Timothy and Sharon Smith and their children, Ollie and Rosie, were presented with a tiny home to replace a trailer that they have been living in since losing their home during the Santiam Fire in Gates on Monday, January 18. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) When Timothy Smith walked into the Santiam[Read More…]

Christian Campbell, 19, sings during car choir at Chemeketa Community College on Jan. 14, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Mackenzie Rolf doesn’t usually bring jumper cables to choir class. But when you’ve been holding choir practice from cars parked in the Chemeketa Community College parking lot, it comes in handy, especially[Read More…]

Far-right protesters marched from the Capitol to Mahonia Hall to protest Covid restrictions on Friday, Jan. 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Julianne Jackson wants Salem’s leaders to denounce white supremacy. More than 600 others agree, signing on to a change.org petition that demands city leaders create a public campaign against white[Read More…]

Aztec, the golden eagle, at Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center in 2018. (Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter) A Salem wildlife refuge center has taken their landlord to court alleging the couple it rented the southeast Salem property from didn’t set up electricity or water, never completed construction on an office space they were[Read More…]

Far-right protesters face off with police after an unlawful assembly was declared while gathering to protest Covid restrictions in downtown Salem on Friday, Jan. 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) For months, Jonathan Jones has been warning Salem’s city leaders that Proud Boys and other right-wing groups gathering in Salem would lead[Read More…]

Michael Chauran hugs Colton Lee, whose family owns the property that Chauran and his wife live on and that was burned in the fires, on Wednesday, September 9. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Salem Reporter staff put together a compilation of their favorite photos of this year. The photos span from the[Read More…]

Reginald Richardson, the new president of the Salem-Keizer NAACP, poses for a portrait on Friday, Dec. 18. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) As Salem residents joined a nationwide call for racial justice over the summer, Reginald Richardson began thinking about changing the Salem-Keizer NAACP. The branch issued statements, urging the school board[Read More…]

Michelle Paslay (left) stands with staff at Keizer Ridge after she delivered Christmas presents for the facility’s residents. (Courtesy/Michelle Paslay) When you’re going door to door to collect bottles and cans, you have to look at least a little presentable. That’s a lesson Michelle Paslay learned while raising funds to[Read More…]

Alice Swanson, right, and other volunteers prepare a meal at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Woodburn (Courtesy/Terri Gonzalez) Alice Swanson worried about her neighbors going without food after the Covid pandemic shut down much of Woodburn in the spring. So she and a friend went to the board of the Immanuel[Read More…]

Miette Hanowell, center, performs in a November 2020 Enlightened Theatrics production of “101 Dalmatians” at the Grand Theatre (Courtesy/Enlightened Theatrics) Miette Hanowell landed her first paid acting role at age 11, playing Emily, the child at the center of a classic Christmas poem, in Enlightened Theatrics’ production of “Twas the[Read More…]