Lincoln Chronicle

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 Lincoln County commission could have a new look in January as one incumbent was being knocked off in Tuesday’s historic primary election and another is fighting for his political life as vote-counting proceeds over the next week.

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.

Lincoln County is gaining ownership of a 10-acre park along the Alsea River that state agencies had once envisioned as a major launch for motorboats.

Outside attorneys for Lincoln County say a request by Commissioner Casey Miller for a preliminary injunction to allow him to return to his courthouse office and place items on meeting agendas has nothing to do with his First Amendment rights but is a “political stunt completely devoid of merit.”

Several chronic diseases were detected in the juvenile humpback whale that washed ashore tangled in commercial crabbing lines on the beach north of Yachats last November.

If all goes as planned, the skeleton — after help from scientists and specialists from around the world — will be fully reassembled in May outside the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, completing a journey from surf to scientific centerpiece.

Siletz Valley School could close in June for not complying with its charter agreement.

The Lincoln County School District is facing a $5 million shortfall in the estimated $86 million general fund budget that it will have to balance with an anticipated 19 staff reductions. It would be the district’s largest round of reductions in more than a decade.

Petitioners seeking to recall Mayor Heide Lambert announced Tuesday they were aborting their effort.

Newport officials say the fight isn’t over until Immigration and Customs Enforcement can permanently promise that no detention center is coming to Newport.