Lincoln County Cultural Coalition awards $26,500 to 14 nonprofits and schools

January 4, 2024

The Lincoln County Cultural Coalition has awarded $26,500 in grants to 14 local nonprofits and schools, the organization announced this week. The coalition administers funding from two independent sources — the Lincoln County Cultural grants, which are allocated through funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust, and Sponenburgh Memorial Trust grants in honor of Mark R. Sponenburgh, who was a sculptor,

Lincoln City police announce arrest in June credit union robbery

January 4, 2024

Lincoln City Police are pleased to announce that a subject has been arrested for the armed robbery that occurred at the Lincoln City branch of TLC Fibre Federal Credit Union on June 15, 2023. The arrest comes after several months of intensive investigation that involved multiple law enforcement agencies. Arrested for the armed robbery was 20-year-old Micah James Wilson of

Scathing state audit faults lax agency oversight of Oregon pandemic rent relief

January 4, 2024

By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon’s housing agency wasn’t prepared to manage an emergency rental assistance program that spent $426 million during the COVID pandemic and still can’t determine how many Oregonians were helped by the money, according to a scathing new audit. State auditors with the Secretary of State’s Office acknowledged that Oregon Housing and Community Services was working

Big national healthcare company wants to buy The Corvallis Clinic, which is struggling financially

January 4, 2024

By CHRISTIAN WHITOL/The Lund Report CORVALLIS — UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s biggest health care corporation, is continuing its expansion drive in Oregon with a bid to buy The Corvallis Clinic, an independent 11-clinic physician-owned system in the mid-Willamette Valley. Under the deal, the clinic network, founded 76 years ago, would become an arm of Optum Health, the burgeoning United

Siletz Bay Music Festival celebrates Black History Month with special concert Feb. 9

January 4, 2024

By Oregon Coast TODAY LINCOLN CITY — Acclaimed as “bold, stylistically diverse, rhythmically rich,” “My Words Are My Sword” is a groundbreaking musical drama for actor and orchestra that fuses jazz, hip-hop and classical music. The Siletz Bay Music Festival will present the piece on Friday, Feb. 9, in a celebration of Black History Month with two performances at

Oregon fish and wildlife director Curt Melcher retiring after 40 years with the agency

January 3, 2024

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The longtime leader of Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is retiring after nearly 10 years at the helm and almost 40 at the state agency. The agency announced Wednesday that Curt Melcher will step down by April 1. He was first hired as a temporary, seasonal employee at the department in 1985

It’s official — all fireworks now banned in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County

January 3, 2024

It’s now illegal to sell, possess or use of any type of fireworks in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County under a revised ordinance approved Wednesday by county commissioners. The ordinance took effect immediately and applies even to fireworks that are legal in Oregon. Commissioners discussed the issue briefly three times in November and December, receiving just one comment in opposition

Oregon needs more money to fight big wildfires, but who should pay for it — timberland owners or everyone?

January 3, 2024

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The Oregon Department of Forestry needs more and consistent funding to fight wildfires. That much was clear following the 2020 Labor Day fires that burned nearly 850,000 acres of forests and became the state’s most expensive disaster in history. But lawmakers are split on how to pay for it. Two Democratic senators recently

Downtown Toledo art galleries kick off new year with “first weekend” open studios

January 3, 2024

By Oregon Coast TODAY TOLEDO — The artists of Toledo will greet the New Year with a fresh perspective Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6-7, when the town’s galleries and studios open their doors for First Weekend. The Yaquina River Museum of Art will be continuing its exhibition “Promise” for its final month. This celebratory exhibit features Latin American and

A stormy start to December brings 2023 rainfall amounts to near normal as trend continues to wetter, warmer weather

January 3, 2024

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews A very wet early December pushed rainfall totals for 2023 to near average in the Yachats area, according to YachatsNews’ weather watchers, after much of a year that was drier and warmer than usual. And, as always, the amount of rainfall depended on whether it was measured near the ocean or in the foothills of the