Lessie Foster, 8, looks at manga at the Salem Public Library’s first day open to the public on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) It wasn’t quite a sold-out concert or the midnight premiere of a new Star Wars blockbuster. But the reopening of the Salem Public Library drew[Read More…]

Signs on the door of The Book Bin in downtown Salem note continued mask-wearing is appreciated as Oregon lifted pandemic restrictions on June 30, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) As of Wednesday, residents of Salem and the rest of Oregon have a green light to host parties, pack into bars and[Read More…]

A heavy lift crane hoists a giant arch made of Pacific Yellow Cedar into place Monday at the site of the $4 million Gerry Frank | Salem Rotary Amphitheater in Riverfront Park on Feb. 8. Construction workers from Western Wood Structures and Dalke Construction are putting the structure into place[Read More…]

Kim Lemman, executive director of St. Francis Shelter, speaks in the shelter’s library room, where families got online before the Covid pandemic (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) In late 2019, staff at St. Francis Shelter had just finished renovating their library – a space for the 20 formerly homeless Salem families who[Read More…]

Senior library assistant Armando Trujillo wheels the Salem Public Library’s curbside pickup cart outside for patrons on Aug. 26 (Courtesy/Salem Public Library) A wire shelf loaded with plastic bags in a parking lot lacks some of the charm of the Salem Public Library’s usual shelves of books. But for months,[Read More…]

Work continues on the Gerry Frank / Salem Rotary Club Amphitheater at Salem’s Riverfront Park on Aug. 4, 2020 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) The city of Salem is one month in to site work for the future home of the Gerry Frank Salem Rotary Amphitheater, a new performing arts and event[Read More…]