Attorneys for Donald Trump file arguments why he should be allowed on Oregon’s May primary ballot

January 2, 2024

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting Former President Donald Trump has waded into efforts to prevent him from appearing on Oregon’s presidential primary ballot, offering a raft of arguments for why his name must appear alongside other GOP candidates when Republicans vote in May. At issue is whether Trump should be banned from seeking office because of his role in spurring

With 5,000 animals killed illegally a year, poaching is a growing Oregon problem as police, hunters try to fight back

January 2, 2024

By BRIAN BULL/KLCC Oregon State Police reported a dozen cases of wildlife being shot illegally across seven counties in November – including two cases in Lincoln County. Aside from a bighorn sheep whose head and horns were removed, all animals were left to waste where they fell. And those are the reported cases. Many others are never called in. Morri Hudson

A new year brings new Oregon laws on housing, drugs, education and lots lots more

January 2, 2024

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — New Oregon laws that took effect Jan. 1 are aimed at the state’s biggest crises and needs, from affordable housing to the exploding fentanyl addiction crisis to mental health. The laws, passed amid a tumultuous legislative session with a historic GOP-led Senate walkout, have a wide reach. Oregonians will see a new tax

5 Questions and A Secret: Anthony Gainer of “Oh Shoot!” photography in Waldport

January 2, 2024

By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/YachatsNews Anthony Gainer was born and raised in Waldport, left for 15 years to explore the world and returned in 2021 to start his photography/videography company, Oh Shoot! Gainer was 12 when he commandeered his family’s 35 mm camera and fell in love. Some teachers at Waldport Middle School recognized his gifts and enthusiasm and offered important

Coastal choir seeking new members for spring performances

January 2, 2024

Coastal Voices, the central coast’s 52-voice choir, is welcoming potential new singers to “vocal introductions” on two different days in Newport. Singers interested in joining the group should come to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Newport from 5:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13. The vocal introduction process, according to a news

Lincoln County unemployment rate stays at 4 percent in November

January 1, 2024

Lincoln County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4 percent in November, the Oregon Employment Department announced this week, unchanged from the 4 percent rate in October. But the rate was down significantly from 5.9 percent in November 2023. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in November and the national rate was 3.7 percent. The agency reported that seasonally adjusted nonfarm

Five longtime Lincoln County radio stations sign off Dec. 31 as owner closes shop, lays off employees

January 1, 2024

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews Silence greeted some Lincoln County radio listeners on New Year’s Day after a longtime broadcast institution folds under financial failure. After 75 years of operation, Yaquina Bay Communications of Newport and its five remaining stations serving Lincoln City, Newport and Waldport aired for the last time Sunday. The stations are KNPT-AM and KNCU-FM in Newport, KBCH-AM

Lincoln County judge rules that county can enforce most of its vacation rental regulations in unincorporated areas

January 1, 2024

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews After more than a year of legal wrangling, a Lincoln County judge Friday ruled against vacation rental owners trying to stop a county ordinance regulating their properties as businesses and drastically reducing their number in unincorporated areas. Friday’s ruling by circuit judge pro-tem Joseph Allison came a day after rental owners lost an appeal to the

Land trust, watershed council and Coos tribe unite to restore Siuslaw wetlands on former 200-acre dairy farm

January 1, 2024

By BRIAN BULL/Underscore News FLORENCE — Standing in the midst of an uneven, muddy expanse where excavators and trucks chug back and forth like giant doodlebugs, Jesse Beers doesn’t exactly look as if he’s surrounded by a dream. But for Beers and many other members of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians on the Oregon