PIO129 by C.M.I.

Dallas

Sports

Center Market Still Recovering

Daughter, Father Coaches together See B1

See A3

Wednesday January 29, 2025 | Volume 150, Issue 5

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Kujo’s takes a bite out of Pokémon collectable market

$2.00

DSD seeks community input for future of its elementary schools

By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Krystle Sanchez has joined a growing fraternity of niche store owners in Dallas catering to the collectables crowd. Her new store, Kujo’s Kollectables, joined Everything Blaine Likes, Mythic Finds and Penny’s with a grand opening ribbon cutting on Jan. 25. Each store offers something a little bit different from the other. For Sanchez, Kujo’s Kollectables is an outgrowth of her own obsession with Pokémon. The thought of doing something with her growing collection had its seeds about four to five months ago, she said. “I’m a pretty big Pokémon collector and there was nowhere in town, like, Walmart was always sold out. So, the next closest place you had to go to was Salem,” Sanchez said. “I had a huge collection myself, duplicates and things like that. Oh, what can I do to sell them? Then just decided to start my own business selling them.” Huge for Sanchez, she admits, is over 10,000 cards. “I kind of said it as a joke. ‘Maybe I should just open my own place. Cause there’s nowhere in town to get them. Next thing I know, within an hour I was registering a business. It came to this,” Sanchez said.

By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES(TO

Krystle Sanchez makes her first sales to the rush of customers at the grand opening of her Pokémon centric store Kujo’s Kollectables. As the co-owner of Jungle Pet Supply with her wife Gabriella Bumpus, she started small, offering up her duplicates on a stand in the pet store. Then she expanded by offering up little selections at Everything Blaine Likes. Then the suite next door to Jungle Pet came

available and she decided to take a leap of faith. “I kind of want to be the shop where everybody finds the things that I like. I love that Mythic Finds has the tables to go play on. Because a lot of people want a place to go learn to play games,” Sanchez said.

Bumpus will continue to operate Jungle Pet Supply next door, with Sanchez helping an hour in the morning and an hour to close. Then all day Monday. “We’ll both be back and forth. It will definitely be a big change not See KUJO’S, page A3

Robert Spivey selected to fill vacated Dallas City Council seat There were questions within the community about why the city didn’t just go with the candidate who received the next highest vote total Robert Spivey began the evening of Jan. 14 applying to fill a vacant Dallas City Council seat. in the November election. Latta said the City Council followed its charter to fill the vacancy. Not much later, he was rather surprised to not “The city charter states, ‘vacancies in elective only be the near-unanimous selection, but in a offices in the city shall be filled by vote of a whirlwind of action, to be sworn in and sitting in majority of the incumbent members of the counon important decisions. cil,’” Latta explained. “The City Council decided “It was a pretty humbling experience to have by a majority vote to solicit applications to fill them show that much confidence in me,” Spivey the vacancy, and a majority vote was also used to said. select the new councilor.” The city found itself in need of a new councilor Spivey and three others applied, including after Troy Hazelton, just chosen to one of five recent former city council members Nancy Adams open seats in the November election, purchased and Kirsten Collins. The third was retiree Robert his house outside city limits. This necessitated his Greenway, who’d moved to Dallas a year ago. stepping down from the council. Spivey, a 20-plus year resident of Dallas, said “Simply purchasing property outside the city he didn’t run for the seat during the last election limits does not disqualify someone from holding because he felt there was already a strong slate elected office in the city,” City Manager Brian of candidates who’d put their name in the hat he Latta explained. “It is the act of moving your could support. residence outside the city that disqualifies. It’s my He thought he had enough background to seriunderstanding that Mr. Hazelton moved outside ously be considered this go around. the city in December 2024.” By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Spivey is the human resource manager for Open Dental Software out of Salem, overseeing a team of 12, handling all the administrative aspects for a 430-person company. He is currently on the Dallas School District’s finance committee and had previously worked as director of administrative services for the city of Dallas. Each candidate was given 16 questions to answer for the remaining City Council members to consider, then given three minutes each to sell why they should be selected. Afterwards, Spivey said he was sure he was going to lose out to Adams. “Nancy Adams is an amazing person. I might have voted for her,” he said. He said he wasn’t sure why he was selected, adding “my presentation was enthusiastic. My answers were clear yet deep enough to map out my thought process.”

Prices start @ $20

See COUNCIL, page A3

The Dallas School District has launched an online poll to solicit the community’s input to help shape the future of its elementary schools. To take the online survey, go to https://bit.ly/3WBYNC9. The survey will remain open until March 28, the end of spring break. In addition, the district will host opportunities for open conversations, where the community can share feedback in person and ask questions. The schedule and location for these meetings are: Lyle Elementary: 6-7 p.m. Feb. 3 Oakdale Elementary: 6-7 p.m. Feb. 18 Whitworth Elementary: 6-7 p.m. March 5 Dallas Superintendent Steve Spencer said the district is constantly striving to provide the best learning environments for its students while meeting the needs of families, staff and community. He knows of no other districts that split their elementary school student populations like Dallas has for more than 15 years. Lyle and Oakdale enroll kindergarten through third graders while Whitworth has fourth and fifth graders. Spencer said because of shifts district enrollment, the administration is conducting a needs assessment regarding their elementary school model. “We have been experiencing significant changes post-COVID, namely a decline in student enrollment and increased behavioral challenges,” Spencer explained. “When combined with budget reductions the past two years, we want to make sure that we are utilizing our resources in the most effective and efficient manner.” Currently, Lyle has 301 students, Oakdale has 315, and Whitworth has 368. Spencer said the district made a temporary adjustment this year to move two third grade classes, one from Lyle and one from Oakdale to Whitworth to balance out some student/teacher ratios. See SCHOOLS, page A3

Prices start @ $20 Prices start @ $20

Theatre Location 324 52 Ave NW Salem OR 97403 West of Salem off Hwy 22

IN THIS ISSUE Voices Corrections Obituaries Puzzle Solutions Social Public Records Classifieds Puzzles

A4 A4 A4 B2 B2 B6 B4 A6

www.PentacleTheater.org www.PentacleTheatre.org www.PentacleTheater.org Theatre Location 503-485-4300 Ticket Office www.PentacleTheater.org 324 Location 52 Ave NW Salem OR 97403 Theatre

503-485-4300 - Ticket Office 503-485-4300 - Ticket Office

Salem off Hwy 22 324 52 Ave NW West SalemofOR 97403 West of Salem off Hwy 22

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