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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
KIDS SHARE LETTERS TO SANTA SCHOOLS FACE INCREASE Page 8A Volume 141, Issue 51 IN PE MINUTES Page 10A www.Polkio.com December 21, 2016 $1.00 Officer injured, man killed in shooting By lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Jeremiah N. Anderson was shot and killed during an officer-in- volved shooting in the Dal- las Walmart parking lot on Friday evening, according to Oregon State Police. A preliminary investiga- tion by OSP and its part- ners revealed that at 5:26 p.m., three Dallas police officers responded to a complaint of an adult male who appeared intoxicated in the parking lot at Wal- mart. OSP Captain Bill Fugate said that an officer does not have to catch someone driv- ing, but can use probable cause to determine if they were operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Officers attempted to take Anderson, 36, of Dallas, into custody for driving under the influence of intoxicants. According to the report from OSP, Anderson resisted arrest and fired as many as two rounds, striking Sgt. Rob Hatchell in the leg. Hatchell and officer Mike Fleming re- turned fire, striking Ander- son, reports state. Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene. Hatchell was released from the hospital shortly after receiving treatment for his injuries. All three officers have been placed on paid administra- tive leave pending the out- come of the investigation. Officer Aaron Mollahan was also present and was not injured. Investigators located An- derson's firearm at the scene. Fugate said Monday that he did not know who the gun was registered to nor if police video of the incident was available. He said infor- mation would be shared once authorized by District Attorney Aaron Felton. Anderson had previous police encounters, accord- ing to court records. The most recent was a 2015 vio- lation of his probation fol- lowing a conviction in a DUII incident that took place in late 2013. The community has re- acted in a variety of ways. DAllAS lost wedding ring found returned to owner. »Page 2A FAllS CiTY school district passes on social media moni- toring program. »Page 12A inDEPEnDEnCE lukas eGGen/ Itemizer-Observer Walmart was closed while an officer-involved shooting was investigated Friday night. Dallas Police Chief Tom Simpson said the depart- ment gives any threat the appropriate level of atten- tion and shares information with other public safety offi- cials in the region. OSP is leading the investi- gation at Simpson’s and Fel- ton’s request. OSP is being assisted by Grand Ronde Tribal Police, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Monmouth Police Depart- ment, Independence Police Department, Salem Police Department, and Dallas Fire & EMS. Spirit of giving shines through darkest of times 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK »Page 7A MonMoUTH Western Oregon’s women’s basketball team picks up its first road win of the season. SPoRTS Falls City faces possi- ble reclassification for the 2017-18 school year. The Itemizer-Observer THE NEXT City council, plan- ning commission takes a closer look at marijua- na businesses. »Page 11A By Emily Mentzer DALLAS — As the snow continued for a second week, Laurie Smith lis- tened on a scanner to the public works road crews and first responders work ing to keep the community safe. “These people are civil servants,” Smith said. “We’re complaining that it’s cold; we can’t get out of our driveway. These people are seeing — who knows what they’re seeing when they go out to an acci- dent.” Then, after the shooting on Friday, Smith remem- bered what Mr. Rogers used to say: When you see bad news, look for the helpers. “I thought, ‘I’m going ot help the helpers,’” she said. What started out as an idea on the Dallas commu- nity Facebook page turned into a sort of community- service. Smith contacted the Dallas Dutch Bros and told them she wanted to some- how buy coffee for all those county and city workers who have been working hard, long hours. “I did it, and it just flew,” Smith said. Dutch Bros. put the first $100 on the card Friday night. By Tuesday morn- ing, the donations had mounted to more than $900. The card is available at Dallas Dutch Bros for any county or city worker, in- cluding Falls City and Rick- reall fire department vol- unteers, Smith said. IN YOUR TOWN »Page 10A City tours watershed improvements itemizer-observer staff report JOlene Guzman/Itemizer-Observer laVonne Wilson has served the Dallas community for decades, including 32 years on the city council. STANDING TALL Wilson proves size doesn’t matter when it comes to service By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — It’s safe to say LaVonne Wilson is rarely the tallest person in the room. She isn’t the loudest, either. That hasn’t stopped her from giving decades of time and energy in service to her community — or speaking up when the situation called for it. “She’s not tall in stature, but she’s very tall in character,” said David Par- rett, the executive director of Dallas Re- tirement Village. Wilson is the presi- dent of DRV’s board of directors. Parrett calls Wilson formidable, but in a kindly and considerate way, and only for the benefit of her community. “She’s been an absolute servant to wed Dallas’ girls basket- ball team takes on Hillsboro at 1:30 p.m. in the team’s final game until playing sherwood on Tuesday. Partly cloudy Hi: 43 Lo: 33 the city,” he said. “She’s very positive. She’s very consistent and fair. I think she believes there is a right way to gov- ern and does her best to follow that.” Wilson’s long record of service in Dallas is highlighted by the 32 years she spent on the Dallas City Council. Her council career came to an end on Dec. 5, the last meeting of the year, opening two Monday evenings a month in her schedule. Those who know her wouldn’t bet against her finding a productive way of filling that time — perhaps even in the audience to some of the coun- cil’s deliberations. She’s warned the incoming council that she will be paying attention. Wilson said she doesn’t shy away from saying some- thing that she believes needs to be said and has no intention of holding back now. “I said, ‘OK kids, I’m going to sit in the back and I may, once in a while, have a three-minute with you guys,’” she said, referring to the amount of time audience members have to ad- dress the council at each meeting. In addition to the council, Wilson has served with more organizations and boards than she can remember, in- cluding the Dallas Area Visitors Center, the Dallas School District’s Finance Committee, Dallas’ Urban Renewal District Advisory Committee and a group that represents Ceres Gleann neighborhood residents. See WilSon, Page 5A Dallas — On Dec. 13, a group of citizens and elected officials toured re- cent restoration work in the upper Rickreall Water- shed. The upper Rickreall restoration project includ- ed air-lifting logs and plac- ing them in and along the river to dissipate stream energy, catch gravels for fish spawning and reduce erosion. Benefits from the restoration will increase over the years, helping to cool late summer water temperatures and provide upstream water filtering that improves the city’s drinking water quality. By reducing sediment flowing downstream, fewer chemicals are need- ed to make the water safe for drinking. The project was made possible through a collab- oration of many groups, including the city of Dallas, Hancock Forest manage- ment, Polk County soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict, Rickreall Watershed Council and the Bureau of land management. I-O announces early deadlines For the Christmas holi- day weekend, the Itemizer has early deadlines. see Page 6a for details. thu fri sat sun mon tue Check out Central’s girls basketball team when the Panthers host summit in a nonleague battle. Dallas’ boys basket- ball team takes on Roseburg in day three of the Rebel Basketball Classic. 5 p.m. Happy Hanukkah! The Festival of lights begins at sundown today and continues for eight nights. merry Christmas from all of us here at the Polk County Itemizer-Observer to all of our readers and advertisers. The Polk County Itemizer-Observer’s office will be closed today in observance of Christmas. Dallas’ girls basket- ball team opens the nike Interstate shootout against sherwood at 8 p.m. at lake Oswego Hs. Showers Hi: 41 Lo: 32 Partly cloudy Hi: 39 Lo: 31 Partly cloudy Hi: 37 Lo: 29 Showers Hi: 37 Lo: 34 Showers Hi: 43 Lo: 37 5 p.m. Showers Hi: 44 Lo: 35