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 […]
Lincoln County
Timber company owner says it will not spray herbicides by helicopter in South Beaver Creek, but use ground crews instead
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews There will be no aerial spraying of herbicides on 473-acres of clear-cut timberlands in the South Beaver Creek watershed northeast of Seal Rock. The 86-year-old landowner, Sorn Nymark, walked into Lincoln County commissioners’ offices Monday to hand deliver a letter stating that his company — Ane Forests of Oregon – has […]
Churches step up to offer space for first three months of county’s emergency shelter program in Newport
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Lincoln County plans to use Newport churches for the first three months to get its fledgling emergency winter shelter program off the ground in October and then hopes to have a permanent site up and running in January. But finding a place to operate a shelter in Lincoln City has been […]
Lincoln County commissioners pass 1-year moratorium on new vacation rental licenses as they wait for judge’s decision
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews While they wait for a judge’s ruling on vacation rental regulations, Lincoln County commissioners took the pre-emptive step Friday of putting a 1-year moratorium on issuing new licenses in case the judge tosses out the contested rules. Circuit pro-tem judge Joseph Allison said at the end of a 5-hour hearing Wednesday […]
Yachats businesswoman’s attempt to provide workforce housing on land zoned for forest use may land her in court
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Linda Hetzler is the well-known owner and operator of a popular restaurant, a small hardware store and a boutique hotel in Yachats and knows the struggles many of her 80 employees have finding places to live. “All of the businesses in Yachats are just screaming for help,” she says. “We have […]
Years-long legal fight over Lincoln County’s vacation rental regulations finally gets court hearing next week
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews After more than a year of legal wrangling, some decisions may be coming this summer on the legality of Lincoln County’s short-term rental regulations in unincorporated areas. A Lincoln County circuit judge has scheduled two days of hearings next week to hear oral arguments by attorneys for 20 vacation rental […]
With months of little rain and none on horizon, Lincoln County asks governor to declare drought emergency
By QUINTON SMITH and GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews After three months of almost no rain and the likelihood of little more until October, Lincoln County commissioners Wednesday asked Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a drought emergency for all of the county. The last time such a declaration was made was in 2021. The central coast has […]
Lincoln County racing to open its first emergency homeless shelters by October, but faces hurdles with staffing, locations
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Lincoln County officials are on an aggressive timeline to set up a winter emergency shelter program for the homeless within the next two months, seeking someone to manage the effort and working with other organizations to coordinate services. But the effort faces issues with finding the right buildings in Newport and […]
Shortage of defense attorneys in Lincoln County leaves 160 indigent defendants without court representation
By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews The passage of emergency legislation providing $96 million to restructure Oregon’s public defense commission may take a while to impact a shortage of public defenders and a significant backlog of criminal cases in Lincoln County. What kind of impact the infusion of money from the 2023 Legislature will make, when that […]
Lincoln County commissioners agree to allocate $3.6 million in last of federal relief funds to 11 projects
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews Lincoln County commissioners plan to allocate $3.6 million in pandemic relief funds to 11 projects ranging from two winter homeless shelters, to affordable housing to beginning plans for a new courthouse. Commissioners on Wednesday agreed to a suggested list created last month by Kaety Jacobson. Jacobson initially brought the issue before […]