Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2016)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 23, 2016 4A EDITORIALS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Give thanks for community service Happy Thanksgiving. Today, we at the Itemizer-Observer are grateful for you, our readers and advertisers. As the holidays are upon us, you give us the opportunity to shine a light on the wonderful ways you help each other. This week kicks off our Community Champions series, highlighting those volunteers who quietly serve others without thought of self — you know who you are, or per- haps you know one. The Community Champion series is in its second year, and we’re up and running with an unsung hero in Falls City. Mayor Terry Ungricht does far more than cut ribbons and break tie votes. He works the full-time job of city man- ager — but not for pay. Ungricht makes sure all the wheels are turning to help the city move forward because he loves Falls City and wants to see it succeed. It’s the hoard of volunteers in Polk County who keep the engine oiled and working — often our local governments rely on those folks to get anything done. Many of their ef- forts can be seen daily. For example, the Christmas lights hanging in downtown are carefully checked each year by volunteers replacing lights that have burned out and making sure they are in tip-top condition for all to enjoy. This year, 50 people helped in the job of replacing bulbs on the snowflakes in downtown Dallas — a huge increase from previous years. As our country continues to heal from the drama of the 2016 election season, let us put our money where our mouths are and donate our time — the most valuable re- source of all — to someone or an organization who needs it. Join us in the following weeks to read more about get- ting involved. There’s no better time than the holiday sea- son to allow yourself to get carried away in service — and who knows? Maybe it will stick all year long, because vol- unteerism is not just trendy for the holiday season. It’s evergreen. 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 email (ionews@polkio.com). — WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. MONDAY, NOV. 28 • Independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence Public 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, NOV. 29 • Independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. • Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. More turkeys to be donated to needy Three years ago, I organ- ized the “Downtown Mer- chants Turkey Drawing,” where each participating merchant gives away a turkey before Thanksgiving. The participating merchants share the cost of advertising for this promotion and the cost of the turkeys. This year because the Itemizer-Observer newspa- per has given us free adver- tising, we are able to use our advertising budget to purchase 27 turkeys to do- nate to the Dallas Food Bank in addition to the 30 turkey winners from the merchants. On behalf of the partici- pating merchants and my- self, I want to thank the Itemizer-Observer for their generosity which enabled us to help the Dallas Food Bank. And we would also like to thank Safeway and Bran- don in the meat department for handling the turkeys and taking care of our turkey winners. Linda Taylor Heartstrings Florist and Artisans Dallas Stand up for all county residents I’ve been a resident of Polk County for 28 years. During this time, I have come to appreciate the many cultural and econom- ic contributions of the His- panic people to our com- munities. Where would our agricul- tural economy be without them? Our children’s school ex- perience was much richer by being in a bicultural en- vironment. I sincerely hope people in Polk County will not remain silent against the cruel poli- cies of ending the DACA Ex- ecutive Order that has pro- vided opportunities for His- panic young people who have been here most of their lives, and the even more inhumane policy of deporting Hispanic people, thus breaking up families and ruining lives. There is room and work for all of us here. Oregon’s economy is doing well. Hispanic work- ers contribute to and sup- port our economy. I urge you to speak up for our His- panic community members. Patricia E. Dixon Monmouth Many voters ignorant of reality I considered the question, what good came of this election? So far, it is that nearly half of American vot- ers are seriously ignorant of basic reality. A candidate can say any- thing, no matter how idiot- ic, and they will nod and say “Yes, yes.” Bring back all those jobs? Deport 11 million migrants? Stop Muslims from coming to America? Sure. The majority of his pro- posals are impossible or un- Constitutional. He may try to do these and other idiotic things, but people and cor- porations will stand in his way. Viewing the election at its basic level we see that the “Family Values” party elect- ed a con man. Hardly Christian values; although the Christian value of piety on Sunday and any- thing goes the rest of the week easily settles on Don- ald Trump. Watch this space for more perversions of the future of America. I conclude that persons of the Trump persuasion such as the Koch brothers (big in coal & oil), etc., sin- cerely do not care about their children or future heirs. They have no concern about what kind of air they might breath, water they might drink or soil they might live or grow crops on. They are singly interested in making as much money as is possible. And we have now elected one of them president. Fred Brown Dallas Public must hold Trump accountable Against all odds, Donald J. Trump prevailed in the Electoral College, barring some cataclysmic event. History will record whether he just succeeded in the greatest con of his ca- reer. Our task now is to hold him to what he said in his acceptance speech. He wants us all to come together as one nation. I will judge by his actions whether he really meant what he said. So far, he is talking about nominees for positions in his government who are racist, xenophobic and misogynistic. I fear for our constitu- tional rights with the team he seems to be assembling. This is not how you become president of all Americans. Already he is backing away from many of his campaign promises. It will be interesting to see what happens when he joins the real world and can’t replace it with his own facts. Who will he blame when he can’t meet expecta- tions? I’ll be watching. Will you? Dale Derouin Dallas Congratulations Western Oregon Congratulations to all who made Western Oregon University the top-ranked public university in the state, according to U.S. News & World’s 2017 higher education rankings. That is a wonderful achievement, and could only be possible through the effort of the entire population of the school: students, staff, instructors, administrators, alumni, and everyone else in- volved. We are proud of you. Keep up the good work. John Schoon Rickreall Wear colors while walking at night Please, all people wear light colors at night when walking on the road or crossing the streets. If it had not been for my passenger, I could have ran into some children that were crossing in the middle of a block on LaCreole Drive this last Oct. 31. I did not see the children at all. I just saw some white shoes of an adult that was with the children. They were all wearing dark clothing. If the very least people could do is tie or pin some- thing white to clothing, it would help when they are going to be in the dark walking. This also goes for bikers that ride at night. I don’t understand what happened to the light law when riding at night? Don’t parents care? Jean Blunier Dallas Trump faces many challenges First, on a lighter note: Albert Einstein once said that two things might be in- finite: the universe and human stupidity, and he was not sure about the uni- verse. Mr. Trump will be our president. He faces many interna- tional challenges, including the reality of global warm- ing and the constant possi- bility of nuclear warfare. Both could extinguish all vi- able life, including us, of course. Fortunately, Mr. Trump and Vladimir Putin share mutual respect. The world community probably cannot and will not solve the global warm- ing problem. We hope that Mr. Trump’s secretary of state will under- stand the department’s complex email system. Mr. Trump’s many do- mestic challenges should keep him busy for four years. Oregon’s citizens lost badly on Election Day. The wealthy corporations spent millions of dollars spreading lies about Meas- ure 97 throughout the media. So now our budget lacks $1.4 billion, and funds for education, medical and so- cial services are lacking for all age groups. Walden Joura Dallas WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer let- ters will be edited. 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. Letter writers who disagree with other published letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the sub- ject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial ma- terial submitted to the news- paper, are edited for length, grammar and content. Letters must include the au- thor’s name, address and tele- phone number. This includes letters submitted via the I-O’s website. Names and cities of residence are published; street addresses and telephone numbers are used for verifica- tion purposes only. Letters must be submitted from individuals, not organiza- tions, and must be original sub- missions to the I-O, not copies of letters sent to other media. Letters of thanks to busi- nesses, individuals and organ- izations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Letters submitted may not be retractable after this deadline. Email: ionews@polkio.com. Phone: 503-623-2373 ext. 117 HOW TO REACH US NEWSROOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 141, No. 47 (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 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 Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395 which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault.
