PIO522 by C.M.I.

Closed

Sports

The Polk County Itemizer Observer will be closed Monday May 27, 2024

Clearing fences no problem for Panthers’ slugger See B1

Early ad deadline

Wednesday May 22, 2024 | Volume 148, Issue 20

www.polkio.com

$1.00

Suspect in custody for Polk County murder victim and two others By DAVID HAYES Itemizer-Observer

PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES

Falls City Elementary School students get excited by the largest volcanic eruption caused by fifth grade teacher Lynnell VanPatten May 16 during her 11 students’ science project annual showcase.

Falls City students erupt with glee over science projects

By DAVID HAYES Itemizer-Observer

Just two days before the 24th anniversary of the fateful Mt. Saint Helens eruption, the students of Falls City Elementary School celebrated smaller scale eruptions crafted by the fifth grade class of Lynell VanPatton. Now in her 7th year at Falls City, VanPatten has involved her students in the volcano lesson for the last six years. The event has grown so popular, the entire school’s population is invited out to the outdoor gym to witness the spectacle. She said this is the most exciting unit of the year.

“It’s exciting for the kids. It’s blowing things up. Kids like to blow things up,” VanPatton said. VanPatton also explained the classic “disguise” she wore of fake nose, glasses and mustache ensemble. In her classroom, she has a frog-themed decor in her home room. And years ago she got an idea from a kindergarten teacher. “Every time we do hands on science, ‘Professor Pollywog’ comes in. And Professor Pollywog is Ms. VanPatton’s uncle. And Ms. VanPatton is off enjoying the sun today,” she said.

The project itslef, other than blowing stuff up, actually incorporates several areas of the fifth-grade curriculum, VanPatton said. “Our volcano unit not only covers science standards, but also covers curriculum in all areas. In math we plot The Ring of Fire first using coordinate pairs plotting them on a map with a quadrant grid and then expand it to latitude and longitude for map skills in Social Studies,” VanPatton explained. “We also learn about the effects on a society after an eruption. In Language Arts we

have writing assignments involving volcanoes.” To produced a variety of eruptions, the students, safely, mixed a combination of baking soda and vinegar, and elephant’s toothpaste (hydrogen peroxide and potassium iodine). They used different percentages on the peroxide, with VanPatton’s getting the biggest reaction (both from the chemicals and the level of squeals from the students watching) at the end with a 30% peroxide mixture, which she orders special from a science company.

Van Duzer Vineyards lauds preservation efforts to save Fender’s Blue butterfly

See SUSPECT, page A7

Woman convicted of horse neglect arrested again for probation violations

By RACHEL ADAMS

On May 17, in observance of World Endangered Species Day, Van Duzer Vineyards is celebrating its role in the successful effort to bring back the rare Fender’s Blue butterfly from the brink of extinction in the Willamette Valley. Since 2009, Van Duzer has worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the nearby Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge to bolster populations of the Fender’s Blue butterfly, a thought-to-be-extinct species whose only known habitat on earth are the upland prairie landscapes of the Willamette Valley. Conservationists ushered in a major win in 2023 when the butterfly became only the second insect species to be downlisted from “endangered” to “threatened” in the history of the Endangered Species Act (signed into law in 1973). A sighting of a single Fender’s Blue butterfly by an Oregon U.S. Fish & Wildlife service person near Corvallis in the early 2000s inspired the agency to secure a $35M federal grant towards the species’ conservation and repopulation.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has indicted an inmate in custody with deaths of three women found in Washington and Oregon rural areas, including one in Polk County. Jessie Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, was charged with murder for the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and Joanna Speaks, 32. All Jessie Jesse Lee three women were found deceased in suspicious circumstances in wooded areas near Portland in 2023. According to court documents, Webster’s body was found in northwest Polk County near Mill Creek last April. According to media reports, in 2021, Calhoun’s conviction for vehicle theft and burglary was commuted by then Gov. Kate Brown. His commutation was among 40 prisoners who helped fight wildfires in 2020. According to the Associated Press, this resulted in about a year being taken off Calhoun’s sentence. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said a grand jury had indicted Calhoun. He is currently incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution, a medium security prison in Malheur County, Oregon, where he was

By JUSTIN ALDERMAN Equestrian Media Group

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Van Duzer’s Vineyard Manager Bruce Sonnen spotted the first Fender’s Blue butterfly and named her “Eve.” Van Duzer Vineyards was an early signer of the resulting Landowners Cooperative Agreement and additional Safe Harbor Agreement in 2009, which established a cohort of local landowners willing to take

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

A4 A4 A6 B2 B2 B4 B6 B7

guided action to protect and expand Fender’s Blue populations. At the time, Van Duzer had no known Fender’s Blue butterflies present on its 82-acre estate vineyard, located 5 miles north of Dallas. However, the

neighboring Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge had a handful of

See VAN DUZER, page A8

A Dallas woman was recently arrested by authorities after a Polk County Judge issued a warrant after prosecutors alleged she concealed continued ownership of horses despite her ongoing bench probation. According to court records obtained by Equestrian Media Group, prosecutors say Sandra J Brownell, 63, “failed to comply with the animal possession conditions of probation as directed.” In January 2023, Brownell and her daughter, Jessica Brownell, were convicted as part of a plea deal with the Polk County District Attorney’s Office after both were jointly See NEGLECT, page A8

Send us a news tip at www.online.com | Your message could be the first thing our readers see!

Weather W