Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current, December 28, 2016, Image 4

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Polk County itemizer observer., December 28, 2016, Page 4A, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextPolk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 4A How to Contact Officials EDITORIALS Hopes for a better New Year In four short days, 2016 will finally be over. The last 12 months have been tough, taking their toll on the Polk County community and the nation as a whole. We’re coming out of a year that saw one of the nastiest election seasons in memory, as well as two officer-involved shootings here in Polk County — something this county hadn’t seen in 20 years. We are not the types to be blindly optimistic about a new calendar automatically bringing better times, but we are hopeful that, if we put in the effort, 2017 will be better. Some things we cannot control. Many of the tragedies experienced in Polk County this year were beyond control. But what we can do is decide how we will react. Will we troll Facebook threads, tossing gasoline on the fire and spiraling comments out of control? Or will we offer support to our neighbors? Instead of posting hateful comments or using hurtful sarcasm, let’s choose kindness and understanding — or, if emotions do not allow kindness, take a break from Face- book and other social media outlets for a while. Breathe, take a walk outside, and let Mother Nature heal and calm you. On that note, make 2017 “your year” by doing something good for yourself. Start by driving sober, or designating a driver if you plan to consume alcohol or drugs this weekend. Read the comments from Sheriff Mark Garton on this page to see how lives can change in an instant when a bad choice is made. Then, take time out for yourself. Put down a bad habit and pick up a good one. The last five weeks, we have highlighted members of our community who dedicate their time to others, going above and beyond to give back. Consider how you can give back. Serving others is a great way to make yourself feel better while improving your community. Remember that you will only get as much out of life as you put into it, so step away from the negative and migrate toward the positive. Take action in your life to make a change. Choose to make 2017 a better year through your atti- tude — it’s one thing you can control. 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, deC. 28 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, ﬁrst ﬂoor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. TuesdAy, JAn. 3 • Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. WednesdAy, JAn. 4 • Monmouth Historic Commission — 6 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. GOVERNOR Gov. Kate Brown (dem.) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4582 Email: via website, http://governor.oregon.gov/ — STATE LEGISLATORS sen. Arnie Roblan (District 5, Democrat) S-417 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan FROM THE SHERIFF Drive sober: Don’t take chances this New Year A s we approach the new year, a lot of us enjoy family gatherings and company parties. Most people are looking to have a good time and sometimes alcohol comes into play. Then comes the de- cision after you have had a drink. Do you have a ride home? Do you take the chance and drive home? Or do you call a taxi? Unfortunately, a lot of the times people choose to drive when they shouldn’t. Some people may get home safe or they may get arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants. Worse yet, they may get into a crash that may hurt another per- son or even cause loss of life. These decisions can- not be taken back and you Garton could be stuck with an un- forgivable outcome. Throughout my career, I have arrested many people for DUII, people from all back- grounds and of all ages. I have also investigated many traffic crashes where one of the involved drivers was impaired, whether because of alcohol or drugs (or a combination of the two). While at those crash scenes I have seen people that were injured and some that had passed away as a result of the crash. Some of the most dif- ficult crash scenes involve the death of a child, at the hand of an impaired driver who decided to take a chance by driving. I want to share some statistics about im- paired driving both here locally and throughout the U.S. to give you some per- spective. Last year in Oregon there were over 17,000 people who were arrested for DUII while across the US the number of arrests for DUII topped 1.5 million. The total number of traf- fic deaths across Oregon last year was 447 — a jump from 357 in 2014. In 2015, 155 people died in crashes in Oregon where alcohol was a factor, up from 99 the year before (56.6 per- cent increase). Just over six years ago, I had a family member pass away because she was hit head on by an oncoming vehicle near Rick- reall. The other driver was late to an ap- pointment and simply crossed the center line and struck her head on. The other driver lived. During the investigation it was deter- mined that the other driver had been drink- ing, but only had a 0.05 blood alcohol con- tent (BAC). He also had several different drugs in his system, including methamphet- amine and cannabis. He was charged and convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to prison and he will get out in 2021. Having alcohol and a variety of drugs in his system caused him to crash that day and kill another human. Regardless of the drug(s) someone has in their system, if they are impaired, they will get arrested. Law Enforcement doesn’t have the luxury of being able to test someone’s blood, urine or breath on the side of the road. They simply look for impairment and then the police officer makes a decision to arrest or not. Sure, the legal limit in Oregon for DUII (alcohol) is 0.08 (BAC). However, you can be arrested and convicted for DUII if you only have a 0.05 BAC. Someone may not have any alcohol in their system at all, but consumed marijuana and they would be arrested for DUII. The point is, if you are im- paired, regardless of how you became that way, you can be arrested. In Polk County if you get arrested for DUII (or any other crime) you will go to the Polk County Jail. The only way to get released from the jail is to have a judge authorize the release or if someone posts your bail. As if being lodged in jail wasn’t the worst thing, you could also lose your driver’s li- cense, your insurance rates could go up and you could end up paying a lot of money in fines as well. People make decisions every day that could change their life and yet a simple deci- sion to say no or to hand your keys to some- one else isn’t always made. These seemingly easy choices are often made without totally seeing their potential impact not only to themselves, but to the lives that are lost every day at the hands of those who choose to drive while impaired. When it counts, make the right choice and allow everyone to get home safe. — Sheriff Mark Garton sen. Jackie Winters (District 10, Republican) S-301 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1710 sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters sen. Brian Boquist (District 12, Republican) S-305 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1712 sen.brianboquist@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist Rep. david Gomberg (District 10, Democrat) H-471 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1410 rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg Rep. Paul evans (District 20, Democrat) H-281 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1420 rep.paulevans@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans Rep. Mike nearman (District 23, Republican) H-378 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1423 rep.mikenearman@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman — U.S. CONGRESS sen. Ron Wyden (dem.) 221 Dirksen SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-5244 Fax: 202-228-2717 Salem oﬃce: 707 13th St. SE, Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-589-4555 Email: via website, www.wyden.senate.gov WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day period. 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. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the accuracy of facts presented by letter writers; dissenters are welcome to re- spond. Letter writers who dis- agree with other published let- ter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial mate- rial submitted to the newspa- per, 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 res- idence are published; street ad- dresses and telephone numbers are used for veriﬁcation pur- poses 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 organi- zations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Let- ters submitted may not be re- tractable after this deadline. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. email: ionews@polkio.com. sen. Jeﬀ Merkley (dem.) 313 Hart SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Fax: 202-228-3997 Salem oﬃce: 495 State St. SE, Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-362-8102 Email: via website, www.merkley.senate.gov Rep. Kurt schrader (dem.) 108 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5711 Fax: 202-225-5699 Salem oﬃce: 544 Ferry St. SE, Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-588-9100 Fax: 503-588-5517 Email: via website, www.schrader.house.gov — POLK COUNTY Board of Commissioners 850 Main St. Dallas, OR 97338 Phone: 503-623-8173 www.co.polk.or.us — CITIES dallas 187 SE Court St. Dallas, OR 97338 503-623-2338 www.ci.dallas.or.us Falls City 299 Mill St. Falls City, OR 97344 503-787-3631 www.fallscityoregon.gov Independence 555 S. Main St. Independence, OR 97351 503-838-1212 www.ci.independence.or.us Monmouth 151 W. Main St. Monmouth, OR 97361 503-838-0722 www.ci.monmouth.or.us HOW TO REACH US neWsROOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 141, No. 52 (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.