Measure 110 is supposed to help people suffering from addiction and mental health problems. A state audit found it’s too early to tell if the program will be successful. (Getty Images) By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon’s first-in-the-nation initiative to address the state’s drug addiction crisis with treatment instead of jail had a rocky start, […]
Archives for January 2023
Yachats’ financial situation continues to improve with strong lodging tax revenue, urban renewal money and slow spending on projects
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews YACHATS – The city of Yachats may be in its strongest financial position in years because of better-than-forecasted revenue from lodging taxes, money from a urban renewal district and lack of spending on many budgeted items or projects for several years. Now, after two years of inactivity, the city has revived […]
Oregon nurses union, hospital association gear up for fight over proposed legislation on staffing levels
Emergency room nurses attend to a patient at Oregon Health & Science University. The Oregon Legislature will consider hospital nurse staffing legislation this session. (Christine Torres Hicks/Oregon Health & Science University) By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon’s largest nurses union and the hospital industry are gearing up for a push – and potential […]
Housing, semiconductors, budget take center stage as Oregon legislators hope for bipartisan session
The Oregon Legislature began its 2023 session on Tuesday. JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Housing, homelessness, behavioral health and expanding Oregon’s semiconductor industry will take center stage in the 2023 legislative session against the backdrop of a challenging budget. Senate Democrats and House leaders from both parties laid out the broad strokes of their […]
Yachats Chamber of Commerce reboots with new director, new events and push for new members
By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews YACHATS — In a scant four months, the new head of the Yachats Chamber of Commerce is making things happen. Since Bobbi Price started her job as executive director of the chamber last fall, she can tick off these boxes: A new Chamber website to support local small businesses, promote membership […]
County commissioners, coastal legislators protest Kotek’s excluding rural areas from state’s homeless emergency plan
By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews Lincoln County commissioners and coastal legislators are urging Oregon’s new governor to reconsider the exclusion of rural areas from her emergency declaration on homelessness. Gov. Tina Kotek signed three executive orders Jan. 10. Along with a $130 million funding request she’ll make to the 2023 Legislature, the new governor said the […]
Deputy arrests Waldport man after incidents along Highway 101 near Yachats
YACHATS – A Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy used a Taser to subdue and arrest a 30-year-old Waldport man Saturday morning after motorists on U.S. Highway 101 north of Yachats said he was throwing objects at passing cars and damaging them. Christian R. McCain is in the county jail on two counts of first-degree criminal mischief […]
Waldport man gets six years in prison for fatal crash in Salem
SALEM – A 39-year-old Waldport man has been sentenced to six years in prison for a 2022 crash that killed one person and injured three others in south Salem. Jose DeJesus Briones pleaded guilty in Marion County court Jan. 9 to five counts, including manslaughter, assault and driving under the influence of intoxicants. At about […]
2023 Oregon Legislature began work Tuesday with five months to pass a budget and finish policy work
The Legislature convened Tuesday, with just more than five months to pass a budget and policies. (Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle) By The Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The Oregon Legislature begins its 2023 work in earnest on Tuesday, with just more than five months to pass a budget and tackle pressing issues including homelessness, addiction […]
Experts believe dead sperm whale that washed ashore near Astoria likely killed by ship strike
By the Washington Post A young, 40-foot sperm whale with large gash wounds was found dead on an Oregon beach on Saturday, in a loss for an endangered species that has struggled to recover its population despite a halt in commercial whaling decades ago. The whale was found bleeding out on a beach near Fort […]