Area C Map RESTAURANT D L McLEO EN DR NE N LOCKH AV IDE YS N TR TI A UN IS CH CO CHR HUR C C1 E CH CHEM AWA R D 1 3 4 9 C2 8 6 7 C3 NE SECTION A SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 15 NE 5 AL TU EP RE ENT NC TU M CO FU LOP VE DE WA MA RAILROAD 2 RESIDENTIAL RD OFFICE KE STA IZER BLVD TION RETAIL SENIOR LIVING FACILITY Area C plans get approved A look at McNary's CNN SEE PG. A8 SEE PG. A3 MULTI-FAMILY PHASE 1 McLEOD LN FEBRUARY 20, 2015 Keizer lawmakers react to resignation MULTI-FAMILY PHASE 2 By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes As Gov. John Kitzhaber an- nounced his resignation Feb. 13, state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) had her hands full. With her 2-year-old grand- son, that is. Yes, as an Oregon governor resigned under pressure for the fi rst time in state history, Thatcher wasn’t at the capitol. “I wasn’t here on Friday,” said Thatcher, who moved over to the Senate this year after 10 years in the House of Representatives. “The Sen- ate doesn’t hold meetings on Friday, so there was no reason to be here. Plus I had agreed to watch my grandson, so I was up to my eyeballs start- ing on Thursday night with a 2-year-old. I was not hanging onto every Facebook post and tweet.” Thatcher didn’t know the news until seeing a message from her brother-in-law, at which point she checked the news. Kitzhaber had come under increasing pressure from lead- ers on both sides of the aisle to resign, due to issues surround- ing how fi ancee Cylvia Hayes got state contracts as well as criminal investigations into Kitzhaber’s actions. “I have always had the deepest respect for the re- markable institution that is the Oregon Legislature; and for the offi ce of the governor,” KEIZERTIMES/Andrew Jackson Kitzhaber’s statement read in part. “And I cannot in good conscience continue to be the element that undermines it. I have always tried to do the right thing and now the right thing to do is to step aside.” At the same time, Kitzhaber displayed a defi ance. “I must also say that it is deeply troubling to me to realize that we have come to a place in the history of this great state of ours where a person can be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by the media with no due pro- cess and no independent veri- fi cation of the allegations in- volved,” Kitzhaber said later. “But even more troubling – and on a very personal level as someone who has given 35 years of public service to Oregon – is that so many of my former allies in common cause have been willing to simply accept this judgment at its face value.” Secretary of State Kate Brown was sworn in as Or- egon’s new governor on Wednesday morning at the state capitol. Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer), who took over Thatcher’s for- mer seat, was in the capitol last week when the resignation news came out. “Here’s what I was struck by, being in this building: it was historic fi rst of all,” Post 50 CENTS in side Egli discusses being Merchant of the Year (Page A5) Keizer Florist to reopen soon (Page A6) Thatcher Post Kitzhaber said. “Wednesday through Fri- day the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I kept thinking, ‘This is the term I was elected, when this event takes place?’ Whether a person likes or doesn’t like what the governor did, it was without a doubt a historic moment and those of us in the build- ing will be forever imprinted on Oregon history. I am very hopeful that Gov. Kate Brown will be willing to work with both sides of the aisle to make Oregon a better place for all of us.” Thatcher noted things were business as normal – as much as could be, at least – last Thursday. “On Thursday, the Senate president (Peter Courtney) told us he requested Kitzha- ber to resign,” Thatcher said. “He told us he had done that. There was a lengthy discus- sion about how it was distract- ing. It was sort of a distraction and a distraction with the media as well. Legislation like automatic voter registration was dwarfed, with concerns not brought up in the media. We’re still holding meetings, but what’s happening there is being put on the backburn- er as far as letting the public know what’s going on.” Speaking for herself, Thatcher said her nose was buried in her job, not the news. MHS wrestlers set for districts (Page A10) Please see REACT, Page A7 Jazzed up for change Abbas a merit fi nalist McNary High School senior Zach Abbas was recently named a National Merit Finalist, one of just 15,000 such students around the country. Submitted By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Of all the high school stu- dents in the country, McNary High School senior Zach Ab- bas has an honor few others can claim: National Merit Fi- nalist. “I wasn’t expecting to be a semifi nalist. I was completely blown away. Then hearing that I was a fi nalist … it was just crazy,” Abbas said. Abbas qualifi ed as a semi- fi nalist based on his PSAT scores as a junior, then submit- ted an application and essay to achieve his fi nalist status. He’s one of 15,000 fi nalists in the U.S. – the only one from Mc- Nary – and about half of those will receive scholarships. “Zack is not only very intelligent, he is one of the kindest, most compassion- ate, hardworking young mn I have ever worked with,” said Stephanie Hanson, Abbas’s counselor at McNary. KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Jim Nardi (right) handed over control of Uptown Music to Paul Elliott (left) last year and is preparing to leave the business at the end of the month. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes You can tell Jim Nardi and Paul Elliott have worked in a music store a long time. How? In normal conver- sations, music-related words just pop up, with no puns in- tended. For example, here is Nardi talking about Elliott’s impact on Uptown Music over the years. “He’s been instrumental to our growth,” Nardi said. Last year Nardi sold the business he started in 1991 to Elliott. How does Elliott feel about that? “I’m pretty jazzed about it,” Elliott said. Late last March Elliott took over as president of the busi- ness. Nardi stayed on board, helping his longtime employ- ee – Elliott worked for Nardi for 17 years – get through the transition. Please see UPTOWN, Page A9 Moonrise, sunset... Special People Special Place Saluting the stories that make us proud of our community capitolauto.com Please see ABBAS, Page A7 Cheaper surface means Big Toy budget trimmed By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Expenses for the Big Toy have been chopped by a quar- ter. A motion was approved at the Feb. 10 Keizer Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting to hold off on get- ting a top-line surface for the play structure at Keizer Rap- ids Park. A similar motion was ap- proved the week before at the Community Build Task Force meeting. Plans now call for a poured-in rubber surface to be pursued for later, if grants can be secured. In place of the poured-in surface, engineered wood fi ber is now the choice. The impact on the budget is notable. The Big Toy budget lists ex- penses as being $416,509.80, including $105,000 for rubber surface materials. Mark Caillier, general co- ordinator for the project scheduled to be built by com- munity volunteers in a fi ve- day span from June 10 to 14, said the $105,000 was on top of $45,000 already part of the $191,119 listed for construc- tion materials. Please see BIG TOY, Page A7 KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy On a recent sunny afternoon in Keizer, the moon was high in the sky over Keizer Station while, at the same time, a beautiful sunset could be seen in the other direction.