One year into four-year term, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek faces same challenges

January 9, 2024

By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Gov. Tina Kotek took office a year ago with a promise to wake up every day with a mission to take on Oregon’s challenges and make things better. And the state faced many challenges. While state coffers were overflowing – Oregon will send taxpayers the largest “kicker” rebate in state history this spring

Coastal residents must try to stop major logging, spraying of forests

January 9, 2024

To the editor: There are two serious issues that Oregon residents, especially those in Lincoln County, are being faced with – major destructive logging and aerial and ground spraying of an extremely toxic herbicide after logging. We take great pride in our pristine and beautiful forests, yet our forests are being plowed down by private and public corporations in the

As needs and people change, public libraries in rural Oregon evolve to do much more than check out books

January 9, 2024

By AMANDA WALDROUPE/Oregon Arts Watch During the celebration of Maupin’s centennial anniversary last year, its public library – the Southern Wasco County Library – printed a second edition of Chaff in the Wind: Gleanings of the Maupin Community. Chaff in the Wind is a history of Maupin and Wasco County that the library’s Friends’ group originally published in 1986. The library commissioned new chapters covering Maupin’s

Yachats Post Office without a postmaster again and USPS officials quiet about why, what’s next

January 8, 2024

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – The Yachats post office is without a postmaster. When and why Yachats postmaster Chanda Kowitz, who had been on the job for two years, is no longer there remains a mystery to the public. But a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman has confirmed she is no longer on the job. Regional USPS spokesperson for Oregon

Unable to buy property in Lincoln City, county begins homeless shelter program there using motel vouchers

January 8, 2024

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Lincoln County has started its temporary winter program for the homeless in Lincoln City even though it has been unable to find and purchase property for a permanent shelter there. The county’s new shelter in Newport and a similar service now in Lincoln City is its first attempt to establish a walk-in shelter system for the

Can you bring a community closer together with homemade pizza? Laura Abel of Waldport believes she can

January 4, 2024

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – Laura Abel is just trying to bring people together one small pizza at a time. So for 37 straight Sundays – and during the summer at the Waldport Wednesday Market – she has set up shop in a gravel parking lot along U.S. Highway 101 between a coffee shop and cannabis dispensery and given

Central Coast Fire District’s attempts to upgrade 13-year-old response agreements with Yachats and Seal Rock runs into resistence

January 4, 2024

Editor’s note: A paragraph in this story on response times and units responding to a Dec. 11 trailer fire on the south edge of Waldport has been updated and corrected. By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Thirteen years of three small local fire districts helping each other out when responding to calls could end in mid-January because of philosophical and

Adobe Resort in Yachats kicks its $2 million remodel into high gear with lobby, bar, restaurant and room changes

January 4, 2024

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — If you thought your last home renovation project was daunting, try multiplying it by a hundredfold — and then some. That’s the prospect facing Yachats’ 110-room Adobe Resort as it kicks its $2 million-plus remodel into high gear beginning Sunday. From the rooms to the lobby, restaurants to the gift shop, major elements of

Upset legislators — including Rep. Gomberg — and beverage industry push back on state’s over-drinking campaign

January 4, 2024

By NIGEL JAQUISS/Willamette Week Viewers who watched football games over the holidays probably saw an ad called “Why,” which is part of an Oregon Health Authority campaign called “Rethink the Drink” aimed at discouraging excessive consumption of alcohol. In the 60-second spot, a father first grabs a case of beer (not on his shopping list) and then a bottle of wine (also

Hatfield Marine Science Center’s ocean-themed film festival this month expands to 27 films and two venues

January 4, 2024

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews A colony of horseshoe crabs struggling to survive in New Jersey’s coastal waters. Five French Polynesian surfers sharing their perceptions of the ocean. The effects of climate change on the planet’s most remote locations. Films on these just these three respective topics would make a full evening of fascinating viewing. In fact, however, they barely scratch