Category Community
West Salem stages post-apocalyptic interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
Mady Breitling as Lady Macbeth and Isaiah Lane as Macbeth in dress rehearsal for the West Salem High School theater production (Courtesy/Joe Gottsch) The witches’ cauldron is a five-gallon plastic bucket. Shields and axes are made in part with discarded license plates, and pieces of…
After a $3.2 million restoration, Salem’s Pringle Creek eases fish passage
Salem completed a large restoration project on Pringle Creek, which flows into the Willamette River. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) For more than 30 years, Salem has periodically removed debris trapped in Pringle Creek to prevent floodwaters from backing up into properties along the stream’s path. Columns…
Chemeketa board considers $11 per credit tuition increase to balance budget next year
Chemeketa Community College (File/Salem Reporter) The Chemeketa Community College Board of Education is considering a tuition increase that would raise the cost of a year of school for a full-time student by about $500. Board members will vote Wednesday evening on an increase of $11…
Marion County challenges garbage burner’s bad environmental rap
Brian May talks about Covanta Marion at the Salem City Club on Friday, Feb. 21. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) The Covanta Marion garbage burner isn’t as bad a polluter as its been made out to be, Marion County officials contend. Brian Nicholas, with Marion County Public…
YMCA annual luncheon raises funds for capital campaign
Single grandmothers Jeanine and Julie give a testimony about the Y, with board member Vanessa Nordyke. (Courtesy/Ashley Russell) The Salem YMCA has been changing lives in Salem since 1892. The Y (YMCA) is more than a fitness center. For over 125 years they have been providing…
Meet the man behind the bubbles going in at the Gilbert House museum
Bill Charnholm talks about bubbles outside Gilbert House Children’s Museum on Feb. 17, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Bill Charnholm grew up building small towns with his Erector Set, then flying toy fighter jets over them. The 75-year-old giggles while recounting playing in his bedroom in…
One nonprofit is trying to get parents more civically engaged through babysitting
Rachel Sowray, left, and Paige Hook, right. (Courtesy/Paige Hook) Paige Hook wanted to get involved in campaign managing two years ago but faced one major obstacle. She had three children under the age of six and couldn’t bring them door-to-door for three hours at a…
Salem Cinema shines a light on homelessness with documentary screening and discussion
Salem photographer Diane Beals has been making portraits of homeless residents around the city (Courtesy/Diane Beals) When tents pop up downtown with homeless occupants, some people look down as they walk past and others cross to the other side of the street. But Salem Cinema…
North Salem senior wins laptop to help on her quest for higher education
Myrka Morales Romero poses with mentor Amanda Stubblefield Jan. 31, 2020 in the North Salem High School library after winning a Chromebook from Google and Best Buy (Courtesy/Amanda Stubblefield) When Myrka Morales Romero was called to the North Salem High School library in the middle…