Oregon Health Authority’s coronavirus report for Thursday, Sept. 10; Lincoln County has 1 more case

September 10, 2020

Oregon reports 187 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 3 new deaths PORTLAND — COVID-19 has claimed three more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 497, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Oregon Health Authority reported 187 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday bringing the state total to

Yachats and Waldport try to bring stability to planning services through new contract with regional government

September 10, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The cities of Yachats and Waldport have embarked on a two-year experiment to with work an Albany-based regional government to provide planning services for the two communities. The effort reflects the difficulty in attracting qualified planners or other governmental experts to rural Oregon that is compounded by small cities not needing a full-time employee to do the

Oregon’s deadly wildfires top 900,000 acres burned as of Thursday, up to 500,000 people evacuated across the state

September 10, 2020

By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon firefighters hope to start pushing back on dozens of deadly blazes that have scorched 900,000 acres, killed at least three people, destroyed entire towns and forced up to 500,000 residents to evacuate their homes. “Today marks what we hope is the final day of the wind event,” Gov. Kate Brown said during a

Gov. Kate Brown says fires ravaging Oregon could be most destructive in state history; at least five towns “substantially destroyed”

September 9, 2020

By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon is being swept by likely the most deadly and destructive fires in its history, Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday. “I want to be upfront with Oregonians,” Brown said. “This could be the greatest loss of life and structures due to wildfire in state history.” As of noon Wednesday, 47 active fires covering 374,522

For the Blue River community along the McKenzie River in Lane County “everything’s gone”

September 9, 2020

By GARRETT ANDREWS/The Bend Bulletin As flames from the Holiday Farm Fire roared closer and closer to her home Monday night, Blue River resident Krystal Harrison was ordered to evacuate or perish. The 38-year-old Harrison quickly grabbed her two children, her cats and the urn containing her father’s ashes and loaded them into her truck. She joined other residents of

Oregon Health Authority’s coronavirus report for Tuesday, Sept. 8

September 9, 2020

Oregon reports 169 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 4 new deaths PORTLAND — COVID-19 has claimed four more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 486, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Oregon Health Authority reported 169 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday bringing the state total to

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log for Sept. 2-8

September 9, 2020

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP20249898 09/02/2020 23:19 Officer #59922 TAYLOR, ZACH Agency Assist Location 20 and BUSINESS 20, OR USA Narrative Summary On 9/2/2020 at approximately 11:19 PM, I assisted Toledo Police Department on a traffic stop near the west junction of US-20. I was a cover officer during the stop. While I was on scene, Toledo PD had the driver perform

Coast Guard crews from Newport rescue fisherman from surf at South Beach State Park

September 9, 2020

Station Yaquina Bay crew rescues fisherman from surf near South Beach State Park Editors’ Note: Click on images to download high resolution version. YAQUINA BAY, Ore. — A Coast Guardsman swam from shore to rescue a fisherman from the surf near South Beach State Park early Tuesday morning after his vessel ran aground and began taking on water. The fisherman was forced

Residents say hundreds of homes lost in two fires burning east of Lincoln City; firefighters hope better weather helps them battle two blazes Thursday

September 8, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The two fires burning along Oregon Highway 18 east of Lincoln City doubled in size to 2,400 acres Wednesday and reached the north edge of the city, but fire crews hope Thursday to begin attacking the blaze as weather improves and they finish evacuating people from homes in the fire’s path. There are just 100 firefighters —

Despite pandemic, Yachats area sees another big spurt of homebuilding as demand grows for retirement and second homes

September 7, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Lori and Mike Stevens of Chico, Calif. were looking for someplace on the Oregon coast to be close – but not too close — to their grandchildren in Eugene. Toni Trauman and Ann Fisler of Modesto, Calif. had been coming to Yachats for 20 years and finally decided to make their visit permanent. Jacqueline and Stephen