SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 15 SECTION A JANUARY 12, 2018 $1.00 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When he was 3 years old, Keaton Weimer had a simple request: he wanted to be a pi- rate for Halloween. Keaton’s dad, Ryan, doesn’t seem to do any- thing in moderation. Keaton and two of his siblings were born with spi- nal muscular atrophy, a condition that will re- quire the use of a wheel- chair for the rest of their lives. Ryan didn’t see the wheelchair as a problem when Keaton asked to be a pirate, he used it as a canvas. “A pirate needs a ship,” Ryan said. “So we drew out some ideas, took some measurements and, luckily, the ideas and measurements all lined up,” Ryan said. The resulting pirate costume included a wooden ship with black sails that appeared to be fl oating as Keaton drove his motorized wheelchair around the neighborhood on Halloween night in La Grande, Ore. An idea was born Magic ON WHEELS as Keaton made the rounds because of what Ryan saw happening. “There’s this awkwardness around disability or difference. People don’t want to stare or they end up staring and they don’t know whether to come up and say, 'Hi' or not. It’s not malicious, but it’s society,” said Ryan, who now lives in Keizer with his family. “That night, the awkwardness disappeared – the wheelchair disappeared – kids came right up to him. I thought about the many, many other families out there like ours. Any time we experience something that beautiful our response should be: how do we share it?” Sophomore makes championship wrestling run PAGE A13 Please see MAGIC, Page A7 LEFT: Keaton Wiemer rides Indominus Rex. BELOW: The Wiemer family: Bryce, 6, Lana, Thatcher, 3, Ryan, and Keaton, 12. KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Man dies by own hand after accident PAGE A2 Field fees on council agenda again Jan. 16 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Keizer City Council is expect- ed to take a new look at fees charged for fi eld usage at Keizer Little League Park during its next meeting Tuesday, Jan. 16. The meeting is tak- ing place one day later than normal because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Town hall this weekend Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) will host a joint town hall meet- ing in Keizer Saturday, Jan. 13. The meet- ing is slated for 9:30 a.m. in the com- mons area of Claggett Creek Mid- dle School, Sen. Merkley 1810 Alder Drive N.E. There is no cost to attend. Merkley and Schrader will talk about recent leg- islative de- velopments in the U.S. Congress and take ques- tions from constituents. “In our Rep. Schrader ‘We the Peo- ple’ democ- racy, town hall meetings are an essential tool for me to hear from Oregonians and represent their interests back in D.C.,” Merkley said. Since joining the Senate in 2009, Merkley has held a town hall in each of Oregon’s 36 counties every year. In December, the council consid- ered a request by Keizer Little League (KLL) to raise fi eld fees by $10 across the board. KLL man- ages the park under a contract with the city. The city council agreed to table the issue just as the ex- change between repre- sentatives of KLL and McNary Youth Baseball (MYB), formerly KYSA, started to become heated. The two organizations split in 2006 over disagreements regarding how to balance programming available to all Keizer youth and those seeking a more competitive environ- ment. Since that time, relations between the splintered factions have remained some- what tense. After KLL managing the fi elds for more than 30 years, KYSA took over the park man- agement contract for several years. The situation came to a head again in 2013 and 2014 with KYSA leadership ask- ing for more invest- ment for repairs from the city and then tak- ing some of the prop- erty that predated the organization's man- agement of the facility just before KLL was restored as the facility manager. One Acts at MHS PAGE A4 Please see FEES, Page A8 Orchard gets axe By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes A 20-acre hazelnut or- chard along the west side of Keizer Rapids Parks has seen its last harvest. Volunteers were expect- ed to begin knocking down the trees with donated equipment as soon as Satur- day, Jan. 13. “It’s reached the end of it’s useful life,” said Bill Law- yer, Keizer Public Works director. “The lease on the property ended in Novem- ber and the yield was so low that it was going to be, at best, a break-even deal for the farmer in the future.” The orchard has had a turbulent few years leading up to its demise. The farmer who leased the property from the city for fi ve years in 2012 asked for release from it in 2015 as plans for The Big Toy came to frui- tion. He cited the potential health and legal pitfalls of using pesticides next to a children’s play area as the primary reason for pulling out of the deal. That same year, another Celtic boys, girls top Titans on court PAGE A13 farmer, Kevin Schurter ap- proached the city with a pro- posal to take over the care and harvesting using only glyphosphate (Roundup) on the ground. Schurter’s lease ended in November 2017 and he opted not to renew it. Lawyer said the reduced use of pesticides probably hastened the aging of the trees. KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald A nearly 90-year-old orchard in Keizer Rapids Park will be tak- en down starting Saturday, Jan. 13. Longtime Keizer volunteers Mark Caillier, Jerry Nuttbrock and Randy Miller are leading the effort to remove the trees and make way for a different crop. The ground will also be raked to remove as many of the roots as possible. Caillier said estimates on the number of trees has varied, but it’s somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000. “It only takes about 30 sec- onds to knock one over. Many Please see ORCHARD, Page A8 COURTESY VEHICLE CLOSEOUT! $ Keizer $ 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463 - 4853 9,000 OFF MSRP 2017 FORD F150 VIN #: 1FTFX1EG7HKD55247 Stock#: 5725P, SuperCab, 4x4, * STX, 3.5L Ecoboost 33,230 DEEP DISCOUNT 2017 FORD ESCAPE VIN #: 1FMCU9G91HUD77513 Stock#: 5749P, SE, 4x4, $ 2.0L Ecoboost, Cold Weather Package 25,318 * PRICE $33,230 after $3,750 Skyline Discount - $1,750 Rebate - $2,250 Bonus Cash - $1,250 Ford Credit Rebate www.skylineforddirect.com *Former courtesy vehicle. May have up to 6000 miles. Qualifi es for all new incentives -or- FCTP out discount. All vehicles are subject to prior sale. Requires Ford Credit fi nancing, On approved credit.