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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 5A NEWS IN BRIEF Food: Hunger affects all students Lyle’s Buchan is Distinguished Educator DALLAS — Lyle Elementary School third-grade teacher barb buchan is October’s Distinguished Educator for Dallas School Dis- trict. She was given the award on nov. 28. brenda hess, a parent of a third-grade student, nomi- nated her. “She is kind, patient and artistic,” hess said of buchan. “She creates a safe, connected, and thriving learning environment in her class- room.” Students had more to add: “Thank you for teaching us new things and for being polite. Thank you for all the fun times with us.” Buchan The Distinguished Educator Program recog- nizes “excellence in teaching and learning” in Dallas School Dis- trict schools. Red Cross responds to Grand Ronde fire GrAnD rOnDE — Disaster responders with the American red Cross Cascades region responded to a home fire disaster on Thursday at about 7 p.m. in the 7600 block of Fire hall road in Grand ronde. This single-family fire affected two adults and pets. The red Cross provided resources to help address the immedi- ate basic needs of those affected such as temporary housing, food, clothing, comfort kits, information about recovery services, and health and mental health services. The red Cross Cascades region (Oregon and Southwest Wash- ington) responds to an average of two home fires every day. Vol- unteers provide hope and comfort to people affected, helping vic- tims anywhere and anytime. The red Cross advocates emergency preparedness and offers the installation of free smoke alarms in our community. residents may call 503-528-5783 or complete an online form at www.redCross.org/CascadeshomeFire to schedule an appointment. Cat adoption fees waived for December SALEM — Want a cat this year? Thanks to a donation from a shelter volunteer, the Willamette humane Society is waiving cat adoption fees now through Satur- day. The organization is waiving fees as part of its “Merry Cat-mas” campaign to help find homes for as many cats as possible before the end of the year. The campaign applies only to cats 1 year old and older. A local volunteer, the shelter’s “Secret Santa,” donated money to make the adoption special possible. The long-time supporter had already sponsored adoption fees for all adult and special needs cats for the month of December, according to a Willamette humane Society press release. Willamette humane Society is located at 4246 Turner road in Salem. For more information: 503-585-5900. Tax refund checks to wait until February SALEM — Oregon Department of revenue officials have an- nounced that no personal income tax refunds for the 2016 tax year will be issued until after Feb. 15, 2017. The refund hold will allow data-matching of amounts claimed on returns to what em- ployers report on Forms W-2 and 1099. “Data-matching reduces potential refund fraud, and fraud is a problem we want to tackle from every direction we can,” said Ken ross, manager of revenue's anti-fraud efforts. “The IrS, Oregon, and other states are taking similar measures to prevent potential fraud, capitalizing on the requirement that employers submit W-2 and 1099 information by Jan. 31.” ross referred to the IrS’ announcement earlier this year that taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit won’t see their federal refunds until after Feb. 15. The Oregon Department of revenue stops millions of dollars in fraudulent refunds each year: In 2015, anti-fraud efforts stopped $6.9 million in fraudulent refunds claimed on almost 4,000 differ- ent returns. Fraudsters are known to submit fraudulent returns early, trying to go unnoticed among the many early filers request- ing legitimate refunds. Among returns filed before Feb. 15, about 90 percent request a refund. “no one wants to hold up a taxpayer’s legitimate refund, and taxpayers have been pretty understanding of the need to combat fraud,” ross said. “We take very seriously our responsibility to make sure tax dollars go to the legitimate owners and not to fraudsters.” Visit www.oregon.gov/dor to get forms, check the status of your refund, or make payments. Call 503-378-4988 or 800-356- 4222 (toll-free) or email questions.dor@oregon.gov for additional assistance. For TTY for hearing or speech impaired, call 800-886- 7204. Furniture Upholstery All types: for homes, offices, equip- ment. Also, repairs, RV cushions, slipcovers, High Quality since 1966 Stephen Winters Sewing Emmy Joseph Continued from Page 1A “If you can’t eat and you don’t have fuel, that affects your body, how you work in school, getting up for class and actually being able to mentally do your work,” Bowles said. “It also affects your stress levels, because food insecurity is not know- ing where your next meal is going to come from.” Food insecurity is a wide- spread issue that has affect- ed all parts of the student population. Junior David Ribich, a cross-country and track and field runner, takes what he eats seriously. “Food is a really big part in athletics,” Ribich said. “It comes down to what you eat and what you really need to avoid.” His freshman year, his meal plan started to run short. “I had no idea what I was doing,” Ribich said. The combination of eat- ing at the dining hall and picking up the occasional snack or coffee on campus meant his meal balance for the term wasn’t going to last. Ribich’s parents were able to transfer more funds to him. Others weren’t as lucky. “Some people on the team would have $40 left for food for the next two weeks, which isn’t really enough,” Ribich said. “Whomever had the most money would buy a meal for them to help make the $40 actually last.” Food insecurity affects all kinds of students, but at its core is a similar problem. “It is part of a larger prob- lem of access to healthy and nutritious food at a reason- able price,” Hardgrave said. If there’s a common theme among students on meal plans who visit the food pantry, it’s that meal plans are failing to last an entire term. All freshmen at WOU are required to live on campus and purchase a meal plan. The university offers a va- riety of meal plans to its stu- dents. Meal plans range PCL Partnerships in Community Living 503-838-2403 480 E. Main St. Monmouth 142 Highway 99 West 503- 838-1445 Monmouth Our office will be CLOSED Jan. 2 News Department: Social News Wedding, Engagements, Births, etc. .............................................Wednesday, Dec. 28, 4pm Community Events Business, School, Community News ...............................................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon 355 N Pacific Ave., Ste A Monmouth 503-838-4268 405 Hogan Rd Monmouth 503-837-0700 www.minetfiber.com Your Local Service Provider General News........................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon Serving Polk Co. Since 1875 Letters to the Editor/Obituaries .................................................... Friday, Dec. 30, 10am Solution on Page 3A DON’T FORGET 440 E. St • Independence, OR 97351 EARLY DEADLINES as follows: balance of $450 and a sug- gested goal of spending $37.50 per week. Based on the university’s estimate of $3 per meal at Valsetz, that would equal about 12.5 meals per week during the 12-week term. The estimate of $3 per meal could be the source of students’ issues of money running short. “I don’t know how they came up with those num- bers,” Worotikan said. “We need to be transparent about this. Is $3 a meal real- ly enough? Let’s be honest, I doubt it is, not for lunch and dinner. Breakfast could be $3, but lunch could easi- ly be $4 to $5, and dinner could be $6 to $7.50.” Monmouth Area Community Events Calendar 503-838-4999 or 503-375-9266 Serving Polk County 16yrs from $120 to $550 per term. In the lowest, WOU offi- cials estimate spending roughly $1.57 per day at Valsetz Dining Hall to make the balance last the length of the term. The highest has a sug- gested goal of spending $45.84 per week based on eating seven days a week based on WOU’s website. WOU’s website estimates a meal to cost an average of $3 for housing residents at Siletz dining hall, meaning the highest meal plan aver- ages roughly 15 meals per week. Albert Worotikan, direc- tor of dining, said the uni- versity recommends meal plan three with a beginning January 2017 DownTown Trends www.winterssewing.com LUKAS EGGEn/Itemizer-Observer Western Oregon’s food pantry serves all students. If a student orders food or drinks outside of Valsetz, such as at the Wolf Grill, meal plans will go down even quicker. “To be honest, we miscal- culated that,” Worotikan said. “If I were a parent, I’d be very upset. You told me that if they chose meal plan three, my kid should be able to eat comfortably for the fall term, and they’re not. We need to revamp that. … It should be enough to at least eat breakfast, lunch and dinner five days a week.” Worotikan hopes to have a new and revamped meal plan ready for the 2017-18 school year to better reflect true costs of meals at Valsetz. Meanwhile, the food pantry is trying to get word out to students and to the community that it is there to help those who need it so students don’t have to choose between a textbook and a meal, Hardgrave said. The university hopes through these efforts that food insecurity will begin to decline among its students and faculty. “Our goal is to have the students have enough to be fed nutritious food so they don’t go hungry,” Worotikan said. 503-623-2373 503-838-3467 Dec. 28 Free Movie at Monmouth Public Library 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. The BFG, based on the book by Roald Dahl. Rated PG. Free admission, snack included. 168 Ecols Street S. Monmouth. Dec. 29 The Gingerbread Man puppet show - Monmouth Public Library. 10:30 am - 11:30 am. Penny's Puppet Productions presents....The Gingerbread Man. Join us for this mini-musical fun adventure and modern day twist on this endearing folktale. Funded by the Friends of the Monmouth Library. Thank you Friends! 168 Ecols Street S. Monmouth. FREE ADMISSION. _____________________________________________________________________ www.windermere.com 503-838-1141 297 N Pacific Monmouth Jan. 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Monmouth Business Association Jan. 1 Polk Flea Market. 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Polk County's oldest and largest market with 183 tables selling antiques, collectibles, tools, etc. 520 S Pacific Hwy W. Rickreall Jan. 3 School resumes. PLEASE DRIVE SAFE 800-732-0173 464 S Pacific Hwy Monmouth oregonstatecu. • CHAMBER FORUM: Did you know Polk County is in the "path of totality" for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse? On Monday, August 21 at 10:17 AM, Polk County will experience almost two full minutes of dark- ness as the moon crosses between the sun and Earth. People from all around will be traveling to cities and towns located in the path, including Independence and Monmouth. Concerts, festivals, and more are currently being planned by area wineries and each city. Be sure you know how your business or organization may capitalize on this great event combining tourism and a natural phenomenon! Join the MI Chamber for our forum on Wednesday, January 11 from 12 PM to 1 PM at the Monmouth Public Library (168 Ecols Street S, Mon- mouth). Box lunch provided by Arena Sports Bar. Register online at www.micc-or.org. • MONMOUTH SENIOR CENTER RIBBON CUTTING: Join the MI Chamber of Commerce & Visi- tors Center, the City of Monmouth, and the Monmouth Business Association as we cel- ebrate the grand opening of the 2,133- square foot addition to the Monmouth Senior Center (180 Warren Street S, Monmouth)! The celebration will be held at noon on Thursday, January 19. And be sure to explore the new facility during the open house from 11 AM to 2 PM. • THIRSTY THURSDAY: Quench your thirst for business and community connections while promoting your business or organization, learning about the host site, entering to win giveaways, and, of course, en- joying refreshments! Help kick-off our first Thirsty Thursday of 2017 and enjoy a complimentary 3-wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres from Namasté Vineyard (3250 Hwy 99W, Independ- ence)! Plus, wines by the glass and bottles will be available for purchase. Register online at www.micc-or.org. Saving Carpets Daily Carpet Hero 503-838-0869 Monmouth LOOKING FOR RENTALS? 297½ N. Pacific Hwy 503-838-1278 Western View Properties Property Management, LLC 503-838-2951 165 E. Main St. Monmouth Advertising Department: Legals ....................................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon Display Main news advertisements/inserts ...............................................Thursday, Dec. 29, Noon Classified Display ..................... Friday, Dec. 30, 11am Classified Line Ads ................... Friday, Dec. 30, noon Itemizer-Observer 147 SE Court St., Dallas • 503-623-2373 503-838-1773 410 E. Main St. Monmouth Happy New Year! From everyone with the Monmouth Business Association.
