Oregon wildfire agencies prepared to respond to fire season but will need more staff in future

May 15, 2024

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The state’s top wildfire responders say they are prepared for the approaching wildfire season, but they are concerned about adding staff and resources in the future amid expectations that wildfires will increase. At a news conference Wednesday, the leaders of the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon State Fire Marshal and the Oregon

Lincoln City police arrest transient for murder Tuesday after assault near motel

May 15, 2024

On Tuesday, May 15 at approximately 8:05 p.m. the Lincoln City Police Department responded to a report of an assault in the parking lot of the Ashley Inn, 3430 NE Highway 101. Officers arriving at the scene found Jay Cole, 69, of Milwaukie, seriously injured and unconscious. Roland Evans-Freke, 30, a transient, was detained and later lodged at the Lincoln

State allocates nearly $14 million for addiction prevention as part of $600 million in opioid settlement

May 15, 2024

By LYNNE TERRY/Oregon Capital Chronicle State officials charged with allocating $600 million from opioid settlement lawsuits decided in its latest round of funding to focus on prevention. At its May meeting, the Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Board approved a proposal by the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission to spend $13.7 million on increasing the number of professionals working

Until highways reached the coast, rail passengers used Yaquina River ferries to reach Newport

May 15, 2024

Before highways reached the Oregon coast, ferries worked the rivers connecting inland rail stations to cities at the beach. The railroad from the Willamette Valley to the central Oregon coast ended in Yaquina City, four miles east of Newport, so rail passengers took the river ferry “Newport” the rest of the way. The ferry averaged 50,000 passengers a year,

ODFW, church hold kids fishing event Saturday at Eckman Lake

May 14, 2024

WALDPORT — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and First Baptist Church of Waldport are hosting a family fishing event at Eckman Lake from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18. The event is for youth ages 17 and younger. Each participant can catch two rainbow trout from a fish enclosure and fishing gear and instruction will be

Benfield has experience, professionalism to end DA’s office disarray

May 14, 2024

To the editor: We need Kathryn Benfield as our Lincoln County District Attorney. Our current district attorney’s office has been in embarrassing disarray. Public conflict with our county commissioners, sheriff’s office and other entities which make our court system work smoothly, has marked our current district attorney. The other candidate is closely associated with the current district attorney who seemed

Sheriff’s deputies, Newport police arrest man after report of stolen vehicle, chase

May 14, 2024

About 6:02 a.m. Tuesday Willamette Valley Communications Center dispatch received a report of a vehicle stolen from the Siletz Valley Charter School in Siletz. The owner of the vehicle also reported that there was a firearm stored in the vehicle. Dispatch broadcast detailed information to the Newport Police Department, who had Officers on duty, in an attempt to locate the

A new hybrid non-native beach grass is spreading fast and hampering efforts to restore ocean dunes

May 14, 2024

By LAUREN ELLENBECKER/Columbia Insight Over a century ago, settlers altered the Pacific Coast’s natural shape with the introduction of two non-native grass species. Now, a new hybrid grass species is making headway, presenting challenges for dune restoration. A study published last month in the journal Ecosphere said two invasive, dune-building beachgrasses — European beachgrass and American beachgrass — hybridized to create

Newport hospital becomes first small, rural Oregon hospital to use robotic-assisted surgery equipment

May 14, 2024

NEWPORT – Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital has become the first, small rural hospital in Oregon to acquire and implement robotic-assisted surgery equipment in one of its operating rooms. The da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery system has been in use at the Newport hospital since April, the hospital said in an announcement, giving surgeons enhanced precision and control while conducting procedures. It

Oregon DOJ says no criminal charges in OLCC bourbon scandal, but ethics probe proceeds

May 13, 2024

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The Oregon Department of Justice concluded that no criminal charges are warranted for the six former Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission employees who set aside bottles of in-demand bourbon for their personal use. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on Monday announced the conclusion of the investigation, which started in February 2023, in a