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Wednesday February 19, 2025 | Volume 150, Issue 8

Sheriff’s office nears completion of new dog kennel

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Snow Fun Evan Sorce

By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Polk County is nearing completion of a new dog kennel being built to temporarily house recovered strays on the county fairgrounds property. Capt. Jeff Isham recently updated the County Commissioners on the project’s progress. The commissioners allotted last year $250,000 to construct the new kennel. Isham said the kennel will be replacing the one currently owned by the city of Dallas. “That kennel is located right next to the firing range that the city owns. Not an ideal location for dogs when there is potentially shooting out there all day long,” Isham told the Itemizer-Observer. “Not only is the location not in a great place, it is also in desperate need of numerous repairs. It is also very small and not ideal for housing more than a couple of dogs.” The new kennel was ordered last fall. A concrete pad has been poured at the location to build it upon. Isham expects a delivery date of Feb. 24. Isham said the sheriff’s office has always had the responsibility of animal control duties, explaining cities within the county can opt out of any requirements to pick up strays if they don’t do the licensing and collect the revenue. “I have been here 17 years and PCSO has had that responsibility for the city of Salem that entire time,” he said. “About a year ago, Dallas opted to not license dogs and turned that over to the county, so we have that responsibility as well.” Cities are still responsible to investigate crimes against animals or that involve animals and are also still responsible if a dog is a public safety concern, Isham added. Isham said the PCSO’s Animal Control Deputy Jody Whiting currently works with local rescues to assist them if they’re unable to locate owners and get the dog back to them within a few days. “We aren’t set up for long-term housing of the strays that we take in,” Isham said. “She has various resources that she currently rotates between depending on which one at any given time has the ability to take in the dog.” The size of the kennel will be 14-feet by 54-feet, enough to hold 12 dogs. “Hopefully we never get there. It’s a good size. We’ve planned for growth,” Isham told the commissioners. It will be probably a month before the sheriff’s office gets the kennel fully up and running after it’s delivered, Isham added. “We have to connect power and water and make sure everything is operational before we start placing animals there,” he said. See KENNEL, page A3

Evan Sorce voted to fill vacated Independence council seat PHOTO BY LAURA RICE

Amelia Rice enjoys a sled ride with her dog Axel pulling her across a field last week. See more snow pictures on page A8.

Friends open shops for new home to their creative outlets By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Retirement doesn’t suit Lisa Purkerson and Marena Ward very well. Their friendship goes back decades. Rather than sit on a porch reminiscing about past business successes, they each have opened a shop in the Little Mall on Main in Independence. When COVID shuttered the restaurant industry, Ward said she still had a little fun she still wanted to do, rather than contemplate retirement. “I was a chef and baker for 43 years. I’ve owned three restaurants, been a private chef, and had a catering business. COVID kind of shut the food business down hard. That’s when I lost my last big job,” Ward said. “I was thinking of starting a food truck. Then woke up, man at 65-years-old, what am I thinking?”

PHOTOS BY DAVID HAYES

Marena Ward inventories the many hand-made crafts available in her gift shop and craft studio, Heartfelt Hideaway inside the Little Mall on Main in Independence. across the hall and rebranded to Heartfelt Hideaway. “It’s a handmade gift shop. Every single thing in here is made by Nancy and me, my daughter and her brother. No outside vendors. All of it we do ourselves,” Ward said.

Lisa Purkerson sits inside her eclectic new shop Snickety Picks inside the Little Mall on Main in Independence. That’s when her husband suggested taking all her craft stuff she’s always doing and start a craft shop. She searched the region, including Dallas, Monmouth and McMinnville, before finding the nook in the back of Little Mall on Main in Independence. She opened it with her other longtime friend Nancy Medlock. They soon outgrew their small space, moved into a larger one

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Their shelves are stocked with jewelry, wood crafted boxes, mugs, 3D printed art and vases, fidget toys, freeze dried candy and much more. “I’m home to the homemade greeting cards. We sell them for $1 apiece. When I lost my youngest son to cancer, we started selling them as a fundraiser,” she said.

The store even has classroom space for classes and a press for custom T-shirts. And in another section, she has a selection of Purkerson’s creations. “We used to be business partners before,” Ward said. “She did what I couldn’t do, and I did what she couldn’t do. It was fun. We used to do pop up craft bazaars. Cricket classes. Gnome classes. Then COVID hit and couldn’t do that stuff in the same building anymore.” Purkerson, 65, has had other retail businesses in Salem featuring children’s wear and her own manufacture line, Preemie-Yums. She hasn’t had a retail shop since her Salem business closed in 2021. But she kept her sales going via Etsy. When Purkerson was ready to get back into a brick-and-mortar location, Ward told her about her space opening up last fall. Purkerson jumped at the opportunity and moved in her eclectic inventory Thanksgiving weekend last year, utilizing her Etsy name – Snickety Picks. “My first focus was to offer the community fabrics and lotions. I didn’t want to compete with big fabric stores,” she said. “Then the See FRIENDS, page A3

By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

After narrowly losing a bid for election to the Independence City Council last fall, Evan Sorce succeeded in his second go-around Feb. 11. The City Council voted 4-1 for Sorce over the second finalist applicant Bradley Karkanen to fill the Position No. 4 seat, vacated last fall when Kate Schwarzler ran for mayor. Councilor Dawn Roden was the lone vote against Sorce. “I am honored for the opportunity to serve the next couple years,” Sorce told the Itemizer-Observer. “I look forward to having conversations with our neighbors to help make our community better.” Independence Communications Director Emmanuel Giocochea explained that the city recently implemented a new, structured, and transparent approach to filling council vacancies, as historically, there wasn’t a standardized procedure. Mayor Schwarzler prioritized a fair and equitable process as part of her new initiatives, Giocochea said. “To achieve this, we researched best practices from other cities and developed a framework that included a clear application process, and a consistent set of interview questions tailored to address the community’s current challenges,” Giochochea said. “This approach ensures that all candidates have an equal opportunity to present their qualifications.” The city solicited community members to apply to fill the vacant seat and received six applicants. In addition to Sorce and Karkanen were Dale Russell, Dana Sharman, Jesus Orozco Gonzalez, Marc Miller and Vidal Pena. The council whittled down the choices to their top two, interviewing Sorce and Karanen in closed session and again in open chambers, before making their final decision. Before giving their vote, each of the city councilors expressed the different qualities for their choice to fill the seat. For example, Marilyn Morton said her criteria were “experience, connections and communications.” While Kathy Martin-Willis said she looked at “broad community involvement, skill set that they thought they would bring to the council.

See SORCE, page A3

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