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.