Category Community
Downtown Salem restaurant becomes bottleneck of conflict during New Year’s Day march
Far-right protesters face off with police after an unlawful assembly was declared while gathering to protest Covid restrictions in downtown Salem on Friday, Jan. 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) For months, Jonathan Jones has been warning Salem’s city leaders that Proud Boys and other right-wing groups…
Doctor from Salem makes waves with paper on racial bias in common medical device
Dr. Michael Sjoding (Courtesy photo) As Michael Sjoding began caring for more Covid patients in the spring of 2020, he noticed something concerning. Sjoding, who was born and raised in Salem, is now a doctor specializing in critical care pulmonology at the University of Michigan…
PHOTOS: Salem Reporter’s favorite photos of the year
Michael Chauran hugs Colton Lee, whose family owns the property that Chauran and his wife live on and that was burned in the fires, on Wednesday, September 9. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Salem Reporter staff put together a compilation of their favorite photos of this year.…
After a decade, a new leader takes the helm of Salem-Keizer’s NAACP
Reginald Richardson, the new president of the Salem-Keizer NAACP, poses for a portrait on Friday, Dec. 18. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) As Salem residents joined a nationwide call for racial justice over the summer, Reginald Richardson began thinking about changing the Salem-Keizer NAACP. The branch issued…
Covid put Michelle Paslay’s senior services business on hold. She never stopped thinking about her clients
Michelle Paslay (left) stands with staff at Keizer Ridge after she delivered Christmas presents for the facility’s residents. (Courtesy/Michelle Paslay) When you’re going door to door to collect bottles and cans, you have to look at least a little presentable. That’s a lesson Michelle Paslay…
Credit union honors 10 volunteers who made 2020 a little less hard in the Salem area
Alice Swanson, right, and other volunteers prepare a meal at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Woodburn (Courtesy/Terri Gonzalez) Alice Swanson worried about her neighbors going without food after the Covid pandemic shut down much of Woodburn in the spring. So she and a friend went to…
With theaters closed around Oregon, Enlightened Theatrics shifts focus to small shows for students
Miette Hanowell, center, performs in a November 2020 Enlightened Theatrics production of “101 Dalmatians” at the Grand Theatre (Courtesy/Enlightened Theatrics) Miette Hanowell landed her first paid acting role at age 11, playing Emily, the child at the center of a classic Christmas poem, in Enlightened…
City survey seeks management recommendations for Salem’s historic park
An oak tree casts a long, early morning shadow across a field of camas root in bloom at Bush’s Pasture Park in Salem. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) Salem wants the community’s help to plan for the future of one of its premier parks. A city survey…
Salvation Army seeks more bell ringers for Red Kettle fundraiser
Elias Garcia, Bianca Mendoza and Elias Markham raise money for Red Kettle Campaign. (Courtesy/Quinton Markham) Cheryll Grear spends the final weeks of the year singing acapella versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and other holiday jingles as she rings a bell outside storefronts.…