Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2017)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 29, 2017 4A How to Contact Officials EDITORIALS Sometimes it really does take a village As we are busy investigating our local Community Champions, digging up all the good things our neighbors are doing in our communities, organizations and groups in Dallas, Falls City, Independence and Monmouth are put- ting the finishing touches on plans to host Santa and light trees. It takes a crew of volunteers to make our towns festive, from Dallas Downtown Association collecting sponsor- ships to light up downtown Dallas, to the Independence Downtown Association Parade of Lights committee chang- ing lights on the wreaths that adorn Independence Main Street. The Dallas Area Visitor’s Center and volunteers from Morrison Campus Alternative School recreate Santa’s Vil- lage right on the Polk County Courthouse lawn, while vol- unteers in the WOU Athletics Department prepare to en- tertain kids and families with crafts in the Werner Univer- sity Center. This year we’ve noticed a new group of faces in Inde- pendence who worked quickly to bring back a tradition we thought we’d lost. Cynthia Jaramillo started a beautiful tradition of the Santa Train in Independence. She was an engineer for Port- land & Western, and made the connections to bring Santa to town in style, giving children a chance to visit with the big man himself, get photos with him and receive small gifts. The event expanded to include hot chocolate, pop- corn, hot dogs and music. She moved to New Mexico earli- er this year. We thought that was the end of Santa Train. But thanks Traci Cathcart, Kim Hanson, and a handful of people making connections, Portland & Western engineer Zach Van Patten will pick up where Cynthia left off, driving the train to bring Santa to Independence Cinema for the seventh year. The energy brought by these volunteers and passion for the event will help Cynthia’s legacy live on to bring Christmas joy to all the good boys and girls in Inde- pendence. The Parade of Lights committee jumped in to help raise donations and collect toys for Santa to hand deliver to chil- dren at the event. The Monmouth-Independence YMCA stepped in to help kids write letters to Santa. The city of In- dependence acquired a special mailbox for said letters. The entire community came together to donate toys and trinkets to the event so that children who otherwise may not have a gift will get one on Saturday at Santa Train. The spirit of giving resonates throughout our county through volunteers such as those responsible for bringing the season to light. We hope you’ll bundle up and bring the family down to celebrate the tree lightings, parades, and hot chocolates, and thank the ones who made it happen. PUBLIC AGENDA Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov- ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County. To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via email (ionews@polkio.com). — WednesdAy, nov. 29 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk Coun- ty Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. MondAy, deC. 4 • Central school district Board of directors — 6:30 p.m., Henry Hill Education Support Center, 750 S. Fifth St., Independ- ence. • Independence Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Independ- ence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. • dallas City Council — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 SE Court St., Dallas. 503-831-3502. TuesdAy, deC. 5 • Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 War- ren St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503- 623-8173. WednesdAy, deC. 6 • Monmouth Historic Commission — 6 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 Warren St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 Warren St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk Coun- ty Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. GOVERNOR Gov. Kate Brown (dem.) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4582 Email: via website, http://governor.oregon.gov/ — STATE LEGISLATORS sen. Arnie Roblan (District 5, Democrat) S-417 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Be mindful on your daily commute On Friday, Nov. 10, I was working in the Monmouth Montessori School at 1140 E. Main St. when I heard a crash outside. I looked out the front door and saw the last kicks of a big orange kitty that had been hit by a car. (Are you missing your kitty?) While I stood frozen in shock with tears in my eyes, my partner arrived at the perfect time and jumped into action. He removed the cat from the side of the road and put it in a box. We took the cat to Ash Creek Animal Clinic where they scanned it for a chip; there was none. Thankfully they were kind enough to take care of the body for us. Have you ever noticed that there is not a sidewalk for pedestrians along East Main Street as you head to- ward the S Curves? Instead, there is a path that gets covered in mud puddles as soon as it rains, making it impassable. The only dry place to walk is in the bike path, right next to the speeding cars. Every day I have to make the trek across that busy street with my new baby in tow to check the mail. Every day I watch as peo- ple fly past me while I wait to cross, without giving me a second thought. Unfortunately, the sound of a crash in front of the Montessori School is not uncommon. Please bring mindfulness into your commute. I ask that you please slow down and use more caution as you drive, no matter where you are. Juliet Sloan Monmouth SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER We have exciting news to share; distinguished educa- tors and a Polk County Com- missioner’s grant. First, this year we have cele- brated two distin- guished ed- ucators. Mrs. Peder- sen, who Johnstone teaches third grade at Lyle, was recognized in Sep- tember. She inspires and helps students achieve their goals. Mr. Hughes teaches math at La Creole Middle School. He motivates students to do their best in math. Great work Mrs. Pedersen and Mr. Hugh- es. Thank you to our commu- nity sponsors of this award. Please consider nominat- ing a distinguished educa- tor. The nomination process is simple, and the form can be found at www.dallas.k12.or.us/distin guished-educator-award. We have received a grant in the amount of $24,700 from our Polk County Com- missioners to try a new idea. The grant will create 38 job opportunities for high school youth to earn direct experience in future career areas within Polk County. There will be up to eight positions at a time, each running for eight weeks. Upon completion, students will receive a stipend. Business partnerships will provide opportunities for students to be exposed to various industry jobs. We will report back how this is going. Thank you Polk County Commissioners. Lastly, let’s talk about school safety. We recently had a “lock-out” situation at Dallas High School. There were concerns expressed over communication during the lock-out. A “lock-out” drill means we are keeping business as usual inside; however, not allowing students to leave or people to enter the school. In this instance, as the po- lice department conducted their search, we didn’t want to place students heading to lunch in the middle. We al- ways work hand in hand with Dallas Police Department. There is no communica- tion going out from the school or district during the emergency unless we have evacuated the school and need parents to pick stu- dents up. We don’t want par- ents in harm’s way either. Once the emergency was concluded, Dallas Police De- partment quickly provided the communication mes- sage. Dallas Police Depart- ment knows the best way to communicate the informa- tion. Thank you Dallas PD. We did have communica- tion from the district follow- ing via email and Facebook. We do value the feedback we received. Thank you for supporting Dallas School District. — Michelle Johnstone Superintendent sen. Jackie Winters (District 10, Republican) S-301 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1710 sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters sen. Brian Boquist (District 12, Republican) S-305 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1712 sen.brianboquist@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist Rep. david Gomberg (District 10, Democrat) H-471 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1410 rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg Rep. Paul evans (District 20, Democrat) H-281 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1420 rep.paulevans@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans Rep. Mike nearman (District 23, Republican) H-378 State Capitol 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1423 rep.mikenearman@state.or.us www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman — U.S. CONGRESS sen. Ron Wyden (dem.) 221 Dirksen SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-5244 Fax: 202-228-2717 Salem office: 707 13th St. SE, Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-589-4555 Email: via website, www.wyden.senate.gov WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Election-related letters of all types are limited to 100 words. Writers are limited to one elec- tion-related letter per election season. Election letters from writers outside of Polk County are not accepted. Each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day period. Letters that are libelous, ob- scene or in bad taste will not be printed. Attacks by name on businesses or individuals will not be printed. Letters to the editor that are obvious promotions for a busi- ness, products or services will not be printed. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the accuracy of facts presented by letter writers; dissenters are welcome to re- spond. Letter writers who dis- agree with other published letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial mate- rial submitted to the newspaper, are edited for length, grammar and content. Letters must include the au- thor’s name, address and tele- phone number. This includes letters submitted via the I-O’s website. Names and cities of res- idence are published; street ad- dresses and telephone numbers are used for verification pur- poses only. Letters must be submitted from individuals, not organiza- tions, and must be original sub- missions to the I-O, not copies of letters sent to other media. Letters of thanks to busi- nesses, individuals and organi- zations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Let- ters submitted may not be re- tractable after this deadline. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. Fax: 503-623-2395. email: ionews@polkio.com. office: 147 SE Court St., Dallas. sen. Jeff Merkley (dem.) 313 Hart SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Fax: 202-228-3997 Salem office: 161 High St. SE, Suite 250, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-362-8102 Email: via website, www.merkley.senate.gov Rep. Kurt schrader (dem.) 108 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5711 Fax: 202-225-5699 Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE, Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-588-9100 Fax: 503-588-5517 Email: via website, www.schrader.house.gov — POLK COUNTY Board of Commissioners 850 Main St. Dallas, OR 97338 Phone: 503-623-8173 www.co.polk.or.us — CITIES dallas 187 SE Court St. Dallas, OR 97338 503-623-2338 www.ci.dallas.or.us Falls City 299 Mill St. Falls City, OR 97344 503-787-3631 www.fallscityoregon.gov Independence 555 S. Main St. Independence, OR 97351 503-838-1212 www.ci.independence.or.us Monmouth 151 W. Main St. Monmouth, OR 97361 503-838-0722 www.ci.monmouth.or.us HOW TO REACH US neWsRooM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 142, No. 48 (USPS) - 437-380) The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875 Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR. Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street Dallas, Oregon 97338 Phone: 503-623-2373 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Polk County — One Year $35 Other Oregon Counties — One Year $40 Outside of Oregon — One Year $45 PosTMAsTeR: send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-observer, P.o. Box 108, dallas, oregon 97338 Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com dIsPLAy AdveRTIsInG Heidi Leppin .................Display Advertising Manager (ext.115).................hleppin@polkio.com Karen Sanks...................Client Services (ext. 118)...............................................ksanks@polkio.com CLAssIFIed LIne AdveRTIsInG Dawn Ohren .....................................................................................................................ioads@polkio.com PRoduCTIon Kathy Huggins ..............................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in advertise- Web: www.polkio.com ments. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault. Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395