Panthers take Classic titles | B1 DSD eyes $28 million bond for spring ballot
February 02 , 2022 Volume 146, Issue 05
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Board to discuss vote at Feb. 14 meeting
ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS – With the last voter-approved bond expiring, the Dallas School District Board of Directors heard recommendations for a new $28 million bond. “The finance committee recommends that the board place on the main 2022 ballot a general obligation bond of up to, but not more than $28 million for a time period of up to, but not more than 8.87 years,” Finance Committee Chair Dave Morris said at the meeting. The proposed bond measure for $28 million would fund the district’s capital construction and maintenance needs for the next 10 years. An additional $4 million from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program would kick in on the passing of the bond measure – bringing the total usable funds to $32 million. If the board approves the resolution, the bond would be up for election on the May 17 ballot. District Superintendent Andy Bellando endorsed the recommendations, suggesting the board approve a bond measure resolution at their next meeting on Feb. 14. “By Feb. 25, once we have that resolution, we will file the notice of district measure ballot title and summary with the Polk County elections office. Then, we’ll spend the next two and a half months promoting, discussing, encouraging, sharing, and helping folks understand what this means for the Dallas community,” Bellando said. If the school board doesn’t approve the resolution on Feb.14, Bellando expects more discussion. “My question to the board will be, ‘What do you want me to do with the recommendations? They came from a cross-section of community members – they see the need for continued investment in our schools to make them sustainable and functional over time.’”
PHOTO BY ALEX GAUB
Mike Berkes and Laurie Vale-Berkes plan to close their business, Some Things, after 12 years in downtown Dallas.
‘Some Things’ do change
Popular antique and furniture store closing its doors after 12 years ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
When Mike Berkes went window shopping with his family during Christmas back in Indiana, he never imagined many miles, years, and a ton of work later that he would have his own storefront one day. One replete with decorations on holidays; one that would end up winning Polk County’s Business of the Year in 2019. Berkes and his wife, Laurie Vale-Berkes, opened their first store in the Dallas area on Oct. 12, 2009.
And after 12 years of success, they look towards partial retirement. At 50 years of age and a year after the Great Recession, he had difficulty finding employment that meant something to him. He’d spent 20 years with Chevy as a salesman and sales manager in Indiana. But after moving to Oregon and working as a vendor and retail associate with an antique store in Independence, he had the idea of owning an antique furniture store. The store in Independence turned out to be too expensive when he thought of buying it. But one day, he ran into Marlene Cox, a property owner in Dallas, at Moonfall Theatre in Rickreall. She had a building in Dallas that she told Berkes that he
needed to see. Berkes was hesitant to check it out; he wasn’t sure that he wanted to start a business from scratch. “We went and looked at the building on a lark. We walked about 10 feet in and thought, ‘oh my god – this is perfect,’” Berkes said. Around this time, the couple was planning their wedding. “We got married in September, and we spent our honeymoon on scaffolding painting the new store,” Berkes said. Cox gave them a sliding rent scale their first year in business, which helped them succeed. After all, See CLOSE, page A15
Not all victories come in the shape of a tennis ball One dog’s story stands out from the competition at local flyball event ALEX GAUB Itemizer-Observer
PHOTO BY ALEX GAUB
(Top)Bay Racers, Cannon, and Michelle Largent pose at the Animal House Toga Party – a weekend-long event held at the Polk County Fairgrounds. (Left)Jack-Jack runs the ball back to his cheering teammates from the Bay Racers.
See BOND, page A6
Cannon has been through the wringer. An 11-year-old mixed breed rescue from California, he’s had more than enough excitement during his life. Yet, he’s here at the Polk County Fairgrounds competing against dogs half his age and with far fewer vet visits and long nights spent on the cusp of crossing the rainbow bridge. As the competing teams get in position with their dogs, Cannon pulls hard against his handler’s grip on the harness. These dogs are all business, set like Olympic sprinters lining up on their chalks. Eager barks echo off the walls.
Then, with a yell, the referee signals the beginning of the race. *** Teams from up and down the Pacific Coast came to the fairgrounds on Sunday to participate in the Animal House Toga Party, a North American Flyball Association sanctioned event put on by Animal House Flyball, a club from Salem. This is the first flyball event in the area since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it drew teams from as far north as British Columbia and as far south as Central California. Hosted over the entire weekend, more than 100 individual heats are played throughout the event. Flyball was created in Southern California in the 1960s. Since then, it has grown in popularity as a dog sport. It is now played worldwide, including in Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
The game is played as a relay. The goal is for four dogs, competing against a team of the same number, to run down a lane with four jumps and retrieve a tennis ball from a “flyball box.” The flyball box holds all four balls, and once a dog leaps onto it to turn around, it ejects a tennis ball – the dog then catches it and returns to the start/finish line. The team with the most wins in a heat – or five rounds of racing – will compete with other groups and possibly win the tournament altogether. “A lot of the dogs come from other sports, so they know how to jump,” Mary Lou Janeba said. Janeba is the club president of Animal House Flyball and the tournament director for this weekend’s event. According to Janeba, flyball is much like other dog See FLYBALL, page A6
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Polk County County Itemizer-Observer Itemizer-Observer •• February January 26, Polk 02,2022 2022
A11 B1
Three Panther grapplers snag titles at Mid Valley Classic By STEVE BRANDON Itemizer-Observer
The Central Panthers captured first place in three individual weight classes to finish seventh in the Tod Surmon/ Mid-Valley Classic on Friday at South Albany. Freshman Case Merritt won his bracket at 113 pounds. Junior Ethan Dunigan took first at 152. Senior Joseph Pearson claimed the title at 182. Merritt won his championship match on a pin with 18 seconds remaining over Zander Campbell of South Albany. Dunigan won his final at 3:28 by pin over Daniel Jaramillo of Ridgeview. Pearson’s closing victory came by pin in 1:30 against Ramie Halbrook of South Albany. Also, for Central, senior Manuel Vela was third at 170 and junior Jose Lugo fifth at 182. The Panthers were one of 15 teams in the tournament. They totaled 95 points. The top six were Sandy (144 1/2), Philomath (140), Mountainside (133), South Albany (128 1/2), Ridgeview (118 1/2) and Southridge (115 1/2). Junction City placed eight with 80 1/2 points. Central coach Arnold Garcia had praise for other wrestlers on the team as well, including 138-pounder Liam Sievers, a senior, and 132-pound junior Trevyn Lilly, both 1-2 in the tourney. “They’re all making gains, making progress,” Garcia said of his team. “Guys like Liam and Trevyn are peaking at the right time, for the district meet.” Also Friday, junior Issabell Branske placed third in the girls 100-pound class, posting a 2-2 mark, with both wins by pin. And, in the JV tournament, junior Landon Anderson was third at 126, freshman Tristan Stevens fourth at 220, junior Abraham Hernandez fifth at 145 and junior Maximo Villanueva sixth at 182. The one bit of bad news for the Panthers is the loss of freshman Jake Merritt, who according to Garcia will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Dunigan, who finished second in the state last year at 145 pounds, is continuing his push to contend for a title. He ran his season record to 30-6 (25 pins) by going 3-0 in the MidValley Classic. The Panthers had a dual meet wiped out last week with Lebanon due to COVID19 protocols. That dual has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Lebanon. Central’s busy week includes a 6 p.m. Friday dual meet at North Salem, and Branske will compete Friday and Saturday in the regional girls tournament hosted by West Albany.
Dallas Wrestling
The Dallas Dragons took part in the 19-team Reser’s Tournament of Champions hosted by Liberty High in Hillsboro. They placed 12th with 85 points. Many of the best wrestling programs in the state were represented, including top Class 6A squads. “It’s far and away the toughest tournament in the state,” Dallas coach Tony Olliff said. Newberg won with 287 ½ points. Crescent Valley was second with 241 ½. Thurston, which defeated Dallas in a recent nonleague dual meet, was third with 173. Redmond was one spot ahead of Dallas, scoring 99 ½ points. Right behind Dallas and 13th was Crater with 82 points. For the Dragons, junior Eli Nava finished third in the 220pound class, junior Emiliano Rocha placed fourth at 195, and junior Isaac Jones was sixth with 132 points. Nava’s only loss came by a 6-1 decision in the quarterfinals to Hayden Hampton of Newberg. Nava came back and won four matches, all by decision, improving his season record to 22-8. “I’m pretty proud of him,” Olliff said. The match for third place was 0-0 against Jayden Cobb of Crescent Valley through two periods. Cobb chose to start in the down position in the final period, but he wasn’t able to escape. Nava went on to win 6-0. “Eli cradled him twice and was tenacious on top,” Olliff said.
Rocha lost in the quarterfinals, to Earl Ingle of West Linn, then won three straight before dropping the third-place match to Ingle again. Rocha is 24-9 this season. Jones fell by technical fall in the quarterfinals to Crescent Valley’s DJ Gillett. Jones won his next two matches by decision. He then lost in the consolation semifinals and the fifthplace bout, both by decision. Jones is 24-11 this season. Owen Hess also scored well for the Dragons, upping his season record to 16-9 with four victories. Freshman Arik Brecht Crabtree at 285 was the fifth and final Dragon to advance to Saturday’s competition and a shot at placing. While the Reser’s tournament was wrapping up on STEVE BRANDON I ITEMIZER OBSERVER Saturday, the Dragons’ No. 2 Eli Nava of Dallas finished third at 220 pounds in the highly competitive wrestlers at the various weight Reser’s Tournament of Champions at Liberty High last week. classes were at the Glide Tournament, along with Dallas’ girls wrestlers. Freshman Ivy McIntosh won the girls 115-pound weight class, and boys freshman Sully Hill was a winner at 120. Sophomore Andrew Craven gave Dallas a second at 138. The Dragons’ boys finished second out of 16 teams. Also last week, the Dragons defeated North Salem in a dual meet, 57-15. Dallas finished the league dual season with only one loss to Crescent Valley. Dallas won all but three weight classes against North Salem.
West Salem Wrestling
West Salem dropped a 6A Mountain Valley Conference STEVE BRANDON I ITEMIZER OBSERVER dual meet at South Salem Dallas 195-pound wrestler Emiliano Rocha placed fourth in the 48-27 last week. prestigious Reser’s Tournament of Champions at Liberty High last week. The Titans’ point scorers were senior Blane Miller, Tualatin won with 353 Freshman Henry Brewster going to be a huge confidence senior Connor Everetts, senior ½ points. McMinnville was (113) and senior Caleb boost going forward. Zachary Henderson, sophosecond at 265 ½. Lebanon Henderson (138) were seventh, “Our other guys wrestled more Jake Bloomfield and took third with 205, and South and junior Reece Campbell well and were able to get in a sophomore Derek Brager. Salem was fourth with 181 ½. took eighth at 120. lot of matches. It was a good Miller won by forfeit at 106 The Titans’ 104 ½ points was “It was good to be back weekend for us.” pounds. Everetts scored a 6-3 just behind ninth-place Sunset competing at a tournament The Titans will go to Bend decision at 113. Henderson (109) and ahead of 11th-place for the first time in a couthis week for MVC duals won by disqualification at Lincoln (79 ½). ple of weeks,” Titans coach Friday and Saturday. Bend, Miller won his 106-pound Mike Baker said. “We were McNary, Mountain View 145. Bloomfield pinned his division. He pinned Miguel missing quite a few guys for and Summit also will be 152-pound opponent in 1:33. Elenes of Westview at 4:32 in various reasons, but nonethecompeting. Brager won by pin at 1:28 in the 285-pound match. the final. less we had the opportunity to The West Salem girls will West Salem then went to At 145, Henderson was compete. go to West Albany for the girls the Winter Warrior Memorial fourth and Bloomfield seventh. “Blane Miller wrestled well. regional. Tournament at Tualatin and finJunior Supacheek Nunok He was able to win his first ished 10th among 19 teams. placed fifth at 132. tournament, and for him it’s
Dallas, Central swimmers notch individual wins in three-way meet By STEVE BRANDON Itemizer-Observer
The Dallas High swim team kept busy last week, taking on Central and West Albany in a three-way dual meet on Jan. 25 and four days later competing in the Stayton Invitational with Stayton, Sweet Home, Salem Academy and Sisters. Only five Dallas swimmers took part in the invitational, which was held in a 25-meter pool a little longer than a yard pool. The most impressive Dragon performances came from Lonny Stork and Vasili Karatzas. Stork finished first in the girls 200-meter individual medley and third in the 100 breaststroke. Karatzas was first in the boys 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. In the dual meets, the Dallas boys edged Central 47-44, and the Dragons lost to West Albany 134-23. Central’s boys fell 14013 to West Albany. On the girls’ side, Central triumphed over Dallas 60-45 and lost to West Albany 10946. Dallas lost to the Bulldogs 118-35. For the Central girls, Gentry Hagedorn won the 200-yard and 50 freestyle events, while Taylor Hagedorn was the winner in the 100 butterfly, and Kaitlyn Landis captured the 100 free. Landis, Gentry Hagedorn, Sarah Cooper and Taylor Hagedorn teamed up for a win in the 200 free relay. Central’s 400 free relay of Cooper, Taylor Hagedorn, Madison Hanson and Landis was second. The Dallas girls had Hope Mikkelsen first in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke, and Stork placed second in the 100 butterfly and 200 free. For the Dallas boys, Cadin McMillian finished second in the 500 free and Karatzas second in the 100 breast.
West Salem Swimming
West Salem’s girls won again, defeating South Salem 112-58
in a dual meet last Thursday at Kroc Community Center. The South Salem boys defeated the Titans 118-52. West Salem swept the three girls relays and went 1-2-3 in the 50-yard and 500 freestyles. Paige Anderson won the 500 free and 200 free. Reyna Macias won the 100 free, and Caroline Haworth captured the 50 free. Mia Piexoto gave the Titans a victory in the 200 individual medley, as did Caitlin Waldner in the 100 backstroke. The four runner-up individual finishes for West Salem belonged to Macias in the 200 free, Emily Silldorff in the 500 free, Natalie Peterson-Hunt in the 50 free and Piexoto in the 100 breaststroke. The victorious 200 medley relay team consisted of Waldner, Piexoto, Silldorff and Anderson. In the 200 free relay, it was Macias, Piexoto, Waldner and Olivia Powell first for the Titans. Macias, Anderson, Silldorff and Powell swam on the winning 400 free relay. The West Salem boys won three events, with Kaden Oprea claiming the 200 free and 100 butterfly and Mika Oprea taking the 100 breast.
PHOTO BY REID HOLCOMB FOR ITEMIZER-OBSERVER
Mia Piexoto of West Salem springs into action en route to winning the 200-yard individual medley and was on two victorious relay squads last week versus South Salem. Mika Oprea was second in the 50 free, and Soren Ingebrigsten was second in the 500 free.
DHS DHS ATHLETE ATHLETE OF OF THE THE WEEK WEEK AidanJenna Condon Kobe Braziel Carey Jenna Carey
Aidan is a 4-Year Letterman for DHS Swim Team. Aidan has improved upon (SR Guard) his times from his Freshman year to his Senior year setting multiple Personal Jenna is our most consistent player and is our consistent playercareer and at Records along the way. AidanJenna will finish outmost his high school swim is a workhorse both off andgame on theagainst court. Kobe averaged 18 point per is a workhorse both and to onearn the court. Districts on February 12th in Corvallis and he will beoff trying a spot in She displays great leadership by coming North Salem and South Albany, where he hit Sheor displays great leadership by coming State at either his 50yd. free style 100yd freestyle events. After High School tosix practice everyday with agame great stretch. attitude 3 pointers over two to practice everyday great attitude Aidan plans to attend a Community College for the thewith first a two years and then and just gets right down to business. She just gets rightwill down toArt/Graphic business. She transfer to a Oregon University.and His area of study be in Design. has been a nice addition back to our team. Molly Parsons is a 2-sport athlete, in DHS Cross and DHS has participating been a nice addition backCountry to our team. Swim.
Molly Parsons
PHOTO BY REID HOLCOMB FOR ITEMIZER-OBSERVER
Caitlin Waldner of West Salem won the 100-yard backstroke and was on two winning relay teams in a dual meet against South Salem last week.
Molly competed at State and posted a time of 25:26.8 minutes helping the Lady Dragons to an overall 10th place finish. Molly was a Captain for DHS’s Cross Country Team. Molly joined DHS Swim Team in her Junior year and has posted several PR’s during her career. During her Junior year, Molly swam both the 50yd freestyle and 100yd backstroke and excelled in both events. This year she continues to swim well in the 50yd freestyle but switched from backstroke to breastroke. Molly plans to attend either OSU or WOU and plans to study English to eventually become an English Professor. Molly is on track to being aCONGRATULATION Valedictorian for the Class of 2022. FROM: HOME COMFORT CONGRATULATION FROM: HOME COMFORT
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