The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Monday, January 22, 2024
Oregon Beach Weather
Be Alert for Landslides Across Southwest Oregon Coast
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for portions of southwest Oregon, including the Curry County coast. The watch is in effect from Saturday morning (1/20) through Monday morning (1/22).
An atmospheric river event is forecast to bring significant rainfall to the area between Friday evening and Monday morning. Heavy rain may result in landslides in areas of steep terrain, as well as debris flows in and near burned areas from recent wildfires.
Find the latest information here: https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/or.php?x=1
Debris flows are rapidly moving, extremely destructive landslides. They can contain boulders and logs transported in a fast-moving soil and water slurry down steep hillsides and through narrow canyons. They can easily travel a mile or more. A debris flow moves faster than a person can run. People, structures, and roads located below steep slopes in canyons and near the mouths of canyons may be at serious risk.
If your home, work, or travel route is in a watch area:
- Stay alert. Track the flood watch by radio, TV, weather radio or online. If told to evacuate, do so immediately.
- Listen. Unusual sounds might indicate moving debris, such as trees cracking or boulders knocking together. A trickle of falling mud or debris may precede larger landslides. If you think there is danger of a landslide, leave immediately.
- Watch the water. If water in a stream or creek suddenly turns muddy or the amount of water flowing suddenly decreases or increases, this is a warning that the flow has been affected upstream. You should immediately leave the area because a debris flow may soon be coming downstream.
- Travel with extreme caution. Assume roads are not safe. Be alert when driving, especially at night. Embankments along roadsides may fail, sending rock and debris onto the road.
For more landslide and debris flow information:
https://www.oregon.gov/dogami/landslide/Pages/debrisflow.aspx
Sneaker Waves Along The Coast – Anyone planning to spend time along the Oregon coast should be mindful of possible sneaker waves.
King tides refer to the highest tides of the year and along the Oregon Coast these tides are typically 9 to 10 feet. There are four series of king tides, so mark your calendars. To learn more about these tides and/or to participate in some cool citizen science visit: https://www.oregonkingtides.net
Sneaker waves are waves that suddenly surge further up the beach than expected, according to the NWS. They are powerful enough to sweep people into the ocean, and can roll logs and other debris along the beach.
Severe weather has caused Spectrum service outages again around the state. Get service updates, outage information and other helpful resources at Spectrum.net/stormcenter.
Oregon Power Outage MAP: https://poweroutage.us/area/state/oregon
Forest Service Creating 50 Acres Of Plover Habitat South Of Florence
The western snowy plover, a small shorebird on the government’s list of threatened species, is regaining 50 acres of open sand habitat eight miles south of Florence.
The Siuslaw National Forest has started work on its largest plover habitat restoration project by using heavy equipment to remove vegetation along the beach between the Siltcoos River and the Oregon Dunes day use area.
The $240,000 three-year project will create 50 acres of open sand habitat.
The forest service said plovers have little to no nesting area within the area due to thick non-native vegetation. Once completed, the restoration is expected to benefit a variety of other native plant and wildlife species, in addition to the threatened western snowy plover, it said.
“For the first time in 60 years plovers will have continuous breeding habitat in the Siltcoos River area,” said Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area wildlife biologist Cindy Burns. “Over the last 25 years we’ve restored small pockets of habitat, which helped revive the plover population. Presently, the plovers have outgrown these microhabitats and it’s time to give them more room to thrive. We’ve already seen the plovers running around the construction site; they are ready to move in.”
Over time, invasive European beachgrass altered the formation of the sand dunes along the Oregon coast, changing the landscape and reducing its usefulness for species like the plover, the forest service said. After its introduction, the invasive grass stabilized shifting sand, facilitating the development of thick pockets of vegetation and steep, cliffy foredunes. But this change also reduced the area’s suitability for the western snowy plover, which rely on large expanses of dry sand near the tideline to nest, feed, and protect their young.
The first phase of the restoration will create about 25 acres of open sand habitat and is expected to be completed in February before nesting season begins mid-March. After plover nesting season ends mid-September, the project will continue through winter 2025.
Recreation areas near the project such as the Oregon Dunes day use area and the surrounding trailheads, will remain open to the public.
Plover recovery —- About 12 percent of Oregon beaches are closed for plovers, with the bulk of those in Lane, Douglas and Coos counties. Specific management plans are in place in those three counties to try to ensure that a total statewide plover population that dropped to only about 50 birds in the 1990s is protected going forward.
There are no closed beaches in Lincoln County.
Jodie Delavan, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson, told YachatsNews last summer that efforts to survey and assess the birds over a long period is helping wildlife stewards with the overall goal of restoring plovers to traditional areas they have long been pushed out of.
“Long-term monitoring of plovers in Oregon shows our population is doing well and expanding to reclaim its former nesting range,” Delavan said. “The fact that our population remains well and above recovery goals really speaks to the amazing partnerships we have here.”
The numbers of nests and chicks all along the coast were also up in 2023, Cheryl Strong, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Newport, told YachatsNews last summer.
In the traditional nesting area for plovers, which extends from Florence to Bandon, a total of 546 nests have been found and monitored by plover biologists, Strong said. While information on fledglings from these sites hasn’t yet been tallied, the overall nest success appears to be “low-to-average” at about 22 percent.
Overall, Strong said, “The population remains well above our recovery goal of 200 plovers in Oregon.” (SOURCE)
ODOT is now reporting that Highway 101 south of Florence has reopened.
Use Tripcheck.com for the latest highway and road updates.
————————————————– The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) tells us that all lanes of Highway 101, just south of Florence are closed.
In the early hours of January 22, 2024 a crash occurred on US-101, 2 miles north of Dunes City. ODOT is advising motorists to use and alternate route.
Seaside Police Issue Merchant Alert For Counterfeit Bills
Local banking institutions have contacted the Seaside Police Department this week, reporting an influx of fraudulent $100 bills being received by local businesses throughout the county.
While the bills appear authentic and pass a pen test, they will not pass through electronic validation devices, magnetic ink, or UV backlight tests.
How to tell these bills are fraudulent:
All have a backplate number of “82.” This is located on the bottom right-hand corner of the back of the bill.
Serial numbers will vary, but all start with “BB.”
The “security strip” on the bill is not a strip but is lightly printed on the back of the bill, so it looks legitimate when holding it up to the light.
All the fraudulent bills received are last generation 100s, dated 2006A. The paper on most of the bills is lighter colored than usual, likely due to them being washed.
The portrait watermark of Benjamin Franklin is lightly printed on the back of the bill (pictured below within blue circle). You should not be able to see these features without light passing through.
Included below is an additional version of the fraudulent bills received.
If you have any information about the identity of a suspect(s) presenting fraudulent currency, contact your local law enforcement agency to make a report. Try to retain any security footage related to the incident. (SOURCE)
Central Lincoln PUD Says They Are Down To Fewer Than 100 Without Power As The Rest Of Lincoln County Works to Recover
Much of Lincoln County headed toward normal Thursday as Central Lincoln Public Utility District crews finished restoring power to all but 76 customers, school resumed, lines disappeared at gas stations and all the highways to the Willamette Valley cleared of ice and debris.
The ice storm took most people by surprise Saturday afternoon when rain from the west hit frigid winds blowing in from the east. That coated trees with ice, which then fell, took out power lines and isolated the county.
As a result, many of the county’s 50,000 residents were on their own – turning to family, friends, neighbors, some community organizations and emergency service agencies for help.
“We knew weather was coming … but our understanding was that Lincoln City was going to be at the southern edge,” CLPUD spokesman Mark Freeman said Thursday. “… it obviously moved south and west more than we expected.”
But there was little the utility could do.
The Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies all of Central Lincoln’s power, had falling trees take out two main lines into the county. Central Lincoln then lost several of its main feeder lines in Toledo, Siletz and Newport areas to the ice and trees.
At the height of the outages almost half of Central Lincoln’s customers – 19,000 of 40,000 residential, commercial and industrial meters – were out. Some came back relatively quickly Sunday and Monday; others until were out until Wednesday and even Thursday.
Thursday night 76 customers were still without power – 17 of those will need homeowner repairs to their home’s equipment, said Freeman. Another 186 in Toledo lost power for several hours Thursday afternoon when CLPUD lines from Central Lincoln and Consumers Power touched.
Utility officials – backed up by comments from counterparts in similarly hard-hit Lane County – said it was the highest number of weather-caused outages they experienced in decades.
“We have people who’ve been here 30 years and they’re saying it’s the worst they’ve ever seen,” Freeman told YachatsNews.
On Thursday night Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency for Oregon due to the winter ice storm that swept into the state almost a week ago, leaving behind widespread damage, power outages and 13 deaths. Lincoln County, the cities of Newport and Lincoln City and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians had already declared such an emergency.
Freeman said such a declaration from the state enables it to seek reimbursement from the federal government to cover some of its storm-related costs.The result over much of the week were two days of closed schools, supplies – including gasoline, propane and even mail – not making it over the Coast Range, and some motels filling up with people fleeing their frigid homes.
Repair crews struggled Saturday and Sunday to untangle thousands of ice-covered trees that fell into CLPUD’s main transmission lines in the Siletz and Toledo areas that serve those communities and communities to the west.
Central Lincoln was able to restore service Sunday and early Monday to most customers stretching from Tenmile through Yachats, Waldport and much of Newport, although there were pockets of outages through Wednesday.
Monday afternoon power came back to parts of north Newport, including the Fred Meyer, Safeway and Walmart stores, and businesses and gas stations along Highway 101.
But most gas stations were out of service because tankers could still not get over from the valley. Grocery stores that closed due to lack of power or couldn’t run freezers or refrigerators on generators lost meat and other perishables. A large assisted living center in north Newport had to evacuate its residents.
Service north of Newport – including the Agate Beach neighborhood and communities of Beverly Beach, Depoe Bay and Lincoln Beach – didn’t get power restored until Monday night and Tuesday.
Just as CLPUD was turning the corner on repairs Tuesday afternoon, 19,000 customers lost electricity when two Newport-area transmission lines went down as ice thawed. Both came back within hours.
Central Lincoln had four crews made up of 3-4 linemen initially working the outages. They were joined early in the week by six crews from other utilities under a mutual aid agreement. Three CLPUD single person crews worked on smaller issues.
“The crews are mostly now working on individual problems, Freeman said Thursday evening. “We’re literally down to ones and twos.”
Freeman said once Central Lincoln gets a handle on the outages, does cleanup work and stabilizes repairs, it will release the mutual aid crews – likely to go help utilities in the valley.
Line crews worked 16-hour shifts – 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Some head home to sleep, others who can’t make it home or are from out of town are put up in motels.
Central Lincoln set up a command center at its headquarters in Newport, but even it ran into problems when the power went and its generator couldn’t heat the building. A customer service representative spent the night answering phones wrapped in a blanket, Freeman said.
A helicopter hired to inspect lines deep in coastal forests was delayed in Medford because of bad weather. It finally arrived at the Newport airport on Monday – a city, state and federal holiday – only to find no one there to refuel it.
Freeman said CLPUD called city manager Spencer Nebel, who hustled airport staff out to help. The helicopter’s reconnaissance proved invaluable, he said.
“Nobody can do this on their own,” Freeman said. “It’s nice when everybody can work toward a common goal – and there’s lots of examples of that.”
The utility will hold a post-mortem of its storm response in a few weeks. It will look at everything from logistics to command to customer service to how it handled laundry for out-of-town crews.
“We look at what worked and what didn’t,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes.”
Freeman said customers – for the most part – are understanding of situation and issues arising from such a large storm. Such a widespread and sometimes long outage should also help spur more people to examine their homes or businesses and how they can better prepare for when the lights go out.
“We appreciate all of our customers’ patience and support … the support really helps with morale,” he said. “But what our customers have gone through – and those few remaining – it’s been a lot.” (SOURCE)
Curry County Has Sandbags Available for Another Possible Round of Local Flooding this Weekend
Another round of moderate precipitation is forecast for already saturated coastal areas again this weekend, with accumulations possibly reaching 3 – 5 inches over a 72-hour period after a brief break to end the work week.
The National Weather Service has released another flood watch for Curry County that will go into effect on Saturday, January 20th through Monday, January 22nd.
The Curry County Road Department located at 28425 Hunter Creek Rd, Gold Beach has sand, bags, and twine outside of the gates available for members of the public to use for preparation of the storm. Shovels will not be available so bring your own!
For more information or questions, please contact BOC_Office@co.curry.or.us or call 541-247-3296. (SOURCE)
Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Drawing to Promote Tourism
The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce is consistently working on building the tourism traffic to Florence. The latest is a drawing for a two-night stay at the Driftwood Shores Conference Center and Resort.
The drawing is open to the public. Chamber President and CEO Betting Hannigan says the drawing comes with the two-night stay and a $50 certificate to the resort Market and Dine-in Deli.
You can register by using the qr code the link posted below. https://bit.ly/2NightsinFlorence
Plover Habitat Expanding
The snowy plover habitat is getting a makeover according to the US Forest Service. The area along the Siltcoos river to the Oregon Dunes recreational area will open up about 50 acres of habitat for the birds.
Crews are removing non-native vegetation to accommodate more breeding and nesting space according to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area Wildlife Biologist Cindy Burns.
She says over the last 25 years they have established small pockets of habitat but the birds have outgrown them. While there is the presence of heavy equipment in the area the recreation areas remain open to the public.
Quarterly Coffee with a Deputy – Waldport
Lincoln Co. Sheriff’s Office
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is excited to start the year off by having our first quarterly Coffee with a Deputy event of 2024 in Waldport. Join us on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, from 8am – 10am for a cup of coffee and a conversation at Café Chill (located at 540 NE Commercial St, Waldport, OR 97394).
More about these quarterly events:
Every three months our office will partner with a local coffee shop in Lincoln County to provide a time, space, and coffee for community members to meet our team and share what’s on their minds. Coffee with a cop events are a friendly and relaxed way for communities to connect with the deputies that serve them.
These events offer a unique opportunity for community members to directly engage with law enforcement, ask questions, voice concerns, and build positive relationships. Whether you’re a regular coffee drinker or simply curious about the work of law enforcement, this is a chance to connect with deputies on a personal level, learn about each other’s experiences, and share local feedback.
Oregon Department Of Forestry Recreation Team Seeking Camp Hosts
The Oregon Department of Forestry Recreation Team is looking for camp hosts to support operations at 8 campgrounds in the Tillamook, Clatsop, and Santiam State Forests for the 2024 season.
Campgrounds operates from May through October with flexible scheduling opportunities to include both full-season and short-season commitments.
Camp hosts are provided with:
*electricity
*water
*firewood
*septic
*ODF uniforms and supplies
Hosts help with light facility maintenance, visitor information services, and provide a point of contact for visitors in case of an emergency. Camp hosts enjoy direct access to trails and other recreation areas, get to meet people from all over the world, and can spend time exploring the vast experiences and views state forests have to offer.
To learn more, visit the ODF volunteer page: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/recreation/pages/volunteer.aspx
Florence Café 60 Senior Meals Program Reopens for Dine-In Meals
Lane Council of Government’s Senior Meals Program is reopening its Café 60 location in Florence after being closed for the past three years.
LCOG officials said that during the closure, LCOG’s Senior and Disability Services division offered grab-and-go meals but the reopening of Café 60 will provide a dine-in location for seniors who might otherwise go hungry. The Florence location will reopen on December 4 and operate three days a week at 11:15 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the Florence Senior Center located at 1570 Kingwood Street, LCOG officials said.
Organizers said that interested seniors should make reservations at least a week in advance by calling ahead at 541-997-5673 or filling out a reservation menu at the Café 60 location. The program is open at no cost to seniors 60 years of age or over and those not 60 years or older are welcome to join by paying the meal cost of $8, program organizers said. Donations are welcomed to support the program’s continued operation in the community, LCOG officials said.
Volunteers are also sought to help with the program and those who would like to participate may call 541-682-1366. More program information is also available here: https://www.lcog.org/sdslane/page/florence-caf%C3%A9-60-reopens-dine-meals
Missing Yachats Man’s Vehicle Found in North Lane County
On 08/25/2023, Dustin Steyding was reported missing to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office after he left work on 07/22/2023 and hadn’t been located since. Dustin was living and working in the Yachats area.
Dustin was reported to be in good physical condition, having previously worked as a hot shot firefighter in New Mexico. Dustin is very experienced in the woods and commonly goes out for hikes to stay in shape. Without means to locate Dustin, Deputies entered Dustin as a missing person in a national database.
On 09/04/2023, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Dustin’s family after they located his vehicle on Keller Creek Rd, just outside of Lincoln County in Lane County. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputies contacted the vehicle and determined it had been at the location for some time. Deputies were unable to determine Dustin’s direction of travel from the vehicle.
The vehicle having been located in Lane County, Lincoln County Deputies contacted the Lane County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team and arranged for their response the next day to started searching the area. After two days of searching, no clues to Dustin’s have been found.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Dustin Steyding should contact the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 541-265-0777 and reference case number 23S-07321.
83-year-old Clarence Edward Pitts walked away from his home in Bandon on Tuesday, January 31 at around 1:00 p.m. Pitts is described as:
- 6′ 00″
- 150 lbs
- Gray hair
- Brown eyes
- Last seen wearing an orange beanie, plaid jacket, tan pants and white shoes
- May have a walking cane
- Has dementia and PTSD
Pitts may be in a vehicle that was also found to be missing from the home:
- 1999 Toyota Van
- White
- Oregon license plate: WYN 788
If you see Clarence or have any information pertaining to where he may be, please call the Coos County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 541-396-2106 or the Bandon Police Department at 541-347-3189.
Contact us: Info@OregonBeachMagazine.com