As COVID-19 spread in Oregon, workers at gas stations increasingly were reluctant to pump gas and have contact with customers. On Saturday, state officials lifted the ban on self-service fueling to ensure essential workers could get gas.

Under new rules announced Saturday, Salem drivers can fuel their vehicles on their own as Oregon becomes a self-service state through at least April 11.

Wi-fi hotposts for students without Internet access are also on order as tens of thousands of local students are stuck at home with little idea if classes will resume this school year.

Salem musicians connect with fans and make some much-needed cash as the ban on public gatherings stretches on.

About 10 Marion Polk Food Share pantries have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the food share has paired up with the Salem-Keizer School District to distribute food out of local schools instead.

The state Transportation Department notified employees Thursday evening that an employee in the agency's headquarters building in downtown Salem had tested positive for COVID-19. The agency closed the building on Friday.

Kaiser Permanente can process COVID-19 test kits at a Portland lab and is now testing patients referred by a doctor or public health agency at one Salem clinic.

The Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency is working on getting people into motels after the first case of COVID-19 has found its way into the community’s homeless population, considered to be the most vulnerable to contracting the virus.

The Justice Department has sent letters to four convenience stores, three in the Salem area and one in Portland, in response to multiple complaints. The department expects more.

Unemployment claims in Oregon have risen sharply in recent weeks as restaurants, schools and other employers shed workers. Grocery stores and distribution companies remain bright spots.

Karson Kidd-Owen, 9, and his younger brother Korbin star in a home YouTube baking series filmed in their central Salem kitchen. Their dads said they want to make self-isolating fun, not traumatic, for their sons.

Here are ways you can contribute to people who need food, socks or tents as COVID-19 further restricts access to some homeless services and leaves many shelters at capacity.

Trevor Phillips returned to work Sunday after a two-week hiatus in which a lot had changed at the hospital since COVID-19 spread throughout the community.

So many Salem residents showed up looking to help the hospital by sewing masks that police had to come direct traffic. The kit distribution, scheduled for four hours over two days, ended after workers gave out kits for 10,000 masks.

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Salem’s transit agency confirmed two of its drivers have been confirmed infected with the disease but otherwise would provide no information to the public about which routes were involved.

Salem's largest healthcare provider said it can't continue testing patients for flu or COVID-19 until supplies are re-stocked.

Salem-area residents confirmed to have COVID-19 include a Cherriots bus driver and classroom aide at a local elementary school. County and state health officials have been slow to explain the high number of local patients.

Opening Cozzie’s NY Deli was both a dream and a leap of faith for a Salem couple. Despite its glowing reviews and awards, the eatery is the latest to close as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak. Its owners hope the closure is temporary.

Gov. Kate Brown says that the deadline for returns is extended to July, quarterly payments on 2020 taxes will still be due starting April 15. A legislator's comment about cash-flow problems for the state drew a sharp rebuke from Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend.

The transit agency has released limited information but said it's sanitized buses multiple times since the driver worked on Friday, March 13.

Life is Salem has changed drastically in recent weeks as officials attempting to curb the spread of COVID-19 have shut down many businesses, playgrounds and social gatherings across the state. But in Marion County, inmates at the jail still have a right to trial and attorneys must keep showing up to work, be it in person or by phone in some cases.

The Oregon State Police, Marion County Sheriff's Office and Salem Police Department have been fielding questions about how new restrictions intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 are impacting residents' ability to go to work or keep their kids from congregating at skateparks.

With deepening political divide, the approaching election could provide the verdict on who was right in the 2020 Legislature.

NorthWest Senior and Disability Services, a partnership between local governments that serves seniors and adults with physical disabilities in five counties, has seen an increased demand for home-delivered meals in recent weeks. But its regular volunteers haven't been able to help.

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A new state order Tuesday caused confusion among Salem-area childcare providers who say they want to remain open to serve local families. Meanwhile, the Salem-Keizer School District is now running emergency child care for families with health workers and first responders.

With Gov. Kate Brown issuing more stringent directives, more Salem businesses are closing and government agencies are locking their doors. Police, charged with enforcing the order, say they are going to take a light touch - for now.

The Salem City Council on Monday banned sitting or lying on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in an attempt to roust homeless people from under downtown awnings. The vote came a week after councilors voted to ban loitering in public places and gatherings of two or more people for the next five weeks in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Soldiers, working with the Oregon Health Authority, set up a temporary 250-bed medical facility at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem late last week to house non-coronavirus patients in recovery and free up hospital beds.