Polk County News
Myrold pleads guilty in court Dallas Senior Center
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Sentenced to 30 days in jail, five years probation
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Four months
after his arrest on accusa-
tions of sex abuse involving
a 17-year-old student at Dal-
las High School, former
teacher and coach Kirk My-
rold will be headed to the
Polk County Jail.
Myrold pleaded guilty to
one count of second-degree
sex abuse, a felony, in Polk
County Circuit Court Thurs-
day afternoon.
A second count of sec-
ond-degree sex abuse and
luring a minor charge were
dropped as part of a plea ne-
gotiation with the Polk
County District Attorney’s
Office.
Judge Norm Hill sen-
tenced Myrold to 30 days in
jail and five years of proba-
tion among other conditions
following the guilty plea.
Myrold pleaded guilty to
count 2 of the Oct. 5 grand
jury indictment, which read:
“On or between June 1, 2016
and Sept. 12, 2016, … the de-
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@polkio.com.
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By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Polk
County Fire District No. 1
volunteers responded to
more incidents with fewer
volunteers in 2016.
“We had 2,253 home re-
sponses with 44 volunteers,”
Chief Ben Stange said. In
2015, the home responses
numbered 2,032 with 47 peo-
ple. Stange said that while the
district lost a few volunteers,
the people who remained re-
sponded to more calls on av-
erage.
St a n g e p re s e n t e d a n
overview of 2016, as well as
goals and challenges he saw
coming in 2017, to the fire
board at its Thursday meeting.
“We have a cultural shift,”
he said. “We have new vol-
unteer firefighters, new pro-
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fendant, being a person of 21
years of age or older, did un-
lawfully and knowingly sub-
ject (the victim), a person in-
capable of consent by reason
of being under the age of 18
years, to sexual contact by
touching her lips, mouth or
sexual intimate part.”
He was arrested on Sept.
12, 2016, following a report
from Dallas School District
of the inappropriate rela-
tionship between Myrold
and the girl.
Chief Deputy District At-
torney Jayme Kimberly said
given his criminal history,
the presumptive sentence
per Oregon statute for the
crime is three years of pro-
bation. Because the offense
is a sex crime, the sentence
could be stretched to five
years, she said.
The District Attorney’s Of-
fice recommended the
longer probation term and
the 30-day jail term.
Myrold also must undergo
a sex offender evaluation
and treatment. Hill ordered
Myrold to have no contact
.79
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Rainfall during Jan. — 3.16 in.
Rain through Jan. 16 — 3.16 in.
fessionals; we have an op-
portunity to take a look and
see if we are who we really
want to be.”
Stange said that the dis-
trict is in good shape halfway
through its fiscal year, but
that next year will bring chal-
lenges, especially in the cost
of the district’s contributions
to the Oregon Public Em-
ployee Retirement System.
“If there’s an 8 percent re-
turn for PERS, in the next six
years, we can expect a
$500,000 difference in what
we’re paying now,” he said.
Stange told the board to
consider renewing the levy
soon. He said waiting until
April 2019 to decide to
renew the levy could put the
district in a difficult position
for the 2019-2020 budget if
taxpayers said no.
The district has improved
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with the victim in the case
and no contact with minors.
He must register as a sex of-
fender.
Myrold was ordered to re-
port to the Polk County Jail
on Monday morning to
begin serving his 30-day
sentence.
If he finishes probation
successfully, Myrold can
apply to have the charge re-
duced to a misdemeanor.
Kimberly said the DA’s of-
fice notified the victim and
her family about Thursday’s
plea and sentencing.
“The victim did not wish
to attend or make a state-
ment to the court,” Kimberly
said.
When asked, Myrold told
Hill he didn’t wish to address
the court either.
Before sentencing, My-
rold’s attorney, Clark Willes,
said his client “wishes to
apologize to the victim and
her family for problems he
has caused them.”
Through his attorney, My-
rold apologized to his own
family as well.
plans approved
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Plans to build a new senior center in Dallas
cleared another hurdle on Jan. 10.
The Dallas Planning Commission approved the site de-
sign plan for the center’s soon-to-be new home near the
corner of Southwest Court and Church streets, behind the
Carnegie Building.
Architect Rex Price submitted final plans to the city for
review on Dec. 7, 2016.
The city deemed them complete and scheduled a pub-
lic hearing before the planning commission for approval.
Plans submitted on Nov. 17, 2016, were found to be in-
complete and returned to the architect to finish.
Approved plans include a two-story, 7,248 square-foot
center to replace the smaller space the Dallas Area Sen-
iors use now, adjacent to the Dallas Public Library.
The project will include seven off-street parking spaces
and 2,527-square-feet of landscaping.
More than two years ago, the city was awarded a $1.9
million Community Development Block Grant to pay for
development and construction of the center.
Since then, the project has taken more time to get off
the ground than expected, but the list of roadblocks is get-
ting steadily shorter, said Dallas City Manger Ron Foggin.
Planning commission approval leaves just waiting on
the state to approve the environmental review, which
began in June 2015, before construction can begin, Fog-
gin said.
“We are hopeful that will be completed shortly,” Foggin
said. “As soon as the site is cleared by the state, the proj-
ect can move forward. We are planning on the project
starting late spring or early summer.”
Polk No. 1 in good shape
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Observer website,
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ed each week by Wednes-
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SHOWTIMES
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service through equipment
purchased with the general
obligation bond and levy, in-
cluding installing some
computers in vehicles that
show where hydrants are lo-
cated, allowing firefighters
to see where to set up while
en route to a structure fire.
Efforts to recruit volun-
teers at Station 40 in Buena
Vista have been successful,
Stange said. Volunteers at
Station 40 have been a strug-
gle for the district for years.
Recruiting will begin at
Station 80, in Airlie.
A new shift captain and
new volunteers and volun-
teer lieutenants will be
sworn in during a ceremony
at Central High School’s au-
ditorium on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
Solution on Page 10A