By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Following a 90-minute hearing Friday, Lincoln County circuit judge Joseph Allison said he hopes to rule by the end of the week on challenges to the county’s ordinance regulating vacation rentals in unincorporated areas. Allison scheduled another hearing with lawyers for 11:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 29 but said he “will do […]
Archives for December 2023
Oregon State and Washington State reach financial agreement with 10 departing Pac-12 schools
By The Athletic Oregon State University and Washington State University have reached an agreement in principle with the 10 departing Pac-12 schools to settle their ongoing legal battle over control of the conference’s board and assets, the 12 universities announced Thursday. The outgoing schools have “agreed to forfeit a portion of distributions over the rest […]
Lincoln County makes small gains in population over past year, but long-term trends point to rural workforce issues
By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews Lincoln County, like 30 of Oregon’s 36 counties, gained population last year, according to new population estimates released this week by Portland State University’s Population Research Center. The county’s year-over-year gain of just 218 residents, however, continues a pandemic-era trend of little to no population increases for Oregon’s smallest and mostly […]
Oregon DHS offers record $40 million to settle lawsuit from four abused foster children
By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — The Oregon Department of Human Services has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a lawsuit filed by four former foster children who were sexually and physically abused in a foster home, court records show. The agency’s settlement offer marks the culmination of a five-year court battle that […]
Closure of well-known Yachats bar isn’t so final after all with owner’s change of heart
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews YACHATS – With no more fanfare than a Facebook post, the Yachats Underground Pub & Grub re-opened Wednesday after closing suddenly and supposedly permanently just two weeks ago. The unannounced closure of the bar favored by many locals and musicians occurred after a cash register malfunction led to a kerfuffle between […]
Fireworks in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County could be banned as soon as Jan. 3 under revised ordinance
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews The sale, possession and use of any fireworks will be prohibited in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County beginning in January under a revised ordinance that commissioners plan to pass at their first meeting in 2024. But don’t expect deputies out writing tickets or taking people away in handcuffs for lighting off […]
Tight labor market among factors hampering Oregon Measure 110, new audit finds
By CONRAD WILSON/Oregon Public Broadasting Oregon’s controversial, voter-backed drug decriminalization and treatment law has generated more than $260 million to expand recovery services to “highly vulnerable people,” according to an audit released Wednesday by the secretary of state’s office. At the same time, auditors say the Oregon Health Authority, the state agency that helps administer […]
In a major shift, Northwest tribes — not power agency — will control Columbia basin salmon recovery funds
By TONY SCHICK/Oregon Public Broadcasting When the Biden administration said it had reached a “historic” legal deal with Northwest Indigenous tribes last week to save endangered salmon, no one could agree on what it meant for the tribes’ costliest and most controversial demand: the removal of four hydroelectric dams that hinder fish from their migration […]
It’s winter whale watching season along the Oregon coast as thousands of gray whales migrate south
By MICHAEL EDWARDS/Oregon Coast TODAY A pregnant female gray whale rises from the murky shallows of the Chukchi Sea. As she nears the surface, a trail of mud passes over her baleen into the frigid water. She surfaces and breathes a rancid mist into the fog. Although the whale is comfortably ahead of the […]
Oregon Court of Appeals rules state’s landmark climate change regulations invalid on a technicality
By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon’s second highest court ruled in favor of natural gas utilities seeking to invalidate the state’s landmark climate program. The state’s Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the three-year-old Climate Protection Program is invalid on a technicality. Judges James Egan and Jacqueline Kamins said that the state’s Environmental […]