January 26 , 2022
Ladies only Wrestling | A9
Volume 146, Issue 04
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Mayor outlines his goals for Dallas in 2022 Brian Dalton gives his State of the City Address By JOLENE GUZMAN Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Mayor Brian Dalton has three goals he believes the city of Dallas
should pursue during 2022 to enable the city to not only grow, but thrive, in the future. He outlined those objectives — revitalizing the Weyerhaeuser old mill site, developing a new business district, and building a new dam — in his annual state of the city address delivered
during the Jan. 17 Dallas City Council meeting. Dalton assessed 2021, which he found to be “relatively tranquil” in Dallas, aside from extreme weather events and the ongoing pandemic. “Last year, I guaranteed you that 2021 wouldn’t be boring and I think that we
were successful at that,” Dalton said. “Mother Nature pretty much shaped our year. It started with a big ice storm, and then the drought and record high temperatures – 106 degrees in Dallas, 117 they say, in Salem. And then water use cutbacks, and paradoxically later on, we had floods, and finally the white
cohort that began high school in 2010-11. Additionally, the district was able to bring its completer rate to 86.7%. Principal Donna Servignat said she was extremely proud of CHS’s class of 2021, touting their success despite losing By DAVID HAYES and out on many of the normal JOLENE GUZMAN activities of a traditional high Itemizer-Observer school experience through the Polk County’s two largest spring of their junior year and public high schools took diftheir senior year. ferent paths in their graduation “They faced terrific adverrates, according to numbers sity and were able to stay released by the state last week. engaged in order to earn the Central High School bucked credits they needed in order the statewide, slight downto walk across the finish line ward trend, seeing its gradua- and earn their diplomas. They tion rate improve in 2020-21 navigated constantly changing to 85.41%, up from 83.62% schedules, new online platin 2019-20. That equates to forms, two grading system 199 graduates out of 233 adjustments, and shifting total students. Statewide, COVID protocols,” Servignat Oregon’s four-year graduation said. rate involving 37,320 total Superintendent Jennifer students decreased in 2020Kubista said in addition to 21 to 80.6% from 82.6% in the administration’s imple2019-20. mentation of its High School Following the statewide Success Plan, there were four trend, Dallas School District’s key factors that contributed to four-year graduation rate fell CSD’s success. from 85.19% in the 2020-21 school year to 81.33 last year. The district graduated 183 See RATES, page A10 students of the 225 of the
PHOTOS BY LACEY WHITE
Bill Jenks grew up around dirt bikes his whole life. So, when he and his wife moved from the city of Salem out the countryside just south of Independence, he had a vision to utilize the land. “Just looking at the all the hills, I thought, ‘Oh my God. I gotta build a track out here!’” the now 54-year-old Jenks recalled. “The day we were moving in, me and my friend were tying little ribbons to weeds and bare briers, going yeah, we’re going to make a berm here and a jump here. My wife is putting stuff in the
See GOALS, page A16
Central numbers increase while Dallas numbers dip
A local rider gets covered in mud at a new years ride Jan.9th at the BaD Acres MX track.
By DAVID HAYES Itemizer-Observer
“If it weren’t for Mother Nature’s strange sense of humor, life in Dallas was relatively tranquil last year,” he said. Dalton said Dallas remains one of the fastest growing cities in the state, having built 500 new dwellings and adding
Area high schools get mixed grades in their grad rates
Mad for MX
Lifelong enthusist opens homemade track to local motorcross riders
Christmas snowstorm ended the year. “Of course, all year plaguing us was Mother Nature’s nightmare, the pandemic. Shame on her,” he added. He said the city took those events in stride, with the help of snowplows, backhoes, chainsaws and the ever-present personal protective equipment.
house going, Come on. And I’m like, no way. Priorities babe.” For nearly 25 years, Jenks has kept his homemade motocross track for personal use and for his closest friends. Then, when the pandemic hit, Jenks had another vision – open up his track to everyone. So, for the last year and half, Jenks is the proud proprietor of BaD Acres private MX track. “The pandemic, it’s kinda what made me open it up to the public. It was affecting me. I wasn’t working any more. OK, what can I do? I can have people come out and ride, stay six feet apart, so whatever. Let’s do that,” Jenks said. “I don’t know why, but more people are out riding dirt bikes instead of going to football games. When it’s one of few things you could still
Commissioners approve $2 million to expand rural broadband service Contract negotiations next step with MINET, Alyrica
-MINET service to Clow Corner/Rickreall for $300,000 -Alyrica to NW Dallas using wireless $795,000 -MINET service to SW Dallas for little over $1 million -MINET feasibility study for Falls City for $20,000 Chairman Lyle Mordhorst said the need to expand broadband service became very clear when COVID first hit, forcing many residents to work from home with inferior access to the Internet. “It became apparent that Polk County was very challenged with internet access - 50% of houses in rural Polk County had no internet or what they had was very poor,” Mordhorst said. “And the change made in first round a year ago was amazing. It’s been brought up to 90%. To
By DAVID HAYES Itemizer-Observer
A drone shot shows the layout of BaD Acres track. go out and do. Cool for me, I guess.” He added motorcycle sales in general have increased exponentially all over the U.S. since the pandemic began,
especially in the local area. Jenks said the Sublimity Power Motor Sports dealership has been the No. 1 See MX, page A10
In an effort to expand broadband to underserved areas of Polk County, the commissioners approved at their Jan. 25 meeting four project proposals from two network providers which could potentially add services to more than 1,000 residents. Dean Anderson, project manager for the broadband proposals, told the County Commissioners the committee selected the four following proposals by MonmouthIndependence Networks (MINET) and Philomath based Alyrica Networks, Inc.: See BROADBAND, page A16
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Cory Ellis takes over superintendent duties at Falls City schools | A2
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Historic cavalcade wagon finally finds its place at new Heritage Museum site | A3
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