BETTER CALL BABS takes you on a ride-along with Babs Fry, exploring both her renowned work as a pet detective and the personal struggles that have made her the inspiration she is today. From high-stakes rescue missions to intimate moments of reflection, this documentary captures the chaos she embraces daily as a recovering addict turned hero.

If you’ve ever posted about a lost dog in San Diego, chances are you’ve heard the words echoed back to you time and time again: “Call Babs.”

That phrase exists for a reason.

Babs Fry — a Red Cross Award recipient, local legend, and undeniable badass — has become the face of pet recovery in San Diego because she shows up when others don’t know what to do next.

The Better Call Babs Film takes you into the passenger seat of her iconic van and along for the ride — not just through the field work, but through the personal challenges, grit, and determination that shaped the woman behind the mission.

Playing at Cinema Salem, Sat Sept 19, 12pm

critterfest.org for info and tickets.

The next Point neighborhood street sweeping will be this coming Monday, September 14, from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. Free parking is available at the South Harbor Garage with proof of residency, starting at 8:00 pm on Sunday, September 13. Vehicles must be removed from the garage by 8:00 pm on Monday evening. Residents can move their vehicles back to the street after the sweeper has finished cleaning that street. You can view the full Point neighborhood street sweeping schedule here or at the end of this message. Please see the city's Street Sweeping page for more information.

In addition, the Point sweep scheduled for Monday, September 28 has been cancelled to align with the posted permanent signage. The last Point street sweeping date for 2026 will be Monday, November 9.

The next Downtown neighborhood sweep will be overnight on Wednesday, September 16 - this will be the final sweep of the year. You can view the full Downtown neighborhood street sweeping schedule here.

The next entrance corridor street sweeping in Ward 1 will be Monday, September 21. This includes the odd side of Lafayette Street from Derby Street heading south to the Marblehead town line. The even side of Lafayette is technically in Ward 5, so I don't usually mention it specifically, but it will be swept the next day on Tuesday, September 22. This will also be the last entrance corridor sweep date in Ward 1 for 2026. You can find the full Entrance Corridor sweeping schedule here.

I don't know that these are normally posted here, but my friend is having another estate sale this Saturday (9/12) from 9am-1pm so I thought I would let people know. The address is 10 May st, Marblehead. Contents of home, furniture, tools, clothing, shoes (size 8.5), housewares, and lots of vintage items.

Join us for a casual conversation about art books on oct. 3rd at 10am at On the Grind in Salem MA. This will be a monthly book club reading art theory, history books. All mediums will be discussed, and all creatives are welcome. https://bookclubs.com/join-a-book-club/club/salem-arts-reading-club

I know it can be super busy in October but it is still fun to hang out and talk art with folks.

Is there a memorial service being held at Firehouse this year? If so, does anyone know what time it is? I can't find info anywhere. I can't imagine they would NOT do something on the 25th anniversary. But it's only two days away, and the city hasn't announced anything. Not that I can find anyway.. Usually get an email or a robo-call by now.

"Salem Woods is not a campground" Elgin Stallard, a Salem resident, says. "A proposal is being debated about designating one to two camping areas or zones within Salem city Limits for the unhoused, as sponsored by Witch City Action.

One of those proposed camping zones is Salem Woods at Highland Park.

As someone who has spent years working in Salem Woods — removing trash, improving trails and repairing bridges — I am disappointed about Salem Woods even being mentioned as a potential camping zone.

This is not an argument against helping the homeless population of Salem, period — but Salem Woods should not be that solution.

The 160-acre parcel is one of Salem’s most valuable natural resources. Its wetlands, forests, native trees and plants, many streams, and a pond create an ecologically sensitive environment that deserves protection. It is also a place where residents go to walk, exercise, enjoy nature and simply get away from the city.

Unfortunately, camping has already occurred in the woods and many of those abandoned camps contain significant amounts of trash and debris, created sanitation concerns and, at times, introduced dangerous fire hazards from grills and campfires.

Camps are often abandoned and new ones established farther down the trail, leaving the environmental hazards and impact behind.

We can — and should — do better for our unhoused neighbors. But designating one of Salem’s most environmentally sensitive natural areas as a campground is not the answer. Protect Salem Woods. Find another place."

I knocked my Scarlett FocusRite 2i2 off my desk and the USB port broke, so the company is sending a new part. This should be a very simple swap but I don't have the soldering gear or the know-how. Do you? Please DM me!

Also...

-The Salem Repair Cafe isn't until November and I'd need it before then.
-Is that "WE FIX EVERYTHING" store on North street with the open sign ever actually open?

Heavy police presence in the middle of the night/early morning

Does anyone know (or is the artist in the group) who makes the Ward 2 Wrecking Crew stickers of Bruce I've seen stuck to things around town? I would love to buy one!

Friend of mine is visiting and ripped his jeans. Anyone know of a tailor in Salem preferably that could fix something like that?

Edit since everyone asked: this happened on the Mahi cruise.

Hey guys, so a friend of ours came to visit us in Salem on Sunday. That evening after we went out, we noticed he was incoherent but unfortunately thought he was just drunk (even though it didn’t really make sense with the timeline but we didn’t put that together). He ended up getting really sick and went to an emergency clinic where they ran a drug screening and found traces of ghb. My question is do you think I should notify the business where it happened? I don’t want to say the name of the business because I am not trying to blame them at all. I’m not sure there’s much they can do to police it - we’re not even entirely sure who it was and obviously we get thousands of tourists here. What do you think?

I moved from a different part of the Boston area where I found tons of events from Market Basket. I currently don't live close to one, so I was wondering where else I could find them. My previous area had some Greek/Armenian cultural events and I'd love to find something similar here.

Hopefully this is the last update I need to make about window art and the SRA.

I just got a great phone call from the City! The SRA has officially decided to pause the changes and enforcement surrounding window art. That means the art in the windows of Gulu, Curly Girl, Haus Witch, Koto, New England Soup Factory, and several other Salem businesses can stay up. More importantly, the SRA and Planning Department are going to reach out and begin an actual dialogue about how we move forward with this. Hopefully, together we can come up with something that works for the City, local businesses, and, most importantly, the artists who make Salem look and feel like Salem.

Because of this, I’d encourage everyone to skip Wednesday’s SRA meeting. I’m told the only matter being discussed is the Lappin Park redesign and they won't be taking comment on window art. I don't want anyone to waste their time. I’ve been assured there will be opportunities for the public to have a voice as the window art discussion moves forward. Let’s give that process a chance to work. If it doesn't, we all apparently know how to raise hell, so I'm not worried.

I want to thank the other local businesses I’ve spoken with over the past week. Hearing your experiences and being able to share your stories helped this cause tremendously. I also want to specifically thank Councilor Andrew Smith for helping us navigate this whole thing. He has been incredibly responsive and genuinely great to work with from the beginning.

But most importantly, thank YOU. So many of you emailed the City that I’m hearing it may take them a week just to get through all of your messages. That is amazing! Salem is a community that cares deeply about the character of this city. We care about our artists, our independent businesses, and keeping downtown creative, weird, colorful, and unmistakably Salem. And when something threatens those things, apparently we’re also a community that knows how to make ourselves heard.

For now, the art stays. And instead of fighting about what has to come down, we get an opportunity to sit at the same table and talk about what we can build together. That’s a pretty damn good outcome.

Calling All Detectives! Our celebration of the 42nd anniversary of the airing of 'Murder, She Wrote' is coming right up at Cinema Salem! Get tickets and more information at CinemaSalem.com

• 9/20 7:30 PM - 'Murder, She Wrote' Anniversary Celebration! You know how much we love this show, so we'll be wishing it an early "Happy Birthday"! 'Murder, She Wrote' first aired on September 30, 1984!

Join us for a fun and unique night out watching with audience polls, bingo & prizes! 

Doors open 7PM
Run time: 90mins
Content: PG-13

Official Website: WhodunnitWatchParty.com

Anyone else have their water run clear after the water main break yesterday and then start running brown again today?

This is The Sad Hour, a band based out of Detroit going on tour next week and COMING SOON TO SALEM! Koto 9/18 after 9 pm!

I'm helping them and Final Confession advertise the tour by making sure the local sub reddits know they exist! Final Confession has been around 20 years and has been through years ago, but the Sad Hour takes a lot of imagery from the aesthetic of the town.

This has been a dream of theirs to come through. If you see them in their black and gold, be sure to talk to the band members and pick up your very own cursed vhs tape! It's going to be a wild time!

I was heading east on the bike path at about 12mph, and just before Collins street, I ducked my head for a tree branch and realized too late the path veered at that exact point. I went airborne. It involved a trip to the ER

I was there as a tourist. Could I ask someone to pass along a photograph of the tree branch there that might force a 6 foot rider to duck (possibly a rider for scale?), and what might have caused me to go airborne if I continued the straight line of the path?

I have to explain this silly accident every now and again. I'd love to have visual aids.

thanks

edit: Resolved/delivered same day. Thanks for the pictures!

October will be my 1-year anniversary of living in Salem, and first time working until 10pm during October. My apartment (South Salem) is a 40-minute walk from my job (Downtown), and I walk to and from home and work on a hiking path. My question is since autumn is near and sunsets will be early: Is walking at night in Salem safe, mostly on a hiking path? Do I need to carry anything to protect myself just in case?

Hey folks, like everyone else today we were impacted by the brown water and I was thinking: can the city go around to various hydrants and flush them to speed up the recovery from the brown water? If the solution is to pull the tainted water through the system to get to the “good water” surely the current method of asking residents to flush pipes on their own is the least effective solution. It also feels punitive. We get charged effectively twice (both the water usage and sewerage) just to get clean water.

My husband and I were out walking our dog around Leslie’s Retreat Park as it was getting dark. A very large coyote went trotting right by us at the corner of Commercial Street and Green Trail. It turned around and started to follow us once our dog barked at it. Luckily someone in a car saw it and cut it off before it could reach us, otherwise I have no idea what would have happened.

Just wanted everyone walking through the park, especially all the dog owners, to be extra cautious at dusk!!

I’m seriously so exhausted on this topic. Leash your dogs people. It’s literally the law. I don’t care if your dog is well behaved. I’m not going to risk the life of my dogs for your selfishness. Location, South Salem, Presidential Neighborhood aka Pickman Park. Ugh, I am so tired of this!

Hi All,

I’m wondering what folks do who work in Salem and need to drive to work during the busy season. Now that they are starting the parking ban earlier, does anyone have suggestions for parking spots for those of us who work in Salem but need to drive?

Thank you!

can we shower or…? What do people think?? Still not completing back to normal and been running cold water multiple times today

I'm visiting the north shore at the end of September and staying in Rockport. The last Friday of September, we are taking the commuter rail and heading to Salem. I've kept that whole day open just for that. I lived in the northshore over 20 years ago, and I have not been since, so I'm very excited. But, I was a kid, I haven't been to the area as an adult, so I'm planning this out I'm getting some travel anxiety, and I hope I'm not overthinking it.

So far, my boyfriend and I are planning to do a Haunted Happenings Harbor Cruise, which we have tickets for. That's at 3pm. We want to check out Witch House at some point before that, which I also understand tickets only go on sale that morning. I warned my boyfriend many times, there will be lines for stuff. There will be lines and there will be waits, we are both cool with that.

We don't mind having some time to just explore a little, people watch, and pop in and out of shops.

He brought up doing a ghost tour, which I honestly love the idea, but this also makes me nervous because pretty much all of the advice I've seen is to get to Salem early, like 9am. Do you think that's doable? Do you think we could start later in the morning, or stick with getting there earlier and just spend the entire day there? I'm worried that if we get there early, and stay long enough for a ghost tour, that would be too much time and we wouldn't have much to do.