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Your Wednesday evening update on Salem news

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Good evening, Salem.

We had a technical glitch with our email newsletter this week that’s kept us out of your inbox in the evenings. We apologize for the missing news and have added those extra stories below so you can catch up.

Western University of Health Sciences Lebanon Oregon

Salem’s IT department has engaged outside help to fix the city’s traffic cameras, but still doesn’t have a date when residents can expect to see the improvements.

The malfunctions in the city’s camera network drew public interest early this year during the January ice storm, when people were unable to get up-to-date images of local roads.

The problem, city officials said, stemmed from the city’s network being overloaded as more traffic cameras and traffic controls have been added to Salem’s network.

The issues have worsened since November, city spokesman Trevor Smith said, with the city opting to take the cameras down entirely so the issues don’t affect more critical infrastructure, like lights at pedestrian crossings or school zone flashers.

Now, Salem has engaged a contractor for $30,000 “to help facilitate the troubleshooting of the traffic camera network issue and see if we can make sensible improvements that increase the capacity of the system for the future,” Smith said. The money comes from the city’s transportation fund.

The scope of work document is still being drafted. We’ll update you when we know more.

Here’s some of today’s news. Find all our coverage on our website here.

www.salemreporter.com

A bridge-builder between Salem churches, neighborhoods named First Citizen

Retiring nonprofit leader Sam Skillern will be honored April 13 as Salem’s First Citizen for his work forging connections through the Salem Leadership Foundation.

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www.salemreporter.com

Gov. Kotek seeking opinion of ethics watchdog on role of first spouse

Gov. Tina Kotek spoke about her wife’s role in her administration during a campaign finance reform bill signing Wednesday.

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www.salemreporter.com

Qingming Festival returns to celebrate Salem’s Chinese ancestors, history and community

Salem’s sixth annual Qingming Festival starts Thursday, and this year will highlight the life of Low Sun Fook, a prominent Salem business owner known as “Hop Lee” who died in…

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www.salemreporter.com

A headless husband, daycare shenanigans among new plays hitting Salem’s summer stage

A whirlwind day of six mini plays in one is part of Theatre 33’s expanded lineup for its summer 2024 season in Salem.

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www.salemreporter.com

Oregon to get portion of $21 billion for early and postsecondary education allocated by Congress

Oregon will get a portion of more than $8.7 billion in grants to help families afford child care, along with money for community colleges and special education programs.

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