A tree in Minto-Brown Island Park. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) About a quarter of Salem is covered by trees as the result of a decade-long city effort that hasn’t shaded every neighborhood equally. The city recently released its most recent Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, showing that each neighborhood saw increases albeit[Read More…]

Covanta Marion, a trash incinerator in Brooks, burns roughly 170,000 tons of garbage every year. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Clarification, Jan. 14: The House Committee on Agriculture and Land Use will reintroduce the proposal “at the request of the Marion County Board of Commissioners.” Rep. Brian Clem said his support only[Read More…]

The Oregon Capitol (Salem Reporter archives) A prominent Salem development company is being fined by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for polluting a marsh in Monmouth, killing nearby plant life. Regulators found that Mountain West Investment Corp. last January discharged turbid, discolored water from an apartment construction site. The[Read More…]