Yachats Fire board will see if outside expert can help resolve concerns over employees staffing ambulance nonprofit

January 23, 2025

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews YACHATS – The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District board agreed Monday to see if someone from the outside can help it sort out increasing concerns over the district’s staffing of the longtime nonprofit ambulance that serves the area. Meeting in a special session Monday, board members asked fire district administrator Frankie Petrick – who is also

Four months at sea helps NOAA scientists gather “most thorough” data yet on marine mammals

January 23, 2025

By NOAA News Service NOAA Fisheries scientists have completed a four-month, 5,000 mile survey of marine mammals and seabirds off the West Coast and collecting a trove of some of the most thorough data and biological samples ever on whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals. Researchers also saw immense schools of dolphins, an unusual number of sei whales, and

Deputies arrest Newport and Siletz men in three child luring stings

January 23, 2025

Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies arrested three men the past week on a variety of charges from a child luring sting operation it conducted from late December to mid-January, the agency announced Thursday. During the investigations, deputies posed as an underage girl on various online social media platforms and were contacted by men wanting to meet for sex. It is part of

Oregon hospitals seek more funding from 2025 Legislature to help close Medicaid reimbursement gap

January 23, 2025

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon hospitals are operating at a loss or often with thin profit margins, with patients boarding in emergency rooms and rural facilities forced to consider closing maternity wards. The space between net patient revenues and operating costs continues to rise, putting more than half of Oregon’s hospitals in the red, hospital officials said in a

Oregon Health Authority says Oregon Medical Group, two insurers, had unreasonably high spending

January 23, 2025

By REBECCA HANSEN-WHITE/KLCC News EUGENE — The Oregon Health Authority has found that Eugene-based Oregon Medical Group, and two insurers, unreasonably increased healthcare costs. Oregon has been trying to rein in healthcare spending for years. In 2019, lawmakers created a program to study and limit healthcare costs. Under the program, healthcare companies operating in Oregon are only allowed to increase

Eugene wood treatment company and its president agree to $1.5 million in air pollution fines

January 23, 2025

By MAXINE BERNSTEIN/The Oregonian/OregonLive A Eugene-based wood treatment facility and its president have agreed to pay $1.5 million in criminal fines for illegal treatment of hazardous waste in violation of the Clean Air Act’s pollution control regulations. J.H. Baxter & Co. Inc. on Wednesday pleaded guilty to illegally treating hazardous waste, and the company president, Georgia Baxter-Krause, 61, of Deschutes,

Siletz, coastal tribes win $1.56 million grant for sea otter reintroduction

January 22, 2025

A significant new, three-year grant will help the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and others work to reintroduce sea otters to their historic ranges along the Oregon and northern California coasts. The $1.56 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will bolster long-standing efforts to restore sea otters to coastal waters, where, due to their prized pelts, they

Lincoln County couple establishes community hub for sustainable practices and relationships

January 22, 2025

By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN/Oregon Coast TODAY When Nicole Cousino and Richard Haskell purchased a property visible from U.S. Highway 20 between Newport and Toledo that features a stunning dairy barn and plenty of open space, they had visions of creating a place that they and others could use as a positive resource. “We were originally envisioning a sustainability education center,

First Ashika-Con event this weekend in Newport is for fans of comics, sci-fi, anime and fantasy.

January 22, 2025

By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN/Oregon Coast TODAY If you use the word “nerd” as a compliment, have a favorite anime character and roll your eyes at people who mix up Star Wars and Star Trek, the new event coming to the Newport Recreation Center this weekend might be for you. Ashika-Con is a Comic-Con-style event for fans of comics, sci-fi, anime

Oregon attorney general joins lawsuit over Trump attempt to end birthright citizenship

January 21, 2025

By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon joined Washington, Arizona and Illinois on Tuesday in suing President Donald Trump and several cabinet officials over his attempt to withhold citizenship from babies born in the United States to immigrants. For more than 150 years, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has guaranteed that all people born in the country