The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

We’d love to extend our heartfelt thanks to the folks who worked so hard to suppress and contain the Wiley Creek fire that had so many of us locals worried. We were blessed to have so many skilled people involved in this endeavor, Nikki Swanson... Full story

Several weeks ago, I received a text from a neighbor that there was a fire up the creek from us..... That fire was just about a mile from our house. At the time I found there had been four or five 911 calls and it was already being responded to. It... Full story

I was going to start this editorial off with “I had a dream,” but I decided such plagiarism would be in poor taste. So instead, I will start off by saying, “Hello, my name is Chris.” You may have already read Scott Swanson’s article about...

I've not looked forward to writing this column, but the time has come. It's my "sayonara" – goodbye as publisher of your community newspaper. Hard to believe it's been over 18 years since my wife Miriam and our three daughters walked into The New E...

Some months ago, I was sitting backstage in the Sweet Home High School auditorium, awaiting my turn to perform in the Gala Concert put on by SHOCASE. As I sat there, it occurred to me that while we had one high-schooler on the program to perform,...

The longest walkout in Oregon’s history ended last week as GOP senators returned to give the Senate the voting quorum it needed to resume its business. For any who might be unsure what this was all about, it was essentially about 10 minority...

Most Republican members of the Oregon Senate have refused to participate in floor sessions since May 3, in a show of opposition to Democratic leadership. As a result, hundreds of bills are waiting for floor votes, which may never be taken before the...

June 14, 1973 The School District is feeling what might be the most solid bite of inflation in its history. The school board accepted bids for diesel, milk and bakery goods way above the previous high, and are faced with gas price increases of 47%....

Class of 2023 graduates, you face many new challenges. You’re moving into an adult world that’s becoming increasingly topsy-turvy, thanks to a lot of things – COVID hangovers, social media weirdness, new rules (or lack thereof) for social and...

Memorial Day kicked off what’s shaping up to be a very active summer for Sweet Home, as the city, the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have a lot of things planned – many of them brand new. Although we haven’t reported on all of thes...

Editor: What’s wrong with the bought-and-sold portions of this country today? The nation has forgotten God intentionally. There is a case for saying far too many residents are no longer citizens but are brainwashed into passive war-hawks who have...

Wow. Another topsy-turvy week in the state capital – the city. One thing we’ve noticed this year is that there seems to be more communication coming from the capitol – the building – and that’s a good thing in some ways. In fact, we’re...

Things are not going well in Salem. Unfortunately, that’s not new, but it’s still disappointing. Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, elected in 2020, resigned Monday afternoon after a Willamette Week  newspaper report revealed that Fagan had been...

The public disclosure, reported on page 1, that a neighbor of Foster School shot bullets which struck the school building on a Sunday morning in March, has stirred emotions in Sweet Home. Certainly, it’s sparked some energetic conversations. And...

By Jami Cate A major piece of legislation, sponsored by all but four Democrat legislators serving in Salem, is working its way through the Legislature. On the afternoon of April 14, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means met to deliberate and vote on...