Santiam Hospital emergency department medical director Dr. Steve Vets (center, back row, wearing glasses) posts with his federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team deployed to Omaha, Nebraska to care for patients under monitoring for coronavirus in February 2020. (Courtesy/Steve Vets) With a quick trip to Nebraska, Steve Vets learned first hand[Read More…]
Rachel Alexander
Get your garden going this spring with free help from Marion Polk Food Share
One of the 65 community gardens supported by Marion Polk Food Share in the greater Salem area (Courtesy/Marion Polk Food Share) If this week’s sunshine has you thinking about getting outside, Marion Polk Food Share wants to help. The organization is hosting “Celebrate the Seed,” a free seed share and[Read More…]
Salem-Keizer seeks $60 million for new buses and transportation facility
School buses parked in the Salem-Keizer School District lot on Hawthorne Avenue (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem-Keizer school district administrators want to spend $60 million to replace 195 school buses and construct a new 33,000 square foot transportation center by 2022. Mike Wolfe, the district’s chief operating officer, presented a plan[Read More…]
It’s business as usual, but with more hand sanitizer, in Salem-Keizer schools
Despite concern about new cases of the novel coronavirus in Oregon, Salem-Keizer School District officials say there’s no need to keep healthy kids home or close schools. Oregon has three cases of the disease as of Monday afternoon, none in the Salem area. But the district has activated its communicable[Read More…]
At Chapman Hill Elementary, young archers learn the ropes
Carolyn Hanosek readies her bow for a shot during an archery demonstration at Chapman Hill Elementary School on Feb. 26, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Five students stood on a taped line in the Chapman Hill Elementary School gym, waiting for a whistle. Then, each student raised a bow, drew an[Read More…]
West Salem stages post-apocalyptic interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
Mady Breitling as Lady Macbeth and Isaiah Lane as Macbeth in dress rehearsal for the West Salem High School theater production (Courtesy/Joe Gottsch) The witches’ cauldron is a five-gallon plastic bucket. Shields and axes are made in part with discarded license plates, and pieces of refuse litter the stage. Audience[Read More…]
Over objections from teachers, Salem-Keizer board approves $35 million spending plan
Heather Rutkowski, a 7th grade language arts teacher at Crossler Middle School, advocates for hiring more school counselors at a Feb. 25, 2020 school board meeting (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Local school board members decided Tuesday what they would do with a $35 million check from the state but teachers aren’t[Read More…]
Chemeketa board considers $11 per credit tuition increase to balance budget next year
Chemeketa Community College (File/Salem Reporter) The Chemeketa Community College Board of Education is considering a tuition increase that would raise the cost of a year of school for a full-time student by about $500. Board members will vote Wednesday evening on an increase of $11 per credit – a $4[Read More…]
Liberty, Division streets close March 2 for Salem Police Station construction
Downtown streets will be closed starting March 2, 2020 for street and traffic changes around the new Salem Police headquarters (Courtesy/City of Salem) Expect more traffic in downtown Salem starting Monday as the City of Salem finishes construction on the new downtown police station. Liberty Street Northeast will be closed[Read More…]
School board to vote on final $35 million spending plan for Salem-Keizer
Educators and parents packed a school board meeting Feb. 18, 2020 to speak about a $35 million Salem-Keizer schools spending plan. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) The Salem-Keizer School Board is expected to vote Tuesday night on a sweeping $35 million plan to hire 240 more employees, create new after school programs,[Read More…]