Oregon State Capitol (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) Kathy Freeborn Hadley doesn’t spray her grass seed fields near Salem with chlorpyrifos every season. But when sod webworms burrow into the plant, she said the pesticide is a valuable aid. “We don’t really have an alternative,” she said. “It’s a tool[Read More…]
ECONOMY
TIMELINE: A year of business restrictions and closures in Salem
A sign at Capitol Coffee in March 2020 as Salem businesses saw a first round of pandemic restrictions and closures. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Starting Friday, April 30, Marion and Polk counties will again face new Covid restrictions, with indoor dining banned and larger gyms, museums and indoor entertainment venues capped[Read More…]
Why Salem employers are having a hard time finding workers despite high unemployment
A ‘Now Hiring’ sign in front of the Boon’s Treasury McMenamin’s location on Monday, April 26. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) When the pandemic first hit Oregon over a year ago, Patricia Callihan-Bowman, the owner of local staffing firm Express Employment Professionals, worried that a lot of businesses would just not be[Read More…]
SALEM ECONOMIC INDEX: Salem’s housing market remains hot, good news on jobs
Daniel Molina, right, and Efren Garcia work on cutting a board for the ceiling of a home build on Vine Maple Street Southeast on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In March, more houses sold for more money in Salem and Keizer. Fewer people are staying on unemployment benefits[Read More…]
The first round of relief is on its way for Salem businesses and commercial landlords
Downtown streets were unusually empty as the pandemic took hold last year. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Over $4 million is on its way to over 200 Marion County landlords and businesses to help cover rent that’s gone unpaid because of the pandemic. The grants are the first round of payments from[Read More…]
Salem venues hopeful that new federal program will keep them afloat
The Elsinore Theatre, in downtown Salem on Monday, Nov. 23. Because of the pandemic, the theatre remains quiet. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Loretta Miles, the owner of Salem Cinema, had high hopes for a new program aimed at struggling venues like hers before it was even approved by Congress. The pandemic[Read More…]
Salem needs more housing. But the building industry has its own problems
Pat Laverty works on a home build on Vine Maple Street Southeast on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) At a construction site in south Salem, the work gets more expensive by the day. As the buzz of electric saws rings in the background, Dan Dorn, the president of[Read More…]
With the Great Junk Hunt, things start to return to normal at the Oregon State Fairgrounds
A sign for The Great Junk Hunt at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Since the pandemic began, the Oregon State Fairgrounds has been used as a temporary hospital, Covid testing site, temporary shelter for homeless people and wildfire evacuees, as well[Read More…]
COLUMN: Is a low wage a living wage in Marion County?
Downtown Salem’s usually busy streets were nearly empty during the lunch hour on March 17, 2020, the first day of a statewide restaurant closure (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Many burdens of the pandemic economy have fallen largely on the lowest-paid workers in the lowest-paying industries in the Salem area, Oregon and[Read More…]
Salem has large pockets of residents behind on utilities. New programs offer relief
Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Central and northeast Salem has more residents struggling to pay their electricity bills than other areas[Read More…]
