Lowest tides of year return just in time for July 4 holiday visitors

June 27, 2019

Just in time for thousands of Fourth of July visitors, the lowest tides of the year return Wednesday, July 3 through Friday, July 5. And to make exploring even better, the low tides occur between 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, July 3 and 9:51 a.m. Friday, July 5, according to Oregon coast tide tables adjusted for the Alsea River bay. The lowest

Job Corps closures, transition to private contractors leaves 200 Angell students and staff in limbo

June 6, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Mikell Sumerau fought with the U.S. Army in Kuwait and Iraq and during his time with the Army National Guard was deployed to every state on the West Coast. But the biggest fight for Sumerau and his wife, Andrea, may be over the future of their jobs and the dormitories, classrooms, shops and offices that make up

Cape Perpetua staff and volunteers kick off a summer full of activities

May 29, 2019

A summer of outdoor activity at Cape Perpetua kicks off Saturday, June 1, with a National Trails Day event. It is the first of three months of activities scheduled by the Siuslaw National Forest, which oversees the cape and its popular visitor center. These are in addition to the usual camping, hiking, tide pool exploring and picnicking always available at

State and volunteers nurture native plant nurseries for coast restoration efforts

May 23, 2019

By ELAINE WATKINS/YachatsNews.com When one of Oregon’s state parks needs seashore bluegrass to restore a beach near Astoria, it contacts Celeste Lebo. When native thistle needs to be planted to attract the endangered Oregon silverspot butterfly to a meadow south of Yachats, the parks turn to Sherri Laier. Lebo and Laier scout salt meadows, searching for seed-bearing native plants. In

See those sea lion rafts offshore? Here’s an expert’s explanation – and more

May 15, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Jim Rice gets lots of questions about seals and sea lions. Most inquiries are about their health or when adult or offspring come ashore. Rice is the sole employee of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network at the OSU Marine Mammal Institute in Newport. His job now is to report on – with the help of a

Central coast’s only elk habitat area has special meaning for ODFW

April 25, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The pasture stretches for a mile, bordered on the south side by the Yachats River. In the middle are meandering bush-lined ditches filled with water for frogs and bugs. Swallows have returned to dip and dive and fight over bird boxes along the edge of the marsh. It is the only state-owned elk habitat on the central

Yachats conservation group puts riverside property pursuit on hold

April 24, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com A local conservation group organizing an effort to buy 30 acres of undeveloped land along the Yachats River is putting the effort on hold and dropping a request to the city for $200,000 to help fund the purchase. View the Future, a 15-year-old Yachats-based nonprofit, said it could not readily raise the money to meet a $1

Yachats group looking high and low to help pay for Amanda Trail suspension bridge

April 18, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Joanne Kittel has a bridge she wants you to help buy. But it’s not any old bridge. Kittel and the group she helps lead, View the Future, are trying to raise $75,000 by the end of July to help pay for a 142-foot suspension bridge on the Amanda Trail just south of Yachats. She and the Yachats

Noxious odors and community uproar closes Waldport elementary school Wednesday

April 17, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com WALDPORT – Officials cancelled classes Wednesday at Waldport’s only public elementary school after a series of air quality issues sent at least 14 students to the hospital for tests Tuesday. Classes are scheduled to resume Thursday, said Libba Sager, principal of Crestview Heights School. Students from eight classrooms in Hallway B will have class in other locations

Yachats council will begin discussing some sort of ban on single-use plastics

April 5, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council in May will begin working on an ordinance that could prohibit single-use plastic bags and possibly plastic containers in the city. Council members discussed their views on plastics during their meeting Wednesday, and agreed to begin working on an ordinance for Yachats should the Oregon Legislature adjourn in July without creating a statewide