Aaron Harris (Courtesy/Wade Harris) Wade Harris stopped by a west Salem neighborhood around 8:30 a.m. Nov. 19 to pick up a friend when he saw firetrucks and police cars down the street. He knew his adopted son, Aaron Harris, was squatting at an abandoned house in the area with his[Read More…]
COMMUNITY
Salem now has its own refugee resettlement agency
A recently achieved nonprofit designation will aid Salem for Refugees just as the number of displaced people eligible to resettle in Salem is exploding. In summer 2021, Luke Glaze, the organization’s first executive director, and its board completed the paperwork required for nonprofit status, making it an independent organization and[Read More…]
Veterans share stories from Afghanistan tours with city club
(Courtesy/Spire Management) Kevin Dial will never forget the day he and others serving in the National Guard were invited to a party in Afghanistan. He recalled his fellow soldiers dancing with Afghan men from the local community. “That kind of engagement on the one-to-one level when you put down your[Read More…]
Meet the guitar shop owner who got Salem millions to help with housing and homelessness
Justin Martin. (Courtesy/Justin Martin) In the back room of a downtown Salem guitar shop, Justin Martin makes calls to secure millions of dollars for Salem. Martin, who’s going into his fifth year lobbying for the city, is also a part owner of Guitar Castle and has an “On Air” sign[Read More…]
Woman rescued after getting caught in Santiam River current
(Courtesy of Marion County Sheriff’s Office) First responders in Marion and Linn counties rescued a woman stuck in a Santiam River current Thursday afternoon. Workers at a Knife River facility called 911 at 1:30 p.m. after they heard a woman calling for help who was trapped in a current near[Read More…]
Saffron Supply Co. moves business after century downtown
Saffron Supply Co. is moving from its downtown location after nearly a century in the same spot. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) After spending a career in banking, Adam Stout wanted to be part of conversations about where the Salem community should go in the future. For years, he searched for the[Read More…]
Nonprofit providing Christmas gifts to Salem families in need gets $1,500 donation from local union
Volunteers wrapping gifts to deliver to Oregon families ahead of Christmas. (Courtesy of Christmas Family Adoption Foundation) Mike Burright was a Portland-area real estate agent in 2002 when a family he’d previously sold a house to told him they were going to lose everything. The father had been injured at[Read More…]
UPDATED: City council votes to accept body-worn camera funding for Salem police
This story was updated following the city council vote Monday night. Salem police could be wearing body cameras as soon as next year. The Salem City Council voted unanimously Monday night on accepting a grant from the state legislature to fund a body-worn camera program for police to the tune[Read More…]
With new ag complex, Chemeketa sets sights recruiting high school agriculture students
The Agriculture Complex at Chemeketa Community College on Nov. 3, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Every summer, Jared Hibbard-Swanson helps a few dozen middle and high schoolers farm a 6-acre plot in northeast Salem. The Marion Polk Food Share’s youth farm provides free boxes of local organic produce to about 120[Read More…]
The Yard hosts ghouls and more in Halloween event
Nichole and Levi Liebelt dressed just right for the JFK Ghoulish Halloween Ball held in Salem on Saturday, Oct. 30. (Mary Louise VanNatta/Special to Salem Reporter) The Yard held the JFK Ghoulish Halloween Ball Saturday night with a great night to celebrate with a costume party in Salem. Around 8[Read More…]