TOP STORIES: A mass stabbing, immigration, recovery profiles
So far in my second year at Salem Reporter, I’ve been adjusting to covering public safety.
In July, I took on the topic after our previous reporter went to law school, leaving behind big shoes to fill.
It’s a daunting task to cover people’s vulnerable moments in the justice system, whether they are a victim, lost a loved one or are themselves being charged for a crime. Since covering public safety, my stories have taken on more difficult and upsetting subjects, which is reflected in my top 10 stories from this year.
Below are the stories that pushed me the hardest or stayed with me since, along with some that brought light to my job.
A place to safely rest becomes a Salem crime scene
I’ve watched our team pull together in-depth and thoughtful stories in the midst of breaking news many times. But our reporting on Salem’s mass stabbing will always stand out to me.
Like many in Salem that Monday in June, I started my day knowing at least 11 people were stabbed at a homeless shelter downtown. It’s the kind of news you read about happening to other communities, until it happens in yours. I held my breath many times that day, worried about getting a call that one of the victims had died. Fortunately, that call never came, not even in the following days. But the stabbing left marks on the community that we’re still untangling.
When I look back on this day, I remember the sadness and shock in the faces of people I spoke with. I also remember the pride I felt watching our other reporters talk to victims, witnesses and officials with care and attention. It’s work I will admire for a long time.
Sprague science teacher, beloved by students, killed by suspected intoxicated driver
Fatal crashes are often reported with the focus on details of the crash and rarely much about the life, or lives, lost. When I first searched the name “Jeremy Wanak,” I quickly learned he was a pillar of the community at Sprague High School. After finding a student-run Instagram account filled with years of pictures of Jeremy, I thought of the teachers I’ve had who made me smile, laugh and feel seen.
His family allowed me to attend his memorial service, which overflowed by the hundreds. Person after person spoke of Jeremy’s deep kindness, faith and sense of humor. It’s been months, and I still think about this day regularly.
As a reporter, the line between my job and people’s privacy is always present and something I try to walk respectfully. I’m deeply grateful to have been welcomed at something so personal and full of grief.
Increasing ICE arrests and a report of violence
On a Sunday afternoon, I got a call from an advocacy group that a man in Salem had been injured by federal agents during an immigration arrest and taken to the hospital. As immigration enforcement has ramped up in Salem, our newsroom talks frequently about how to cover an issue that strikes fear and stress into the community, while details are often hard to verify quickly.
Reporting this showed me just how little people know about their loved ones when an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains them. As a reporter, I was able to verify most of the pieces of what happened, but when I hit “publish,” I still didn’t know this man’s name, much less his specific injuries or why he was arrested – something I’m continuing to look into.
Immigration is one of the biggest issues around the country currently, and I know that 2026 will continue to push us to find ways to report on it locally by explaining “why” and “how” questions and bringing it back to how it affects the community.
Despite city’s leniency, money troubles mounted for Rudy’s Steakhouse ahead of closure
I never expected to spend months investigating Rudy’s Steakhouse after writing the initial news that the city closed the restaurant in April. But with dozens of records and almost a double-digit number of drafts, I did just that despite my little experience with financial reporting.
Since my investigation, I’ve looked through yet more records and written two more stories about Rudy’s. The most recent update came two weeks ago: the city is suing the closed business and its owner. With all of the time spent writing and rewriting these stories, I’ve learned the ins and outs of a former downtown hot spot and how it came to an end. Despite the challenges throughout my reporting, I’m grateful for the lessons in chasing records and decoding finances.
Profiles in Recovery
I first spoke with Billy Sly in September 2024. He reached out about his journey through addiction and incarceration, and thought his life might make a good story.
Our conversation set off a three-part series about people’s journeys through addiction and recovery, looking closer at the trauma often involved and what it can be like to first try treatment or end up in jail. I had several long interviews with each person and got to know the details of their lives, before, during and after addiction.
Reporting on recovery through people’s lives instead of policies or programs is often more insightful and produces a more meaningful final product. I still appreciate how each person in this series trusted me with some of their most personal stories and feelings within an issue that is always being debated.
Salem firefighters saw devastation, received support while fighting Palisades Fire
This year started with a huge national breaking news story: a California wildfire devouring thousands of acres and destroying homes. Big news in other states doesn’t often overlap with local news, but on the day the Palisades Fire started, four Salem firefighters answered the call to go to California and help.
I sat down with Capt. Michael Stewart and engineer Zach Salvage around a week after they returned. As both a reporter and person, I was deeply interested in what their experiences had been like. They told me about the feeling of their engine shaking from the notorious Santa Ana winds and how generous local residents were despite their community burning around them. Localizing national news is not always possible, but when it is, it can bring powerful and distant issues home.
Teenager admits to Bush Park murder
One of the first stories I read in Salem Reporter was the award-winning coverage my coworkers did of the Bush Park shooting in March 2024. Even though I moved to Salem months after the shooting, its significance touched so much and set a high standard for the breaking news coverage that’s happened since.
For a little over a year after I got here, we were waiting for the sentencing in this case. There were questions about criminal charges, what the pleas would be and whether Nathaniel McCrae, a teenager, would be convicted as an adult for the murder of his classmate José Vázquez-Valenzuela, 16.
Contributing this story to our coverage of José and Nathaniel was a responsibility I did not take lightly.
Marion County releases records at core of ICE lawsuit to Salem Reporter
This lawsuit posed questions to state and federal agencies over immigration policies and public records. One of Marion County’s key claims was that information about people in its custody – specifically five men U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wanted information on – is a public record. As a reporter, public records are a big part of my job. After doing several stories on this lawsuit, I put the county’s claim to the test that it would provide personal information about people wanted by ICE to anyone.
I got the information ICE asked for quickly and without redactions or charges. The county was eventually ordered by a federal judge to share the information with ICE, which it did in November. Getting creative with reporting strategies is fun to do, and this was a good example of using a routine part of my job to verify a cornerstone claim in a high-profile lawsuit. A copy of this story ended up in a later federal court filing, which was a first for any of my reporting.
Bridgeway ends plan for recovery home as local providers brace for funding cuts
If I could give other young reporters advice, it would be to regularly attend government meetings. This story started in a regular Marion County meeting with health officials where it was mentioned that the state was reducing funding for local addiction treatment by millions of dollars. After the meeting, I had key questions: How will providers handle losing millions? What will happen to people needing treatment?
This reporting is my reminder that routine meetings in a government conference room can carry news that people care deeply about but don’t know is happening until they are affected by it.
Salem teen finds sobriety, clean slate in youth treatment court
Attending Natalee’s graduation from treatment court was a great experience. The story about her graduation is also one of the only times I’ve done four interviews for a story and everyone agreed on the facts: Natalee was a teenager who came out of a youth correctional facility and worked so hard to leave negative choices behind that she blew everyone away.
I always appreciate when people let me into their lives as a way for me to tell both their story and a program or agency’s. This was a look into a treatment court program helping Marion County youth in the justice system recover from substance use and make healthier choices. By the end of writing her profile, I was in awe of how a 17-year-old challenged and inspired so many adults throughout the justice system, including a judge, parole officer and deputy district attorney.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and reports on a variety of topics including public safety, addiction, treatment and the criminal justice system. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
