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

Leaders of Oregon’s largest school districts ask state to address “education funding crisis”

May 13, 2024

By ALEX BAUNHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Superintendents in four Oregon school districts, including the two largest in Portland and Salem, are calling on state leaders to boost funding for public education, calling the state of school funding a “crisis.” In a video posted to district YouTube accounts on Monday, the leaders of Portland, Salem-Keizer, Bend-La Pine and Medford school districts made

Legislators say Optum will let Eugene doctors who left Oregon Medical Group treat local patients

May 13, 2024

By JAKE THOMAS/The Lund Report A pair of Eugene lawmakers say that health care giant Optum, Inc. has agreed to release its former doctors from non-compete contracts that critics said had blocked area patients from receiving needed care. Rep. Nancy Nathanson and Floyd Prozanski announced Thursday that physicians and other clinicians previously employed by Optum subsidiary Oregon Medical Group would

Warm Springs tribe asks ODFW to repeal licensing agreement with Grand Ronde over Willamette Falls issue

May 13, 2024

By NIKA BARTOO-SMITH/Underscore News The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is asking the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to repeal a state agreement with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. In August, the Oregon Department of Wildlife approved an agreement affirming the right of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to issue hunting and fishing licenses to its citizens. Other Native

Tidewater woman killed Saturday in Highway 20 crash near Blodgett

May 13, 2024

BLODGETT – The Benton County Sheriff’s Office says it is investigating the cause of a two-car collision Saturday on U.S. Highway 20 that killed a Tidewater woman driving one car and a passenger in the second vehicle. Sheriff’s investigators said Elizabeth L. O’Neill, 52, of Tidewater died about 11 a.m. Saturday when her eastbound Ford Fusion was struck by a

Waldport council OKs seeking contractor to install specialty (and costly) playground surface at Southworth Park

May 13, 2024

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – The city of Waldport is taking another small but expensive step to develop the playground centerpiece of Louis Southworth Park. The city council last week authorized city manager Dann Cutter to seek contractors to purchase and install a surface specially designed to go underneath a massive playground structure in the center of the new