By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews WALDPORT – Coming up with $475,000 to buy the 2.8-acre Lincoln County School District property in downtown may be the easiest part of the city of Waldport’s latest property acquisition. Now the city needs to mobilize the community to help clean it up, fix it up and get it ready for […]
Legislature poised for conflict over gun-control legislation as Democrats back bills on waiting periods, serial numbers on guns, and minimum age for purchases
By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM — Oregon lawmakers are debating firearms legislation this session, setting the stage for legislative battles and courtroom fights that could go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proposals, all backed by Democratic lawmakers, would ban ghost guns that lack a serial number, put a permit system in place […]
U.S. appeals court upholds expansion of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
From the Rogue Valley Times The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday upheld the expansion of the biologically diverse Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Originally created in 2000 by President Bill Clinton, the monument was expanded in 2017 by President Barack Obama to 114,000 acres. The monument is a mix of […]
Yachats council begins trying to work out transition plan with departing city manager, search for interim
By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews YACHATS — During a crowded meeting Wednesday, the Yachats City Council began plotting a course to keep municipal projects moving as well as maintaining basic services with the upcoming departure of its city manager and several key city hall staff. Most of Wednesday’s agenda was prompted by the April 6 bombshell […]
Eugene’s climate activists and natural gas industry ready to square off this fall over gas stove ballot measure
By ANNA PHILLIPS/The Washington Post EUGENE — The liberal stronghold of Eugene might seem like an unlikely place for the fossil fuel industry to flex its muscles. But in the months ahead, the gas industry is preparing to pour millions of dollars into a campaign to overturn Eugene’s ban on gas hookups in new homes, […]
Staffing issues forces PeaceHealth to close beds at two Eugene-area hospitals
By the Eugene Register-Guard PeaceHealth will close dozens of hospital beds at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend in Springfield and PeaceHealth Sacred Heart University District in Eugene. The hospital group also plans to shut down an entire medical unit at Riverbend. This brings the total closed beds at both hospitals to about 87 out of the […]
Jurors in $1.6 billion class action lawsuit against PacifiCorp hear opening arguments about blame, cause of 2020 wildfires
By TED SICKINGER/The Oregonian/OregonLive PacifiCorp’s reckoning over its alleged culpability for Oregon’s catastrophic Labor Day 2020 wildfires arrived Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Opening arguments began in a $1.6 billion class action lawsuit against the utility, with victims of four fires accusing PacifiCorp of being responsible for much of what they’ve called […]
Yachats Planning Commission OKs change to commercial/residential project along Highway 101
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews YACHATS — Thirteen months ago, Luke and Jocelyn Glaze of Salem bought two commercial lots along U.S. Highway 101 downtown Yachats that had been an unfinished, foundation-only eyesore for more than a decade. As real estate investors and developers, they planned to continue with the idea originally planned by former owner […]
After three years, Oregon Health Authority officials hold last regular Covid-19 briefing as virus wanes
By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau The impact of COVID-19 on Oregon is in a steady decline that makes it possible to end emergency steps put in place after the virus arrived in February 2020. The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday held what officials said would be the last monthly media briefing on the virus. […]
Clatsop County judge will rule by end of month on legality of vacation rental ballot measure vote
By NICOLE BALES/The Astorian ASTORIA — A Clatop County circuit court judge is expected to decide by the end of the month on the legality of a referendum on the May ballot that, if approved by voters, could threaten vacation rentals in nearly all of unincorporated Clatsop County. The referendum — Measure 4-221 — seeks […]