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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2016)
RENAISSANCE FAIRE BRING ON THE PAIN SHREWSBURY TREVOR CROSS Page 7A Page 10A Volume 141, Issue 37 www.Polkio.com September 14, 2016 $1.00 Dallas Senior Center plans underway By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The city of Dallas hopes to put the new Dallas Senior Center project out to bid this fall, if the schedule goes to plan. So far, that hasn’t been the case. In December, it will be two years since Oregon’s In- frastructure Finance Author- ity approved a $1.9 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to build a new senior center on the vacant lot next to the old Carnegie Library on Church Street in Dallas. The city signed a contract with the state in January 2015 to use the funding. The delay in the project has been concerning for some users of the current senior center located adja- cent to the Dallas Public Li- brary, as illustrated by recent letters to the editor pub- lished in the Itemizer-Ob- server, but Dallas City Man- ager Ron Foggin said the timeline to this point has been mostly out of the city’s hands. An environmental review that began in June 2015 — a federal requirement when using CDBG funding — will have taken nearly a year and half by the time its signed off by the state, according to Foggin. “There is nothing the city could have done to speed this process up, and we are certainly not working to slow or stop the construc- tion of the center,” Foggin said. Foggin said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finished its review on Aug. 15, and the city is due to receive public comments from that review on Friday. That will not allow for the city to begin the project in September, as was the plan previously. The city still has to submit public comments to the state, which should happen in early October. If they are accepted, the project should go out to bid in November, Foggin said. “We were hopeful that the project would start in Sep- tember, but the federal re- quirements will not be wrapped up in time,” he said. Central Language Arts Math 2014-15 59 percent 18 percent 68 percent 22 percent Dallas Language arts Math 77 percent 45 percent 72 percent 31 percent Falls City Language Arts Math 50 percent 30 percent 65 percent 25 percent DALLAS Blue Garden post- poned. »Page 3A FALLS CITY Falls City survey shows true poverty level. Polk County 11th grade state test scores 2015-16 IN YOUR TOWN »Page 5A Making the grade? INDEPENDENCE Central’s volleyball team earns a five-set win over South Albany. »Page 10A MONMOUTH A presentation on In- formation Overload will be held at the library on Thursday. »Page 3A SPORTS Dallas senior Tanner Earhart rushes for more than 400 yards and seven touchdowns. Perrydale Language Arts Math 71 percent 38.5 percent 54 percent 13 percent State Average Language Arts Math 68.5 percent 33 percent 67 percent 30.5 percent »Page 11A ELECTIONS Morett, Evans vie for House District 20 seat. »Page 2A All percentages are of scores at level 3 or level 4, considered college- and career- ready. Source: Oregon Department of Education Smarter Balanced scores show improvement in Dallas, Perrydale By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer POLK COUNTY — Scores from last year’s sec- ond round of Smarter Bal- anced tests in Polk County s c h o o l s s a w i m p r ov e - ment — and some fall off — compared to the first year. School officials note that the test is still new and changing, making analysis of the data difficult. “I’m not shocked that (the scores) are going up and down, and I expect that for the next couple of years,” said Central Su- perintendent Buzz Brazeau. Still, he said the data is important, and the district is sharing it with it teachers with an eye toward im- provement. “I think it’s important to t a k e t h i s s e r i o u s l y, ” Brazeau said. Test scores fell into four categories, with level 4 being the highest and level 1 the lowest. Students earning levels 3 and 4 on the test are considered “college and career ready” for their grade level. See TESTS, Page 5A Celebrate present, past at Hop fest By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — If you like what is happening in Oregon’s craft beer indus- try now, you might want to thank a homebrewer. Brewing beer at home was illegal in this state until 1978, long after Prohibition was lifted, said Gail Oberst, who is helping organize a contest during the Hop & Heritage Festival that recog- nizes the work of local brew- ers, the Homebrew Compe- tition. She believes it’s not a co- incidence that the craft beer industry in Oregon was born shortly after the law changed to allow people to brew beer at home. THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK “Homebrewers are the source of educated drinkers and brewers in training,” she said. “Nearly every brewer you will meet in this state began as a homebrewer. And homebrewers loudly, and sometimes annoyingly, spread the gospel of good beer.” The Hop & Heritage Festi- val will be in that business, too, when it kicks off this weekend. Friday is the unofficial opening to the celebration of Independence’s hop-filled history with two “supernat- ural” events: the annual Ghost Walk and new Zombie Shuffle. Equal parts history tour and ghost hunt, the Ghost Walk has “ghost hosts,” who wed Find hope in the midst of losses, being well when ill and spiritual prac- tices in a weekly se- ries, Positive Aging. 10 a.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 79 Lo: 46 Inside ... Hop & Heritage Festival special sec- tion, with features and full schedule. See Section C tell tour takers stories of oth- erworldly happenings in In- dependence. Not scary enough? This year is the debut of the Zombie Shuffle at 8:45 p.m., where people can dress up like zombies — or ghosts if you like — and compete for prizes. On Saturday, Hop & Her- itage get serious about hop history and the well-loved beverage made from it: beer. thu Veterans and their families are wel- come to Veterans Night at the Elks, with dinner and conversation. 6:30 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 81 Lo: 48 Festival goers can begin the day at Independence Airport at 7 a.m. to watch the colorful hot air balloons lift off, then file into the Ex- perimental Aircraft Associa- tion Chapter 292’s hanger and have a delicious break- fast of old-fashioned flap- jacks, sausage and eggs. Hop & Heritage officially opens at 11 a.m. in Inde- pendence Riverview Park. Contests, including the Homebrew Competition and Cooking with Beer high- light the activities, but there’s plenty more going on. Classic, and messy, com- petitions such as pie eating and scarecrow building provide entertaining old- fashioned festival experi- ences. And you can’t have a fes- tival named Hop & Her- itage without beer. If you’re looking for a good North- west brew, head to the Hopyard Tent, featuring beers from Gilgamesh, Santiam Brewing Company and Mazama. Live music kicks off at 11 a.m. with four acts taking the stage before the festival comes to a close with a fire- works display at 8:30 p.m. Aquatic Center closed for maintenance Itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — The Dallas Aquatic Center is closed this week for mainte- nance. The facility will be closed through Friday for annual maintenance that will include the resurfac- ing of the therapy pool. Regular hours will re- sume on Saturday. For more information: http://www.ci.dallas.or.us/ 83/Dallas-Aquatic-Center. Consortium to serve county Itemizer-Observer staff report POLK COUNTY — The Community Services Con- sortium will serve Polk County at the Henry Hill Ed- ucation Support Center, 750 S. Fifth St., Independence. The CSC will provide youth workforce develop- ment services, as well as help attaining a general education development (GED) acquisition, aca- demic improvement, work readiness skills, paid work experience and job specif- ic skill development – all services previously provid- ed through HALO. For more information: Mona K-Hinds, 541-704- 7820. fri sat sun mon tue Come early for tick- ets to the annual Ghost Walk in downtown Inde- pendence, the start of Hop & Heritage. 5 p.m. Free. Explore the late-sea- son bounty at Inde- pendence’s two farmers markets in downtown, through October. 4:30 p.m. Free. Learn about the hobby of remote control airplanes at Dallas Wingdingers RC Flying Club, at Whitworth. 1-3 p.m. Free. Network with other business people and listen to a featured speaker at the Dallas Chamber luncheon at the civic center. Dig into your pock- ets and coin purse — you never know what you may find at the Polk County Coin Club. 7 p.m. Free. Sunny Hi: 85 Lo: 51 Partly cloudy Hi: 77 Lo: 51 Partly cloudy Hi: 76 Lo: 52 Partly cloudy Hi: 73 Lo: 48 11:30 a.m. $12-$15. Sunny Hi: 74 Lo: 49