Good morning………
Let’s talk buildings for a moment.
Take the Capitol.
Construction workers have been pounding away for years inside, outside and underneath Salem’s centerpiece.
Reporter Alan Cohen takes you behind the fencing and barriers to show what’s going on inside. Key work that has kept the Capitol off limits to the public is expected to be finished by this fall.
And then’s the bunker known as Salem City Hall.
Moving day is coming this spring as city offices clear out to temporary quarters. The employees are getting out of the way of a $39 million project to update the 50-year-old structure. Most city functions will move roughly three blocks east into a SAIF Corp. building on Southeast Church Street.
Turmoil in Washington, D.C., is being felt at a Salem building that houses the local offices of the Internal Revenue Service. Elon Musk’s efficiency operation had the IRS lease in Salem on a list, triggering speculation that it would be closing. As reporter Joe Siess discovered, getting clear information isn’t easy.
Let’s stick with money for a moment.
To the surprise of probably no one, the Salem City Council voted to ask for more money. The unanimous vote last week means a request to boost property taxes will be on the May ballot. Salem Reporter has tentatively scheduled a Town Hall for April 15, dependent on confirming appropriate speakers.
Meantime, reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian produced a clear and deeply-reported story about the trends in city spending. Government numbers can be numbing – even for reporters experienced in parsing budgets. I commend this story to you if you are interested in what’s driving up city spending. He reported, for instance, “City costs for public safety are rising far faster than inflation, driven by increasing pension costs, benefits, collective bargaining and overtime.”
In the next day or so, I’ll share an Editor’s Note that explains what we did to produce this exclusive report.
In other city news, reporter Madeleine Moore details which sidewalks around town are on the list for work if Salem wins more federal money.
In community news reporting:
•Experts are charting how to improve health in the area, driven by a new assessment of community needs. “If we could put counseling, not schedulers, but real counselors into classrooms, even at the early grades with group activities. I think it would do so much for children and families,” said one participant at a recent meeting.
•Salem is now home to a place for parents and children who are homeless to get off the streets. Reporter Abbey McDonald attended a recently celebration for ARCHES Family First resource center.
•The community’s leading food bank would get more room to take in more food under a request to the Oregon Legislature. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander explains what Marion Polk Food Share has in mind.
•Local moms are taking on a mission of keeping children safe around guns. As Rachel Alexander reports, “The BeSmart program offers a way to talk about guns that gets past the often heated and partisan disagreements over gun policy.”
In federal impact reporting:
•The Salem-Keizer School District isn’t falling in line with new federal dictates from the Trump administration.
•Democrats in Oregon’s Congressional delegation are sounding the alarm about what they considered weakened wildfire resources.
•Owl monitoring in the Northwest could be reduced under federal job cuts. “Without that data, it’s possible that timber and wildfire logging projects could be delayed,” Oregon Capital Chronicle reports.
In public safety reporting:
•An Oregon State Police trooper shot and killed a man who was armed with a knife.
•The family of man who died in a kayaking accident involving a river ferry is suing.
On the lighter side:
•Photographer Laura Tesler through her pictures takes you to a special powwow at the Chemawa Indian School.
•Columnist Harry Fuller teaches you a thing or two about harriers. He writes: “Close to the tops or grasses or reeds, they use their fine hearing to locate prey hidden from sight. Long wings allow this bird to fly more slowly than many airborne hunters. If they hear something they can drop on it instantly.”
Hey, thanks for spending a few moments with me to catch up on what’s happening around Salem. What are we missing? Send me an email at [email protected]. Readers like you are key sources for us.
–Les Zaitz, Editor and co-founder
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