Governor goes outside courthouse to appoint new Lincoln County district attorney and judge

January 23, 2020

Gov. Kate Brown has selected two lawyers in private practice to be the new Lincoln County district attorney and to fill a vacant circuit court judgeship. In doing so, Brown went outside the district attorney’s office to fill that position and to also pass over a Lincoln County temporary hearings referee to fill the judicial vacancy. Jonathan Cable of Waldport,

Dispute between State Parks and Lane County has closed Heceta lighthouse for more than a year

January 23, 2020

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com Each year more than 800,000 people pull off U.S. Highway 101 to visit the Heceta Head Lighthouse state scenic viewpoint 12 miles south of Yachats. Of those, nearly 50,000 make the windy, half-mile uphill hike to the park’s centerpiece, the Heceta Head Lighthouse. What almost no one has done for nearly a year, however, is actually

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log Jan. 21-22

January 23, 2020

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP20020998 01/21/2020 11:55 Officer #50607 TUCKER, BRIAN Crash – Hit and Run Location 20 HWY and SAMS CREEK RD, Narrative Summary On 01/21/20 at approximately 11:45 AM, a two-vehicle hit and run crash occurred on US-20 around milepost 11. Westbound Vehicle #1 (grey Infiniti) rear-end/side-swiped the trailer of Vehicle #2 (blue Walsh CMV hauling chips), nearly tearing of

Yachats continues to see more single-family residential construction

January 23, 2020

Yachats is continuing its residential building “boomlet.” City Planner Dave Mattison told the Planning Commission this week that the city received 12 permits for new, single-family residences in 2019, and so far in 2020 has received two more applications for single-family houses. That continues a building trend for the past four years. In 2018 Lincoln County, which handles building permits

Yachats council takes first tentative steps to revise water rates, but wants more numbers

January 21, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The city of Yachats is getting the first wave of information to possibly revise its water rates to raise enough money to keep up with maintenance but to also correct billing issues with eight large water users. Tim Tice, projects manager for the Oregon Association of Water Utilities, on Wednesday walked the City Council through his

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log Jan. 17-21

January 21, 2020

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP20016725 01/17/2020 07:35 Officer #50607 TUCKER, BRIAN Crash – Non-injury Location NE 101 HWY and NE LILLIAN LN, Narrative Summary ***E-CRASH*** On 01/17/20 at approximately 7:30 AM, a single-vehicle crash occurred on US-101 around milepost 131. Northbound Vehicle #1 (silver Buick) was negotiating a curve when the driver lost control due to slush/ice conditions, spun across the southbound

Annual Yachats Lions Club crab feed rolls out for 28th year on Saturday

January 21, 2020

The always popular and always busy Yachats Lions Club crab feed – with three seatings at two venues — is Saturday, Jan. 25. Reserved seating for the 4 p.m. session at the Yachats Commons for groups of six or more is already sold out. But there are plenty of tickets for the 12:30 p.m. session at the Commons

Yachats’ limits on vacation rentals could invite another expensive legal battle

January 17, 2020

To the editor: At a recent City Council meeting, someone in the audience stated (soto voce) that since Gerry and I rent our house part time to others, we don’t “understand” the village and are just in it for the money. Gerry chuckled and whispered to me, “I’ll bet we’ve buried more friends in this town than she has now

Oregon State Police/Newport activity log Jan. 16

January 17, 2020

OREGON STATE POLICE DAILY MEDIA/DESK LOG SP20015687 01/16/2020 08:48 Officer #50607 TUCKER, BRIAN Crash – Non-injury Location NE 101 HWY and NE HOLMES RD, LINCOLN CITY OR Narrative Summary ***E-CRASH*** On 01/16/20 at approximately 8:49 AM, a two-vehicle crash occurred on US-101 around milepost 114. Vehicle #1 (black and white Explorer) was conducting a u-turn from the northbound shoulder when it crashed into the

Failing heating systems at Yachats Commons could soon result in a big bill

January 16, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The city of Yachats will likely soon be facing a bill of about $45,000 to replace and upgrade failing heating systems in its popular Commons building. The Commons is a former elementary school and city’s largest and most-used building. It houses everything from city offices, to a preschool and children’s program, to a large multipurpose room for