By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle A coalition funded by prominent Oregonians, including retired Nike co-founder Phil Knight, plans to ask Oregon voters in 2024 to roll back some of Measure 110, the voter-passed law that decriminalized the use of hard drugs. The group, the Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot Measure 110, announced Monday it […]
Archives for September 2023
For a second time Saturday search dogs were unable to find trace of Yachats man missing for seven weeks
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews YACHATS — A Lane County Sheriff’s search team Saturday was unable to find a 45-year-old Yachats man who has been missing since late July after bringing in specially-trained dogs for the second time. Two “human remains detection” dogs, their handlers and 20 volunteers worked the Keller Creek Road area on the east […]
Trial in Eastern Oregon’s Harney County begins to determine if new Oregon gun laws are constitutional
By JONATHAN LEVINSON/Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon’s new voter-approved gun laws passed constitutional muster in a federal court this summer, but now they face another round of legal challenges — this time in state court. Starting Monday, Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio will preside over a six-day trial to determine if the Oregon Constitution […]
Waldport council says “no” to Lincoln County request for $10,000 to help fund winter emergency shelter
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – Saying they didn’t know how local homeless people would get to Newport and upset that Lincoln County might be cutting a $10,000 contribution to its museum, the city council voted 6-1 last week to not contribute to a county- and volunteer-operated emergency shelter this winter. The county is asking […]
Struggling mussel population along the Oregon coast had a sudden die-off this summer, and no one is sure why
By APRIL EHRLICH/Oregon Public Broadcasting DEPOE BAY — Like many sea creatures, mussels along Oregon’s coastline are struggling. Their population took a sudden nose dive this summer, and researchers aren’t sure what’s behind the die-off. This mystery is what brought Oregon State University professor and marine ecologist Bruce Menge and his research team to […]
Drug decriminalization stumbled in Oregon with 2020 passage of Ballot Measure 110. Other states are taking note
A woman enters the Great Circle drug treatment center in Salem on March 8, 2022. Two years ago, Oregonians voted to decriminalize drugs and dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to treatment services, but the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization has had a rocky start. By ERIKA BOLSTAD/Stateline News Just before Portland’s City Council approved a […]
Federal agency begins process of possibly ending power generation at some of 13 Willamette Valley dams
BY ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying the possibility of ending hydropower production at its system of dams in the Willamette River Basin. The federal agency manages the dams and reservoirs, mostly located on tributaries east of Salem and Eugene, primarily for flood control. But the dams are also […]
New Oregon legislation will help restore more critical coastal estuaries
To the editor: A juvenile coho salmon leapt out of the water in front of us just minutes after we finished removing a dike upstream from Toledo – the first wild fish to ride the afternoon tide to the marsh we were restoring along the Yaquina River. It was an incredible sight. Not often in […]
Waldport gallery owner launches art contest for teen-agers
WALDPORT — Teens in Waldport, Yachats and Tidewater can showcase their artistic talent in a new event created by gallery owner/photographer Donna Bader. The South County Youth Art Contest and Show is aimed at young people in two age groups: 12-15 and 16-18. In categories for painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and mixed media, entrants […]
12 homeless and housing organizations in Lincoln County receive $857,179 as part of $26 million state allocation
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Twelve organizations in Lincoln County that provide a range of services to the homeless have received a total of $856,179 from the state to help fund operations this winter and into 2024. The money is another slice of the more than $200 million allocated by the 2023 Legislature for homelessness. On […]