Dana Tims

The Heceta Head Lighthouse, long the brightest beacon on the Oregon coast, has gone dark, due to needed repairs to the complex gears that help rotate its antique lamp works.

The so-called King tides that dash against Oregon’s coastline every winter may grab all the headlines, but an upcoming series of extremely low tides promise to reveal some magic of their own.

Stops are planned for Charleston and Coos Bay from through Wednesday, May 13, and in Newport from May 15-22, with free tours, student field trips and educational presentations.

A land-ownership change this year prompted new owners to post “No Trespassing” signs blocking a critical, one-mile stretch of the trail five miles inland from its Ona Beach terminus north of Seal Rock.

The sheer magnitude of a landslide that blocked a quarter-mile section of Oregon 229 north of Siletz has left state highway officials unsure when the debris will ever be cleared. ODOT officials said it may be months, years, or longer.

Of the myriad shore birds and other critters that beach visitors may see on any given outing, western snowy plovers are unique.

An alarming new federal report released Wednesday indicates that the number of gray whales in the Pacific Ocean has dropped to the lowest number in decades and that the decline may be only getting worse.

Thousands of gray whales now migrating north from Baja California are in such poor shape and so few calves were born this winter that researchers and others worry they may be witnessing another die-off.

Firings and layoffs of federal workers by the Trump administration are likely to have marked effects on the economies of Oregon’s north coast counties, particularly in Lincoln County.

Daniel Roeser admits there may have been a time or two this summer when his work helping assemble a five-foot-long autonomous miniboat felt a bit like drudgery.