Panthers take Classic titles | B1 DSD eyes $28 million bond for spring ballot
February 02 , 2022 Volume 146, Issue 05
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Board to discuss vote at Feb. 14 meeting
ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS – With the last voter-approved bond expiring, the Dallas School District Board of Directors heard recommendations for a new $28 million bond. “The finance committee recommends that the board place on the main 2022 ballot a general obligation bond of up to, but not more than $28 million for a time period of up to, but not more than 8.87 years,” Finance Committee Chair Dave Morris said at the meeting. The proposed bond measure for $28 million would fund the district’s capital construction and maintenance needs for the next 10 years. An additional $4 million from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program would kick in on the passing of the bond measure – bringing the total usable funds to $32 million. If the board approves the resolution, the bond would be up for election on the May 17 ballot. District Superintendent Andy Bellando endorsed the recommendations, suggesting the board approve a bond measure resolution at their next meeting on Feb. 14. “By Feb. 25, once we have that resolution, we will file the notice of district measure ballot title and summary with the Polk County elections office. Then, we’ll spend the next two and a half months promoting, discussing, encouraging, sharing, and helping folks understand what this means for the Dallas community,” Bellando said. If the school board doesn’t approve the resolution on Feb.14, Bellando expects more discussion. “My question to the board will be, ‘What do you want me to do with the recommendations? They came from a cross-section of community members – they see the need for continued investment in our schools to make them sustainable and functional over time.’”
PHOTO BY ALEX GAUB
Mike Berkes and Laurie Vale-Berkes plan to close their business, Some Things, after 12 years in downtown Dallas.
‘Some Things’ do change
Popular antique and furniture store closing its doors after 12 years ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
When Mike Berkes went window shopping with his family during Christmas back in Indiana, he never imagined many miles, years, and a ton of work later that he would have his own storefront one day. One replete with decorations on holidays; one that would end up winning Polk County’s Business of the Year in 2019. Berkes and his wife, Laurie Vale-Berkes, opened their first store in the Dallas area on Oct. 12, 2009.
And after 12 years of success, they look towards partial retirement. At 50 years of age and a year after the Great Recession, he had difficulty finding employment that meant something to him. He’d spent 20 years with Chevy as a salesman and sales manager in Indiana. But after moving to Oregon and working as a vendor and retail associate with an antique store in Independence, he had the idea of owning an antique furniture store. The store in Independence turned out to be too expensive when he thought of buying it. But one day, he ran into Marlene Cox, a property owner in Dallas, at Moonfall Theatre in Rickreall. She had a building in Dallas that she told Berkes that he
needed to see. Berkes was hesitant to check it out; he wasn’t sure that he wanted to start a business from scratch. “We went and looked at the building on a lark. We walked about 10 feet in and thought, ‘oh my god – this is perfect,’” Berkes said. Around this time, the couple was planning their wedding. “We got married in September, and we spent our honeymoon on scaffolding painting the new store,” Berkes said. Cox gave them a sliding rent scale their first year in business, which helped them succeed. After all, See CLOSE, page A15
Not all victories come in the shape of a tennis ball One dog’s story stands out from the competition at local flyball event ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
PHOTO BY ALEX GAUB
(Top)Bay Racers, Cannon, and Michelle Largent pose at the Animal House Toga Party – a weekend-long event held at the Polk County Fairgrounds. (Left)Jack-Jack runs the ball back to his cheering teammates from the Bay Racers.
See BOND, page A6
Cannon has been through the wringer. An 11-year-old mixed breed rescue from California, he’s had more than enough excitement during his life. Yet, he’s here at the Polk County Fairgrounds competing against dogs half his age and with far fewer vet visits and long nights spent on the cusp of crossing the rainbow bridge. As the competing teams get in position with their dogs, Cannon pulls hard against his handler’s grip on the harness. These dogs are all business, set like Olympic sprinters lining up on their chalks. Eager barks echo off the walls.
Then, with a yell, the referee signals the beginning of the race. *** Teams from up and down the Pacific Coast came to the fairgrounds on Sunday to participate in the Animal House Toga Party, a North American Flyball Association sanctioned event put on by Animal House Flyball, a club from Salem. This is the first flyball event in the area since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it drew teams from as far north as British Columbia and as far south as Central California. Hosted over the entire weekend, more than 100 individual heats are played throughout the event. Flyball was created in Southern California in the 1960s. Since then, it has grown in popularity as a dog sport. It is now played worldwide, including in Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
The game is played as a relay. The goal is for four dogs, competing against a team of the same number, to run down a lane with four jumps and retrieve a tennis ball from a “flyball box.” The flyball box holds all four balls, and once a dog leaps onto it to turn around, it ejects a tennis ball – the dog then catches it and returns to the start/finish line. The team with the most wins in a heat – or five rounds of racing – will compete with other groups and possibly win the tournament altogether. “A lot of the dogs come from other sports, so they know how to jump,” Mary Lou Janeba said. Janeba is the club president of Animal House Flyball and the tournament director for this weekend’s event. According to Janeba, flyball is much like other dog See FLYBALL, page A6
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