Oregon’s ethics commission increased the fine for former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan from $1,600 to $3,600.

PUBLIC NOTICE: This notice is published to meet the requirement of Oregon law for publication so the public is aware. This notice is delivered as a service for a fee by Salem Reporter. The notifying party is solely responsible for its content.

Here are the major community events coming to Salem this summer, from Make Music Day to Hoopla and the Englewood Forest Festival.

OBITUARY: From percussion to politics, Richard Allen Reece seemingly could talk about any subject. The Sprague High School graduate died April 23, 2025.

Salem Reporter recently spent two hours at Salem’s 911 dispatch center, known as the Willamette Valley Communications Center, and sat alongside a 911 call taker and police and fire dispatchers as they worked.

A Marion County Circuit Court judge committed Amy Robertson, 46, on Wednesday to the Oregon State Hospital eight years after she strangled to death her 12-year-old son, Caden Berry.

Limited data collection, inadequate funding are key barriers to Oregon’s behavioral health improvement efforts.

Three adults and their pets were displaced from a home off Southeast Sunnyside Road after a devastating fire Thursday evening.

PUBLIC NOTICE: This notice is published to meet the requirement of Oregon law for publication so the public is aware. This notice is delivered as a service for a fee by Salem Reporter. The notifying party is solely responsible for its content.

Salem police Thursday night arrested a 16-year-old suspect accused of the stabbings that sent two young men to Salem Hospital with critical injuries early that morning. One man, Isac S. Rizo, 21, died at the hospital.

PUBLIC NOTICE: This notice is published to meet the requirement of Oregon law for publication so the public is aware. This notice is delivered as a service for a fee by Salem Reporter. The notifying party is solely responsible for its content.

Salem police are investigating a shooting early Thursday morning that damaged a home on Northeast Sherry Court but left no one injured. No suspect has been arrested.

The Salem budget committee recommended a budget for 2026 which will drastically reduce services at the library, parks and recreation, and Center 50+ if voters reject a property tax increase on May 20. If the levy passes, the budget committee will meet to discuss an updated budget scenario factoring in new revenue.

Oregon is kept from millions promised by the U.S. Department of Transportation to get more electric vehicle chargers installed statewide.

A jury on Wednesday found Terrance Quackenbush-Benson was high on an inhalant when he caused a Sept. 16 crash that killed Blanca Franco-Ramos and Heriberto Rangel-Rangel.

Detectives are investigating two early morning stabbings Thursday that killed a 21-year-old Salem man and left another injured. Police say the stabbings happened at a pool hall where a group of young men got into a physical altercation.

City officials say two big trial losses and an expensive settlement – all related to police use of force – have triggered higher insurance rates, forcing city departments to pay more with budgets already stretched thin. 

The 2025 fire season is projected to be more intense than the 2024 season fire leaders said, but emergency response agencies have begun preparing early.

Events in Salem this week include a community walk to the park, a kids clothing swap and a Mother’s Day comedy show.

Robert Arias, 54, of Salem, faces three criminal charges related to possessing and distributing child pornography. Federal authorities say he was one of 205 people arrested across the U.S. in a joint operation that rescued 115 children.

The city’s proposed budget would pull some of its last remaining annual investments into homeless services, which have supported safe parking options and warm shelter on freezing nights for hundreds in the community. The programs plan to turn to state funding.