TRACK AND FIELD
DISTRICTS
Page 10-12A
Volume 142, Issue 20
www.Polkio.com
May 17, 2017
$1.00
Committee approves 2017-18 city budget
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Dallas
Budget Committee ap-
proved the city’s 2017-18
budget, but not without a
debate over the $30,000
added to pay for a recreation
coordinator.
In a previous meeting, the
committee approved moving
$30,000 from contingency
funds to pay for the position,
and added $10,000 in rev-
enue and a matching
amount in expenditures as a
result of creating the posi-
tion.
Councilor and budget
committee member Jackie
Lawson pointed out the po-
sition was slated to bring in
$25,000 in revenue.
She asked what programs
would not be offered in
2017-18 to explain the dis-
crepancy.
“If we had $25,000 last year,
that’s a $15,000 disparity,” she
said. “We have to know what
kind of programs we are not
going to be offering.”
City Manager Ron Foggin
said the figure was a starting
point and a lot of that would
depend on what the person
hired decides to pursue.
See BUDGET, Page 5A
Dallas 2017-18 budget
How much? $41 million overall; $12.2 million general fund.
What positions does it add? economic development direc-
tor, fire department administrative assistant, two seasonal fire-
fighters, three paramedics, part-time recreation coordinator,
and moving a part-time finance and court clerk to full-time.
What major projects will it pay for? Senior Center (by fed-
eral grant); water reclaiming project (recycling treated waste
water for other uses, such as watering grass in parks); continue
installing automatic water meters; adding a second “aquifer
storage and recovery” well; and beginning work on improve-
ments to Godsey road.
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
Teachers from Oak-
dale ask school district
to reconsider cuts to
the school’s teaching
staff.
»Page 14A
Man
charged
with
assault
FALLS CITY
Wagner Community
library seeks feedback
about the future of the
library.
»Page 2A
INDEPENDENCE
Crash totals car, but
occupants are Ok.
By Jolene Guzman
»Page 6A
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Dallas Police
officers arrested a Dallas
man Thursday on attempted
assault and menacing
charges after he allegedly
tried to run over a man and
threw an ax
at a woman
following
an argu-
ment.
Tyler N.
Oldham,
23, is
charged
with two
Oldham
counts of
first-degree attempted as-
sault, two counts of unlawful
use of a weapon, three
counts of menacing, second-
degree disorderly conduct,
reckless driving and reckless
endangering in the incident,
which occurred on May 9.
Oldham is next due in court
on Thursday at 1:14 p.m.
According to the probable
cause affidavit filed in Polk
County Court, the incident
began with the male victim
going to his ex-roommate’s
house in the 900 block of
East Ellendale Avenue to ask
for money he lent to him.
Oldham was at the ex-room-
mate’s house and began ar-
guing with the man when he
persisted in asking for the
money, according to police.
See Ax, Page 5A
MONMOUTH
Western Oregon’s
baseball team wins the
Great Northwest athlet-
ic Conference title.
»Page 10A
EDUCATION
Photo courtesy of Mark HalleTT/for the Itemizer-Observer
Mark Hallett works on a restoration of archaeotherium.
»Page 14A
Bringing dinos to life
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Watched “Jurassic
Park” lately — the original? Remem-
ber how chillingly real the dinosaurs
appeared?
Dallas resident and artist Mark Hal-
lett consulted with the film’s creators
make those movie monsters look like
they were living and breathing.
“I was really thrilled by that,” said
Hallett, a “paleoartist” who has made a
career of helping bring dinosaurs and
other extinct creatures to life through
illustration and modeling. “I met
Steven Spielberg and Michael Crich-
ton, the author. I got to be a fly on the
wall in meetings
where they were
hashing out the
plot.”
The author of the
book “The Sauropod
Dinosaurs: Life in
the Age of Giants,”
Hallett continues to
Hallett
study, illustrate and
write about Earth’s prehistoric life.
He will read from the book at Dallas
Public Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Hallett will display models, fossils and
the art he uses to create his depictions.
In his 44-year career, Hallett found a
way to stitch together his interests in
art and science, earning a degree in art
and using it to illustrate ancient life. In
1973, his first commission was with
the San Diego Natural History Muse-
um painting murals, and later as an
exhibit specialist.
Four years after that first gig, Fossils
Magazine hired Hallett to create de-
pictions of prehistoric animals and
environments.
Not a traditional career, Hallett said
he had to do a lot of work on freelance
basis — even for free to show what he
could do. H
e worked for the San Diego Zoo as a
freelancer, as well as the publication
designer and art director on the Zoo-
books children’s series.
See HALLETT, Page 7A
Hurdling past the competition
Dallas’ Jacob Deming, left,
clears a hurdle during the
boys 300-meter hurdles
race at the Mid-Willamette
Conference District Track
and Field Championships
on Saturday in Lebanon.
Deming won the 300 hur-
dles, long jump and triple
jump. The Dragons saw 10
athletes qualify for state
during the two-day event.
Central athletes also com-
peted and will go to state.
For more, see Page 10A.
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
POLK COUNTY
Get ready to discover
MI Town on Saturday.
»Page 3A
SPORTS
Dallas baseball and
Central baseball and
softball prepare for the
state play-in round.
»Pages 11-12A
Election
results
online
Itemizer-Observer staff report
POlk COUNTY — See
the Itemizer-Observer’s
website, polkio.com, for
the results of Tuesday’s
election.
results were posted on
Facebook and Twitter, but
came in after the I-O’s
deadline.
Visit
our
website
www.polkio.com
lUkaS eGGeN/Itemizer-Observer
THE NEXT
Books for Bikes helps
kickstart a love of read-
ing and riding.
wed
thu
fri
sat
Tonight kicks off the
final run of Central
High School’s pro-
duction, “aladdin
Jr.” centralper-
formingarts.org
7 p.m. $5-$8.
Is clutter taking over
your life? attend a
free workshop at
Monmouth Public
library on getting
rid of that clutter.
6-7 p.m. Free.
Faith evangelical
Free Church hosts a
bluegrass music
jam, open to all
bluegrass musicians
and music lovers.
7-10 p.m. Free.
last chance to help
Fill the Bus at
roth’s — a food and
personal item drive
by Central’s trans-
portation dept.
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cloudy
Hi: 55
Lo: 43
Partly sunny
Hi: 69
Lo: 46
Sunny
Hi: 73
Lo: 45
Mostly sunny
Hi: 73
Lo: 45
sun
Tour downtown
businesses and
enjoy local artists
and wine at Wine
Down Downtown
Dallas.
2-6 p.m. $15-$23.
Sunny
Hi: 76
Lo: 51
mon
tue
You’re never to old
to try something
new with New Hori-
zons Orchestra.
6:30 p.m. $25
monthly fee.
On this day in 1999,
Gerry Bloch, 81, be-
came the oldest
climber to scale el
Capitan in Yosemite
National Park,
breaking his own
record.
Sunny
Hi: 83
Lo: 56
Mostly sunny
Hi: 88
Lo: 55