Here are a few events that happened in 2018 in the Salem area and Oregon that will be remembered for many years to come:
Salem area:
• Algae in Salem’s drinking water – Low levels of toxins caused by algae blooms in Detroit Lake were discovered in Salem’s drinking water last May. The Toxins caused several warnings.
• Amazon.com – The company began building a packing and shipping warehouse at 4775 Depot Court SE in the Mill Creek Corporate Center in Salem. They plan on hiring over 1,000 full-time employees once construction is completed.
• Recycling Changes – Marion County’s 17-year-old curbside recycling program was scaled back in response to China’s refusal to take most recyclable materials from the West. Items like shredded paper, egg cartons, milk boxes and most plastic containers are banned.
• Record Dry Spell – Salem went from June 11th to September 10th without measurable rainfall setting a record of 90 days. The previous record was 79 days in 1967.
Oregon
• Kate Brown reelected Oregon Governor – The Democrat incumbent defeated Republican Knute Buehler in November.
• Supermajority – The November election gave the Democrats in both the Oregon House and Senate a supermajority.
• Wildfires – It was one of Oregon’s worst year’s for wildfires. Ten wildfires grew to at least 10,000 acres. The largest were:
o Kondike in Josephine County – 175,000 acres
o Box Car in Wasco County – 100,000 acres
o Substation in Wasco County – 78,000 acres
o Miles in Jackson and Douglas Counties – 54,000 acres
o Taylor Creek in Josephine County – 52,000 acres
Sports
• OSU Baseball – The Oregon State Beavers overcame adversity at the College World Series to win their third College World Series Championship. The Beavers became the 10th team in history to win the CWS title after losing their opening game, and just the fifth to win the championship after losing Game 1 of the best-of-three finals. Oregon State won back-to-back in titles in 2006 and 2007.
• Oregon Football – The Ducks elevated interim coach Mario Cristobal to head coach. He replaced Willie Taggart who departed for Florida State.
