Yachats area keeps falling below yearly averages for rain in November

December 1, 2022

The low-lying areas of the central Oregon coast continue to fall behind yearly averages for rainfall, based on November’s numbers, but there is still plenty of precipitation falling in the foothills of the Coast Range. The city of Yachats recorded 8.23 inches of rain at its wastewater treatment plant on West Seventh Street in November, two inches below the 10-year

South county kids will pedal to happier holidays thanks to donations from Waldport’s Green Bike Co-op

December 1, 2022

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT — About 40 young children in the Waldport-Yachats area will be getting free bicycles this year, courtesy of the Green Bike Co-op in Waldport. A tradition for a dozen years, the holiday bike giveaway grants the wishes of kids whose families can’t afford to pay for bikes themselves. Green Bike is an all-volunteer nonprofit group

Despite this week’s storms, precipitation lags across much of Oregon as drought lingers

November 30, 2022

By GEORGE PLAVEN/Oregon Capital Bureau A new water year is off to a slow start in Oregon, where much of the state remains mired in a multi-year drought. Warm and dry weather persisted through mid-October, digging an early deficit for precipitation in most basins — particularly those in central and southern Oregon, where drought conditions are the worst. However, climate

Portland records its 93rd homicide in 2022, a new all-time high as city struggles with search for possible solutions

November 30, 2022

Police tape blocks off North Commercial Street near Jefferson High School after shots were filed on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Jonathan Levinson / OPB By JONATHAN LEVINSON/Oregon Public Broadcasting Portland breezed past last year’s record 92 homicides and planted a new flag on Nov. 23 when the city recorded its 93rd homicide of the year. The victim, 45-year-old Raja

New state law allows Oregon cities to designate speed limits on their streets

November 30, 2022

By OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING A new state law allows Oregon cities — and some counties — to apply for the authority to designate speed limits on their roads. In the past, a city dealing with speeding or accidents on their roads had to get permission from the state to change the speed limit, even if the street was owned and

ODOT ends 23 years of U.S. Highway 20 “safety corridor” east of Toledo

November 30, 2022

After 23 years, Oregon Department of Transportation crews are taking down signs that designated 10 miles of U.S. Highway 20 east of Toledo as a traffic safety corridor. The agency said this week that the number of vehicle crashes with fatal or serious injuries in that area had dropped below the threshold to continue qualifying as a safety corridor. It

City of Yachats wins $250,000 ODOT grant it will use to re-start E. Second Street project

November 30, 2022

YACHATS – The city of Yachats has received a $250,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation to help it rebuild a 540-foot section of East Second Street. The city now plans to finish engineering plans for the project, send it out to bid and hopefully get it done before July 31, when it can apply for another round

Food banks across Oregon forced to tighten belts as hunger swells and prices rise across the state

November 29, 2022

Volunteer Rose Mary Garrels heads off to deliver groceries to a client during the Keizer Community Food Bank at Faith Lutheran Church in Salem on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. (Moriah Ratner/InvestigateWest) KAYLEE TORNAY/InvestigateWest The need for food assistance is at a near-record high in Oregon, and food bank managers are sounding the alarms about rising hunger across the state. Local

NOAA and OSU scientists study declining West Coast gray whale population. Does summer group off Oregon coast offer some clues?

November 29, 2022

By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle Scientists are investigating the causes of a nearly 40 percent decline in the Pacific gray whales that pass along the Oregon Coast each winter and spring on their way from Baja, Mexico to the Arctic. One primary suspect is food scarcity with Arctic feeding grounds impacted by warming temperatures and the loss of sea

Spending by coastal tourists has almost entirely recovered from depths of the 2020 pandemic, new study shows

November 28, 2022

Spending by visitors in four northwest Oregon coastal counties has mostly rebounded from the two-year coronavirus pandemic and is expected to fully recover in 2023, according to a new analysis by the Oregon Employment Department. Visitor spending rose to $1.46 billion in northwest Oregon in 2021 – an increase of 46.4 percent from 2020 after adjusting for inflation, according