JOSEPH FOSTER BRINGS
THE PAIN
Volume 142, Issue 2
Page 10A
www.Polkio.com
January 11, 2017
$1.00
Fire crews respond to two blazes
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Polk County Fire District No. 1 responded to a fire on Sacre Lane on Thursday.
MONMOUTH — An elec-
trical fire in a 200-square-
foot shed destroyed the
structure on Gentle Court
East on Sunday afternoon.
“Crews did not enter the
shed due to a large amount
of material and contents
being stored in the loft,” said
Neal Olson, Polk County Fire
District No. 1 deputy chief.
“All operations were done
from the outside, removing
siding and metal roofing
material.”
No damage estimate of
the shed fire was available at
press time.
Another fire on Thursday
on Sacre Lane was caused by
a breakdown on mortar in
the chimney, causing a wall
joist to ignite in an area that
was hidden because of re-
modeling, Olson said.
“The occupants heard a
crackling and got out,” Olson
said.
Firefighters attacked the
fire through the roof, cutting
a hole to allow smoke and
heat to escape.
Twenty-six fire personnel
and nine vehicles respond-
ed. Dallas Fire & EMS also
responded.
No injuries were reported.
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
City council post-
pones leader vote.
»Page 5A
FALLS CITY
Falls City’s girls bas-
ketball team picks up a
pair of victories.
»Page 11A
INDEPENDENCE
Snow leaves schools on thin ice
Central High School
to perform “Band
Geeks” beginning on
Friday.
»Page 12A
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Yay
snow day! Oh wait, we have
to make them up?
Maybe, depending on
how close districts are to
approaching the minimum
amount of hours students
a re re q u i re d t o b e i n
school.
State law requires stu-
dents in grades kinder-
g a r t e n t h ro u g h e i g h t h
grade have 900 hours of in-
structional time during a
school year.
For grades nine through
11, the requirement is 990
hours, while seniors are to
attend 966 hours.
Those are minimum re-
quirements, and schools
build schedules with time to
spare.
Perrydale School District
already has exceeded its lee-
way with the three days it
has had to call.
“We have two built into
the schedule, so we will need
to make one up,” said Perry-
dale Superintendent Eric
Milburn.
Central School District
has called three snow
d a y s , t h e We d n e s d a y,
Thursday and Friday be-
fore Christmas break. Su-
perintendent Buzz
Brazeau said if that is the
last of the snow days, the
district should meet the
hours required.
Dallas School District has
used five snow days, includ-
ing Monday, but has up to
nine it could use.
Not that it wants to, said
Steve Martinelli, the district’s
MONMOUTH
City now compliant
with state whistleblow-
er laws.
»Page 3A
SPORTS
A.J. Morales making
up for lost time as a
wrestler.
»Page 10A
EDUCATION
Lead-based paint and
asbestos may increase
costs of Dallas mainte-
nance bond projects.
»Page 2A
POINT
targets meth
network
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Winter weather has forced Polk County schools to use snow days. Schools may have to make those days up later.
director of transportation.
“Even though we have
nine, when we get to eight,
at some point do we say that
is just too many days to miss
school?” Martinelli said in a
report to the Dallas School
Board Monday night. “In the
past, we were doing 10
budget reduction days, and
we know the affect it has on
kids.”
Scheduling make up days
could be tricky.
For Central, any makeup
days may have to occur
after the end of the first se-
mester at the end of the
month.
Dallas will look at sched-
ules to see where additional
days can be plugged in. Thir-
ty hours of in-service and
parent-teacher conference
days are already included in
instructional hours, so con-
verting those to regular class
days won’t help make up
hours.
See SNOW, Page 7A
Snow days
• Perrydale School District has called three snow days, which
exceeds the two snow days built into the schedule. Perrydale
will make up one day.
• Central School District has called three snow days (the
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before Christmas break) but
should still meet the hours requirement if there are no more
snow days. Dallas School District has used five snow days, but
has up to nine it could use.
• State law requires 900 hours of instructional time during a
school year for students in grades kindergarten through eighth
grade. For grades nine through 11, the requirement is 990 hours.
Seniors are required to attend 966 hours.
Foggin subject of special meeting
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — It wasn’t that
Dallas City Manager Ron
Foggin applied for another
job, but how some Dallas
City Council members
found out that was the topic
of a special meeting Monday
night.
Foggin is a finalist for the
city manager post in
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
McMinnville, a fact that
many on the council were
unaware of until they read
about it in the Yamhill Val-
ley News Register, a news-
paper covering McMin-
nville.
Foggin said he is sorry for
the council having found
out that way.
“I, first of all, want to
apologize because I broke
one of my rules,” Foggin
said. “I
want to be
clear that
one of my
main rules
for dealing
with the
council is
no surpris-
Foggin
es.”
He said he applied for the
job because he saw it as an
opportunity for professional
growth, but added he has
enjoyed working for Dallas.
He said he would hope to
continue if not selected for
the McMinnville vacancy.
Foggin said he found out
he was a finalist on Dec. 12,
and the reason he didn’t tell
the council then was be-
cause he wanted to take
time to decide if he wanted
to continue seeking the po-
sition.
“Even as late as last Tues-
day night, during the coun-
cil meeting, I really wasn’t
sure I wanted to say in the
process,” he said. “I had an
email prepared to let the
council know I was apply-
ing, I would be sent out the
end of that week.”
The News Register article,
written on Dec. 29, beat him
to the punch.
See FOGGIN, Page 7A
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — Polk
County Inter-agency Nar-
cotics Team “deiced” a
methamphetamine distri-
bution network in the
county following a four-
month investigation.
In an operation called
“Deicer,” the team ar-
rested 13 people, and is
on the hunt for six more,
the Polk County Sheriff’s
Office announced Mon-
day.
Investigators identified
and charged the following
subjects involved: John
Molina, Michael Gravelle,
Chaeron Mortimer, Travis
Weddle, Naomi Ahlgren,
Rachel Keys, Damon Math-
ers, Tricia Haslett and Colin
Lynch, all on one or more
counts of delivery of
methamphetamine and
possession of metham-
phetamine.
Officers arrested Jesse
Creekmore on delivery of
methamphetamine with-
in 1,000 feet of a school,
manufacture of metham-
phetamine within 1,000
feet of school, and multi-
ple counts of manufactur-
ing of meth, delivery of
meth and possession of
meth.
See METH, Page 5A
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Celebrate the snowy
weather at Inde-
pendence library’s
Wacky Wednesday
snowman crafts, of-
fered twice.
3 and 6:30 p.m.
Join other young
professionals at a
Dallas Chamber of
Commerce network-
ing event, at Citi-
zen’s Bank.
5:30 p.m. Free.
Re-live the teenage
angst and have a
laugh about it at
Central’s production
of “Band Geeks,”
opening tonight.
7 p.m. $5-$8.
A few cans of food
or other donation is
all that is needed to
for donation yoga at
Dallas Yoga and Bal-
ance Studio.
11 a.m.-noon.
Looking for an ex-
cuse to don your fa-
vorite hat? Take part
in National Hat Day!
Celebrate Martin
Luther King Jr. Day
at Dallas First Pres-
byterian Church and
find out about social
justice advocacy.
5:45 p.m.
Dallas’ swim team
hosts Lebanon for
its first home meet
since Dec. 6. Dallas
hosts Central on
Jan. 24.
4 p.m.
Snow showers
Hi: 32
Lo: 23
Mostly sunny
Hi: 33
Lo: 18
Mostly sunny
Hi: 34
Lo: 24
Cloudy
Hi: 37
Lo: 28
Mostly cloudy
Hi: 42
Lo: 34
Showers
Hi: 48
Lo: 43
Showers
Hi: 51
Lo: 48