A model train display at the Oregon State Capitol is making its last appearance this holiday season. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Sitting at the base of the 30-foot tall Noble fir in the Capitol is a remnant of Americana. An antique black American Flyer locomotive pulling several freight cars runs alongside[Read More…]

The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a list of minor league baseball teams that could lose their major league affiliation under a new MLB proposal. (Courtesy/Salem-Keizer Volcanoes) The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes minor league baseball team is one of 42 teams that could lose their Major League Baseball affiliation. The plan to eliminate the[Read More…]

Salem’s Value Village is closing this Saturday. (Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) Salem’s Value Village is closing its doors this Saturday, and a Salem Health employee parking lot will take its place. Sara Gaugl –– a spokesperson with Value Village’s parent company, Savers­ –– said the lease was expiring at the for-profit secondhand[Read More…]

Tom Vanderhoof puts away the uniforms of a Civilian Conservation Corps member. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Hundreds of uniforms hang neatly in clear plastic in the attic of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Marion Post 661. On an overcast day in early November, Tom Vanderhoof walks up the small staircase into[Read More…]

Some Salem area worship centers will get solar panels thanks to a grant. (Courtesy/Portland General Electric) A group of Salem worship centers are about to become a lot greener. Temple Beth Sholom and Open Door Churches, a group of Methodist churches in the Salem area, are getting solar panels, thanks[Read More…]

Captain Willy Giddings was awarded the Gerry Frank Meritorious Achievement Award for his work teaching CPR to the community. (Courtesy/Salem Fire Department) At first, Willy Giddings thought he just wanted to be a firefighter. He saw his dad and two uncles respond to calls as volunteer firefighters, sometimes in his[Read More…]

Jewels VanVolkingburg of Central High School is blindfolded for a communication exercise during a small group session at ILEAD 2018. (Courtesy/City of Salem) Salem-area teens can spend a day learning about mental health and coping strategies as part of a city-county partnership to help young leaders better address community challenges.[Read More…]

Two semi truck caught fire on Interstate 5 Tuesday, one driver faces months of recovery from burns he sustained in the crash. (Courtesy/Oregon State Police) While the fiery crash Tuesday between two semi trucks near Woodburn is expected to keep a lane of Interstate 5 closed through Wednesday night, a[Read More…]

Sterling Cunio. (courtesy/PEN America) An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate is one of eight people recently awarded a PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, which commissions writers to create “written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate.” Sterling Cunio will write and[Read More…]

Harold Batcheller and his dog Buddy. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) In a small corner behind a senior community in Northeast Salem, residents are preparing for a new addition – a fenced dog area. On Saturday, Fences for Fido, a Portland nonprofit organization that builds fences for free, is putting up a[Read More…]