SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 21
SECTION A
APRIL 24, 2015
50 CENTS
Threat meant empty rooms at MHS
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School was a
veritable ghost town Monday,
April 20. Many of the class-
rooms still had the majority of
chairs on desks after weekend
cleaning.
Principal Erik Jespersen said
more than half the 2,100 stu-
dent body was absent in the
wake of a bomb threat discov-
ered last Friday afternoon by
school staff.
Jespersen did not disclose the
nature of the threat, but Keizer
Police John Teague addressed
the issue at Monday night’s city
council meeting.
The date coincided with
“Someone left a note in pen- anniversary of the Columbine
cil on bathroom tile. We don’t High School shooting in Colo-
know how long it’s been there. rado. It is also the birthdate of
It was about a
the late Adolf
bomb that would
Hitler.
be (at the school) “…we have to
There was no
April 20,” Teague measure our
corroborating ev-
said. “We got a
idence to suggest
ton of calls and response”
the threat had any
were scrambling
merit, Jespersen
— Erik Jespersen,
to fi gure out
said.
McNary principal
what was going
“Not
all
on. Bottom line
threats are cre-
is nothing happened, noth- ated equal. Some threats are
ing was expected to happen. A very specifi c and timebound.
number of parents held students Sometimes there’s not a lot of
back from school.”
credibility behind them and we
Three-wheeled
warrior ends run
with crash, fi re
have to measure our response,”
he said.
Jespersen recorded an audio
message Friday evening and
it was sent to McNary parents
Sunday, April 19, about 6 p.m.
Jules Farr, parent of McNary
sophomore Sam Farr, said she
appreciated the message, but
would have liked more lead-
time.
“I admit I was frustrated
when I received the message on
Sunday and felt we didn’t have
much time to digest the infor-
mation we were given in order
to decide if our kids should at-
tend school on Monday. With
that said I trust Mr. Jespersen
and staff did everything they
could to keep everyone safe.
There is no perfect way to re-
lay this information to parents
without causing worry or anxi-
ety and I am thankful the prin-
cipal let us know anyway,” Farr
said.
Farr added there likely
would have been increased anx-
iety either way because of the
Columbine anniversary.
“We discussed questions
such as: What if I go to school
and something happens? What
Please see THREAT, Page A10
Ann Lossner, Keizer
historian, passes at 101
Effective
Friday, May 1st,
the price of
a single copy of
the Keizertimes
will increase
to $1.
An annual
subscription to
the Keizertimes
will remain $25.
GGNA
candidate
forum
PAGE A2
Submitted
This Chevrolet Silverado hit several vehicles early Monday
before crashing into a barrier at Windsor Island Road and
catching fi re. At some point the truck's left front tire came off.
By CRAIG MURPHY and ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A Salem man was arrested early Monday after crashing his
Chevrolet Silverado into a barrier at Windsor Island Road
North and Lockaven Drive N.
The truck had lost a tire somewhere between south Salem
and Keizer, but investigators were still not sure how long the
driver had been without the wheel.
The incident began with the report of a hit-and-run in the
Winco parking lot at 1240 Lancaster Drive S.E.
“At that time the suspect vehicle sideswiped another vehicle
in the parking lot. The damage did not appear to be severe, and
the suspect left the lot without exchanging information with
the other drive,” said Lt. Dave Okada of Salem Police Depart-
ment.
The truck was next encountered at 4:27 a.m., crashed into a
sound barrier in Keizer. Keizer Police and Keizer Fire District
both responded to the scene.
“Firefi ghters arrived to fi nd a white Chevy pickup on fi re
with no occupants inside.The truck had left the roadway,
crashed into the concrete barrier on Lockhaven and then caught
on fi re,” said Anne-Marie Storms, spokesperson for the KFD.
Two additional vehicles were hit on or near Juniper Street
North in Keizer, said Jeff Kuhns, deputy chief of Keizer Police.
Artemio Alonzo Mendez was arrested at the scene of the
crash. He is charged with driving under the infl uence of intoxi-
cants and hit-and-run property damage.
Area C developers
being reimbursed
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
A reimbursement ordinance
has been amended, paving the
way for development in the
Area C portion of Keizer Sta-
tion.
Keizer City Councilors
unanimously approved amend-
ed language calling for the
formation of a public improve-
ment reimbursement district
on Monday night. The approval
came after revisions suggested
by proponents for a new 154-
unit retirement center and a
180-unit apartment complex.
In February, councilors gave
fi nal approval to a joint proposal
by Mountain West Investment
and Bonaventure Senior Living.
A master plan and lot line ad-
justment were also approved at
that time. Representatives from
the two companies fi rst met
with city offi cials last Septem-
ber, after previous plans for Area
C development – at one point
including a 116,000 square foot
Walmart – fell through.
In previous plans, commer-
cial development came fi rst
with residential to follow. In
this case, however, the residen-
tial comes fi rst with proponents
hoping for commercial devel-
opment to follow.
That’s in part because Bo-
naventure and Mountain West
are paying for infrastructure up-
grades that future tenants will
be able to utilize. The compa-
nies thus asked for a reimburse-
ment ordinance to be revised.
“We redid things with a new
ordinance in 2003, but pretty
much stopped,” city attorney
Shannon Johnson said. “The
builders in Area C asked us to
review the ordinance.”
Dana Krawczuk from Port-
land law fi rm Perkins Coie
spoke to councilors on Monday
and explained the request.
“The developer looks for-
ward to beginning construction
on the recently approved Keizer
Station Area C master plan,”
Krawczuk wrote. “Before con-
struction can begin, the devel-
oper needs assurance that it will
be proportionally reimbursed
Please see AREA C, Page A6
45
Photo courtesy Tammy Wild
Ann Lossner (left) reacts in late March upon seeing the new book about Keizer history by Tam-
my Wild (right), who used history compiled by Lossner as the basis for her book. Wild dedicated
the book to Lossner, who passed away on April 18.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Ann Lossner didn’t write
the new history book about
Keizer that came out this
month.
But her fi ngerprints were
all over it.
Lossner, 101, passed away
on April 18. Tammy Wild’s
new book Images of America:
Keizer was offi cially released
this month and dedicated to
Lossner.
For good reason: though
Lossner wasn’t a native of
Keizer, the Ohio native
became the city’s historian.
Lossner and husband Chet
fi rst moved to Oregon in
1938 on their honeymoon.
After a couple of moves, the
couple came to the Salem area
to stay in 1940.
The family moved to
Keizer in 1963 as Lossner
worked in the Oregon Land
Board offi ce. While doing
research in that offi ce, Lossner
noted little had been written
about the history of Keizer.
Upon
her
retirement
in 1977, Lossner sought to
change that.
She did.
Lossner researched Keizer’s
history, interviewed members
of the city’s founding families
and wrote articles about
Keizer history on a regular
basis for the Keizertimes.
MHS band
takes 2nd
PAGE A5
Please see LOSSNER, Page A10
Keizerite honored as lifesaver
By HERB SWETT
For the Keizertimes
A recent lifesaving act
made Tuesday’s meeting of the
Keizer Fire Board interesting.
Directors and Fire Chief
Jeff Cowan admitted that there
was little else on the agenda,
but it was the night Katie
Capon, a former paramedic for
the Fire Department, received
a plaque for reviving longtime
Keizer
resident
Richard
Russell, who had collapsed
with a heart attack.
The only other thing
of note at the meeting was
Cowan’s announcement that
the district budget committee
would meet May 13.
Russell, a Keizer resident
since 1980, had been working
out at Courthouse Fitness
Center when he dropped to
the fl oor Jan. 9. Capon, now an
employee of the fi tness club,
administered cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) until
an
automatic
external
defi brillator could be placed
on Russell. Paramedics then
took him to Salem Hospital.
At the hospital, Russell
underwent
triple
bypass
surgery Jan. 14 and was released
Jan. 18. He resumed exercising
the next day, walking half a
mile, and soon resumed his
three-times-weekly workouts
at the fi tness center Jan. 19,
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Lady Celts
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PAGE A8
McNary
baseball
fi rst loss
KEIZERTIMES/HERB SWETT
PAGE A8
Katie Capon holds her Bob Wickman Award plaque at
Tuesday’s Keizer Fire Board meeting. She won it for saving
Richard Russell’s life in January. From left are Greg Ego, board
president; Capon; Russell and Wickman.
having been told not to lift
more than eight pounds until
then.
Capon received the Bob
Wickman Lifesaving Award,
named for the district’s
fi rst
emergency
medical
technician. Wickman attended
the presentation, as he has ever
since the award has been given.
After six years as a
paramedic, both for the
department and a private
ambulance company, Capon
stopped in 2007. She said she
quit CPR after breaking her
back lifting a heavy person.
Russell was self-employed
40 lbs
Cat Litter
$8.99
selling microwave ovens until
2000. He and his wife, Erlene
Russell, who was with him
when he had the attack and
attended the board meeting,
then operated the Alternative
Health Center until they
turned it over to their
daughter-in-law in 2014.
Cowan
noted
before
the meeting that the fi tness
center has been prepared
for emergencies by having
lifesaving equipment on hand.
“If the citizens are prepared,”
he said, “the opportunity
to save lives is much, much
better.”
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