News Briefs - Page 55

Firefighters in the Siuslaw National Forest are wrapping up their work on two fires started by lightning in late August. The agency said Tuesday that the 119-acre Three Buttes fire northeast of Florence has not increased in size in over a week and is 56 percent contained. Since Saturday, the area has received nearly four inches of rain, the agency

NEWPORT – Public calls reporting sick or dead sea lions on the coast typically increase in the early fall as male California sea lions leave California breeding grounds and move north along the West Coast in search of food. Each fall, some California sea lions die of leptospirosis on Oregon beaches, according to a news release from the Oregon Department

WALDPORT – The Port of Alsea board will interview all five people who applied for a soon-to-be vacant board seat during a special meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5. Longtime board chair Rob Bishop, who was re-elected in May, is resigning effective Oct. 19. Following the interviews, the five-member board could select someone at its Oct. 5 meeting or

NEWPORT — More than two dozen local organizations, businesses and Samaritan Health Services will take part in the Healthier You Expo from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 the Samaritan Center for Health Education. There will be free exhibits ranging from A (acupuncture treatments) to V (volunteer opportunities), along with education and information for improved health. This is

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

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

A three-day trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 29 in Lincoln County circuit court for a 37-year-old Yachats man arrested in May after being indicted by a grand jury on 15 counts of encouraging child sex abuse. Joshua L. Slauf has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in the Lincoln County Jail with bail of $250,000.

WALDPORT – Lincoln County’s health department is organizing the annual 15th annual “Hands Across the Bridge” event on the Alsea Bay Bridge at noon Saturday, Sept. 16 as part of national recovery month. It is part of the county’s month-long awareness campaign and celebration of mental health and substance use challenges. The month promotes the benefits of treatment for substance