Yachats council removes chair of Parks & Commons Commission for disparaging emails to staff, refusing to follow city procedures

July 5, 2021

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council has taken the unusual step of removing the chair of the city’s Parks and Commons Commission after agreeing that Dawn Keller sent disparaging emails to staff, verbally abused community members, misrepresented her role with the city, and refused to accept the role of the commission within city government. Keller’s removal came at

Drought emergency declaration this week for Lincoln County may be only the start of a long, dry summer on central coast

July 1, 2021

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Lincoln County’s declaration of a drought emergency this week is only the first step on a path likely to result in everything from requests for voluntary water curtailment to stronger, mandatory measures if drought conditions persist. Many water purveyors all along Oregon’s central coast – there are 52 in Lincoln County — are now preparing to

Nine months after $1 building purchase, city of Waldport and chamber partnership opens new welcome center along Highway 101

July 1, 2021

CHERI BRUBAKER/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT — Nine months after the city of Waldport acquired a state interpretive center and one day after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown lifted coronavirus restrictions, the Waldport Chamber of Commerce opened the doors Thursday to the area’s newest welcome center and museum. The re-opening of the center at the south end of the Alsea Bay bridge is

Yachats council’s discussion of administrator’s traits draws frank message from interim manager that city “get its own house in order”

July 1, 2021

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Another philosophical discussion about traits that City Council members would like in a new administrator for Yachats turned into a more frank conversation Thursday when the city’s second interim manager said the city must first “get its own house in order.” “You’re setting up someone for failure under the current situation,” interim manager Katherine Guenther told

Colorful banners now hanging from downtown Waldport lamp posts are first project for fledgling Alsea Bay Center for the Arts

July 1, 2021

By CHERI BRUBAKER/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT — A few years ago, artist Amy Anderson responded to art collector Greg Holland’s social media request seeking people interested in forming a Waldport community arts group. Anderson’s husband, Greg, and her friend and neighbor, Diana Buckley, joined Holland – now Waldport’s mayor — and five others to form the Alsea Bay Center for the

State police release more details of young girl found dead in north Lincoln County

July 1, 2021

The remains of the young girl found in a rest area off Oregon 18 last December in Lincoln County were in a duffel bag, Oregon State Police revealed Thursday. She was wearing a pull-up diaper, police said. They did not say why they decided to release the details now and still have not released how the girl died. A more detailed DNA

After a year away, the 65th edition of Waldport’s Beachcomber Days returns for two days starting Friday night

July 1, 2021

By CHERI BRUBAKER/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT — After being forced to skip a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 65th version of Waldport’s Beachcomber Days are back – with a bang. Forced to scramble to put on the event in just a few months, the group’s organizing committee has filled Friday night and Saturday in downtown Waldport with everything from

Fireworks this weekend? Lincoln County and most jurisdictions turn to education and pleas for safe practices, not necessarily citations

July 1, 2021

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Worried about parched landscapes and precious water supplies, jurisdictions around Lincoln County hope an education campaign – and enforcement in only the most life-threatening situations – will lessen the use of illegal fireworks along the coast this weekend. But most can only hope such a campaign will have some effect, given the flood of out-of-town visitors