PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 9, 2021
Events
JULY 9-10
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
Abridged, a Keizer Homegrown Theatre
Production, indoors at the Keizer Cultural
Center, 980 Chemawa Road N.E. Tickets
are $15. keizerhomegrowntheatre.org
JULY 9-11
Marion County Fair, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday. Concerts, performances, contests
and more. Admission charged.
JULY 10
Joe Stoddard at Keizer Rapids Park
Rotary Amphitheater. Gates open at 5 p.m.,
show starts at 6:30 p.m. Free.
JULY 15-17
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
(Abridged), a Keizer Homegrown Theatre
Production, 7 p.m. indoors at the Keizer
Cultural Center, 980 Chemawa Road N.E.
Tickets are $15. keizerhomegrowntheatre.org
JULY 15-18
KickinCancer Festival. A local nonprofi t
with a mission to empower cancer patients
is fundraising with special events includ-
ing a baseball game, golf tournament,
awareness walk and concert. Multiple loca-
tions, costs vary. kicking-cancer.org
JULY 18
Eight Unparalleled Plays, a production
of the 45th Parallel Playwrights, 3 p.m. mat-
inee and 6:30 p.m. evening show indoors at
the Keizer Cultural Center 980 Chemawa
Road N.E. Admission is free.
JULY 24
The Willamette Valley Comedy
Club presents Amy Miller and Johnny
Pemberton at the Keizer Cultural Center,
980 Chemawa Road N. Tickets $20. Show
starts at 8 p.m. pnwcomedy.com
JULY 23
The Willamette Valley Comedy Club pres-
ents Ken Hamlett and Cheri Hardman at the
Keizer Cultural Center, 980 Chemawa Road
N. Tickets $12 or in advance or $15 at the door.
Show starts at 8 p.m. pnwcomedy.com
Navarro will be Keizer’s
voice on Cherriots board
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
It’s not exactly surprising that Ramiro “RJ” Navarro wants
to advocate for veteran accessibility as part of his new role as
Keizer’s representative on the Salem Area Mass Transit District
(Cherriots) board of directors.
“The fi rst thing I would like to work on is reducing fares
for veterans,” Navarro said. “Cherriots doesn’t off er a dis-
count for veterans right now,” Navarro said. Navarro is the
veterans program manager for Project ABLE, a group that
off ers peer support for those experiencing mental health dif-
fi culties and medical conditions.
“One of the big things we do through Project ABLE is
connect those with mental health and addiction problems to
community resources. Having a discounted fare for a group
like veterans reduces one more barrier to people fi nding
help,” he said.
Navarro was nominated for appointment to the board by
Gov. Kate Brown and confi rmed by senators in their most
recent legislative session. Representatives to the Cherriots
board were elected until 2019. Brown proposed, and the leg-
islature approved, appointments to align the district’s struc-
ture with similar agencies in Portland and Eugene. He is replacing
Colleen Busch who was elected twice and served as a director for
six years.
“Colleen did a lot of hard work and I am hoping to build on
that,” Navarro said.
Navarro wants to pick up where Busch left off in advocating for
a greener fl eet of Cherriots vehicles. In 202o, Cherriots received
a $3.5 million federal grant to replace fi ve of its oldest buses with
battery-powered models that reduce emissions and lower operat-
ing costs.
“Those are going to be on Route 11, which means one of the
charging stations will be at the Keizer Transit Center [in Keizer
Station],” Navarro said. Route 11 runs between Keizer and South
Salem using Lancaster Drive.
Navarro has two route changes he plans to
advocate for. The fi rst is extending Route 14
to Keizer Rapids Parks to make it more acces-
sible for visitors without transportation or
those who need assistance. Navarro recently
coordinated a kayaking event at the park and
one disabled attendee used Cherry LIFT to
attend.
“I would like to see us off er more oppor-
tunities for Cherry LIFT out in the [Santiam]
Canyon area,” he said. “We have a lot of vet-
erans out that way who struggle with men-
tal health, who have trouble fi ling disability
Navarro
claims and who need to access medical
appointments. They are ideal candidates for
those services.”
He is already researching grant options, intended to support
rural veterans, that might fund the canyon expansion.
Other Cherriots board appointees this year were Sara Duncan,
a longtime Salem resident who manages Sassy Onion Catering;
María Cecilia Hinojos Pressey, a current board member who
works as operations manager for farmworkers union PCUN.
Schools relax some masking policies
As a result of lifting pandemic restric-
tions throughout Oregon, Salem-Keizer
Public Schools (SKPS) are updating their
mask requirements for students.
The following changes took eff ect July
1:
• Students are required to wear face cov-
erings indoors and on school buses until
further notice.
• Staff are required to wear face cover-
ings indoors when in direct contact with
students. This applies on school buses as
well. Direct contact is defi ned as within 3
feet of a student for 15 minutes or longer.
• Staff and students are not required to
wear face coverings outdoors.
• Anyone may choose to wear a face cov-
ering in situations when it is not required.
• Physical distancing will continue
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Room rentals
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indoors with at least 3 feet of distancing
when possible.
Certain accommodations for medical
needs or disability may be necessary. In
addition, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
leaders have met with Marion County
Health and Human Services and Polk
County Public Health to discuss both adult
and student protocols and will continue to
closely monitor the protocols and adjust as
necessary.
The district plans to provide full-time,
in-person instruction, fi ve days a week in
September. District offi cials hope the new
protocols will position SKPS to return stu-
dents and staff to school without the need
to wear face coverings in the fall.
Parents are expected to receive addi-
tional information before the beginning of
the school year, Sept. 7.