NEWPORT – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. will hold his second public town hall in Newport within five months beginning at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7 at the Oregon Coast Community College campus in Newport. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m.

For security reasons, backpacks and large bags will not be allowed in the town hall, the senator’s office said in a news release. Similar to major sporting events, there is a clear bag policy for town halls, allowing only clear bags, one-gallon clear plastic bags, or small clutches plus essential items like medical bags or infant necessities.

Wyden has held 1,163 open-to-all town halls statewide in keeping his promise to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon’s 36 counties.

“I made my town hall pledge because all Oregonians deserve opportunities to voice their views directly on decisions that affect them,” Wyden said in a statement. “That’s exactly what happened at my Lincoln County town hall last November where the community showed up and spoke out against the Trump administration’s choices both to move the Coast Guard helicopter out of Newport and to consider siting an ICE detention facility on the central coast.”