Patty Gewalt, Yachats

January 1, 2025

Patty Gewalt March 27, 1934 – Dec. 4, 2024 Patricia Mae Cobb was born on March 27, 1934, to Thomas and Beatrice Cobb and raised in the small mill town of Westfir, Ore. where the beautiful North Fork of the Willamette River flows and a historic covered bridge connects it to the mill. Patty went to grade school in

From safer buses to phone fixes: A rundown of new Oregon laws for 2025

January 1, 2025

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting New year, new rules. As Oregonians ring in 2025, nearly two dozen bills passed by lawmakers early last year will quietly take effect. From stricter penalties for drug use on transit, to an easier path to fixing your broken device, to nabbing drivers who don’t yield to school buses, these new statutes cover a lot

Oregon’s homeless population is 8th largest in the nation, 2024 federal count shows

January 1, 2025

By ANTHONY EFFINGER/Willamette Week Oregon finds itself near the top of another tragic list as the year ended. Oregon had the eighth-largest population of homeless people on a given night in January 2024, according to a “point-in-time” count released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week. HUD counted 22,875 people experiencing homelessness in Oregon in January, up 13.6% from

Efforts to ban books in Oregon libraries on the rise; library patrons and supporters are pushing back

January 1, 2025

By AMANDA WALDROUPE/Oregon ArtsWatch In December the Grants Pass School District approved removing two books from the Grants Pass High School Library: All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson’s memoir about the author’s black and queer identity, which is among the most frequently challenged and banned books in the country – and Lucky, Alice Sebold’s 1999 memoir about being sexually assaulted. The residents

New report projects number of Oregon high school graduates will decline almost 20% by 2041

January 1, 2025

By ELIZABETH MILLER/Oregon Public Broadcasting The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education has published an edition of “Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates,” every four years since 1979. The 2024 edition of the report brings a bit of good news: Almost four million students will graduate from high school in 2025, the highest number recorded “since data have

Suspect in man’s 2022 disappearance jailed on corpse abuse charge

December 30, 2024

NEWPORT – An apparent suspect in the disappearance of a Newport car dealer three years ago is being held in the Lincoln County jail on $500,000 bail on accusations of abuse of a corpse after investigators dug up his back yard Friday. Jack D. Baird, 60, was arrested after investigators from the Newport Police Department and Lincoln County Sheriff’s office

Lincoln County jobless rate stays at 4.8 percent in November

December 30, 2024

Lincoln County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 4.8 percent in November, unchanged from October’s rate but half a percentage point higher than the year before and higher than Oregon’s statewide rate of 4.1 percent. The national rate was 4.2 percent in November. Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment increased by 30 in November to 18,680 jobs, said regional economist Shaun

County jail inmate died of medical condition, police say

December 30, 2024

NEWPORT – Investigators announced Monday that a 53-year-old Lincoln County jail inmate found dead in his cell Dec. 22 died of natural causes related to a chronic medical condition. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said last week that Steven P. Riley of Lincoln City was found unresponsive in his single-occupant cell about 11:45 a.m. Dec. 22 during routine meal service.

Three other tribes sue to stop approval of Coquille casino in Medford

December 28, 2024

By JUSTIN HIGGINBOTTOM/Jefferson Public Radio The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and Biden administration officials to halt approval of the Coquille Indian Tribe’s proposed casino in Medford. The on Dec. 23 complaint alleges a favorable final environmental impact study for

15th annual Yachats New Year’s Day peace hike commemorates native suffering and resilience

December 28, 2024

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — A bedrock local event returns New Year’s Day when the 15th annual Yachats Peace Hike commemorates both the suffering of coastal indigenous people and the resilience of their descendants. Starting at the pavilion behind the Yachats Commons and leading to the Amanda gathering area along the Amanda Trail, the hike highlights the memory of