Bridge work closes lane on Cape Perpetua

January 17, 2019

A lane closure on U.S. Highway 101 on Cape Perpetua and around-the-clock flagging will last another week as a contractor pours concrete and make other repairs to a half-viaduct under the road. The $477,000 Oregon Department of Transportation project is scheduled to last through June. The contractor, Hamilton Construction, plans to pour concrete Friday, Jan. 18, with the lane closure

Unionization vote complicates Yachats Fire raises

January 16, 2019

The board of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District on Wednesday approved 3.5 percent cost-of-living pay increases for four employees retroactive to Dec. 1. But anticipated raises for the department’s seven career firefighters couldn’t be approved because they voted to unionize in August and negotiations for the district’s first collective bargaining agreement haven’t begun. The raises that could be approved

Planning Commission adopts ‘clear vision’ standards

January 16, 2019

After several months of back-and-forth with its attorney, its planner and the community the Yachats Planning Commission on Tuesday approved “clear vision” standards for intersections and forwarded it to the City Council. The new standards set limits on the height of fences or hedges that could block sightlines at the intersection of a street and a driveway. Currently, the city’s

Wave energy expert describes project to Yachats audience

January 15, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com If OSU builds it, will they come? Burke Hales and Oregon State University are betting $50 million in federal and state money that someone will. Hales is chief scientist for PacWave, an OSU-led consortium planning to install a wave-energy testing system stretching from seven miles west of Newport to a research center just north of Seal Rock.

Eugene performer charms kids at Yachats Library

January 11, 2019

Guitarist and children’s performer Michael Bradley of Eugene had pre-schoolers from the Yachats Youth & Family Activities Program on their feet Friday morning during a performance at the Yachats Library. The library offers story times to the pre-school twice a month on Thursday mornings for the youngest children and Friday mornings for the older pre-school group, said librarian Janet Rackleff.

Crash near Seal Rock kills woman

January 11, 2019

A Lincoln City woman was killed and her husband and another driver injured in a head-on crash Thursday night on U.S. Highway 101 just south of Seal Rock. The crash closed the highway for more than three hours. Judith Larrett, 81, of Lincoln City died at the scene. Her husband, Richard Larrett, 85, and the driver of the other car,

Tracy Cahn, Paradise, Calif. fire victim

Paradise lost, Yachats found

January 10, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Born and raised in Paradise, Calif., Tracy Cahn is starting over in Yachats. Gone is her three-bedroom home in Paradise and everything inside it. Gone is her photography studio in downtown Paradise and all her equipment. She has her son, Carson, 17, and daughter, Grace, 7. And she has half ownership in a rental house on King

Youth program wins $10,000 grant

January 10, 2019

The Yachats Youth & Family Activities Program has received a $10,000 grant from Samaritan Health Services as part of the hospital group’s 2019 distribution of $450,000 to social service groups in three counties. The organization, based in The Commons’ basement, offers year-round programs for children and their families. This includes a pre-school, an after-school recreation and learning program, monthly dinners

Yachats awards 3-year contract for web makeover

January 10, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The city of Yachats should have a new website by July. After almost a year of study and some controversy, the city of Yachats has signed a three-year contract with a Kansas company to design and rebuild the city’s website and technology systems and manage them for three years. The new system will replace one mostly built

City contracts with new planner

January 10, 2019

The city of Yachats has contracted with a new planner following the Dec. 31 retirement of Larry Lewis. David Mattison of Tillamook started the one-day-a-week contract position Jan. 8. In addition to planning duties, Mattison will also handle code enforcement. He will work at City Hall on Tuesdays. Mattison was the planner for the city of Tillamook from 2000 to