Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current, January 11, 2017, Image 4

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Polk County itemizer observer., January 11, 2017, Page 4A, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextPolk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 11, 2017 4A How to Contact Officials EDITORIALS Dear future superintendent Roughly 400 people in the Central School District gave feedback on what is good about the district, what could be better, and what qualities they want in the new superin- tendent. It sounds a little like the list a young person would make when picturing his or her perfect soulmate. Patient, responsible, good listener. Bilingual, bicultural, decisive. Works well with others, accountable, good communicator. McKenzie Group, which conducted the surveys and community forums, said 400 participants was a good sam- ple for a district of Central’s size. The search consultants will place the ad soon and send out emails to recruit candidates for Central’s next top leader. Then a 15-person search committee comprising members of both the teachers and the certified unions, as well as administrators and community members will help narrow down the applications. Greg McKenzie said he ex- pects to get “north of 20” applicants for the job and hopes the school board can make an announcement on the hire before spring break. With so much involvement from teachers, staff, admin- istrators and community members, we hope that whoever is chosen will have the continued support of all in the dis- trict. We know the atmosphere at Central High School wasn’t great last year. It seems to be improving, but it will require more work on the parts of both teachers and administra- tors to keep it going in the right direction. The community needs to have confidence in its school board’s decision, as well as in its teachers and administra- tors. It is easy to demand support for teachers and rally against administration. This community needs to find bal- ance between supporting both sides of the coin, because what it all boils down to is that old cliche: The children are our future. Students felt the tension at the high school — it wasn’t something that was hidden away in the teacher’s lounge. We all need to stand behind our new superintendent while he or she gets his or her feet wet. We need to give him or her a chance. 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, JAN. 11 • Independence Heritage Museum Commission — 4 p.m., Independence Heritage Museum, 112 S. Third St., Independ- ence. 503-838-1212. • Monmouth Library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth Public Library, 168 Ecols St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Monmouth Parks and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun- teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, ﬁrst ﬂoor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. THURSDAY, JAN. 12 • Monmouth Tree Advisory Board — 7 p.m., Monmouth Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Fire District No. 1 Board — 6 p.m., Central Station 90, 1800 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1510. • Western Days Commission — 7 p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. TUESDAY, JAN. 17 • Independence Historic Preservation Commission — 4 p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, ﬁrst ﬂoor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. • Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 • Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, ﬁrst ﬂoor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. 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 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Hunger article hints at sensationalism I’m not sure what to think about the I-O’s front page article “Facing hunger.” While I realize there are people that do not have enough food, I struggle with the overall tone of the arti- cle and the statistics stated in the article. It reminds me of a Mark Twain quote, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The term “food insecurity” in and of itself sounds very nebulous and self-defining. According to the article, at least 59 percent of West- ern students are food inse- cure. And the article contin- uation on page 5A reads “hunger affects all stu- dents.” Either we have a huge (real) problem on our hands, or a matter of jour- nalistic sensationalism, I’m leaning towards the latter. There are many resources available to students both private and public that pro- vide either money/vouchers for food or food itself. There is a good chance that before the week is over I’ll be sub- jected to many commercials and articles statistically proving the opposite about how exercise deprived and overweight us Americans are. Is this I-O article what they mean by fake news? Leif Anderson Monmouth Loss of email service at Minet Recently I, along with all other subscribers to Minet’s internet service in Mon- mouth and Independence, received notice that our email service will be discon- tinued. This came as a great surprise to me as I was not aware that such a move was being contemplated and I don’t believe any of us cus- tomers had an opportunity to comment on whether we would mind losing this serv- ice. It was simply presented to us as a fact. I personally have a large problem with this happen- ing, since I have been using Minet’s email ever since starting with them as a cus- tomer when Minet began. I’ve been told that it is be- cause management believes that not enough customers are using the service, but I’ve also been told that sev- eral hundred do. For me it would be a huge inconven- ience, since I have been using it so long all of my correspondence is tied up in it, and chasing down all of my contacts to give them a new address would be next to impossible. There must be many users out there who are just as inconvenienced as I am that may just go along with this decision, thinking that there is nothing they can do about it. But all we have to do is speak up. We’ve been paying our in- ternet fees every month, ex- pecting to have an email service as part of the pack- age. I sincerely doubt that there will be any reduction of our bills if the service is removed. I urge all subscribers to Minet’s email service to contact Minet’s manager, Don Patton, and Minet’s board of directors, through Minet’s office in Monmouth, to express your opinion about this loss. It should be possible to reverse this deci- sion. Jim Snyder Monmouth Worry about PERS before facilities To county commission- ers, instead of building a new facility with more taxes, why don’t you pay your PERS obligation? Steve Dunn Independence Let’s unite against timber industry On Jan. 6, Oregon Public Broadcasting published an article about a report by the Department Of Environ- mental Quality and the Ore- gon Health Authority on the condition of drinking water sources in the coast range of Oregon. It was completed in July of 2015, but was not published due to push back from the timber industry and Department of Forestry as they felt it was biased against the timber industry. The timber industry was the focus of the report as, ac- cording to the study, “Indus- trial forest companies are by far the single largest owner of land in coastal drinking watersheds, owning 100 percent of some source water areas.” In addition, “40 percent of the drinking water systems on the coast flow through forest owned by private companies that log extensively. And 64 per- cent of all coastal water sys- tems have had two or more alerts, warning customers of problems with disinfecting water so it is safe enough to drink.” Department of Environ- mental Quality and the Ore- gon Health Authority note the practice of clear cutting, slash near unbuffered streams, and use of herbi- cides are some of the human factors affecting water quality, leading to in- creased erosion and turbidi- ty in the waterways. This in- creases the need for chemi- cals to disinfect the water to make it safe for drinking. This is the water that the citizens of the coast range rely on for drinking. These issues, combined with the practice of the tim- ber industry of aerial spray- ing and locking gates to keep recreational users from publicly owned lands should prompt us to action. It is time for all groups who are unhappy with the way the timber industry does business to work together to bring about change. We should demand access to clean drinking water and the public lands that we pay for. 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 Lisa Jordan Dallas 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 to the editor that are obvious promotions for a busi- ness, products or services will not be printed. 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. For the full letters policy: www.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. 142, No. 2 (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.