SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 37
SECTION A
AUGUST 14, 2015
$1.00
CTEC getting ready to start
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
John Honey, principal of the new Career Technical Education Center, gave a tour to Keizer City
Councilors and others on Monday.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
John Honey and Chuck
Lee are used to the start of a
school year.
After all, the two men have
about 70 years of experience
in the education fi eld. Hon-
ey was principal at McNary
High School until his current
gig, while Lee recently won
his third term on the Salem-
Keizer School Board.
But this is a little different.
The two veteran educators
have been putting together
the school district’s new Ca-
reer Technical Education
Center in the former Neilsen
Manufacturing building at
3501 Portland Road NE in
Salem. Honey is principal of
CTEC, while Lee is president
of the Mountain West Career
Technical Institute. Mountain
West entered into a partner-
ship with the school district to
develop and operate CTEC.
When CTEC opens next
month there will be 180 stu-
dents – 42 of whom are MHS
students – and two programs:
manufacturing and construc-
tion.
Lee and Honey are scram-
bling to get the building
ready. A prime example was
seen Monday as Keizer City
Councilors and several citi-
zens came for a tour: the dead
brown grass was being spray
painted green.
“When we’re at capacity
we’ll have 10 programs, 1200
kids and 65 staff members,”
Honey said, noting that is ex-
pected to happen in fi ve years,
with two programs added
each year. “This will never be
a school; it will be a program.
Students will never get diplo-
mas from here.”
Instead, juniors and seniors
in the program will still be
enrolled in their regular high
schools. A CTEC bus will pro-
vide transportation. Students
will spend two days a week
taking classes at the CTEC
location, but will still be able
to participate in regular school
activities as well.
“We want those McNary
High School kids to do foot-
ball, cheerleading, French
or anything else at school,”
Honey said. “On the other
days they’ll come here and get
what no kids in the Salem-
Keizer area have ever gotten.”
MHS turf
fi eld update
PAGE A8
KPD duo
retires
PAGE A5
Please see CTEC, Page A6
Post talks about
A look at hazelnut growing
fi rst year in Capitol
Dan Clem (top) from the Keizer Chamber of Commerce jokes
around with Rep. Bill Post during a luncheon on Tuesday.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Even though he was a
freshman serving in the state
legislature, Rep. Bill Post of
Keizer had some idea what to
expect during the session.
After all, the Republican
visited area lawmakers like
Sen. Kim Thatcher (who for-
merly held the House District
25 seat Post defeated Chuck
Lee for in 2014) a number of
times and hosted a radio show
from the Capitol in Salem
many times.
“There was nothing that
really surprised me, but then
again I had a little more in-
sight than the average citizen,”
Post said following a Keizer
Chamber of Commerce lun-
cheon at the Keizer Quality
Suites on Tuesday. “But I was
shocked by the absolute vol-
ume. More than 4,000 bills
were introduced and about
900 new laws were passed. I
don’t know if I was surprised
or shocked, but I couldn’t be-
lieve the volume.”
Post said he got some good
advice from veteran lawmak-
ers.
“Some of the old mem-
bers said wait until the end,”
he said.
That was certainly the case
this year as about 100 laws
were passed at the end of the
session after Sine Die was de-
clared by the Democrats, who
controlled the house and the
senate.
“It’s a tool to get done
what they want at the end,”
Post said. “Republicans have
done it, too, when they were
in control. The bills kept com-
ing so fast.”
During his speech to the
three dozen present for the
luncheon, Post expanded on
the hectic ending.
“You have several days for
a bill to be introduced and
talked about,” Post said. “With
Sine Die, you have one hour.
Some of them weren’t given in
writing. We didn’t know what
we were voting on. One was
a budget bill with 147 bud-
gets in it. I wanted to vote on
each one separately. I couldn’t
because I had to vote on the
overall bill, so I voted no. The
majority party uses (Sine Die)
as a tool. If there was a Re-
publican majority and this
happened, I’ll still stand up
and say this is wrong.”
Post predicted the short
2016 session won’t be pretty.
“When we voted in 2010
for annual sessions, the law
said it was to revisit and bal-
ance the state budget only,” he
said. “It said nothing about in-
troducing new bills. Then the
Please see POST, Page A7
“The council authorized
Chris to proceed without fur-
ther council action and the
lease will likely be signed very
soon,” city attorney Shannon
Johnson said Aug. 6. “Orchard
work could begin very soon.”
The health of the trees
has been a concern for years,
with most projections being
less than 10 years before all of
the trees will have to be taken
down.
“The non-use of chemicals
will speed up the death of the
trees, but it is hard to say ex-
actly how long they will last,”
Schurter wrote in his proposal.
“Hazelnut trees of that variety
and age suffer from Eastern
Filbert Blight, and spraying
and pruning is the only effec-
tive way to combat it. Pruning
will hold it at bay, but they will
eventually succumb.”
Klein said trees with heavy
blight infection will indeed
continue to deteriorate.
“There’s little that can be
done if that’s the case without
severe pruning and repeated
sprays in coming years,” he
said.
Klein noted the issue is
common.
“There are no plans to ini-
tiate research on untreated
orchards as there have been
hundreds of others seen in
the last 20-plus years suffering
the same fate. Everyone in the
industry is aware of what will
occur over time,” he said.
It’s been mentioned several
times recently a lower hazel-
nut crop than usual, particu-
larly due to issues in Turkey,
Hops beat
Volcanoes
PAGE A8
Please see HARVEST, Page A6
There's something on your face...
Big Toy
funding
hits goal
PAGE A2
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Keizer Police Department cadet Giancarlo Marcelo (left) poses with KPD Lt. Andrew
Copeland (right) after winning the grudge match pie-eating contest at RIVERfair Aug. 8.
For more photos from the day, please see pg. A10 and our photo gallery on Facebook.
3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 463- 4853
2015 OREGON
FORD DEALER
OF THE YEAR
KEIZERTIMES fi le/Craig Murphy
The hazelnut orchard at Keizer Rapids Park will be harvested
again soon, but this time chemicals won't be used.
YOUR 1 STOP SHOP
BRAKES, TIRES, BATTERIES
FOR
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Can hazelnuts in the or-
chard at Keizer Rapids Park
be grown without chemicals?
According to the executive
director of the Oregon Hazel-
nut Growers Association, the
answer is yes.
“There are growers farm-
ing hazelnuts organically,”
Michael Klein told the Keiz-
ertimes. “It is not an easy en-
deavor but it can be done. It
requires a lot of extra work,
expense and may use chemi-
cal sprays approved for organic
certifi cation.”
As mentioned last week in
the Keizertimes, Kevin Schurt-
er with Schurter Enterprises
LLC submitted a proposal in
July to farm the 22 acres of fi l-
bert orchards on city-owned
property at KRP. Tony Weath-
ers had done the harvesting
previously, but cited possible
litigation for using pesticides
in the vicinity of the Big Toy
– built within the orchards in
June – as the reason for want-
ing out of his contract.
Weathers was paying the
city $9,000 a year in rent. Sch-
urter has proposed paying no
rent but giving 15 percent of
his proceeds to the city in-
stead. The Keizer City Coun-
cil last week voted to allow
City Manager Chris Eppley to
strike a deal.
We service all makes & models.
No appointments needed.
3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 304-7555