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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2017)
FALL SPORTS SECTION SECTION C Volume 142, Issue 36 www.Polkio.com $1.00 September 6, 2017 The kid and the cop By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer PHOTO COURTESY OF POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE’S FACEBOOK PAGE Trinity Markel and Deputy Marty Watson pose for a photo together. FALLS CITY — Polk Coun- ty Sheriff’s Deputy Marty Watson was at the ATM at Frink’s General Store in Falls City in mid-August when he was approached by a nerv- ous 6-year-old girl. She had short reddish hair, freckles and just enough courage to reach her hand out to shake the deputy’s hand. “Thank you for protecting my community and my life,” she said. Just moments before, the girl, Trinity Markel, expressed fear of police officers, believ- ing they had only one pur- pose: Arresting people. “Are they going to arrest me, too?” Trinity asked her mother, Sarah Markel, after seeing Watson’s patrol car while riding her bike down North Main Street in Falls City. “Because I’m a brat sometimes?” Sarah explained police of- ficers arrest people only when they’ve done some- thing to hurt the communi- ty. Officers protect people, she told her daughter. With this new perspective, Trinity decided to talk to Watson, who was getting cash so he could buy lemon- ade from another young girl who had set up a stand. Wat- son was busy looking for a suspect in a stolen-vehicle case and had a pile of work to complete during his shift that day. His mind was occupied when Trinity offered her thanks. “I thought, ‘What a brave little girl.’ You could see she was just scared and nervous,” Watson recalled. “It was about the darn cutest thing I had ever seen. It was one of those melt-your-heart kind of moments. It was really busy, and I was kind of stressed about all the stuff that I had to take care of that day. It really was so uplifting.” Watson put his day on hold for a minute to sit down and talk to Trinity. “I asked her about what school she goes to and little things like that,” Watson said. “Her mom was there the whole time. You could tell that her mom, Sarah, is just confident, poised — and after meeting her later, talk- ing with her a little more — a really, really good mom.” Trinity said that her fear stemmed from portrayals of police officers she had seen on television. After her inter- action with Watson, she’s ex- cited when she sees a Polk County Sheriff’s Office car, always asking, “Is that Marty?” See KID, Page 5A IN YOUR TOWN DALLAS Work resumes at Gala Park after weather and contractor delays. »Page 8A INDEPENDENCE City gets approval to purchase a water right. »Page 6A MONMOUTH Western Oregon’s women’s soccer team falls in season-opening matches. »Page 11A PERRYDALE Pirates’ football team rallies to beat Maple- ton. »Page 11A SPORTS Central ’s football team defeats Bend 35-6 in its season-opener. »Page 11A EDUCATION Kubista begins year as superintendent By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — Students bustled through the halls of A s h C re e k E l e m e n t a r y School on Tuesday morning with a certain excitement — it was the first day of the new school year. Parents carried plastic bags filled with the needed supplies for their kids’ class- rooms and waited in line to find out what teacher would be spending the year with their child. Superintendent Jennifer Kubista started her day at ACES, greeting children and parents as they made their way down the main hallway, complimenting them on their choice of apparel. “That’s a great T-shirt,” she said to one student, whose shirt read, “Kinder- garten stud.” Silvia Johnson, mother of Kirby Johnson, stopped to ask Kubista about Tuesday’s schedule. With the heat wave in effect until 5 p.m. Tuesday, and smoke filling the air, Sil- via wanted to know if school would be let out early. Kubista assured her that, while morning recess could likely go on as planned, the kids would spend the after- noon inside out of the heat and smoke, but school would not be canceled early — at least that was the plan. See KUBISTA, Page 5A Itemizer-Observer staff report EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer Jennifer Kubista talks with Silvia and Kirby Johnson. By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK STEVE POWERS/for the Itemizer-Observer STEVE POWERS/for the Itemizer-Observer A shot of the wetlands at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge from 2016. »Page 14A Air quality alert through Friday Baskett Slough battles water primrose 2017 2016 DALLAS — Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge is looking a little drier than normal for this time of year, and it isn’t because of the warm summer. The culprit is a plant with little yellow flowers that doesn’t belong here: the in- vasive water primrose. “It’s fairly common in the main stem of the Willamette River, but it wasn’t present in Baskett Slough,” said Gra- ham Evans-Peters, the refuge manager for Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. “It’s really aggressive. The fear is that it can create a monocul- ture. It’s considered a nox- ious weed by Oregon De- partment of Agriculture.” See BASKETT, Page 5A Meet your new prin- cipals at Lyle and Ash Creek schools. The invasive water primrose has caused refugee em- ployees to drain the wetlands at Baskett Slough. POLK COUNTY — The S o u t hw e s t C l e a n A i r Agency and the Oregon Department of Environ- mental Quality issued a smoke air quality alert ear- lier this week. As of press time, the alert will remain active until noon on Friday. Wildfires burning in the region combined with forecast conditions will cause air quality to reach unhealthy levels at times through Friday morning. The alert stated that for much of the region, condi- tions are expected to im- prove through the middle part of the week. Pollutants in smoke can cause burning eyes, runny nose, aggravate heart and lung diseases, and other serious health problems. ODEQ recommends limiting outdoor activities and keeping children in- doors if smoky. Conditions caused Dal- las High School to cancel soccer matches scheduled for Tuesday after press time. For more information: www.oregon.gov/DEQ. wed thu fri sat sun mon tue Test your word knowledge by join- ing Scrabble with Betty at the Inde- pendence Public Li- brary. 1 p.m. Free. September is here, but there’s still time to find your latest treasure at the Polk County Bounty Mar- ket. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come support your local teams! Dallas, Central and Perry- dale high schools host home football games this week. 7 p.m. The Ash Creek Arts Center’s Second Sat- urday family art class will offer a fin- ger-painting class led by Berik Bassline. 2 to 4 p.m. Free. The Buell Grange Breakfast returns to the Buell Grange Hall, 5970 Mill Creek Road. 8 to 11 a.m. $6. The Itemizer-Ob- server remembers and honors the vic- tims and heroes from Sept. 11. The Independence Riverview Market offers a chance to grab cool finds and tasty treats at Riverview Park. 2 to 7 p.m. Showers Hi: 83 Lo: 60 Mostly cloudy Hi: 77 Lo: 58 Mostly cloudy Hi: 76 Lo: 52 Mostly sunny Hi: 76 Lo: 55 Mostly sunny Hi: 82 Lo: 55 Mostly sunny Hi: 91 Lo: 57 Mostly sunny Hi: 85 Lo: 53