Rachel Alexander
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 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.
Longtime volunteers probe south Salem’s hidden corners in search of homeless campers
Volunteer Lorrie Walker, left, hands a bagged lunch to James Matthews during Salem’s 2020 homeless count (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Lorrie Walker trod along an improvised trail near Mill Creek, her rain boots covered in mud. “Good morning!” she called to…
Class size a sticking point as Salem-Keizer task force nears recommendations for spending $35 million
Hallman students gather during the school’s morning assembly. (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) As the Salem-Keizer School District weighs how to spend millions of dollars in new state money, teachers are pushing to shrink class sizes. That’s put teachers at…
AGENDA: Salem-Keizer board will tackle school lunch, student behavior in work session
The 2019-20 Salem-Keizer School Board (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem-Keizer school board members will tackle school lunch, student behavior and more in a work session on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The board will begin with a presentation on the district’s meal program.…
Sprague High School tagged with swastikas, racist and homophobic graffiti
Sprague High School was tagged with swastikas, racist slurs and homophobic graffiti overnight, prompting an investigation into a possible hate crime from Salem police. District security discovered the graffiti overnight during a regular patrol around 4 a.m. Monday and alerted…
Volunteers needed for Salem’s 2020 homeless person count
Volunteer Kris Hardy surveys a homeless man in the Winco parking lot during Salem’s 2019 point-in-time homeless count. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Local homeless service providers still need 30 volunteers to help with an annual count of homeless people in Marion…
Marion County says yes to continuing refugee resettlement
A sign outside a home in Salem’s Fairmount neighborhood (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Marion County will continue accepting refugee resettlement, commissioners told the U.S. State Department last week. “Marion County has welcoming and supportive nonprofits who administer refugee resettlement programs in…
Local nonprofits stock the shelves with Amazon and Walmart leftovers
A man grabs food at a United Way Good360 giveaway on Jan. 22, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Just before 9 a.m., dozens of people carrying empty boxes waited inside a warehouse in south Salem, staring at tables piled high with…
Meet the former NFL linebacker closing gaps for Salem-Keizer’s black students
Dwight Roberson negotiates snack food options for the McKay High School Black Student Union meeting with junior Leanette Mabinton (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Dwight Roberson walked the halls of McKay High School carrying a tablet and wearing a drawstring backpack. It…
Salem-Keizer graduation rate hits high of 79%
Ruth Langmoir, an August 2019 McKay High School graduate, gets a hug from graduation coach Ken Ramirez after earning her diploma. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) The percentage of Salem-Keizer students earning a high school diploma climbed again last year, marking a…
Kaiser doctors take over Salem Free Clinic for day of service
Rick Segal, left, and Carmelo Mejia, internal medicine doctors with Kaiser Permanente in Salem, type notes during a shift at Salem Free Clinic (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Rick Segal sat at a long desk between two other doctors, quickly typing notes…