VOLUME 42, NO. 14
JANUARY 22, 2021
SECTION A
$1.00
Chick-fi l-A looking more
likely near Keizer Station
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Chick-fi l-A, another fan
favorite restaurant, is giving the
Keizer Station area a hard look.
For the fi rst time since
rumors of a Keizer location
surfaced more than a year ago,
the restaurant’s interest was
formally acknowledged in a
meeting of the Keizer Planning
Commission.
“The Area D master plan
amendment has been applied
for and it is going through
the comment process. Chick-
fi l-A is the applicant on that,”
said Shane Witham, Keizer
interim planning director, at
the meeting Jan. 13.
A Keizer location would
be the next logical step for
the restaurant that sent food
trucks to Keizer late last year, a
move that many suspected was
something like a market test.
The restaurant would be
placed alongside other new
development in the “jug
handle” that moves shopping
center traffi c out of Keizer
Station and back to Interstate
5.
While the application for
a master plan amendment
is a new milestone for
bringing the chicken chain
to Keizer, it is by no means
a certainty. A few years ago,
Chick-fi l-A has applied for
a change to a master plan in the
Keizer Station area.
File Photo
‘The Freak’
at Volcanoes
No. 2
PAGE A10
In-person
learning
targets set
PAGE A2
Please see CHICK, Page A6
Local fi rst responders
get a shot in the arm
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The fi rst responders of
Keizer are used to putting
themselves in harms way on
a regular basis, and for the
last 10 months, the dan- g e r
they
subject
themselves
to
has increased due
to the COVID-19
pandemic.
However, many
fi rst responders in
Keizer recently re-
ceived the fi rst round
of the COVID-19 vacci- na-
tion process.
At the beginning of the
year, Marion County Fire
District #1 (MCFD1) re-
ceived hundreds of doses of
the Moderna COVID-19
vaccine and put together a
collaborative effort to begin
vaccinating fi rst responders
in Keizer, as well as the rest of
Marion County.
Kyle McMann, the fi re
chief for MCFD1, is in charge
of administering the vaccines
for MCFD1, Keizer Fire Dis-
trict (KFD) and Keizer Police
COVID-19
Department (KPD) and began
vaccinating fi rst responders on
Jan. 8.
“It feels like we're seeing
the light at the end of the
tunnel. It has given a lot of us
hope,” MCFD1 McMann said.
“Optimism is something that
we haven’t had for months.”
“It’s been a diffi cult time
for the entire community and
it’s a relief to know vaccina-
tions are in progress,” added
KPD lieutenant Chris Nelson.
According to Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion (CDC) the Moderna
vaccine is 94.1% effective af-
ter the second
dose — which is
administered 28
days after the fi rst
dose. The vaccine
is intended to
provide immuni-
ty to COVID-19
for a year.
“There is defi nitely a sense
of relief around the depart-
ment,” KPD Fire Marshal
Ann-Marie Storms said about
receiving the vaccine. “It pro-
vides a sense of relief and
helps us know that we are on
the right track and close to a
Please see RESPOND, Page A6
Compost facility clears fi rst hurdle
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A proposed compost
facility, west of Volcanoes
Stadium, took a small
step forward in a meeting
of the Keizer Planning
Commission Jan. 13.
Commissioners
recom-
mended adding compost fa-
cilities to the approved uses in
industrial zones with an 6-1
vote. Commissioner Frank
Hostler did not give a specifi c
File
A Renewable Carbon facility in Sandoval County, N.M.
reason for his dissent but, ear-
lier in the meeting, questioned
the proposed placement of the
facility near Labish Creek/
Ditch and the potential for
harmful runoff.
Keizer’s city council will
still need to approve the
change.
The inventor of the in-
container compost technology
and a managing partner in
the business seeking approval,
spoke to Commissioners
during the meeting about his
hopes for a Keizer facility as a
proof-of-concept.
“We want to prove we
can be a good neighbor in
an industrial zone instead
Please see HURDLE, Page A6
File
Keizer was one of
many cyber attack
victims in 2020
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
At least Keizer wasn’t
alone in its data being held
for ransom in 2020.
According to a report on
the state of ransomware in
the United States, Keizer was
one of 113 federal state and
municipal governments and
agencies that fell victim to
cybercriminals. In addition,
560 healthcare facilities and
1,681 schools, colleges and
universities were subjected
to the fallout of ransomware.
Keizer paid a nearly
$50,000 ransom, plus con-
sulting and negotiating fees
to retrieve its data but the
city got off easy in other
respects. Delaware Coun-
ty in Pennsylvania paid
a $500,000 ransom and
Tillamook County paid
$300,000. Impacted schools
had to cancel in-person and
virtual classes and even re-
vealed details of alleged sex-
ual assaults.
Other impacts were liter-
ally matters of life and death.
“The attacks caused sig-
nifi cant, and sometimes
life-threatening, disruption:
OREGON'S
ambulances carrying emer-
gency patients had to be re-
directed, cancer treatments
were delayed, lab test results
were inaccessible, hospital
employees were furloughed
and 911 services were inter-
rupted,” according to the re-
port authored by Emisoft, a
fi rm that specializes cyberse-
curity research and network
protection products.
Ransomware is differ-
ent than what the average
user envisions when being
hacked. While data might
still be destroyed or down-
loaded data, ransomware
primarily locks data behind
an encrypted door that can
only be unlocked with a nu-
meric key held by the hack-
ers.
Hackers are typically
known to charge ransom
based on the number of serv-
ers it was able to lock up and
payments are made through
a web of untraceable digital
transactions. Ransomware can
stay in targeted computers for
weeks or months undetect-
ed before hackers reveal its
MCFD1
paramedic
takes
readers
behind the
badge
PAGE A3
Lack of
supply
delays
Oregon
vaccine
schedule
PAGE A6
Please see CYBER, Page A6
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