SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 37
SECTION A
JUNE 14, 2019
$1.00
Former mayor dies at 67
Dennis Koho, who served
as a city councilor and mayor
of Keizer, passed away on
Monday, June 10, at the age
of 67.
As an attorney, business
man and local political fi gure,
Koho maintained a public
presence
despite
health
struggles in recent years. He
was elected to the Keizer City
Council in 1990 and mayor
in 1992. He the city’s third
mayor and served three two-
year terms until January1999.
Koho’s wife, Lori, said Virgil
T. Golden Funeral Home is
handling arrangements and a
memorial mass and burial in
Bend, Ore., are planned.
Koho returned to the city
council for another term
when voters elected him in
2012, he opted not to run
again in 2016.
News of Koho’s death
MANUFACTURED
MANUF
NUFACT
CTURE
DENNIS
KOHO
1951 – 2019
reached the Keizer city
council chambers at the tail
end of a work session on the
day of his death and most
were visibly shaken. Koho had
even visited the Keizertimes
offi ce earlier in the day.
Current Mayor Cathy
Clark cited Koho for seeking
to advance the community in
almost every capacity.
“Dennis chose to give
himself to the betterment
of our city and community,
both through his determined
leadership and his profound
friendships,” Clark said. “As we
each remember and celebrate
his life and accomplishments,
may we take from his
inspiration to give and care
about people and Keizer as he
did.”
Councilor Roland Herrera,
in noting Koho’s death on
Facebook, said he will miss a
dear friend.
“I will miss our long
political talks and crazy laughs
… Rest in Power,” Herrera
said.
While Koho was involved
in numerous local efforts,
he was one of the driving
forces behind an effort to
bring the Volcanoes minor
league baseball team to the
city. In addition to his work
in municipal inner workings,
he was a longtime member of
Spring football
concludes
with
momentum
PAGE A11
Please see KOHO, Page A6
‘Never, ever underestimate yourself’
‘You
shouldn’t
sign it’
Keizer
students
lead Blanchet
class of 2019
PAGE A5
Attorney urges
caution with
long-term
leases in mobile
home parks
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
In the months since resi-
dents of Wildwood Villa fi rst
drew attention to rising space
rentals in their manufactured
home park, things have only
gotten more disconcerting.
In April, a manager at the
park sent out a newsletter
urging those having trouble
paying rent to seek emergency
food boxes. In May, the park
owner began promoting long-
term lease agreements with
15-, 20- or 25-year terms.
The leases offer no break in
rent for signing up for longer
terms and contain a minefi eld
of other potential hazards for
homeowners.
“You shouldn’t sign it,”
Attorney Matthew G. Shepard
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
More than 400 graduate from McNary
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Madeline Hurst, the student speaker
at McNary High School’s 54th com-
mencement ceremony, left the stage
with a rallying cry against complacency.
“Never, ever underestimate yourself.
The rest of the world will do that
for you. It is your job to prove them
wrong,” Hurst said.
A grand total of 415 students,
surrounded by family and friends, took
part in the annual graduation event
held at the Pavillion on the Oregon
State Fairgrounds in Salem on June 7.
Hurst spoke of the 2019 class’s
1,006 six days together at McNary and
enlisted attendees in honoring students
who went above and beyond on areas
clubs, sports and academics.
“Some of us, like me, have a diffi cult
time fi nding x in an algebraic equation,
but some of you went over and beyond
fi nding x and now you are fi nding y
and z,” Hurst said.
Students enlisted a former teacher
to deliver the commencement address.
Derick Handley was a teacher,
activities director and coach for the
Celts for three years of the graduating
class’s tenure before moving into an
instructional coach position at McKay
High School at the beginning of the
academic year.
Despite 12 years as a teacher,
Handley said not one lived up to the
designation “World Class” more than
the 2019 McNary graduates.
Clearing
up city’s
sidewalks
PAGE A6
Please see GRAD, Page A3
Please see MESS, Page A9
o
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Gra
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a
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the
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Volca
BY MATT
RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
uring their inaugural season in 1997,
the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes drew
136,836 fans to the ballpark as people
fl ocked to see future big-league stars.
But as of late, the novelty of
professional baseball in Keizer appears to
have worn off.
In 2018, attendance dipped to 72,094
for the 38-game home season, and for the
fi rst time in franchise history, the average
per game turnout went below 2,000.
However, in January, Volcanoes owners
Jerry and Lisa Walker brought on Mitche
D
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
Mitche Graf, the new president of business operations Salem-Keizer Volca-
noes, plans to bring big change to the ballpark this summer.
DRIVE IT
LIKE
A
FORD
FOR UNDER 20 K
Graf to be the new president of
business operations, and Graf has
very distinct plans to shake things
up for the 2019 season.
“Many things are going to be
different. We're putting
a little shine on the
brand and we're
giving everything a
little twist,” Graf said.
“We have re-invented
from the ground up
and people across the
country will take notice.”
Graf's main goal right now is to get
butts back in the seats and to make people
be excited about Volcanoes baseball once
again.
It won't be an easy task as the Volcanoes
have ranked last in the Northwest League
in attendance for the past four seasons.
When asked about the attendance issues,
Graf didn't shy away in the slightest.
“It’s public information that the
Volcanoes
attendance
has
been
decreasing for the past fi ve season, and
we have taken some pretty innovative
and out-of-the-box steps in order to put
the excitement back into the franchise.
You will see a huge difference in just
Thai
restaurant
opens
PAGE A8
Please see JUMPSTART, Page A6
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