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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2017)
DALLAS SOFTBALL MOVES TO 8-0 IN LEAGUE Page PLAY 10A Volume 142, Issue 17 www.Polkio.com April 26, 2017 $1.00 Two men IN arrested YOUR on assault TOWN TO THE RESCUE Unlikely hero rescues stranded kite from tree By lukas Eggen By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — A rescue of sorts took place on Thursday. No, it didn’t require a daring act of bravery, but it did reunite a boy and his new favorite toy — his kite. — Ever since the Swanbor- ough family went to the Independence library, they’ve had kite fever. “They had an event where they built kites,” Tracy Swanborough said. “They (her children) had a lot of fun, but when the kids tried to fly the kites, they didn’t fly very well. It reminded me of how fun it was to fly a kite. The ones we have are beat up. My mom asked me for Easter basket ideas for the kids, and so she got each of them a kite. Lachlan fell in love with it the most. He’s wanted to fly it every day.” Whether at a park or in the street, Lachlan, 8, can be seen running this way and that to make his kite go. “It’s my first kite,” he said. “I got it on Easter. I like that you can go high and it can stay up in the air. The more wind you have, the higher it can go. I realized that this is fun.” On Thursday, Lachlan’s kite got into a little pickle. “I was flying the kite on the street and I didn’t no- tice I was about to hit a tree,” Lachlan said. See KitE, Page 7a The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Police arrested two men in Dallas Thursday on assault and menacing charges following an early morning fight. At about 7:14 a.m. Thurs- day, Dallas officers responded to 911 calls reporting two men fighting with another man in the 200 block of Southwest Walnut Avenue, according a Dallas Police report. Witnesses told dispatch that one of the men had a gun in his hand. According to court docu- ments, suspects Carlos Ho m i l E s c a l e r a , 3 1 o f Willamina, and his brother, Emanuel Escalera Lopez, 29, of Portland, spotted the vic- tim of the assault, Kenneth D. Edwards, getting out of his car near their sister’s house. Edwards had a “no con- tact” order with their sister, according to the probable cause affidavit filed on the arrests by Dallas police. The order is part of a separate case. The pair confronted Ed- wards, reportedly punching him in the head and then got back in Lopez’s car. Accord- ing to the report, they re- turned and punched and kicked him for up to three minutes, a witness said. They returned to the vehi- cle, and then pulled up to Edwards. This time, Escalera pointed a gun at him. “Multiple witnesses saw Carlos pull out a black pistol and point it at Kenneth and start backing him up,” the re- port read. See aSSault, Page 3a TRACy SwAnBOROuGh/for the Itemizer-Observer lachlan Swanborough, 8, left, stands with his hero of the day, Minet technician Ruban ulloa, who rescued his kite from the clutches of a tree. Costs outpace revenue in DSD budget General fund cuts necessary, but no layoffs in Dallas School District’s 2017-18 proposal By Jolene Guzman DSD 2017-18 proposed budget The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Dallas schools 2017-18 budget proposal, in- troduced to the district’s budget committee Monday, features more money, but that is countered by rising costs. Tami Montague, the dis- trict’s director of fiscal serv- ices, said the district based the 2017-18 budget on the plan presented by the co- chairs of the Legislative Joint Ways & Means Committee, which allocates $7.8 billion to schools in the 2017-19 bi- ennium. That is lower than Gov. Kate Brown’s proposal of sending $8.01 billion to schools, which state officials said still wouldn’t prevent cuts. Montague said it’s unusu- al for the co-chairs to pro- pose less than the governor, but there isn’t much indica- tion that figure will change at this point in the legislative session. THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK General fund — $33,340,400 Special Revenue Grants & Projects — $3,793,642 Capital Construction Bond Projects — $14,550,000 Food Services — $1,030,150 Student Activity Funds — $1,200,000 Debt Service Fund, general obligation bonds — $2,465,130 “They are sticking hard to that number because there’s a huge deficit at the state level they are trying to fill,” she said. “We decided as a district that we would take a conservative approach, and base our budget on the $7.8 billion because feel like we won’t get less than that. There is a chance we could get more.” The district’s total budget is about $9 million more than the current budget, but most of that is accounted for in building maintenance projects paid for with a 2014 voter-approved bond. Bond projects will jump from $8.095 million this year to $14.5 million in 2017-18. “We also have our bond dollars coming in, so while we are talking reduction on this side, we are spending a lot of money on specific projects where we have tar- geted dollars for,” Mon- tague said. General fund revenue is proposed to increase nearly $1.9 million, mostly through growth in state support and a beginning fund balance that’s higher than was expected. “We are actually going to get more revenue next year, but with our PERS cost in- creases and just inflationary costs increases, we fell short,” Montague said. PERS costs amount to $699,331, up from the ex- pected $660,000. “Even though it feels like there’s a ton of volatility in that system, we do have some markers that let us make some predictions that were fairly accurate,” Mon- tague said. “We were able to tell a while ago that was coming, which led us to make some plans for last year. That’s why we didn’t add a ton of extra stuff and we held steady.” Another large part of the increase is due to enroll- ment growth at the charter schools the district spon- sors, so most of $293,543 in additional revenue will go to those schools. Increases in transportation ($107,164), staff salary 1 per- cent cost-of-living-adjust- ment ($283,240), benefits ($158,044) and an increase to the district’s contingency fund ($500,000) will claim the remainder — and then some. That means general fund reductions, though no lay- offs are necessary. “Any positions where we’ve had to reduce are done so through attrition,” said Superintendent Michelle Johnstone. “We are not using the layoff process.” Classes sizes at the pri- mary grades are projected at fewer than 30 students, but to provide more support, an additional special education teacher in the K-3 schools is proposed. The district is moving a part-time coun- selor to full-time at LaCreole Middle School, as well. “We’re seeing significant concerns in our student population that we are try- ing to address with addition- al mental health services,” Montague said. “Middle school kids are especially vulnerable.” Programs providing dedi- cated funding to career and technical education ($945,000) and English Lan- guage Learner program im- provements ($90,000) are in- troduced in the 2017-18 budget. The budget committee will meet next at 6 p.m. on May 17 at the district office, 111 SW Ash St., Dallas. DallaS American Gas & Tech to name school after former Tyco building owner. »Page 5a FallS CitY Budget committee approves 2017-18 budget. »Page 3a iNDEPENDENCE Central senior Chris Polanco honors family on tennis court. »Page 10a MONMOutH Applebox Children’s Theater, city council butt heads. »Page 2a SPORtS Falls City track and field team eyes qualify- ing multiple athletes for state. »Page 10a EDuCatiON Students get a chance to experience new cultures. »Page 12a Dallas High presents ‘Bully Plays’ itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — Dallas high School will present a series of student-di- rected plays Thursday and Friday. The Bully Plays are a collection of short plays set in different places and times showing the many different types of bullying and the way they affect people. The shows are at 7 p.m. in DhS’ Bollman Au- ditorium, 1250 SE hol- man Ave., Dallas. Advanced theater stu- dents are directing the plays as an exercise for the class. The plays are recom- mended for audiences 13 and older because of the content which deals with suicide, suggested nudity and some lan- guage. General admission is $4. Tickets are available at the door. A little effort. A big difference. wed thu fri sat sun mon tue need to take a break from your young- sters? Respite care offers free child care for parents to run errands or just relax. 1-3 p.m. Free. Join other musicians at the Dallas Senior Center for an old- time, gospel music jam. Bring a favorite finger food. 6:30 p.m. Free. Do you love Bat- man? how about wonder woman? Show off your inner hero during na- tional Superhero Day. Celebrate trees at Mount Fir Park as In- dependence marks five years as a Tree City, uSA, and tour Inspiration Garden. 1-4 p.m. Free. Answer every ques- tion asked of you today truthfully to mark national hon- esty Day. Get outside and cel- ebrate spring during May Day! young dancers will perform a variety of dance styles during the France School of Dance recital at DRV. 4:30 p.m. Free. Rain/showers Hi: 56 Lo: 41 Showers Hi: 57 Lo: 38 Partly cloudy Hi: 58 Lo: 37 Partly cloudy Hi: 60 Lo: 42 Partly sunny Hi: 61 Lo: 43 Partly cloudy Hi: 60 Lo: 43 Partly cloudy Hi: 65 Lo: 45