Salem's Top 5 Stories of the Week

Here are our top five stories of the week, they are listed in no particular order. Click on the headlines to read the full story.

Salem Police Investigating Armed Robbery at GameZone: Salem detectives are investigating whether the man who robbed GameZone at knifepoint Saturday night is the same man who held up Georgia's Pizza last week. At 7:53 p.m., police responded to the Essex Street video game store after receiving word that a masked man had just shown an employee a knife, demanded cash, and made away with an undisclosed amount of money.

Two Suspicious Fires Set in Salem Overnight: Local police and fire investigators are looking into two suspicious fires that were allegedly set in Salem Monday night. Deputy Fire Chief Gerry Giunta said fire investigators haven't announced whether the two incidents are related - but did say both were being considered suspicious.

: The cities of Salem and Beverly announced Wednesday that they are collaborating on their solid waste and recycling collection and transportation contracts. The cities released the bid packages on Monday and now vendors will bid on Solid Waste and Recycling collection and transportation for both cities, along with operation of the compost facility for Beverly.

Road Race Provides for Festivus Miracle: When Marblehead firefighter Matthew Christensen found out that Salem's new Festivus 5K Roadrace would benefit the Autism Society, he decided to sign up. Christensen's son, Mac, was diagnosed with autism this past summer and running a road race in his honor, he thought, would be a fun way to support a worthy cause that is close to his heart.

CinemaSalem Closing in on Fundraising Goal: As of early this morning, an online fundraising effort to save CinemaSalem that kicked off last week is some $2,000 away from reaching its goal. Theater Owner Paul Van Ness has enlisted the help of Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform, in the hopes of raising the $60,000 needed to buy the digital projectors he needs to stay in business.

For more of this week's stories check out our news section.