Category Community
Seniors stay with family, in motels after fire damages low-income housing complex
Robert Lindsey Tower (Courtesy/Salem Housing Authority) The seniors displaced by a Sunday fire at a low-income housing building are staying with family or in a motel while the Salem Housing Authority works to determine what repairs are needed. Fourteen people were displaced by a fire…
To spread holiday cheer, Salem police will deliver toys to kids in need this week
A room at the Salem police station is filled with toys for the annual toy drive. (Courtesy/ Salem Police Department) A room inside the Salem police station is filled with shelves full of Legos, baby Yodas and stuffed animals as well as board games, like…
Hospice volunteer sees the positive in the face of Covid precautions
Holly Colliers, a hospice volunteer, stands on the porch of her Salem home on Thursday, Dec. 10. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) With the pandemic taking hold in Oregon, Holly Collier began donning bulky personal protective gear before caring for patients through Willamette Valley Hospice. Colliers said…
Memorial service for Selma Pierce scheduled
Selma Pierce, candidate for House District 20. (Courtesy of Selma Pierce). The memorial service for Selma Pierce, a well-known Salem community activist and retired dentist who died last week, will be held 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12, at Salem First Christian Church. Pierce’s husband,…
AROUND OREGON: Bend woman returns from 6-year journey walking the planet
Angela Maxwell traveled around the globe for six years. (Courtesy/Angela Maxwell) Angela Maxwell began a journey more than six years ago to travel the world on foot. The 39-year-old Bend woman saw the global trip as a personal challenge and a way to raise money…
Community shocked and saddened by sudden death of Selma Pierce
Selma Pierce died after she was struck by a car Tuesday evening. (Courtesy of Selma Pierce) The Salem community was stunned Tuesday evening upon learning of the death of Selma Pierce, a retired dentist and politician known for her community service and leadership. Pierce, 66,…
Salem food bank usage is up 30% over last year. Here’s how Marion Polk Food Share is keeping up.
John Hawkins, right, waves a car forward as Mitch Baysinger, left, and Rachel Peterson unload a pallet of food boxes at Chemeketa Community College for a food giveaway on Nov. 24 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) When Rachel Peterson arrived at the Chemeketa Community College parking lot,…
PHOTOS: Salem’s JCPenney store hauntingly empty, awaits a new life
A storeroom at the vacant JCPenney store in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) The fire alarm at Salem’s JCPenney building will not stop beeping. The store where generations of Salem residents went for back-to-school clothes and family portraits taken closed on…
Readers share gratitude, bright spots from 2020
Jasmine White and her pug, Bella, on a cross-country road trip to Salem (Courtesy/Jasmine White) We asked readers what’s helped them get through this year, and what they’re grateful for now. Here’s a selection of the responses we received. Do you want to join in?…