Yachats Farmers Market moves past turmoil for season opening

May 9, 2019

When the Yachats Farmers Market opens its season at 9 a.m. Sunday, the market should be full of vendors, the sun will be shining and hopefully any drama from the past two months over who will run it will be left behind. Market manager George Mazeika said there will be 36 vendors occupying 37 of the 40 available spaces Sunday.

Yachats Fire Department headquarters and main station

Yachats fire district asking voters to approve 5-year operating levy

May 9, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Voters in the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District are being asked this month to approve one of two levies the district uses for day-to-day operations. Ballots were mailed Wednesday to voters in Lincoln County on a variety of local issues and boards. Voters have until 8 p.m. May 21 to return their ballots. Turnout in non-presidential election

OSU names new fisheries extension agent for central Oregon coast

May 9, 2019

A marine scientist has joined Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon State University Extension Service to work with the fishing industry on the central Oregon coast. Angee Doerr, who is based in Newport, succeeds Kaety Jacobson, who served in the role for 14 years before being elected as a Lincoln County commissioner last year. Doerr will work with commercial fishing

State replaces steps to popular Yachats River beach

May 7, 2019

The steps to one of Yachats’ most popular beaches reopened Tuesday afternoon. A crew from Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department finished two days of work to replace the wooden steps leading to the wide, sandy beach that makes up the Yachats River bay. The steps were knocked out during a storm in February. The wood steps lead from a

Yachats council decides on one-way directions for Ocean View Drive

May 7, 2019

Yachats may not yet have a stoplight, but it could be getting a couple more one-way streets this summer. The City Council voted last week to make two sections of Ocean View Drive one-way after Lincoln County finishes improvements this summer and turns the street over to the city. The county wants to relinquish control of the street that runs

Man found dead Thursday near Yachats State Park was longtime local restaurant worker

May 3, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The man found dead on the beach near Yachats State Park on Thursday, May 2, was a longtime Yachats-area resident and restaurant employee who had moved to Newport about two years ago to work there, his friends said Friday. Michael S. Clift, 43, — known as Scott to his friends — was found Thursday morning on the

$6 million, 21-unit Yachats low-income housing project already has a long waiting list

May 2, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com When state and local dignitaries gather Thursday to celebrate the opening of a unique low-income housing development in Yachats, its 21 units will already be filled. And there’s already a waiting list of 40 people. That’s how needed – and popular – the $6 million Fisterra Garden Townhomes project has proven. “They filled up immediately and haven’t

Two Yachats Fire Board races draw five candidates, one board member unopposed

May 2, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, which has had trouble finding people to run for its five-member board, is suddenly awash in candidates. Six people, including two incumbents, are running for three positions in the May 21 election. The board has had a vacancy for more than a year and has not been able to recruit anyone

Yachats council reverses direction to award control of Sunday farmer’s market

May 2, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council on Wednesday rejected a recommendation that a vendor-run group manage the popular farmer’s market and instead voted unanimously to let a local businesswoman operate it. The vote came after council members acknowledged a flurry of emails and telephone calls the past week in support of a proposal by Blythe Collins, owner of Bread

April rainfall was most since 2012, makes up for dry March

May 1, 2019

It may be sunny this week but April was a very wet month. Yachats received 9.11 inches of rain in April – three times the amount measured at the city’s wastewater treatment plant in March. April’s rainfall is the most since 2012 and three inches more than the monthly average over the last 10 years. The driest April was in