Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 9, 2017 5A
Body of missing boy Economic director sees Dallas’ ‘potential’
located on Monday By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
WEST SALEM —
Searchers found the body
of a 5-year-old boy missing
since Friday from Wallace
Marine Park in West Salem.
His body was found near
Wheatland Ferry Monday
at about 1:40 p.m., accord-
ing to the Polk County
Sheriff’s Office. He was
about 13 miles down river
from where he was last
seen.
The boy, Allen “Chaz”
Pearson, was last seen play-
ing near the old boat ramp
and pedestrian bridge at
the park.
Authorities believe he
drowned in the Willamette
River, according to a news
release from the sheriff’s
office.
“The Polk County Dis-
trict Attorney and the Polk
County medical examiner
both responded to the
scene, and the investiga-
tion is being treated as a
drowning,” stated a news
release from the Polk
County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency workers re-
sponded to a report of a
missing 5-year-old boy at
5:45 p.m. on Friday. The
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
and Salem Police Depart-
ment responded to the call
and were soon joined by
several agencies in the
search for Allen.
Sheriff Mark Garton said
several people saw him
playing near a pool created
by a gravel bar in the river
adjacent to the pedestrian
bridge crossing from Wal-
lace Marine Park to the
river front park area.
“Nobody saw him in the
water. Several people saw
him right next to the
water,” Garton said. “He
taken off his shoes and
shirt that was right in the
same place people saw. He
also had goggles so he was
wanting to swim.”
Garton said even though
the river is lower, that
doesn’t mean it is safer or
much warmer than it was a
few months ago.
“In the 60s and it might
seem refreshing. It is a
shock for your body,” Gar-
ton said. “You can’t use
your arms and legs like you
need to.”
Garton noted that while
the water close to the shore
near the gravel bar is shal-
low, the water on the other
side is deep, and at the pil-
lar of the walking bridge,
the currents form a
whirlpool.
“The current is going to
drive you down,” he said.
He said because of the
cold temperatures and cur-
rents you can see from the
surface, anyone playing in
the water needs a life jack-
et. There has been an effort
to place a life jacket station
in the park.
“I hope someone does,”
Garton said.
Police, fire and search
and rescue crews looked for
the boy until dark on Friday
and continued the search
on Saturday and Sunday.
Garton thanked the agen-
cies and volunteers who
joined the search.
Agencies who helped
with the search are: Polk
County Sheriff’s Office
Search and Rescue, Polk
County Sheriff’s Office Ma-
rine Patrol, The American
Red Cross, Mountain Wave
Search and Rescue, Benton
County Sheriff’s Office
Search and Rescue, Yamhill
County Sheriff’s Office
Search and Rescue, Yamhill
County Sheriff’s Office Ma-
rine Patrol, Corvallis
Mountain Search and Res-
cue, Marion County Sher-
iff’s Office Search and Res-
cue, Clackamas County
Sheriff’s Office Dive Team,
Oregon Army National
Guard, Salem Police De-
partment, Salem Fire De-
partment, and the Benton
County Sky SAR (civil air
patrol).
Thursdays!
May - Sept
DALLAS — AJ Foscoli,
Dallas’ Economic Develop-
ment Director, believes the
next year or so has a lot in
store for Dallas.
“I think that Dallas is re-
ally poised for a lot of
growth, a lot of potential,”
he said.
The city is already seeing
evidence of that as industri-
al businesses are eyeing
Dallas as
a possible
location.
He re-
ferred to
one such
project,
without
elaborat-
ing on
Foscoli
what it is
or who is behind it, in a
workshop meeting with the
city council in July. He said
the business’ site selection
process has been educa-
tional for the city, and that
will work in its favor, even
Dallas doesn’t make the
final cut.
“The fact that it is still
on-going is really good. The
fact that’s been about eight
months now and the proj-
ect is still alive is really en-
couraging to me,” Foscoli
said. “We will keep working
on it until we get a thumbs
up or a thumbs down. If we
do end up getting a thumbs
down, the process itself is
helping us. We’ve strength-
ened our relationship with
our partners, from North-
west Natural, from Pacific
Power, Business Oregon.
Foscoli said Oregon has a
limited amount of industri-
al land left that is centrally
located for businesses,
which is making Dallas
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer file
The removal of “Noah’s Ark” from the former Weyerhaeuser mill site in Dallas makes
the property more attractive to businesses wanting to locate in the Willamette Valley.
have been challenging —
not impossible, but chal-
lenging — to shoehorn
something that fit.”
On the commercial side,
particularly in the down-
town, Foscoli sees his role
as a facilitator between
businesses and the owners
of buildings with space to
lease or buy.
“There is a bit of a dance
that goes on between what
a person feels their asset is
worth and what a person
coming in feels that it’s
worth,” he said. “It’s my job
to get them to talk to each
other and not just walk
away.”
Foscoli said he’s pleased
to see the development of
the career and technical ed-
ucation program at Dallas
High School.
more attractive to outfits
wanting locate or relocate
in the Willamette Valley.
He said the most notice-
able piece of vacant indus-
trial property in Dallas, the
former Weyerhaeuser mill
site, has been improved by
the removal of the building
known as “Noah’s Ark.”
The giant drying shed,
leftover from the mill oper-
ation, has been salvaged for
the its valuable 100-year-
old timber.
“I’m a little bit saddened,
to be honest, to see the Ark
go away, but the timber in
that is some of the most
valuable out there,” Foscoli
said. “However, because it
is going away, it is making
that site much more ready
for something else. The way
that building was, it would
The Dallas School Dis-
trict hired a former Dallas
agricultural teacher, Tim
Ray, to find the best courses
of study for the Dallas area
and develop programs
around them.
That could go a long way
toward filling another piece
of the economic develop-
ment equation: Keeping
business supplied with
well-trained workers.
“We are lucky to have
Tim Ray at the high school
tasked with that very thing,
to create a talent pipeline
that can help our business-
es in Dallas and in the re-
gion,” Foscoli said. “I have
high hopes that the CTE
program at the high school
will grow and incorporate
lots of skills that we can
use.”
POLK COUNTY
A joint effort between OSU Extension Service and
Polk Soil & Water Conservation District.
10 am - 3 pm
20 vendors
this week!
BEST pickings of the season NOW at Bounty Market!
Live Music with Cash & Company
11am to 1pm
20 Pages of Valuable
SEASONAL Information
4 times a year:
September, December
March and June
Produce, meat, eggs, kettle korn, baked goods, artisan
products, glazed nuts, non-profits, fresh cut flowers,
hot food, beauty products and so much more!
Don’t forget to grab your can/bottle
donations to drop off for the Scouts.
182 Academy St., Dallas
Facebook.com/bountymarket
http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html
• Boulders & Wall Rock • Patio Stone
• Rainbow & Beech Cobble
• Crushed Rock • Plant Materials
• Compost • Bark • Soil Blends
• Potting Soil• Pumice • Perlite
5192 Salem-Dallas Hwy Next to Cafe 22W Restaurant
Salem, Oregon 97304
503-391-2833
M-F 7:30 - 5:30 • Sat 8 - 6 • Sun 10 - 4
FREE
Local Delivery
Every Monday to Dallas
and Independence
on $90 order.
Coupons cannot be combined with any other offer
or discounted items. Expires 8/31/17
Contractors
Discounts
• Published to over 12,800 homes
in the Itemizer-Observer
• Available online
• Additional copies distributed
through the OSU Extension office
and the PSWC District office
DEADLINE: AUGUST 30 PUBLISHES: SEPT. 13
Place your ad in the Fall Edition
by calling Heidi x115, Rachel x110
or Karen x118 at 503-623-2373
Sizes and Prices:
Full page (10”x10.292”) ......................$375
1/2 page (Horiz 10”x5.083”) .................$200
1/2 page (Vertical 4.917”x10.292”) ........$200
1/4 page (4.917”x5.083”) .....................$110
1/8 page (4.917”x2.5”) ..........................$60
All ads include FULL COLOR
Printed by the