SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 41
SECTION A
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
$1.00
MHS to just do it with Nike
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
There are two words visitors to Mc-
Nary High School are likely to hear a
lot this year: world class.
“Our goal is to turn McNary into
a world class high school. That’s our
mantra for the year,” said Erin Arndt, a
Celtic social studies teacher.
The directive is coming from the
top of the heap, principal Erik Jes-
persen. However, it is part-and-parcel
of living up to the expectations placed
on the school to be innovative in all
regards. Those marching orders are
the result of landing a $20,000 Nike
School Innovation Grant.
On Monday, Aug. 31, more than
75 percent of McNary staff members,
on their last day of summer vacation,
turned out to tour the Nike campus
in Beaverton and hear from some of
Submitted its leaders.
While in attendance, the inspiration
McNary High School teachers Larry Keeker and Jim Litchfi eld in front of a wall
came hard and heavy, said Arndt and
fi lled with Nike historical artifacts during a tour of the campus.
Carts create angst
for city councilors
majority of shoppers do not
take the shopping carts off the
owner’s premises, but some
shoppers do.”
Johnson said carts taken off
the premises usually are aban-
doned and thus create a nui-
sance.
“State statutes set up a pro-
cess for notice and eventual
seizure of the shopping carts,
but requires the local govern-
ment to adopt an ordinance
if they want to use this pro-
cess. But without a code en-
forcement offi cer, we didn’t
have the people to enforce it,”
Johnson said.
Now that the city has such
a person in Ben Crosby, John-
son went forward with work
on the ordinance. As proposed,
the ordinance allowed for toll-
free numbers to be placed
on carts and on signs at store
premises that people can call
to report an abandoned cart. If
Please see CARTS, Page A7
Man injured in
mystery incident
Submitted
This distinctive 1950 Chevy pick-up was in an incident Saturday
night, but investigators are still trying to determine what
happened and led to a Keizer man being seriously injured.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Police are trying to deter-
mine what happened in an in-
cident that left a Keizer man
seriously injured.
Patrol units with the Keizer
Police Department responded
to a report of an unconscious
male lying in the roadway on
the 900 block of Ventura Ave-
nue North at around 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 5. The male was
later identifi ed as 32-year-old
Thomas O. Modine, who re-
sides on that street.
“The complainant reported
the subject was unconscious
and had obviously been in-
jured,” said Jeff Kuhns, deputy
police chief with the KPD.
Modine was taken to Salem
Hospital with life-threatening
injuries and remained hospi-
talized as of Tuesday.
Investigators stayed at the
scene well into the night and
early morning.
“Investigators learned Mr.
Modine had sustained his in-
juries as a result of an incident
involving a motor vehicle,”
Kuhns said.
The road was closed as
KPD offi cers and members
of the Oregon State Police
CRASH team worked to re-
construct the scene. The in-
volved vehicle was a 1950
Chevrolet pick-up with a dis-
tinctive color scheme.
“The preliminary investi-
gation leads the investigators
to believe Mr. Modine was a
passenger in the vehicle when
the incident occurred,” Kuhns
said. “Exactly what and how
the incident occurred is what
investigators are focusing on.”
Kuhns said the driver of the
truck has been interviewed,
but no arrests or charges have
been announced yet.
Big Toy
funding
detailed
PAGE A2
Please see NIKE, Page A12
DEJA BLUE
City hall
gallery more
popular
PAGE A3
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Dennis Spencer stands by the 1965 Chevy Impala he restored about 15 years ago. It's identical to
the one he had when he got married 46 years ago.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Dennis Spencer liked his
fi rst 1965 Chevrolet Impala so
much, he got another one.
He didn’t just get another
1965 Impala of the non-SS
variety. He worked on the sec-
ond one until it was identical
to the fi rst.
Same beautiful blue color.
Same 283 cubic inch
Chevy V8.
“Everything is identical,”
Spencer said. “Same color,
same interior, same motor,
same rims.”
Spencer, now 66, bought
his fi rst one for $2,600 as a
17-year-old high schooler in
1967 in Southern California.
A 1959 Impala was his fi rst
car, but that car’s big motor
got Spencer into trouble.
“The 1965 was the fi rst
with the slope coming down,”
Spencer said, referring to the
sloped rear window. “The
older ones had no styling. This
has the triple round taillights
and round gauges.”
While most think of the
Super Sport model, Spencer
sought out a non-SS for a
simple reason.
“I wanted the bench seat so
my girlfriend could sit next to
me,” Spencer said. “With the
SS you had bucket seats, so
your girlfriend would be on
the other side of the car.”
Shortly after high school,
Spencer met his wife Janie. He
was 18 at the time while she
was 15 and still in high school.
They were married two years
later and celebrated their 46th
anniversary on Aug. 30.
The couple had their Im-
pala for 10 years and raised
their two children. But when
the car needed some work, it
was sold.
“We didn’t want to put
more money into the car, so
we sold it,” Spencer lamented.
“The lady who bought it had
it restored. Then I was sorry
we sold it, because it looked
like this six months later. That
planted the idea that I wanted
another one.”
The idea was put on hold
for a while. The Spencers
moved to Keizer 30 years ago
and a few years later Spen-
cer spotted a 1965 Impala in
someone’s yard.
Spencer, a truck driver who
became disabled, needed to
work on a car. After all, doc-
tor’s orders.
“My doctor wanted me
to do rehab,” Spencer said.
“This was a rehab project for
me. This one was sitting in a
backyard in Keizer for at least
fi ve to 10 years. It had moss
and raccoons. It was real bad. I
think it cost me $300, because
the motor and transmission
were shot.”
Celts win
football
opener
Please see IMPALA, Page A12
Back to school time again
Rylie Smith
packed and
repacked her
new desk at
Forest Ridge
Elementary
School several
times during
an open house
Tuesday, Sept.
8. For more
photos from
around the
school, please
see Page A5.
PAGE A8
Volcanoes
in playoffs
PAGE A8
KEIZERTIMES/
Eric A. Howald
Please see CLUES, Page A2
3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 463- 4853
2015 OREGON
FORD DEALER
OF THE YEAR
YOUR 1 STOP SHOP
BRAKES, TIRES, BATTERIES
FOR
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Sure, shopping carts can
create frustration.
Whether it be an errant
cart hitting your vehicle in a
parking lot or getting a cart
with that obnoxiously wobbly
right front wheel, there can be
understandable angst regard-
ing shopping carts.
But shopping carts causing
a public riff at a city council
meeting?
That was just what hap-
pened Tuesday night as Keizer
City Councilors looked at an
ordinance related to aban-
doned shopping carts.
City Attorney Shannon
Johnson noted the issue of
abandoned carts was inves-
tigated at the prompting of
councilor Marlene Parsons.
“Though not numerous,
the city has received com-
plaints about abandoned
shopping carts in neighbor-
hoods,” Johnson said. “The
other teachers at the school.
“When I was in high school, we
didn’t have smart phones and our
teachers practiced the stand-and-de-
liver method,” Arndt said. “Just like the
knowledge of the body has changed
over time and Nike has adapted, teach-
ers have to change to adapt to the new
way students take in knowledge.”
For science teacher Mandy Elder,
the lesson came through in the story of
Steve Prefontaine, which was imparted
during the visit.
“His coaches wrapped themselves
around him and helped him succeed
after he came from relatively nothing.
His coaches saw in him the potential
and they met his needs to help him
achieve at a really high level,” Elder
said.
Elder is new to the school and Or-
egon, so it was equally heartening to
see so many of her new colleagues in-
vested in the new attitude.
We service all makes & models.
No appointments needed.
3555 RIVER RD N, KEIZER • (503) 304-7555