Salem OR

The Venetian theater is a downtown Albany landmark that I pass almost every day without paying it any attention. Then, last week, I looked up its history. The theater opened as a vaudeville house in the fall of 1913. It was owned by Conrad Meyer of Albany and leased by the Bligh Amusement Company of Salem, where T.G. Bligh also had a theater.

Most people collect stamps or vintage records, but Oregon decided to preserve thousands of human brains in jars because apparently, we’re just built different here. The OSH Museum of Mental Health in Salem isn’t your typical Sunday afternoon outing, unless your typical Sunday involves contemplating the evolution of psychiatric treatment while staring at medical equipment that looks like it belongs in a horror film...

How many homes are getting built in Albany, Oregon in 2026?. Homebuilding plays a critical role in maintaining a steady housing supply and keeping prices at sustainable levels. As the U.S. population grows, more housing is needed to meet demand. Since the Great Recession, construction has lagged well behind what is needed, which is one of the main reasons home prices are so high...

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The National Weather Service office in Portland has issued a heat advisory from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM Sunday for the Portland / Vancouver metro area, extending north through Longview / Kelso. Temperatures are expected to be as high as 85-90 degrees on Sunday, which...

A man died and a passenger was hospitalized after an early morning crash in Marion County -- leading the car the catch fire, authorities announced.

ar crash in Clackamas County resulted in one fatality and seven injuries after a Kia Telluride failed to stop at a stoplight and collided with a Chevrolet Silverado.

After a local sheriff’s office presided over immigration agents’ arrest of a man inside a Marion County courthouse without a judicial warrant, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield jumped into action.  The Oregon Department of Justice announced an inquiry into the incident to determine whether the incident warranted “legal action.” It […]

The emerald ash borer is an invasive beetle that kills North American ash trees, including Oregon ash. According to Metro, the first was found in Oregon in Forest Grove in 2022. It has now been confirmed in five Oregon counties—Clackamas, Marion, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill. There has even been a sighting at Metro’s own Killin Wetlands Nature Park.

Protests are planned across the world on Friday in honor of International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, including in the Pacific Northwest. Organizers have planned demonstrations in Portland, Seattle, Salem, Vancouver and other cities in the region. In fact, the Pacific Northwest has a long history and awareness of May Day marches and celebrations.

Even though it’s only spring, Albany’s Waverly Lake this year is once again proving impossible to keep clear of unsightly growth. Thursday’s afternoon bike ride took me past the lake, where some kind of plant growth is already covering a good part of the surface. For the...