What’s making news in Salem you might have missed
Good morning, Salem.
Editor Les Zaitz is taking a well-deserved vacation this week, so Managing Editor Rachel Alexander is stepping in to recap the week’s events.
Shootings unfortunately took center stage in Salem this week, with two people shot and a gun battle at Riverfront Park — all in less than 48 hours.
Early Wednesday morning, witnesses reported seeing two groups arguing in Riverfront Park before bullets went flying, damaging the Riverfront Carousel windows. Police recovered 96 casings from the scene and said no injuries were reported.
A block away on Thursday morning, police found a 44-year-old man shot in the torso. That case is inactive after the victim refused to cooperate with investigators. And on Thursday afternoon, police said a man shot a construction worker in the head after picking a fight on a job site on Northeast Portland Road. The men didn’t know one another, police said.
The string of violence comes just after police held another community event intended to find solutions to curb shootings in Salem. Reporter Joe Siess covered the conversation, which included the idea of community walks in affected neighborhoods. He also summarized the police department’s annual report on its use of force during arrests, which showed a slight drop.
Joe also delved deeper into the circumstances that led to the abrupt closure of the Ram Brewery in Salem in mid-June. He spoke with former employees, who described a building in disrepair and a ceiling collapse in the kitchen which nearly hit an employee. One worker likened his time working there to a “fever dream.”
It’s not all bad news around Salem. Hoopla is in town this weekend, and there’s still a full day of 3×3 basketball action around the Capitol today if you’d like to watch.
Our team also put together August’s events calendar, a guide to what’s fun happening around Salem. We note free events specifically, so if you’re on a limited budget, check those options out.
People living in Salem’s micro shelters got welcome news this week. The state has stepped up to fund three Church at the Park-run sites that house about 250 people. City money to support operations ran out in June, Abbey McDonald reported.
And a Salem woman pleaded guilty to stealing mail and checks from over 100 Salem-area people and businesses, reporter Madeleine Moore explains. She was initially arrested, released from jail and then re-arrested less than a month later when a deputy pulled her over with more apparently stolen mail in her truck.
The DEA agent who ran a stop sign last spring in south central Salem, leading to a fatal collision with a cyclist, is seeking to have federal charges against him dropped. Samuel Landis’ lawyers argued the case against him should be dismissed because he was acting as a federal employee and pursuing a suspected fentanyl trafficker.
Finally, Abbey McDonald chronicled the groundbreaking for a badly-needed behavioral treatment center in east Salem. It’s expected to open next summer with space for 16 people court-ordered to receive mental health treatment.
Thank you for reading, subscribing and sharing our work. Please reach out to me anytime at [email protected] if you have story ideas, questions or suggestions for our team.
–Rachel Alexander, managing editor, Salem Reporter
If you appreciate the work we do, you can help…
A subscription to Salem Reporter is easy to set up. It’s affordable. And it’s the way for readers to vote in favor of the kind of news we deliver. Our fee is modest. The cost is $10 a month, $100 for the year. Why not join in? Click HERE and in moments you’ll be a Salem Reporter subscriber. (You can take us for a test spin for just $10 – get three months for the price of one.)
Copyright © 2025 Salem Reporter. All rights reserved. |
Our mailing address is: 494 State St., #410 • Salem, Oregon 97301 |
You are receiving this email because you signed up through our website or participated in a promotion. |