Council in southern Oregon coast city of Brookings limits number of meals churches can feed homeless

October 31, 2021

By ALEX HASENSTAB/Oregon Public Broadcasting Churches in the southern Oregon coast city of Brookings are now restricted to offering free meals to the homeless just twice a week. The City Council approved the limitation last week, following complaints from people who live near churches that fed people. Churches are the only nonprofits in Brookings that offer free meals for the

Racist slurs shuts down Oct. 21 meeting of Oregon advisory committee on historic preservation

October 31, 2021

By KEVIN HARDEN/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation abruptly ended its Oct. 21 online meeting when someone watching the session began writing racist slurs. An hour into the first day of a two-day virtual session, committee members had started a discussion about possible nomination of several Portland-area sites associated with local African-American history, when a person

Oregon Board of Forestry names Calvin Mukumoto of Coos Bay as new state forest leader

October 31, 2021

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle The Oregon Board of Forestry on Friday picked a forester from Coos Bay to lead the Oregon Department of Forestry. Calvin Mukumoto, a former member of the state Parks and Recreation Commission and Board of Forestry and the U.S. Board for the Forest Stewardship Council, will lead the agency’s 1,200 employees and a budget of

White House: Oregon’s new single-family zoning law could be model for nation

October 31, 2021

House Speaker Tina Kotek addresses the chamber during a legislative special session on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle) By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon’s 2019 law effectively ending single-family zoning could be a model for states across the nation, White House officials said during a meeting with House Speaker Tina Kotek, who spearheaded the

Investigator for lawyers in class action suit says Echo Mountain fire and three others in 2020 likely caused by PacificCorp equipment

October 30, 2021

By CASSANDRA PROFITA/Oregon Public Broadcasting Four of the fires that burned across Oregon on Labor Day of 2020 were likely caused by equipment owned by PacifiCorp, according to a fire investigator in a class action lawsuit. The fires burned more than a million acres across the state, destroyed thousands of homes and killed nine people. They were fueled by

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log for Oct. 25-28

October 29, 2021

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP21302570 10/25/2021 12:50 Officer #55167 WERTZ, DAVID Crash – Non-injury Location 229, Mile post 28 28 SB, LINCOLN OR USA Narrative Summary (ecrash) On 10/25/21 at approximaely 12:50 pm I was dispatched to a single vehicle crash which occurred on SR 229 near mile post 28. Unit #1, a silver Honda Civic (232FLU), was southbound and negotiating a

Two finalists for Yachats city manager make final pitches for the job, council to vote on selecting one next Thursday

October 28, 2021

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The two candidates to become Yachats City manager made their last pitches for the job Thursday night, one week before the City Council is scheduled to offer the position to one of them. Helen Anderson and Gretchen Dubie each spent an hour making opening and closing statements and then answering questions from an audience of 30-35 people

After finding Yachats lacking in bicycle racks, avid cyclist Jocko Doss pedaled into action — and now first three are ready for city’s OK

October 28, 2021

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com It took the disappearance of an old bike rack in downtown Yachats for Jocko Doss to realize how few there were in the city. That’s about to change. An avid cyclist, Doss wheels around town almost every day on an electric-assist bike and made a habit of securing it to a bike rack in front of

Oregon coronavirus report for Thursday, Oct. 28: 1,116 new cases overall, 15 in Lincoln County; vaccinations at 80 percent

October 28, 2021

Oregon reports 1,116 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 24 new deaths PORTLAND — There are 24 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 4,358, Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Oregon Health Authority reported 1,116 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to

After two years, Lincoln County commissioners pass new short-term rental ordinance Wednesday, but have 90 days to finish details

October 27, 2021

BY QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Calling it a “giant step” toward addressing issues with vacation rentals in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County, commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday on a wide-ranging set of new rules governing their numbers and use. But proponents and opponents of a separate vacation rental measure on next Tuesday’s ballot were not impressed, calling the commissioner’s work either incomplete