Oregon DMV detours around phone logjam, gets more time for Real ID licenses

June 9, 2020

By PETER WONG/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services has bad news and good news for customers stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The bad news is that DMV’s initial effort to reopen its field offices after a 10-week shutdown hit a roadblock — and not the physical kind. The good news is that DMV was able to get

Lower traffic in Oregon because of coronavirus also means drop in state fuel taxes

June 9, 2020

By PETER WONG/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregonians have been driving less during the coronavirus pandemic — though steep drops have eased off in recent weeks — and the state, counties and cities will see less in fuel taxes to maintain roads and bridges. The overall decline for the state’s two-year budget cycle ending June 30 is projected from $1.55 billion to

Lincoln County Jail will resume accepting more arrested people after COVID-19 testing

June 9, 2020

A news release Tuesday, June 9 from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office: The Lincoln County Jail will begin accepting arrestees for more charges on June 9, 2020. Through continued community partnerships the Lincoln County Jail has been able to verify through testing if an Adult In Custody (AIC) is COVID-19 positive or negative prior to housing. With that in mind,

Waldport Moose Lodge temporarily suspends popular meal program because of Newport’s COVID-19 outbreak

June 9, 2020

WALDPORT — A robust free meals program conducted by the Waldport Moose Lodge is on hold in the wake of the huge spike in Lincoln County COVID- 19 cases. The lodge suspended its three-month-old meals program Monday due to health concerns after 124 of 376 workers at Pacific Seafood’s processing plants in Newport tested positive for the virus. It’s the

Oregon Health Authority’s coronavirus report for Monday, June 8

June 8, 2020

As Oregon reopens, remember that COVID-19 is still in our communities Sunday’s count of people testing positive for COVID-19 marked the highest daily count since the onset of the pandemic in Oregon. Today, we have announced an additional 114 cases. These numbers are tied to several factors, including more widespread testing, increased contact tracing and active monitoring of close contacts

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log for June 4-8

June 8, 2020

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP20149876 06/04/2020 03:39 Officer #53141 SEVERSON, SCOTT Crash – Injury Location 20, Mile post 10 10 WB, LINCOLN OR USA Narrative Summary eCrash – On 6/4/20 at approximately 330AM a westbound vehicle left the roadway near milepost 10 of US Highway 20 and crashed into trees on the westbound shoulder. Driver contacted a local resident who drove him

Lincoln County races to trace hundreds of contacts by sick Pacific Seafood workers, will ask everyone to quarantine for 14 days

June 8, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Lincoln County is racing Tuesday to begin tracking down everyone that 124 seafood workers with COVID-19 have been in touch with the past two weeks. The workers are all from Pacific Seafood’s five plants on the Newport bayfront, which have been closed since Friday because of the outbreak. It is by far the largest public workplace coronavirus

After another contentious discussion, Yachats council votes 3-2 to proceed with $158,000 street project

June 8, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Yachats is moving ahead with a $158,000 project to rebuild a crumbling street between the 501 Building and large, grass field but not without another contentious discussion about how the city makes decisions – and if it can really make hard ones at all. The council voted 3-2 Thursday to approve the project that would pave a

Pacific Seafood announces that 124 workers at its Newport plants have tested positive for COVID-19; closes all five facilities

June 7, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Some 124 workers at Pacific Seafood’s five processing plants in Newport have tested positive for COVID-19, the company announced Sunday, making it by far the largest single public workplace outbreak in Oregon since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In announcing the results of tests, the company said its five Newport facilities would remain closed until

Coronavirus changes their world, but Waldport High School staff and parents find new ways to honor graduating seniors

June 7, 2020

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT — When the coronavirus pandemic closed Waldport High School nearly three months ago, no one had a clue what the future held for anything close to a “normal” graduation for the school’s 37-member senior class. But several mountain’s worth of learning curves have been scaled since then, paving the way for Friday night’s first “virtual”