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.
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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
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Monmouth
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Monmouth
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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?
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503-838-1278
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Properties
Property Management, LLC
503-838-2951
165 E. Main St.
Monmouth
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Monmouth
Happy New Year!
From everyone with the
Monmouth Business
Association.