Salem was the first U.S. city to put lights on a living, uncut tree for Christmas in 1913.| Salem Reporter
A preliminary performance audit of the Salem City Manager's Office showed that city leaders are overly focused on day-to-day tasks at the expense of setting clear goals and priorities, leaving overworked city employees without a clear focus.| Salem Reporter
Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.| Salem Reporter
Salem's first year of commercial air service brought roughly 55,000 passengers to Salem. But the city lost about $480,000 on airport operations because of increased staffing required.| Salem Reporter
The budget airline serving Salem said demand on its new route was low.| Salem Reporter
First 3 months for the price of one! Act now for unlimited access to Salem Reporter journalism for just a dime a day. Get 24-7 access to our website. Choose a yearly plan and save 17% Choose a monthly plan Gift subscription – Gift 1 year of access to the Salem Reporter| Salem Reporter
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.| Salem Reporter
Chemeketa faculty are seeking a 10% pay increase this year and higher wages for part-time instructors, who currently start earning about $3,400 per class they teach. College administrators have asked a state mediator to step in.| Salem Reporter
Julia Shumway is deputy editor of Oregon Capital Chronicle and has reported on government and politics in Iowa and Nebraska, spent time at the Bend Bulletin and most recently was a legislative reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times in Phoenix. An award-winning journalist, Julia most recently reported on the tangled efforts to audit the presidential results in Arizona.| Salem Reporter
Ben Botkin covers justice, health and social services issues for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. He has been a reporter since 2003, when he drove from his Midwest locale to Idaho for his first journalism job. He has written extensively about politics and state agencies in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon. Most recently, he covered health care and the Oregon Legislature for The Lund Report. Botkin has won multiple journalism awards for his investigative and enterprise reporting, including on education, ...| Salem Reporter
The company’s Thursday announcement comes weeks after a report to the city council on Nov. 25 showed the city’s first year of air service brought nearly $19 million into the regional economy through spending at restaurants, hotels and other venues.| Salem Reporter
Officials from Washington to Malheur counties told lawmakers they’ve slowly rolled out deflection programs following the recriminalization of low-level drug possession.| Salem Reporter
Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post. She previously worked in Iceland and Qatar and was a Fulbright scholar in Spain where she earned a master's degree in digital media. She's been a kayaking guide in Alaska, farmed on four continents and worked the night shift at several bakeries...| Salem Reporter
The proposal aims to narrow district funding gaps caused by rising costs and an end of extra federal funding in September.| Salem Reporter