Five more coast school districts joining Sitka Center’s rapidly expanding arts programs this fall

August 6, 2024

By LORI TOBIAS/Oregon ArtsWatch The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology’s youth art program has been a hit with Oregon coast school districts — from top administrators to kids doodling at their desks — enthused about the classes. It’s been so successful that the nonprofit is expanding it into five more districts this fall. Another measure of that success: Sitka

Route around Cape Perpetua started out as footpath, then trail before road blasted from basalt

August 6, 2024

Early settlers to the central Oregon coast used Native American people’s trails to get around the Cape Perpetua. In the late 1800s, a crude trail was cut to allow mail carriers to deliver mail. The trail went up the cape and often hugged the cliff. In 1900 Nick Ludeman had a three-year contract to carry the mail from Florence

Alcohol-free dance party returns Saturday to Yachats, as it grows and connects with restaurants

August 5, 2024

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — Rock ‘n roll fans of all ages are invited to another alcohol-free dance party Saturday night at the Yachats Commons featuring the local band The Grey Wails. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the event, which will run from 7-10 p.m. Crowds have been growing since the first such booze-free bash launched last winter

College offering two-day contractor’s license class in September

August 5, 2024

The Small Business Development Center at Oregon Coast Community College is offering a two-day Oregon Construction Contractors Board test preparation class in early September. This class will prepare students to qualify for and pass the state exam required for contractor certification in Oregon. The class is taught by a certified education provider and fulfills the state’s pre-exam education requirement. Participants

Pay raises, parity highlight new three-year contract between Newport hospital nurses and Samaritan

August 5, 2024

By CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/YachatsNews Registered nurses at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport are looking at big pay raises in a tentative new contract. Capping five months of negotiations, Samaritan Health System management and the nurses’ union Friday reached the tentative three-year deal, which nurses must now vote on, the Oregon Nurses Association said. The proposed deal largely gives nurses

ODOT leaders say they may have to cut 1,000 jobs if legislature doesn’t find them more money

August 4, 2024

By BRYCE DOLE/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Department of Transportation officials say they will have to slash more than 1,000 jobs if lawmakers don’t address the agency’s financial woes during next year’s legislative session. Transportation leaders painted a grim picture of what faces the state’s road system during a Thursday meeting with the Oregon Transportation Commission, during which commissioners “reluctantly” approved

Calls to alter Oregon homeless camping laws after U.S. Supreme Court decision face uphill climb

August 4, 2024

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon’s top Democrats are showing no sign they will prioritize changes next year to a law that limits how cities regulate homeless camping in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that is causing leaders in other states to rethink their strategies. As a growing contingent of lawmakers in both parties demands a reexamination

Lincoln City police arrest transient on robbery, weapons and menacing charges

August 3, 2024

At approximately 6 a.m. July 29 a manager at the Safeway store in Lincoln City called to report a man who had first shoplifted and then returned to the store wielding two machetes. The man threatened the manager with the weapons. The suspect fled during the police response, leaving behind several bags. A Lincoln City police officer seized the bags

Newport nurses and Samaritan Health reach agreement late Friday on new, three-year contract

August 1, 2024

News alert: The Oregon Nurses Association and its members at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital reached a tentative contract agreement with Samaritan management late Friday afternoon. The tentative contract agreement includes numerous improvements to raise local healthcare standards including equal pay. This is breaking news and will be updated. YachatsNews By CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/YachatsNews After five months of closed-door bargaining for

Sheriff’s deputies begin splitting 10-hour day shifts between Yachats and Waldport under new contracts

August 1, 2024

BY GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews Yachats’ new contract deputy hit the streets Thursday. In a first-of-its-kind shared deputy agreement between the cities of Waldport and Yachats, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Abby Dorsey will work 10-hour day shifts in Waldport on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and in Yachats on Thursdays and Fridays. But while both cities and Sheriff Curtis Landers have hammered out