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TOP STORIES: News of Salem you might have missed

City librarian Sarah Strahl invites Salem Public Library patrons to leave favorite library memories on a tree in the downtown building (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

With the holidays over, many of you last week dug into email boxes overflowing and tasks needing attention.

So, to help you catch Salem news you might have missed, take a spin through our Salem Sampler – the news of the town in recent days. If you find this helpful or have suggestions to improve this feature, please email [email protected].

After 30 years, CCTV is looking for a new executive director

Alan Bushong is stepping down after a long career at the community television station. He said he planned his departure after getting the tasks he wanted accomplished done, paving the way for new energy.

The Salem Public Library is moving in a few weeks. Here’s what you need to know

Salem’s downtown library will close Feb. 2 for seismic retrofitting. If there’s a book you want to see at the temporary location, you might want to put it on hold.

Lawmakers to give Marion County trash burner another chance to be ‘renewable’

Rep. Brian Clem wants to see Covanta waste-to-energy incinerator treated as a renewable energy source, giving it access to government tax credits.

Salem parks board opposes designating parks for homeless campers

The Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board sent a letter to Salem City Council stating it disapproves of an idea to designate campsites in city parks for homeless campers.

A chat in a parking garage and a path to a new climate plan for Oregon

Democrats intend to roll out a new emissions plan for Oregon that would be easier on industry and rural Oregon. But a key Republican senator walks from the talks.

Marion, Polk counties yet to decide if they’ll keep accepting refugees

A few hundred refugees have resettled in Salem since 2015, when high housing costs in Portland prompted resettlement agencies to look elsewhere in Oregon. Now, the federal government is asking counties to say whether they’ll keep welcoming new refugees.

Seeking to protect farmland, conservation groups go to court to block airport runway extension

The Oregon Aviation Department is seeking to expand the runway at Aurora State Airport out of safety concerns. But two conservation groups say the plan conflicts with state law.

Can’t afford Salem rent? The wait for a housing voucher is years long

More than 12,000 Salem residents sit on a city waiting list for a federal housing voucher. It’s a three-year wait, and you can’t add your name to the list: it’s been closed for over a year.

Salem-Keizer’s unpaid school lunch debt has ballooned to $445,000 in just a few years

“Lunch debt” has shot up across Oregon after a 2017 state law required schools to keep serving meals to all kids, whether they can pay or not. A state expansion of free school lunch set for the fall may help, but it’s not clear how much.

Officials say ‘NIMBYism’, zoning and unwilling landlords sink search for Salem emergency shelter

Salem officials have looked at 10 buildings in recent weeks to turn into a seven-nights-a-week shelter for people displaced by Salem’s recent camping ban. No deal has emerged.

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