Saturday’s Yachats River Valley Farm Tour offers locals and visitors a peek at coastal agriculture

August 10, 2023

By BARBARA B. COVELL/Oregon Coast TODAY YACHATS — If you’re longing for a bit of country life, look no further — the annual Yachats River Valley Farm Tour on Saturday may be your golden opportunity for a unique and scenic experience on the Oregon coast. Now in its 13th year, this iconic outdoor event is a slice of

Siletz tribe’s annual Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow returns to full schedule of events this weekend

August 10, 2023

By Oregon Coast TODAY SILETZ — Formed from a shattered and weakened group of tribes and bands forced together onto a single, and rapidly shrinking reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have strengthened and grown from the time of their return to federally recognized tribal status in 1977. A pow-wow is a time for celebration and the annual

Friends of Joni Bicksler raising funds for Post Office bench refurbishing, plaque

August 10, 2023

YACHATS – Friend of former longtime Yachats resident Joni Bicksler will be at the Yachats Farmers Market on Sunday to collect donations to put a memorial plaque on a refurbished bench at the Post Office. Bicksler lived in Yachats for 33 years and died July 23, 2023 in Newport Beach, Calif. where she moved two years ago to be near

State audit of the Oregon Racing Commission finds lax oversight of industry bringing in billions

August 9, 2023

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — State auditors found the Oregon Racing Commission in disarray, with delays in filling openings for commissioners, weak oversight and limited transparency of money allocated to horse racing industry groups. The Oregon Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday released an audit of the Oregon Racing Commission, an obscure agency that regulates $6.4 billion annually

Newport police detain man after shooting death on Yaquina Bay Bridge

August 9, 2023

NEWPORT — One man is dead and another has been detained following a shooting just before 1 p.m. Wednesday on the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Newport police officers immediately detained a man after responding to the bridge about 12:54 p.m, according to Police Chief Jason Malloy. They found the body of a man who had been shot at least once on

Last of western Oregon tribes reach agreement to hunt, fish on ancestral lands without state permit

August 9, 2023

Willamette Falls is located within the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The tribe has some site-specific rights to fish at the falls. (Meghan Kearney/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde can now hunt and fish on a larger swath of their ancestral homelands without

As Oregon faces a mental health crisis, state leaders ask for patience as they tackle problems

August 9, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek speaks about Oregon’s addiction crisis at a ceremonial bill signing event for behavioral health legislation on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem and the Senate Health Care Committee chair, stands behind her. By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — State leaders, from Gov. Tina Kotek to prosecutors to public school educators, are waging a

Years-long legal fight over Lincoln County’s vacation rental regulations finally gets court hearing next week

August 9, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews After more than a year of legal wrangling, some decisions may be coming this summer on the legality of Lincoln County’s short-term rental regulations in unincorporated areas. A Lincoln County circuit judge has scheduled two days of hearings next week to hear oral arguments by attorneys for 20 vacation rental owners who filed suit against

GOP senators who walked out of 2023 Legislature are barred from re-election, secretary of state rules

August 8, 2023

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Republican senators who walked away from this year’s legislative session will be barred from running for re-election next year, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade announced Tuesday. The conclusion, announced after months of speculation, might not be a surprise to voters who overwhelmingly voted last year to create consequences for legislative walkouts via Measure

County removes 5 diseased Cypress trees from courthouse lawn

August 8, 2023

NEWPORT — Lincoln County crews cut down five Cypress trees from the north lawn of the courthouse over the weekend that were growing into the building and had rotting, diseased limbs potentially threatening people and property. The five trees, all Leyland cypresses, were planted as part of a beautification effort during the 1980s, the county said. The trees’ limbs