SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 23
SECTION A
MARCH 8, 2019
$1.00
Muzzle nuzzled
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
A Keizer man perished in a fi re that consumed a mobile home
off Chemawa Loop Northeast on Sunday, March 3. The cause
of the blaze is still under investigation.
Man dies
in mobile
home fi re
A fi re in a Keizer mobile
home park claimed the life
of a 62-year-old man Sunday,
March 3.
Keizer fi refi ghters were
summoned to a mobile home
fi re at Rainbow Gardens Mo-
bile Village, a 55+ Senior Liv-
ing Community, at 5:44 a.m.
Firefi ghters were on scene in
four minutes and were sum-
moned to the scene by neigh-
bors calling 9-1-1.
Two residents — Mate Me-
zei, age 62, and his wife Maria
Mezei, age 59 — were inside
the home at the time of the
fi re.
Neighbors Dan Garch-
er, age 57, and his wife Linda
Garcher, age 54, were awak-
ened by a barking dog to the
fi re. The residence is a sin-
gle-wide mobile home with
an attached porch.
According to Keizer Police
Department Deputy Chief Jef-
frey Kuhns, Mr. Garcher went
in to the burning house to
try and rescue Mr. Mezei, but
wasn’t able to as he was pushed
back by the smoke and fi re.
However, Mr. Garcher was
able to rescue Mrs. Mezei from
the home — both suffered se-
rious injuries from the fi re and
were transported to the hospi-
tal by paramedics.
Mrs. Garcher also assisted
Mrs. Mezei once she was out
of the building.
Celts outsed
from playoffs
PAGE A14
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Whiteaker Middle School eighth grader Knowledge McKenzie-Jackson gets a nuzzling
from Caesar the No Drama Llama after an all-school assembly Friday, March 1. For more
pictures and the story, see Page A2.
Please see FIRE, Page A8
Leagues, city
could spin off
park mgmt.
Merchant’s
quiet voice
belies his
large
heart
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Kyle Juran, Keizer’s 2019 Merchant of the Year, was honored by the Keizer Chamber of Com-
merce in January for his efforts throughout the community.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Kyle Juran is rarely the loudest voice in a
room but, when he does speak or act, it comes
from the heart.
For evidence, look no further than this past
year. In May 2018, he vol-
unteered his services and the
employees of Remodeling
by Classic Homes to build a
massive playhouse that served
as the prize in a raffl e to
boost the Keizer Network of
Women’s annual Giving Bas-
ket Program. The idea came
together in just a few short
weeks, sold out all 500 avail-
able tickets and raised more
than $2,000 for the giving
baskets.
Later in the year, Juran spearheaded the ef-
fort to remodel the interior of the new Keizer
Chamber of Commerce offi ce on River Road
North. Juran downplays the signifi cance, but the
project included rearranging most of the walls
inside the space to fi t the needs of the chamber.
He’s also a volunteer on the Keizer Planning
Commission and a board member of the Home
Builders Association of Marion and Polk Coun-
ties.
This year, he’s planning another fundraiser for
a local nonprofi t to coincide with another play-
house/fl oat (See sidebar, Page A8).
“I got involved in the chamber because one
of my customers encouraged
me, and I began to enjoy be-
ing available to other busi-
ness people, but it goes both
ways. They are there for me
with friendship and more,”
Juran said.
Depending on how one
counts, Juran is either the
second-generation
own-
er of Classic Homes or the
— Kyle Juran fi rst-generation owner of
Remodeling by Classic
Homes. His father started
Classic Homes out of a love for remodeling his
own family’s spaces and then moved on to build-
ing them whole cloth.
“He started with one or two at a time and
then he built 28 homes, a few at a time, on Staats
Lake,” Juran said. “It’s still fun to drive around the
area and point out the ones he built to my kids.”
“I began to enjoy
being available
to other business
people, but it
goes both ways.”
We service all makes & models.
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3555 River Rd N, Keizer
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Please see JURAN, Page A8
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Representatives of the city
and the two leagues that make
the most use of
Keizer Little League
Park appear to be
moving toward es-
tablishing a separate,
but
collaborative
foundation to man-
age and schedule
events at the park.
For the past few
months, city of-
fi cials have been
encouraging Keiz-
er Little League
(KLL) and McNary Youth
Baseball (MYB) to fi nd a new
management model at the
park because the fi rst one is
a source of rifts dating back
more than a decade. Current-
ly, the city contracts with one
of the leagues to manage the
park which seemingly puts the
other at a disadvantage. KLL
holds the current contract, but
MYB has in the past.
Members of both leagues
along with City Council-
or Marlene Parsons and the
Parks Advisory Board’s Matt
Lawyer have been meeting as
a subgroup to
fi gure what a
new manage-
ment structure
might
look
like and un-
veiled
their
proposal at a
meeting of the
Keizer Little
League Park
Long-Range
Planning Task
Force Wednes-
day, Feb. 27.
The group proposed estab-
lishing the Keizer Baseball and
Softball Complex Foundation
with a board of directors com-
prised of the president and
vice president of each league,
members of the parks advi-
sory board, a representative
of the park’s concession stand
and citizen representation. The
board would be responsible for
Proposal
for facility
includes
possible
renaming
After school
jiu jitsu
PAGE A4
Whiteaker
mentor
honored
PAGE A9
Celts all-
conference
awards
PAGE A10
Please see PARK, Page A8
City Hall clean-up March 16
At least 100 volunteers are needed to help clean up around
the Keizer Civic Center Saturday, March 16.
Each year, the Rotary Club of Keizer and Claggett Creek
Watershed Council host a morning of work ranging from pick-
ing up trimmings from trees, shrubs and grasses to removing
weeds and more.
The clean-up is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon, but many
hands make light work and could mean a quicker fi nish.
Please see CLEAN, Page A8
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