Polk County News
Continued from Page 1a
Dallas School District has
used five snow days, but has
up to nine it could use.
State law requires 900 hours
of instructional time during a
school year for students in
grades kindergarten through
eighth grade.
For grades nine through 11,
the requirement is 990 hours.
Seniors are required to attend
966 hours.
Dallas officers cleared by
grand jury: A Polk County
grand jury found that two Dal-
las police officers were justified
in using deadly force during
the Dec. 16, 2016, shooting in-
cident that killed Jeremiah N.
Anderson.
The grand jury’s finding was
unanimous, said a press release
from the Polk County District
Attorney’s Office.
Clow Corner, Highway 99
to get roundabout: Round-
about. That’s the solution for
the intersection at Clow Corner
and Highway 99W that Polk
County and Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation officials
agreed to pursue.
County officials say it’s not a
perfect solution and more ex-
pensive than the traffic signal
they have been wanting for a
decade, but it’s at least doing
something at an intersection
that has a history of serious
crashes.
As of September, the inter-
section of has been the spot
for 32 crashes in the last 10
years, according to ODOT. Of
those, five were very serious
crashes, with two fatalities.
Monmouth shows off sen-
ior center expansion: Hun-
dreds gathered at the Mon-
mouth Senior Center for its
open house and ribbon cut-
ting, celebrating the 2,133-
square-foot expansion project.
The $520,000 addition was
paid for through fundraising
from the Friends of the Mon-
mouth Senior Center, coupled
with contributions from the
city of Monmouth as well as
grants from Ford Family Foun-
dation, Meyer Memorial Trust,
Oregon Community Fund and
the Collins Fund. While the ac-
tual construction was speedy
— the ground-breaking was in
the summer of 2016 — secur-
ing the money took more than
a decade.
February
Court security to limit ac-
cess: County commissioners
consider limiting access to the
courthouse through the his-
toric doors in an effort to in-
crease courtroom safety.
Final credits for Motor Vu
Drive-in: Motor Vu owner Jeff
Mexico took down signage at
the snack bar at the drive-in on
a Friday afternoon in mid-Feb-
ruary. He closed the drive-in
after an online campaign failed
to raise money to purchase the
land the theater occupied.
great american Eclipse
comes in august: A special
section with information about
the eclipse, as well as memo-
ries of the last eclipse to hit
Oregon, ran in mid-February.
a blessed ministry: Jinett
Yeager named First Citizen by
Dallas Area Chamber of Com-
merce.
Other winners at the ban-
quet were Business of the Year:
Heartstrings Floral & Artisans;
Young Pros of the Year: Devin
Colby Jones and MacLarin
Jones; Organization of the Year:
CASA of Polk County; and Ex-
cellence in Arts; Abe Huff.
March
Lights of the Community:
Awards showcase Monmouth,
Indy businesses, people.
Steve Milligan, Monmouth’s
mayor, was honored as First
Citizen at the March banquet.
Other winners were: Retail
services – Independence Cine-
ma; Nonprofit or organization
– Partnerships in Community
Living Inc.; Food and Beverage
Service – Arena Sports Bar &
Grill; Personal Service Provider
– Monmouth Fitness Club; Pro-
fessional Service Provider –
M onmouth-I ndependence
Networks; Financial Service
Provider – Oregon State Credit
Union; Distinguished Service –
Josh Cronin; Junior Citizen –
Andrew Love; Educator of the
Year – Marcella Stepp-Rodarte;
Education Support Staff of the
Year – Becky McMillian.
Central SD names top
three: English, Kubista, Tucker
make final cut for superinten-
dent
A meet and greet was held
in late March to meet the three
finalists for Central’s new su-
perintendent. Jennifer Kubista
got the job.
An in-depth interview was
printed in early April to get to
know Kubista better.
April
american gas & Tech to
name school after Fink: The
man who sold the former Tyco
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 27, 2017 3a
YEAR IN REVIEW
Building in Dallas to American
Gas & Technology will have
part of the facility named after
him. All future employees will
train at the Harvey S. Fink
Welding School at the facility,
now primed to begin produc-
tion of natural gas liquefiers.
June
Mill landmark comes
down: Crews remove the Wey-
erhaeuser mill building known
as Noah’s Ark.
Another piece of Dallas’ tim-
ber town legacy disappeared
with the dismantling of the old
drying shed affectionately
known as “Noah’s Ark,” on the
former Weyerhaeuser mill
property.
The property owner, North-
west Demolition & Disman-
tling, has been getting the site
ready for redevelopment. Most
of the wood from the structure
was salvaged, while other ma-
terials were recycled.
July
Reach for the sky: This
story about local amateur as-
tronomers Jon and Susan
Brewster, marked the first of
many stories gearing up for the
Great American Eclipse. In it,
we meet the Brewsters, who
have an observatory built at
their Monmouth home, situat-
ed for perfect stargazing.
Events center awaits deci-
sion: Owners of a proposed
event center on Polk Station
Road just outside of Dallas are
awaiting a Polk County Hear-
ings Officer decision on an ap-
peal of its conditional use per-
mit. Before the planning de-
partment approved the permit,
neighbors and other groups
expressed opposition and con-
cerns, mostly about traffic,
noise and safety.
Taking matters into his
own hands: Dallas resident
Alex Lofton, family and friends
restore and renew Tawney me-
morial sign.
When Alex Lofton found out
Sgt. Ian Tawney’s memorial
park sign was vandalized, he
wasn’t going to let it sit
overnight without trying to fix
it. He, his brother, his girlfriend
and friend packed up buckets
of soapy water and scrub
brushes, parked his car in front
of the sign and used the head-
lights to try and clean off the
pink spray paint.
The search for the grail:
Caceu owns one of two olive
farms in Polk County.
Bogdan Caceu is searching
for the “holy grail” of olive
trees. He is the owner of La
Creole Orchards, bordering the
Bridlewood neighborhood of
Dallas.
He’s among about a dozen
growers who are pioneering
Oregon’s budding olive and
olive oil industry.
August
his mother Natacia Abbe,
along with two other children
were able to evacuate. The
home in the 700 block of North
Catron Street was heavily in-
volved in fire when firefighters
arrived, said Polk County Fire
District No. 1 Deputy Chief
Neal Olson. The fire was electri-
cal and started on or under the
patio, Olson said.
Two firefighters were injured
in the attempts to rescue the
11-month-old boy, Sebastian,
and to put out the fire. Both
firefighters were treated for
their injuries, Olson said.
Lifelong dream realized at
illahe Vineyards: At about
9:25 a.m., Lisa Hoople looked
up at the sun shortly after the
Great American Eclipse began
at Illahe Vineyards in Dallas.
“It’s starting to really shape
up as the moon now,” she said.
Hoople, from Por tland,
watched the eclipse with her
husband, James Hoople, and
Carrie De Graaf, who visited
them from Michigan just for
this occasion. They had
planned ahead.
They even made a dry run of
their drive from Portland on all
back roads to get to the vine-
yard in case of bad traffic.
It took two hours, so they
stayed for a wine tasting after
route testing and made a con-
nection with Illahe’s tasting
room manager Kathy Grey-
smith.
Traffic sparks concerns:
Monmouth resident wants
changes at intersection of MES.
Paul Sieber, a resident of
Monmouth for longer than
four decades, is looking for a
change in his neighborhood.
September
Baskett Slough battles
water primrose: Baskett
S l o u g h N at i o n a l Wi l d l i fe
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
invasive water primrose.
Refuge employees are trying
to eradicate it early, which re-
quires draining the wetlands,
including those beloved by
local birders and hikers.
Purple Heart finds way to
family: Quest to reunite medal
to hero’s descendants takes 12
years.
After a 12-year search, Kevin
Coady finally found the family
of fallen U.S. Marine Pfc. Jack
Carl Kightlinger.
City councilors vote to
close wagner: The city of Falls
City voted to close Wagner
Community Library effective
June 30, 2018 if a solution to
long-term funding is not
found.
The council agreed in No-
vember to keep the library
open until Aug. 31, 2018, for
the summer reading program.
City staff is now scheduling
public hearings required be-
fore a public library can be
closed.
October
Fire contract set to expire
A contract between South-
western Polk Rural Fire Protec-
tion District and Falls City Fire
Department regarding services
in that area of the district is on
the verge of expiring without a
new agreement.
A three-month extension of
the contract ended, and the
two sides did not see eye-to-
eye on the details.
Thursday, Dec. 21, Fire Chief
Bob Young announced the end
of the 70-year agreement.
City to gauge support: The
city of Dallas has hired a con-
sultant to help gauge support
for solutions to improve its po-
lice and fire stations — includ-
ing building a facility to house
both departments.
In December we learn that
focus groups organized to
gauge support of a combined
police/fire/ems building didn’t
offer much insight into how
Dallas citizens would vote if
funding for the facility were
placed on a ballot.
The council declined to
move forward with preparing
to place a bond before voters
in May and didn’t authorize
further research via a tele-
phone poll.
Teens to teens: never
alone: Students in Central
High School’s Power Peers
leadership class decided to
help raise awareness of suicide.
With the assistance of the Mid-
Valley Suicide Prevention Coali-
tion and Central staff, the class
kicked off a year-long suicide
awareness and prevention
campaign. Part of that cam-
paign was a short video,
“Alone,” which members of the
Power Peers class helped write
and starred in.
November
Make -a-thon inspires:
Imagine building a high-tech
greenhouse or chicken coop in
one day — with no program-
ming experience going in. The
50 or so students and adults
who gathered at LaCreole Mid-
dle School for Saturday’s Dallas
Make-a-thon don’t have to
imagine.
They did it. The event was
organized by SparkFun and
DEADLINES
Online NW, and Innovate Ore-
gon.
URD may extend duration
10 years: The Dallas Urban Re-
newal District may extend the
duration of its district, possibly
another 10 or more years. On
Nov. 6, the Dallas Urban Re-
newal agency board and advi-
sory council met with consult-
ant Elaine Howard to review
options.
grand jury clears sheriff’s
office in shooting: A Polk
County grand jury cleared Polk
County Sheriff’s Office Sgt.
Kevin Haynes and Deputy Kelly
Lorence in the shooting death
of Baltazar Escalona-Baez, 17,
of Silverton. On Nov. 21, the
grand jury unanimously found
the officers were justified in
using deadly force during the
incident, which happened on
Oct. 28 near Fort Hill in Polk
County.
December
City council votes to termi-
nate Foggin: The Dallas City
Council voted to part ways
with City Manager Ron Foggin
in a 5-to-4 vote on Dec. 4. The
termination followed Foggin’s
annual performance evalua-
tion and was effective immedi-
ately.
He will receive a severance
package of $15,425.20 monthly
for a maximum of nine months
or until he is hired somewhere
else. Council President Micky
Garus, who voted in favor of
the termination, said it was en-
acted under section 10 of Fog-
gin’s contract with the city and
is a “no cause” termination.
Along with Garus, councilors
Terry Crawford, Bill Hahn, Jack-
ie Lawson and Paul Trahan
voted for the termination.
Councilors Jim Fairchild, Kelly
Gabliks, Jennie Rummell and
Ken Woods Jr. voted no. When
asked the reason behind let-
ting Foggin go, Garus said the
city is “moving forward and is
hopeful for future opportuni-
ties.”
Greg Ellis accepted the job
as interim manager in Dallas a
few days later.
For photos from 2017, see
online at polkio.com.
We know we missed a lot of
important news — what were
some of the headlines you re-
member from 2017? Let us
know at ionews@polkio.com.
HOLiDaY DEaDLinES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Friday.
Community events —
Noon on Thursday for both
the Community Notebook
and Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on Friday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
Friday.
aDVERTiSing DEaDLinES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Monday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on Friday.
Classified line ads —
Noon on Friday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — Noon
on Thursday.
CORRECTIONS
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to pub-
lishing accurate news, feature
and sports reports. If you see
anything that requires a cor-
rection or clarification, call the
newsroom at 503-623-2373 or
send an email to
ementzer@polkio.com.
WEBSITE
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items.
The Itemizer-Observer is
also on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram. Watch for
breaking news, links to sto-
ries, sports scores updates
and more.
WEATHER
RECORDED
HigH LOw
Dec. 19.............. 52
Dec. 20.............. 48
Dec. 21.............. 35
Dec. 22.............. 43
Dec. 23.............. 41
Dec. 24.............. 35
Dec. 25.............. 41
40
27
24
32
31
31
33
Rain
.74
.08
.00
.19
.15
.35
.04
Rainfall during Dec. — 2.22 in.
Rain through Dec. 25 — 50.05 in.
LUCKIAMUTE
DOMESTIC WATER
COOPERATIVE
BOARD MEETING
Monday 7:00 p.m.
January 8th
503-838-2075
Location: Business Office
8585 Suver Rd. • Monmouth
Come and see me
for your hearing needs.
Mark Sturtevant
Serving the
community
since 1992.
503-623-0290 • 312 Main Street, Dallas
Eclipse: why all the fuss?
The moon will cast its shad-
ow over Polk County the morn-
ing of Aug. 21 during the Great
American Eclipse, but what’s
the big deal? When it comes to
eclipses, timing is everything.
The total solar eclipse on Aug.
21 has it all.
Local cold case featured
on show: Detective John
Williams thought the Polk
County Sheriff’s Office had the
Glenn Pennie disappearance
case solved in 2013. Pennie
vanished from his home on Air-
lie Road at some point be-
tween the evening of Oct. 3,
2004, when he made a phone
call, and Oct. 5, 2004, when he
was due in Oakland, Calif., for a
hearing on his late father’s es-
tate.
This Polk County missing
person’s case sparked the inter-
est of producers of Oxygen’s
“Cold Justice.”
infant dies during house
fire: An 11-month-old boy died
in a Monmouth house fire on
Aug. 9. Two adults, including
Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $8.00
Children $7.00 • Senior $7.25
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
FERDINAND
Friday - Monday • December 29 - January 1
FATHER FIGURES (Digital) (R)
(1:55 4:35)
(1:35 4:15)
FERDINAND (Digital) (PG)
(11:30 2:05 4:40)
*JUMANJI (Digital) (PG13)
*STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Digital) (PG13) (12:00 12:30 3:15 3:45)
6:30 7:00
(12:15 2:35 4:55)
PITCH PERFECT 3 (Digital) (PG13)
DOWNSIZING (Digital) (R)
(12:40 3:40)
(12:00 2:30 5:00)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (Digital) (PG)
7:15
6:50
7:15
9:55
9:25
9:50
9:45
7:20
6:45
7:30
10:15
9:40
9:50
10:00
7:15
6:50
7:15
6:30
7:20
6:45
7:30
7:00
Tuesday - Thursday • January 2 - 4
FATHER FIGURES (Digital) (R)
(1:55 4:35)
(1:35 4:15)
FERDINAND (Digital) (PG)
(2:05 4:40)
*JUMANJI (Digital) (PG13)
(12:30 3:15 3:45)
*STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Digital) (PG13)
(2:35 4:55)
PITCH PERFECT 3 (Digital) (PG13)
DOWNSIZING (Digital) (R)
(12:40 3:40)
(2:30 5:00)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (Digital) (PG)
*STARRED ATTRACTION NO PASSES ACCEPTED
RECYCLE
Solution on Page 8A