A truck from Suburban Garbage Services approaches cans on Southeast 45th Avenue in November 2018. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Your garbage bill may go up again in January, thanks in part to that still-strained recycling market. On either side of the Willamette River, a Salem resident with a typical, 35-gallon cart[Read More…]

Robert Stone, a native of Cheyenne, Wyo., sits outside near a coffee shop in downtown Salem. The homeless Salem resident said he would “probably” be impacted by a proposed ban on sitting or lying down on public rights of way. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Salem city officials want to ban people[Read More…]

Salem city hall (Salem Reporter) Update 4:55 p.m.: Salem City Council will reopen the vote between Reid Sund and Vanessa Nordyke at its upcoming meeting, Oct. 28. City Manager Steve Powers released the following statement to Salem Reporter: “In reviewing the appointment process from Monday, October 21, we recognized an[Read More…]

Vanessa Nordyke, left, was appointed to Salem City Council on Monday night over Reid Sund, right. (Courtesy/Vanessa Nordyke, Reid Sund) Vanessa Nordyke will be the next representative of Salem’s southwest neighborhoods on Salem City Council. And she announced her plans to run for the seat in the next election. Councilors[Read More…]

Vanessa Nordyke, left, and Reid Sund will interview with Salem City Council on Monday night to take the open seat. They responded to a short survey from Salem Reporter. Who will represent southwest neighborhoods on Salem City Council? It could be a state lawyer or a hospital finance director. The[Read More…]

Bonnie Heitsch, 62, withdrew her candidacy Sunday for the open seat on Salem City Council. (Courtesy/Bonnie Heitsch) The pool of candidates for the open seat on Salem City Council is now down to two. Oregon Department of Justice lawyer Bonnie Heitsch dropped out Sunday, saying she felt her qualifications overlapped[Read More…]

A homeless woman walks behind a city of Salem public works vehicle during an eviction of a camp under the Marion Street Bridge in January. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Salem residents’ confidence in Salem city government is sinking because of issues around the homeless, according to an annual city survey. The[Read More…]

Salem city hall (Salem Reporter) And then there were three. City leaders on Thursday named Vanessa Nordyke, Reid Sund and Bonnie Heitsch the three finalists to be Ward 7’s voice on Salem City Council. Salem City Council will likely interview the trio at an Oct. 21 meeting, Salem officials wrote[Read More…]

A row of Lime-branded e-scooters at a recent safety event hosted by the Portland Bureau of Transportation in September 2018. (Courtesy/Portland Bureau of Transportation) E-scooters may soon zip around the streets of Salem, but city staffers must first figure out how they’re going to regulate the electric devices. Companies like[Read More…]

Salem city hall (Salem Reporter) The federal government wants to know: How do you feel about your access to housing in Salem, and the laws in place to protect that access? A pair of surveys announced by city officials Friday morning ask residents how they feel about everything from construction[Read More…]