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Wednesday August 20, 2025 | Volume 150, Issue 34

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Vocal Israel protesters interrupt Wyden, Salinas town Hall at WOU Settlement to build

Independence

treatment plant reached

By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

Western Oregon University hosted a town hall for Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden Aug. 14, the 1,129th since he went to Washington, D.C. in an effort to hear from his constituents in all 36 of the state’s counties. For this leg of his tour, he brought along Rep. Andrea Salinas, who represents Oregon’s 6th District, which includes Dallas, Monmouth and Independence. While the plan was to hear the top concerns from their constituents, the loudest attendees often interrupted, attacking Wyden and Salinas for their ongoing support of Israel. The town hall started to go off the rails when someone brought up the “ongoing genocide in Palistine” and how both Wyden and Salinas were influenced by contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) allegedly to the tune of $1.2 million to Wyden and $200,000 to Salinas. “What are you going to do to stop the genocide that Israel is currently excising on the people of Palastine, and will you stop receiving funding from AIPAC who is very much not aligned with the views of America of liberty and justice for all people?” a protester asked, adding how they are suffering starvation and famine at the hands of Israel preventing aid to come into the country. After a lengthy cheer from the crowd of about 300, Wyden tried to say that was a very important question that deserved a serious answer.

Landowner to receive $400,000 By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

PHOTOS BY DAVID HAYES

(Top) A protestor unfurled a large banner summarizing the anti-Israel sentiment at a town hall featuring Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Andrea Salinas at WOU Werner Center Aug. 14. (Bottom) Rep. Andrea Salinas presents former Independence Mayor John McArdle with a flag that flew over the U.S. Capital in honor of his nearly three decades of service to the community. See WYDEN, page A2

Dallas grad realizes dream of flying Nutsch then referred her to the Independence chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. When Katie Ragan was 16, a She joined their projects, building a funny thing happened on her way to plane from scratch on Saturdays. earn her driver’s license. She devel“It really drew me in. I really oped a passion for flying. liked all this mechanics and mainteNow 19, the 2024 graduate of nance type work I was doing,” she Dallas High School has earned her said. “The more you know about airsolo pilot’s license while attending planes, the more excited you get.” Lane Community College’s Aviation Technically, it took Ragan eight Academy. months to get her solo pilot’s After flying with an instructor license, but she clarified they were and attending classes non-stop since not flying for four of those months graduation, the moment came sudduring the winter. denly. She’d been training on a Piper This spring she’ll get an assoPHOTO CONTRIBUTED Warrior, a PA-28, a low winged, ciates degree in applied science. Katie Ragan, a 2024 Dallas High School graduate, stands small aircraft. Then one day, the Then, hopefully, by the end of next next to her training aircraft, a Piper Warrior, a PA-28. training was over and reality kicked summer, she’ll be done with all her in. “Then I went out and did the exact cool knowing to one day help people licenses and readings, freeing her up “It was crazy. We have one door to pursue whatever she wants next on our airplane that we fly. And I’m same thing. I was fully confident. It experience the world,” Ragan said. was critical to build who I was,” she The more she researched the more with a pilot’s license. like, I’ve never had to close that said. “It’s something I’m going to her passion grew. There’s a time period after graddoor before,” Ragan described havget familiar with and regular with. While she didn’t get on the path uation to pursue bigger jobs with ing to scoot over to make room for You just have to get comfortable to actually earning her pilot’s license airlines, Ragan explained. the instructor. “They’re just going with. It was really neat.” until she started attending LCC, for “You finish school with 300 to let me go? Okay. That’s kind of Ragan has been going non-stop in her senior project she reached out hours, at least I will, and you can’t crazy.” the program since graduation. to Nutsch Aviation, a flight school become an airline pilot until 1,500 She said she wasn’t the youngest She said her passion for flying at Independence Airport to be a job hours,” she said. “I’m not necessarstudent to get a license. Nor the fastshadow or apprentice. ily driven to become an airline pilot. est. But she may have been the most ignited after a year she spent at age “They helped me get set up. They I would like to be one, someday. enthusiastic, being one of the first in 16 as a Rotary exchange student to Italy. were the ones who helped me apply My bigger focus is to be a pilot in her class to solo. “I absolutely adored traveling. for a student pilot’s license. You Alaska. I would really, really like Her first solo all went as planned. I noticed in airports there are a need an instructor to sign off for to fly there. Smaller planes, hardier After flying with her instructor on you. They went on a discovery flight three loops of the airfield, full stops lot of emotions. They’re going for something fun. Or they’re going for with me. They kinda got my feet in and taxi backs, he turned the conSee FLYING PAGE A2 something sad. I thought it would be the water,” Ragan said. trols over to her to recreate. By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor

IN THIS ISSUE

After months of jumping through legal hoops, the city of Independence finally has the land it needs to build a new water treatment plant, although at a hefty price of $400,000. The administration reached a settlement with the landowner south of town for 12 acres next to Corvallis Road. The city had tried to acquire the land from the original landowner, Pat Henderson, in April of 2024, for $180,000; Henderson’s counteroffer was $250,000. City Manager Kenna West said many state required legal steps had to be followed to reach this end point, beginning years ago when Independence purchased water rights. “Because these water rights have already been relocated once, they cannot be moved again. This means the new water treatment plant must be built close to the current water rights location to avoid additional costs or complications,” Kenna explained via email. She said the city-owned land at that location was not large enough to accommodate the city’s needs for a new water treatment facility. Thus, the most practical and cost-effective solution they considered was the adjacent privately owned land. West said Oregon law strictly governs how public entities may acquire private property. “The city was legally required to attempt to negotiate a purchase through a neutral third party before pursuing eminent domain, and all steps had to be documented and completed in accordance with state law,” West said. “Despite these efforts, the city was unable to reach an agreement with the landowner, leaving eminent domain as the only lawful option to secure the property.” West explained that the process of acquiring land for a public project is inherently lengthy, and this case was no exception. Legal requirements mandated multiple steps before moving to condemnation, all of which take time to complete. After filing the initial documents with the court to notify all parties of the pending condemnation case, Henderson sold the land to a new buyer. West said this required adjustments to the legal proceedings and caused additional delays, with court hearings further extending the timeline. To resolve the matter, the city and property owner retained an outside See INDY PAGE A3

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