Saphara Harrell - Salem Reporter
Salem extends helping hand to an overlooked community disproportionately affected by the pandemic
Jerron Love helps load a produce box into a car on Friday, Sept. 4. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Jackie Leung and Sandra Wells stood outside Peoples Church in northeast Salem Friday morning, helping distribute food to community members in need, specifically…
Salem chooses police officers, people of color to help guide police audit
The entrance to Salem police headquarters. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) The members of a committee that will provide an examination of Salem police performance range from sworn officers to racial equity consultants. Salem City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke called for an audit…
Salem woman suffered permanent eye damage after getting shot by Salem police with rubber bullet, lawsuit claims
A Salem woman shot by rubber bullets in the face and chest by Salem police during a May 31 protest that left her with permanent vision loss is seeking to change Salem Police Department policies, according to a lawsuit filed…
Salem police scanners go quiet after system enters the digital age
A Salem police car. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Rubbernecks wanting to know about the latest police activity won’t be able to turn the dial of their radios to hear police chatter after Salem’s public safety agencies transitioned to a digital radio…
With school moving online, Polk County expands faster internet access to rural areas
Polk County Courthouse (Courtesy of Jolene Guzman/Polk Itemizer-Observer) Remote corners of Polk County will get improved internet access under a $1 million project that will allow more rural children to better connect to schools. The county is using a share…
RESOURCE LIST: Where to get rent relief, food boxes
Davalee Meade, a paramedic with Woodburn Ambulance Service administers a COVID-19 test during a free drive-through testing clinic on Tuesday, August 25. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) [ NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing this information free as a community service. You can…
Mt. Angel nursing home, pie maker added to list of Covid outbreaks
An image of the coronavirus from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [ NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing this information free as a community service. You can support dissemination by subscribing. ] Three long-term care facilities and two workplaces…
Oregon State Hospital investigating how a patient escaped Tuesday morning
The Oregon State Hospital has opened a formal investigation into how a patient escaped from the building Tuesday morning, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The patient escaped by scaling a wall and a fence, said Rebeka Gipson-King, Oregon State Hospital relations…
Despite stern warnings from the governor, the mask police won’t have sirens blaring locally
Police car with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office file (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Local police aren’t going to ticket you for not wearing a mask anytime soon, despite a warning from Gov. Kate Brown Friday. In a news conference last week,…
High-speed chase ends with damaged police cars and a dozen charges for Salem man
Sgt. Jake Pratt’s patrol vehicle was damaged during a car chase early Monday, Aug. 24. (Courtesy/Salem Police Department) A Salem man that allegedly crashed into two cop cars and ran from police was charged with more than a dozen crimes…