PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 4, 2018 South River Road grabs spotlight in city’s fi rst revitalization talks presented by DRIVE A LITTLE – SAVE A BUNCH! 3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE • SALEM MORE INFO AT NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM UFC 224 Nunes vs. Pennington LIVE STAND UP COMEDY Lights, Comedy, Laughs! Saturday, May 19 SUSAN JONES & SPENSER O’NEILL will perform at 7pm and 9pm. Admission is only $10. Ages 21 & over only. Reserved seating for this show. Purchase tickets at box offi ce or at our website. SATURDAY, MAY 12 —–———— 21 & OVER —————— Live Fights at 5 pm – Tickets $13 9 fi ghts in all on the HUGE screen! Reserved Seats Available Now Online Saturday, MAY 12, at 11:00 am MOVIE: S HERLOCK G NOMES [ PG ] Sensory Sensitive Show ONLY $4 Special showing for kids and adults with Autism or other sensory sensitivities. Today in History In Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fi re their weapons at a group of antiwar demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students, wounding eight, and permanently paralyzing another. — May 4, 1970 Food 4 Thought “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — Audrey Hepburn, actress (My Fair Lady), born May 4, 1929 The Month Ahead Saturday, May 5 Free Comic Book Day at Tony’s Kingdom of Comics, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Keizer Young Life Garage Sale, 2 to 7 p.m. Come shop the Keizer Young Life Garage Sale and help send kids to Young Life camp this summer. Dayspring Fellowship 1755 Lockhaven Drive N.E. Champoeg State Heritage Area will be hosting Founders’ Day to honor the 175th anniversary of the creation of Oregon‚Äôs fi rst provisional government. The event will feature living- history actors, speakers, and activities in a replica historic townsite. Runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Champoeg State Heritage Area. Parking is free, for more information, visit: oregonstateparks.org Sunday, May 6 59th Semi-Annual BBQ Chicken Dinner hosted by the Sacred Heart Parish. Dinner includes barbecue chicken, baked potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, pie or cake, and a beverage. Dine in and take out options available. A Spring Plant & Flower Sale will be there as well to benefi t the Youth Faith Formation Program. Adults eat for $11, children under 12 for $7. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Louis Parish, 485 Seventh Street in Gervais. Monday, May 7 Keizer City Council Meeting. 7 to 9 p.m. 930 Chemawa Road NE Tuesday, May 8 Keizer Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting for Cafe Yumm, 5920 Ulali Drive N.E. in Keizer Station, 8:30 a.m. Free Health and Wellness Fair at Bonaventure of Keizer, 5525 McLeod Lane NE, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Speakers and vendors aimed at senior health topics. Parks Advisory Board Meeting. 6 to 8 p.m. 930 Chemawa Road NE. Wednesday, May 9 Keizer Planning Commission Meeting. 6 to 8:30 p.m. 930 Chemawa Road NE. Thursday, May 10 Traffi c Safety/Bikeways/Pedestrian Meeting. 6 to 7:30 p.m. 930 Chemawa Road NE. The general meeting of West Keizer Neighborhood Association will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 10, at Keizer Civic Center. Speaker will be Allan Edinger with information on his work with inmate populations. Saturday, May 12 Keizer Distinguished Young Woman program, 7 p.m., McNary High School. Sunday , May 13 Keizer Volunteer Firefi ghter Mother’s Day Breakfast, 7 to 11:30 a.m. Monday, May 14 Keizer Fire District 70 Years of Service, 6 to 8 p.m. Reception featuring old and new equipment and former volunteer and career staff. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes There were three large pads of blank white paper set up in a conference room at the Keizer Civic Center, one for each of three key corridors along River Road North: the River Road and Lockhaven intersection, River Road and Chemawa intersection and River Road south of Manbrin Drive, which included Cherry Avenue Northeast. Attend- ees were tasked with pointing out possible improvements for each section of Keizer’s “Main Street.” Within 15 minutes, people were kneeling to fi ll in the fi rst page of the south River Road pad and starting on the second page while the other two had only a handful of suggestions between them. Most of the concerns dealt with traffi c and safety such as the lack of adequate space for cyclists on River Road com- pared to Cherry Avenue, a need for more bus stops out- side lanes of travel, the need for additional bus stops on Cherry and a request for a fl ashing red turn signal at Manbrin Drive to alleviate congestion. “This is how we get start- ed,” said Nate Brown, Keizer’s community development di- rector. “We are trying to fi gure out how to most responsibly use (the River Road/Cherry Avenue) area and the tolerance for additional things like con- gestion,” The city has enlisted the services of Portland-based consultants Otak and Angelo Planning Group to help craft a new path forward for develop- ment along River Road North and Cherry Avenue. The study is known collectively as the River Road Revitalization Projects and the fi rst meeting to gather input from all city residents was held Thursday, April 26. The study is taking into consideration direction from past efforts and update them with input from current residents, business owners and KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Keizer residents and business owners discuss the types of changes they would like to see on south River Road and Cherry Avenue. . other stakeholders. In March, Kate Rogers, of Otak, and Matt Hastie, of An- gelo Planning Group, met with business owners and other groups of stakeholders to dive deep into the current state of affairs and get some guidance on the path forward. Hastie said one of the big- gest take-aways from the stake- holder groups was a desire for “more restaurant, evening ven- ues and family-oriented uses.” People appreciate the con- venience of River Road and would like to see more devel- opment, but not more traffi c,” Hastie said. The current state of trans- portation is something of a hodgepodge, said Rogers. Pe- destrian access pulled in gener- ally favorable reviews, cycling access mostly poor to fair, and access to public transit fair to good depending on the spe- cifi c area. She added that there is good potential support for new busi- nesses and additional rental properties – a result of market Saturday, May 5, is Free Comic Book Day at Tony’s Kingdom of Comics, 3856 River Road N. Each year, comic book pub- lishers and retailers join forces to offer a selection of free comics to new and long-time readers. Each attendee can pick out two free comics and those who bring canned food for the Keizer Community Food Bank get bonus comics. The affair is an all-day event from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Comic book artist Gary Martin and Disney artist William Langley will be on-hand to sign books and greet fans. Numerous cos- tumed characters, courtesy of the Portland Superhero Coali- tion, will be visiting through- out the day. Other retailers at Keizer Vil- looking back in the KT Rick Cagen, president and CEO of Silverton Health, confi rmed details with Keizertimes a new Silverton Health clinic is expected to be open at Inland Shores in Keizer. 10 YEARS AGO St. Edward Catholic Church held its third dinner and auction April 26. The auction raised more than $21,000 for community outreach and local youth programs. 20 YEARS AGO Keizer Elks Car Show, 9 a.m. Keizer Iris Festival Parade, 10 a.m. The new Wittenberg Inn opens in Keizer Tea by the Sea, 5th annual Mother’s Day Tea to benefi t Keizer Art Association, 1-3 p.m., Keizer Community Center at Keizer Civic Center. 930 Chemawa Rd. NE. Raffl e, silent auction, beach attire optional. Tickets are $20, available at Keizer Art Association. Keizer’s new and fi rst hotel opened May 1. The Wittenberg Inn, located off River Road and Claggett Street, offered local residents a fi rsthand look and champagne reception. Add your event by e-mailing news@keizertimes.com. Enter digits from 1-9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. St. Edward auction nets fun and $21,000 The Salem-Keizer School District placed extra security monitors at McNary High School after someone fi red a gun at an assistant principle’s home. Saturday, May 19 sudoku 5 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 17 Keizer Community Library Spring Book Sale. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road N.E. Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer Silverton Health to open Keizer clinic Gunshots put McNary, VP in spotlight Friday, May 18, and Saturday, May 19 maze lage including El Patron Mexi- can Grill and Mr. Video are planning special events. Tuesday, May 15 Greater Gubser Neighborhood Association Meeting. 7 to 8 p.m. 930 Chemawa Road NE. Only 50 of the more than 2,000 parcels of land included in the study are larger than fi ve acres. The highest concentra- tion of jobs along River Road is near the southern end of the city – south of Homewood Court North – with another nearly-as-dense area around the intersection of Chemawa and River Road. The study will continue through the winter of 2019 with additional opportuni- ties for public input expected. Make sure to check the Keiz- ertimes for news of future meetings. Free Comic Book Day May 5 15 YEARS AGO Free admission all day at Hallie Ford Museum of Art, 700 State Street. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. analyses – but that Keizer’s lean toward being a bedroom com- munity presents other chal- lenges. “Keizer (residents have) good spending power, but they are spending elsewhere,” Rog- ers said. The city has posted drafts of some of the planning docu- ments on its website, www. keizer.org, with other insights into the character of River Road. The boundaries of the study moving forward covers about 1,000 acres, roughly one-fi fth of the entire area of the city. 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