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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2016)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 26 SECTION A JUNE 10, 2016 $1.00 Top of the class By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary Class of 2016 valedictor ians—Kather ine Gray, Morgan Hoag, Isaiah Holt, Abigail Johnson, Kelli Miller, Nelson Mueller and Lacie Posterick—haven't just made all A's all four years of high school. They've also made music, played sports, written and acted in plays, constructed tools out of wood and been leaders in their churches. “I have a planner that stays pretty full,” said Johnson, who along with her many commitments to music— wind ensemble, symphony, pit orchestra, marching band, drum major and section leader in the basketball band, all-city, all state and all-northwest bands, Oregon Ambassadors of Music, is also president of the science club, captain of science bowl and a member of the National Honor Society. She also goes to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Keizer every morning before school for seminary training. “I try to get a good amount of sleep, at least fi ve hours a night,” Johnson said with a grin. “Band really is what keeps me structured. I think if I didn't have that, then I would probably have procrastinated more on my school work.” Johnson also credits her teachers at MHS, particularly Band Director Jennifer Bell. Please see CLASS, Page A11 MHS Valedictorians reach new heights Traffic tickets strain city court PAGE A2 MHS welcomes new maestro PAGE A5 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary High School's Class of 2016 valedictorians, clockwise from bottom left: Abigail Johnson, Morgan Hoag, Katherine Gray, Nelson Mueller, Isaiah Holt, Lacey Posterick and Kelli Miller. Think Keizer ‘We can’t arrest our way out of homelessness’ crime is on the rise? Look deeper made for big headlines, By ERIC A. HOWALD they are also skewing per- Of the Keizertimes Two homicides, one ceptions of how dangerous parking lot shooting with Keizer actually is, particu- injuries and a fourth inci- larly if responses and alarm bells being sound- dent in which a ed on social media gun was fi red at a are any indication. home, all of it oc- “It’s a diffi cult curred in Keizer issue to address,” in a span of four said Jeff Kuhns, months. KPD deputy chief. It has some “We try to be thinking the city transparent about might not be as Teague what’s happening safe as it once was, but the reality is that crime and we’ve started seeing in Keizer is on the decline those same claims the more we use Facebook and Twit- overall. “Making a comparison ter.” There is a danger in between 2015 and 2014, we were actually down in looking only at numbers, persons crimes and up only said Steele and Keizer Po- two percent in property lice Chief John Teague. “When you look at only crimes,” said Cara Steele, Keizer Police Department the numbers, the percep- (KPD) crime analyst. “For tions tend to go to the ex- property crimes, that’s a tremes,” Teague said. The data sample is so very minimal amount. It’s not an increase I would ever small that recent violent crimes are considered be concerned about.” Steele’s job involves anomalies rather than the tracking police call vol- norm, Steele added. For the most part, said umes, types of calls for assis- tance and looking at trends Teague, KPD offi cers spend locally, regionally and even their time looking into non-criminal activities. statewide. In all of 2015, KPD of- “I watch the swings, but I’m not seeing an increase,” fi cers and detectives investi- gated 964 Part 1 crimes – a Steele said. While recent events have Please see CRIME, Page A7 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes As the members of the Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative (MWHI) have been making the rounds in the re- gion collecting feedback from residents on how to tackle homelessness in Marion and Polk counties, they are en- countering a familiar refrain. “We attended a neighbor- hood meeting this past week and one of the questions that came up was about quality of life and livability concerns around homeless populations,” said Marion County Sheriff www.skylineforddirect.com 3555 River Road N, Keizer • (503) 463- 4853 (CORT), about some of the ways both groups are trying to innovate when tackling crimes often associated with homelessness. It was the cen- terpiece of the WMHI meet- ing at Keizer Civic Center Monday, June 6. “We are looking for better ways to tackle these issues,” said Deputy District Attor- ney Paige Clarkson, who is also the team leader for drug offenses sent to the Marion County DA’s offi ce. When offi cers make con- tact with a homeless person Please see ARREST, Page A7 23 years for man who led 11-year-old to Mexico Please see MEXICO, Page A6 Keizer teen dominating sports world PAGE A8 Celt alum to deliver graduation keynote By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes A former Keizer resident pleaded on his knees for for- giveness in front of a Marion County Circuit Court judge before being sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison on three counts of rape. The charges stemmed from a 2007 incident involving Raul Xalamihua-Espindola’s taking of a then 11-year-old Keizer girl and then fl ee- ing across the country before heading to Mexico. Judge David Leith imposed the sentence Monday, June 6. Xalamihua-Espindola, 29, pleaded guilty to the charges in May. During sentencing, Xa- lamihua-Espindola’s claims that relationships between older men and young girls in FORD Keizer Jason Myers, a member of the WMHI task force. “The person in the com- munity said just arrest Myers them. What we’ve found from our expe- riences is we can’t arrest our way out of homelessness.” The statement served as preface to a presentation, provided by members of the Marion County District At- torney’s Offi ce and Crisis Outreach Response Team PAGE A11 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Raul Xalamihua-Espindola on his knees in front of Judge David Leith as he pleads for forgiveness. SMART ® BONUS GET AN EXTRA 1000 $ CASH BACK on selecw vehicles. Now for a Limiwed Time. Look for your Ford Smarw Bonus wag woday
