Polk County
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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 20, 2017 4A
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EDITORIALS
‘A Visit from
St. Nicholas’
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
(Also known as, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”)
By Clement Clarke Moore
’Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too —
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And he filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Source: The Random House
Book of Poetry for Children, 1983
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, dEC. 20
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
TuEsdAy, dEC. 26
• Independence City Council — 6:30 p.m., Independence
Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
• Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9
a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas.
503-623-8173.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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
Student success is
team effort
We have some of the best
K-12 teachers; we are in the
top 10 nationwide for
spending dollars for stu-
dents; and year after year
we are in the bottom five of
all states for graduating sen-
iors.
Where have we gone
wrong?
Present and past gover-
nors have tried to bring in
education experts — some
were good, some not so
good, but none stayed. We
need to correct this.
Voters passed Measure 98
putting $170 million into
CTE (Career Technical Edu-
cation) for 9-12 students to
help lower dropout rates
and furnish students with
college readiness courses.
Right away I see an ongoing
problem: 5 percent will go
for administration, which is
too much.
I feel there is too much
dedicated funding for K-12
education not getting to the
classroom.
It winds up in administra-
tion at all levels. Too much
winds up in the hands of
the Education Service Dis-
tricts, creating more un-
needed administration jobs.
Oregon has twice the ESD’s
than Washington, which has
more than double the stu-
dents. When you add this
up, tens of millions are not
getting to the classroom
where our kids need it every
year.
This has to stop.
Oregon education plan-
ning is 20 years behind. It
needs to be redone and
brought up to a standard
that looks to future needs.
Legislators need to make
sure this is done.
The teachers union has to
step forward to make this
work and forget the old,
outdated planning.
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
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
Remember it’s for the kids
and their future, not self-
serving the union as it is
now.
The final step is parents
need to be involved. Help
these kids at home with
proper guidance.
Get involved with the
school boards and teachers;
make sure they’re doing
things right, and if not,
speak up. Praise them when
you see things done right.
Bill J. Kluting
Monmouth
More babies
headed for welfare
More babies are needed
to save Social Security.
Paul Ryan got it partially
correct, then the “talking
heads” got it completely
wrong. We are being over-
run with babies, but we
need parents to have babies
that get jobs that pay into
Social Security. We are in-
stead, getting babies that
stay on welfare.
Gary Richards
Monmouth
Cinnamon rolls
raise money for turf
I would like to thank all
who helped with the “Holi-
day Christmas Roll”
fundraiser. The proceeds
will go toward the Dallas
Booster Club “Field of
Dreams” turf project.
Thanks to the parents,
teachers and students that
helped roll them out, bake
and package them in a very
efficient manner. We had
students from the girls soft-
ball team and the football
program graciously willing
to help.
Thanks to the individuals
and businesses that donat-
ed money and ingredients
for this project. We always
appreciate your support.
A special thank you to
Julie Schneidecker, DHS
teacher, for her knowledge
and experience making the
cinnamon rolls. Her confi-
dence helped the inexperi-
enced team members feel
confident. Together we
packed approximately 85
dozen. Some were baked
and ready to eat, and some
were packaged and freezer
ready.
We appreciate all who
placed orders, and we hope
you enjoyed them with fam-
ily and friends during this
holiday season.
Happy Holidays, and
thanks for supporting the
turf project.
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
Claudia Drill
Dallas Booster Club
Dallas
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
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Letters that are libelous, ob-
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The deadline for letters to the
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tractable after this deadline.
Reach us at:
Mail: Editor, Polk County
Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108,
Dallas, OR 97338. Email:
ionews@polkio.com.
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.51
(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
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Dallas, Oregon 97338
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