CENTRAL PRESENTS
TENNIS, TRACK TEAMS
ALADDIN JR.
OFF TO DISTRICTS
Page 14A
Page 11A
Volume 142, Issue 19
www.Polkio.com
$1.00
May 10, 2017
Ballots
are due
IN
YOUR
TOWN
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — It’s time
to get that ballot in.
The May 16 Special Dis-
trict election will see races
for local school boards, fire
districts, cemetery districts
water districts, plus bond
measures from Polk County
and Southwestern Polk Rural
Fire Protection District.
Ballots have to be received
at the Polk County Clerk’s Of-
fice by 8 p.m. Election Night.
Postmarks will not count, so
if you waited too long, here’s
the dropbox locations:
• Polk County Clerk’s Of-
fice — 850 Main St., Dallas,
on the second floor or a drop
box is located on the east
side of the courthouse.
• Falls City — Wagner
Community Library, 111 N.
Main St., Falls City.
• Grand Ronde — Gover-
nance Center, 9615 Grand
Ronde Road, Grand Ronde.
• Independence — Inde-
pendence City Hall, 555 S.
Main St., Independence.
• Monmouth — Mon-
mouth Public Library, 168
ECOLS St. S, Monmouth.
• Western Oregon Univer-
sity — Werner University
Center, 345 N. Monmouth
Ave., Monmouth.
• West Salem — Roth’s
Market, 1130 Wallace Road
NW, Salem.
Here’s the list of local
races and measures that will
be on the ballot on May 16:
Chemeketa Community
College
Zone 2: Ronald L. Pittman
Central School District
Board of Directors
Position 2: Salvador Diaz;
Peggy Clyne
Position 4: Jerry J. Shinkle
Position 5: Kristina Mann;
Steve Milligan
Position 6: Donn Wahl
Position 7: Darcy Kirk
Dallas School District
Board of Directors
Position 1: Ivan Wm.
Barnes; Dave Hunt
Position 3: Jon Woods
Position 4: Michael Blan-
chard
Falls City School District
Board of Directors
Position 1: Kristy Majors
See ELECTION, Page 2A
DALLAS
Polk Bounty Market
vendor sells the unob-
tainable.
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY
Mountaineers track
team is ready for dis-
tricts
»Page 11A
INDEPENDENCE
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Eden Olsen, left, and Dylan Stein talk about the urban farm in Monmouth’s Edwards Addition on May 3.
Edwards ‘agrihood’
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — When
David Radke first looked at
the property at 246 S. Main
St. in Falls City, he saw some-
thing most people wouldn’t:
A bed and breakfast.
At the time, the home on
the property — most of it
built in 1907 with an addition
in the back — looked like its
best days were behind it.
“It had an old rickety front
porch on it. No foundation.
A one-car garage,” Radke re-
called. “The back was worse
than the 1907 part of it. It
was scary horrible.”
Radke told the property
owners Paul and Judy Ward
MONMOUTH — Tucked away in
the blossoming neighborhood known
as Edwards Addition lies an urban
farm, an agrihood.
About one acre is cultivated, with
another one waiting to be planted —
someday, once the customer base
grows, said Eden Olsen.
Olsen, 25, and Dylan Stein, 28, run
Lucky Crow Farm, which is contracted
by Olsen Design and Development to
operate the urban farm surrounded by
single-family homes.
“These are popping up all over the
place — the East Coast, California,”
Stein said. “It’s kind of replacing how
other communities would be planned
around a golf course. These are
planned around an urban farm or a
big garden, so it’s an amenity to the
people.”
Community members in Edwards
Addition and beyond may purchase
CSA (community supported agricul-
ture) boxes, supporting a portion of
the harvest before the season starts.
Throughout the season, which runs
the first week of June through the end
of October, members receive a weekly
box of produce.
“So they’re getting — hopefully —
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
“Aladdin Jr.” opens
tonight at Central
High School. Don’t
miss this magical
performance.
7 p.m. $5-$8.
»Page 12A
Man charged
with
menacing
Itemizer-Observer staff report
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Rows of newly planted vegetables in the Edwards Addition urban farm.
their vegetables for the season,” Olsen
said. “It’s supposed to kind of cover
what they’d get in the grocery store, so
basically everything.”
The CSA is limited to 50 this year,
and Lucky Crow Farm has filled their
shares.
To provide food for 50 families each
week, crop planning is a big part of
what Olsen and Stein do.
“We focus on intensive farming, so
really planting as densely together as
possible to utilize the space efficient-
ly,” Olsen said.
From herbs to red kitten spinach to
garlic to peas and potatoes, things are
already sprouting up in the rows.
See FARM, Page 5A
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
The shared guest kitchen and living room at the Little Luckiamute Creekside B&B.
munity members and
friends of Radke and his
wife, Cheryl.
“They are the greatest,”
David said. “She was a
teacher of mine years back,
and I just think the world of
them.”
See BED, Page 5A
WEST SALEM — The
man arrested after threat-
ening customers at a gas
station last week is due in
Polk County Circuit Court
Thursday.
At about 6 a.m. on May
1, deputies from Polk
County Sheriff's Office,
along with the officers
from the Independence
Police Department re-
sponded to the VP Gas
station, located at 5082
Salem-Dallas Highway, on
a reported disturbance.
Callers from the scene
said a subject, identified
as Jessi Cisneros, was
threatening customers
and employees, according
to the Polk County Sher-
iff’s Office.
Employees and cus-
tomers barricaded them-
selves inside of the busi-
ness. Cisneros eventually
forced through two doors,
threatening those inside.
Eventually, he shut the
power down to the build-
ing and left. When deputies
arrived, Cisneros was run-
ning across the highway.
They took him into cus-
tody, according to police.
Cisneros has been
charged with 18 counts, in-
cluding attempted kidnap-
ping, burglary, theft and
six counts of menacing.
He is in custody at the
Polk County Jail on
$119,000 bail and is
scheduled to appear in
court at 1:14 p.m.
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Drop by the Polk
County Bounty Mar-
ket to see what’s
new at the corner of
Main and Academy
streets.
The Master Gar-
dener Mother’s Day
plant sale kicks off
today at Polk
County Fairgrounds
& Event Center.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Free.
It’s Stamp Out
Hunger day, a food
drive hosted by the
National Association
of Letter Carriers.
All day. Food do-
nation at mailbox.
Happy Mother’s
Day! Why not take
her out for a special
brunch at a number
of local wineries or
restaurants?
Prices vary.
Dallas Chamber’s
monthly luncheon is
at Dallas Retirement
Village, featuring
speaker Scott
Sadler.
11:30 a.m. $12-$15
France School of
Dance will perform
at LaCreole Middle
School — tap, ballet,
jazz, and hip hop.
6 p.m. $3 or three
cans of food.
Showers
Hi: 57
Lo: 43
Showers
Hi: 57
Lo: 42
Mostly cloudy
Hi: 57
Lo: 43
Showers
Hi: 58
Lo: 41
Showers
Hi: 59
Lo: 40
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.
Partly sunny
Hi: 73
Lo: 48
Western Oregon stu-
dents to see 5 to 10
percent tuition in-
crease.
Dallas softball re-
mains unbeaten in Mid-
Willamette Conference
play.
What: Little Luckia-
mute Creekside Bed &
Breakfast
Where: 246 S. Main
St., Falls City
Contact: 503-539-
7558, 541-979-3245 or
www.littleluckiamute-
creeksidebnb.com/.
Of note: Call for room
rates.
wed
MONMOUTH
SPORTS
Home away
from home
his vision for the house and
its Little Luckiamute River
frontage, and they agreed to
put up the financing to
make it reality. The Wards, of
Dallas, are longtime com-
»Page 14A
»Page 13A
Property turned into bed and breakfast
By Jolene Guzman
Central High School
performs “Aladdin Jr.,”
opening Wednesday
(today) at 7 p.m.
Rain
Hi: 57
Lo: 44
