Category Community
Wildfire-affected area of Santiam Canyon reopening after 2-year closure
Visitors to the Santiam Canyon can now access some campgrounds and trails that have been closed since the Beachie Creek Fire in 2020. The Willamette National Forest on Monday reopened access to the Elk Lake, Humbug and Fox Creek Group campgrounds in the Detroit area.…
At the Capitol, a bilingual ranger hopes to inspire visitors
John Graham patrols one of Oregon’s smallest state parks, sharing state history and tending the grass and flowers.
PHOTOS: A celebration of steam, firefighting returns to Powerland
The 62-acre Powerland Heritage Park was alive this weekend with the sounds of machinery as Oregonians from all corners of the state gathered to celebrate antique machinery. The 52nd annual Great Oregon Steam-Up kicked off July 30 with an army of 1,000 volunteers, and the…
Salem-area food pantries continue to see climb in visits
Food pantries in and around Salem continued to see a sharp increase in visitors as residents content with inflation and high gas prices. It’s a change the Marion Polk Food Share first detected in March, though it was too early to determine if it was…
Group pulls three cars from Willamette River while investigating Salem cold case
Doug Bishop, lead diver and lead investigator for Adventures with Purpose, talks with founder Jared Leisek after they pulled three cars out of the Willamette River on July 10. (Courtesy/Doug Bishop) For Doug Bishop, pulling three stolen cars out of the Willamette River was nothing…
COLUMN: The mystery of the south Salem peafowl
Peafowl explore a home on Southeast Norwood Street in south Salem (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter) In southeast Salem we have neighbors that are loud—in sound and costume. Even my neighbors who’ve been here three decades are not sure where these newcomers came from, nor where…
Salem library exhibit stacks origami boxes honoring victims of gun violence
The Salem Public Library invited people to participate in a group folding of origami boxes for The Soul Box Project’s exhibit on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Ardeshir Tabrizian/Salem Reporter) After 61 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Leslie…
Great Oregon Steam-Up puts focus on vintage firefighting
Jim Kelsey, of Gervais, uses a hammer to shape a shoehorn while forge welding in the blacksmith shop at Powerland Heritage Park (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In the 1950s, a group of local farmers felt nostalgic. Before World War II, they tended the land with wheat…
Heat wave will hit Salem starting Sunday
Salem won’t break any records next week, but the area may see triple-digit temperatures as a heat wave blankets much of the Pacific Northwest. The heat will begin Sunday with an expected high of 91, according to the National Weather Service in Portland. Monday and…