On target – Legacy Silverton upgrade due to wrap in fall

May 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on On target – Legacy Silverton upgrade due to wrap in fall

By Brenna Wiegand When Legacy Health affiliated with Silverton Hospital seven years ago, the health care company committed to making significant improvements toward optimizing the medical center’s ability to provide top-notch health care for Silverton and the surrounding area, including a ...

The show goes on – New owners purchase Palace Theatre

May 2023 Posted in Business, Community | Comments Off on The show goes on – New owners purchase Palace Theatre

By James Day Ah, the Palace. You just can’t keep her down. Depression (remember, films were first shown at the site in 1909 and the theater was rebuilt in 1936 after being destroyed in 1935 by fire). Another fire in 2012. ...

Family tradition – New burger spot makes a splash

May 2023 Posted in Business, Food & Drink | Comments Off on Family tradition – New burger spot makes a splash

By Melissa Wagoner When Ibet Lopez opened the doors of her new restaurant, Mountain Burgers – located in the parking lot of Silverton’s Ace Hardware and Hi-School Pharmacy – she wasn’t sure what she should expect. But she needn’t have worried. “It was insane,” ...

Class size compromise – SFSD, SFEA reach negotiated solution

May 2023 Posted in Business, School | Comments Off on Class size compromise – SFSD, SFEA reach negotiated solution

By Stephen Floyd Teachers won their class size targets and administrators kept their management flexibility in a tentative contract approved April 18 between The Silver Falls School District (SFSD) and Silver Falls Education Association (SFEA). The tentative contract was the result of ...

SFSD introduces class size dashboard

May 2023 Posted in Business, School | Comments Off on SFSD introduces class size dashboard

By Stephen Floyd The Silver Falls School District (SFSD) has published a new Class Size Dashboard to increase transparency regarding teacher workloads. The dashboard went live April 11 and the district expects to update classroom figures weekly. Assistant Superintendent Dan Busch told the ...

Budget balancing – Silverton works funding plan amid staff shakeup

May 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on Budget balancing – Silverton works funding plan amid staff shakeup

By James Day The City of Silverton began work on its 2023-24 budget amid a staff shakeup that has the City Council initiating a search for a new city manager. Ron Chandler, who took over the top administrative post in Silverton in ...

Fine appealed – DEQ presents Silverton a $42K bill for wastewater discharge

April 2023 Posted in Business, News | Comments Off on Fine appealed – DEQ presents Silverton a $42K bill for wastewater discharge

By James Day Silverton is facing a $42,130 fine from the state for illegal discharges of wastewater, and city officials have appealed the decision. Silverton was notified Feb. 7 by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that it had exceeded the ...

La passione! Curbside Kitchen gets Italian makeover

April 2023 Posted in Business, Food & Drink | Comments Off on La passione! Curbside Kitchen gets Italian makeover

By Melissa Wagoner The Curbside Kitchen in downtown Silverton recently received an Italian makeover thanks to new owners, Giulia Burato and Pietro Sangiorgi, who purchased the business from founder Holly Bell. “I have an elderly mother in Southern California that I need ...

Sorting it out – Silverton Civic Center build having domino effect

March 2023 Posted in Business, News | Comments Off on Sorting it out – Silverton Civic Center build having domino effect

By James Day If you build it, other decisions will have to be made. That’s the challenge the City of Silverton faces as construction heads toward the home stretch on the new Civic Center on the former Eugene Field School property. The $19.5 ...

RV park proposed – Project planned for property near Mark Twain

March 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on RV park proposed – Project planned for property near Mark Twain

By James Day The City of Silverton is considering a proposal that could add a 22-space recreational vehicle parking area on land just north of Mark Twain Elementary School. The 1.52-acre, triangular-shaped site, if the project is approved, would be used for ...

Bond benefit – MASD pitches $7M bond, $4M grant

March 2023 Posted in Business, School | Comments Off on Bond benefit – MASD pitches $7M bond, $4M grant

By Stephen Floyd The Mt. Angel School District has placed a $7 million facilities bond on the May 16 ballot, with a $4 million state grant attached if the bond passes. The district board unanimously approved a resolution Feb. 13 to send ...

Special district positions open

March 2023 Posted in Business, Community | Comments Off on Special district positions open

Local special districts will have open board positions during the May 16 Primary Election, and the deadline to apply as a candidate and appear on the ballot is March 16. Districts with open positions include: Mt. Angel School District (positions 1 and ...

Grant to rescue – Silverton nursery to use new seedling funds

March 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on Grant to rescue – Silverton nursery to use new seedling funds

[caption id="attachment_13138" align="alignright" width="300"] A Drakes Crossing Nursery employee works with seedlings at the firm’s holdings in the Silverton hills.      James Day[/caption] By James Day A Silverton-area nursery has received a $540,000 state grant to help it grow seedlings needed ...

Service Group of the Year – Legacy Health Auxiliary awarded

March 2023 Posted in Business, Community | Comments Off on Service Group of the Year – Legacy Health Auxiliary awarded

[caption id="attachment_12587" align="aligncenter" width="514"] Legacy Health Auxiliary President Cheryl Lorenz (center), Treasurer George Marino (on her left), and Volunteer Manager Kay Seiler (o her right) receive the Club of the Year award from Silverton Chamber of Commerce representatives. Jim Kinghorn[/caption] By ...

Business of the Year: The Lucky Leaf acknowledged by community

March 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on Business of the Year: The Lucky Leaf acknowledged by community

[caption id="attachment_12579" align="alignright" width="353"] The Lucky Leaf cannabis dispensary in Silverton. Stephen Floyd[/caption] By Stephen Floyd Former Silverton Mayor Kyle Palmer said The Lucky Leaf was a shoo-in for 2022 Business of the Year. Though some may bristle at the notion of a ...

Mediation continues – Teachers, district seek to avoid impasse

March 2023 Posted in Business, School | Comments Off on Mediation continues – Teachers, district seek to avoid impasse

By Stephen Floyd The Silver Falls School District (SFSD) is headed to a third mediation session with its teachers’ union as collective bargaining continues nearly a year after it began. Parties are scheduled to enter mediation again March 9 after sessions Feb. ...

SFSD bond committee hosts four March infrastructure listening sessions

March 2023 Posted in Business, School | Comments Off on SFSD bond committee hosts four March infrastructure listening sessions

Silver Falls School District (SFSD) is inviting the community to a series of listening sessions as a Bond Advisory Committee considers the need for infrastructure funding. Sessions are scheduled at schools throughout the district and will feature a presentation from members ...

Special district positions open

March 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on Special district positions open

Local special districts will have open board positions during the May 16 Primary Election. The deadline to apply as a candidate and appear on the ballot is March 16. Districts with open positions include: • Mt. Angel School District (positions 1 and ...

SACA moving into Ratchet building; murals up in air

February 2023 Posted in Arts, Business, Community | Comments Off on SACA moving into Ratchet building; murals up in air

[caption id="attachment_12492" align="aligncenter" width="600"] A moving crew works on removing items associated with Ratchet Brewing’s operations at 1069 N Second St. in Silverton. Silverton Area Community Aid will be moving into the building, and the “four freedoms” murals will be ...

Banner year – Oktoberfest pays off Mount Angel Festhalle

February 2023 Posted in Business, News | Comments Off on Banner year – Oktoberfest pays off Mount Angel Festhalle

By Stephen Floyd Mount Angel Oktoberfest has paid off its loan for the community Festhalle five years ahead of schedule, following a record-setting year for revenue in 2022. During the Jan. 26 annual meeting of the group’s membership, it was announced that ...

Underpaid? Silverton dealing with attrition in police force

February 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on Underpaid? Silverton dealing with attrition in police force

By James Day Are Silverton Police Department officers being paid enough? Developer and long-time resident Rob Wood, who serves on the public policy committee at the Oregon Police Academy in Salem, doesn’t think so. Wood read off the names of ten Silverton officers ...

New to the team – Matt Gaitan joins Silverton City Council

February 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on New to the team – Matt Gaitan joins Silverton City Council

By James Day Just like that, the Silverton City Council was whole again. New councilors Marie Traeger, April Newton and Eric Hammond were voted in on Nov. 8 to replace outgoing members Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh, with Jason Freilinger ...

No time like present – Preserving the past by making it digital

February 2023 Posted in Business, History & Culture | Comments Off on No time like present – Preserving the past by making it digital

[caption id="attachment_12414" align="alignright" width="260"] Kerry Drum of I.M. Strong Video Creations. Melissa Wagoner[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner When it comes to preserving mementos of the past, especially printed photos, slides and VHS tapes, Kerry Drum has one suggestion – don’t wait! Initially a wedding ...

School district denies liability in injury suit

January 2023 Posted in Business, News | Comments Off on School district denies liability in injury suit

By Stephen Floyd The Silver Falls School District (SFSD) has denied liability in a $369,501 personal injury lawsuit by a former Silverton Middle School student who broke a leg at school in 2017 after allegedly slipping on a wet floor. On Dec. ...

New role, new faces – Mayor Freilinger, four new Silverton councilors

January 2023 Posted in Business | Comments Off on New role, new faces – Mayor Freilinger, four new Silverton councilors

By James Day Silverton installed a new mayor and four new councilors on Monday, Jan. 9, signaling the beginning of a new political era in town. [caption id="attachment_12337" align="aligncenter" width="534"] Jason Freilinger, the new mayor of Silverton, receives the oath of office ...