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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/01/oregon-salem-los-baez-mexican-restaurant-closing-50-years/65347343007/
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One of Salem's first Mexican restaurants closes after 49 years
After 49 years of operation, Los Baez, one of the first Mexican restaurants in Salem, quietly closed in mid-March.
A sign on the door simply reads, "Los Baez Restaurant has closed its doors for the final time. Thank you for your continued patronage and friendships - Baez Family."
The Baez family are from Michoacan, Mexico, and arrived in California in 1965. They visited Salem in 1966 and everything was history from there.
Read more:Salem Mexican restaurant pioneers retiring
The restaurant opened on Oct. 4, 1973, by Angel, Alberto and Raul Baez, when at the time there were only two Mexican restaurants in the area, one of them in Keizer.
According to records in the Statesman Journal archives, a clip from November 21, 1996, read the Baez brothers had two other Los Baez locations in Salem, with a third that opened in West Salem in the Westgate Shopping Center. Further records and details of closures were unable to be found.
The Baez family listed the restaurant for sale in May 2015 with Coldwell Banker Commercial Mountain West Real Estate, but the Baez family continued to keep the restaurant open awaiting a new owner. The Baez family were not able to be reached for comment.
Alex Rhoten, owner and principal broker of Coldwell Banker Commercial Mountain West Real Estate, confirmed the property was sold and will be converted into an urgent care clinic.
"I think it's a great transition for the space that will be useful for the community," Rhoten said.
No further details of the future of the urgent care facility are available at this time.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fmoney%2Fbusiness%2F2022%2F04%2F01%2Fwhats-that-opening-on-lancaster-near-silverton-road-in-north-salem-ace-hardware%2F65347487007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/01/one-dead-in-cordon-oregon-crash-sheriffs-office-seeks-tips-after-salem-crash-claims-life-of-woman-39/65347863007/
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Pedestrian dead in early-morning Cordon Road crash
A 39-year-old woman died Thursday night in a traffic crash in unincorporated East Salem, according to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s office.
According to Marion County, the Sheriff’s Office received a call just before midnight that a pedestrian was struck on Cordon Road near Pennsylvania Avenue.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene and treated the pedestrian, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office did not name the victim, pending notification of their next of kin.
Marion County Sheriff’s said the 24-year-old male driver who was involved remained at the scene and no citations were made.
Cordon Road was closed for three hours while they investigated.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking for tips about the accident: call (503) 588-5032 or text to TIPMCSO.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/01/reawaken-america-rally-expected-protests-prompt-oregon-store-closures-proud-boys-donald-trump-covid/65347626007/
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Some Keizer Station stores close as Reawaken America event begins
Out of concern for employee safety and traffic, some stores in Keizer Station are closing Friday and Saturday.
Thousands of people are expected to attend a sold-out rally at nearby Volcano Stadium featuring election and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and prominent figures pardoned by former President Donald Trump. There are also planned protests outside the stadium.
The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Traffic was already backed up in all directions before 10 a.m. Friday.
Staff at the Keizer Station Target confirmed they would be closed Friday out of an abundance of caution and concern over the rally and clashes with protesters. They were unsure whether they would be closed Saturday, too.
A sign on Lane Bryant said the store would be closed Friday and Saturday due to the rally, the high-volume of traffic expected and employee safety.
A protest, described as a nonviolent demonstration to support Native American communities, is planned at Keizer Station both days of the rally.
Organizers said Proud Boys and known, far-right violent leaders were expected to be present at the rally.
"This is an act of violence, oppression and outright hate," a flyer for the protest said. "Elected leaders/city officials have failed to shut down this event."
Organizers with Black Joy Oregon called for city leaders to speak out against and take a stance against the rally when it was first scheduled for Salem. Their online petition said the event had the potential to bring violence, harassment and a public health risk to the region.
Keizer Police sent a news release warning people of traffic but did not mention any possible violence.
"On Friday and Saturday, traffic congestion is expected in and around Keizer Station, including Chemawa Road and Volcanoes Stadium," police officials said. "Please consider alternate routes to avoid delays."
The rally was initially expected to be held in Redmond but was canceled after public scrutiny.
The event drew controversy after the Bend Bulletin reported an event planner stated in an email that they had gotten personal assurance from Republican Deschutes County commissioners that the state’s mask mandate wouldn’t be enforced.
County officials deny that occurred, according to the Bulletin, and the county later asked event organizers to sign a contract addendum agreeing to follow the mandate.
The event in Redmond was scrapped.
Leaders with The River Church in Salem then reached out to the organizer of the event, podcaster Clay Clark, and offered to host the rally in Salem, according to reporting from the Bend Bulletin.
Volcanoes Stadium was built in 1997 on land owned by the City of Keizer. Keizer Volcanoes owner Jerry Walker paid for the stadium construction and entered into a contract with the city to lease the site.
The city leases the stadium to Salem-Keizer Sports Enterprises, LLC. Keizer interim city manager Wes Hare said the city has no role in deciding what events are held at the stadium.
"The lease specifically allows entertainment and other events typically held at multi-purpose stadiums," he said.
Walker, the listed agent for Salem-Keizer Sports Enterprises, LLC, did not respond to a request for comment on the event being held at the stadium.
On the church's Lunch Hour of Power on Facebook, River Church Pastor Lew Wootan said the event was moved to the stadium following "overwhelming demand" for more space.
Instead of the 2,500 tickets initially announced, there were 4,000 tickets for sale at $250 each. However, on the Facebook video, Wootan said tickets would be available at a reduced price for those who could not afford to go otherwise.
The Reawaken website lists the event in Salem as being sold out.
The event at other locations has focused on support for former President Donald Trump, as well as false allegations surrounding the presidential election and COVID-19.
Speakers advertised at the event include:
- Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor to Trump. Flynn pleaded guilty to a felony for making false statements to the FBI about an investigation into communications with Russia. Trump later pardoned him.
- Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump.
- Jim Breuer, a comedian and former actor on Saturday Night Live.
- Patrick Byrne, former CEO of overstock.com.
The state's mask mandate was still in effect at the time of the controversy in Redmond. But on Feb. 28, Gov. Kate Brown announced that the statewide indoor mask mandate would be lifted on March 12.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/01/act-now-and-support-our-homeless-neighbors/65347737007/
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Act now and support our homeless neighbors
Four Citizens of our “Beloved Community” died early Sunday in a completely preventable tragedy. These four citizens and others who were injured were living outside in a dangerous setting because they, along with 1,000 others of our community neighbors, do not have a safe place to be.
All three of our organizations - Union Gospel Mission, Community Action and Bridgeway - serve our unsheltered neighbors and know them as people with names, hopes and dreams. Three of the four who died were under the age of 30 with their whole lives in front of them.
In the last two days, the city has moved to restrict camping alongside city streets, which we all support. At the same time, we have to face the question of why we allowed this in the first place.
Over the last several years there have been city of Salem task forces, legislative task forces and countless community meetings to discuss how best to support the unsheltered in our “Beloved Community.”
Clearly, there isn’t an easy answer.
Building and opening some transitional housing will temporarily help but a more permanent solution needs to be embraced. Other communities have done so and so can we.
We keep hearing that “we are better than this.” Now it is time to stop saying and start doing.
Micro village work haltedApartment complex owner fights Salem micro-shelter village
While poverty lies at the root of this human misery. Though we can't solve that overnight, we can commit to providing managed camps with proper hygienic support including bathrooms and showers, with access to services and on a bus line so those needing support can obtain it and in time move from the camp to more permanent housing.
For those of us who live and love our “Beloved Community,” we have a responsibility to act. That is what we are asking our local and state leaders to do. Act now. Support our neighbors and save lives.
The unsheltered need a safe place to be, away from traffic, where supportive services can work with them to find better, more permanent shelter and housing solutions.
We cannot allow this most recent tragedy to happen again.
Dan Clem is the executive director of the Union Gospel Mission in Salem. You may reach him at danclem@ugmsalem.org Jimmy Jones is the executive director of Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency. You may reach him at Jimmy.jones@mwvcaa.org Tim Murphy is the chief executive office of Bridgeway Recovery Services You may reach him at tmurphy@bridgewayrecovery.com
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/01/get-the-homeless-camps-offs-the-roadsides-oregon-failed-homelessness-policies-unsheltered-danger/65347673007/
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Get the homeless camps off Salem's roadsides
The death of four people at a homeless camp in Salem is a grim reminder that many of the places where unsheltered individuals sleep are unsafe to them, and these deaths would not have occurred if we had not allowed these suffering people to camp near the roadside.
It is estimated between one and three unsheltered individuals die daily in Oregon. Deaths occur due to exposure, infection, drug and alcohol misuse, accidents and violence. It is time for this to end.
Oregon political leaders have spent millions of dollars on failed policies. Poorly managed camps, liberal outdoor living policies, weakened drug laws and lack of support for police and public safety all contribute to the problem.
Affordable, adequate housing is important but not the only answer. Individuals who cannot shelter themselves must be taken to a safe place.
We know that up to three-quarters of our unsheltered neighbors admit to having substance abuse problems. With our help, these individuals must begin treatment for any mental illnesses or drug and alcohol misuse.
If a person is able, they must start the hard work of preparing to leave a shelter and enter into a life of contribution and meaning. Individuals who refuse this help and choose to remain on the streets must be brought to a secure/monitored shelter so professionals can evaluate the best way to protect that person and society.
What kind of reputation does our state have in the nation today? Riots, trash, graffiti, weak laws on drug use and people allowed to live on our streets and in our forests and parks.
We must work to restore Oregon’s reputation as a beautiful state where people care about each other, and we all work to contribute to the economy. Oregonians must not allow people to suffer. If you live here, you will improve your life, become healthy, self-sufficient, and better the lives of others.
Sadly, if you drive by the site of the tragic Salem accident today, you will still see people camping in harm’s way.
Salem does have safe options for unsheltered people. We must help people who are unable to help themselves. I call on all Oregon leaders from the governor’s office to the City Council to ban roadside camping.
Dr. Bud Pierce is a Salem resident, a business owner and partner of Oregon Oncology Specialists and running in the Republican primary for Oregon governor. You may reach him at info@budpierce.org
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/01/national-beer-day-toast-a-beer-for-natural-gas-craft-brews-hop-beer-climate-chane-oregon/65347720007/
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Toast a beer for natural gas!
As policymakers and businesses pursue initiatives designed to reduce carbon emissions, I find little difference in our shared goal of combating climate change
But there are differences in approach.
Policymakers favor solutions designed to eliminate or increase the cost of natural gas, while businesses seek innovative methods to align production with environmental protection. Sadly, this leaves business and government working against each other when so much more can be accomplished together. As the president of Sodbuster Farms Inc., a hop grower who provides the key ingredient to some of Oregon’s finest craft brews, let me use the occasion of National Beer Day on April 7 to demonstrate the great progress we’ve made in our industry.
Natural gas is a little-known tool in beer production as it is used to dry hops before they can be shipped for use by brewers. After wood-fed kilns were phased out years ago, many hop growers turned to diesel to power equipment. The emissions this generated left a bad taste in brewers’ mouths, however, and they pushed for alternatives.
As a result, hop growers switched to natural gas, the cleanest-burning fuel that can be used on our farms. There are no acceptable alternatives with a lower carbon footprint. While this required a complete reconfiguration of our drying infrastructure, advancing a key environmental objective was worth it.
But we haven’t stopped there. Over the last few years, we have worked to optimize our dryer so we get quicker results while using less natural gas. In the last year alone, we reduced our natural gas consumption by 15%. We did this by increasing our drying capacity so we can process more hops, thereby reducing drying time. We also use state-of-the-art technology to let us know exactly when the hops are dry, so we use only as much natural gas as necessary.
Another view:Invisible toxins from natural gas permeate our homes
These won’t be the last modifications. We can make the largest impact on our carbon footprint by further reducing emissions from our dryer. We also are fully supportive of statewide plans to invest in renewable natural gas and hydrogen, which emit no carbon whatsoever. Ensuring the pipeline infrastructure is in place to deliver gas means we’ll be ready to convert when it’s available. Bans on natural gas will only result in an abandonment of the system we need to further decarbonize our economy.
Natural gas is a reliable, cost-effective energy source. Our farm, like everyone else, has been feeling the effects of rising fuel prices. Natural gas has not totally escaped rising prices. Coming out of a pandemic and several natural disasters, it is more important than ever that we pay attention to controlling our costs. Fortunately, as inflation has impacted many production costs, in America natural gas has remained fairly steady compared to other fuels. This means farmers like me can sustain family farms in the face of an uncertain economic future.
We are doing our part to create a sustainable future for all of us, and we are excited to see natural gas companies’ plans to generate and deliver clean gas. Greater efficiency, controlling costs and a smaller carbon footprint are not just the dream; they are the directives we operate by.
Douglas Weathers is president of Sodbuster Farms Inc. in Marion County. You may reach him at doug@sodbusterfarms.com
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/01/letters-to-the-editor-oregon-governor-needs-to-get-fentanyl-off-our-streets-chicken-farm-chris-hoy/65347553007/
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Oregon governor needs to get fentanyl off our streets
What is Oregon thinking?
What is the state of Oregon thinking, allowing a man to operate a tree-climbing business at Silver Falls State Park?
When someone gets hurt (and someone will) you can bet they will sue the state for allowing this business to operate.
I find it hard to believe this is in the best interest of the state and taxpayers.
Kristin Santose, Salem
Say no to chicken farm
Three gigantic chicken farms have been approved for construction in the Stayton, Aumsville and Scio area. A total of 13 million broiler chickens per year will be raised in 44 poultry warehouses across the three sites. The farms were approved for construction because they fit the definition of EFU (Exclusive Farm Use). Public notice is not required at the county level for EFU construction.
The sites are now at different stages of applying for a CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) permit. The chickens will need a lot of water, create noxious ammonia emissions and thousands of tons of manure. Only a minimal environmental impact study is required. There is no regulation of emissions. For more information, go to www.farmersagainstfosterfarms.com
Residents near these chicken factories are concerned about the sheer size of the operations, the water supply, water quality, ammonia emissions, increased traffic and effect on property values. One of the factory farms is located half a mile from Lourdes Elementary school. It wants to ensure no harm is done.
Write to Gov. Kate Brown asking for a moratorium on the permitting until we have laws that protect people.
Tommie van de Kamp, Salem
Give Hoy a shot
Please join me in supporting Chris Hoy for mayor of Salem. I’ve known Chris for more than five years, and I’ve found him to be a person of integrity and heart. As city council president, Chris has provided the leadership to move the city forward on many fronts: low-income housing, a navigation center, traffic congestion, protecting drinking water and a healthy environment including climate action.
But what really stands out to me is his steadfast defense of the humanity of our homeless neighbors and his efforts to find a solution. I’ve seen Chris remind people that we’re dealing with fellow human beings in need of our help. He knows how Salem deals with the least among us will define how our city and this city council is remembered.
I have no doubt that Chris will be remembered well. I humbly ask that you join me in voting for Chris Hoy for Mayor.
Ray Quisenberry, Salem
Schrader a rare congressman
It is disappointing to see negative letters to the editor about Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon
Schrader is a thoughtful representative who votes for what he thinks is right. He, unlike most politicians, doesn’t just vote for what may get him reelected. This is admirable. He deserves our support. He doesn’t “go along, to get along”: a rare congressman indeed.
John Schoon, Salem
Measure 27-134 will help students
We urge Dallas citizens to vote in favor of Bond Measure 27-134.
With a combined 71-plus years of teaching experience (44 years in Dallas), we feel we have a well-grounded understanding of what is vital in regards to successfully educating children living in a competitive and opportunistic world.
Measure 27-134 addresses the essential needs of Dallas schools and its students. Please educate yourselves with the complete measure on the district’s website. After doing so, we believe you’ll agree that this is a worthwhile investment for the entire Dallas community.
Please consider voting in favor of Bond Measure 27-134.
John and Ruth Wagner, Dallas
What's not to like about 27-134?
I am voting yes on Dallas school bond measure 27-134. Why? Because the bond proceeds will result in the following:
- Replace rusted out water pipes and repair/upgrade HVAC components
- Add security at schools (lock-down keyless and vestibule entries)
- Technology upgrades
- Add/upgrade Personal Learning Environments and Special Education rooms
- Boiler room replacement and dry rot repairs
- $4 million dollar award from the State, if the measure passes
- The new bond will replace the old bond with NO tax rate increase
Please join me in doing what’s best for students. Vote yes.
Lu Ann Meyer, Dallas
Enlightened awareness
As the then-superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, I presided over the last two executions held in Oregon in 1996 and 1997.
In that role, I was made keenly aware of the toll capital punishment takes on the people called on to kill someone in the state's name. Yet rarely have I ever heard or seen any consideration of this toll discussed in the media, by labor unions or agencies tasked with protecting the health and safety of workers, let alone by lawmakers.
To my knowledge, lawmakers have never asked prison staff to testify about those experiences. I am asking Oregon lawmakers to help change that by calling on their colleagues to restart a conversation on capital punishment by bringing in the people who have had a role in executing human beings.
Despite a moratorium on executions, 29 people remain sentenced to death in Oregon. It has only been the continued moratorium first imposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber and then continued by Gov. Kate Brown that has prevented another state-planned homicide.
Soon, it is likely that there will be a referendum or an initiative sponsored to repeal the death penalty from Oregon's constitution. When that happens, it would be good to know that the issues identified by our state legislators have contributed to an enlightened awareness of whether Oregon should continue to sentence people to death.
Frank Thompson, Salem
Governor needs to clean up fentanyl
As I write this, fentanyl is in every city in Oregon. It has killed many people. This drug is crossing our borders day and night. We don’t have enough police to slow it down.
The fastest way to get a handle on this serious problem is for the governor to use her executive powers. Anyone selling in our state, transporting into or around our state with more than 24 of these pills would be jailed with no bail possible, and if found guilty, receive a minimum of 20 years in prison with no time off for any reason.
The first thing you will hear is that this would fill overfill our prisons. But I say when the word gets out, these criminals will leave Oregon and those transporting will go elsewhere.
It is up to the governor. If she does this, she will save lives, and one of those saved might be a member of your family.
Bill J. Kluting, Monmouth
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Flife%2Ffood%2F2022%2F04%2F01%2Frestaurants-salem-oregon-ventis-cafe-basement-bar-platform-outdoor-seating%2F65347404007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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This content is only available to subscribers.
Support Local Journalism
$1 for 6 Months.
Your subscription supports:
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Activate your digital accountThis content is only available to subscribers.
Support Local Journalism
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|
both
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www.statesmanjournal
|
20220401
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/02/letters-to-the-editor-oregon-governor-needs-to-get-fentanyl-off-our-streets-chicken-farm-chris-hoy/65347553007/
|
Oregon governor needs to get fentanyl off our streets
What is Oregon thinking?
What is the state of Oregon thinking, allowing a man to operate a tree-climbing business at Silver Falls State Park?
When someone gets hurt (and someone will) you can bet they will sue the state for allowing this business to operate.
I find it hard to believe this is in the best interest of the state and taxpayers.
Kristin Santose, Salem
Say no to chicken farm
Three gigantic chicken farms have been approved for construction in the Stayton, Aumsville and Scio area. A total of 13 million broiler chickens per year will be raised in 44 poultry warehouses across the three sites. The farms were approved for construction because they fit the definition of EFU (Exclusive Farm Use). Public notice is not required at the county level for EFU construction.
The sites are now at different stages of applying for a CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) permit. The chickens will need a lot of water, create noxious ammonia emissions and thousands of tons of manure. Only a minimal environmental impact study is required. There is no regulation of emissions. For more information, go to www.farmersagainstfosterfarms.com
Residents near these chicken factories are concerned about the sheer size of the operations, the water supply, water quality, ammonia emissions, increased traffic and effect on property values. One of the factory farms is located half a mile from Lourdes Elementary school. Residents want to ensure there is no harm done.
Write to Gov. Kate Brown asking for a moratorium on the permitting until we have laws that protect people.
Tommie van de Kamp, Salem
Give Hoy a shot
Please join me in supporting Chris Hoy for mayor of Salem. I’ve known Chris for more than five years, and I’ve found him to be a person of integrity and heart. As city council president, Chris has provided the leadership to move the city forward on many fronts: low-income housing, a navigation center, traffic congestion, protecting drinking water and a healthy environment including climate action.
But what really stands out to me is his steadfast defense of the humanity of our homeless neighbors and his efforts to find a solution. I’ve seen Chris remind people that we’re dealing with fellow human beings in need of our help. He knows how Salem deals with the least among us will define how our city and this city council is remembered.
I have no doubt that Chris will be remembered well. I humbly ask that you join me in voting for Chris Hoy for Mayor.
Ray Quisenberry, Salem
Schrader a rare congressman
It is disappointing to see negative letters to the editor about Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon
Schrader is a thoughtful representative who votes for what he thinks is right. He, unlike most politicians, doesn’t just vote for what may get him reelected. This is admirable. He deserves our support. He doesn’t “go along, to get along”: a rare congressman indeed.
John Schoon, Salem
Measure 27-134 will help students
We urge Dallas citizens to vote in favor of Bond Measure 27-134.
With a combined 71-plus years of teaching experience (44 years in Dallas), we feel we have a well-grounded understanding of what is vital in regards to successfully educating children living in a competitive and opportunistic world.
Measure 27-134 addresses the essential needs of Dallas schools and its students. Please educate yourselves with the complete measure on the district’s website. After doing so, we believe you’ll agree that this is a worthwhile investment for the entire Dallas community.
Please consider voting in favor of Bond Measure 27-134.
John and Ruth Wagner, Dallas
What's not to like about 27-134?
I am voting yes on Dallas school bond measure 27-134. Why? Because the bond proceeds will result in the following:
- Replace rusted out water pipes and repair/upgrade HVAC components
- Add security at schools (lock-down keyless and vestibule entries)
- Technology upgrades
- Add/upgrade Personal Learning Environments and Special Education rooms
- Boiler room replacement and dry rot repairs
- $4 million dollar award from the State, if the measure passes
- The new bond will replace the old bond with NO tax rate increase
Please join me in doing what’s best for students. Vote yes.
Lu Ann Meyer, Dallas
Enlightened awareness
As the then-superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, I presided over the last two executions held in Oregon in 1996 and 1997.
In that role, I was made keenly aware of the toll capital punishment takes on the people called on to kill someone in the state's name. Yet rarely have I ever heard or seen any consideration of this toll discussed in the media, by labor unions or agencies tasked with protecting the health and safety of workers, let alone by lawmakers.
To my knowledge, lawmakers have never asked prison staff to testify about those experiences. I am asking Oregon lawmakers to help change that by calling on their colleagues to restart a conversation on capital punishment by bringing in the people who have had a role in executing human beings.
Despite a moratorium on executions, 29 people remain sentenced to death in Oregon. It has only been the continued moratorium first imposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber and then continued by Gov. Kate Brown that has prevented another state-planned homicide.
Soon, it is likely that there will be a referendum or an initiative sponsored to repeal the death penalty from Oregon's constitution. When that happens, it would be good to know that the issues identified by our state legislators have contributed to an enlightened awareness of whether Oregon should continue to sentence people to death.
Frank Thompson, Salem
Governor needs to clean up fentanyl
As I write this, fentanyl is in every city in Oregon. It has killed many people. This drug is crossing our borders day and night. We don’t have enough police to slow it down.
The fastest way to get a handle on this serious problem is for the governor to use her executive powers. Anyone selling in our state, transporting into or around our state with more than 24 of these pills would be jailed with no bail possible, and if found guilty, receive a minimum of 20 years in prison with no time off for any reason.
The first thing you will hear is that this would fill overfill our prisons. But I say when the word gets out, these criminals will leave Oregon and those transporting will go elsewhere.
It is up to the governor. If she does this, she will save lives, and one of those saved might be a member of your family.
Bill J. Kluting, Monmouth
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/sports/college/2022/04/02/south-salem-evina-westbrook-to-play-for-national-title-basketball-unconn/65347711007/
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South Salem's Evina Westbrook to play for national title
Pete Martini
Salem Statesman Journal
South Salem graduate Evina Westbrook is going to play for a national championship.
Westbrook, a senior guard on the UConn women’s basketball team, helped the Huskies beat Stanford 63-58 in the NCAA Final Four Friday night.
Westbrook had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists.
UConn will face South Carolina at 5 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
This season, Westbrook is averaging 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Westbrook won two OSAA Class 6A state titles with the Saxons, graduating in 2017. She started her college career at Tennessee, playing two seasons with the Volunteers, then transferred to UConn.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/02/oregon-mountains-to-see-heavy-april-snowfall-hazardous-driving/65347903007/
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Oregon mountains to see heavy April snowfall, hazardous driving on passes
Winter hasn’t quite finished with Oregon’s mountains.
A system of heavy snow is expected to hit the Cascade Range Sunday evening through Monday, bringing upwards of a foot of snow to the Santiam and Willamette passes and making driving conditions difficult between the Willamette Valley and Bend.
A winter storm watch, issued by the National Weather Service in Portland, projects six to eight inches in the Government Camp area (Highway 26), eight to 16 inches on Santiam Pass (Highway 20) and 12 to 18 inches over Willamette Pass (Highway 58).
The higher elevations, above 5,000 feet and at locations like Timberline Lodge, could see 16 to 32 inches of snow. High winds between 30 to 50 MPH are also expected.
The projected snowfall totals could change on the pass levels depending on where the snow level sets up, National Weather Service meteorologist Clinton Rockey said.
“Right now, we’re expecting the heaviest snow at the higher elevations, and it’s not clear exactly where the snow level will set up between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, so the amount on the passes could change” Rockey said. “Either way, people traveling Sunday night and Monday should be prepared for winter driving conditions.”
Rain in the Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley should expect about an inch of cool rain late Sunday and Monday, followed by showers early next week before warmer temperatures in the 60s return by Wednesday.
A warning for sneaker waves on Oregon Coast beaches is also in effect until Sunday night. Sneaker waves are abnormally high tides that can pull people out to sea.
Snowfall much needed, rain will help fill reservoirs like Detroit
The rain and snowfall are much needed in western Oregon, where snowpack has declined well below historical norms and rain is needed to fill reservoirs like Detroit Lake.
Northwest Oregon’s snowpack is just 70-90% of normal. The rest of the state, especially southern Oregon, is in far worse shape, sitting at 20-50% of normal.
Reservoir levels are in better shape, especially at popular Detroit Lake.
The lake level is right about where it should be for this time of year, and the rainfall should help it potentially move above normal for the year. Rainfall totals have been about average for the water year in northwest Oregon, although they’re well below normal in the eastern and southern parts of the state.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/02/oregon-court-of-appeals-marion-county-improperly-approved-aurora-airport-development-project/65347890007/
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Court of Appeals: County improperly approved Aurora Airport project
The state’s second-highest court has struck down Marion County’s approval of a redevelopment plan for property adjacent to Aurora State Airport, saying the approval was made without the airport’s boundaries being properly expanded.
The Oregon Court of Appeals determined the county improperly assumed that because the property in question was next to an airport, it could qualify for an exemption to state land use law.
The appeal, filed by Aurora Planning Commission chair Joseph Schaefer, had sought to overturn the county’s decision and the ensuing Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals decision that would have allowed developer TLM Holdings to build 123,000 square feet of office space, 158,000 square feet of hangar and shop space and 500 parking spots on land zoned for farm use.
The ruling reverses the decision and sends it back to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
The vacant 'church camp'
The property often referred to as the “church camp” hasn’t been in use for years.
The airport, located just outside the Aurora city limits, is the third busiest in Oregon and is one of 28 owned by the state.
The 16.5-acre property along Keil Road was a Methodist church camp until 1977 and had more than a dozen small buildings to house people. It then became Beyond The Reef Theology Center and was used to train Pacific Island pastors.
In 2005, the state Legislature approved a “through the fence” program at airports including Aurora to encourage development around airports by allowing private businesses immediately outside the airport property and allowing them to access the runways of the airport.
According to Marion County property tax records, TLM Holdings purchased the property for $2,150,000 in 2015. TLM Holdings is owned by Ted Millar and owns a number of parcels around the airport.
For years, the property has been littered with collapsing buildings and trees.
The concept proposed to the Marion County Commissioners by representatives of TLM Holdings was for 276,000 square feet of hangars, offices and enough space for 37 aircraft. It also said the development would add 110 new jobs.
The initial opponents to the redevelopment voiced concerns with the increase in traffic and potential water quality issues due to the lack of a sewer system at the airport.
But the Marion County Commissioners in October 2020 allowed it to go forward.
Development still needs to go through land use system
In October 2021, the land use board of appeals determined the project was exempt from the state’s land-use process. It found the county didn’t need to grant exemptions to state land use goals involving the preservation of farmland and urbanization.
In the appeal, which was joined by 1000 Friends of Oregon and the City of Aurora, Schaefer argued the development would not qualify as an airport expansion as it would not be public use despite the connection.
That means it would have to go through state land-use procedures.
To do so, a map that includes the expansion of the airport development would have to be adopted by Marion County. That, the Court of Appeals determined, hasn’t been done yet.
The opinion goes on to say, “The statute itself does not modify the procedure for expanding the airport boundary.”
That means the airport’s boundaries can’t be expanded just because the state says it is. And now the decision has to go back to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
Airport expansion on hold
In a separate case in 2021, the Court of Appeals found the state’s aviation board tried to bypass the state’s land use system in adopting a plan that would allow the runway at Aurora State Airport to be extended.
It found that the master plan the state said it legally adopted in 2012 that would allow expansion of the runway had never been legally adopted.
It also said airport development wasn’t allowed on land zoned for farm use, which the “church camp” is.
The state Supreme Court declined to hear that case, and it currently is being argued again at the Land Use Board of Appeals.
The state’s aviation department, however, is still going ahead with creating a new master plan for Aurora State Airport.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school%2F2022%2F04%2F02%2Fsalem-dallas-oregon-citymid-valley-athletes-shine-at-titan-track-classic%2F65347531007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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20220402
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/04/03/salem-vote-athlete-of-the-week-mackenzie-scott-brody-mcmullen-grant-strother-jazmine-young/65347530007/
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Vote for Athlete of the Week
The high school spring season is in full swing, and there is a new group of athletes doing good things.
This week’s Statesman Journal Athlete of the Week nominees are:
MacKenzie Scott, South Salem softball
Brody McMullen, West Salem baseball
Grant Strother, Sprague baseball
Jazmine Young, North Salem softball
Information on the nominees is below. Vote for the athlete you think is most deserving. The poll closes at noon Thursday.
MacKenzie Scott, South Salem softball: As of March 30, she was hitting .450, and as a catcher, she had thrown out all five base runners attempting to steal second.
Brody McMullen, West Salem baseball: As of March 29, he was hitting .412, with a double, two RBIs, and four stolen bases. He also had eight strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings pitched.
Grant Strother, Sprague baseball: As of March 30, he was 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA, 15 strikeouts and two walks. He was also leading the Olys with a .650 batting average.
Jazmine Young, North Salem softball: She struck out 13 batters in seven innings in the Vikings’ 12-4 win against Lincoln. She also went 3 for 5, with two doubles and two RBIs.
Click here to vote: tinyurl.com/2p88sh2h.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F2022%2F04%2F03%2Foregon-outdated-unemployment-system-to-blame-for-delayed-payments-covid-19-pandemic%2F65345162007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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20220403
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school-sports%2Fbasketball%2F2022%2F04%2F03%2Fosaa-basketball-mid-valley-salem-oregon-area-high-school-basketball-dream-team%2F65347538007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/04/salem-theater-dance-music-accessible-low-income-residents-oregonians/65347879007/
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Salem For All project strives to make local art scene accessible to low-income residents
About eight years ago, Michael Mann learned about a new program in Portland: Art for All.
It was a new partnership between the city and local arts and culture programs and music organizations that offered $5 tickets to classical music performances to low-income residents. A total of 1,410 discounted tickets were sold during the initial six-month run of the program.
Mann thought it was the kind of program Salem could benefit from, too.
In 2013, Salem for All launched a website offering low-income residents discounted tickets to theater, dance and music performances, as well as some classes. In a weekly newsletter and at salemforall.org, it also shares information about free opportunities in Salem and around the state.
The negotiated reduced-price admissions are available to all Oregonians with Oregon Trail Cards. The state distributes the cards to qualifying individuals for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and TANF cash benefits. More than 22,000 households in Marion County receive Oregon Trail benefits. Statewide, one in six Oregonians use the SNAP food assistance program.
Participating organizations are listed on the organization's website. To get a discounted ticket, qualifying individuals can present their Oregon Trail card at the box office or wherever tickets are being sold and request at least two tickets. Some organizations offer more.
The goal is to foster a community where everyone is able to participate in the fun things happening in the community, Mann said.
“Salem for All is about helping people grow,” he said, saying that watching a play, listening to a concert or visiting an art gallery all provide opportunities to grow and participate in the community.
Mann said he is excited by the growth of the program over the years and the expansion of the coalition of participating organizations. The growth represents many calls to various arts organizations to invite them to partner with Salem for All.
Salem for All connects people who have the resources and privilege in Salem and channels their resources to the underserved population, Mann said.
"Underserved people deserve peace and joy in their life," he said.
When Salem for All turned a year old in 2014, the website was averaging about 15 hits a day. Last month, there were days with up to 50 visitors.
The organization has more than 100 partners now, Mann said, including the Salem Musician Alliance, KMUZ, the Keizer Homegrown Theatre, Marion County Master Gardener Association, Travel Salem and the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem.
“As we see it, that’s helping as many people that might visit a doctor’s office or a smallish coffee shop,” Mann wrote in an update. “Helping 50 people a day improve their lives is very satisfying for us.”
He expects the number to continue to grow as more programs are added and as Salem for All partners attempt to bounce back from COVID-19 restrictions.
Salem for All remains a part-time job for Mann. He currently lives on a farm in Shaw but is deeply dedicated to the project.
Mann grew up in Salem, attending Salem's St. Joseph Catholic School, Serra Catholic High, and McNary High before attending Lewis and Clark College in Portland.
Salem for All members are currently working on spreading the word about the program. They are also working on partnering with organizations like the Union Gospel Mission to extend more opportunities to people experiencing homelessness in the city.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/travel/outdoors/explore/2022/04/04/podcast-new-plan-to-reopen-wildfire-burned-opal-creek-jeff-park-pct/65347990007/
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Explore Oregon Podcast: New plan to reopen wildfire-burned Opal Creek, Jeff Park, PCT
In this episode, Zach interviews Willamette National Forest supervisor Dave Warnack about the agency's new plan to reopen 170,000 acres of forest that burned in the Labor Day Fires in 2020.
The plan includes tentative plans to reopen access this spring and summer to iconic places such as the Opal Creek Wilderness; northern Mount Jefferson Wilderness; a closed 20-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail; and other areas, which are currently closed due to safety concerns.
The Forest Service is also embarking on a new plan for how to reopen its vast network of roadways within the scars of the Beachie Creek, Lionshead and Holiday Farm fires.
The Forest Service is hosting a virtual public meeting on the subject from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on April 6. Participants may join the meeting via any mobile device at www.zoom.us. The meeting ID is 160 405 5422; the passcode is WNFInput2!.
Never miss an episode: Listen to the entire episode above or find us onSpotify, Apple Podcasts,Google Podcasts,SoundCloud orAmazon Music and subscribe on your platform of choice to get future episodes.
Every episode: Listen to 61 episodes of Explore Oregon Podcast
Additional reading:
- New aerial photos show wildfire impact at Opal Creek, Jeff Park, Olallie, Tumble Lake
- Lawsuits target plan to log, reopen 170,000 acres of iconic land burned in Labor Day Fires
- Federal judge halts post-fire 'salvage logging' in Willamette National Forest
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/04/oregon-wildfires-opal-creek-wilderness-mount-jefferson-wilderness-jefferson-park-pacific-crest-trail/65348335007/
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Forest Service to reopen wildfire-burned Jeff Wilderness, Opal Creek, PCT, amid new plan
Oregonians may be able to return this spring and summer to some of their favorite places that burned in the 2020 Labor Day Fires east of Salem and Eugene.
The U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen some of the 170,000 acres currently closed while implementing a new plan for removing “hazard trees” along forest roads, after the previous plan was blocked by a lawsuit.
A virtual meeting explaining the new plan will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on April 6 via Zoom (see below for full details). Electronic comments can also be submitted on this page by following the "comment or object on a project" link.
Willamette National Forest supervisor Dave Warnack told the Statesman Journal he would reopen a variety of areas, lifting closures completely in some places while reopening others to foot and bicycle use only. Closure barricades would be replaced by signs warning visitors of potential danger where it made sense, he said, beginning as early as this spring.
The areas in question were burned by the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires, which roared across almost 400,000 acres combined in the Santiam Canyon, along with the Holiday Farm Fire, which burned 174,000 acres along the McKenzie River near towns like Blue River and Vida.
“Our intent this year is to get some of these special places opened back up in a responsible way,” Warnack said on the most recent episode of the Explore Oregon podcast. “I think it’s important that people get into some of these areas so they can see for themselves that it was a mosaic of burns and maybe it’s not as awful as they imagine on every acre of these lands.”
Explore Oregon Podcast interviewForest Service explains new plan to reopening 170,000 acres of forest burned in Labor Day Fires
The best-known areas to reopen include the northern Mount Jefferson Wilderness, with Warnack saying he was “cautiously optimistic” about opening access to famed Jefferson Park along with the 20-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail through the Jefferson Wilderness and Olallie Lake.
The Opal Creek Wilderness will also reopen in some capacity, although finding the best route will be a challenge, Warnack said, due to the high burn severity. There is also currently a gate on North Fork Road leading to the wilderness and it's unclear if that will remain this summer.
Any openings this spring could be a boon to mushroom hunters seeking “fire morels” that can fruit prolifically in burned areas but had been off limits due to the closures.
More:Mushroom gold rush in Oregon's burned forests, but public safety fears keeps foragers out
The closures have been in place ever since 2020 due to what the Forest Service called “unsafe conditions.” They have limited outdoor recreation in some of Oregon’s most popular places at a time when the number of people heading outdoors has exploded with the pandemic. Popular campgrounds, trails and swimming holes from the Breitenbush River through Opal Creek area have been off limits, and anyone caught trespassing has been subject to a fine.
It's unclear exactly how much that situation will change this summer. The Forest Service was light on specifics of what will open and when. It’s likely to take 5 to 6 years for things to return to anything resembling normal, Warnack said. But, this year’s openings are a first step, officials said.
“What we’re trying to achieve is a much more refined approach to the closed areas,” Warnack said. The changes come on the heels of a lawsuit that questioned how dangerous burned forests actually are and the wisdom of keeping the areas closed. The lawsuits cited research showing that very few fatalities are suffered by falling trees.
“The risk of being hit by a falling tree is so small that it doesn’t come close to justifying these massive closures,” Andy Stahl, executive director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, told the Statesman Journal last October.
Lawsuits spur new plan for how Forest Service removes "hazard trees"
The crux of the issue with reopening burned forestland has been a dispute about how the Forest Service manages its vast network of roads — where they remove roadside “hazard trees” that may fall into the roadway and where they let nature take its course.
Last summer, the agency moved forward with plans to remove hazard trees along 400 miles of road. Environmental groups said the plan was too expansive and filed a lawsuit opposing the plan. In November, a federal judge agreed and issued an injunction blocking the plan.
In response, the Forest Service created a new plan that includes a full environmental assessment focusing on where to remove trees and where to keep them along roads. They’ve reduced the number of road miles considered for hazard tree removal to 300 miles, from 400 miles previously, and Warnack said the number of road miles would likely decrease. Warnack stressed that the new plan would be more specific about the reason needed to conduct hazard tree removal on a specific road.
Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands, one of the groups that sued the Forest Service, said he was encouraged but wary.
“We’ll see how they implement it in the field and we’ll be out on the ground, and if they’re still coming out with decisions to log areas where it’s clearly not necessary, we’re going to oppose it,” Cady said.
Elsa Gustavson, also with Willamette National Forest, said environmental assessment of the roads project would include multiple points of public involvement and take most of the summer.
She said the agency hoped to collect all public comments on this initial proposal by April 15, get a draft out for public review by June and have decision by the fall.
“We want to begin implementation as soon as we can after that,” Gustavson said.
Timber groups said the lawsuits and new plan were a major missed opportunity that would lead to miles of road being closed and that it would cost the public far more.
“Hazard trees could have been removed last year,” said Nick Smith, spokesman for the American Forest Resource Council. “Dead and dying trees could have been sold and made into lumber, which supports Oregon workers and would have generated revenue that would have defrayed clean-up costs.
“Instead, it is too late to sell the dead timber, so taxpayers will be on the hook for clean-up and there will be more hazards for forest workers and firefighters due to the Forest Service’s inability to remove dead and dying trees along roadsides.”
How to access the meeting
Learn more about the plan and provide comment at a meeting 6:30 to 8 p.m. on April 6 via Zoom.
Participants may join the meeting via any mobile device at www.zoom.us. The meeting ID is 160 405 5422; the passcode is WNFInput2!
Another option is to call into the meeting at 1 (669) 254- 5252 and then enter meeting ID 1604055422.
Call the Forest Service at (541) 225-6300 if you need special accommodations for meeting participation.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/04/salem-oregon-schirle-elementary-school-released-early-power-outage/65348388007/
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Power outage prompts early release at Schirle Elementary School in South Salem
A South Salem elementary school will be released early Monday due to a power outage, Salem-Keizer Public Schools officials said.
School district officials said Schirle Elementary is experiencing a significant outage impacting phone and internet connectivity as well as lighting throughout the building. The school is using backup lighting sources in the classrooms. All students and staff are safe, officials said.
A power outage affecting at least 170 customers was reported around 9:20 a.m. Monday to Portland General Electric. The outage is affecting the Sunnyslope area in South Salem, including the elementary school, according to PGE's outage map.
The cause is unknown. PGE officials estimate power will be restored by 4 p.m. Monday afternoon.
A high wind warning is also in effect across northwest Oregon from Sunday night into Monday. Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Portland said gusts up to 50 to 65 MPH could hit the Cascade and Coast, while winds of 30 to 40 MPH could be seen across valleys.
"Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few, mainly isolated, power outages may result," NWS said in a warning.
The school started an early release process and is contacting parents to pick up their children, according to Schirle Elementary School Principal Kelsey Daniels. Students won't be released until the school has connected with a parent or guardian. They will need to show a photo ID to pick up their child.
Bus service will be provided and run on a regular schedule.
School officials said this outage has impacted the kitchen; cold meals were prepared and served to students in their classrooms or will be given to students prior to leaving today.
PGE customers can report a power outage in the Salem area by calling 503-399-7717 or visiting portlandgeneral.com/outages-safety. To check on the status of a power outage, visit portlandgeneral.com/outages.
Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
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Cascade, Kennedy among top in OSAA softball and baseball rankings
League play is officially underway throughout the state, and two Mid-Valley baseball and softball programs are among the top-ranked.
Kennedy's baseball team remains undefeated this season with a 7-0 record and has already won its first three league games.
The Trojans are ranked No. 3 in the 2A/1A rankings. Previously, the program was ranked No. 1 but dropped behind Umpqua Valley Christian (6-2, 1-0 league) and St. Paul (6-0, 3-0 league).
At the 6A level, Sprague jumped to No. 4 rank with a 8-1 record.
In the other classifications, top-10 teams include Silverton (No. 6) at 5A, Stayton (No. 6) at 4A and Regis (No. 5) at 2A/1A.
Softball
Cascade's softball team, at 5-3 overall, is No. 2 at the 4A level. So far, the Cougars are 2-0 in league play.
At the 3A level, Scio is No. 3 with a 7-1 record.
In 6A, McNary is the highest ranked local team at No. 13.
In the other classifications, top-10 teams include Central (No. 5) at 5A, Stayton (No. 5) at 4A, Blanchet (No. 9) at 3A and Kennedy (No. 7) at 2A/1A.
Baseball
CLASS 6A
1: South Medford (8-0)
2: McMinnville (7-0)
3: Summit (5-3)
4: Mountain View (9-1)
5: Clackamas (7-1)
Other locals — 24. McNary (4-5), 42. West Salem (2-7), 49. South Salem (1-7).
CLASS 5A
1: Wilsonville (5-1)
2: Thurston (7-2, 3-1)
3: Corvallis (6-2, 1-0)
4: Ashland (7-1, 4-0)
5: Willamette (4-3, 2-2)
Other locals — 20. Central (4-4), 22. North Salem (3-5), 24. Dallas (3-3).
CLASS 4A
1: Hidden Valley (8-0)
2: Banks (6-1)
3: Henley (7-1)
4: La Grande (8-1)
5: North Marion (5-4)
Other locals — 6. Stayton (6-3, 2-1), 28. Cascade (2-5-1, 1-2).
CLASS 3A
1: South Umpqua (8-1)
2: Cascade Christian (8-1)
3: Douglas (4-2)
4: La Pine (4-3)
5: Creswell (3-1)
Other locals — 10. Dayton (4-1), 21. Scio (2-6), 23. Amity (3-4), 31. Willamina (1-6).
CLASS 2A/1A
1: Umpqua Valley Christian (6-2, 1-0)
2: St. Paul (6-0, 3-0)
3: Kennedy (7-0, 3-0)
4: Neah-Kah-Nie (4-0, 1-0)
5: Regis (4-3)
Other locals — 17. Santiam (3-3, 1-2), 22. Western Christian (3-1, 3-0), 48. Jefferson (0-5, 0-3).
Softball
CLASS 6A
1: Tigard (8-1)
2: Newberg (9-0)
3: Bend (11-0)
4: Tualatin (7-0)
5: Canby (5-2)
Other locals — 13. McNary (6-2), 19. Sprague (7-2), 31. West Salem (5-5), 32. South Salem (4-4), 48. McKay (0-5).
CLASS 5A
1: Wilsonville (6-2)
2: St. Helens (4-1)
3: Pendleton (6-0)
4: Ridgeview (4-3)
5: Central (4-2)
Other locals — 12. Silverton (5-3), 13. Dallas (3-4), 26. North Salem (2-5).
CLASS 4A
1: Marist Catholic (5-1)
2: Cascade (5-3, 2-0)
3: La Grande (3-4)
4: McLoughlin (2-0)
5: Stayton (8-1, 2-1)
Other locals — 34. Woodburn (0-5, 0-3)
CLASS 3A
1: Burns (10-1)
2: South Umpqua (10-0)
3: Scio (7-1)
4: Harrisburg (8-2)
5: Taft (7-1)
Other locals — 14. Dayton (3-5), 9. Blanchet (3-0), 13. Willamina (2-6), 16. Amity (4-3).
CLASS 2A/1A
1: Grant Union (8-0, 2-0)
2: North Douglas (6-1, 3-1)
3: Glide (5-1, 3-1)
4: Union (7-1, 2-0)
5: Sheridan (3-0, 2-0)
Other locals — 7. Kennedy (2-2, 1-0), 21. Jefferson (4-3, 1-1), 22. Santiam (4-2, 2-0), 30. St. Paul (2-3, 1-1), 45. Gervais (0-6, 0-1), 46. Western Christian (0-3, 0-2).
Edith Noriega is a sports reporter. You may reach her at ENoriega@salem.gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.
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20220405
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school-sports%2Fbasketball%2F2022%2F04%2F05%2Fall-mid-valley-girls-basketball-team-recognized-lizzy-bennett-player-of-the-year%2F65347540007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/06/statesman-journal-hiring-two-outdoors-journalism-interns-for-summer/65348524007/
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Statesman Journal hiring two outdoors journalism interns for summer 2022
The Statesman Journal is hiring two outdoors journalism interns this summer that pay $15 per hour and allow for exploring and writing about Oregon’s wildest places.
The internships require working 40 hours per week for 10 weeks, for periods roughly between June to mid-August, or July to late September.
The interns will work with Statesman Journal outdoors reporter Zach Urness to craft stories, podcasts and videos that center on issues such as wildfires, outdoor recreation and the environment. In addition, the intern will get the chance to travel to unique outdoor destinations and write about what makes them special for the SJ’s travel/outdoors section.
Applications are being accepted through April and the first week of May. Apply here and email zurness@statesmanjournal.com with questions.
“We’re looking for candidates with some journalism experience and strong writing and reporting chops, but who also love the outdoors and telling important stories,” Urness said. “But hard work and hustle are the most important attributes.”
The first year of the internships was 2021. Interns Wesley LaPointe, a student at the University of Oregon, and Eddy Binford-Ross, a South Salem High graduate and future Georgetown University student, produced work that spanned an array of topics.
Binford-Ross traveled to an abandoned fire lookout, wrote about efforts to restore a disappearing trail in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness and took a deep dive into the growing threat of urban wildfires faced in the Willamette Valley.
Lapointe traveled to a bog of carnivorous plants on the Oregon Coast, wrote about a man who sells rainwater from every date in the last 20 years and produced a video about efforts to rebuild the Little North Santiam Canyon following the Labor Day Fires.
The internships are funded by sponsors of the Explore Oregon Podcast.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school-sports%2Fwrestling%2F2022%2F04%2F06%2Fosaa-wrestling-announcing-the-all-mid-valley-wrestling-team%2F65347524007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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20220406
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/06/oregon-may-have-snow-in-willamette-valley-after-hottest-day/65348737007/
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Oregon weather whiplash: Hottest day of year followed by possible valley snow
Oregon is about to give us a major case of weather whiplash.
The state’s hottest day is expected on Thursday, with temperatures projected to reach the mid-70s in the Willamette Valley and north of the 80s south of Eugene.
But the balmy temperatures won’t last.
A system of air from Alaska will start to arrive over the weekend, even bringing the chance for snow in the Willamette Valley Sunday into Monday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Tyler Kranz said snow would be very limited, with the most likely scenario being a rain-snow mix that doesn’t accumulate on the valley floor. But, he said, accumulating snow is more possible in the South Salem or West Portland hills.
“We’re pretty uncertain at this point, but it’s definitely a possibility depending on whether we get any precipitation with the cold air,” he said.
Still, the cold system could break records for the latest snowfall. Salem's latest accumulating snow — that you can measure at least 0.1 inches at the Salem airport — was March 29, 1938. The latest date of a trace of snow — meaning snow fell in the air but didn't accumulate — was April 19, 1961.
The latest date of accumulating snow in Eugene was April 11, 1911, while the latest date in Portland was March 25, 1965.
"If it did happen, it would break a few records," Kranz said.
In the Oregon mountains, a few inches of snow will be likely but a major dump similar to last week's foot of snow is expected at the pass levels.
More:Forest Service to reopen wildfire-burned Jeff Wilderness, Opal Creek, PCT, amid new plan
Either way, it will be abnormally cold most everywhere, with lows dropping into the 30s and dealing a possible blow to anyone who planted their garden early.
The weather stays chilly through next week and the extended forecast projects colder than normal conditions through the next 8 to 12 days.
In other words, enjoy Thursday’s weather.
The weather is a positive, as it will continue to bring some precipitation to areas trying to rebound from an extended drought, including in the south.
Rainfall totals have been normal for Portland and Salem since the start of the water year on Oct. 1. Oregon’s snowpack still sits well below normal across the state. Detroit Reservoir is on pace for a normal water season.
“Honestly, there’s no real drought in Salem and Portland areas,” Kranz said. “You have to get east of the Cascades or south of Eugene for drought at this point.”
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2022/04/06/oregon-salem-suspicious-death-man-wallace-marine-park-ruled-homicide/65348685007/
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Salem Police seek info on homicide of man found in tent in January at Wallace Marine Park
With no arrests or leads, police are asking for the public's help investigating the homicide of a man who was found dead in his tent at Wallace Marine Park in early January.
Salem Police officers responded just after midnight on Jan. 4 and found Edgar Pascual-Hernandez, 48, deceased in a wooded area north of the softball fields at the park in West Salem, police officials said.
Initially, authorities were investigating the case as a suspicious death, though police confirmed Tuesday the investigation has progressed to a homicide.
Pascual-Hernandez was known to friends and his employer as "Samuel Lucas" or "Sam," police said.
Police have declined to release the cause of death and further details about the investigation, citing "case integrity." Salem Police spokesperson Angie Hedrick said Pascual-Hernandez's family was notified about his death.
Jennifer Aarons, a camper at Wallace Marine Park, said it was other campers at the park who found Pascual-Hernandez's body in his tent and called police. Aarons said she remembers Sam as "well-mannered." Her tent was close to his.
"It’s scary because I could throw a rock and hit his camp," she said.
City of Salem officials cleared out the camp last Thursday, forcing Aarons and others to disperse or retreat deeper into the woods, Aarons said. In the weeks leading up to the cleanup, City officials said they worked to encourage those staying in RVs to leave the park, plan to clean the area and remove vehicles.
Aarons said the homicide has compounded her concerns about safety as a woman, and pointed to the lack of available shelters for women in the area. Women who are homeless, she said, tend to be more vulnerable than men.
"I have no idea who did it and I’m obviously living among a murderer," she said. "It's pretty much an open playground for predators, and only having shelter beds available for men compounds the problem."
The Violent Crimes Unit of the Salem Police is asking for anyone with information about his death to report it to the Salem Police Department Tips Line at (503) 588-8477.
Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/coronavirus/2022/04/07/oregon-covid-19-cases-up-over-last-week-reversing-9-week-trend/65348785007/
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COVID-19 cases up 42% week-over-week, reversing 9-week trend
New weekly cases of COVID-19 in Oregon increased over the previous week for the first time in nearly three months, the Oregon Health Authority reported Wednesday.
Between March 28 and April 3, the state public health authority recorded 1,988 new coronavirus cases, an increase of 42% over the previous week. It is the first time in nine weeks cases increased.
Oregon's test positivity rate increased as well, from 2.7% to 2.9%.
Cases are still down more than 90% from the omicron surge peak in mid-January.
OHA reported weekly hospitalizations continued to decline last week, with 97 new hospitalizations tallied, a 44% decline. It is the first time weekly hospitalizations have been below 100 since early July.
However, forecasters with Oregon Health and Science University have predicted hospitalizations would begin to rise in early April and peak in mid-May as the omicron BA.2 subvariant spreads through the state.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates the BA.2 subvariant makes up 72.2% of COVID-19 variants in the United States. Data shows the subvariant is more transmissible than the original omicron variant, but does not cause more severe illness.
Existing vaccinations are not any less effective at reducing hospitalization and death from the BA.2 subvariant.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/07/salem-oregon-artist-stephanie-juanillos-honors-mexican-immigrant-in-bush-barn-art-center-exhibit/65347800007/
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Meet our Mid-Valley: Artist Stephanie Juanillo's search for home
This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.
Stephanie Juanillo is still unsure of where she will call home in the near future. It is an uncertainty she explores in a new installation at the Bush Barn Art Center titled Mi Cuerpo Es Mi Hogar.
Currently a senior at Linfield University, Juanillo said she's known she was going to be an artist since she was 3. It is a career that her parents and family have been supportive of. The studio art program at Linfield is small, she said, but students get a lot of one-on-one time with the professors.
After graduation, she will be continuing her education and she has applied to two graduate schools. One program is in Vancouver, Canada and another in Chicago.
That is why she was eager to accept the invitation from the Salem Art Association to be a featured artist at the gallery.
"I might be moving soon and I thought it'd be cool to do an installation here in Salem," Juanillo said.
The meaning of home
Juanillo said she has spent her senior year focused on exploring the concept of home and what that means for immigrants.
"For a lot of us, we've had to redefine the definition of home," she said.
For Juanillo, home is tied to family. She was raised in Perrydale and has been living in McMinnville while attending Linfield. The prospect of moving far from her tight-knit family for graduate school has been difficult, she said.
Her installation focuses on finding home within your body.
"For most of my life, I’ve searched for the meaning of home. Attempting to understand whether home is a place, a person or a feeling. As much as my concept of home is tied to my family and community, I also believe that home is inside each of us," reads her artist statement.
The exploration of Juanillo's heritage is prominent in the symbols she has chosen to display. Large monarch butterflies migrate and surround the photo of a two-year-old Juanillo, similar to the way millions of monarch butterflies migrate each year thousands of miles to the same forests in central Mexico.
Monarch butterflies are incorporated in almost all of her work, she said. Both of her parents are from Mexico and the butterflies are another way of commemorating and honoring them. The yearly migration is a natural wonder that also frequently coincides with Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations in November.
Another strong symbol of Mexican identity, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or La Virgen de Guadalupe, sits on the ground during our interview. Juanillo is unsure if she'll add an altar as she usually does in most of her installations but the virgencita, as she's affectionately called by many in the community, remains present during Juanillo's final brushstrokes.
A piñata made of beans hangs in another corner of the installation, her own take on a traditional decoration.
Together, they create an installation Juanillo hopes is warm, healing and inviting.
It was important to do her own healing, Juanillo said.
"So that wherever I'm at, I can still feel safe despite being far away from my family," she said.
Joy, grief of immigrant stories
Most of Juanillo's work centers on immigration and how joy and grief coincide within immigrant stories.
She said growing up in Oregon in a community that was predominately white was "really rough." The environment did not grant her many opportunities to explore her identity, she said.
Meet others in our Mid-Valley:Juan Carlos Navarro is a voice for immigrants in the community
She graduated from Perryville High School in a graduating class of 25 students. Despite the small art departments at both schools, her teachers at the high school and at Linfield have been extremely encouraging of her art and her themes, she said.
"I feel like through my art practice, I've been able to stay more connected to my Mexican roots, despite being in Oregon," Juanillo said.
The butterflies again represent that connection and introspection.
"The monarch butterfly is also very symbolic of transformation," Juanillo said. "Finding home within our bodies demands that we heal our wounds and traumas. The monarch butterfly is resilient and a metaphor for the growth we experience as we heal and accept our body, mind and spirit."
You can find more of Juanillo's art on her Instagram @color.obsessed. Mi Cuerpo Es Mi Hogar will be on display until April 23 at Bush Barn Art Center, 600 Mission St. SE.
A reception for the installation will take place at 5:30 p.m. April 8.
She said the invitation to be featured in the gallery is accomplishing a dream that felt unattainable at times, but her parent and school support allowed her to see herself in these spaces.
Juanillo said she hopes to do more community work in the future, including community murals and workshops catered to the immigrant community.
"Art has the ability to bring people together and to reconnect people to their culture," she said. "Creating opportunities for that can allow children to see themselves in spaces that normally are for white people."
If you have an idea for someone we should profile for this series, please email Statesman Journal senior news editor Alia Beard Rau at arau@gannett.com
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/07/2022-election-linda-nishioka-set-to-join-salem-oregon-city-council-after-uncontested-primary-vote/65347705007/
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Uncontested race means one Salem ward already knows its next councilor
This is part of a series of stories on the candidates running in the May 17 primary election. Ballots will be mailed to voters April 27.
Linda Nishioka didn't plan on running for Salem City Council.
"It wasn't on my radar," said Nishioka, a retired director of facial plastic surgery at Willamette ENT who also worked as a dental hygienist.
The longtime Salem resident sought to improve downtown as the vice-chair of the Downtown Advisory Board when multiple people approached her and urged her to run for office.
She said she had long wanted to do more to help the city and figured: If not now, when?
Now, with no challenger, she is set to be the next city councilor representing Ward 2, which includes neighborhoods in south-central, east and central Salem along with Bush's Pasture Park, Cascades Gateway Park and Geer Community Park.
The primary election will be held on May 17. Councilors elected then will take office in January 2023.
2022 Salem primary election:Who is running for mayor, City Council?
The seat is currently held by Tom Andersen, who decided to not seek reelection last year and is instead running for House District 19 in the Oregon State Legislature. Anderson has represented Ward 2 since he was first elected in 2014.
Nishioka said she wants to represent all facets of Salem and make the best choice for the city regardless of partisan politics — an approach that she believes is one of the reasons she ran unopposed.
Nishioka and her husband met while he was in dental school. A third-generation Japanese-American, Gary Nishioka's family faced internment and discrimination in Oregon. Unbeknownst to them, Linda's family and her husband's family had previously crossed paths when her great uncle successfully represented his uncle when the state refused to hire him due to his race.
Twenty-two years ago, Linda and Gary moved to his hometown of Salem, where they started a medical practice, raised a family and developed a mixed-use building downtown on State Street, now known as the Nishioka Building. She said she's been embedded in the community since her son was in elementary school, volunteering at her son's school and on the board of the Straub Environmental Learning Center.
She went on to serve with the Riverfront Park and Streetscape committees, the Historic Preservation Plan Committee, Downtown Advisory Board and the Salem Main Street Association.
With the position representing Ward 2 almost a lock, Nishioka said she wants to hit the ground running.
Her key priorities once in office will be ending homelessness, supporting responsible development, preserving parks and greenspace, investing in sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways, and helping downtown thrive.
She said the city has been making more investments in sheltering and homeless services but results have been gradual and hard to see when a large number of people are still living outside.
Nishioka wants efforts like building micro-shelter villages, creating a navigation shelter and finding supportive housing, to continue and said there needs to be more investment for support services, medical and dental care, and housing for women and children.
"We need to make sure we have shelters that support all those different levels of homelessness," she said.
She vowed to also support affordable housing for those with low- and middle-incomes by supporting responsible development that plans for long-term growth.
A long-distance runner, Nishioka said she frequently treks through Salem's many green spaces and wants to invest in parks, trails and pathways for everyone to use.
"Our parks and trees are gems and need to be preserved," she said.
Nishioka added that she supported improving the city's sidewalks, crosswalks and bikeways to make traveling safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Safe, direct bike routes:Leaders push for 55 miles of protected bike lanes to connect Salem
Helping downtown thrive is also one of Nishioka's campaign promises. She said she wants to help downtown business owners by having an attractive, vibrant and walkable downtown.
During her past roles volunteering and on boards, Nishioka worked to bring multiple art and cultural events to Salem. She said she would continue to try to bring tourism to the city and would support art and beautification efforts.
Despite being the only candidate in Ward 2, Nishioka is canvassing and meeting with neighborhood associations in an effort to introduce herself to the community.
"Over the last few weeks, I have had sincere pleasure in meeting many people that are very passionate about Salem and are involved," she said.
It can be easy to complain, but Nishioka said she's met so many people eager and willing to better their community.
"Their passion and involvement helped me decide to run for councilor," she said. "I care deeply for Salem, and I’m so lucky to be surrounded by others that also care and participate."
Campaign website:lindanishiokaforsalem.com
Social media:facebook.com/VoteLinda4Salem
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesmanjournal.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fhigh-school-sports%2Fwrestling%2F2022%2F04%2F07%2Fosaa-wrestling-announcing-the-all-mid-valley-wrestling-team%2F65347524007%2F&gnt-tng-s=1
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/08/2022-election-beth-jones-ed-diehl-newcomers-run-for-oregon-house-district-17-seat-republican-primary/65347513007/
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2022 primary election: House District 17 Republican race is between two newcomers
This is part of a series of stories on the candidates running in the May 17 primary election. Ballots will be mailed to voters April 27.
Beth Jones and Ed Diehl are in the same situation.
The two candidates are in the May 17 Republican primary to represent the redrawn House District 17, which contains parts of East and South Salem, Turner, Aumsville, Stayton, Sublimity, Mill City and Detroit along with vast swaths of unincorporated Marion County and the northeast Linn County.
However, few in their district have heard of them.
Both are virtual unknowns to voters in the district: the one public office Jones held was in Dallas and Diehl has never run for or held office.
Most of the district is currently represented by Raquel Moore-Green and Jami Cate. Moore-Green is running for State Senate District 10, and Cate, who lives in Lebanon, is running in the redrawn District 11.
That leaves no incumbent to run in the district.
No Democrat has filed to run. Aumsville Mayor Derek Clevenger said he will run for the seat as a non-affiliated candidate, but can’t register to run until after the primary.
That leaves Diehl, who lives outside Scio, and Jones, who lives in Turner, to fight it out for the Republican nomination.
“We have two unknowns,” Jones said.
This is who they are:
Ed Diehl
Diehl grew up in Montana and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He moved to Veneta for a few years after college and has lived on a 37-acre farm in unincorporated Scio for 25 years.
In 1999, Diehl and partners founded Concept Solutions, which is headquartered in Albany. The program controls for automated functions, like those found in sawmills, and at companies like Boeing and Conagra.
“We built this company up from scratch,” he said. “I sold the car. I leveraged my credit cards. We built it up. I put everything on the line. When you start a business like that, everything you own is on the line.”
Diehl sold his stake in that company in 2018. By that time, Concept Solutions had grown to 100 employees and multiple offices.
He said he has an ownership interest in Elk Horn Brewery in Eugene and Portland-based Motorized Precision.
“That’s a fun business because we were able to leverage the technology that we used in factories, and use it to use the industrial robot, mount a camera on it and give cinematographers tools and make it easy for them to make motion profiles with the robots,” Diehl said.
Diehl said that since selling his interest in Concept Systems, he became “more heavily involved” with the Knights of Columbus chapter in Sublimity. He also is on the board of Santiam Hospital and the advisory council of the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund.
But Diehl has never held an elected office.
“My government experience is 20 years in business dealing with government overreach,” he said.
Beth Jones
Jones grew up in Keizer and Dallas. She lived in Arizona and Texas in high school and moved back to Oregon in 2004.
She said she was a stay-at-home parent for 12 years while her husband served in the Army National Guard.
“Our lives looked very different back then,” Jones said. “We were in poverty, and at that time I started to recognize the families around me that were in generational poverty, not situational poverty.”
Jones’ previous elected experience was as a city councilor in Dallas from 2010 to 2014.
She said she started a nonprofit ministry for women and children in poverty in Polk County. She also volunteered with state Sen. Brian Boquist’s office in constituent relations over three legislative sessions.
“When I was 40, I thought, you know what, I think God’s calling me to law, and I think God’s calling me to a bigger role in defending our constitution and our civil rights and courts in policy,” Jones said.
She obtained a law degree from Willamette University.
Jones worked for two years as a law clerk in the law office of Gerald Warren while attending Willamette and one year as an associate after graduating from Willamette. When that firm was purchased by Montoya, Hisel and Associates, she remained as an associate.
Jones said she represents cities and counties in her role as an attorney.
She said that during the lockdowns of 2020, she and her family decided to move to Turner to enroll her children in school at Crosshill Christian.
Jones said she’s done pro bono work with Common Sense For Oregon representing small businesses impacted by pandemic-related restrictions.
“I really believe in reigning in state agencies and keeping them in their lanes,” Jones said.
On the issues
Both candidates have been knocking on doors to introduce themselves to people in the district and learn what is important to them.
Diehl said a common theme among constituents he’s talked to in the district from East Salem to Lyons is their concern about crime.
He said his legislative priorities are repealing the agricultural worker overtime bill that passed in the 2022 session, the corporate activity tax and the bill that made it harder for school districts to fire superintendents for no cause.
He also wants to see Oregon better manage forests and work more with federal managers to provide more sustained harvesting of timber through “good neighbor authority.”
“I know it’s going to be a challenge,” Diehl said. “And I know how to negotiate with people who don’t agree with me. Those skills to me directly translate to being an effective legislator.”
Jones said she doesn’t have an agenda of writing new laws.
She said she wants to fix laws and be a watchdog for unconstitutional laws.
“That being said, one thing I would be looking at is amending the emergency statutes to provide more clarity on the scope and duration of a governor’s authority under the emergency orders,” Jones said.
“Going forward, let’s fix this so no matter who’s in control, Republican, Democrat, Independent, no matter who is in control that we have really clear directives.”
She said she wants to rein in the authority of state agencies under the authority of whatever committee she is assigned to.
The biggest advantage Diehl’s campaign has over Jones is money.
According to state records, his campaign has raised $42,780 as of April 6 and has $23,416 on hand. Jones’ campaign has raised $8,824 and has $10,199 on hand.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. You may contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
Ed Diehl
- Age: 57
- Residence: Scio
- Family: Married, two children, three grandchildren.
- Occupation: Businessman
- Previous elected offices: None.
Beth Jones
- Age: 45
- Residence: Turner
- Family: Married, two children
- Occupation: Attorney
- Previous elected offices: Dallas city councilor 2010 to 2014.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2022/04/08/marion-county-sheriffs-office-launches-website-for-reporting-crime-hit-run-theft-fraud-id-theft/65348865007/
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Marion County Sheriff's Office launches website for reporting crime
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has launched a website where community members can report a crime.
It is for information about crimes in the Sheriff’s Office service territory, which includes most of unincorporated Marion County, East Salem and the cities of Jefferson, Sublimity, St. Paul, Donald, Mill City, Gates, Detroit and Idanha.
The new site for reporting crime is https://www.co.marion.or.us/SO/Pages/OnlineReporting.aspx
The county said in a news release the types of incidents that are eligible include hit-and-run without injury, theft, graffiti, suspicious activity, lost property, theft of mail, telephone harassment, identity theft, vandalism, fraud and shoplifting.
The county said the site is for reporting crimes with no suspect information.
Marion County will still operate its non-emergency phone number for information at (503) 588-5032.
Deputies from Marion County handled more than 30,500 calls throughout the county in 2021.
“By offering people multiple ways to report crimes our goal is to be respectful of our community members' time and ensuring they have an option that is accessible and convenient to meet their needs,” Marion County commander Jeff Stutrud said in a statement.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/08/oregon-leaders-have-looted-public-safety/65346580007/
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Oregon leaders have looted public safety
Two years ago, Oregon’s crime rate was its lowest in 50 years. But last year, homicides in Portland hit an all-time high. Shootings tripled. The state was ranked 8th-worst in the country for property crime.
I’m often asked, “Why is crime so bad? Why aren’t you doing anything?”
Oregon’s house of justice is burning, and district attorneys are doing everything they can to rescue victims while beating back a fire threatening us all. But when we reach for our tools, they’ve vanished.
Over the last three years, our public safety toolbox has been gradually looted by our state’s leadership. Oregon’s Legislature, appellate courts and governor have blunted law enforcement's ability to search cars and seize guns and drugs and have released more than 1,000 prisoners. Officers’ hands are tied; our hands are tied; trial judges’ hands are tied. We are fighting a losing battle because we don’t have the tools to win.
The Legislature just passed Senate Bill 1510, which prohibits police from stopping a car for a “lighting violation.” The serial killer Ted Bundy was captured because he turned off his headlights at night. Do we really want to take this tool away?
With Senate Bill 1013, the Legislature effectively ended the death penalty while making it harder to send a murderer to prison for life. Those who testified about this bill before lawmakers were admonished not to say “rape” or “murder” because those words were too “traumatizing.” Are we OK granting the power to legislate justice for victims to those who can’t even hear those victims’ real-life experiences?
For Statesman Journal SubscribersLife sentence commuted for Keizer man who killed mother as a teen
Financed by out-of-state interests, the Ballot Measure 110 campaign played to our compassion and decriminalized possession of street drugs — meth, heroin and cocaine — for adults and children. It promised treatment in lieu of criminal charges for those struggling with addiction. Of the 1,826 folks ticketed for drug possession last year, only 19 sought treatment. And only a handful of others called a phone number to get their ticket dismissed. They’re not required to do treatment and nobody is checking.
The Legislature sent the most violent juvenile offenders, who Oregonians voted should be tried as adults, back to juvenile court and made them eligible for parole after 15 years. Under these new laws, Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents and classmates in a school shooting, could’ve been paroled a decade ago. Legislators promised this change wouldn’t be retroactive, but the governor made it so anyway for hundreds of offenders.
Oregonians pay more per capita for public defense than every state except Massachusetts. Our public defenders’ annual budget is $47.5 million more than all 36 county district attorney budgets combined. We fund 592 full-time defense attorneys, to 429 prosecutors. Private attorneys make the disparity greater still.
Oregon’s public safety system is burning. It’s never been more difficult to protect victims of crime, so it’s never been more important to say enough is enough.
Let’s tell our leaders to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to put out the fire.
Paige Clarkson is the Marion County District Attorney. She was appointed in 2018 and elected in 2019. A graduate of Willamette University College of Law, Clarkson lives in South Salem her husband and their four teenagers. You may reach her at districtattorney@co.marion.or.us
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/08/why-does-oregon-defer-needs-disabled-students/65348854007/
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Why do we defer on the needs of disabled students?
A necessary addition to Oregon law will, all too quietly, was not passed during the recent legislative session.
Senate Bill 1578, co-sponsored by Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin (D-Corvallis) with bipartisan support, would have made it possible for the Oregon Department of Education to competently investigate and deftly resolve claims of discrimination on the basis of disability brought forward by Oregon families against local schools and school districts. In other words, the bill would have empowered the state of Oregon to enforce existing laws that protect our disabled students receiving compensatory education against the structural hurdles they face.
This last month, the public learned that the bill will not be going forward due to a so-called legislative lack of time and capacity.
The needs of disabled students have been deferred.
This news came as we exit a pandemic that has necessitated painful transformations for learning in our state in which no student or family has gone unaffected. The students who were left behind more than any other were our students with disabilities.
We have learned about students with visual impairments receiving no more than 20 minutes of instruction a day, parents of kindergarteners with autism forced to quit their jobs to support their children, and medically fragile students going 40 days without schooling due to staffing shortages.
In the absence of consent and consultation, these situations — no matter how they came to be — are illegal under Oregon law. And families should have a process for redress and remediation that does not involve depleting and time-consuming local district bureaucracies — especially as their children continue to go without access to education.
As a disabled Oregonian and someone who has committed himself to expanding the franchise of accessible education, this news is especially deflating. In my public-school upbringing, I benefited from Individualized Education Programs and 504 Plans. I’ve experienced firsthand the difficulties of navigating one’s K-12 education in normal times. I cannot imagine doing so now in the absence of robust support, or from behind a screen. My life would have been very different.
I cannot help but grieve the ways in which these educational shortcomings have potentially altered the life trajectories of these students — for the worse. And in not advancing this legislation, the Oregon Legislature has elected to perpetrate harm against students like me, kicking us down the legislative timeline.
The bill is slated to be reintroduced in the 2023-24 legislative session. Mark your calendars. Do not let Oregon students with disabilities get passed over again.
Oregon has a promise to its students: that they have opportunities to learn and the freedom to do so on their own terms. When that promise is violated, it is our responsibility to do what is possible to right that wrong — not get in the way.
In not passing SB 1578, Oregon has diminished its promise to some of its most vulnerable learners.
Joaquín M. Lara Midkiff of Salem is a fellow at the MacMillan Center, a researcher at the Peabody Museum, and founding editor of the Yale Review of Disability Experience. He recently concluded his term as president of the disability justice organization DEFY. He studies evolutionary biology and Latin American history at Yale University.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/08/letters-natural-gas-the-post-office-and-the-may-primaries/65347706007/
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Oregonians weigh in on natural gas, the Post Office and May primaries
Three cheers for Frank White
I was so impressed with the vital and creative manner of teaching history, especially Frank White at Central High School.
How I would have appreciated someone challenging me to think critically about history when I was in school many years ago. It is such a valuable, necessary life skill, especially in our complicated present age.
In White's class, students are challenged to think about historical events from the perspective of different races and cultures and present the reasons for their thinking. If this is indeed how things are being taught in Central High School, I say hooray! It is about time.
Thank you for your commitment to educating, encouraging critical thinking, and valuing all students of all backgrounds.
Lois Naylor, Salem 503-999-7525
XXX
It's no secret that the level of customer satisfaction and service at the U.S. Postal Service is very low.
First, two brief personal experiences: I recently mailed a first-class letter to Pennsylvania. It took 11 days to arrive, and at my local USPS, invariably there is one 'window' open to serve customers, consequently not infrequently long lines await patrons.
Now for a salient example of hyper-inflated price increases: I've long had a P.O. Box (the smallest capacity one) since where I reside the mail left outside is not secure. For 2021, the one-year renewal rate for my P.O. Box was $64. Yesterday, I received the 2022 renewal notice. The new cost? $166, or a percentage increase of 160%!
Finally, one Oregon U.S. Senator proudly announced that newly passed congressional legislation 'saved the USPS for the future.'
Greg Marlowe, Silverton
XXXX
Of the three Democratic candidates running to represent South Salem in House District 19, only one has been a leader in addressing the climate emergency.
When Tom Andersen was first elected to the Salem City Council eight years ago, he was the lone voice calling for a Salem Climate Action Plan. Fortunately, over time we were able to elect others that agreed with him, and just this year, we finally have a plan that we can begin to implement.
It was Tom’s motion that set the goal for the Salem Climate Action Plan to have Salem reduce our carbon emissions to “net zero” by 2050 and to get halfway there by 2035. Tom also led efforts to eliminate single-use plastic bags in our city, and efforts to do more to preserve and increase our tree canopy.
Now Tom wants to move up to the Legislature so that he can continue his work to have Oregon become a leader in climate action in the U.S. If you believe, as I do, that there is no more important issue for our government to tackle than the climate emergency that threatens the lives of our children and grandchildren, you will join me in supporting Tom Andersen’s candidacy in HD 19.
Jim Scheppke, Salem
XXX
I'm voting yes on school bond measure #27-134 in the May election, and I'm pleased to see so much community support for it. I want the students of Dallas to have the best that we can give them.
Our schools are in need, not only of repairs to roofs, plumbing, and dry rot, but of changes necessary to meet the demands of the times we're living in. Securing entryways is imperative, and I believe the proposed upgrades and renovations, as laid out on the district website, are an important part of fostering confidence and success in the learning experience.
A bond is the way to make all of this happen. Let's show the youth in our community that we believe they're worth it.
Lori Patton, Dallas 602-463-8871
XXX
In the coming weeks, registered Salem voters will receive ballots and vote in the first-ever Oregon 6th Congressional District primaries. I strongly encourage fellow readers to vote in the May 17th primaries. In the Republican primary, I fully support and will vote for Ron Noble.
Ron currently serves as state legislator from McMinnville, is a pastor, foster parent, and a former police chief. Given the growing challenges in the domestic economy and conflicts abroad, our state and nation, now more than ever, need leaders with sound judgment, experience, integrity, and humility in Congress. Ron possesses these key traits and is a purpose-driven community leader who is the best fit for the new district.
I've had the honor of serving two members of Congress in Washington D.C., one as chief of staff. I understand the daily grind, choices, and challenges members encounter and must address. I believe Ron has the best experience and temperament to represent Salem and will take every opportunity to keep all the communities in the new 6th district at the forefront of his decision-making.
I ask readers to join me in supporting Ron Noble in the Republican primary to be our next U.S. Representative.
Mark Cruz, Salem
XXX
Congress passed a bill to cap insulin at $35/month. I am 66 with Type 1 Diabetes for 25 years. Unlike Type 2, insulin is not optional. It keeps me alive.
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, in 2009 I was kicked off my healthcare coverage because I was, well, sick. A few weeks later the insurance company's CEO got a $6 million bonus, presumably for getting rid of pesky people like me.
I had enormous emergency and hospitalization bills I could not pay. I lost my retirement, home and seven rental properties. To qualify for free state-sponsored health insurance I was allowed to have only $2,000 and a car.
My biggest monthly expense after housing was $600 for insulin. 12 years later it is $1,400 which Medicare covers while I live on $1,423 Social Security. I consider myself lucky.
All Democrats voted Aye. All but 12 Republicans, Nay. This is some America
Terry Dempsey, Kezier
XXX
The March 12 edition of the Statesman Journal, (1A, 'Metting on natural gas rate disrupted by trollers,') reported the disruption by trollers during a virtual meeting held by NW Natural. According to the article, NW Natural was seeking another gas increase of 10.8% for customers.
NW Natural supplies natural gas in most of northwestern Oregon They had just had an increase the year before. The most egregious aspect of the increase is that executives' salaries range now from $700,000 to $2.7 million.
I want NW Natural to explain the justification for such huge salaries.
Marjorie E. Kmetz, Salem
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/04/08/high-school-softball-north-salem-jazmine-young-statesman-journal-athlete-of-the-week-sports-news/65347964007/
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North Salem's Jazmine Young wins Athlete of the Week
North Salem softball player Jazmine Young is the Statesman Journal Athlete of the Week, having won a poll of readers.
She struck out 13 batters in seven innings in the Vikings’ 12-4 win against Lincoln. She also went 3 for 5, with two doubles and two RBIs.
Here is another look at the other nominees this week.
MacKenzie Scott, South Salem softball: As of March 30, she was hitting .450, and as a catcher, she had thrown out all five base runners attempting to steal second.
Brody McMullen, West Salem baseball: As of March 29, he was hitting .412, with a double, two RBIs, and four stolen bases. He also had eight strikeouts in 3⅓ innings pitched.
Grant Strother, Sprague baseball: As of March 30, he was 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA, 15 strikeouts and two walks. He was also leading the Olys with a .650 batting average.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/education/2022/04/08/college-rankings-chemeketa-community-college-named-best-oregon-college-recent-ranking-beating-uo-osu/65348505007/
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Chemeketa Community College named best Oregon college in recent ranking
In a state with some of the most well-known public and private colleges in the nation, local community colleges are often taken for granted.
But this time, Salem's Chemeketa Community College gets the bragging rights.
EDsmart, a national publisher of college resources and rankings, named Chemeketa the best college in the state for 2021. That's right — over University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Reed College and about 100 others.
To create its ranking, EDsmart took data from the U.S. Department of Education and compared four main factors that students may consider as they search for colleges — average cost, retention rate, graduation rate and potential salary after attending. The potential salary was determined by averaging the earnings of past students who received financial aid, 10 years after entering the school, according to EDsmart's website.
To have a community college at the top of a list like this means a lot because they are often overlooked as an option, despite their affordability and relatively high average salary post-schooling, said Marie Hulett, Chemeketa's executive director of Institutional Advancement.
Community colleges offer an affordable option for students to complete part of their education before attending a four-year university. They also serve as a place for people who don't want to go to a university but want to earn a certificate or degree, make connections with local industries and ultimately earn a "family wage," Hulett said.
"There's a longstanding myth that you have to go to a university for the prestige," Hulett said. "But (community college) can make way more sense financially."
Top five Oregon colleges:
1. Chemeketa Community College
- Average Net Price: $6,099
- Retention Rate: 61%
- Graduation Rate: 30%
- Salary After Attending: $70,300
2. Portland State University
- Average Net Price: $13,856
- Retention Rate: 74%
- Graduation Rate: 54%
- Salary After Attending: $78,100
3. Oregon Institute of Technology
- Average Net Price: $17,083
- Retention Rate: 80%
- Graduation Rate: 52%
- Salary After Attending: $70,900
4. Portland Community College
- Average Net Price: $8,505
- Retention Rate: 65%
- Graduation Rate: 21%
- Salary After Attending: $69,800
5. University of Oregon
- Average Net Price: $16,355
- Retention Rate: 86%
- Graduation Rate: 72%
- Salary After Attending: $57,100
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/09/salem-ymca-dick-withnell/65349115007/
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New YMCA to be named in Salem philanthropist's honor
Dick Withnell celebrated his 80th birthday by hosting a tailgate party Friday night in the upstairs ballroom of Salem Convention Center.
Nearly 300 of his friends attended, including politicians, criminal justice leaders and representatives from countless nonprofits, all wearing their favorite team's fan gear.
Withnell wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with Linfield University, where he and his wife attended, and Eastern Washington University, where his grandson played football.
"Welcome to the biggest birthday party in Salem history," his grandson, Jake Withnell, said to start the program.
Family members and friends took turns regaling the room with funny and inspirational stories about a man known for being a business and community leader, motivator and champion philanthropist.
"Dick's a rare breed − part comedian, part strategist, philosopher and a total evangelist for Salem and the Valley and state he loves," said Cheryl Roberts, former president of Chemeketa Community College. "He's got the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known because when he believes in you, you want to do more, you want to be more, and you want to achieve more."
Shaney Starr, executive director of CASA of Marion County, asked anyone in the room involved with a nonprofit that Withnell had touched to stand. More than half did.
"There isn't a corner or a crevice of this city, this county or this state that has not been touched by the heart of Dick Withnell," Starr said. "As a man of faith, Dick has taught each and every one of us through his modeling and his actions about the giving of our time, our talents or our treasures. In Dick's case, he has given each of those 10-fold."
YMCA meets fundraising challenge for $30 million new building
Not on the program's agenda was a special gift presentation by CEO Tim Sinatra and board president Dan Moore of the Family YMCA of Marion & Polk Counties. Withnell serves on the Y's board and has been a driving force in helping the organization build a new facility in downtown Salem.
"The board of directors met recently, secretly behind your back," Moore said, "and unanimously approved naming our new Y the Withnell Family YMCA."
Withnell looked speechless as he and his wife, Gayle, joined them on stage.
"Dick is going to protest," Moore said, "but we got the OK from Gayle, and we know that Gayle rules the roost, so we're confident it's going to stick."
Moore shared all the reasons why the board made the decision, including Withnell being the first to remind the community how the YMCA shelved its plans to make way for construction of the Kroc Center. Then, once it was the Y's turn, Withnell committed his time and personal resources to the project and led the final push of the $30 million capital campaign.
Sinatra called the naming honor a gift from the entire community and one well-deserved.
"How is it possible that one person can do so much?" Sinatra said, using words such as reach, relevance and results to define Withnell's convictions. "Dick has always made sure a multitude of services are available so that our entire community has access to what they need, when they need it, and as much as they need. He has played a significant role in expanding organizations like Boys & Girls Club, UGM, Kroc Center, YMCA, Liberty House, CASA of Marion, Polk counties and more and more and more.
"Dick has always been a proponent of making sure the services nonprofits provide are relevant for the children, families and adults being supported. Dick's most-used phrase is, 'What's the ROI, return on investment, for the children, youth and families we serve. Are we doing the right things and if so are we doing enough of the right things?' Dick's philosophy is about investing in results that save and change lives."
The new YMCA, on Court and Cottage streets NE, is expected to be completed late this summer. Architectural renderings were shown on the giant screens in the ballroom with the Withnell name on walls in various locations of the building.
"I have to confess, I don't like surprises," the birthday boy said, reeling off a list of other deserving names behind the project. "It's not an exaggeration, I don't know if we're worthy of this, to be honest."
His wife nudged him and said, "Just say thank you," and the crowd cheered.
Capi Lynn is the Statesman Journal's news columnist. Contact her at clynn@cwithycombal.com or 503-399-6710, or follow her on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2022/04/09/keizer-woman-arrested-after-chase-at-coast/65349120007/
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Keizer woman arrested after chase at Oregon coast
A Keizer woman was arrested Friday after leading three law enforcement agencies on a fast- and slow-speed chase from Depoe Bay to Newport.
The 66-year-old woman was stopped in her car in a southbound lane of Highway 101 in Depoe Bay with the hazard lights flashing. When a Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy approached her, she sped off and eventually reached speeds estimated at 70 to 80 mph and passed vehicles in a no-passing zone. Two sets of Stop Sticks disabled some of her tires and her speed slowed to 10- to 15-mph in Newport.
Police said the woman appeared to be in a mental health crisis and in danger of harming herself. They boxed her car in to stop her, then broke a window and used a Taser to make an arrest. She was treated on scene by EMTs and at a local hospital before being taken to jail on charges of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving, and two outstanding warrants from Marion County.
Lincoln County Sheriffs, Newport Police, Oregon State Police, Newport Fire Department and Pacific West Ambulance were involved in the situation.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/09/hotline-to-report-oregon-sanctuary-law-violations-live-immigration-refugee-enforcement-police-ice/65349047007/
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Hotline to report Oregon sanctuary law violations goes live
Oregon lawmakers passed the “Sanctuary Promise Act” last year, strengthening the nation's oldest sanctuary state law.
The 35-year-old law restricts local law enforcement from assisting federal authorities with immigration enforcement. The new law clarified and expanded some regulations, including preventing immigration detention centers from operating in the state.
The new law also required the Department of Justice to set up a hotline and website to report violations of the state’s sanctuary law. The hotline went live last week.
During legislative hearings, advocates spoke about ongoing instances of local law enforcement working with and assisting immigration agents.
In 2018, the Oregon Department of Corrections announced it would no longer share information about inmates' families with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after emails were obtained by Willamette Week. A year before that, records obtained by the Portland Tribune revealed three sheriff's deputies in Multnomah County had similarly shared information with federal immigration officers.
The new law also added an explicit prohibition on immigration authorities detaining without a warrant a person who is attending a court proceeding or is going to or leaving court. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon sued in 2018 after it tracked 11 arrests by ICE agents in or near Oregon courthouses that year.
A full accounting of violations is not readily available.
"We have never tracked this information (we’ve never been required to)," Kristina Edmunson, communications director for the Oregon Attorney General, said in an email.
Edmunson said she was not aware of any other state agency that has tracked the information either.
The hotline will facilitate data collection about sanctuary law violations. The Department of Justice will investigate allegations of sanctuary promise law violations.
“Our immigrants, refugees, and migrant workers are our friends, neighbors and co-workers, and they are a vital part of our social and economic fabric. No one should feel like they cannot show up to work or school for fear of being arrested, detained or deported," Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a news release. "We intend to follow up on every single call and urge all Oregonians to be aware of and use this new resource.”
What is a violation?
The website outlines examples of violations to Oregon Sanctuary Promise laws.
It includes:
- Investigation or interrogation by state or local police for immigration enforcement purposes.
- Most inquiries, storing or sharing of information about national origin, immigration or citizenship status by police or state or local government.
- Civil arrest without a judicial warrant/order from a court facility.
- Arrests by federal immigration agents of a person on their way to or from court or while at court.
- Police collaboration with federal authorities for immigration enforcement purposes.
- Denial of services, benefits or privileges to a person in jail or on probation/parole based on immigration status.
- Police establishing coordinated traffic stops or traffic perimeters to enforce federal immigration orders or laws.
- State or local government or police failing to document or report requests from a federal immigration agency relating to immigration enforcement.
How to report a violation
The hotline is available in several languages. Similar to the Bias Response Hotline launched in January 2020, the new Sanctuary Promise Hotline will be staffed by trained advocates within the Oregon Department of Justice’s Crime Victims and Survivors Services Division. All calls will be considered confidential.
To contact the new Oregon Sanctuary Promise Hotline, visit SanctuaryPromise.Oregon.gov or call 1-844-924-7829.
To contact the hotline in Spanish, visit PromesaSantuario.Oregon.gov or call 1-844-626-7276.
As with the Bias Response Hotline, which received more than 3,000 reports of statewide hate or bias, the hotline will be a "Report and Support System."
Staff at the hotline will not directly investigate reports of violations but will:
- Support those who witnessed, were the victim of or were impacted by violations of Oregon’s sanctuary laws.
- Refer witnesses, victims and community members to services.
- Inform and support the Oregon Department of Justice's Sanctuary Promise Investigator to determine if the department can open an investigation.
- Track violations and report to the public who is violating state sanctuary laws and if there are trends.
Other help for victims
To further support victims of hate and bias, Oregon Department of Justice recently became the first state in the country to provide counseling benefits through the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program to anyone who has experienced a bias crime or bias incident, including a sanctuary bias incident.
In addition, as of April 1, victims can apply for up to $1,000 in emergency funds to help with safety, security, relocation or other assistance in the aftermath of bias. Contact the Bias Response Hotline at StandAgainstHate.Oregon.gov or 1-844-924-2427 for questions or to apply. The hotline accepts all Relay calls.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/09/on-the-agenda-salem-city-council-to-consider-mobile-crisis-unit-police-mental-health-homeless/65349096007/
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On the agenda: Salem council to consider mobile crisis unit
Salem City Council is set to vote Monday on whether to create a mobile crisis unit to respond to calls about people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises.
Councilor Vanessa Nordyke is bringing forth a motion to direct staff to explore the creation of a request for proposals to operate a mobile crisis unit.
Nordyke has long been an advocate of bringing a civilian-led mobile crisis unit — similar to CAHOOTS in Eugene — to Salem.
An analysis found that Eugene's crisis response team saves the city about $8.5 million a year. In 2017, CAHOOTS responded to 17% of the Eugene Police Department's overall call volume.
The Salem City Council on Monday will also consider:
- A proclamation recognizing Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
- A budget transfer of $200,000 to General Fund contingency to fund initial steps in implementing the Climate Action Plan.
- One-year contract extensions for firefighters and 911 professionals.
- Addition of Juneteenth to city-paid holidays.
- Public hearings for annexations at 4090 Milton St. NE and 4929 Auburn Road NE.
- A public hearing on Council Review of the Planning Commission's approval of the Comprehensive Plan Map.
- Zone changes for 38.86 acres at the 2100 block of Doaks Ferry Road NW.
- A policy establishing guidelines for council consideration of fee waivers.
Explainer: What are the rules around public meetings and public comment in Oregon?
The meeting is at 6 p.m. It is virtual and can be watched at Comcast Cable CCTV Channel 21 or on the Salem YouTube channel in English/American Sign Language and Spanish.
Written public comments on agenda items can be emailed by 5 p.m. Monday to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net. Or pre-register between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at cityofsalem.net/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-Council-Meeting.aspx to speak during the meeting via Zoom.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2022/04/09/oregon-leaders-have-looted-public-safety/65346580007/
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Oregon leaders have looted public safety
Two years ago, Oregon’s crime rate was its lowest in 50 years. But last year, homicides in Portland hit an all-time high. Shootings tripled. The state was ranked 8th-worst in the country for property crime.
I’m often asked, “Why is crime so bad? Why aren’t you doing anything?”
Oregon’s house of justice is burning, and district attorneys are doing everything they can to rescue victims while beating back a fire threatening us all. But when we reach for our tools, they’ve vanished.
Over the last three years, our public safety toolbox has been gradually looted by our state’s leadership. Oregon’s Legislature, appellate courts and governor have blunted law enforcement's ability to search cars and seize guns and drugs and have released more than 1,000 prisoners. Officers’ hands are tied; our hands are tied; trial judges’ hands are tied. We are fighting a losing battle because we don’t have the tools to win.
The Legislature just passed Senate Bill 1510, which prohibits police from stopping a car for a “lighting violation.” The serial killer Ted Bundy was captured because he turned off his headlights at night. Do we really want to take this tool away?
With Senate Bill 1013, the Legislature effectively ended the death penalty while making it harder to send a murderer to prison for life. Those who testified about this bill before lawmakers were admonished not to say “rape” or “murder” because those words were too “traumatizing.” Are we OK granting the power to legislate justice for victims to those who can’t even hear those victims’ real-life experiences?
For Statesman Journal SubscribersLife sentence commuted for Keizer man who killed mother as a teen
Financed by out-of-state interests, the Ballot Measure 110 campaign played to our compassion and decriminalized possession of street drugs — meth, heroin and cocaine — for adults and children. It promised treatment in lieu of criminal charges for those struggling with addiction. Of the 1,826 folks ticketed for drug possession last year, only 19 sought treatment. And only a handful of others called a phone number to get their ticket dismissed. They’re not required to do treatment and nobody is checking.
The Legislature sent the most violent juvenile offenders, who Oregonians voted should be tried as adults, back to juvenile court and made them eligible for parole after 15 years. Under these new laws, Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents and classmates in a school shooting, could’ve been paroled a decade ago. Legislators promised this change wouldn’t be retroactive, but the governor made it so anyway for hundreds of offenders.
Oregonians pay more per capita for public defense than every state except Massachusetts. Our public defenders’ annual budget is $47.5 million more than all 36 county district attorney budgets combined. We fund 592 full-time defense attorneys, to 429 prosecutors. Private attorneys make the disparity greater still.
Oregon’s public safety system is burning. It’s never been more difficult to protect victims of crime, so it’s never been more important to say enough is enough.
Let’s tell our leaders to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to put out the fire.
Paige Clarkson is the Marion County District Attorney. She was appointed in 2018 and elected in 2019. A graduate of Willamette University College of Law, Clarkson lives in South Salem her husband and their four teenagers. You may reach her at districtattorney@co.marion.or.us
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/10/oregon-mountain-passes-to-get-15-30-inches-of-snow/65349137007/
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Oregon mountain passes to get 15-30 inches of snow, valley snow less likely
It won't feel like spring in Oregon's mountains over the next four days.
A winter weather advisory says 15-30 inches of snow is headed for Oregon's mountains above 2,000 feet from Saturday night through Monday.
That's likely to make travel over Cascade mountain passes difficult. A decent amount of snow is projected for Sunday, but the heaviest accumulations by far will be Sunday night and Monday. Winds will also be 15 to 25 mph.
"Travel could be very difficult to impossible," the National Weather Service said in the advisory.
The greatest impact will be passes between the Willamette Valley and Bend, but mountain passes between the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Coast will also likely see some snow at elevations above 1,500 feet.
Snow in the Willamette Valley looks unlikely in the short term, with the snow level staying closer to 1,500 to 2,000 feet — which means most of the impact will be in the foothills and mountains.
The Willamette Valley's best shot for snowflakes appears to be Tuesday at this point.
Highway 22/20 over Santiam Pass, Highway 58 over Willamette Pass and the Mount Hood and Government Camp will all be heavily impacted.
The cooler weather — just a few days removed from the warmest day of the year so far — comes from a system of air from Alaska. Snow will be possible in the mountains much of next week.
Travel aside, the snow is actually great news for Oregon's mountains, where important snowpack is well below average across the entire state.
A healthier snowpack brought on by this system can help delay wildfire season and fuel river flows during summer.
Northwest Oregon is in fairly good shape following last year's drought, although southern and eastern Oregon are still in deep drought.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/04/10/volunteers-build-sheds-for-victims-2020-wildfires/65349123007/
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Volunteers build sheds for 2020 Santiam Canyon wildfire victims
Many Santiam Canyon residents who lost their homes in the 2020 wildfires are still waiting to rebuild their lives.
Some like Diana McGuire, who lives near Highway 22 and the Santiam River, returned to their home in ruins.
She and her husband once had a workshop, thriving garden, chicken coop and 1936 home.
"It was our little bit of heaven," McGuire said.
But when the Beachie Creek Fire swept through the region, all that remained was her barn and chicken coop. Everything else was a loss.
"It was totally burnt down," she said.
The stress of losing their home took its toll on her husband. He died four months later, just after the couple was able to design a new home to rebuild.
Since October 2020, McGuire's been living in an RV on her land while construction on her home is underway. The cramped quarters meant she had no place to store the feed for her chickens who miraculously survived the blaze, her canning tools to use once her garden is back and her other belongings.
More:Over 1,500 structures, including 700 homes destroyed by Beachie Creek and Lionshead Fires
Just as she was debating giving up the chickens, she was gifted a shed constructed by local volunteers and members of the Associated General Contractors Oregon-Columbia chapter.
The shed is one of 65 given to people who lost their homes in the fire.
The shed build project began in February 2021 with a local church intending to build 10 sheds.
But as the need increased and more groups got involved, the effort flourished. So far 65 sheds have been built with the goal to reach 80 by the end of May. Work will restart later this year.
Bill Smith, with Parker, Smith and Feek and AGC, said the building picked up after Blazer Industries donated warehouse space in Stayton to assemble and paint the structures. On Saturday, volunteers hammered, built and painted inside the warehouse.
Smith said supply chain issues have meant that each shed, which once cost $1,400 to build, now costs $4,000. Funded by donations and volunteer work, the sheds are given to wildfire survivors.
McGuire's shed now rests where her husband's garage and machine shop once was. She had it painted in the same mint green shade with bright green trim that she wants to paint her house.
On her property, the sounds of clucking chickens and the rushing river fill the air. Some of the trees are regrowing. Pots house the plants for her future garden. Her new home is being built to accommodate her many kids, grandkids and, as of recently, one great-grandkid.
She said the shed has been vital for helping her re-establish her sense of ownership and peace at home.
"It instills hope," she said.
The shed also keeps her belongings safe from would-be thieves who've taken to frequenting wildfire victims' homes in the canyon.
McGuire said she was grateful for the volunteers and said the need for the sheds remained in the community.
"It's a godsend," she said. "I don't know what I would have done without it."
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/04/10/election-2022-meet-candidates-oregon-labor-commissioner-voters-choosing-key-enforcer-workers-rights/65348766007/
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Election 2022: Meet the candidates for Oregon labor commissioner
Oregon voters will be choosing a key enforcer of workers’ rights this year. Whoever wins the race for labor commissioner will be in charge of an agency with a $35 million budget and more than 100 employees.
The Bureau of Labor and Industries enforces wage and hour claims and other worker protections. It also supports apprenticeship programs for Oregonians seeking job training and enforces protections against discrimination in housing and public places.
All Oregon voters, even those not affiliated with a political party, can have a say in the May 17 election for labor commissioner.
On that date, if a candidate for labor commissioner gets more than 50% of the vote, that person will win the election outright. But if not, the top two candidates will head to a runoff in November, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
The state’s current labor commissioner, Val Hoyle, in 2018 called it “the most important race you’ve never heard of.” Hoyle, a former state lawmaker, is not seeking reelection because she is running for Congress in District 4.
Eight people are trying to become labor commissioner this year. These are the candidates:
Aaron Baca, reforestation company owner
Baca, of Cornelius, says that as a contractor and former electrician he understands both the struggles of small businesses and what it’s like to be part of a union. When he relocated to Oregon from California, he says it was too difficult for him as a journeyman electrician to get qualifications to do similar work in Oregon.
“I would've had to start all over all over again as a journeyman, to go back into a four-year program,” Baca said. He wants to emphasize job training.
“Making more resources available for basic training skills is crucial, I believe,” Baca said. “And as well as, these training programs need to have (an) introductory year or introductory-style approach that's not so committal. If you're going to go into a trade, whether it be a plumber or electrician or whatever it may be, you're looking at four years' or five years' commitment right off the bat.”
Baca said he has not managed a budget of BOLI’s size but that he has worked as a manager.
Brent Barker, real estate broker
Barker, of Aloha, could not be reached for comment by deadline.
On his website, he says his campaign “will work with business and labor to encourage and promote high paying jobs to Oregon; protect workers’ rights and improve Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) social media public service ratings.” His website also says he wants to work with schools to “enhance” job training.
Cheri Helt, former state legislator and restaurant owner
Helt, a restaurateur and former state lawmaker from Bend, cites her experience as a legislator, business owner and school board member as qualifications. As a member of the Bend-La Pine School Board, Helt said she worked to pass Measure 98 in 2016, which dedicated state money to career and technical education.
“We now have a designated line item in our budget for career and technical education to high schools,” Helt said. “But what we haven't done is really captured the pipeline from those career and technical education programs into high-paying jobs.”
For example, she says, the state has committed to expanding access to high-speed internet, but there isn’t an apprenticeship program for broadband jobs.
“I think the biggest piece of this is really starting to build the connections, right?” Helt said. “Because we have programs, you just have to find them and then there's not arguably enough of those programs. Right? So let's take the mystery out of it. Let's design this so that it's easy.”
Helt also points to her experience running a business, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when businesses had to adapt to rapidly changing regulations.
She says she also wants to use her understanding of state laws to work on workforce housing issues. Oregonians across the state struggle to afford housing, especially in Bend, an outdoors town with a booming real estate market.
“I don't think I'm going to come with all the answers, but I'm going to come with the willingness to bring forward everybody, and get everybody sat at a table, and let's talk about how we can solve the problem together,” Helt said.
Helt has been endorsed by Oregon’s former Secretary of State Bev Clarno and former state Rep. Knute Buehler, of Bend.
Chris Henry, truck driver
At midnight on Sept. 9, 2021, Henry, who has been a Teamsters freight truck driver for 18 years, pulled off the highway to file to run for Labor Commissioner the first minute that registration opened.
That ended up not working, and he had to wait until he got home. He and one other candidate, Robert Neuman, filed on Sept. 9, according to Secretary of State records. The perennial candidate – who says he also has run for governor, treasurer, attorney general, Congress and the Tualatin Valley Water District – is now looking to help his fellow workers as labor commissioner.
“This was out of a desire that I had in order to help working-class people,” Henry said. He wants to see a higher minimum wage, which he says he would use a statewide platform as labor commissioner to advocate for, and wants to require companies to provide diversity training.
Casey Kulla, county commissioner and farmer
As a county commissioner in Yamhill County since 2019, Kulla says he has worked with a range of people with varying political beliefs to improve government services, and wants to bring that skillset to statewide leadership.
For instance, when the state-mandated vaccines for health care workers, he helped the county come up with an agreement – over the course of many hours of discussion – that Kulla said was respectful of the workers but also complied with the mandate.
He thinks that BOLI can better inform Oregonians of their rights.
In recent years, the state Legislature has passed new policies enshrining new protections for workers, like requiring overtime for farmworkers and creating a new program for people to take paid family and medical leave when they welcome a new child or care for a sick loved one. BOLI has the responsibility for enforcing those rights.
“Most people have no idea that they have those rights, or that those programs exist,” Kulla said. “And it feels really important for people to actually know that and then know where to go.”
Kulla says he also wants the agency to step up its enforcement of apprenticeship programs and wage and hour laws. In early 2021, the Oregon Center for Public Policy published research finding that Oregon businesses paid penalties to the state in only 1% of cases where a worker’s wage theft claim was found to be valid.
“If there's not a deterrent in the form of a penalty, then it's like a zero-interest loan,” Kulla said.
He thinks the agency’s process for penalizing businesses for violations should be clear and transparent.
And Kulla wants to figure out how to reduce the workload for the agency's civil rights investigators. The bureau gives equal priority to each case, and the pandemic has also resulted in high workloads per worker, Kulla said. He said addressing that might mean increasing the number of workers the agency has to do that work, but also could mean providing investigators withtechnological tools to do their jobs more efficiently.
Kulla, who runs a farm with his wife, Katie, growing produce, seed crops and pasture-raised meat, has raised about $25,000 in 2022, and his endorsements include former Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Robert Neuman, worker from Baker County
Neuman, who says he works to help manage businesses, says his basic platform is that it should be easier for workers to apply for jobs. He believes the Bureau of Labor and Industries is underfunded and doesn’t have enough workers.
“So it's this awkward agency that, ‘All right. Need to do this,’ but you can only choose so many things to pursue,” Neuman said. “So which do you pursue for the most good?”
Neuman says he wants to motivate employers to post accurate job listings that include the qualifications needed for the job. He said there is still “some question about the enforcement mechanism” for that idea.
Asked if there was anything he would change about the agency, he said that he would wait until he was elected to decide what needed to be changed.
Christina Stephenson, civil rights lawyer
About 15 years ago, lawyer Christina Stephenson’s father got sick with colon cancer.
Stephenson struggled to balance her finances and taking care of her dad.
“It was an awful time,” Stephenson said. “And it was a time where I really had to guard my paid leave and kind of dole it out to make sure that I could still pay my bills, but also take a little bit of time off to help be a caregiver and be with my dad during that time. And I remember, really distinctly, being so scared to look at my paycheck because I'd taken a few days more than I could really afford to.”
But after she got her paycheck when he passed away in 2012, she realized that she received bereavement leave as part of the contract she was working under.
Having long been interested in public policy, Stephenson researched the law and learned that other Oregon workers could be fired if they took time off to grieve a loved one. So she mobilized the members of her grief support group to advocate at the state capitol for changing the law in 2013.
Since then, Stephenson has provided feedback on legal language in bills that have become state laws, like the new program to provide paid family and medical leave to people who have just had a child or are taking care of a loved one, and a measure to promote equal pay.
If elected labor commissioner, Stephenson wants to continue to defend workers.
“I really think that the job is to make sure that as Oregon's economy is growing and changing, that the workers, the employers, the consumers, everyone who makes the economy run, that they know they have someone in their corner, someone who's looking out for them,” Stephenson said.
Stephenson says she has a good understanding of what it’s like to run a small business and worry about making payroll, too.
“We can make it so much easier for employers to do the right thing,” she says. The division of the bureau that is meant to help businesses comply with regulations has just six workers in it, Stephenson said.
Stephenson says that overall, the bureau has half the workers that it did 40 years ago and she wants the agency to be strategic about how and where it spends money and enforces workplace protections. Part of that could involve using data to see which industries are least compliant.
Stephenson has been endorsed by Hoyle, the current labor commissioner, as well as unions from PCUN, the farmworkers’ union, to the Oregon State Firefighters Council. As of April 7, Stephenson was by far the largest fundraiser for the race, with her campaign raising about $109,000 this year.
Claire Withycombe covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Contact her atcwithycombe@StatesmanJournal.com
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/04/11/salem-oregon-marion-polk-county-some-schools-weather-conditions/65349179007/
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Some schools on delayed start Monday due to weather conditions
The following schools and programs have announced delays or closures due to weather conditions Monday morning:
- Forest Grove Head Start/early childhood preschool and childcare classrooms are closed today.
- George Fox University Newberg, Portland and Salem campuses will open at 10 a.m.
- Hillsboro Head Start/early childhood preschool and childcare classrooms will start two hours late.
- North Marion School District will have no morning preschool. All schools and bus schedules will start two hours late.
- Oregon Child Development Coalition Headstart Mulino Center will start two hours late.
- Scotts Mills area - no bus service above McKillop. Other areas are being monitored.
- Silver Crest Elementary School in the Silver Falls School District will start two hours late.
- Summit Learning Charter will open at 10 a.m.
Conditions in other areas are still being monitored.
Awinter storm warning Sunday night predicted 12-26 inches of snow was headed for Oregon's mountains above 2,000 feet from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. Willamette Valley snow appeared most likely Monday morning, mainly north of Salem in the hills.
Portland Monday morning reported its first April measurable snow at the airport since recordkeeping started in 1940, according to the National Weather Service. As of 6:45 a.m., the airport had reported an inch of snow.
The cooler weather — just a few days removed from the warmest day of the year so far — comes from a system of air from Alaska.
A winter weather advisory was issued late Sunday for the Portland Metro Area for between a half inch to two inches of snow on the valley floor, with elevations above 500 feet seeing snow accumulations between three to six inches and winds gusting as high as 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Mountain travel will be very difficult
A blizzard is expected on the mountain passes between the Willamette Valley and Bend, but mountain passes between the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Coast will also likely see some snow.
Highway 22/20 over Santiam Pass, Highway 58 over Willamette Pass and the Mount Hood and Government Camp will all be heavily impacted and travel may become impossible.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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Willamette Valley snow ‘possible every day this week,’ complicating Easter travel plans
Snow in the Willamette Valley will be possible every day this week and travel over the Cascade Mountain passes will be hazardous at times as a late-season blast of frigid air keeps its hold on western Oregon.
The snow that fell Monday brought upwards of a foot of snow to the West Hills of Portland and slowed traffic along Interstate 5 primarily north of Salem.
“It's not the end of it,” National Weather Service meteorologist Tyler Kranz said.
Monday night will bring a 20% chance of additional, small amounts of snow across the Willamette Valley. Those odds increase even more Tuesday night, when odds of some snow is 60-80%, and chances of more than an inch of snow is 20-40% on the valley floor, Kranz said.
“Looking forward, we’re most concerned about Tuesday night,” he said. “Those are pretty good odds of more snow.”
The odds of snow are higher in Washington and the Portland Metro Area, largely north of Salem. But Salem and much of the central and south valley could also see white Tuesday night and at various times this week, he said.
“Honestly, there’s a chance for snow every day this work week,” Kranz said.
Portland set a record for the latest date of accumulating snow in records dating back to the 1800s. The previous record was April 10, 1903.
Heavier snow will continue to be more likely in the hills and foothills surrounding the Willamette Valley.
Mountain snow complicates Easter travel plans
While additional snow in the valley will continue to be possible, it’s unlikely to be major amounts, Kranz said.
That same trend is not true in the Coast Range and particularly the Cascade Range, where massive amounts of snow have been piling up and could make any travel between the valley and central Oregon hazardous.
A winter storm warning remains in effect for Cascade Range passes through Tuesday, with 12-24 inches projected.
Snow will continue to fall in the mountains, especially above 2,000 to 3,000 feet until late in the week, although the current forecast suggests snowfall totals will taper off to just a few inches per day.
That should make travel for Easter a bit easier.
“The weekend does look better if you’re traveling,” Kranz said. “The snow level rises out of the valley and while there probably still will be snow in the mountains, we’re not expecting heavy amounts.”
The cooler weather — just a few days removed from the warmest day of the year so far — comes from a system of air from Alaska.
Travel aside, the snow is great news for Oregon's mountains, where important snowpack is well below average across the entire state.
A healthier snowpack brought on by this system can help delay wildfire season and fuel river flows during summer. Northwest Oregon is in fairly good shape following last year's drought, although southern and eastern Oregon are still in deep drought.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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Vote for Athlete of the Week
There are a number of Mid-Valley athletes who are off to a great start this track and field season.
This week’s Statesman Journal Athlete of the Week nominees are:
DeMari Thompson, North Salem track and field
Sara Abbott, Sprague track and field
Brady Bliven, West Salem track and field
Emma Gates, Cascade track and field
Information of the nominees are below. Vote for the athlete you think is most deserving. The poll closes at noon Thursday.
DeMari Thompson, North Salem track and field: He has won the 100 and 200 meters in all four meets this season. His 100 time of 11.11 is tied for best in Class 5A this season.
Sara Abbott, Sprague track and field: In her five combined individual races this year in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters, she has two wins (800 and 1,500) and three second-place finishes. Her time of 10:50.95 in the 3,000 is third in the Mountain Valley Conference.
Brady Bliven, West Salem track and field: He has won all three of his combined individual races in the 800 and 1,500 meters. His 800 time of 2:00.45, and 1,500 time of 4:10.01 both lead the Mountain Valley Conference.
Emma Gates, Cascade track and field: She won the high jump at the Titan Track Classic. Her mark of 5-9 is the best in the state this season regardless of classification.
To vote, click here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc54LR5NFDBiBad7fhGLX84B-78HloUTAkSylFp5imP-aOm1g/viewform?usp=sf_link
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Latina-owned juice company Teja Juice Co encouraging better health with fresh fruits, vegetables
Down the corridors of the 45th Parallel building, the industrial metal and neutral-toned interior lends itself to many small offices. But in the far back, one space is bright orange, with one wall decorated with faux straw texture, shelves and containers of juice. This pop of brightly colored juice paradise is Teja Juice Company, owned by a Latina aunt and niece duo.
For Belen Lopez-Delgado and her aunt, Eva Lara Lopez − also an owner of Paloma's Taqueria − improving people's health was the root of the idea.
To Good Health
"We went into it with different ideas, but one of the biggest was that I was seeing the lack of fruits and vegetables in our diets," Belen said. "What better way to make things more fun and fresh than to juice them?"
The Lopezes knew of the benefits of juice early on, as the benefits they reaped from daily consumption were also one of the reasons they chose juice specifically.
Eva said she feels better after she has one, especially after a recent surgery left her unable to eat solid food during recovery. The option of having a healthy and nutritious juice was helpful for her recovery, she said.
Belen also said her mom and other family and friends have said they feel better as well, and had no idea juice could be so beneficial when so many on the market are sugary and have additives like colors, preservatives and the like.
Teja's juices consist of fruits and vegetables and are inspired by the aguas naturales, which is roughly translated to Mexican freshwater, Belen explained. Other products to come soon include smoothies, smoothie bowls and palettas Mexicanas (Mexican popsicles), which will become available on a rolling basis as the weather warms.
"We want to see our customers have healthy, natural items at their disposal," Eva said. "We've worked really hard, and (Belen) has done well at being able to make each drink a special one, with her own special touch, so every customer gets what they want."
Leer en español:Latina crea juguería Teja Juice Co en Salem; promueve mejor salud con frutas y verduras
Making Health Accessible
When the idea of a juice shop is brought up, the imagery that comes to mind may be of fancy minimalistic shops seen in Los Angeles with stuffy clientele and heavily overpriced drinks. But Belen said that stuffy, obnoxiously inaccessible "vibe" is what Teja is trying to go against.
"You think of that vibe, and I don't agree with that - like at all," Belen said. "I think that the culture behind our accessibility is encompassing of everything; I want Teja to be welcoming not just in terms of identity like race, age gender, but to be inclusive to everyone as possible. You don't need to look a certain way or live a certain lifestyle to have fresh fruits and vegetables, which I think a lot of people think they need to be, but it's in our basic food pyramid!
"I just want you to get your fruits and vegetables," Belen said, laughing.
Teja's juices are 100% fruits and vegetables, and range from green juices (Sweet Green has apples, pears, cucumber, kale and lemon) to other vibrant vegetable colors like beet red (Fresh Beet) and carrot orange (Citrus Carrot Blend) among other juice types.
Every 16 oz juice is a flat $8. Having affordable pricing for juice was one of Belen's goals because people who want a nice, healthy drink can "still have something healthy, but taste good and still be accessible."
For the Culture
Teja Juice Co., is named after the roofing tiles on Spanish clay houses seen in Mexico and the southern U.S. The overall bright orangey theme stems from a terracotta motif, as the juice shop's countertop is made of stucco.
Belen said this was all inspired by her grandparents' houses, so it was fitting for family and culture to be present in everything for a family-owned and run juice shop.
Eva, as one of the owners of Paloma's Taqueria, said the transition from taco truck to juice shop has been completely different, but she's managed to merge the cultures, tied with their Hispanic background, together.
"It's a lot of work and effort (to be both at the taco truck and juice shop)," Eva said. "But we (at Teja) have a good team."
Establishing during the pandemic
Teja was an idea that started long before a business plan was ever written.
In 2019, the idea of a juice shop was something that Belen and Eva bounced around each time they saw each other at family gatherings or ran into each other. They'd get excited, work a little bit on it as they balanced their full-time jobs, and then stop until they saw each other again and got re-inspired. In 2020, Eva finally sat Belen down and said it was possible to make their daydream a reality.
"We were prepared, after the little things we'd done, and just got to it," Belen said.
From there, they started looking at leases and were introduced to the spaces inside the 45th Parallel building, which they settled on since it "has so much potential to grow," Belen said.
With a lease they signed in early 2021, getting construction completed and equipment for the space was the same experience as other new restaurants: a waiting game. Enough was ready in November for Teja to have a soft opening, with not much posted on social media or shared widely due to wanting to make sure they had enough inventory.
"Literally everything has been short," Belen said. "Sometimes the stores aren't as stocked or the produce isn't as fresh so we have to wait longer for certain ingredients. Originally I wanted to sell with glass bottles, because it's more sustainable and better for the environment, but with the shortage their prices rose and it wasn't doable."
As Belen is finalizing the smoothie recipes, she said she and Eva are excited for the eventual rollout of other products. They also just launched their website for folks to be able to order a limited selection of juices online to pick up at the storefront.
"We're both working hard to be able to continue," Eva said. "We just want to thank you all for trusting and coming to support Latin-owned businesses, our community in Salem and beyond."
For more info on Teja, you can find them on their website, tejajuiceco.com or follow them on Instagram, @tejasjuiceco.
Address: 2195 Hyacinth St NE Ste 108
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Report: Salem's tree canopy took a big hit from 2021 ice storm
The President's Day ice storm that hit Salem in 2021 left tens of thousands of people without power, downed scores of power lines and brought life to some parts of the city to a complete standstill for days.
A recently released report from Salem Public Works Department highlighted another serious casualty of the ice storm: hundreds of acres of trees.
According to this year's Salem Tree Report, a citywide analysis found a 17.6% tree canopy loss from August 2020 to May 2021.
Leer en español:Informe: Arbolada de Salem recibió un duro golpe de la tormenta de hielo del 2021
The ice storm was not entirely to blame. City staff pointed to about 10 acres of canopy loss due to development — but the bulk of the loss — more than 1,000 acres — was due to the ice storm.
The report to the city recounted the night of the storm, during which thousands of trees fell and branches buckled under the weight of the ice.
Historic and heritage trees, some hundreds of years old, were downed.
Some of Oregon's iconic Heritage Trees damaged during ice storm
"Large Oregon white oaks were particularly hard hit by the ice storm as their large diameter branches accumulated heavy loads of ice, resulting in massive limb breakage and whole trees keeling over," city staff said in the report.
Initial reviews found that about 10,000 trees were damaged, and 1,000 trees were removed from city property following the storm.
The city spent more than $6.3 million on ice storm-related cleanup.
Staff said it was clear the city had lost tree canopy but the "full extent and distribution of canopy loss was notunderstood."
A historically dry spring and record-breaking summer heat, paired with a pandemic-related reduction in tree-planting volunteer events, did little to bolster the wounded tree canopy.
A review comparing satellite imagery from before and after the storm was conducted to understand the scope of the loss.
Tree coverage in neighborhoods varies
Typically, the city conducts a full urban tree canopy assessment every 10 years. The last assessment in 2019 found that Salem had 24% tree canopy coverage, which exceeded city council's goal of 23%.
A new goal of 28% tree canopy was set in 2020.
Trees not only beautify parks and neighborhoods; extensive research ties trees to multiple economic, environmental and social benefits.
According to the city's report, Salem’s trees provide $80 million in total annual benefits, including air quality, stormwater reduction, reduced greenhouse gases, urban heat island reduction, increased property value and carbon sequestration.
Staff noted that a healthy tree canopy provided more than just monetizable improvements.
"Trees also provide less easily quantified but equally important benefits such as natural beauty, a sense of place and identity, increased social interaction, reduced crime, and habitat and food for birds and other animals," staff said. "Trees make cities more livable, improve business, and encourage people to walk and get outside. Healthy cities have healthy tree canopies."
Trees have become an integral part of the city, dotting the region's beloved parks, shading neighborhoods and showcasing the rainbow colors of the seasons. The year of the ice storm marked Salem's 45th year as a Tree City USA.
Citywide, the canopy was at 24%, but tree coverage varied drastically from neighborhood to neighborhood. Neighborhoods in central, South and West Salem clocked the highest canopy levels. Those neighborhoods, like West Salem, South West, Faye Wright and South Central tended to have higher incomes and higher home values.
Like Northeast Neighborhoods, they also tended to be home to tree-centric parks. Englewood Park, Minto-Brown Island Park and Bush's Pasture Park were all in neighborhoods with higher percentages of tree canopy.
The Southwest neighborhood, an area bordering Minto with a large amount of high-value homes, had the highest at 41%.
The neighborhoods at the bottom of the list were in north, northeast and southeast Salem. The area around the Oregon State Fairgrounds, Southeast Mill Creek, East Lancaster, North Lancaster and Northgate all had tree canopies under 17%.
The neighborhoods do not have to be permanently stuck with fewer trees; Some of the areas at the bottom of the list also had the highest percentage of acres that could be possible planting areas for new trees.
Planting to replace the ice storm loss
Older neighborhoods in lower elevations seemed to be hit the hardest, city staff said.
The hardest hit include the Grant, Central, Northeast Neighbors and Southeast Salem neighborhoods.
The neighborhood with older tree canopy between D and Madison Streets suffered the most damage from the ice storm.
The post-ice storm review of the tree canopy found a loss of 17.6% bringing the count further away from the 2020 goal.
But the tree news presented in the report was not all bad. New tree growth and new planting projects have helped offset that loss.
A project report to be presented to Salem City Council on Monday highlights the city's effort in planting more trees, reaching out to areas with low tree canopy and counting and caring for existing trees.
So far, more than 23,000 trees have been inventoried and over 4,000 new locations identified where street trees can be planted.
In 2021, a total of 425 new trees were planted.
To increase trees on city-owned property, including street rights-of-way and parks, public works continued its contracts with Friends of Trees and Treecology to complement the work done by the city's Urban Forestry staff.
According to the reports, Friends of Trees planted 183 large stock trees in parks and street rights-of-way and planted 2,014 small stock trees, shrubs, and smaller native plants in Salem riparian and natural areas last year.
Trees were planted in Bill Riegel Park, McKay School Park, Hammond School Park, Lansing Park, Northgate Park and Orchard Heights Park and in surrounding neighborhoods.
Treecology planted 92 large stock trees in street rights-of-way along Campbell Drive SE and Salem Parkway, and city Urban Forestry section staff planted 147 new trees, pruned 5,132 trees and removed 1,218 severely damaged, dead, or dying trees.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
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Where to eat out, pick up dessert for Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday is, well, this Sunday, and with it comes the meals and specials for the holiday. For those who celebrate, here are some restaurants offering specials for the occasion:
Meals
Adam's Rib Smoke House
Feed the whole family with a whole smoked ham from Adam's Rib Smoke House. Place orders by April 11 to pick up on Saturday, April 16. Each ham is $10 per pound, and weighs 7-12 lbs.
Call the restaurant at 503-362-2194 to place your order.
Address: 1210 State St.
Whiskey Brown's Farmhouse Kitchen
Whiskey Brown's Farmhouse Kitchen will be serving up a honey and orange zest glazed ham meal, by reservation only. The meal also includes baked baby red potatoes, meringue and Italian chocolates.
Call 971-332-558 to make reservations.
Desserts
Gerry Frank's Konditorei
Gerry Frank's Konditorei is offering a set selection of cakes for Easter. Orders must be made by Wednesday, April 13, to be made in time for Sunday.
The select flavors offered in nine-inch cakes include blackout, carrot, champagne raspberry, coconut, lemon cream, marionberry cream, raspberry lemonade and tuxedo. For six-inch cakes, flavors are blackout, champagne raspberry, lemon cream and old fashion chocolate. Cheesecakes are available in caramel pecan, lemon, New York (plain), strawberry, truffle and white chocolate raspberry.
To find more details on the flavors, go to their website, gerryfrankskonditorei.com, or call 503-585-7070 to place an order.
Mt. Angel Sausage Company
Chocolates, candies and more — oh my! Stop by Mt. Angel Sausage Company for their varieties of European chocolates and candies. These options come in a range of sizes, shapes and flavors, with ornate decorations. With bunnies, chicks, eggs and giant bars, there's something new — and delicious — for folks of any age.
Address: 105 S Garfield St., Mount Angel.
Restaurant owners, if you have an Easter or Passover special you'd like us to include, please email EChan@gannett.com.
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Oregon Democratic congressional candidates slam PAC for backing rival Carrick Flynn
Six Democratic candidates for Oregon's new Congressional District 6 denounced House Majority PAC Monday for purchasing $1 million in television advertising timeslots in support of Carrick Flynn, one of their rivals in the highly competitive primary.
In a rare joint news release, the candidates called the ad buy "inappropriate" and "unprecedented."
"This effort by the political arm of the Democratic establishment to buy this race for one candidate is a slap in the face to every Democratic voter and volunteer in Oregon," the statement read.
They expressed further concern that the money spent in their primary would then not be available to protect the current Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, a majority political analysts consider tenuous at best this election cycle.
House Majority PAC was launched in 2011 with the goal of winning back Democratic control of the U.S. House and to counter conservative super PAC spending. Top Democratic operatives steer the political action committee and wealthy left-leaning donors are known to contribute to the fund.
In a statement, House Majority PAC communications director CJ Warnke said supporting Flynn is in line with the political action committee's goals of maintaining Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“House Majority PAC is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to secure a Democratic House majority in 2022, and we believe supporting Carrick Flynn is a step towards accomplishing that goal," Warnke said. "Flynn is a strong, forward-looking son of Oregon who is dedicated to delivering for families in the 6th District.”
Flynn grew up in Vernonia, and graduated from the University of Oregon in 2008. He then attended Yale law school and spent several years at the Centre for the Governance of Artificial Intelligence at Oxford University before returning to Oregon.
House Majority PAC spent approximately $140 million during the 2020 election cycle. In Oregon, it paid for three different advertisements against Republican congressional candidate Alek Skarlatos during his campaign against Democrat Rep. Peter DeFazio.
The support of other independent committees throwing money and support behind Flynn has already raised eyebrows with election day still five weeks away.
Protect Our Future PAC, led by cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried and based in Arizona, has spent nearly $5 million so far. Justice Unites Us PAC, newly formed in March, spent nearly $850,000 on canvassing for Flynn's campaign.
The candidates who released the statement Monday will also be appearing in a joint news conference Tuesday morning. They are:
- Rep. Andrea Salinas
- Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon
- Kathleen Harder
- Loretta Smith
- Cody Reynolds
- Matt West
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Reporter Connor Radnovich covers the Oregon Legislature and state government. Contact him at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-508-6131, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.
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https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/food/2022/04/12/salem-word-of-mouth-bistro-closes-but-maybe-not-forever-steve-becky-mucha/65349613007/
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Word of Mouth Bistro closes - but maybe not forever
After closing temporarily at the end of January, popular Salem brunch destination Word of Mouth Bistro announced its permanent closure with its original ownership on social media April 9.
Owners Steve and Becky Mucha have decided to retire and are selling the business in the hope customers can continue enjoying the legacy of the well-loved dishes that made WOM an iconic Salem breakfast destination.
Becky said they are currently in talks with potential new owners, including an employee, and more details will be coming as they happen.
She said since their initial closure during the pandemic, they had weighed the idea of whether to reopen many times, with selling the business only a fairly new development.
Their social media posts on the announcement blew up, with former patrons flooding the comments with their stories of how WOM was their favorite place in town and expressing their sadness at the loss of the restaurant. Though many comments were sad, many also extended their gratitude for the establishment, particularly in getting to know the Muchas through the years.
The couple began the restaurant in 2008. It was"the restaurant of our dreams," Becky said in a Facebook comment. Steve created the menu, while Becky worked the front of house, and Becky's mom even contributed to the restaurant by making gallons of strawberry freezer jam.
"Thank you for all the love, comments and memories," Becky wrote in a comment. "Again, nothing but love for our past employees and amazing customers."
To keep up with WOM Bistro's next steps, follow them on their Facebook page or Instagram @wordofmouthor.
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South Salem's Evina Westbrook drafted by WNBA's Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm selected UConn senior and South Salem graduate Evina Westbrook with the 21st overall pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday.
Westbrook, a 2017 Saxon graduate, helped the Huskies reach the national championship game this season.
Westbrook helped South Salem win two OSAA Class 6A state championships in 2015 and 2016.
“I am so happy and proud to see Evina reach her dream of being drafted into the WNBA,” said former South Salem girls basketball coach Nick McWilliams, who coached Westbrook in high school. “She has worked extremely hard to get where she is and will give her best to make the team and have a great career in Seattle and wherever else her pro career might take her. I hope to make that 3-4 hour drive a few times to see her play.”
She started her college career at Tennessee, before transferring to UConn.
Westbrook played in 36 games this season, averaging 9.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.14 assists per game.
In the 64-49 championship game loss to South Carolina, Westbrook had seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Seattle Storm were founded in 2000, and went 21-11 last season.
They’ve won four WNBA championships in their history — 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020.
This story will be updated.
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