SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 19
SECTION A
FEBRUARY 9, 2018
For
the
$1.00
Win
Students get their game
on, learn respect for all
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Parents: Imagine for a mo-
ment two teams of soldiers
fi ghting in and around a virtu-
al battlefi eld. Points are scored
for each member of a team
that is eliminated. The score
is tied 49-49 and your son or
daughter pulls off a 360-no-
scope kill that wins the game.
How would you react?
Would you know what to do
or say?
Now, what if the action was
taking place on a football fi eld
and the same child kicked the
winning fi eld goal?
“If your kid makes that
kick, you’re screaming in the
stands and telling everyone,
‘That’s my baby,’” said Jamie
Harris, founder of Satellite
Gaming, an after school club
offered at Claggett Creek and
Whiteaker middle schools and
McNary High School. “Our
goal here is to basically say to
parents that there are students
who work really hard at video
games. You may or may not
approve, but if they are playing
the games as much as some
other kids play sports then let’s
encourage them to use it in a
positive way.”
Each week, Harris and oth-
er volunteers in the program
cart in Xboxes and cables to
the schools and set up gam-
ing areas where students can
play shoulder-to-shoulder. For
some students, it’s a chance to
play games they might not
otherwise have access to, for
others it’s a chance to play
alongside other players in a
world where most multiplayer
gaming is now done online
with anonymous friends, but
Harris is using it as an oppor-
tunity to change the way they
approach online life.
“I’m a big advocate for on-
line gaming, but we usually
get the purpose of an online
alias wrong. We begin to abuse
it and it becomes a free ticket
to say whatever you want and
get away with it, but the real
idea is keep our own identity
safe while experiencing on-
line interaction,” Harris said.
By putting online oppo-
nents in the same room where
they can celebrate victories
together and see the faces of
defeated foes, Harris removes
the anonymity of online in-
teraction and, he hopes, paves
the way for more positive ex-
periences all around.
Ready Player 1
When Satellite Gaming
District
champs
arrived at Claggett Creek
Middle School two years ago,
Marcos Zepeda and Jacob
Mackley were two of the fi rst
brave students to take a chance
and attend the meetings held
every Monday afternoon.
“When it fi rst started there
was maybe 10 people, but
we’ve gotten word out and
more people have shown up.
Now we have a max of 21
people,” Marcos said.
Jacob said the idea of
“couch-style” gaming, with
combatants playing elbow-
to-elbow was much more fun
than what he had experienced
Please see WIN, Page A7
KEIZERTIMES/Random Pendragon and Eric A. Howald
TOP: Jamie Harris, founder of Satellite Gaming, checks in on
some club members. ABOVE: Dylan Fischer grabs a controller
while Peyton Sisomphou plays.
Clark
to seek
third
term
At long last …
Waremart opens
With more than three
dozen early, eager shoppers
lined up outside the entrance
to Keizer’s new grocery store,
Waremart by Winco, store
manager Derrick Dukes
unlocked the doors 30
minutes earlier than planned.
Since 8:30 a.m. Thursday,
Feb. 1, the traffi c into the store
was non-stop. Shoppers were
excited that Waremart had
fi nally opened, many who said
they were Winco shoppers.
The store has similar
products to a Winco store
except it has no deli or bakery.
Waremart has about 100
employees, most whom live in
Keizer.
the Department of Human Services, but
the new guidelines expand reporting to
most sex-related issues. New instances
that would require reporting include: a
student inquiring about birth control op-
tions after admitting to sex with a partner;
reports of a pregnancy; a student confi d-
ing in a teacher after being kicked out of
his home for divulging a sexually active,
same-sex relationship.
District administrators said the new
policies were meant as a “clarifi cation”
of existing rules, but the change sparked
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark
announced she will seek a
third term as the elected
leader of the city in an in-
terview with the Keizertimes
Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Clark, who has served two
terms as mayor and four as a
city councilor prior to that,
said the city is still in a transi-
tional period and more work
needs to be done.
“ We ’ v e
done a lot of
really good
things but
some were
starting to
show some
wear around
the edges.
The funding
C. Clark
that we had
was not meeting the needs for
some time with police and
parks,” Clark said. “ We have
a seriously understaffed city,
and we’ve done all we can
with technology and the tre-
mendous talents of city staff.
We have other departments
where we need to take that
look.”
When asked for an exam-
ple, she cited management of
the Keizer Civic Center.
“We started off putting
those responsibilities on the
city recorder. Tracy (Davis) has
done a wonderful job of estab-
lishing policies and procedures
that work, but she is going to
want to retire ... eventually.
We will reach a point where
Please see REPORT, Page A10
Please see CLARK, Page A10
TOP RIGHT: Evelyn Barrett,
daughter Hayley Barrett and
granddaughter Maharani
Barrett, 2, were some of the
fi rst shoppers on opening
day. The Barretts, regular
Winco shoppers, live at
near the store. They say they
waited "months and months
and months" for the store to
open.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Shade
Cruse of Keizer, was shop-
ping for Super Bowl snacks.
He said he was a regular
Winco shopper. It's our
"exclusive store of choice,"
he said.
LEFT: Anita Evans, of north-
east Salem, who worked for
the company years ago, is
still a fan of Waremart. "It's a
great place to shop, the store
is clean and very well laid
out," she said.
PHOTOS/Andrew Jackson
Mandatory reporting changes head to Legislature
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A Oregon Senate bill submitted to
the 79th Oregon Legislature that would
modify Oregon’s mandatory reporting
rules was set to be considered at the com-
mittee level this week.
The bill, SB 1540, amends the state’s
rules to defi ne reportable offenses as
sexual contact or intercourse as those in
which lacked consent – or the victim
had the inability to provide consent –
for teens and young adults between the
ages of 14 and 21, if one of the parties is
more than three years older, or if there is
reasonable cause to believe the relation-
ship was the result of force, intimidation
or coercion.
Sponsored by Sen. Sara Gelser (D-
Corvallis) and Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer),
the bill seeks to address the underlying
law that prompted the Salem-Keizer
School District to issue new mandatory
reporting guidelines in October 2017.
Prior to the changes, Salem-Keizer
School District (SKSD) teachers were
required to report incidences of sus-
pected neglect or any type of abuse to
WE’RE TOOTING OUR OWN HORN!
2018
OREGON’S FORD
DEALER OF
THE YEAR
2014
2015
2016
2017
5
YEARS
IN A ROW
Arboretum
accomplished
PAGE A10
Twin
swimmers
lead pack
PAGE B1
Keizer's First
Citizen
PAGE B6
Keizer
3555 River Road N, Keizer
(503) 463 - 4853
www.skylineforddirect.com