Oregon mayor’s group say state needs to step up with more money to help battle homeless issues

October 17, 2022

BY ANNA GRIFFIN/Oregon Public Broadcasting A coalition of 25 mayors from across Oregon want state leaders to play a more central role in the battle to end homelessness. In a letter sent Friday, the mayors ask Oregon legislators to spend more than $123 million a year on new efforts to help cities end homelessness. They also want state money, on top

The Oregon governor’s race: Next governor will shape education for a generation of students who have fallen behind

October 17, 2022

First in a 6-part series. Tuesday: Housing By RACHEL ALEXANDER/Salem Reporter Oregon’s schools have rarely occupied more focus in statewide races than in 2022. After over a year of online schooling for most kids during the pandemic, the state’s first assessment data released in September showed grim results. Just 43.6% of students statewide tested proficient in language arts, a 9-point

Former Yachats councilor says Gomberg always listened

October 17, 2022

To the editor: As a former member of the Yachats City Council, I had the opportunity to spend time in Salem meeting with various members of the Oregon Legislature. It was my experience that most members pay lip service to wanting to hear from their constituents. I got the impression that they viewed this as a requirement of holding office,

New NOAA report says changing ocean leads to 38 percent decline in West Coast’s gray whales last two years

October 17, 2022

By NOAA Fisheries News Service Gray whales that migrate along the West Coast of North America continued to decline in number over the last two years, according to a new NOAA Fisheries assessment. The population is now down 38 percent from its peak in 2015 and 2016, as researchers probe the underlying reasons. The population also produced the fewest

OSU announces $200 million technology research center launched by $100 million in donations

October 16, 2022

By MEERAH POWELL/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon State University announced a new $200 million research and education center on Friday, focused on supporting the semiconductor and general technology industries in the region. The center will be launched by $100 million in donations. The university announced the new center at a fundraising campaign launch event Friday night. The center will be named

Lincoln County joins 4th Congressional District just in time for a choice between two widely different candidates

October 16, 2022

By GRANT STRINGER/The Oregonian In the race to represent Oregon’s 4th District, a Republican lauded for bravery on a French train in 2015 and a Democratic politician who served in the Legislature for years and then as a state agency head each say they’d be the best replacement for the state’s longest-serving member of Congress. Congressman Peter DeFazio Oregon’s Democrat-controlled Legislature

Politicians on Oregon’s Nov. 8 ballot seek to be first, longest-serving, oldest and more

October 16, 2022

By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau The Nov. 8 election could result in a number of firsts for Oregon. Ron Wyden could become Oregon’s longest-tenured U.S. Senator; Betsy Johnson could be the state’s oldest governor; Tina Kotek could be the first lesbian to serve as a governor in the United States; Jamie McLeod-Skinner could be Oregon’s first lesbian member of

Gomberg too good, too responsive and too hardworking to “trade away”

October 15, 2022

To the editor: I’ve read with bemusement the several recent letters supporting a candidate running to take the seat of our incumbent state representative, David Gomberg. No doubt this person is the fine human being her supporters portray, but I’m at a loss to think why anyone would imagine that she, or anyone else, could possibly be a more responsive,

League of Women Voters sets forum for House, Lincoln County candidates

October 13, 2022

NEWPORT — The League of Women Voters of Lincoln County is hosting a forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 featuring some of the candidates for the Oregon House District 10, Lincoln County commissioner, clerk and treasurer in the Nov. 8 general election. The forum will be in the community room of Oregon Coast Community College’s Newport campus, 400 S.E.

What you need to know about mushroom hunting and gathering as season hits full stride in coastal forests

October 13, 2022

Compiled from the Salem Statesman Journal and YachatsNews.com It’s mushroom season on the Oregon coast. The prize of the local fungi group is the Pacific golden chanterelle, which was declared Oregon’s official state mushroom in 1999 and begins popping up shortly after fall rains begin. But, many people don’t know that the chanterelle season starts way before the rains,