RENAISSANCE FAIRE
DRAGONS EARN SHUTOUT
SHREWSBURY
VICTORY
Page 7A
Volume 142, Issue 37
www.Polkio.com
Page 12A
September 13, 2017
$1.00
Bank
robber
arrested
IN
YOUR
TOWN
Officers found
suspect running
down the street
DALLAS
U.S. Navy veteran
checks off an item on
his bucket list.
By Jolene Guzman
»Page 2A
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — A Dallas
man is in Polk County Jail
after being arrested
Thursday on bank rob-
bery charges.
Caleb McKean, 36, is fac-
ing one count each of third-
degree robbery, a felony,
and sec-
ond-de-
gree
theft, a
misde-
meanor.
He was
sched-
uled in
McKean
be in
Polk
County Circuit Court on
Tuesday after press time. he
is being held on $50,000.
Officers responded to a
report of a bank robbery
in progress at the Dallas
Bank of America, 791
Main St., at 9:48 a.m., ac-
cording to Dallas Police.
Polk County Sheriff’s
deputies also responded.
According to the proba-
ble cause affidavit of the
incident, McKean went to
the bank on Sept. 6, the
day before the robbery, to
take money out of his ac-
count.
The teller told him his
Bank of America card
wouldn’t allow access to
his account, and he re-
fused to provide identifi-
cation.
McKean said he would
return.
When he returned, he
still couldn’t access his ac-
count.
“(The teller) said he
was angry and demand-
ing money,” the report
said. “He was not armed
and did not have any
weapons. … She felt
threatened because he
was angry, aggressive and
demanding.”
McKean demanded
money out of the teller
drawer and, believing em-
ployees were in danger,
the assistant manager
began to take money out
of the drawer, according
to the report.
“The man reached over
the counter and grabbed
the money from her
hands,” the report said.
He left the bank and of-
ficers found McKean three
blocks from the bank, run-
ning on the street where
he lives.
He threw $714 in cash
on the ground before offi-
cers apprehended him, the
probable cause report
said.
The incident is under
investigation by the Dallas
Police Department in co-
operation with the Salem
Office of the FBI.
THE NEXT
7
DAYS
PLANNING
FOR YOUR
WEEK
FALLS CitY
Falls City’s volleyball
team makes progress.
»Page 12A
iNDEPENDENCE
Hop & Heritage Festi-
val on hiatus.
MIKE KISSELL/for the Itemizer-Observer
Local fire crews have helped battle the Eagle Creek Fire.
Polk, Dallas assist at wildfires
By Emily Mentzer and
Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Polk
Fire Capt. Mike Kissell and
members of Dallas Fire &
EMS, Southwestern Polk
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict, Sheridan Fire and
McMinnville Fire worked all
night battling the blaze at
the Eagle Creek Fire on
Monday, Sept. 4.
“We worked from 8 p.m.
until Tuesday (Sept. 5),”
Kissell said from the scene
on Friday. “Monday night
when we arrived, we had ac-
tive fire pushing some struc-
tures in a small community
outside of Cascade Locks,
and we did point protection
and fire attack to stop the
fire’s growth into that com-
munity.”
The Polk-Yamhill task
force has since been as-
signed to structural triage,
Kissell said. The firefighters
have been spending time as-
sessing properties’ strengths
and weaknesses in a fire sus-
tainability situation.
“We develop a plan to
prepare that house better to
survive a fire front well in
advance,” Kissell said.
That entails anything
from removing vegetation
from around the house to
blowing leaves and rubbish
off the rooftops to cleaning
out gutters to trimming
overhanging tree branches.
“If they leave the houses
unlocked, we’ll make sure
the windows are closed,
vents are closed, and pre-
pare that building to with-
stand a fast-moving fire
coming through,” Kissell
said. “We can’t completely
protect from a hot, slow-
moving fire, but we prepare
… as best we can.”
Kissell has spent more
time in the past few weeks
away fighting fires elsewhere
in the state than he has in
Polk County, said Polk Coun-
ty Fire District No. 1 Chief
Ben Stange. He started his
deployment to the Chetco
Bar Fire just before the Great
American Eclipse weekend at
the end of August.
Dallas Fire and South-
western Polk also sent
crews, Fire Chief Fred Hertel
and equipment to fight the
fires.
Dallas Fire spokeswoman
April Welsh said Dallas and
Southwestern responded
when the state put out the
call for help with the Chetco
Bar Fire.
Dallas and Polk firefight-
ers, and volunteers from
Southwestern and Polk took
that trip. The state requires
all firefighters working a for-
est fire to have their wild-
land fire certification.
“We sent a Southwestern
engine and Southwestern
tender to the Chetco Bar fire
during the week of the
eclipse,” Welsh said.
Stange said the crew
worked on a lot of structure
protection, including help-
ing people make defensible
space around their homes.
The equipment and the
firefighters returned from
Brookings, but then Hertel
was requested to be part of
an incident management
team directing the fire at-
tack.
“While he was gone, the
fire in the gorge at Eagle
Creek erupted,” Welsh said.
That fire also needed
statewide resources.
On Sept. 3, Southwest ern
Polk sent a brush rig and
tender to the gorge, along
with three firefighters. A Polk
No. 1 firefighter went with
Dallas and Southwest and
joined with a team from
Yamhill County.
See FirES, Page 5A
Purple Heart finds way to family
Quest to reunite medal to hero’s descendents takes 12 years
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — After a 12-year
search, Kevin Coady finally found the
family of fallen U.S. Marine Pfc. Jack
Carl Kightlinger.
Kightlinger was killed in the Korean
War in 1951 at the age of 23. He was
awarded the Purple Heart for his sacri-
fice. The medal is engraved with the
phrase “for military merit” and recog-
nizes those wounded or killed while
serving in the military.
At some point, the award was lost.
Coady, of Monmouth, has had
Kightlinger’s Purple Heart since 2005. A
local couple had found it at a garage
sale in Berkeley, Calif., in the 1970s.
They weren’t sure how to get it back
where it belonged, so they gave it to
Coady to find the owner. They told him
that they bought it for a quarter.
A medic in the U.S. Army at the time,
Coady followed a family tradition of
serving in the military. His parents met
in the Army, and he and his two broth-
ers enlisted.
KEVIN COADY/for the Itemizer-Observer
Kevin Coady reunited a Purple Heart
with Jack Kightlinger’s family.
He felt a duty to return the medal.
His search led him to conversations
with people who served with
Kightlinger, including one, Floyd Swift,
who sent him photos of Kightlinger
when he was in the Army.
“His mother died in 1983. I ran out
of leads. This is in 2005,” Coady said.
An answer to prayer
The trail went cold until Easter 2017.
It’s that day Coady discovered an or-
ganization that reconnects veterans or
their families with lost Purple Hearts,
Purple Hearts Reunited. He sent a mes-
sage saying he had a medal, but was at
a loss for where to look next.
“Then I go to my mom’s for the free
Easter dinner, and I get a call,” Coady
said.
It’s Zachariah Fike, the director of
Purple Hearts Reunited.
“We found the family,” Coady said,
quoting Fike. “I’m like, you’re kidding
me. It took me 12 years. Then I get a
call from his great-niece.”
Coady and Kightlinger’s great-niece,
Bernadine “Bernie” Ridgeway, con-
nected in an emotional conversation.
Coady said the calls were an answer
to prayer, truly, as his brother Dan
often prayed for the medal’s return to
Kightlinger’s family.
See HEArt, Page 5A
»Page 3A
MONMOUtH
Pete Kalogeras offers
a taste of Greece.
»Page 2A
SPOrtS
Ys a b e l l a R i n c o n
emerging as leader for
Central’s girls soccer
squad.
»Page 12A
Beware of
scammers
itemizer-Observer staff report
POLK COUNTY — When
crisis strikes, many want to
reach into their pockets to
help with relief. Unfortu-
nately, scammers know
how to take advantage of
that charity.
“Disasters that attract na-
tional attention are often
used by scammers to create
fake charities and crowd-
funding campaigns to rip off
people who want to sup-
port a worthy cause,” said At-
torney General Ellen Rosen-
blum in a press release.
Red flags to look for to
know you’re being duped
by a bogus charity:
• Do not give out person-
al information such as cred-
it card or bank account
numbers over the phone.
• Checks should always
be made payable to the or-
ganization, not the person
collecting the donation.
• Beware of callers who
want money fast. No legiti-
mate organization will insist
you donate immediately.
• Do not donate cash.
Don’t send contributions
with a “runner,” by wire, or
overnight parcel pick-up
service.
• Be cautious before giv-
ing to individuals raising
money through crowd-
funding websites. You can-
not be sure that your gift
will be used as intended,
plus donations to individu-
als are not tax deductible.
• Be sure you are con-
tributing to a legitimate or-
ganization registered with
the Oregon Department of
Justice by searching the de-
partment’s online database:
www.doj.state.or.us/chari-
table-activities, or call 971-
673-1880.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
All the bad news
getting to you? Stop
into Salem Health
West Valley to get
your blood pressure
checked for free.
2-3 p.m. Free.
Young Professionals
will meet at Focal
Point in Dallas for an
evening of network-
ing and social activi-
ties.
5:30 p.m. Free.
The Gate Youth pro-
gram will host a tail-
gating party before
Central High’s foot-
ball game at Panther
Stadium.
6 p.m. $2.
The 15th annual Fall
Fling — a gardening
festival and vendor
fair — returns to the
Col. Nesmith Readi-
ness Center in Dallas.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. $40.
The Polk Commu-
nity for Human
Equality will host a
forum at WOU
about health care as
a human right.
4:30 p.m. Free.
Get ready for the an-
nual scarecrow con-
test or a jump start
on Halloween at a
workshop at the
Indy Public Library.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Are you a veteran
looking for sup-
port? Check out the
monthly Battle Bud-
dies at the Veterans
Service Office.
6-8 p.m. Free.
Mostly sunny
Hi: 74
Lo: 49
Mostly sunny
Hi: 72
Lo: 47
Mostly sunny
Hi: 75
Lo: 50
Partly cloudy
Hi: 74
Lo: 49
PM Rain
Hi: 70
Lo: 50
Showers
Hi: 66
Lo: 46
Showers
Hi: 64
Lo: 46
