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 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.
Salem kids learn more than U.S. average, national Stanford study finds
Students get off the bus for the first day of school at Bush Elementary. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem-Keizer students improve their reading and math more than most U.S. students over the course of their education, according to a nationwide study…
Heading to the Salem Hospital ER? There’s a new entrance
Salem Hospital (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) The emergency room entrance at Salem Hospital will move next week as construction begins on a new building to accommodate a growing number of patients. Starting Jan. 8, patients should enter the emergency…
Marion County teens snagged in justice system work their way out through woodworking
Trey, a 16-year-old staff assistant in the Marion County juvenile department wood shop, chisels a jewelry box on Dec. 31, 2019. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) On the last day of the year, three teens stood in a muddy yard in northeast…
Font club, cavities and lots of data: reporter Rachel Alexander’s top stories of 2019
Reporter Rachel Alexander (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Truth be told, I’ve had trouble sitting down to reflect on 2019 because I have so many stories I’m excited to report in the works that it’s hard to pull myself away…
The bubbles are coming back to Gilbert House Children’s Museum
A visitor marvels as blocks float to the top of a wind tube in the Up Up and Away exhibit at Gilbert House Children’s Museum (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Gilbert House Children’s Museum is bringing the bubbles back. Museum leaders expect…
Dice, dragons and dinosaurs bring Salem kids together after school
Highland Elementary fifth-grader Emma Donecker, center, shows off new Dungeons and Dragons manuals for the school’s roleplaying game club, now in its second year (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Last school year Emma Donecker and Aly Mason fought a dragon, talked to…
PHOTOS: Watch workers use liquid foam to preserve Salem’s Peace Mosaic
Travis Orr sprays liquid foam between a wood covering and plastic coating the Salem Peace Mosaic in preparation for the mural’s move. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Saving a mosaic on the side of a brick building was a new challenge for…
Wash your hands! Flu season has officially hit Salem.
Salem Hospital (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) Flu cases are on the rise in the Salem area, and health officials are urging people who haven’t gotten a flu vaccine this season to do so. About 145 Willamette Valley residents tested…
From schools to Star Wars, meet the Salem educators who spend weekends as Chewbacca
Tom Beckett, dressed as Chewbacca, greets a fan at a Star Wars Oregon event at Christmas Storybook Land in Albany on Dec. 15, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Most people have some way of unwinding after a stressful day at work.…
Six middle schools lose after school programs as Salem-Keizer Education Foundation cuts costs
Kelly Carlisle, left, executive director of the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation, and Jeff Aeschliman, board president, talk at the foundation’s office in downtown Salem (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem-Keizer Education Foundation leaders are cutting after school programs serving 800 local middle school…