Rachel Alexander

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With new tax credit, Oregon treasurer hopes to promote college savings for lower income families

Harmony Terry, a kindergartener at Scott Elementary School, holds a Be College Ready folder during a visit by Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Saving for college is like planting pumpkin seeds in the garden, state Treasurer Tobias Read told a gathering of kindergarten students at Scott Elementary School.[Read More…]

A few weeks into class, Salem-Keizer culinary students eager to serve

Culinary student Rebecca Tipton prepares to serve mozzarella, tomato and salami skewers at a ribbon-cutting event at Salem-Keizer’s Career Technical Education Center (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) The 44 students in the new culinary program at the Salem-Keizer School District haven’t yet worked with knives or cooked a meal. But two weeks[Read More…]

PHOTOS: Here’s what it takes to feed 15,000 elementary school kids every day

Food service workers prepare wrapped turkey dogs to serve in Salem-Keizer elementary schools (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) In Salem-Keizer School District’s central food production kitchen, servings are often measured by the thousands. The industrial kitchen in a nondescript building in southeast Salem cooks up chili, burritos, hamburgers and more for every[Read More…]

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Seeking more Oregon students, Willamette University will match Oregon college savings accounts

Willamette University President Steve Thorsett speaks at the kick-off for a university match program for Oregon College Savings Plan account holders. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Oregon students who enroll at Willamette University can get up to $40,000 towards tuition and school expenses under a new program available to incoming freshmen next[Read More…]

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Urban Art Fest brings color, culture and resistance through art

A graffitied car on display at a prior Urban Arts Fest (Courtesy/Latinos Unidos Siempre) If you’ve ever wanted to see graffiti artists paint a 30-foot wall, Salem’s Urban Art Fest is the place for you. The free, all-ages event this Saturday celebrates graffiti art, rapping, beatboxing, breakdancing and show cars[Read More…]

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More college options coming to downtown Salem with WOU expansion

The Vick building in downtown Salem will become a new Western Oregon University campus over the next year. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A now-empty building on the edge of downtown Salem will be transformed into a new Western Oregon University campus over the next year. The Monmouth-based university bought the Vick[Read More…]

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UPDATED: Police arrest armed felon near Four Corners

Robert Dailey (Courtesy/Marion County Sheriff’s Office) Police arrested a man they said fled into a southeast Salem neighborhood with a gun after several hours of searching Thrusday afternoon. Lockdowns at four Salem-Keizer Schools were lifted before the man’s arrest. All sports and other after-school activities at Houck Middle School are[Read More…]