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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
BUY OR SELL WOU CROSS-COUNTRY CONSIGNMENT DAVID RIBICH Page 3A Page 12A Volume 142, Issue 45 www.Polkio.com November 8, 2017 $1.00 District considers new bond IN YOUR TOWN By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS DALLAS — The Dallas School Board looked toward the future when it decided how to structure its 2014 bond payoff schedule before selling the remainder of its $17 mil- lion maintenance bond. The district is eyeing an- other bond, possibly in 2021, and the board picked an op- tion conducive to that goal. The district will sell $7.3 million in December. It sold $9.7 million in 2015. The board chose financing that assumes higher as- sessed values in the district than what Lauren MacMil- lan, of Piper Jaffray, pro- posed on Oct. 23, which esti- mated growth at 2.5 percent. “We think it’s realistic to assume that we are going to at least get the 3 percent growth over the next four or five years, so raising the pro- jection of what we think we are going to see in assessed value growth is probably rea- sonable,” said Mike Blan- chard, a board member. He added the district con- sulted with Polk County As- sessor Doug Schmidt before deciding on higher rates. The board chose an op- tion that assumes 5 percent growth rate in tax years 2019 and 2020, 4 percent in 2021 and 2022, and 3 percent in years after that. Under this scenario, the bond will ma- ture in 2024, but the rate drops significantly in 2023 and 2024. That saves in interest costs and leaves the option of going to voters in a 2021 election to renew the $1.74 per $1,000 of assessed value for building maintenance. “We’ve created a lot more room in those last two years for a new issue,” MacMillan said. “The new issue timeline would still be November 2021 or May 2022 for the election and you would essentially be cam- paigning on that $1.74 rate.” See BOND, Page 5A Polk County Health officials confirmed a case of pertussis at Dal- las High School. »Page 3A FALLS CITY Falls City’s football team defeats Echo to advance to the 1A state quarterfinals. »Page 12A INDEPENDENCE Residential leaf pick- up begins Monday. »Page 8A JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Leanna Deters watches as Cole Ratzlaff tests a temperature sensor on Saturday. MONMOUTH Students and adults create prototypes Make-a-thon inspires By Jolene Guzman about the two skills to see how they work together to make components function in the way they want it to. Next, the group was di- vided into teams with kids and adults working togeth- er. They were given the choice of three assign- ments: Automated chicken coop, automated green- house, and the “toy of the future.” Each group re- ceived technology kits and “building materials” — cardboard, tape, and glue — to work with. “Using all the craft mate- rials and the new skills that they have in terms of coding and circuit design, they have to actually quickly pro- totype their solution by 3 o’- clock,” said Thompson Mor- rison, of Innovate Oregon, one of the event sponsors. The Itemizer-Observer D A L L A S — Im a g i n e building a high-tech green- house or chicken coop in one day — with no pro- gramming experience going in. The 50 or so students and adults who gathered at LaCreole Middle School for Saturday’s Dallas Make-a- thon don’t have to imagine. They did it. OK, so they were card- board prototypes, but the groups completed func- tioning models in about six hours. Instructor Derek Run- berg, of SparkFun, began the day with a “boot camp” in writing code and circuit design. His goal was to teach participants enough “Most of them have never written a line of code.” This was no quiet class- room. Teams talked over so- lutions, designed and re- designed over the course of the prototype building ses- sion. They groaned together when something didn’t work and celebrated to- gether when something did. Runberg would periodi- cally remind them of the time to add a little pres- sure. More than an hour into the building session, the four-person team of teach- ers Leanna Deters and Jacob Gradek, and stu- dents Ethan Carter and Cole Ratzlaff put its green- house to the test. It was designed to open the door when the temperature hits a target and close when it drops below. They programmed a sen- sor to trigger the door. They tested the tempera- ture sensor with a hair dryer to heat it up — and by waving cardboard fran- tically to cool it down. It worked, but something was off — almost literally, as tape wasn’t keeping the door attached. “So, we know it works,” said Ethan, 13. “Do we want to make a better door?” That, too, took a couple of test runs, but they had it attached for the final demonstration of the day. While some were in a rush at the end, all groups had functioning models by 3 p.m. when the whole group reconvened to show off their creations. See MAKER, Page 7A Changes coming to visitors center By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The Dallas Area Visitors Center is plan- ning to spice up its events for 2018, and that effort is beginning with role changes. JD Shinn, the chief execu- tive officer of the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce and the visitors center, continues to oversee both organiza- tions. Changes are to the re- sponsibilities of employees Ashley Kahl and Bonnie Dreier. Kahl’s official title is events and programs director and Dreier is the events and pro- grams coordinator. Dreier re- mains the Polk County Boun- THE NEXT 7 DAYS PLANNING FOR YOUR WEEK ty Market manager. “Basically, she (Ashley) does the big stuff,” Dreier said. “She goes out and meets with the people, makes the connections, gets the bands.” Kahl said Dreier is the “behind the scenes” special- ist. “Bonnie is doing all the paperwork, all that fun stuff, vendor connections, making sure everything stays organized behind the scenes,” Kahl said. “She puts all the little pieces to- gether to make the event whole. I come in with my big ideas and my dreamer mentality, and she helps me figure out how to make that a reality.” See CHANGES, Page 5A Western Oregon’s theatre and dance de- partment will perform “Radium Girls.” »Page 2A SPORTS Dallas’ boys cross- country team places eighth at state. »Page 12A Legion to host veterans breakfast Itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — The Ameri- c a n Le gi o n Ve te ra n’s Breakfast will be from 7 to 10 a.m. on Saturday at the United Methodist Church, 565 SE LaCreole Drive, in Dallas. The menu features pan- cakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, coffee, orange juice and milk. All community mem- bers — especially military personnel, veterans and their families — are invited. Live music to be per- formed by the Orchard Mountain String Band. No charge. Donations accepted. Online Want the latest updates on breaking news, more content, including sports stories, photos and more? Then, head to www.polkio.com. It’s free for subscribers. Not a subscriber? Plans for print or online-only are available. Social media JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Greeters were ready for trick-or-treaters at Morrison Campus Alternative School. wed thu fri sat The newly finished Pickleball courts will get a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning near Dallas’ Roger Jordan Park. 11 a.m. Free. Young Professionals will meet tonight at Independence Grill for after-hours social networking for those aged 21-45. 5:30 p.m. Free. The VFW and Ameri- can Legion will host an inaugural Veter- ans Auction at the fairgrounds, with dinner and music. 5 p.m. $5. Happy Veteran’s Day. To honor veter- ans, many organiza- tions will host free breakfasts this morning. See Page 10A for details. Rain Hi: 49 Lo: 42 Rain Hi: 53 Lo: 44 Showers Hi: 54 Lo: 43 Mostly cloudy Hi: 54 Lo: 43 sun Skip the morning dishes and have breakfast at the Buell Grange in- stead, off Highway 22. 8-11 a.m. $6. Rain Hi: 52 Lo: 42 Follow and like the Itemizer-Observer on so- cial media on Twitter (@PolkIONews and @PolkIOSports), Instaga- gram and Facebook. mon tue Evangelical Free Church, in Dallas, be- gins accepting shoe- box gifts for children in need today through Nov. 20. 9-11 a.m. In Dallas or Falls City, James2 Com- munity Kitchen will feed all who are hungry. See Page 10A for details. 4:30-6 p.m. Free. Rain Hi: 50 Lo: 41 Showers Hi: 49 Lo: 40
