SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 8
SECTION A
NOV EMBER 23, 2018
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Give
thanks!
MST3K returns ... again
Task force will be check
on Keizer growth needs
Cult show is
generational
hit for one
Keizer family
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
For anyone who knows
what the acronym MST3K
stands for, driving by the home
of Kimberlie and Paul Alvarez
on Chemawa Road Northeast
will bring a smile to their face.
Look on the south side
of the road – just behind the
palm tree – and you’ll see sil-
houettes of Mike, Crow T.
Robot and Tom Servo painted
on the couple’s blinds facing
the street.
“I asked her what she want-
ed on the blinds and that was
it,” said Paul.
For the uninitiated, MST3K
stands for Mystery Science The-
ater 3000, a cult show in which
a small crew of one human
and several bots on a spaceship
are tortured by their overseers
using bad movies. The crew
makes the best of it by riffi ng
on the movies with one-lin-
ers and zingers for the actual
viewing audience to enjoy. In
the show, the ship’s only crew-
man – either Joel, Mike or
Jonah – along with Crow and
Servo are seen in silhouettes as
they punctuate bad dialogue
and plotholes with their own
commentary. That imagery is
replicated imagery on the Al-
varez’s blinds.
MST3K returned for its
second
Netfl ix-exclusive,
six-episode season on Thanks-
giving.
In addition to the blinds,
Kimberlie’s car has a person-
alized license plate that reads
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
It seems that city offi cials’
attention to the growth of the
city is hitting home for resi-
dents.
Summoning volunteers to
serve on advisory committees
is no small chore, but when the
city put out an email seeking
volunteers to serve on an ad-
visory committee examining
buildable lands and housing
needs, more than 30 residents
responded to the call.
It led to the formation of
an 11-person committee – up
from the originally needed
seven people – at the Keizer
City Council meeting Monday,
Nov. 19. Cities designated as
rent-burdened, which Keizer is,
are receiving funding to analyze
projected population growth
and how to accommodate it.
Please see TASK, Page A8
Best of Show
Wrestlers
return
Nov. 30
PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Kimberlie and Calista Alvarez show off MST3K-themed blinds
painted by Paul Alvarez.
Fans and new-
comers alike can
catch the show’s
revival (the cast
is featured on the
right) streaming
on Netfl ix, along
with episodes
from the past.
“MST3K” and a model of
the moon that appears in the
show’s opening credits hangs
from her rearview mirror.
“When I had a job, a lot of
people would come in and ask
about the license plate and I’d
have to explain it,” Kimber-
lie said. When people came
and complimented her on the
plates, she knew she’d already
made a friend.
Kimberlie, like many who
Please see MST3K, Page A8
Holiday
bazaar
PAGE A4
KEIZERTIMES/Lyndon A. Zaitz
Livonia Sallee’s three-dimensional piece, Geometrics was
named best in show during the artists’ reception for the annual
Black, White, and Gray Show at the Keizer Art Association Nov.
10. For a full list of winners, see Page A7.
Former Keizer
man killed while
breaking into
Tigard home
suspects residence.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
A Keizer police K-9 team
Of the Keizertimes
A man shot and killed after was called to the scene and
breaking into a Tigard home offi cers worked to develop
last week had connections to and implement a plan to take
Gonzalez into custody believ-
Keizer.
Jose Luis Gonzalez Jr. was ing he had fl ed into his resi-
dence.
shot shortly after 7
After several un-
a..m. when he en-
successful attempts
tered the home of
to establish commu-
a man police offi -
nication with the
cials said he knew.
suspect and efforts
While
Gonzalez
to convince him to
was known to the
surrender peacefully
homeowner, no one
were unsuccessful,
knew why he was
the Keizer Police
attempting to enter
Gonzalez
Department applied
the home.
for and received a
Gonzalez, 41, was
a former resident of Keizer search warrant to search the
who once escaped a police residence for the suspect. The
and SWAT pursuit in Keizer. Salem Police Department
In May 2017, an offi cer SWAT team was requested
from the Keizer Police De- and responded to the scene
partment spotted Gonzalez to serve the search warrant
and followed him on a short and to apprehend the suspect.
pursuit that ended in a resi- Ultimately, it was determined
dence he formerly occupied that Gonzalez had escaped.
At the time of his death,
on Kinglet Way Northeast.
Other Keizer patrol offi - Gonzalez had several out-
cers and members of the KPD standing warrants for his
Community Response Unit arrest, at least one of them
responded and quickly estab- stemming from the Keizer in-
lished a perimeter around the cident.
A new
standard for
Keizer streets?
PAGE A7
MHS grad
is Oly’s new
head coach
PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
A group of ladies, known as Music Box Angels, construct music boxes to be delivered free to
show people that someone loves and cares about them.
Gifts in the key of HOPE
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Faye Kircher woke up at 2
o’clock in the morning, sat at
her computer and noticed a
music box she had made for
her mom more than 25 years
ago.
“I was thinking about what
can we do to give to people
to make them feel like we re-
ally love them and care about
them,” Kircher said.
A poem then came to
her —“What can we say to
brighten your day? Turn that
key and let it play. It sounds
like music from above. Could
it be the wings of God’s own
dove, playing a tune to let you
know that He is with you here
below.”
“It just popped out,” Kirch-
er said of the poem. “I’m not
a poet at all. It was an inspi-
rational poem that happened
to come to me. I don’t know
why I was chosen.”
Later that day, Kircher told
the other six women in her
craft group about the poem
and on Feb. 10, 2017, they de-
livered their fi rst music box.
By the following January,
the seven women from Salem
Evangelical and Keizer Chris-
tian churches had given away
Please see BOXES, Page A10