AGENDA: Polk County to review resolutions, mental health contract

The Polk County Courthouse. (Courtesy of Jolene Guzman/Polk County Itemizer-Observer) The Polk County Commission will review a couple resolutions and a contract at its weekly meeting on Wednesday. The commission will consider adopting a resolution for a regional homelessness plan…
Law changes seen as tool to boost affordable housing across Oregon

SALEM — It’s getting harder to find a place to live in Oregon, and state lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to address what some call a housing crisis. New housing construction isn’t keeping pace with population growth in Oregon,…
Youth come out to support cap and trade on Earth Day

Gov. Kate Brown riles up the crowd in support of the cap and trade bill. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) SALEM – About two dozen kids came to the Capitol on Monday to celebrate Earth Day and lobby lawmakers to pass a…
Boarded in the ER: Oregon’s mental health crisis

NOTE: Published in a cooperative arrangement with The Lund Report. On a typical day, doctors rush through Kaiser’s emergency department toward sounding alarms, and ambulances whisk in people suffering heart attacks, strokes or severe pain. Medical technicians and nurses attend…
PHOTO GALLERY: Highland Elementary School

Highland Elementary 2nd grade teacher Becky Montgomery works with a student during a computer math exercise Wednesday March 13, 2019. (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Bailee Moore, center, and classmates work on a computer math exercise in Becky Montgomery’s second grade…
As Oregon inmates age, lawmakers prepare for rising healthcare costs

SALEM — Oregon inmates are getting older, and lawmakers are trying to prepare for the extra care they may require. Last year, legislative budget-writers asked the Corrections Department to study how much it would cost the state to renovate an…
Judge: Gable has sufficient proof he is ‘probably’ innocent of Francke murder

Frank Gable in a Florida state prison during an interview with reporters from The Oregonian in 2005. (Photo courtesy The Oregonian/OregonLive) A Salem man imprisoned for the 1989 murder of Oregon’s prisons director may go free in about 90 days…
Kate Brown promises substantial change to child welfare system

Gov. Kate Brown is taking another whack at reforming Oregon’s beleaguered foster care system. Brown announced Thursday, April 18, that she was creating a special board to oversee child welfare issues and ensure that reforms are enacted. The move came…
PHOTO GALLERY: Hallman Elementary School

Julie Cleave, reading specialist at Hallman Elementary School, helps students learn about length and measurement. (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Lauren Korrell, 9, hugs her principal, Jessica Brenden at Hallman Elementary (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Some Hallman Elementary students…
PHOTO GALLERY: Four Corners Elementary School

Students play tetherball during recess at Four Corners Elementary School. (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Abby Ramirez, special programs instructional assistant at Four Corners Elementary School in Salem Wednesday March 13, 2019. (Fred Joe/Special to Salem Reporter) Students pose during recess…

