Tag LOCAL COLUMN
COLUMN: What to know about switching Medicare Advantage plans
A recently retired teacher was about to turn 65, and she had done her research into Medicare insurance that would be available to her as a retired public employee as well as to the publicly available options. She had decided she wanted to enroll in…
COLUMN: Recapping two years of economic turmoil in Salem
Overall employment trends for the Salem area since the pandemic began (Pamela Ferrara/Special to Salem Reporter) Describing what’s been going on in the economy over the last two years calls up adjectives like “stunning,” “astonishing,” “unprecedented,” and “once in a lifetime” and there doesn’t seem…
LOCAL HISTORY: Salem’s unlikely undertaker-turned-poet
Portrait of Winfield Taylor Rigdon (1849-1942), Salem undertaker turned poet and lyricist. Portrait printed in his 1927 book of poems “Truth in Pleasant Rymes” (Willamette Heritage Center collections 91.27.1) This summer at the Willamette Heritage Center we are celebrating music in conjunction with the June…
COLUMN: Don’t skip enrolling in Medicare at 65
When people retire at age 65, enrolling in Medicare is usually a no-brainer. But occasionally it’s understandable why someone might forget. This woman lives in a nursing facility, has Medicaid, and all her medical and prescription drug needs were being met. Her 65th birthday came…
COLUMN: How Medicare plans handle pre-existing conditions
He knew the mistake he had made, and he wasn’t happy about it. After enrolling in Medicare, the man had not bothered to enroll in health care insurance – and now he needed insurance to help pay the bills. A friend had told him he…
COLUMN: Droughts in much of Oregon mean grim forecast for birds
Chickahominy Reservoir, about 100 miles east of Bend on U.S. Highway 20, shows the effects of persistent drought in eastern Oregon. Photo taken May 7, 2022 (Courtesy/Harry Fuller) Here in the Willamette Valley as of mid-May, we are slightly above average for seasonal precipitation. That is…
COLUMN: A backyard chickadee photoshoot
A chickadee spotted in Salem on May 4, 2022 (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter) I have an unwritten rule connected with my bird obsession. Never leave the house without a camera in my pocket. Now I have finally written it down. Here’s why: (All photos by Harry…
SALEM HISTORY: The volunteer fire crews who (sometimes) kept downtown from burning
This antique fire apparatus is decked out with flags as for a parade in front of the Marion County Courthouse in Salem in this undated photo (Ben Maxwell collection/Salem Public Library) Sue Bell (1932-2019) for many years until her passing, wrote numerous local historical research articles…
COLUMN: Watch a flicker build a nesting hole in south Salem park
A flicker pair building a nest cavity in southeast Salem’s Clark Creek Park (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter) To our species real estate is crucial. How and where we live affects all our lives. From cave to igloo, from tent to mega-mansion, home or no home means a…