Portland-born pianist now living in Germany will highlight Newport Symphony performances this weekend

September 20, 2023

By Oregon Coast TODAY NEWPORT — Mozart’s effervescent “Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major” will fill the Newport Performing Arts Center this weekend as the Newport Symphony Orchestra welcomes pianist Ben Kim to the coast. Kim’s two concerts on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23-24, will also feature Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 2, o. 36,” and “Fantasia on a theme

Waldport crews begin cleanup of former middle school as city slowly works to turn it into recreation center

September 20, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – The city of Waldport is taking the first major steps this week to clean up the former school gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen it bought five months ago. Public works crews sorted scrap metal for recycling and threw years worth of accumulated junk into Dumpsters on Tuesday, the first day of a planned three-day cleanup.

Choir receives grant to help bring song to Lincoln County schools

September 19, 2023

Coastal Voices, the 56-member community choir based on the central Oregon Coast, has received a $2,300 grant from The Roundhouse Foundation to create a choral education program for middle and high schools in the Lincoln County School District. Coastal Voices artistic director Rhodd Caldwell is the head of the project, assisted by members of SoundWaves, a small ensemble drawn from

Lincoln County unemployment rate drops slightly for seventh month

September 19, 2023

For the seventh month in a row, Lincoln County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined slightly in August – hitting 4.1 percent, the Oregon Employment Department announced Tuesday. The county’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in January before beginning its month-by-month decline. The July rate was 4.2 percent. The statewide unemployment rate in August was 3.4 percent; the national rate was

Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum won’t run for fourth term in 2024 as state’s top law enforcement officer

September 19, 2023

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum talks with an official from Planned Parenthood before a news conference about the abortion pill on March 12. BY JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum plans to step down at the end of her term, clearing the way for a new top law enforcement official. Rosenblum, a Democrat, has served

Push to change Oregon’s Measure 110 gains momentum and money as coalition files initiatives to prohibit hard drug use in public places

September 18, 2023

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle A coalition funded by prominent Oregonians, including retired Nike co-founder Phil Knight, plans to ask Oregon voters in 2024 to roll back some of Measure 110, the voter-passed law that decriminalized the use of hard drugs. The group, the Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot Measure 110, announced Monday it had filed two ballot initiatives

For a second time Saturday search dogs were unable to find trace of Yachats man missing for seven weeks

September 18, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews YACHATS — A Lane County Sheriff’s search team Saturday was unable to find a 45-year-old Yachats man who has been missing since late July after bringing in specially-trained dogs for the second time. Two “human remains detection” dogs, their handlers and 20 volunteers worked the Keller Creek Road area on the east side of Cape Perpetua where

Trial in Eastern Oregon’s Harney County begins to determine if new Oregon gun laws are constitutional

September 18, 2023

By JONATHAN LEVINSON/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon’s new voter-approved gun laws passed constitutional muster in a federal court this summer, but now they face another round of legal challenges — this time in state court. Starting Monday, Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio will preside over a six-day trial to determine if the Oregon Constitution allows the state to ban

Waldport council says “no” to Lincoln County request for $10,000 to help fund winter emergency shelter

September 18, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – Saying they didn’t know how local homeless people would get to Newport and upset that Lincoln County might be cutting a $10,000 contribution to its museum, the city council voted 6-1 last week to not contribute to a county- and volunteer-operated emergency shelter this winter. The county is asking seven cities to contribute toward

Struggling mussel population along the Oregon coast had a sudden die-off this summer, and no one is sure why

September 18, 2023

By APRIL EHRLICH/Oregon Public Broadcasting DEPOE BAY — Like many sea creatures, mussels along Oregon’s coastline are struggling. Their population took a sudden nose dive this summer, and researchers aren’t sure what’s behind the die-off. This mystery is what brought Oregon State University professor and marine ecologist Bruce Menge and his research team to a tide pool in Depoe