SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 39
SECTION A
SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
$1.00
Food fi ght escalates
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
An ugly grocery store battle
has escalated into an all-out
war.
Casualties in the Haggen
vs. Albertsons battle include
27 recently rechristened Hag-
gen stores, such as the one on
River Road in Keizer.
As mentioned recently in
the Keizertimes, Haggen an-
nounced in mid-August the
Keizer location – rechristened
in late April after formerly
being an Albertsons – will be
closing by mid-October. Store
closure and going out of busi-
ness signs are all over the store,
including a large banner on
the store front.
Washington-based Haggen
purchased 146 Albertsons and
Safeway stores last December,
the result of a merger between
the two large grocery store
chains. Prior to the purchase
of the new stores, Haggen had
just 18 stores in Washington
and Oregon.
In July, Albertsons sued
Haggen for $41 million,
claiming Haggen failed to pay
for inventory that was part of
the changeover at 38 of the
acquired stores.
Now Haggen is fi ghting
back.
On Tuesday, Haggen attor-
neys fi led a complaint against
Albertsons seeking more than
$1 billion in damages. The
complaint was fi led in the
United States District Court
for the District of Delaware
and makes a number of accu-
sations about Albertsons acting
in violation of various federal
and state laws, including Fed-
eral Trade Commission orders,
and attempting to eliminate
competition.
Haggen alleges the actions
by Albertsons forced the an-
nounced store closures.
“This action arises from
Albertsons’ coordinated and
systematic efforts to eliminate
competition and Haggen as a
viable competitor in over 130
local grocery markets in fi ve
states,” the complaint reads in
part. “Albertsons’ illegal cam-
paign includes premeditated
acts of unfair and anticom-
petitive conduct that were
calculated to circumvent Alb-
ertsons’ obligations under fed-
eral antitrust laws, FTC orders,
and contractual commitments
to Haggen, all of which were
intended to prevent and delay
the successful entry of Haggen
into local grocery markets that
Albertsons now dominates.
“The result of Albertsons’
conduct is the reduction of
competition in the affected
local markets, thereby reduc-
ing consumer choice and de-
creasing quality while increas-
ing prices for thousands of
consumers throughout Cali-
fornia, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada and Arizona; needless
loss of jobs held by innocent
workers and infl iction of se-
vere brand, reputational and
fi nancial harm on Haggen,”
the complaint added.
According to the com-
plaint, Haggen paid “in excess
of $300 million” to purchase
the stores last year but Albert-
sons didn’t uphold its part of
the deal.
McNARY
FALL
SPORTS
PREVIEW
SEE SPECIAL
SECTION
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Please see FIGHT, Page A2
The Keizer Haggen, which was an Albertsons until late April,
is covered with signs about sales and closing. Haggen is suing
Albertsons and blaming that company for its struggles.
l a s r e
v e r e
l
o R Ro
le r
Different take
on Ol’ Glory
ever
sa
l
Big Toy
dedicated
PAGE A3
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Kyle Kuhns, a 2011 McNary High School graduate, has gone from trying to be a professional
singer to working at Starbucks to now managing artists such as My Brothers and I, whose debut
album he is holding.
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Rick Smith speaks to members of the Keizer Public Arts
Commission on Aug. 28 about his plans to make a fl ag.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
It may not be a new mural,
but it is a new piece of art for
River Road in Keizer.
Rick Smith, a Keizer salvage
artist with a small custom fab-
rication shop, came to the Aug.
25 Keizer Public Arts Commis-
sion (KPAC) meeting to discuss
his idea for an American fl ag.
“What came to mind was a
piece I considered doing but
didn’t have a place big enough
to display it,” Smith said. “It’s an
American fl ag rendition done
with chain and salvage material.
I have an example of a small
one I’ve done before, Iron Glo-
ry. That was a small 24 (inch) by
16 (inch) wall size.”
Smith, who recently did the
weather vane at the Big Toy
(shown on the front cover of
the Keizertimes last week), re-
ferred to a concept of the fl ag
he showed to commissioners.
“The concept I sketched is
(a fl ag) hanging vertically, made
from large chain,” Smith said.
“The canting would be a raw
steel fi nish. Hopefully it will
be very tastefully done. The
work would be fi nished and
clearcoated so it has a nice fi n-
ish.”
KPAC chair Lore Christo-
pher had a concern.
“Would kids be able to
run through it?” Christopher
asked. “I love everything about
it but the idea of kids running
through the chains. It would be
insured, so the city would pay
Please see FLAG, Page A12
Now it's for real
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
The McNary High School varsity football team had a
scrimmage on Blue Day Aug. 22, but now start their 2015
season tonight at North Salem. For preview, see Page. A8.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
When 2011 McNary High
School graduate Kyle Kuhns
moved to California four years
ago, he had dreams of being a
singer.
Now he’s managing singers
– and he couldn’t be happier.
Along the way, he’s taking
lessons learned in his musi-
cal pursuits and using them to
help guide new talent and his
new company.
When the Keizertimes last
caught up with Kuhns, the son
of Keizer Police Department
deputy chief Jeff Kuhns, he
had just come close to mak-
ing it onto American Idol as a
singer. He had gone to Willa-
mette University for one year
on a music scholarship, follow-
ing a busy performing sched-
ule while at MHS.
Kuhns ended up on the TV
show X Factor with the group
NYO (Not Your Ordinary) for
three seasons, during which
time he moved to Los Angeles.
“We were all good, tal-
ented musicians,” Kuhns said.
“They’re all great people. In
December 2013 it wrapped up
and I was done performing. I
didn’t really love it, so I wanted
to go into the other side and
make a path on the business
side that felt genuine and true
to who I am, instead of being
an artist and being told to do
things and going in a direction
I didn’t want to see my career
going.”
Even though Kuhns was
signed with an agency, he quit
at age 19 and wondered what
would be next while working
at a Starbucks in the LA area.
“I scrambled to fi nd a job in
any facet of the entertainment
industry I could,” he said.
Kuhns caught a lucky break
when one of his regular cof-
fee customers, Jason Vaughn,
offered him a job as executive
assistant at his company that
makes costumes for clients like
Disney and Marvel.
“I made a lot of connections
through him,” Kuhns said. “He
let me have a lot of fl exibility
to do other jobs like in music,
where he knew I wanted to be
long-term. He totally under-
stood and supported me. He
let me come and go. He was
the reason I worked my way
in.”
Kuhns then did consulting
for a music management com-
pany for six months before
becoming a digital marketing
consultant for Sony Music.
“They work with a lot of
digital talent like YouTubers
and Vine stars,” Kuhns said.
“They have created their own
celebrities there and create
content for them.”
Kuhns also worked with
Iconic Artist Management out
of New York. The fi rst client
Kuhns worked with for them
was Neon Hitch, whom he
describes as a “crazy” British
artist.
“She was based in LA, so
they needed someone to tend
to her and be there physically,”
Kuhns recalled. “Artists like
it when you’re present. She
was such a bold personality. I
learned a lot from her.”
While still working for
Sony, Kuhns now has his own
music management company,
XX Artists.
“Neon would sign off her
messages XX,” Kuhns said. “I
wanted to allude to her with
my company. It’s my term of
affection.”
The fi rst client for Kuhns
came from a classmate dur-
ing the year he attended Wil-
lamette, who is part of a sibling
group called My Brothers and
I.
“We both grew up here,
knew of each other and be-
came decent friends,” Kuhns
said. “A year after I moved to
LA, he sent me this song. He
didn’t even know I was work-
ing in music, but we had per-
formed together in choirs. He
sent me this song, Nowhere to
Run off a live session and I
thought it was phenomenal.”
After several months of
discussion, Kuhns decided to
start XX Artists and made the
Salem-based sibling band his
fi rst client. In essence he does
the work on the side, as he
still works for Sony Mondays
through Thursdays.
Kuhns and My Brothers and
I have been working together
for a year now. The band is
signed to Portland-based Ex-
punge Records, has gotten ra-
dio play, sold out shows along
the West Coast from Los An-
geles and Seattle and has its
fi rst album, Don’t Dream Alone,
coming out this month. A re-
lease party takes place in Port-
land on Sept. 17, with a perfor-
mance at Skype Live Studios in
Portland the following day.
“This is now the pinnacle
of the fi rst year,” Kuhns said.
“Everything we’ve built is off
of three songs, which is insane.
Please see KUHNS, Page A6
New bus
routes
starting
PAGE A5
Volcanoes
win series
PAGE A9