SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 34
SECTION A
AUGUST 5, 2016
97303:
Keizer or Salem?
Councilor eyes dedicated ZIP code
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
When Keizer residents type
“97303” into Google, they will be
told they live in Salem.
That's a problem for Marlene
Parsons, a Keizer city councilor.
“We're our own city and we
incorporated for a reason. We want
Keizer to have its own ZIP code,”
Parsons said.
Parsons is now partnering with
Oregon State Rep. Bill Post to try
and persuade the U.S. Postal Service
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Byron Nelson's current
obsession is a knot on a piece
of hardwood he's shaping
into a longboard.
“That knot right there
is going to be a big part of
what the board becomes. I
really think it could be an
eye,” he said, pointing to the
board in question. “You just
have to let it talk to you. It
could be a crow.”
He wasn't certain yet if
the crow will be the fi nal im-
age he burns into the board,
he's still communing with it,
it's part of his process. They
way Nelson, 42, talks about
a board, its grain, the fl aws
he can turn into character
is the fi rst clue that there's
something more to him than
one might guess at from his
tattooed arms and legs, his
dropping of
words like
“rad” and
“tr ipping”
into con-
versations.
Something
more than just a skateboard-
er refusing to grow up.
One doesn't simply walk
into a shop and choose one
of Nelson's longboards off a
rack, he's made nearly every
one for a particular person
or purpose, like trading for
work on his truck or some of
the truly astonishing artwork
that adorns his body.
“My wife tells me I have
to get rid of them as soon as
they are done now, otherwise
I get too attached to them
and they end up hanging in
the garage,” he said. “I started
working with just any solid
wood, but then the wood
grain was really working for
me. That's when everything
changed and it turned into a
woodworking project.”
Nelson started building his
own boards after destroying
some of the mass-produced
laminate boards a friend
$1.00
(USPS) to give the Iris Capital a
dedicated ZIP code.
The current 97303 boundaries
include Interstate 5 to the east,
Wheatland Road Northeast and
Waconda Road Northeast to the
north, Willamette River to the
west, and Salem-Keizer Parkway
(99E), Broadway Street, and Delmar
Drive north to the South (it cuts
across the parking lot at the Fred
Meyer shopping center, Dollar Tree
is part of 97303, Fred Meyer isn't).
It also, somewhat oddly, includes
about three blocks between Tryon
Street Northeast and Locust Street
Northeast and eight homes encircled
by Riviera Drive Northeast,
Island View Drive Northeast and
Dreamerie Lane Northeast.
Parsons said the removal of an
self-service machine at the Keizer
post offi ce late last year triggered
her interest in the issue.
”We have 37,000 people and it
was used quite a bit. Now, we're
back to long lines,” Parsons said.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Crafting longboards out of exotic hardwoods helped Byron Nelson recover from a deep depression, and added some killer
tattoos to his growing collection of body art.
“I can keep my spirituality
fl owing and I don't care
what anyone says.” — Byron Nelson
supplied him with.
“They just wouldn't hold
up, and I like bombing down
long, steep hills. To carve
on a big hill, you have to
go almost horizontal with
the road and it tears up the
board,” he said.
He cut his fi rst board
into the rough shape he
was looking for and then
sanded it down by hand. The
process took about three
months, but the fi rst ride was
unforgettable.
“It was rewarding because
then I knew that I could pull
it off,” he said. “I could ride a
rigid board on big hills.”
It was also a conversation
starter.
“Anywhere you go with a
board like these, people trip
out. It's just really different
from what most people think
of when it comes to a skate-
board,” Nelson said.
He started taking a few
orders for custom creations,
but he found it diffi cult to
Behind the badge
PAGE A2
Please see ZIP, Page A14
from the brink
actually deliver the goods.
He was on the verge of a
deep depression that would
last nearly fi ve years.
“I would go out and ride
some of the big hills in the
middle of the night. It wasn't
safe, but it makes you feel
invincible when you don't
die doing it,” he said. “It was
deep, dark place.”
He was only able to pull
himself out of it by going
to live with his brother in
sourthern Oregon for six
months, but crafting the
longboards became a lifeline
for him to hold while he
recovered.
“It was the wood, the
shaping, taking a board and
fi nding out what's inside of
it. The transformation,” he
said.
“It’s been
a grim
summer”
In recent years, and with
the assistance of a friend
who allows him to use
his
workshop, Nelson's
production has become
much more streamlined,
which allows him to spend
more deciding what images
he'll burn into his creations.
He's created fl ames and
skulls, a mountain scene and
even a butterfl y simply by
freehanding sketches and
embellishing them with a
handheld wood burning tool
– but he can take weeks to
settle on an image.
Aside
from
creating
images, his favorite parts of
the process is choosing which
boards he'll work with.
“I go up to little wood
stashes up in the mountains
Please see BRINK, Page A9
Neighbors’ night
Helmet use
up at
skate park
PAGE A3
Teacher
found
inspiration in
father
PAGE A5
Q&A with KPD’s Union President (Part 2)
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Last week, we ran the fi rst
part of an interview with
Keizer Police Department's
Offi cer Darsy Olafson.
Olafson has been president
of the KPD's offi cer union
for the past eight years and
we wanted to get his take
on current conversations
regarding law enforcement
happening around the country.
This week, we present the
conclusion of our interview
focusing on issues of local law
enforcement.
Keizertimes questions and
remarks are in bold type.
Does the union have
a stance on use of body
cameras?
Speaking for the union,
we like body cameras, we
like dash cameras because
we've had many times when
a complaint comes in and it's
a lot easier to say, watch the
Cancer
doesn't slow
CCMS teacher
video.
The problem is there's no
standards for retention and
what get retained and what
doesn't. If you accidentally
hit the camera and go use
the restroom, as of right now,
that has to be retained and
it's public record. That's the
scary part. If an offi cer has his
camera on and walks into his
house, all of the sudden it's
public record.
PAGE A12
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Lucy Porter plays in a bounce house during National Night
Out Tuesday, Aug. 2. For more photos, see Page A6.
Please see BADGE, Page A11
Celebrating 10 Years
of Serving Patients
1165 Union St. NE #100• Salem (503) 588- 2674
www.salemimaging.com