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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 10, 2017 4a LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Group seeks to better understand Indifference or ignorance? Last November, I wrote you in response to concerns raised by the 2016 cam- paign and election. Partial text: “We are start- ing a movement, with the goal of having a diverse group of people, willing to try to do something about one or more of the issues. I included my email address.” In response, in mid-Janu- ary, 17 people gathered in Dallas for the first Polk County Principled Action Committee (PCPAC) meet- ing. We agreed on a state- ment of purpose and a set of guiding principles. Our initial discussions dealt with the split society we live in. One possible causal fac- tor being the inability of so many members of our soci- ety to communicate, talk and listen to one another. To develop a better un- derstanding of the barriers, we began an effort to edu- cate ourselves about issues at the local, state and feder- al level, and share what we learned in an open dialogue with the hope of bridging the communication gap. So far we have met five times. We think we are making progress and discovered we are not alone in this en- deavor. There are other like- minded citizens at work. We hope to link up with them to build a larger base. We want to let you know that we are open to anyone willing to join us in this ef- fort: the task of bridging the divide we believe is keeping our society from creating a better tomorrow. The general feeling of the group is this: As a result of the work we have done so far, we already are much better informed than we were last November. There is a lot to learn. Our next meeting is Sat- urday at 2 p.m., at Western Oregon University. If you are interested in this project contact me at murf92279 @gmail.com. Trump, his henchmen, Republicans and industrial leaders are gleefully gutting those environmental regula- tions that would have slowed the destruction of our planet. The result of this slashing will be to our detri- ment. Only people who slept through fourth-grade sci- ence do not accept that our planet is imperiled by cli- mate change. The strange question here is, do these people who happily destroy our fu- ture not have any children, grandchildren or heirs of any kind? If they do they must really, really not care what type of planet these heirs must live on. It is clear that the people noted at the beginning of this note have sold their up- coming generation's future for money now. What kind of person would facilitate the proba- ble destruction of the planet and his/her family’s future for more money? Does greed have that solid a grip on their miserable soul? Of course, the same ques- tions apply to these people’s supporters. They blindly ac- cept the pabulum they are spooned and parrot the same drivel. Yet their heirs will suffer even more than those of the rich because they will be far less able to mitigate the de- struction of their world. Do they not care or are they just massively ignorant? Bob Murphy Dallas Council puts funding at risk This is in regards to Mr. Pippins letter to the editor on April 26. Mr. Pippin brought up a good point but asked the wrong question which is this: Why did the Mon- mouth City Council meet and approve an inclusivity resolution when ORS 181.580 was already in exis- tence. I believe that the answer to this question would be to make Monmouth an Sanc- tuary City where “illegal” immigrants can hide from and be protected by the law. So let’s take a step back for a moment. All individuals who are here illegally are guilty of breaking the law regardless if they are outstanding citi- zens and obey other aspects of the law. By coming to this country illegally you are bringing in individuals who are crimi- nals, individuals who are sick with disease such as TB and leprosy, you bring over- crowding to schools and burden our state with pay- ing for welfare and other services. These individuals may not have a Social Security Number or another tax- payer ID number and may not pay taxes or Social Se- curity. By declaring Monmouth as a sanctuary city you are risking federal funding that your local fire department, police department and schools ask for to provide their community with books, equipment or appa- ratus that is needed. As citizens of Monmouth, are you willing to put those federal funds at risk for in- dividuals who are breaking the law by being here ille- gally? David Chrisensen Independence CHS theater staff run great program I’ve had the privilege of having three high-schoolers participate in Central High School’s Performing Arts program. It has been such a memo- rable experience for each of them. I just want to publicly thank the staff and adminis- tration for supporting such a wonderful program at Central High School. Thank you Jeff Witt for the countless hours on and off the job. Thank you Wendy Boyack and Linda Kunze for sharing your talents, passion and countless hours working on all the little details. Thank you to the volun- teers that build sets, sew, design, paint, and are be- hind the scenes. Central’s Performing Arts is blessed to have you all. I am looking forward to seeing the 2016-17 school year’s final production: “Al- addin Jr.” May 10 through 13 and May 17 through 20. The 20th will be bitter- sweet, watching our seniors take their final bows (my son among them). For community members that haven’t taken the time to see one of Central’s shows, please consider tak- ing the time to support these students and this pro- gram. Michelle Lewis Independence Tribal CASA needs children advocates I work at the Confederat- ed Tribes of Grand Ronde as the Tribal Court Programs Coordinator. We provide programs that assist families going through the Tribe's child welfare process. One of the programs is the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program. CASAs are assigned one to two abused or neglected Tribal youth to work as an advocate for them in court and foster a positive rela- tionship with the tribe. CASAs have a national record of helping kids leave the dependency system ear- lier and assist in placing them with a permanent home. You do not need to be a tribal member to give back in this capacity, but you must be committed to learning more about differ- ent ways you can advocate for a tribal child’s best inter- est. We have many kids who could use someone like you on their side. Please contact me (annie.schmidt@grandrond e.org) if you have any ques- tions or would like to re- ceive further information. Annie Schmidt Grand Ronde SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER We have many celebrations to share from Dallas School Dis- trict. This summer we will have construction projects at Lyle, Oakdale, and Whitworth ele- mentary schools because of your generosity through bond dollars. We just received notice that we will be awarded an addition- al $700,000 for seismic up- grades to Whitworth, bringing the total seismic grant amount to $2.2 million. Let the con- struction begin. As we look to refine our safety plans, we conducted two evacu- ation and reunification drills at Lyle last fall and recently for Dallas High School. Students and staff did an out- standing job, and we want to thank parents and community for feedback and support. We do have a couple areas of concern to share and would ask for your support. Our Career and Technical Education plan (CTE) is coming together and we are increasing learning op- portunities for our high school students. Our graduation rate for stu- dents in CTE programming is 93 percent. Thank you voters for approv- ing Measure 98, our proposed plan is based on $800 per stu- dent, which was voter ap- proved. We are concerned as we hear about reduced funding amounts from the state. Please contact legislators and ask them to fully fund Measure 98. Our district general fund budget will be decreased due to the proposed state funding of education. As we work to en- sure dollars are spent based on our district priorities, we are faced with budget reductions. Oregon has an excellent model of how schools should look and be funded, which also supports community expecta- tions through the Quality Edu- cation Model (QEM). Rather than moving forward toward QEM, our district, along with others across the state, are moving backward. Please contact legislators and let them know that $7.8 billion isn’t enough in the state school fund and to please get us to $8.4 billion to expand programs for our kids. — Michelle Johnstone, Superintendent Fred Brown Dallas Dallas library builds community I had the good fortune to attend a program at the Dallas Public Library last week under the auspices of Oregon Humanities. The subject was “The Space Between Us,” a con- versation on immigrants and refugees in Oregon, led by Manuel Padilla, a gradu- ate of Dallas Public Schools. I wish all of Dallas could/would attend this program. Manuel skillfully used the experiences of the group (about 40 people) to help us all understand the plight of immigrants and refugees, and to see that we have more in common than we have things which divide us. It was a thought-provoking evening, spent with friends and strangers. I hope it might be the be- ginning of a broader com- munity conversation on is- sues which seem to have become more divisive since the recent elections. Thank you to the Dallas library for bringing this in- teresting and timely pro- gram to our community. Dale Derouin Dallas SW Polk bond will help volunteers I am a resident in SW Polk Rural Fire District and am in favor of the proposed fire bond. Our volunteers each ded- icate hundreds of hours per year in service to us, sacri- ficing their time, energy, and talents to keep us safe. The bond will provide our volunteer firefighters with the equipment, apparatus, and facilities they need to keep them safe and serve us most efficiently. The monthly cost of the bond will be less than many people spend on coffee. Let us keep our firefight- ers safe and help them im- prove how they serve us by voting yes on 27-125. Jake Rosenbalm Rickreall Vote Hunt for Dallas school board I am voting for Dave Hunt for the Dallas school board. Dave has a strong com- mitment of service to the community, having recently retired as a career firefighter. Dave understands the is- sues faced by the school board and will work to re- solve these issues in a car- ing, thoughtful manner. Dave has always been in- volved in school activities, from coaching his children’s teams, chaperoning Senior Night, to raising funds for school activities. Dave will bring compas- sion and caring to this posi- tion, and work with school administrators, teachers, students and the communi- ty to ensure students re- ceive the best education possible. Kelly Gabliks Dallas WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are limited to 300 words. Longer letters will be ed- ited. Election-related let- ters of all types are lim- ited to 100 words. writers are limited to one election-related letter per election season. Elec- tion letters from writers outside of Polk County are not accepted. Each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day pe- riod. Letters that are libelous, obscene or in bad taste will not be printed. Attacks by name on businesses or in- dividuals will not be printed. Letters to the editor that are obvious promotions for a business, products or services will not be printed. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the ac- curacy of facts presented by letter writers; dissenters are welcome to respond. Letter writers who disagree with other published letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial material submitted to the newspaper, are edited for length, grammar and con- tent. Letters must include the author’s name, address and telephone number. This includes letters sub- mitted via the I-O’s web- site. Names and cities of residence are published; street addresses and tele- phone numbers are used for verification purposes only. Letters must be submit- ted from individuals, not organizations, and must be original submissions to the I-O, not copies of letters sent to other media. Letters of thanks to businesses, individuals and organizations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Letters submitted may not be retractable after this deadline. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. Fax: 503-623-2395. Email: ionews@polkio.com. Office: 147 SE Court St., Dallas. HOW TO REACH US nEwSROOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 142, No. 19 (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. 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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. 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