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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2015)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 34 SECTION A JULY 24, 2015 $1.00 Progress made in Area C project KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Trees are being taken down and the land cleared for an extension of McLeod Lane off of Chemawa Road, as seen July 17. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Trees are being taken down to make way for the road and permits are being submitted. Yes, plans for apartments and senior housing in Keizer Station Area C are moving forward. Plans submitted by Bo- naventure Senior Living for a 154-unit retirement com- munity and Mountain West Investment Corporation for 180 apartments were approved by the Keizer City Coun- cil earlier this year. The new structures will be built on an expanded section of McLeod Lane, which currently ends at Chemawa Road. In the last couple of weeks, trees have been taken down and the land is being cleared in the fi eld just east of Che- mawa. “Construction is starting,” said Brian Moore, director of Real Estate Development for Mountain West. “All of the public improvements includ- ing streets will be some of the fi rst work done, with utility and grading work done at the sites.” The work has included submitting permits. This month alone, 18 permits have been applied for by Mountain West apartments – 17 build- ings, in addition to a mainte- nance building. The 17 build- ings range in valuation from $371,852 to $1,396,910. The Please see AREA C, Page A12 Hearing held for Keizer youth remembered, new subdivision 10 years later Sand volleyball courts PAGE A2 Town & Country manager leaves PAGE A9 KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy A proposal calls for converting this 5.73 acre piece of land into a 32-home subdivision called Bowden Meadows. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Some concerns were ex- pressed July 16 regarding a proposed new housing devel- opment in west Keizer. And no, concerns weren’t just expressed by the neigh- bors. Three neighbors did ex- press various concerns before Hearings Offi cer Cynthia Domas, who conducted a public hearing on a proposal to turn 5.73 acres of land on Burbank Street into a 32-lot subdivision known as Bowden Meadows. The lots would range in size from 5,000 square feet to 10,856 square feet with the average lot being 6,033 square feet. The project applicant is Mark Farrow on behalf of Trademark Enterprises LLC for property owned by Rob- ert Bowden and Doug Harner Submitted on behalf of JDC Homes LLC. Justin Wood proudly holds his promotion certifi cate from Whiteaker Middle School in June Sam Litke, senior planner 2005. A month later, the 14-year-old was gone. He was remembered last weekend. for Keizer, noted the subdivi- By CRAIG MURPHY still remember him every doing shopping that day,” sion was planned several years Of the Keizertimes year.” Brandy said. “It was just a nor- ago. It warms Brandy Thomas’ On July 16, 2005 Justin was mal day. The phone call was Please see HEARING, Page A6 heart to know her son is still fl oating on tubes in the Jordan unreal. I remember every sin- remembered. Valley with family members gle detail from that day, what I About 50 friends and fam- including an uncle, his grand- had bought and everything. I ily members came to the Best father and some cousins. never wore the shoes I bought Western Mill Creek Inn in Sa- “My brother’s son got into that day.” lem on July 18 to commemo- trouble,” Brandy Thomas re- Friends got Brandy and her rate the 10-year passing of Jus- called. “Justin went to help husband on a private plane tin Wood. and got into trouble himself. the next morning. They were Justin was 14 at the time, They fell into a hole. My there when Justin’s body was preparing for his freshman brother grabbed for his son, found. A memorial marks the year at McNary High School but they couldn’t fi nd Justin.” site. after previously having gone The incident happened on In addition to support from to Clear Lake Elementary and a Saturday afternoon. Justin’s her large family – Brandy has Whiteaker Middle School. body was found about a half- 11 brothers and sisters – the “It feels good that people mile away the next morning. Latter Day of Saints Church still think of him. He’s still Brandy got the call that and Boys Scouts ward imme- KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy Niya Sosa-Martinez (right) touching lives,” said Thomas, Saturday afternoon from her diately stepped up to help. “We got a lot of support,” speaks at her sentencing who noted Justin had been ex-husband (Justin’s dad), who Wednesday. She was given 11 on track to become an Eagle was with the group in Eastern Brandy said. “They were there years in prison. Scout. “There is a scout ser- Oregon. Please see JUSTIN, Page A12 “My husband and I were mentioned in court she had vice award in his name. They been on drugs at the time of the fi re. Sosa-Martinez con- fi rmed that in the court papers. “I allowed my minor chil- dren to remain in my home where I conducted illegal ac- tivity by using marijuana,” she wrote in conjunction with court-appointed attorney Ron Gray. “Further, in using marijuana a fi re started which caused the death of my 4-year- old son due to my neglect and reckless conduct.” It was also mentioned last fall Sosa-Martinez pleaded guilty in 2012 to child neglect. She had been found in possession of marijuana twice since then. When Keizer Fire District personnel responded to the fi re call at the Sosa-Martinez residence last October, her son’s body was found inside. A wit- ness told the Keizertimes Sosa- Martinez did not go back in an Submitted Five adults, four children and pets were displaced by this fi re at a mobile home on the attempt to save her son and in- 2000 block of Kennedy Circle NE in Keizer on July 15. According to the Keizer Fire District, stead “started texting like noth- the cause is still undetermined. Damage was estimated at about $7,000 plus contents, in ing was happening. We couldn’t addition to $1,000 in damage to a neighboring home. fi gure out what the hell she was doing.” Mom sentenced for death of son in fi re By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes The mom who pleaded guilty in the death of her 4-year-old son last fall was sen- tenced on Wednesday. Marion County Circuit Court Judge Courtland Geyer sentenced Niya Breann Sosa- Martinez to 11 years in prison. Sosa-Martinez, 24, pleaded guilty to three charges last month, including manslaughter in the fi rst degree. The case stems from a fi re last Oct. 24 that destroyed the apartment on Susan Court Sosa-Martinez shared with her two young children. Sosa-Mar- tinez was able to get out but 4-year-old Andre Joaquin Sosa died in the fi re. His older sis- ter, 6 at the time, was at school when the fi re broke out. A trial had been scheduled to start in late August, but the guilty pleas meant that wouldn’t be happening and instead made the sentencing the last step. In court papers from last month, Sosa-Martinez plead- ed guilty to the manslaughter charge as well as two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, one count for each child. The papers called for a sentence of 120 months in prison. Information from last fall indicated Sosa-Martinez’s husband, Alex Sosa, was already in prison at the time of the in- cident. 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