advertising Manager ....................................hleppin@polkio.com Rachel Best ....................Display Advertising.............................................................rbest@polkio.com Karen Sanks...................Client Services ...................................................................ksanks@polkio.com ClAssIFIed lIne AdVeRTIsInG Dawn Ohren.....................................................................................................................ioads@polkio.com PRoduCTIon Kathy Huggins ..............................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in advertise- ments. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement Web: www.polkio.com which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault. Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395