DALLAS CELEBRATING 150 years
Dallas
Sports
Rotary Youth Exchange Program fosters international goodwill See A3
Too much defense, Craig sink Bulldogs in girls basketball See B1
Wednesday February 14, 2024 | Volume 148, Issue 07
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Humble beginnings to a 150-year-old city As the city of Dallas looks to celebrate its sesquicentennial 150th anniversary, we look back at how it became Polk County’s first core city to be incorporated. Most Oregon historians agree settlement of the area started in the 1840s. The area now known as North Dallas was the first to be settled.
According to “The History of Polk County,” published by the Polk County Historical Society in 1987, James “Neal settled at Ellendale and W.C. Brown took up a claim east of North Dallas. None went south of LaCreole (later Rickreall) in 1843 and 1844. In 1845, Cornelius Gillian built a cabin in the foothills west of the present
city, the first to cross the creek to settle. The area was known as Cynthia or Cynthia Ann – the source of the name is still a topic of debate. Cynthian came into being when a tract of land was donated to the young and struggling Polk County for a county seat. At a 1850 circuit court held in the home of John E. Lyle, it was voted to build a county
courthouse, which was completed in 1951. According to some, Mrs. Thomas J. Lovelady named the new settlement after her hometown of Cynthiana, Kentucky. However, most historians agree the city probably was named for another pioneer settler, Mrs. Jesse Applegate. Her given name was Cynthia Ann.
The short-lived Cynthian was renamed Dallas in 1852 after George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the Unite4d States from 1845 to 1849 during the Polk administration. In 1856, the townsite was moved to a location about a mile south to improve the water supply. See 150, page A7
Council approves increased weekly recycling pickup New schedule ads $4.30 fee except to smallest bins By DAVID HAYES Itemizer-Observer
Region’s first ever champs The Dallas High School Lady Dragons celebrate after taking first place at the OSAA’s first ever girls’ regional wrestling championships Feb. 9-10. Read the story on page B1.
Falls City fire chief retiring after 40 years to stay on until July to make it a smooth transition. “Here’s the thing. I’ve always been a person I felt as chief my responsibility is somebody is going to your call. Sometimes that’s me By DAVID HAYES and me only,” Young said. “Whether Itemizer-Observer it’s two in the morning, it’s my There comes a time when a volunresponsibility for that. In my 20s, teer firefighter, after getting that call 30s, 40s, even my 50s, I could do to action at 2 a.m., no longer has the that, go back to sleep, get up and go stamina after the emergency is over to work. As I’ve aged, and try go to recuperate in time to face the rest back to sleep, I can’t always do that, of the day. and then your day is ruined. Just Bob Young, ironically, reached can’t recover that fast.” that stage at age 68. After 42 years As the department prepares to as a volunteer firefighter for Falls celebrate his career Feb. 24, Young City Fire Department, 40 as its chief, looked back on the four decades he Young is finally passing the mantel to Chief John Gilbert. He plans
Robert Young enjoyed decades of keeping the community safe
See YOUNG, page A8
PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES
Retiring Falls City Fire Chief Rob Young stands beside the department’s newest brush fire truck, acquire after residents approved the last spending bond.
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IN THIS ISSUE Voices Corrections Obituaries Puzzle Solutions Social Puzzles Classifieds Public Records
The Dallas City Council approved at its Feb. 5 meeting to increase yard debris and recycling services to weekly pickups by Republic Services. The agreement will add $4.30 per month to pay for the additional four monthly collections for residential customers with all sizes of recycling bins except the smallest 20-gallon bins which remain unchanged. The city of Dallas has a franchise agreement with Republic Services for waste management services. In October, Republic Services proposed a 5.4% rate increase for trash services and to increase yard debris and recycling services to a weekly pickup. At the time, the City Council approved the trash rate increase but referred this weekly recycling topic to the Public Administration Committee. On Jan. 22, Republic Services presented the requested additional data to the committee. The committee referred the topic back to the City Council for adoption. Julie Jackson, municipal manager for Republic Services, said a significant number of Dallas customers had been contacting their call center asking when the weekly yard debris and recycling services would begin.
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