Happy August. Wow, where did the summer go? Here at So Salem, we’re already hard at work on our upcoming back-to-school issues (August 8 and 15) and our football issues (August 22 and 29). And that brings us to a programming note: If you’re an advertiser and wanted to be included — especially in our football issues — well, our advertising folks at advertise@sosalem.com will be happy to talk with you. Or, if you’d like to place a classified ad, you can click classifieds@sosalem.com.

We reach more than 90 percent of the households in Salem and western Roanoke County. (How do we do that? See below!)

And now back to news, and we have lots of it this week. In your Friday issue, you’ll see lots of places where we say “see The Notebook” for more. Well, here’s where to find that “more”:

* Salem opens door to big-box development
* Who will Salem’s quarterback be this season?
* Bear sightings – we have two new ones, one near Upland and Franklin, and one in the Laurel Woods subdivision near Hanging Rock
* Photos from Jazz in July
* Photos from the Olympic team game. Above, you’ll see some of the folks who were: Retired Salem High School softball coach, Jim “Shorty” Wright, who ran into a former player. Meaghan Berry.
* Photos of Salem swimmers at the RVAA championships
* Photos from Salem After Five

If you’re still in a vacation mode, we’re still taking your vacation photos and putting you on our Salem Summer ’08 map.

So how can you get your news and photos in So Salem? Keep reading below!

* You can email us your news or photos at news@sosalem.com.

* You can meet our community journalist for Salem and western Roanoke County — Miranda Adkins. Here’s her schedule of office hours at the Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in Salem.

* So how do we reach 90 percent of the households in Salem and western Roanoke County? Here’s how: Subscribers to The Roanoke Times get it included in their Friday paper; non-subscribers have it mailed to them as part of the weekly Simply Savings advertising flier. Those two add up to more than 90 percent. Plus, we have some free copies available at Kroger, Food Lion, the Salem Y, and the Salem Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, in case we somehow missed you.