Stand with me Saturday, April 5 in protest outside Newport city hall

April 1, 2025

To the editor: Do you oppose the recent layoffs of thousands of federal employees working in Oregon? Do you oppose the dismantling of the Department of Education, and threats to diminish, eliminate, or privatize Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, FEMA, and the U.S. Postal Service? Are you baffled by all the lies? Do you oppose indiscriminate cutting of grants that fund

Beautification volunteers and rock shop owner combine to create unusual, tiny park in downtown Yachats

April 1, 2025

By CHERYL ROMANO/Lincoln Chronicle YACHATS — What’s the story with the big pink rock and the new benches at the corner of U.S. Highway 101 and West Fourth Street? The answer becomes official at 2 p.m. Saturday when volunteers stage a ribbon-cutting for the new, tiny park now being dubbed “Crystal Corner.” Called Keeping Yachats Beautiful, the group has

How Oregon’s laws on forcing mental health treatment could change with new bills in 2025 Legislature

April 1, 2025

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — It has become a heartbreaking ritual in Oregon’s Capitol. Every year or two, family members of people with severe mental illness come before lawmakers hoping for a turning point. They have watched loved ones disappear into their disease, and they’ve been helpless to convince Oregon’s rigid mental health system to force treatment. “It’s

5 Questions and a Secret: Say hello to Jim Matts when you see him picking litter along Highway 20

April 1, 2025

By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/Lincoln Chronicle Jim Matts is a 73-year-old with the energy of a 25-year-old and can be seen almost every day picking up bottles, cans and trash along U.S. Highway 20 between Newport and Toledo. Matts has lived in Toledo for nearly all his life – born there at the former Lincoln Hospital, which was the first hospital

Thousands of Oregonians slam Republican senator’s attempt Monday to end mail ballots

March 31, 2025

By JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Thousands of Oregonians submitted letters opposing a Republican senator’s long-shot attempt to ask voters whether to repeal the state’s decades-old mail voting law, swamping the Legislature’s website on Monday. The outcry against Sen. David Brock Smith’s Senate Bill 210 could serve as a preview of what’s to come if his proposal or a separate initiative

Oregon Senate passes legislation that would make it harder to ban books in school libararies

March 31, 2025

JOANNA HOU/Willamette Week SALEM — In the 2023-24 school year, the Oregon State Library reported the highest number of challenges to books and other materials in libraries and schools since 1987, when it first began collecting data. On Monday, the Oregon Senate responded by passing Senate Bill 1098 in an 18-10 vote. The bill, which now goes to the House,

Trump administration cuts to food programs could mean 40 percent drop to Lincoln County pantries

March 31, 2025

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle Eighteen pantries across Lincoln County that distribute food to people in need may see 40 percent less food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the Trump Administration cancelled several food deliveries to the Oregon Food Bank. Lincoln County’s regional food bank is bracing for the impact and planning to make sure 2,000 families that

Oregon public health programs hit with $117 million in surprise federal cuts; counties await word on impact

March 30, 2025

By NICK BUDNICK/The Lund Report The Oregon Health Authority, nonprofits and county health officials are bracing for layoffs and cuts after the Trump administration abruptly halted $12 billion in funding that the federal government had already approved for fighting addiction, combatting diseases like syphilis and tuberculosis and other public health purposes. Oregon officials on Thursday announced that the cuts total roughly $117 million in

Eugene Emeralds’ league standing at stake due to stadium issues and likely to force move

March 30, 2025

By NATHAN WILK/KLCC News EUGENE — The Eugene Emeralds kick off their 2025 season in April, but the team’s manager says the clock is ticking on their time in Eugene. The Ems play their home games at the University of Oregon’s PK Park. But that stadium doesn’t meet Major League Baseball’s new standards for minor league facilities, which take effect

University of Oregon faculty could go on strike Monday if weekend bargaining fails to reach agreement

March 28, 2025

By NATHAN WILK/KLCC News EUGENE — The University of Oregon’s faculty union has announced its intent to strike as early as Monday, the start of Spring Term, unless it can reach a deal on a new contract. UO’s Office of the Provost said it will not cancel the term if a strike happens, and doesn’t plan to cut individual classes. Here’s how students