HAWAIIAN LUAU
NICHOLS WAITS FOR HIS
SUMMERFEST
BIG
MOMENT
Page 8A
Page 12A
Volume 141, Issue 31
www.Polkio.com
August 3, 2016
$1.00
Dog
rescued
from fire
IN
YOUR
TOWN
By Emily Mentzer
DALLAS
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — A
Thursday afternoon house
fire on Walnut Street dam-
aged the home and con-
tents, but no one was hurt,
thanks in part to the efforts
of Independence Police Offi-
cer Jill Thissell.
When officers and Polk
County Fire District No. 1
were dispatched to the fire
at 3:37 p.m., they were told
by neighbors that no one
was home, but there was a
dog in the house.
“There were flames com-
ing out of the back of the
house, and the entire house
appeared to be filled with
smoke,” Independence Sgt.
Tino Banuelos recalled. “We
could hear a dog barking
from the front door, but we
could not tell where exactly
it was coming from.”
The smoke was too thick
to see beyond a foot or two,
Banuelos said. Neighbors,
the homeowner and officers
tried going into the house,
but were quickly over-
whelmed by the smoke.
“We reached in as far as
we could, but had to turn
back,” he said.
Thissell made her way in
through the front door, got
down low and followed the
barking.
“In her words, she ‘got
lucky,’” Banuelos said. “She
is so modest and humble.”
Banuelos added that
going into a burning build-
ing filled with smoke with-
out the proper equipment is
very dangerous, but that “of
course we’re proud of her.
She saved the family’s
puppy.”
See FIRE, Page 5A
City named in
wrongful death lawsuit.
»Page 2A
INDEPENDENCE
Family Treasure’s
Marketplace scheduled
to be sold in a Sheriff’s
Office sale.
»Page 3A
Stepping forward
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The home bleachers at
Gallaspy Stadium have long been con-
sidered a landmark among Dallas
High School’s athletic facilities.
The stadium, originally built in
1965, may face future scrutiny that
could lead to required improvements.
—
Dallas School District Facilities Man-
ager Kevin Montague wants to make
one thing clear: the stands at the foot-
ball stadium are structurally sound.
But father time and changes in
codes have caused the stands to land
in a potentially difficult spot.
The bleachers fall short of today’s
building codes passed in 2012 as an
inspection revealed in January.
“None of the aisles meet current
codes,” Montague said. “They aren’t
the necessary widths. There are no
handrails and the stairs are uneven,
and that’s not compliant with current
codes.”
The “crow’s nest” has one ladder
leading up to it — a violation of codes
requiring multiple exits in case of a fire.
At a March Citizen’s Oversight Com-
mittee meeting — a group that over-
sees how bond money approved by
voters in 2014 is spent — Montague
reported that “there are many con-
cerns with the structure which may
cause it, or at least the crow’s nest, to
be shut down by the inspector.”
If a state fire marshal inspected the
stands, he or she could force changes
to be made.
“The fire marshal could come in
and say you have to close the crow’s
nest,” Montague said. “That could
happen tomorrow. Our insurance has
been pushing (to make these
changes). If you have a plan, they give
you some leeway if you can say this is
what we’re going to do. Right now,
we’re forming that plan.”
Montague said fire marshals have
inspected the district multiple times
over the past year.
The Citizen’s Oversight Committee
is in the process of addressing the is-
sues raised, Superintendent Michelle
Johnstone said.
Woodburn High School faced simi-
POLK COUNTY
lar issues with its grandstands in 2015.
“The steps themselves were out of
code because the length of the steps
was too long,” Woodburn Athletics Di-
rector Chad Waples said. “They had to
shorten the steps by adding some ad-
ditional ones. They also added hand
rails that went down the middle of the
aisle. We added a ramp because we
only had one that was out of code. We
added a complete stairwell that goes
up to our crow’s nest and press box.
Prior to that we had a secured ladder
that went straight up.”
A fire marshal inspected the facility
in 2015 and reported the findings to
the facility supervisor, Waples said. The
result was a closure of the grandstands
throughout the entire football season.
“We could not allow the general pub-
lic to use it because we were out of com-
pliance with regulations,” Waples said.
What could confuse some is that the
stands are not considered to be out of
code by the city of Dallas because they
are only responsible to meeting the
codes of the time they were built, city
building official Ted Cuno said.
See BLEACHERS, Page 6A
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
The Dallas Aquatic Center hosts events, including the kids triathlon.
parisons.
“You can look at all of
these numbers and I think
there are differences in the
way these facilities operate,”
he said.
Management structures
and budgeting practices are
among those differences.
Locke said one example is
the Astoria Aquatic Center,
which doesn’t include main-
tenance costs in the facility’s
budget or the cost of the
park and rec director’s salary
for overseeing the center.
The Dallas Aquatic Cen-
ter’s budget accounts for
both of those expenses and
has a stand-alone fund,
while Astoria’s center is in-
cluded in a park and rec de-
partment.
Other centers in McMin-
nville, Woodburn and Forest
Grove vary in age, size and
program offerings, making
comparisons complicated.
“It’s apples to apples, but
its granny smith to McIntosh
to red delicious, because
everybody functions a little
bit differently,” Locke said.
Through the analysis,
Locke said he didn’t find any
easy answers to increasing
Register for Zimfest
online through Thurs-
day.
»Page 2A
City hears aquatics center analysis
DALLAS — The Dallas
Aquatic Center has never
been a money maker, but
has, in general, made cost
reductions and revenue
growth since 2008, accord-
ing to a city of Dallas analy-
sis of the facility.
The study was prompted
by a motion the council ap-
proved in May to look at op-
tions to eliminate or de-
crease the center’s depend-
ence on the city’s general
fund.
Revenue versus expendi-
ture numbers have been as
high at 60.4 (2014) percent
and as low as 56 percent
(2015).
Those percentages put
the facility about average
with similar year-round
aquatic centers in the state,
but Dallas Community De-
velopment Director Jason
Locke warned not to read
too much into those com-
MONMOUTH
JOHN SCHULTE/ Itemizer-Observer file
The bleachers at Dallas High School could face required improvements if a state fire marshal deemed it necessary.
revenue or lowering costs
when looking at how other
centers operate.
The discussion set the
table for city staff to make
recommendations on how
to close the Dallas center’s
funding gap, a process that
will be complete in Septem-
ber and brought to the city’s
administration committee.
“I wanted to make sure
everyone was on the same
page,” he said.
Locke reviewed the aquat-
ic center’s history from the
beginning. Voters in Dallas
passed a bond measure to
build the facility in 1998,
and, at the same time, voted
“no” on an operating levy
that would have supple-
mented the center’s revenue.
Locke estimated that
would have generated about
$300,000 to $350,000 per
year. By comparison, the
center will receive about
$388,000 in general fund
support this year.
See DAC, Page 5A
County fair exhibits
due Monday.
»Page 6A
SPORTS
Dirtbags fall short of
state title.
»Page 11A
ONLINE
Photo galleries from
Summerfest events.
www.polkio.com
Grand Ronde
man killed in
car accident
Itemizer-Observer staff report
YAMHILL COUNTY — A
Grand Ronde man died
on the scene of a two-ve-
hicle crash on Monday at
about 9:24 a.m.
Preliminary investiga-
tion from Oregon State
Police revealed that a
2003 Nissan Sentra driv-
en by Michael Tubbs, 62,
of Grand Ronde, was
stopped northbound on
Grand Ronde Road at the
intersection of Highway
22.
The Nissan pulled out
onto Highway 22 in front
of a 1994 Honda Civic,
driven by Tyler Porter, 27,
of Tillamook, traveling
eastbound on Highway
22.
The Civic attempted to
avoid the collision, but
ultimately struck the Nis-
san in the driver door.
Tubbs was pro-
nounced dead on scene.
Porter was transported to
Willamette Valley Med-
ical Center in McMin-
nville with non-life-
threatening injuries.
Highway 22 was
closed for about four
hours with an estab-
lished detour.
OSP was assisted by
the Grand Ronde Police,
Yamhill County Sheriff’s
Office, the Oregon De-
partment of Transporta-
tion and West Valley
Fire.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Kathy Boyd and
Phoenix Rising take
the Main Street Park
Amphitheater in
Monmouth to play
some bluegrass.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Polk County Bounty
Market features
fresh fruits, veggies
and handcrafted
items at the Acad-
emy Square lawn.
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
Beth Willis rocks the
Independence
Riverview Park Am-
phitheater tonight
as part of River’s
Edge Summer Series.
7:30 p.m. Free.
Don’t miss the all-
you-can-eat break-
fast at the
Monmouth Senior
Center, the first Sat-
urday of the month.
8:30-10:30 a.m. $3-6
Learn to sing for
free at From the
Heart Community
Sing at St. Thomas
Episcopal Church in
Dallas.
1:30-3 p.m. Free.
It’s never too late to
pick up an instru-
ment and join
Willamette Valley
New Horizons Or-
chestra.
6:30 p.m. $25/mo.
James2 Community
Kitchen provides
free meals to all
who are hungry at
St. Philip Catholic
Church.
4:30-6 p.m. Free.
Sunny
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Partly cloudy
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Cloudy
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Sunny
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Lo: 56