Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 4A
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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
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Polk County — One Year $35
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Outside of Oregon — One Year $45
POsTMAsTeR:
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Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
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