Lincoln Chronicle

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. got a standing ovation before he uttered a word Saturday and left a one-hour town hall to applause after repeatedly urging an audience of 350 to resist actions of the Trump administration.

The start of Lincoln County’s first commission meeting of the year was somber as two commissioners recognized the sudden death Sunday of their colleague, Claire Hall.

In a statement issued Monday morning, the county said Hall passed away late Sunday night at Providence Hospital in Portland after a brief illness.

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.

Lincoln County District Attorney Jenna Wallace took her staffing complaints directly to the public Saturday, holding two well-attended holiday town hall meetings in an attempt to put pressure on county commissioners to grant four exceptions to a hiring freeze.

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.

Oregon’s two senators and the congresswomen representing Lincoln County got a letter of reassurance Friday from the U.S. Coast Guard’s commandant that he intends to permanently keep its rescue helicopter in Newport.

The owner of the Alsi Resort Hotel in Bayshore has agreed not to sign a contract to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after an hour-long negotiation Thursday with the Waldport city manager.

When U.S. Department of Justice attorneys appear in federal court Monday in Eugene, they will argue that Newport Fishermen’s Wives, Lincoln County and the state of Oregon shouldn’t be allowed to interfere in routine and temporary operations as to when, where and how the Coast Guard deploys its rescue helicopters.

Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed coastwide until at least Dec. 16, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday.

Rogue Brewing, which has been operating in Newport since 1989 but owes $545,000 in rent to the Port of Newport, abruptly closed all of its businesses Friday.

Lincoln County commissioners have officially recognized commission chair Claire Hall as the acting county administrator despite a recall threat and ongoing health issues that have kept her out of the office for two months.