Good morning and thanks for your time…..
Few points in life are as full of optimism as the first day of school.
In the Salem area, some 40,000 students started the new year last week. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander was all over the Salem-Keizer School District, capturing scenes and comments.
In the days before students showed up, staff at several schools were treated to a catered meal.
The effort was coordinated by the United Way of Mid-Willamette Valley.
“The goal was to show support for schools and start the year on a positive note after a year of budget cuts where many teachers were transferred between schools,” Alexander reported.
Your Salem Reporter news team also spent time at Wright Elementary School, where one student shared that “I’ve been walking around the whole school trying to find room 17.” We shared photos of the opening day there and at Lee Elementary School.
At West Salem High School, freshmen got a special welcome while sixth graders at Stephens Middle School got the school to themselves for a day.
Want more photos? Our photographer, Laura Tesler, has been all over town in recent days. She produced a delightful gallery involving people and their mutts and chronicled the waterfront Urban Art Fest.
And the most popular report we had in recent days was Tesler’s gallery of the show put on at the Oregon State Fair by the rap singer Ludacris. The photo compilation was shared repeatedly by readers.
At City Hall, the Salem City Council is scheduled to talk Monday about dipping into city funds to pay for survey and other work. The city continues framing a strategy to test community support for higher taxes to save city services.
Reporter Joe Siess digs into details of a new city report about police pursuits. The numbers are way down, the report showed.
More security is coming for the ARCES Day Center downtown. Reporter Abbey McDonald explains new fencing coming to the service center. The intent is to “make those who use the services feel safer, and deter those who may wish to do their clients harm.”
On the business front, reporter Madeleine Moore checks in with a story about Salem’s own version of Shark Tank. That’s where potential investors grill business executives about their proposals.
Salem soon will be producing human-like robots for use in factories while local hop growers are facing a slump as beer consumption drops.
Meantime, the community is facing an invasion of a destructive tree insect. From our report: “Oregon’s agriculture department placed Marion County, and three others, in a permanent quarantine, barring all ash, olive and white fringe tree materials from being moved outside of the quarantined counties.”
Finally, Abbey McDonald gives you a virtual tour of Salem’s galleries and museums, providing plenty of ideas about September shows to absorb some of your spare time.
GIVE US SOME ADVICE
Labor Day is always considered a key point in the campaign season leading up to the November general election.
The race for president will hog most of the media. We’ll leave that to other news organizations.
We’re considering how to cover local races. One of the most competitive Congressional races in the country is right here as incumbent U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat, faces a stiff challenge from Republican businessman Mike Erickson.
One service readers seem to like is our vetting of campaign materials. That includes that endless flow of flyers into your mailbox.
What information about candidates would you find most useful?
How much do you care about campaign finances – who’s giving to candidates?
Do you want us to hold candidates accountable for the harshly negative tone that dominates politics? If so, how should we do so?
After all, at Salem Reporter, we want to produce coverage that matters to you. Give me your thoughts in an email ([email protected]).
Thank you for reading, subscribing and sharing our work. Please reach out to me anytime at [email protected] if you have story ideas, questions or suggestions for our team.
– Les Zaitz, co-founder and editor, Salem Reporter
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