Lincoln Chronicle

Supporters of Dane Paulsen’s family tied green ribbons to the railing of the Ojalla Bridge over the Siletz River as a memorial to the boy, who lived nearby.

Father of 2-year-old Siletz boy who drowned last March indicted for second-degree child neglect

Shayla Escudero

The father of a 2-year-old boy who drowned in the Siletz River in March after last being seen playing in his yard has been charged with neglect.

Part of the forest in Yakona Nature Preserve on the south edge of Yaquina Bay is shrouded in fog and covered in moss as the land is left to its natural state.

Education

Oregon Coast CC announces plans to team with Yakona Nature Preserve to offer natural resources degree

Oregon Coast Community College plans to launch a natural resources program in partnership with Yakona Nature Preserve and pending several higher education approvals, intends to start taking students next fall.

People sitting at a dais. Someone is sitting at a table in front of the dais.

Politics & Government

Routine Lincoln County commission session takes a chaotic turn during end-of-meeting public comment period

Shayla Escudero

Wednesday’s Lincoln County commission meeting turned chaotic and tearful after a routine bi-monthly meeting was followed by heated public comment.

Lincoln County District Attorney Jenna Wallace advocates for hiring freeze exceptions in her department during the public comment at the end of the Oct. 1 county commission meeting. The 33 member department has nine positions affected by the hiring freeze.

Politics & Government

Oregon Ethics Commission votes unanimously to conduct full investigation of Lincoln County commissioners’ hiring decisions

Lincoln County commissioners may have broken several public meeting laws when deciding what positions to exempt from their budget-triggered hiring freeze, according to a review by Oregon Government Ethics Commission staff.

Hatfield Marine Science Center resident director Makenzie Morales loads boxes onto a cart this week as she and about 10 others move into Hatfield’s newly constructed apartment complex in the Wilder neighborhood in South Beach.

Housing & Homelessness

College students begin move into Hatfield center’s new $16.5 million apartment complex in South Beach

The university is living up to its promise as OSU and Oregon Coast Community College students and university staff begin moving into the 34,000-square-foot 77-unit building.

A snowy plover father stands guard over his one-day-old chicks. All three chicks fledged and constituted 75 percent of the known fledglings in Lincoln County in 2025.

Environment

Threatened as an endangered species, snowy plovers on Lincoln County beaches struggled to fledge this year

Dana Tims

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

A Coast Guard helicopter lowers a rescue swimmer into Thor’s Well on Monday afternoon in an attempt to recover the body of a man who fell into it and drowned on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Disasters & Accidents

Man drowns Monday afternoon after falling into Thor’s Well near Cape Perpetua

A man drowned after falling into Thor’s Well near Cape Perpetua on Monday — the third death since 2017 at the Oregon coast landmark.

Salmon River Hatchery’s production of fall Chinook, coho and steelhead eggs and smolts will move to other state hatcheries in Hebo and along the Columbia River, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife announced this week.

Environment

As it warned a year ago, ODFW begins closure of 50-year-old Salmon River Hatchery in Lincoln County

Quinton Smith

After the Oregon Legislature approved the agency’s 2025-27 budget without money for the hatchery, the time has come to begin winding down operations, ODFW officials announced this week.

Traffic on U.S. Highway 101 in Newport can be extremely heavy during rush hour or weekends and has contributed to vacant storefronts in the city’s Deco district along the highway.

Transportation

Newport city council approves moving ahead with U.S. Highway 101 couplet project through downtown

A major project to overhaul a portion of U.S. Highway 101 and restructuring Newport’s City Center just got the green light.

News Briefs

Lincoln County commissioner recuperating in Newport hospital after fall and surgery

Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall is recuperating at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital after falling and breaking her right hip and shoulder in her office.

The loss of a federal grant to the Oregon State Marine Board because of conflicts with Oregon’s sanctuary law has resulted in the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office cutting its marine patrols by half.

Crime, Law & Justice

Lincoln County reduces marine patrols after partial loss of federal grant due to Oregon’s sanctuary law

Quinton Smith

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has cut its marine patrols by more than half after the state agency that provides the bulk of its funding lost a federal grant over Homeland Security conflicts with Oregon’s sanctuary laws.

Construction workers gingerly lower the massive lantern onto the top of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse early Tuesday in a dense fog, a day after high winds halted the lift.

Arts & Culture

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse gets its light back Tuesday as $1.8 million restoration nears completion

The Oregon coast’s only wooden intact lighthouse was reunited with its lantern Tuesday, as the $1.8 million restoration of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse nears completion.