State audit of the Oregon Racing Commission finds lax oversight of industry bringing in billions

August 9, 2023

By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — State auditors found the Oregon Racing Commission in disarray, with delays in filling openings for commissioners, weak oversight and limited transparency of money allocated to horse racing industry groups. The Oregon Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday released an audit of the Oregon Racing Commission, an obscure agency that regulates $6.4 billion annually

Newport police detain man after shooting death on Yaquina Bay Bridge

August 9, 2023

NEWPORT — One man is dead and another has been detained following a shooting just before 1 p.m. Wednesday on the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Newport police officers immediately detained a man after responding to the bridge about 12:54 p.m, according to Police Chief Jason Malloy. They found the body of a man who had been shot at least once on

Last of western Oregon tribes reach agreement to hunt, fish on ancestral lands without state permit

August 9, 2023

Willamette Falls is located within the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The tribe has some site-specific rights to fish at the falls. (Meghan Kearney/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde can now hunt and fish on a larger swath of their ancestral homelands without

As Oregon faces a mental health crisis, state leaders ask for patience as they tackle problems

August 9, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek speaks about Oregon’s addiction crisis at a ceremonial bill signing event for behavioral health legislation on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem and the Senate Health Care Committee chair, stands behind her. By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — State leaders, from Gov. Tina Kotek to prosecutors to public school educators, are waging a

Years-long legal fight over Lincoln County’s vacation rental regulations finally gets court hearing next week

August 9, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews After more than a year of legal wrangling, some decisions may be coming this summer on the legality of Lincoln County’s short-term rental regulations in unincorporated areas. A Lincoln County circuit judge has scheduled two days of hearings next week to hear oral arguments by attorneys for 20 vacation rental owners who filed suit against

GOP senators who walked out of 2023 Legislature are barred from re-election, secretary of state rules

August 8, 2023

By DIRK VANDERHART/Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Republican senators who walked away from this year’s legislative session will be barred from running for re-election next year, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade announced Tuesday. The conclusion, announced after months of speculation, might not be a surprise to voters who overwhelmingly voted last year to create consequences for legislative walkouts via Measure

County removes 5 diseased Cypress trees from courthouse lawn

August 8, 2023

NEWPORT — Lincoln County crews cut down five Cypress trees from the north lawn of the courthouse over the weekend that were growing into the building and had rotting, diseased limbs potentially threatening people and property. The five trees, all Leyland cypresses, were planted as part of a beautification effort during the 1980s, the county said. The trees’ limbs

Fish and Wildlife commission OKs new rules for commercial crab gear

August 8, 2023

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, as expected, has indefinitely adopted regulations intended to reduce whale entanglements from deep vertical ropes that connect surface buoys with commercial crabbing gear. The regulations, which are scheduled to be reviewed in two years, were unanimously endorsed by commissioners at a meeting in Salem on Friday. Without the action, the rules would have automatically

Central Coast fire board hires investigator to examine allegations surrounding chief’s response to accident involving wife

August 8, 2023

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – The Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue board voted during a special meeting last week to hire an outside investigator to sort out chief Jamie Mason’s response to a July 2 auto accident involving his wife. The investigation is expected to take 3-4 weeks. Ericka Mason was pulling onto U.S. Highway 101 at North Bayview

SW Lincoln Water district embarks on more than $6 million in pipe, valve upgrades with grants, loans, and rate increase

August 8, 2023

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews The growing special service district that provides water to 1,400 customers from Yachats to south Waldport is embarking on more than $6 million in infrastructure projects to repair valves and replace miles of deteriorating pipes. While much of the work is being done via grants and low-interest loans, the Southwest Lincoln County Water Public Utility District’s