Two hospitals in Lincoln County are struggling with staff shortages, patient movement because of Covid-19 surge, Samaritan CEO says

January 27, 2022

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The two hospitals in Lincoln County are not yet full of Covid-19 patients, but are struggling with staff shortages and not being able to send seriously ill patients to full Willamette Valley hospitals or recovering patients to local nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. “We’re rapidly becoming our own island,” Dr. Lesley Ogden, chief executive officer of

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log Jan. 25-26

January 27, 2022

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP22019544 01/25/2022 00:33 Officer #44704 KATSIKIS, KELLY Impound Vehicle Location 101, Mile post 139 139 SB, NEWPORT, LINCOLN OR USA 97365 Narrative Summary On 1/25/2022 a black 2000 Dodge Neon was stopped for a traffic violation on US-101 near milepost 139. An investigation revealed the driver to be driving while suspended and driving uninsured. The driver was cited

Four OSU scientists connect and collaborate to try to understand the effect of microplastics in gray whales and the ocean’s food chain

January 27, 2022

By NANCY STEINBERG/Oregon State University NEWPORT — The concept is so well-established that it’s almost cliché — the most important thing humans know about ecosystems is that everything in them is connected. Case in point: Gray whales in Oregon’s ocean eat small animals classified as zooplankton. Zooplankton often eat tiny microplastics or other debris from the human environment. That

“We’re doing the best we can” say lodging and restaurant managers fighting Covid-19 absences among their staff

January 27, 2022

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com At Fresh Mexican Food in Waldport, indoor dining closed for five days in mid-January. At The Sea Note in Yachats, the co-owner has been working double shifts daily as a cook. At The Adobe Resort, the general manager recently ran the front desk and attended a virtual City Council meeting at the same time. The culprit

Covid-19 outbreak at Lincoln County jail sickens 25 inmates, 10 staff

January 26, 2022

NEWPORT – A Covid-19 outbreak has hit 25 inmates and 10 staff of the Lincoln County Jail, resulting in a weeklong lockdown of the facility. Sheriff Curtis Landers told county commissioners on Wednesday that four inmates in one jail pod were showing Covid-19 symptoms Jan. 19 and tested positive. Further testing the next few days showed an additional 21 inmates

Oregon withholds federal funds and fines Alsea School District for dropping required mask mandate for students and staff

January 26, 2022

By AIMEE GREEN and DOUGLAS PERRY/The Oregonian/OregonLive ALSEA — The Oregon Department of Education took the rare step this week of withholding federal COVID-19 relief funds from the Alsea School District in Benton County after the small, rural district announced it would forgo the state’s school mask mandate. The federal funding, ODE Director Colt Gill wrote to Alsea School District

Lincoln County unemployment rate slowly declining, but remains higher than statewide rate

January 26, 2022

The unemployment rate in Lincoln County continued its downward trend in December, according to the latest figures from the Oregon Employment Department, but remains significantly higher than the rest of Oregon or the nation. The county’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in December, a slight drop from the 5.7 percent rate in November and more than two percentage

Siletz and Grand Ronde tribes square off over proposal to open a second casino along I-5 in north Salem

January 26, 2022

Architect’s drawing shows what a casino and motel complex proposed by the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz would look like along Interstate 5 in north Salem. By WHITNEY WOODWORTH/Salem Statesman-Journal The owners of Lincoln County’s only tribal casino are pushing ahead with its proposal to build its second casino in Oregon – a $280 million project along Interstate 5 in

Rather than just complain on Facebook about illegal dump sites, Thomas McIntosh asked for help this week — and got it

January 26, 2022

By BREEANA LAUGHLIN/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT – Thomas McIntosh drives the back roads of the Coast Range as a form a stress relief. But what he saw on a forest jaunt last week did anything but that. People had turned an area along a forest road east of Eckman Lake into a large, illegal dump. “I was astounded by it and

ODOT wants to hear from Oregon residents about use of $400 million in “flexible” federal funds

January 26, 2022

By PETER WONG/Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon transportation officials want to hear from the public about how the state should spend more than $400 million in “flexible funds” from the federal government over the next five years. The $400 million is part of the $1.2 billion that Oregon will receive for transportation from the federal infrastructure bill, which President Joe Biden