A lot happened for the Cherry City in 2025 and Salem Reporter’s team was there to catch it on camera. From wildfires to protests to community celebrations, our photographers with cameras – and sometimes our reporters with their cell phones – recorded it all. Here’s a snapshot of 2025 told in photos. Mike Stewart of the Salem Fire Department arrives on Sunday, Jan. 12, to douse a hot spot at the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, California. (DAVID ZAITZ/For Salem Reporter) Retired Justice Paul DeMuniz gives Salem City Mayor Julie Hoy a hug after swearing her in as mayor on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Aida Valenzuela, the mother of Jose Vazquez-Valenzuela, a 16-old-boy shot and killed at Bush’s Pasture Park in March 2024, pays her respects at her son’s gravesite at Lee Mission Cemetery on Friday, Feb. 28. (JOE SIESS/Salem Reporter) Kelly McDonald, one of the owners, unlocks the vacant Macy’s in downtown Salem on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (ALAN COHEN/Salem Reporter) Avery Wilson holds a sign while protesting on Mission Street in front Salem Airport on Sunday, May 5, 2025. Protesters urged the city to cut ties with the airline over its decision to fly deportation flights for the U.S. government. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Kyle Casey leans against the door of the Union Gospel Mission on Monday, June 2, 2025, after being released from Salem Hospital following a stabbing the night before. His shirt, the same one he wore that night, is still stained with blood. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Kyle Casey walks away to sit in front of the Union Gospel Mission in the Parkway on Monday, June 2, 2025, after being released from Salem Hospital following a stabbing the night before. With the mission closed, he had nowhere else to go. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) South Salem High School graduates celebrate on Friday, June 6. (RON COOPER/For Salem Reporter) A Roberts High School student shares a message of thanks on the back of their mortarboard during the graduation ceremony at Sprague High School on Friday, June 6, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) A child enjoys the Miss Smith Queertet show at the Salem Pride Block Party on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Demonstrators line Northeast Center Street for the “No Kings” protest in Salem on Saturday, June 14. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) A member of the Teva Oriata Polynesian Dance Troupe performs at the World Beat Festival on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) On Wednesday, July 2, department store racks and shelving remain in the JC Penney building in downtown Salem nearly five years after the store closed its doors. Developer Nat Borchers planned to turn the shuttered department store into a shopping and entertainment complex before the deal fell through. (RACHEL ALEXANDER/Salem Reporter) Theo Ferrell, 5, pulls a wagon after the Court-Chemeketa Fourth of July Parade on Friday, July 4, 2025. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Smoke from a fire burning along Southeast Gath Road was visible Wednesday, July 9, 2025, southeast of Salem. The fire spread south to Turner, prompting evacuation orders in the area. (MIRANDAH DAVIS-POWELL/Salem Reporter) Marley Beckett celebrates at the finish line after winning the women’s competition in Salem’s fifth Ironman triathlon on Sunday, July 20, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Sam Blanton, part owner of StitchedPDX, tends to a pair of jeans inside A Wonderful World, a vintage clothing store in The Forge on Thursday, Sept. 25. The Forge’s second floor opened in April as work continued on the first floor. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Councilor Micki Varney comforts Council President Linda Nishioka during Mayor Julie Hoy’s statement before the the Oregon Government Ethics Commission on Friday, Oct. 10. In that statement, Hoy accused Nishioka of lying about a phone call the two had about former City Manager Keith Stahley’s future employment. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Inflatable costumes were popular at the No Kings rally in Salem on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) A young participant gets a lift during the Fairmount Halloween Parade along Luther Street on Friday, Oct.31, 2025 (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Enrique Sanchez smiles while chatting with another volunteer at a food distribution event for Salem-Keizer School District families who receive food benefits on Friday, Nov. 7. The event came in the wake of a SNAP benefits pause caused by the government shutdown. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Salem City Councilor Micki Varney pauses to look at an encampment while walking through the Wallace Marine Park natural area on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Arya, 11, licks her face while eyeing her owner’s chili hot dog near the Soup Squad’s tent at Wallace Marine Park, where they were serving chili, hotdogs, biscuits and gravy, pizza and other food on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Audience members hold signs at the Salem City Council Meeting at Loucks Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. At that meeting, council was considering declaring a state of emergency over immigration arrests. They did so on Monday, Dec. 1. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Perlstein speaks about the meaning of Hannukah at the Grand Menorah Lighting at Mirror Park in downtown Salem on Sunday, Dec.14, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Flood waters from Mill Creek seeped into the basement of CASA Friday, Dec. 19. (RON COOPER/For Salem Reporter) Residents unload sandbags from a pickup truck Friday, Dec. 19, surrounded by floodwater from Mill Creek. (RON COOPER/For Salem Reporter) A Santa hat drapes over a music stand after Salem Tuba Holiday rehearsals on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Read Salem Reporter’s biggest stories of 2025: Salem’s biggest stories of 2025 STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post Salem’s year in photos: Shelter stabbing, Ironman, No Kings protests, shuttered stores appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less