Wet welcome
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
A large group of exchange students from Beijing, China literally waded into central Oregon coast culture Thursday afternoon by exploring Nye Beach on a typical rainy winter day. Several members of the group used an umbrella to protect their shoes as they cavorted barefoot over the sand and through the water at the shoreline. The students and their academic coordinators ...more

Newport gets land donation for pool
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
Council must now decide whether to accept property

An anonymous landowner has offered to donate 4.5 acres of property in South Beach to the City of Newport to fund a new municipal swimming pool, but a decision on whether to accept it rests with the city councilors.
The land is acreage the private organization Friends of the Oregon ...more

Citizens want new Waldport High
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
Committee considers options for moving school out of tsunami zone

Waldport citizens acknowledged the vulnerability of Waldport High School to an earthquake, but rejected any fix short of a new facility during a community meeting held at the high school Wednesday night.
Waldport's 50-year-old high school is the only school in the county located in a tsunami zone and ...more

Toledo looks at downtown’s future
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
Group drafts vision statement for Main Street Program

About 20 folks gathered in Toledo City Hall on Jan. 27 to hear initial results from a community visioning session conducted the previous day by Oregon Main Street Program Coordinator Sheri Stuart.
Toledo was one of 11 communities selected to participate in the program in September 2008. Since then, city ...more

Council approves new pool pass
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
The Newport City Council approved a household pool pass this week. The price of the pass is $462. The cost of the pass is based on 70 percent of the cost of two adult and two youth annual pool passes, but it covers an unlimited number of household members.
The Newport Parks and Recreation Department also offers ...more

Sewage spills into Depoe Bay harbor
Posted: Friday, Feb 5th, 2010
Electrical failure causes early morning waste snafu

It was the best of times. It was the worst of places.
An electrical malfunction at the lift station in Depoe Bay Park spewed an estimated 17,000 gallons of raw sewage into "the world's smallest navigable harbor" in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. City Field Superintendent Terry Owings and Wastewater ...more

Site assessment: With construction underway, NOAA responds to request to determine if practical alternative exists
Posted: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2010
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) responded to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Jan. 29, informing Deputy Assistant General Counsel Glenn Wolcott that the agency would - per GAO recommendations - conduct an assessment of the process leading to their decision to move NOAA's Pacific research fleet to Newport.
Agency officials say they were responding to concerns raised ...more

Waldport fireworks show in jeopardy
Posted: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2010
July event could burn out without the spark of community support

Long a stable of the south county Independence Day celebration, Waldport's July 3 fireworks show is in danger of fizzling out without more support from the community.
Organizer Judy Vagenas, 68, said with tough economic times, it is becoming harder to raise money from local businesses, which for ...more

State fines RV park for sewage
Posted: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2010
Waldport marina owner violated water pollution facilities permit

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has fined Anthony M. Simon, owner of the King Silver RV Park & Marina, a total of $108,324 for discharging sewage onto the ground and operating an unpermitted sewage treatment system along the Alsea River near Waldport.
DEQ said it issued the RV park ...more

Big catch: boat ramp to go in lower Siletz
Posted: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2010
Grants provide the bulk of funding for $600,000-plus project

A public boat ramp on the lower Siletz River is slated for construction this year and could be completed in time for the fall fishing season.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, at its meeting on Jan. 27, took action to accept a $232,343 Oregon Marine Board grant for construction ...more

Precious cargo: Coast Guard plane on a special mission to transport two sea turtles to San Diego
Posted: Friday, Jan 29th, 2010
A U.S. Coast Guard plane made a rare appearance at the Newport airport on Thursday to transport two rescued sea turtles from the Oregon Coast Aquarium to the Sea World Turtle Rehabilitation Center in San Diego.
The Sacramento-based HC-130 is a four-engine turboprop aircraft used by the Coast Guard in a wide variety of missions, including search and rescue, monitoring ...more

Control of 9-1-1 board expands
Posted: Friday, Jan 29th, 2010
Lincoln County, Newport object to change in LinCom leadership

Despite a warning that they could be jeopardizing funding for the Lincoln County Communications Agency (LinCom), representatives from the smaller cities and emergency services providers who use the dispatch center overwhelmingly voted to wrest complete control of the agency from Lincoln County and Newport on Tuesday.
Eleven of 13 representatives ...more

Lincoln City advice surprises ODOT
Posted: Friday, Jan 29th, 2010
Highway 101 project recommendations an unanticipated response

Project managers for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) were caught off-guard by a Lincoln City staff report recommending changes to a U.S. Highway 101 project alignment in that city.
The overall aim is to boost capacity on Hwy 101 from S. 12th Street to High School Drive, keeping future needs in ...more

County, like state, okays tax measures
Posted: Friday, Jan 29th, 2010
Lincoln county voter turnout at 66 percent in special election

Lincoln County voters, like a majority of voters across Oregon, approved both Measures 66 and 67 during Tuesday's special election.
The percentage of Lincoln County residents voting in this election also mirrored the statewide results, with a more than a 60-percent voter turnout.
Measure 66 raises taxes on households ...more

Aquarium science building nears completion
Posted: Friday, Jan 29th, 2010
New facility will have labs for water quality, animal handling and more

Although last September's ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opened Oregon Coast Community College's (OCCC) new central campus in South Beach, the institution still has one more construction project in the pipeline for the site: a building dedicated to the college's nationally unique Aquarium Sciences Program.
The new 7,500-square-foot facility ...more

Meow mix
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2010
A mixed quartet of cats gazes impassively from various perches under a pickup truck on SE Kauri Street in Toledo. For good or ill (depending on who's talking), cats are prominent parts of the landscape in this area around SE 18th Street off SE Sturdevant Road. They roam the streets and yards individually, in pairs, and in groups, searching for ...more

Highway 101 plans going nowhere
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2010
Lincoln City, ODOT officials at odds over realignment plans

Plans to realign U.S. Highway 101 between South 12th St. and High School Drive in Lincoln City are, for the moment, going nowhere.
In response to a conceptual layout for the project presented by Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) officials, a team of city staffers - as directed by ...more

Tribal candidates campaigning
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2010
February election will decide who sits in three council seats

Tribal voters go to the polls Saturday, Feb. 6, to select three from among the eight candidates to serve fresh, three-year terms on the nine-member Siletz Tribal Council. Incumbents Delores Pigsley, Alfred "Bud" Lane III, and Lillie Butler face challenges from Frank Aspria, Kurtis Barker, Ken Blacketer, Melinda Logan, ...more

Seal Rock hires full-time fire chief
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2010
Dave Lapof brings more than 20 years experience as a fighterfighter

The Seal Rock Rural Fire Protection District now has its first full-time paid fire chief.
Fire Chief Dave Lapof took command of the volunteer staff on Jan. 1. He began his career as a volunteer EMT-firefighter in 1989. Before coming to Seal Rock, he had volunteered with the ...more

Work begins on new water treatment plant
Posted: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2010
Newport facility will have double the water capacity

Work on a new $15.9-million Newport water treatment plant financed through a voter passed bond measure in November 2008 is set to begin soon.
The City of Newport has hired HDR Consulting to help with the design of the new plant, and recently selected Slayden Construction Group in Stayton ...more