Saphara Harrell - Salem Reporter
South Salem resident recounts experience being quarantined in China for nearly a month
Dago Benavidez and his wife in quarantine in China. (Courtesy/Dago Benavidez) During the month Dago Benavidez quarantined himself in Guilin, China, he would watch a small, white husky from the window of his fifth-floor condo. He noticed the owner’s routine…
City to erect 7,000-square foot covering in Marion Square Park after sit-lie ban goes into effect
The boulevard pictured along Commercial Street Northeast where tents had been staked in December.(Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Salem city councilors on Monday voted to erect a canopy and install portable restrooms in Marion Square Park as a ban on sitting or…
As filing deadline nears, ten candidates are chasing city council seats and five are running for commission seats in Marion and Polk Counties
Five of nine seats on the Salem City Council are up for grabs in the May election as the filing deadline approaches. Candidates must file by 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 10. Three Marion County jobs are open, with incumbents seeking…
Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Paul De Muniz to be honored for service to community
Paul De Muniz will be awarded First Citizen at a banquet Saturday night. (Courtesy/Willamette University) Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Paul De Muniz will take the top award at Saturday’s First Citizen banquet. First Citizens are nominated for improving the…
Salem employee sues the city for racist workplace harassment
A Salem city employee who claims he endured harassment from his supervisor because of his race has sued in U.S. District Court. Jose Botello, a former fleet maintenance technician who is Latino, claims in the lawsuit that his supervisor, Michael…
Rush on toilet paper a symptom of people acting as others act
Costco has been selling out of toilet paper since news spread that the first COVID-19 case was detected in Oregon last weekend. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) As word that the first case of COVID-19 had reached Oregon last week, home supplies…
Salem to expand parks system with two additions, but plans are years away
A tree in Minto-Brown Island Park. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Salem is expanding its parks system after two land purchases in recent years, one in south Salem and another in northeast Salem, that total more than 60 acres. Patricia Farrell, parks…
UPDATE: Salem man turns himself into police after Tuesday’s fatal hit and run in south Salem
Update: 3/6 10:29 a.m.: A Salem man turned himself into police Thursday after hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving on Southeast McGilchrist Tuesday night. Jerry Lee McKennan, 48, told police he leaned over to pick up his cell phone…
Through a century-old set of keys and pipes, Rick Parks sets the mood at Salem’s Elsinore Theatre
Rick Parks sits in front of a Wurlitzer console, which represents about 2% of the entire theater pipe organ in the Elsinore Theater. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) In the early morning a few times a week, Rick Parks enters the Elsinore…
Salem is more shaded than ever, thanks to city tree projects but gains are uneven
A tree in Minto-Brown Island Park. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) About a quarter of Salem is covered by trees as the result of a decade-long city effort that hasn’t shaded every neighborhood equally. The city recently released its most recent Urban…