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.
Mobile showers coming to Salem’s homeless in early August
Ken Houghton, outreach coordinator for the ARCHES Project, shows a prospective volunteer around a new mobile shower unit at a July 17, 2019 training. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Free showers will soon be available to homeless people in the greater Salem…
AGENDA: Chemeketa board to review equity efforts, approve grants and donations
Chemeketa Community College board members will review the college’s equity efforts in staffing at a meeting next week. A scorecard shows the college’s student body has about the same percentage of Latino students as the area Chemeketa serves, but staff…
North Salem students get on track to graduate in summer school
Jon Duff, left, discusses his biology grade with North Salem science teacher Daniel Ortiz at summer school (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) When Briana Ender failed English her freshman year of high school, delayed making up the class so she wouldn’t have…
Marty Heyen, Jesse Lippold, to lead school board
Marty Heyen, left, and Jesse Lippold, right, take new seats during a Salem-Keizer School Board meeting after being unanimously elected chair and vice chair for the 2019-20 school year. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A northeast Salem school board director who won…
Oregon approves average 1.5% increase in individual insurance rates for 2020
2020 individual health insurance rates approved July 15, 2019 by the Department of Consumer and Business Services An average Oregonian will pay slightly more for individual health insurance next year under rates approved this week by state regulators. Monthly health…
IKE Box now staying put as YMCA, Salem First Presbyterian consider land sales
The IKE Box building, on the corner of Cottage Street and Chemeketa Street, was used as a funeral home for decades before being transformed into a coffee shop. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem’s IKE Box won’t be moving after all. The…
State faults Salem-Keizer for failing to investigate staff injuries caused by students
The Salem-Keizer School District failed to report or investigate staff injuries caused earlier this year by students at Mary Eyre Elementary School and now faces state penalties. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration found evidence of two serious workplace…
AGENDA: Salem-Keizer board to elect new chair, swear in new members
A July 16 meeting will be the first for newly elected school board members Satya Chandragiri and Danielle Bethell. They’ll be sworn in and the board will elect a new chair and vice chair for the 2019-20 school year. Board…
Migrant summer school brings Mexican culture into the classroom for Salem students
First-grade teacher Alvato Centeno reads a story to students during migrant summer school at Scott Elementary. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A dozen third-graders stepped in two lines, moving one hand back and forth as if holding a shaker. “Turn!” yelled teacher…
Across Oregon, unhealthy air caused by wildfire smoke on the rise
Smoke from the 2015 Canyon Creek wildfire in Douglas County, Oregon (Courtesy/Oregon Department of Forestry) Unhealthy air conditions caused by wildfire smoke are on the rise across Oregon, even in urban areas located far from burning fires. That’s the conclusion…