SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 8
SECTION A
NOVEMBER 24, 2017
$1.00
LOCKDOWN
follows day of
threats at MHS
Submitted by Keith Fajer
Numerous threats promising violence at McKay High School and elsewhere were spray painted on garage doors.
Graffi ti threats hit Keizer homes
Graffi ti
threatening
violence at McKay High
School and “everywhere” was
discovered at multiple homes
in Keizer Wednesday, Nov. 15.
While nothing came of the
threats, Salem-Keizer School
District had extra security in
place at McKay and McNary
high schools in response to
the vandalism. The Keizer
Police Department continues
to investigate the incident and
is looking for leads. Anyone
with information can contact
503-390-3713 or email tips@
keizer.org, reference Keizer
Police Department Incident
#17-4776
The fi rst graffi ti, with
the
message
“school
shooting today @McKay,”
was discovered by Keizer
patrol offi cers about 3:40
a.m. on Horizon Ridge
Drive Northeast. While the
patrol offi cers were in the
neighborhood investigating
the initial report of graffi ti,
offi cers discovered at least
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Miscommunication in the front of-
fi ce at McNary High School resulted in
a Condition 2 lockdown on the morning
of Thursday, Nov. 16.
The incident started when a person
went into the offi ce and said they were
just in the parking lot and heard gunshots.
“The way it was translated was there are
gunshots in the parking lot,” said McNary
principal Erik Jespersen, who was in
an administration meeting at the time.
“There was something lost in translation.”
Given the miscommunication, the
threatening graffi ti in several Keizer
neighborhoods the day before, and
“chatter” on the radio between campus
monitors, Jespersen said McNary went
under a brief lockdown “in an abundance
of caution.”
The lockdown lasted 15 minutes, but
Jespersen and school resource offi cer
David Zavala knew there was no threat
much sooner.
“Within just a few minutes we realized
Celtics flying
under radar
PAGE A10
Please see LOCKDOWN, Page A8
three additional residences had
been vandalized with similar
threatening graffi ti. Two of
the residences were also in
the 1400 block of Horizon
Ridge Drive NE, while the
other residence is located in
the 6800 block of Jakewood
Court NE. Garage doors
were targeted at the homes on
Horizon Ridge, while a fence
was targeted at the home on
Jakewood Court.
Additional
messages
included: “29+ dead today
bombs everywhere;” “school
shooting
today;”
and
“Sandyhook2” among others.
In addition to those
Officer
retires after
27 years
PAGE A2
Please see THREATS, Page A8
MHS math teacher takes home Apple
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary math teacher
Louis Tiller knows that AP
Calculus is one of the hardest
classes at the high school so it's
important to make it interac-
tive and fun.
Louis Tiller accepts a Crystal
Apple for excellence in
teaching at a ceremony earlier
this month.
Submitted
“I like to do things where
it's more student centered
than lecturing,” Tiller said.
“I do a lot of going group
to group and trying to help.
I have these really neat desks
that have a white board on
them so I write stuff right on
the desk. It's certainly differ-
ent than the way I was taught
where the instructor just,
sometimes you wouldn't see
his face, he was writing on the
board until the period ended.”
Tiller's teaching methods
are working.
“It is blatantly obvious that
Mr. Tiller loves his job, and
when a teacher loves his job,
the students love that class,”
wrote McNary senior Megan
Schneider in a letter nominat-
ing Tiller for a Crystal Apple
Award. “It is a miracle when
kids are anxious to get started
on their math, but Mr. Tiller
pulls it off daily. Not only does
he get us engaged, but he is
always walking around watch-
ing and listening to us. He al-
lows us to struggle enough so
that we lean how to problem
solve, but knows exactly when
to come over and help us fi g-
ure it out. I would almost call
Shakespeare
Fest visits
McNary
Please see APPLE, Page A8
Democrat,
Republican to
co-sponsor
fi x for
reporters
STUFF THE BUS
Students in the Whiteaker
Middle School leadership
class managed to stuff a bus
full of nearly 1,500 pounds
of donated food Saturday,
Nov. 18.
Each year, Wolverine stu-
dents collect food through-
out the month of November
with the goal of providing
Thankgsgiving meals to lo-
cal families.
The annual food drive
is conducted in partnership
with Dayspring Fellowship.
TOP & LEFT: Students piled
food inside a school bus and
hit the street to drum up
more donations.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A change to mandatory
reporting guidelines in the
Salem-Keizer School District
to include instances of consen-
sual sex be-
tween teens
has
ended
up uniting a
Democratic
state senator
and Republi-
can state rep-
Gelser
resentative.
Sen. Sara
Gelser,
a
Democrat
represent-
ing
Sen-
ate District
8, and Rep.
Bill
Post,
Post
represent-
ing House District 25, are co-
sponsoring a bill they plan to
introduce during the legislative
session in February.
Please see FIX, Page A7
Swim team
growing
PAGE A10