The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Oregon Beach Weather
Active Weather Alerts
WINTER STORM WARNING ISSUED: 9:57 AM FEB. 23, 2023 – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Heavy wet snow. Additional snow accumulations of up to one inch. * WHERE...Central Oregon Coast. * WHEN...Until 1 PM PST this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. For the latest road conditions call 5 1 1, or visit: https://www.tripcheck.com SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY - ISSUED: 4:01 AM FEB. 23, 2023 – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST SATURDAY... * WHAT...Northeast winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts up to 30 kt and seas 13 to 18 ft at 14 seconds. * WHERE...All areas. * WHEN...Until 4 AM PST Saturday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds and/or steep seas could capsize or damage smaller vessels. * View the hazard area in detail at https://go.usa.gov/x6hks
Snow Along the Coast!
Newport Seafood & Wine Festival Starts Friday Due to Weather
The Newport Seafood & Wine Festival is returning this week, after having to cancel the past two years.
The Newport Seafood & Wine Festival is Newport’s largest annual event. It started in 1977 with the intention to boost the local economy during the slowest time of the year.
Today, the four-day event draws thousands of visitors to Newport during the last full weekend February, boasting over 125 vendors: seafood vendors, craftspeople, and Northwest wineries all under a tented venue adjacent to the Rogue brewery in South Beach.
More than 300 volunteers, a dedicated volunteer committee, and local support from city and county agencies make this annual event possible. Presenting Sponsor Chinook Winds Casino Resort has generously supported the event for the past thirteen years. MORE INFO: Newport Seafood & Wine Festival
Lincoln County Seedling Sale 2/26
The Lincoln County Chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association is hosting its annual native tree seedling sale on Saturday at Table Mountain Forestry Shop at 247 NE Business Highway 20 in Toledo.
Many varieties of native tree seedlings and some native shrub species will be available. This annual event is designed to provide the public with affordable native tree seedlings, promote natural resource conservation awareness, and to increase forest owners’ knowledge and abilities as stewards of their land.
Most seedlings will be $2. MORE INFO: https://www.oswa.org/blog/events/lincoln-county-seedling-sale/
Tillamook County’s Development Committee will be hosting an industry expert to talk about mass timber on February 27.
The relatively new building material has economic, ecological and seismic benefits over existing materials for coastal building.
The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the main conference room at the Port of Tillamook Bay’s main conference room located at 4000 Blimp Boulevard. There is also a virtual option.
The Tillamook County Building Official will also be in attendance to discuss local development challenges and the way the material can help to address those. https://www.co.tillamook.or.us/commdev/page/citizen-guide-virtual-attendance-tillamook-county-community-development-hearings
Rural residents asked to help update Lane County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan by taking survey
Residents who live outside the Eugene-Springfield area are being asked to take a short online survey to help update Lane County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Take the survey at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/mitigation (QR code attached).
Lane County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan is updated every five years. Mitigation means taking action now to reduce our long-term risk from natural hazards. It is our local blueprint to help protect people and property. Updating this plan also makes Lane County and its partners cities eligible for federal grants and funding to help mitigate potential impacts from disasters such as fuels reduction reduces our risk to wildfires.
“Lane County is a beautiful place. There aren’t many counties where you can ski and surf in the same day, but alongside this natural beauty that we all appreciate is a high risk for natural disasters,” said Lane County Emergency Manager Patence Winningham. “We regularly experience flooding, wildfire, severe winter storms, and we are at high risk of significant seismic events – including the major Cascadia earthquake.”
Residents can weigh in on the plan update: Do you think Lane County should focus on fuels reduction? Updating culverts and bridges to withstand flooding? Or something else? Take the short survey to tell us what you think the plan should focus on first.
Paper copies of the survey can be requested by calling 541-682-6967 or emailing licInformation@LaneCountyOR.gov“>PublicInformation@LaneCountyOR.gov.
Oregon Lawmakers Share Details of $200 Million Housing Package
Oregon lawmakers plan to spend nearly $200 million within the next few weeks to address housing and homelessness, describing it as a “down payment” with more to come.
A trio of Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday shared the details of their plan, which also includes new policies to slow evictions and streamline home building permits. A pair of bills – one with policies and one with spending – are expected to pass through House committees Thursday and next week and be ready for a vote on the House floor the second week of March.
“We know our communities need relief now,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland and the chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness. “So we’re making an unprecedented push to take bold and definitive action early in session with the goal of passing this package by mid-March.”
Dexter and her counterpart in the Senate, Portland Democrat Kayse Jama, said they worked closely with Republican colleagues to craft the measure. It includes some Republican priorities, such as a pitch from Sen. Dick Anderson, D-Lincoln City, to provide low-interest loans for developers building homes for middle-income Oregonians.
More money
The housing package includes the $130 million requested by Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this year. Kotek’s request consisted of:
- $54.4 million to help 1,200 homeless individuals or families find new homes.
- $33.6 million for rent assistance and eviction prevention services. The governor’s office estimated this will help keep 8,750 families from losing their homes.
- $23.8 million to add 600 shelter beds statewide. These will be low-barrier beds, meaning that people don’t need to be sober, employed or pass criminal background checks to receive shelter.
- $5 million to Oregon’s nine recognized tribes for their homelessness services.
- $5 million to increase capacity for “culturally responsive organizations” to work toward equitable outcomes for homelessness.
- $2 million for cities and counties to use for sanitation services.
- $1.8 million for the state Office of Emergency Management and Oregon Housing and Community Services to coordinate the state’s handling of the homelessness crisis.
Lawmakers added tens of millions more, including:
- $27 million to address homelessness in 25 rural counties that weren’t included in Kotek’s January emergency order because homelessness has increased at slower rates there than in urban areas.
- $25 million earmarked for homeless youth, to help young people and their families with rent assistance, shelter and mental health or substance abuse treatment.
- $20 million to encourage production of modular homes, which are built in factories and then placed in foundations or stacked to make apartment buildings.
- $5 million in grants for farmers to improve health and safety conditions at farm worker camps.
- $3 million in revolving loans builders can use to pay for predevelopment costs, such as permits and local infrastructure fees, for homes that will be affordable to people earning between 80% and 120% of the median income in their area.
More spending will be coming later in the legislative session, said Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis and the chair of the budget-writing subcommittee that will handle housing funding. His subcommittee will consider Kotek’s proposed budget, along with any legislative proposals that carry price tags, as it crafts a housing budget for the 2023-25 budget period.
Kotek’s suggested budget includes nearly $3.8 billion for the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department – a slight decrease from the almost $3.9 billion allocated in the last two-year budget, when lawmakers spent $1.5 billion in one-time funds, but nearly double the $1.9 billion the agency received in the 2019-21 budget cycle.
New land use and eviction policies
The package includes major changes to the state’s 50-year-old land use system, shifting to prioritize building housing over “citizen engagement” in decisions about what can be built where. Critics of Oregon’s land use system have long maintained that the state’s laws make building desperately needed housing take too long and cost too much. The state needs to build more than 550,000 new homes over the next 20 years to meet current and expected demand, according to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.
The measure would require Oregon Housing and Community Services to produce annual housing production targets for each city with at least 10,000 residents, including subsidized and market-rate homes.
From there, the state Department of Land Conservation and Development could take action against cities that fail to build enough homes, including obtaining a judge’s order forcing a city to comply or forcing a city to forfeit grant funds or other state funding.
“We will make sure local governments, special districts and state agencies work together to ensure that we break down barriers and remove red tape that has prevented us from building the housing we need,” Dexter said.
Separately, the proposal would extend eviction timelines for unpaid rent. Landlords can now give 72-hour notices and obtain court judgements against tenants within 25 days of giving that notice. The proposal would give tenants 10-day notices and extend the court timeline, meaning a trial could occur almost two months after a tenant first misses a rent payment.
“We all know that eviction leads to homelessness,” Jama said. “Evicting somebody and putting them on the streets is really, really challenging for all of us and it’s more expensive to be on the streets than being housed.” Source
Marion County Sheriff’s Office looking for help in identifying deceased female found in a Jefferson field
On February 21, 2023, about 4:45pm, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office Enforcement Division, Jefferson Contract, along with detectives from the Criminal Investigations Unit responded to a report of a citizen finding a female, deceased, in a field at the dead-end of Tenth Street in Jefferson, Oregon. The Marion County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to assist.
Wednesday, an autopsy was performed by the State Medical Examiner and the death has been determined to be natural causes. The female found, was a white female, unknown age, 5’3 ½”, 128 pounds, wearing a red tank top, camo colored long sleeve shirt, Green sweatshirt, green sweatpants, and black tennis shoes. She was described as having a brooch attached to the green sweatshirt in the left chest area with a white pearl-looking piece in the middle of it.
We are asking anyone with information on a possible identify for this female to please call Deputy N. Morse, 971-720-0726.
Report of Armed Subject at Lane Community College
UPDATE:Update: As of 3:30pm the lockdown at Lane Community College has been lifted. Authorities have determined there to be no credible threat.
Circumstances surrounding the initial report of an armed person on campus are under investigation. –
02/22/2023 – 2:06pm Lane County Sheriff’s deputies are currently on scene at the LCC Main Campus after receiving the report of an armed person on campus.
There have been no reports of shots fired or injuries. Authorities are asking the public to avoid the area until additional information becomes available.
Oregon Revenue Forecasts Record $3.9B Kicker To Be Returned To Taxpayers
Oregon’s key economic indicator, the quarterly revenue forecast for March, shows significant revenue growth.
The forecast, released Wednesday, Feb. 22 by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, states that the unexpected revenue growth in the current biennium has left Oregon with unprecedented balances, followed by a record kicker in 2023-25.
The projected personal kicker is $3.9 billion, which will be credited to taxpayers when they file their returns in 2024.
The projected corporate kicker is $1.5 billion, which will be retained in the General Fund for K-12 educational spending.
“Once the 2023-25 biennium is behind us, Oregon’s major revenue sources are expected to bounce back quickly,” the Forecast Summary reads. “However, growth over the extended horizon will continue to be constrained by demographics, with the baby-boom population cohort earning and spending less.”
The unexpected revenue growth in the current biennium has left Oregon with unprecedented balances, followed by a record kicker in 2023-25. The projected personal kicker is $3.9 billion, which will be credited to taxpayers when they file their returns in 2024. The projected corporate kicker is $1.5 billion, which will be retained in the General Fund for K-12 educational spending. Once the 2023-25 biennium is behind us, Oregon’s major revenue sources are expected to bounce back quickly. However, growth over the extended horizon will continue to be constrained by demographics, with the baby-boom population cohort earning and spending less.
The Oregon Economic Forecast provides information to planners and policy makers in state agencies and private organizations for use in their decision making processes.
The Oregon Revenue Forecast opens the revenue forecasting process to public review. It is the basis for much of the budgeting in state government. The forecast reports are issued four times a year: March, June, September, and December.
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.
