YOUTH CLEANS UP
WOU ON THE HUNT
SKATE PARK Page 2A FOR A TITLE
Page 11A
Volume 141, Issue 35
www.Polkio.com
August 31, 2016
$1.00
Deputy cleared in shooting
By Jolene Guzman
the itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — A Polk County
deputy involved in a fatal
shooting in early July will
not face charges after a
grand jury has unanimously
deemed his actions as justi-
fied.
Deputy Casey Gibson
shot and killed Joshua An-
thony Bolster during a traffic
stop and confrontation on
Highway 22 on July 5
Bolster, 29, repeatedly
threatened officers on scene
and refused to follow com-
mands to get out of his car,
said Polk County District At-
torney Aaron Felton on
Wednesday (Aug. 24).
He said because of Bol-
ster’s refusal to follow com-
mands and his movements
in the vehicle, deputies on
scene didn’t feel it was safe
to approach the car.
“He said he would not be
taken to jail and that they
would have to shoot him,”
Felton said.
He said because of Bol-
ster’s “threatening manner-
isms” deputies couldn’t de-
termine if he had weapons
with him. Bolster was ob-
structed from view of the
deputies.
“The legal standard is
whether Gibson reasonably
believed that he (Bolster)
did (have a weapon) and if
the threat of deadly physical
force was imminent based
on Bolster’s actions,” Felton
said. “That was the standard
the grand jury looked at.”
The grand jury reviewed
evidence in the case for
eight hours on Aug. 24 be-
fore reaching its conclusion.
Te s t i m o n y f r o m f o u r
deputies involved and offi-
cers from Salem and Mon-
mouth police departments,
Oregon State Police, the Ore-
gon State Medical Examin-
er’s Office and five citizen
witnesses were heard by the
grand jury.
According to information
provided by the district attor-
ney’s office, at 9:18 p.m.,
Monmouth police officers re-
sponded to a report that Bol-
ster had threatened a man
with a four- to five-inch fold-
ing knife. Bolster left the
apartment complex, where
the incident took place, lo-
cated at 302 Monmouth Ave.
South before officers arrived.
At 9:21 p.m., Monmouth
officers issued an “attempt
to locate” Bolster based on
the description of his vehi-
cle, a blue 1990s Honda Ac-
cord. Because of the earlier
incident, Monmouth PD
had probable cause to arrest
Bolster on unlawful use of a
weapon, menacing and tres-
passing.
Polk County deputies
Casey Gibson and Kelly
Lorence found Bolster’s car
heading east on Highway 22
near milepost 23 and decid-
ed to conduct a “high risk”
traffic stop.
Polk County Sheriff Mark
Garton said officers decide
to use high risk traffic stops
when they have reason to
believe that the subject
might pose a threat to offi-
cers or when a crime is in
progress.
“Based on information
that Bolster may have had a
weapon in the vehicle and
had threatened other per-
sons, Gibson and Lorence
elected to perform a “high
risk” traffic stop in the inter-
est of office safety in appre-
hending Bolster and pre-
venting further flight,” the
DA’s account read.
Bolster pulled over with-
out incident and the
deputies took cover behind
the doors of their and drew
their firearms and began
giving commands for Bol-
ster to get out of the vehicle.
According to witnesses, they
gave several commands.
During the exchange, two
more Polk County deputies
a r r i v e d o n t h e s c e n e,
Michael Smith and Michael
Lauderback. They also drew
their firearms and began
giving commands for Bol-
ster to get out of the car.
Bolster did not comply
with the orders, telling the
deputies he would not go to
jail, according to witnesses.
He told deputies he needed
to find his phone and, after
that, began “rummaging in
the car’s interior.” The
deputies warned him that
was threatening behavior,
according to the DA’s de-
scription.
See DEPUTY, Page 6A
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Glow run set to
bring runners out after
dark.
»Page 11A
FALLS CITY
youths work summer
jobs for Falls City
Schools.
»Page 14A
INDEPENDENCE
Hop and Heritage
Festival seeks home-
brewers.
»Page 3A
MONMOUTH
monmouth Engaged
committees work to-
ward vision.
HARVESTING HOPS
»Page 5A
SPORTS
Panther Club gets re-
invigorated.
»Page 11A
Assault, robbery
suspects arrested
Itemizer-Observer staff report
Emily mEntzEr/itemizer-Observer
About 50 farm workers are hired to work day and night during the hop harvest for Rogue Farms in Independence.
Quality is good in this year’s hop harvest, continuing through September
By Emily Mentzer
the itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Trucks filled
with hop bines rumble down
Wigrich Road, heading to the drying
and baling facility at Rogue Farms in
Independence.
Hop cones lay scattered on the
road, little thistles that got knocked
from the bine on the journey. Most
make it to the processing barns just
down the road, where they are re-
moved from the bine and dried over
150-degree heat for six to eight
hours to preserve their valuable con-
tests: lupulin.
“It is a polleny, powdery sub-
stance, and that’s the stuff that cre-
ates the aromas and flavors that you
get in your beer,” said Kyle Ward,
Rogue Farms tasting room manager.
Oregon has a reputation when it
comes to aroma hops, said Michelle
Palacios, administrator at the Ore-
gon Hops Commission.
“Because of our climate, we grow
exceptional aroma varieties,” she
said.
As customers look for more com-
plex hop characters in their beers,
the brewers seek a variety of hops to
satisfy them.
“Brewers are using multiple vari-
eties to obtain the hop flavors cus-
tomers want,” Palacios said.
Matt Sage, of Indie Hops, buys
and sells hops, including quite a few
varieties from Coleman Farm, where
Rogue Farm leases its land.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
Emily mEntzEr/itemizer-Observer
Inside the hop cone lies the lupulin, the powdery, aromatic substance
that gives beer its hoppy flavors and inspires the brewer.
“The reason we have 12 varieties
is it gives a huge pallet for brewers to
work with,” he said, noting that it
would be impossible to choose a fa-
vorite.
Hops in Oregon were worth
$34.56 million in 2015, and acreage
has increased in Oregon by 16 per-
cent. In 2015, Oregon farmers har-
vested 6,612 acres. In 2016, 7,669
acres will be harvested. More than
half the hops grown in the United
States are exported.
“We’re seeing the craft brewing in-
dustry coming in Europe and, really,
worldwide,” Palacios said. “Those
(Oregon) hops are going to be de-
manded nationally and internation-
ally.”
The harvest is good this year,
Ward said, but Independence has a
long history of growing quality hops.
The area’s latitude — 45 degrees
north — helps. Ward said it is con-
sidered the Hop Belt.
“If you follow it over to Europe,
that’s where Germany is, with a sim-
ilar climate to us, so it makes a lot of
sense,” he said. “In the Willamette
Valley, and especially being right
along the river, this is the perfect at-
mosphere for them.”
Each year, the Willamette River
floods the hop fields, which helps
keep them saturated and soft —
which helps keep them fertile, Ward
explained.
“And they really need as much sun-
light as possible,” he continued. “So
our hot and dry summers help create
that sunlight they really need to flour-
ish. Also, being along the river, we’re
able to irrigate pretty easily.”
Even so, it has been more than 80
years since Oregon has been consid-
ered the top hop-producing state in
the nation, Palacios said. In the
1930s, downy mildew arrived, and
Washington shifted to growing hops
while Oregon farmers worked to
fight the disease.
“We’ve never recovered that title,”
Palacios said.
It has been a good year for the
hop harvest, which started a few
days early.
“Hop ripening is dependent on
the daylight change,” Sage said. “It’s
the shortening of days that triggers
the hop to bloom. They got an early
start with a warm April and May,
with cooler in mid-June to mid-July.
Even though it’s been on the hot side
part of the week, the other part of
the week it got cooler at night.”
Sage said hops like the same
weather as people: temperatures in
the 80s during the day and cooler at
night.
“When it gets into the 90s, it’s kind
of stressful,” he said. “They like
water, but not too much rain on
them.”
Rains expected later this week
likely won’t affect the harvest, which
is in full swing, 24-hours a day, Pala-
cios said.
See HOPS, Page 6A
DAllAS — All three
suspects in an Aug. 6 as-
sault and robbery in Dallas
have been arrested.
the first to be found by
police was Brandon Allen
in Prineville during an in-
vestigation of a non-relat-
ed domestic disturbance.
He was taken into custody
on Aug. 13, according to
Dallas Police.
the other two suspects,
Stephanie tomlinson and
Bradley Scott, were arrest-
ed in lake Havasu, Ariz.
According to Dallas Police,
tomlinson was the sus-
pect in a prostitution sting
conducted by police in
Arizona. When police
there found the warrant
for her arrest out of Ore-
gon, they realized that
Scott, who was in the area,
had a warrant, too. the
pair was arrested on Au-
gust 22.
the three suspects were
wanted in connection with
an assault at Dallas mobile
Home Village, 573 E. Ellen-
dale Ave. Police said tom-
linson and Scott had re-
cently met the victim of
the crime. they went to
the victim’s home accom-
panied by Allen. Once in-
side the home, they
robbed the resident at gun
point.
the resident, an adult
male, resisted and a shot
was fired by a suspect dur-
ing the altercation, accord-
ing to police.
the victim was not
shot — the bullet was fired
into the roof of the
home — but was struck in
the head, probably with
the pistol.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Come on out to the
final music in the
Park in monmouth
to hear the Celtic
rhythms of Coming
Up threes.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Pick up the latest,
freshest vegetables
and fruits at the Polk
County Bounty mar-
ket at the Academy
Building lawn.
Guthrie Park
acoustic music jam
session takes place
on Kings Valley
Highway in Dallas.
Bring an instrument.
6:30 p.m. Free.
A garage saler’s
dream come true is
at main Street Park
today as the Com-
munity yard Sale
takes up the park.
Free singing lessons
are offered at St.
thomas Episcopal
Church during From
the Heart Commu-
nity Sing.
1:30 to 3 p.m. Free.
Happy labor Day!
most schools begin
tomorrow, so re-
member to drive
safely and watch for
more traffic — cars,
bikes and walkers.
James2 Community
Kitchen will host
free dinner for all
who are hungry at
St. Philip Catholic
Church.
4:30-6 p.m. Free.
Showers
Hi: 71
Lo: 53
Cloudy
Hi: 70
Lo: 50
Cloudy
Hi: 68
Lo: 50
Partly cloudy
Hi: 73
Lo: 49
Partly sunny
Hi: 74
Lo: 50
Partly cloudy
Hi: 75
Lo: 51
Partly cloudy
Hi: 77
Lo: 52
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free.