Fondness for fungi drives Yachats’ big mushroom festival — and one local family’s 32-year-old business

October 17, 2023

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews Yachats is in for three days of mushroom mania this weekend as its namesake Mushroom Festival pops up all over town. And while the mix of speakers, food, workshops and walks is once a year, it also includes a family business that’s a permanent part of the local landscape. “This year’s festival is bigger and more

Former Pelican Brewing employee arrested in stolen deposit case

October 16, 2023

On July 31, 2023 at about 9:00 AM, Lincoln City Police responded to the Pelican Brewing restaurant after receiving a report from an employee, Denali Cox, stating she was robbed outside the restaurant. Officers responded to the area and began an extensive area search for the described suspect, but no suspect was located. The employee reported she was taking a

After two decades, Lincoln County is looking for a new medical examiner

October 16, 2023

NEWPORT – For the first time in 20 years, Lincoln County is seeking a new medical examiner. Dr. Marilyn Fraser of Lincoln City has notified the county that she is giving up her medical examiner duties as of Nov. 1. Fraser is maintaining her family medicine practice based at Samaritan Lincoln City Medical Center. The end of her county service

Thursday meeting in Yachats seeks public’s ideas on emergency response, resiliency

October 15, 2023

YACHATS — The public is invited to take part in a workshop Thursday evening to collaborate with city staff in identifying needs and priorities in shoring up critical infrastructure to prepare to respond to emergencies and hazards. The Oregon Department of Energy awarded Yachats a $100,000 renewables and resiliency grant to help plan and study incorporating renewable energy and emergency

Changing conditions in Arctic Ocean likely cause of three major gray whale die-offs, OSU researcher finds

October 15, 2023

By MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service NEWPORT – Dynamic and changing Arctic Ocean conditions likely caused three major mortality events in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population since the 1980s, a new study has found. During each of these die-offs, including one that began in 2019 and is ongoing, the gray whale population was reduced by up to 25 percent over

Heavy clouds obscure annular eclipse along the central Oregon coast — but didn’t keep crowds away

October 14, 2023

YACHATS — Hundreds of visitors and locals gathered along roads, beaches and trails in the Yachats area Saturday morning but were unable to get a view of an unusual annular eclipse because heavy clouds — but no rain — kept the sun and moon hidden from view. There were some partial views of the eclipse in the Willamette Valley

Veteran coast photographers open two-week show at Yaquina Art Association gallery

October 14, 2023

By Oregon Coast TODAY Veteran coastal art photographers Walter Duvall and Andree Devine will share a two-week Spotlight Show at Newport’s Yaquina Art Association Gallery, starting Saturday, Oct. 14. Devine’s work entitled “Above and Below the Water” reflects her deep love of all things aquatic. Devine’s personal interest and her work have taken her on diving trips to distant,

Yachats council declines to pick a new city manager and will re-start the search process in January

October 12, 2023

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – After months of searching followed by extensive interviews that involved many in the community – the Yachats city council decided Thursday not to hire anyone for the soon-to-be vacant city manager position. “After a rigorous evaluation that included input from the public, expert panels, local leader panels (and) staff, we have decided that

After court rulings on non-unanimous jury verdicts, a third Lincoln County trial set for man in Seal Rock sex abuse case

October 12, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews A new trial – his third – has been set for early next year for a Seal Rock man whose 2019 conviction on 13 sex-related charges was sent back for re-trial by the Oregon Court of Appeals. A July re-trial in Lincoln County circuit court of Lawson R. Rankin ended with a “hung jury” when 12

Lincoln City police arrest Otis, Myrtle Point men in recent child luring stings

October 11, 2023

Over the last several months, Lincoln City Police Officers have been conducting several online child-luring investigations. Posing as underage children on various social media platforms, the undercover officers went online and were subsequently contacted by adult men who offered to meet up with a person they believed to be a minor for sex or used online communications to solicit a