Pix from the Cherry City Music Fest

Photos from this past weekend's Cherry City Music Festival can be found here.

Thanks to all the bands for coming out to show Salem some love and all the music fans for turning out to show your appreciation.

Writers Cornered

One of the new things I'm hoping people notice in the April issue is the addition of submitted fiction, poetry and essays to the Word pages. (It was going to have this cool little graphic that I ran out of time to make because it took me so dang long to come up with a title. Also, there were space constraints.)

So, the working title of this section is Writers Cornered. There is an 850-word limit, if you have photos or another piece of associated art (to which you own reproduction rights) to submit with it, it will run space available. All submissions come from writers within the Salem Monthly coverage area. Submissions should be directed to editors@salemmonthly.com.

This month's submission was from Diane Schmitz, she can be followed on Twitter (username: seaspark).

Writers Cornered has dual purposes, but I'm going to start with a bit more explanation. The chance to become the editor of an alternative newspaper was, in no small way, the realization of a dream. When I took my first journalism class in college, it wasn't a big daily I wanted to work for, I wanted to be part of the Riverfront Times, St. Louis' alternative newspaper. But, knowing what I wanted and suddenly being confronted with the opportunity to do it were two completely different things. So I started reading. Prior to starting as Salem Monthly's editor in February (I accepted the job about two months before starting), I read everything I could regarding alternative newspapers, their role in the greater media landscape, and what the most highly-regarded alt-weeklies had done in their prime.

The message that stuck with me was simple: alternative newspapers are a breeding ground for new voices.

I want Salem Monthly to be a launchpad for the new voices in our area and my hope is that Writers Cornered becomes a community-owned space within the paper. I would love to know what you think of the idea and value any input you have on its future direction.

On stands this month

So, tomorrow is my birthday, and I can honestly say I'm getting a helluva gift (three of them to be precise).

Hitting stands later today and tomorrow, we've got the April issue of Salem Monthly.

Be sure to check out:

Emily's stories on Salem's Chicken Dance and dreaming about Obama

Kendra's behind-the-scenes look at Pentacle Theatre production

The Green Report

The Salem Film Festival Guide

And the cover story on why everyone needs to get off their collective butts and take in a show at during the Cherry City Music Festival April 9-11.

The debut issue of Mid-Valley PLAY, Salem Monthly's quarterly guide to things to do.

I want feedback on this. What you like, don't like, the WTFs and OMGs. All of it.

The cover story is on the McMinnville UFO Festival, but don't be scared, check out the whole thing. It's chock full of ideas.

There's things to do for kids, couples, families the aggroed and the peacemaking.

Also, huge thanks to Scott for kicking ass on the cover. That's a frakkin' Cylon on the cover, people (and I swear I had NOTHING to do with his artistic choices).

It's inserted in the paper.

And, finally, Mid-Valley EAT is getting its first stand-alone distribution this month.

With listings of many area restaurants and spotlight on a few of the places we think serve up some of the most delectable dishes, EAT is the premiere resource for dining out in the Mid-Valley.

You'll find it next to Salem Monthly in some of the most discerning eateries in the area. Or maybe just the ones that like us, but we'd like to think they can be discerning as well.

Again, let me know what you find useful. When the next issue hits stands in June, we're going to be doing more food features, so sling me an e-mail if there's something we missed or that you'd like to see.

Days like this, it's damn easy to love my job. Thanks to everyone who contributed to make March another huge success.

A bargain amidst economic chaos

It's incredibly hard to put a price on a dose of courage, but it can come with a shockingly cheap price tag.

Last year, I had the good fortune to befriend a woman who knows firsthand the toil of being one of the working poor. At the age of 36, and as a single mother of four daughters, she decided to return to school while continuing to work part time.

Making ends meet in such difficult circumstances wasn't ever easy, but she did it, and she received assistance in small ways- like tax breaks.

I was one of many who scoffed at the notion of the Obama administration's seemingly paltry tax break of $10-15 per paycheck. It doesn't seem that such a minuscule amount could possibly make any tangible difference. Until I understood it translates into courage.

One of the tax breaks that impacted the working mother was the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Low-income families can apply for the credit on both federal and state tax forms. One in seven households in Oregon currently benefit from the credit, according to figures from the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

Oregon is one of only about two dozen states to offer the credit at the state level, but under the current calculations, the lowest-wage workers are still paying a higher tax rate than the highest-paid workers.

A bill under consideration in the state legislature would increase the state EITC amount. Oregon's current EITC configuration only amounts to about $85 for the average recipient, which is too small to offset the taxes low-income families pay on a regular basis. If passed, the new bill would increase the credit to about $480 for a family of four living at or below federal poverty levels. That's money than can reduce child poverty and increase the incentive to work for families struggling to make ends meet.

But it doesn't seem like enough.

Such a small amount of money seems laughable by most measures, but there are no scales accurate enough to weigh its worth. Anyone who has ever struggled is looking for an excuse, an excuse for not accepting the hand up, an excuse to give up trying. The antidote is courage.

For my friend, that small amount of money ended up as a letterman's jacket, a prom dress and extra money for a pizza when one of her daughters' teams won a softball game. Providing those small treats for her family gave her courage. Courage to try one more day. Courage to stick with school. Courage to tackle the difficult task of middle school principal. Courage to run for state legislature, where she's fighting to move the mountain and assist families that are struggling as she did two decades ago.

Her name is Betty Komp.

Money is a valuable thing, even in small amounts, and especially during these times. Courage, on the other hand, is a bargain at any price.

Tough times don't excuse small injustices

What's so hard about going through life with a sense of humanity?

I went into a fast food restaurant the other day and while I was placing an order, a young woman stepped up to the register beside mine.

Words were quietly exchanged and pieces of paper changed hands. The employee at the counter then turned to the ones prepping food and loudly declared there was someone at the register looking to turn in a job application.

"During the lunch rush? Who does that?" was the response. At damn near full yell.

Following quickly was another comment that seemed equally contemptuous, but I didn't catch it. Obviously embarrassed, the job-seeker quietly made her exit, asking the cashier to make sure the application found the right hands.

Now, I can understand getting caught up in the pressure of the moment. I can understand letting your mouth act before your head can catch up. I can even take good-hearted jokes spoken a bit too harshly.

It was none of those. It was an attempt to demean, belittle and humiliate for no other reason than being able to do it, and as publicly as possible. It didn't need to happen. The culprit was well past the age of knowing better, and even if she wasn't, it was inappropriate.

I'm not going to list the many and varied reasons the job applicant might have arrived during the lunch hour, because, in the end, it doesn't matter. Showing up at all might have been the most difficult part of her day. In that moment, when she hoped, or possibly needed, to feel the kindness of strangers. They not only turned their backs, they laughed at her.

Unfortunately, this felt like something we are going to see more and more of in the coming months.

It doesn't matter who you are - a shift manager slinging burgers at a fast food chain, a CEO raking in millions in tax-payer paid bonuses, a custodian wiping down benches at the mall, or the editor of the local alternative newspaper - none of us is better than the stranger we pass on the street or the one who comes to us, hat in hand, looking for work.

We're all humans and we're facing tough times. I've felt it. I have friends who are feeling it worse. The easiest thing we can do in response is show each other an ounce of respect.

It doesn't cost us a thing.