GREAT AMERICAN
ECLIPSE
Volume 142, Issue 33
Souvenir Edition
www.Polkio.com
$1.00
August 16, 2017
Police look for missing Dallas woman
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Dallas Police
are asking for help in finding
a Dallas woman who was re-
ported missing on Saturday
who could be in the Florence
area.
According to police, a fam-
ily member reported Heather
Mounce, 37, missing on Sat-
urday at 2:13 p.m. She was
last seen at 8:30 a.m. on Sat-
urday. Her red 2008 Chevro-
let Cobalt, Oregon plates 724
EFB, was found parked next
to Highway 101 north of Flo-
rence near Cox Rock.
The last communication
from her phone to a family
member was around 2 p.m.
Evidence gathered so far sug-
gests she was not abducted
and traveled to her car’s lo-
cation of her own free will,
police said.
Local Florence authorities
searched the area where
Mounce’s vehicle was found
and did not find her.
Mounce is 5-foot-4 and
weighs between 140 and 170
pounds. She has straight
black hair and brown eyes.
As of Tuesday morning,
Dallas Lt. Jerry Mott said he
couldn’t comment further at
this time about circum-
stances surrounding her dis-
appearance. He said the de-
partment is actively follow-
ing up on tips.
If you see a person match-
ing her description, call local
police.
Dallas Police say she is not
wanted for a crime and is not
believed to be dangerous in
any way, but would like to
have a police officer verify
she is OK.
If you had any contact
with her after 8:30 a.m. on
Saturday, contact Sgt. Josh
Calef of the Dallas Police De-
IN
YOUR
TOWN
DALLAS
COURTESY OF HARLIE MOUNCE/Itemizer-Observer
Heather Mounce was reported missing on Saturday.
partment at 503-831-3516.
The Oregon State Police,
Lane County Sheriff’s Office
Search and Rescue, U.S.
Coast Guard and Lane
County fire services have as-
sisted with the search for
Mounce.
City to receive
$300,000 per year for
next decade to help
with street mainte-
nance.
»Page 14A
FALLS CITY
City located stolen
utility vehicle on Friday.
»Page 5A
INDEPENDENCE
Council to consider
marijuana business li-
cense changes.
»Page 5A
MONMOUTH
Western Oregon soc-
cer team hopes youth
movement leads to suc-
cess.
»Page 13A
SPORTS
The Rough Stock
Rodeo returned on
Thursday.
»Page 12A
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Polk County Fire District No. 1 Deputy Chief Neal Olson helps determine the cause of the home fire on Aug. 9.
Infant dies during house fire
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — An 11-
month-old boy died in a
Monmouth house fire on
Aug. 9.
Two adults, including his
mother Natacia Abbe, along
with two other children
were able to evacuate.
The home in the 700 block
of North Catron Street was
heavily involved in fire when
firefighters arrived, said Polk
County Fire District No. 1
Deputy Chief Neal Olson.
The fire was electrical and
started on or under the
patio, Olson said.
“The most difficult part of
this fire is that we believe it
had been burning for quite
some time prior to our noti-
fication,” Olson said. “We
believe it started on the
patio, and then moved into
the attic space through the
vents and burned undetect-
ed for an unknown period of
time. Once the occupant
was alerted by the smoke
alarm, the attic and patio
were heavily involved.”
Polk No. 1 was dispatched
to the fire at 1:57 a.m. on
Aug. 9. Thirty-two firefight-
ers and support personnel
responded, as well as several
members of law enforce-
ment from multiple agen-
cies, Olson said.
The house had working
smoke alarms, Olson said.
The mother was awakened
by the alarms and able to
evacuate the other two chil-
dren, which were not named
by law enforcement.
“Unfortunately, the con-
ditions inside the building
changed drastically during
the evacuation,” Olson said.
Attempts to locate and
rescue Sebastian Spencer,
the 11-month-old boy, were
unsuccessful. His body was
found once the fire was ex-
tinguished, Olson said.
See FIRE, Page 5A
Weather for eclipse remains a question mark
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY —
Months of planning has
gone into making the Great
American Eclipse a major
event for Polk County.
There’s one thing that no
one can control that could
wreak havoc on eclipse
chasers and planners —
the weather.
Matthew Cullen, a mete-
orologist with the National
Weather Service, said the
NWS only predicts a seven-
day forecast — and even
that can be stretching it.
“Specifics are tough to
discern,” Cullen said. “At
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
about three to five days out,
we get a pretty good idea of
what the weather will be
like. Beyond that, we start
to see a lot of possibilities.”
For Aug. 21, Cullen said
all types of weather are still
in play — both good and
bad for viewing the eclipse.
“At this point, looking
ahead, rain is a possibility,”
Cullen said. “It could be on
the clear side or the cloudi-
er side. We’ll have some
days (around the eclipse)
that have morning clouds
that stick around longer,
other days where clouds
will clear quickly. Some
may not have clouds at all.”
In other words, Cullen
said this far out, the NWS
doesn’t have a good idea
on what the weather
will be Monday
morning.
“We have
more uncer-
tainty beyond
that three- to
five-day peri-
od,” he said.
According to
the NWS’s web-
site, the most
common clouds
west of the Cas-
cades during sum-
mer mornings are marine
stratus, which tend to fill
the Willamette Valley, but
clear by late morning.
The solar eclipse will
reach totality from 10:15
to 10:25 a.m. across
the state.
The first
forecast from
the NWS has
it mostly
sunny, but
meteorolo-
gist technician
Gerald Macke
said to keep
checking pre-
dictions.
“It can be
very difficult to be
real precise days and days
and days out,” Macke said.
“But right now, there’s a de-
cent chance the area will be
able to see something.”
Macke said there is a
chance for clouds on Mon-
day evening.
As of press time, it
doesn’t appear that clouds
will affect the area Monday
morning.
If there’s one piece of ad-
vice Cullen has for locals
and visitors making their
way to the Willamette Val-
ley: Wait and see — for
now.
“Certainly, as we get clos-
er, we’ll be able to predict,”
Cullen said. “Right now
(Monday), we’re in a wait-
and-see period. It’s not pos-
sible to forecast with any
certainty at this point.”
Police to look
for proper
safety belt use
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH— Mon-
day through Sept. 3, Mon-
mouth Police Department
officers will conduct spe-
cialized traffic safety en-
forcement operations,
emphasizing the impor-
tance of proper safety
belt and child seats use.
The enhanced enforce-
ment is possible through
a grant from National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, adminis-
tered by the Oregon De-
partment of Transporta-
tion.
Share your
photos
Capture a stunning
image of the eclipse? Did
you find that perfect mo-
ment? Share your photos
with the Itemizer-Observer
using the hashtags
#PathofTotality and
#OREclipse2017. You can
like the I-O on Facebook,
follow us on Twitter
@PolkIONews and follow
us on Instagram.
Newsletter
Want to keep even
more up-to-date? Head to
www.polkio.com to get
signed up for the I-O’s
newsletter, which goes
out every Friday. Also,
check the website for
more stories and photos.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
Want to relax before
the busy weekend?
Come jam out at
Music in the Park at
Main Street Park in
Monmouth.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Come find your lat-
est treasure or enjoy
a treat at the Polk
County Bounty Mar-
ket on the Academy
Building lawn.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dallas will have live
music on the square
(downtown) to help
kick off the Great
American Eclipse
weekend.
7 p.m. Free.
Indy Goes Dark con-
tinues the eclipse
weekend fun with
live music, beer gar-
den and a host of
activities.
All day. Free.
For those planning
an eclipse weekend,
Falls City still has
spaces for campers.
Cost is $50 per
night.
See page 10A.
The Independence
Riverview Market
offers a chance for
shoppers to find
new items and tasty
food.
2 to 7 p.m.
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 54
Sunny
Hi: 82
Lo: 53
Sunny
Hi: 83
Lo: 54
Sunny
Hi: 80
Lo: 51
Mostly sunny
Hi: 81
Lo: 53
According to the
NWS, the forecast
calls for a high near
80 with mostly
sunny conditions.
Meteorologist Tech-
nician Gerald Macke
said there is a
chance for clouds
Monday evening,
but as of Tuesday’s
press time, is not ex-
pected to affect the
morning. Check
www.polkio.com for
updates.
Mostly sunny
Hi: 80
Lo: 54