Updates on park playground renovations, Ruby Bridges shirt lawsuit
Crooked House playground reopens
The original story: City officials closed playgrounds at Riverfront Park and Bush’s Pasture Park for renovations on April 13.
The latest: Bush Park’s Crooked House Playground reopened Tuesday, April 21, according to a city of Salem press release. The playground surface has been replaced with synthetic grass designed to cushion falls.
Riverfront Park is now expected to reopen in July following a replacement of the entire playground. Old playground equipment removed from the site will be kept for potential future use to repair or maintain other Salem playgrounds. That’s possible because the parts were made by the same company that made many other play structures in the city.
Lawsuit over Ruby Bridges shirt
The original story: A coordinator of school walk and bike programs for the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments alleged in a lawsuit she was fired for wearing a shirt featuring an iconic Norman Rockwell painting of civil rights leader Ruby Bridges that included a racial slur. Beth Schmidt filed a suit in January in Eugene U.S. District Court.
The latest: The Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Schmidt’s wearing of the shirt is not protected by the First Amendment because she is a public employee and wasn’t speaking on a matter of public concern by wearing the shirt. The agency’s lawyer filed the motion in March.
City-owned lot on Portland Road
The original story: The city of Salem in 2025 ended an agreement with nonprofit shelter provider Church at the Park to use a city-owned lot at 2640 Portland Rd. N.E. as a day center as part of a larger reduction in city sheltering services. City officials said at the time they intended to sell the property for development.
The latest: The city has studied the site for potential redevelopment options and intends to market it once a road realignment project which goes through the property is completed, said Kristin Retherford, director of Salem’s Community Planning and Development Department. Meanwhile, the city is exploring interim uses for the property, she said.
Siletz Tribe casino plans remain under federal review
The original story: The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians has for years planned a casino on tribal-owned land in north Salem, despite Gov. Tina Kotek’s objections. Tribal leaders said in 2023 they hoped for a federal ruling on the project soon.
The latest: Chairman Delores Pigsley told Salem Reporter the project is still under review by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, with no clear timeline for a decision. “We were hoping something would happen by now,” she said in an interview Tuesday, April 21.
Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
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What road realignment project is going through 2640 Portland Rd. N.E?