SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 13
SECTION A
DECEMBER 28, 2018
$1.00
Development
news tops
It should probably be no surprise that the three biggest stories of 2018 had to do with development. It’s something of a
sign regarding how starved Keizer is for a diversity in shopping, eating and entertainment. But big things were happening
outside that realm as well. For the fi rst time in years, thanks to a parks services fee, the city offi cials got to argue what work
it wanted to do in its parks instead of how to say, ‘No.’ A equal fee helped fully staff the Keizer Police Department in almost a
decade. There were some hits, one enormous miss, and a lot in between. This is the year that was 2018 in Keizer news.
Cinema deal unspools
In-N-Out plans Keizer location
In August, a development manager
for In-N-Out Burger quietly took a seat
in front of the Keizer City Council and
announced the corporation was looking
place its fi rst Portland-area location in
Keizer Station.
“The Keizer location will serve as a
new benchmark and entry into Portland
and other metropolitan areas,” said Kori
Seki.
Seki dropped the news because the
business needed a sign code adjustment
allowing for additional signage on
awnings. One of the signature markings
on In-N-Out buildings is palm trees along
the edges of its awnings and it wouldn’t
have been allowed under previous rules.
Keizertimes posted the news on
Facebook within minutes and, by the
following morning, the news had spread
across every major news outlet in the
Willamette Valley and some even further
afi eld.
Earlier in December, In-N-Out
fi led location plans with the city. The
restaurant will be 3,995 square feet with
a drive-thru and outdoor seating. The
address will be 6280 Keizer Station Blvd,
behind Outback Restaurant. The plans
will now go through permitting and be
assessed system development charges.
In-N-Out serves up burgers, fries and
shakes with a not-so-secret assortment of
special orders.
There were building plans in
the can, a signature on a lease and
promises of recliner seating and the
ability to pick your spot without a
mad rush. Then, with something like
Thanos’s snap, it all went away.
We’re talking, of course, about
the Keizer Station cinema deal that
dissipated when construction costs
soared above expectations. After more
than two years of planning, cinema
owner Chuck Nakvasil pulled the
plug on plans to locate a cinema off
Keizer Station Boulevard in July 2018.
Nakvasil
cited “substantially
higher” bids for construction of the
nine-screen complex as the reason
for pulling out of the lease. The
termination was permitted under the
terms of a lease agreement with the
city that was contingent on successful
fi nancing of the project. Nakvasil
had to have a signed lease to apply
for fi nancing and confi rmed bids to
fi nalize the fi nancing of the project.
The deal would have been a fi rst
for the city, which planned to retain
ownership of the property and use
the income to help offset payments
to the Public Employees Retirement
System (PERS). Some limited
improvements were made to the
property in anticipation of the cinema
construction. Keizer City Manager
Chris Eppley hoped that those efforts
would make the space more appealing
to the next business with an interest
in the space.
Edible art
at McNary
PAGE A2
Waremart by Winco arrives
Keizer residents and Winco shoppers
from all around rallied to bring a version
of the discount grocer to the Iris City.
The idea’s champions found out in 2016
that their calls had been heard, but the
doors didn’t open until 2018.
With more than three dozen early,
eager shoppers lined up outside the
entrance to Keizer’s newest grocery
store, Waremart by Winco, store manager
Derrick Dukes unlocked the doors 30
minutes earlier than planned. Traffi c into
the store was non-stop for several days as
the regulars and the curious stopped in
to see what Waremart brought to Keizer.
The store ended a drought in
grocery shopping options within city
limits. Roth’s IGA closed in 2012
reducing Keizer to just Safeway and
Albertsons. Albertsons and Safeway
then merged and Albertsons closed its
Keizer location in 2015. The former
Albertsons at Creekside Shopping
Center was converted to a Haggen, as the
Washington-based grocery store chain
undertook an ambitious growth streak
to take advantage of the merger between
Safeway and Albertsons. Haggens’ plans
fell apart spectacularly and, by September
2016, Haggen closed.
Fire District
eyes
development
fees
Please see REVIEW, Page A4
School response inconsistent with policy
in wake of threat, bullying at Cummings
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
On Nov. 28, during a lunch recess at Cummings
Elementary School, a third-grade girl pulled a knife
on one of her female classmates and threatened to kill
her according to a Dec. 19 article from the Statesman
Journal.
The article also stated that, after the knife was taken
away by a member of the staff, a male student choked
the victim for “snitching.”
Lillian Govus, director of community relations and
communications with Salem-Keizer Public Schools
(SKPS), acknowledged that an incident between three
students did occur, but said she could not confi rm de-
tails regarding what happened or comment on the ver-
sion of events in the Statesman Journal story.
When situations like this happen, it is the school’s
job to engage the threat assessment team, which con-
sists of law enforcement, school leadership, counselors,
behavior specialists and teachers.
According to school offi cials, the threat assessment
team was engaged, and the two students who were the
aggressors in the incident had their parents called im-
mediately to discuss disciplinary action.
“We always do our best to call parents fi rst so they
can hear from trusted adults who have all the facts,”
Govus said.
However, the victim’s parents were not called or no-
tifi ed of the situation and did not fi nd out about what
had happened until the victim’s father picked her up
for making referrals to law enforcement and to con-
from school later that afternoon.
Even though the school was able to contact the sider options such as: a 10-day suspension, restitution,
parents of the two kids who were the aggressors in expulsion, and mental health evaluations of counseling,
in addition to the consequences for
this incident, Govus claimed that
bringing a weapon to school.
the school didn’t call the victim’s
When students are found to have
parents because the situation “hap-
been bullying or threatening other
pened toward the end of the day.”
students, possible consequences in-
The victim did not attend school
clude: confl ict management meet-
on Thursday, Nov. 29 or Friday, Nov.
ings, in-school or out-of-school
30. Contact between the two sides
suspension, referrals to law enforce-
was made on Nov. 29 via phone call,
ment, conferences with parents
but the parents of the victim didn’t
prior to return to school, possible
meet with Cummings Principal
continued suspension leading to ex-
Magda Romero until the following
pulsion and evaluation of a student’s
week. All three students were back
mental health.
in class on Monday, Dec. 3.
Romero believes that she did
When a student brings a weapon
everything in her power to follow
to school, district policy states offi -
district policy despite all three stu-
cials will generally:
dents returning to class on the same
• Confi scate the item.
day, only fi ve days after the alleged
• Contact the parent.
— Lillian Govus
threats and assault.
• Refer to law enforcement.
SKSD spokesperson
“It’s my job to make sure we’re
• Issue suspension with recom-
following what that handbook says
mendation for expulsion.
for discipline,” Romero told the
In the case where a student as-
saults another person, they will not return to the class- Statesman. “That’s why the student was able to reach
room until his/her assigned consequence has been her parents before I could. I have never put parents off
completed. The policy states that they may be reas- to come meet with me. I have an open door policy,
they can come in whenever.”
signed to another class or school.
In the event of an assault, school district policy calls
Please see SCHOOL, Page A3
“Dealing with
situations like
these are not
easy, and she
moved quickly
to ensure her
students were
safe.”
PAGES A6
Boys
basketball
narrowly
misses
tourney title
PAGE B2