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What’s making news in Salem you might have missed

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Good morning…

Your Salem taxes might be going up.

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But you may have a say before that happens.

A city task force is now suggesting a number of ways for city government to take in more money to cover costs.

As reporter Abbey McDonald details, that could mean higher property taxes, a local income tax and more fees for business. Months of debate are ahead and the task force urged a public vote on the big proposals.

This continues the community debate over what public services people want – and are willing to pay for.  Salem Reporter will track the debate and be sure you’re up to speed as intentions of city leaders become more clear.

Meantime, the city has set its spending for the new budget year, which starts on Monday. The patchwork spending spares some of the cuts considered earlier.

In other city action, the Salem City Council backed a plan to put professional baseball into the stadium that sits next to Bush’s Pasture Park. The idea sparked months of contention between those who want baseball games and those who prefer quiet at the park.

Police Chief Trevor Womack has provided more details on how police will beef up patrols this summer. The extra effort is meant to check the gun violence, particularly in eastern sections of Salem. We also provided a Spanish-language version of the story to reach more people.

That news comes as yet another teen dies by gunfire. The 16-year-old boy hasn’t been identified, with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office telling reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian that it will defer to families for “how and when to publicly share the loss of a loved one when possible.”

And police arrested one man and a teen for robbing a local market. They were masked and carried semi-automatic weapons, police said.

In another case we’ve tracked for you, police announced the arrest of the teen they say shot a family’s cat. Several teens now face charges in a crime that went viral because of video of the shooting.

On a more positive note, reporter Joe Siess’s story about a local family building their cider business was one of our most read in recent days. The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce recently honored the effort behind the business.

We continue to share with you information on events you might find interesting. And if you have kids or grandkids, the Willamette Heritage Center has created a way to learn local history that involves the entire family.

Harry Fuller, our bird columnist, explains you may not see what you think you are seeing when looking at local birds.

We welcome Mark Wardell to our corps of columnists. He is among volunteers on Salem’s Community Emergency Response Team. He’ll be sharing practical tips on how to ready your home and family for emergencies, starting with his first column.

As always, thank you for reading and feel free to reach out to me anytime at [email protected] with ideas, questions or concerns.

–Les Zaitz, CEO and editor, Salem Reporter

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Salem Reporter’s new team includes, from left, Les Zaitz, Rachel Alexander, Abbey McDonald, Ardeshir Tabrizian and Joe Siess. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)


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