Yachats Celtic Festival returns after two-year absence to international performers, sold out shows — and some free events

November 7, 2022

BY CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com YACHATS — Tune up the bagpipes, rosin up the fiddle bows and stand back: the Yachats Celtic Music Festival hits town this weekend with a sold-out roster of famed musicians — plus a whirl of free music and other events. Muffled for the past two years by the coronavirus pandemic, the popular celebration of Celtic music,

Boater who drew two COCF&R responses Saturday will be getting big bill

November 7, 2022

WALDPORT – Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue will be sending an Albany boater a pretty big bill for causing such a ruckus on the river Saturday. COCF&R firefighters twice had to respond to calls from Michael C. Herring of Albany for help pulling him off a sandbar in the Alsea River 1¼ miles up river from McKinley’s RV Park

In another sign of the political times, Lincoln County clerk’s office counts thousands of general election ballots under unprecedented levels of outside scrutiny

November 3, 2022

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com NEWPORT – By the time the first voting results are released at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, your ballot will have been handled seven times by Lincoln County clerk’s office employees and “observed” at least twice by volunteers from the local Republican and Democrat parties. For an expected 27,500 returned ballots. Although the clerk’s office handles everything from

A dry fall pushes more black bears into coastal neighborhoods, scrounging for food in preparation for winter hibernation

November 3, 2022

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Black bears — driven by failures in their normal autumn food supplies — are rummaging through garbage cans up and down Oregon’s central coast and generally alarming residents not used to such blatant fall intrusions. “I’m getting bear calls from all over my district,” said Jason Kirchner, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in

Yachats council gives 82 feet of neglected city street to neighbors, sends limits on hedges, fences and walls back for more work

November 3, 2022

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com YACHATS – The Yachats city council held two public hearings Thursday, approving the donation of a long-neglected and small piece of Shell Street to adjoining property owners but sending back to the Planning Commission new wording on limits to fences, walls and hedges. Both hearings lacked staff reports, recommendations or presentations by staff or commission chairs

Problem at new Beaver Creek intake sends salty water to some Seal Rock residents

November 3, 2022

SEAL ROCK — The unexpected failure of a water-quality sensor at some point over the past few days left many Seal Rock Water District customers with salty-tasting water in their pipes. Although district officials and engineers are still working to determine exactly what went wrong, almost all of the high-saline water has already been flushed from the system, Adam Denlinger,

OSU wins $4.2 million federal grant to investigate ocean issues affecting Dungeness crab and food web

November 2, 2022

BY MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service NEWPORT – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded Oregon State University and its research partners $4.2 million to investigate how multiple climate change-related stressors are impacting marine ecosystems off the coast of Oregon, Washington and northern California. The researchers will focus on two key species — Dungeness crab, which plays a significant economic and

Yachats-area rainfall through October is 77 percent of normal

November 2, 2022

Measured rainfall for 2022 in Yachats is running at 77 percent of normal for the year, according to the latest measurements at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a water shortage because measurements up the Yachats River valley – where the two sources of Yachats’ municipal water are located – are much higher. The city

In many parts of rural Oregon, psilocybin treatment is on the Nov. 8 ballot – but what it entails is still a mystery

November 2, 2022

Gilliam County Commissioner Pat Shannon voted to put a psilocybin opt-out measure on the ballot. He’s not convinced that psilocybin therapy can help ailments like depression, anxiety and addiction. By KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL/Oregon Public Broadcasting Pat Shannon is a restaurateur and a commissioner for Gilliam County in north Central Oregon. He and two colleagues on the county board voted to put

Pioneer receives $25 million grant to expand internet in rural areas

November 2, 2022

Two internet providers on the central Oregon coast have been awarded millions in federal funds to install high-speed broadband connections in rural areas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $759 million in grants and loans last week for 49 recipients in 24 states. The two Oregon recipients were Siuslaw Broadband, which got a $10,700 loan, and Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, which