The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Monday, May 9, 2022
Oregon Beach Weather
Pacific Halibut Sport Fishing Regulations Announced
Columbia River Subarea (Cape Falcon, OR to Leadbetter Point, WA)
All-Depth Season:
- Quota = 18,537 pounds
- Open Thursdays and Sundays beginning May 5 through May 26. If quota remains can be open every Thursday and Sunday through the earlier of the quota getting caught or June 30.
- May Open Dates: Thurs, May 5; Sun, May 8; Thurs, May 12; Sun, May 15; Thurs, May 19; Sun, May 22; Thurs, May 26
Nearshore Season:
- Quota = 500 pounds
- Open Mondays through Wednesdays inside the 40-fathom regulatory line off of Oregon beginning May 9, through the earlier of the quota getting caught or Sept. 30.
Central Oregon Coast Subarea (Humbug Mountain to Cape Falcon)
Spring All-Depth Season:
- Quota = 169,963 pounds
- Fixed dates: May 12 through June 30, seven days per week
- Back-up dates available (if enough quota remains): July 7-9 & July 21-23
Summer All-Depth Season:
- Quota = 67,445 pounds
- Opens Aug 4-6, then every other Thurs-Sat through the earlier of the quota is caught, or Oct. 31.
- Additional days per week and/or weeks may be added inseason depending on how much quota is available.
Nearshore:
- Quota = 32,374 pounds
- Opens May 1, seven days per week, inside the 40-fathom regulatory line, through the earlier of the quota is caught, or Oct. 31.
Southern Oregon Subarea (OR/CA Border to Humbug Mountain)
- Quota = 8,000 pounds
- Opens May 1, 2022, 7-days per week, through the earlier of the quota getting caught, or Oct 31.
Statewide regulations
- It is mandatory to have a descending device onboard the vessel when fishing for Pacific halibut, and to use a device when releasing any rockfish species when fishing outside of 30 fathoms.
- Daily bag limit: 1 Pacific halibut. Annual limit: 6. No length limit.
- Pacific halibut possession limit: 1 daily limit at sea, 3 daily limits on land.
- Fathom lines and conservation areas are defined by waypoints.
- Pacific halibut seasons are managed and enforced based on port of landing. Halibut may only be landed into ports located within areas currently open to halibut retention, regardless of area of catch.
- During the nearshore seasons (Columbia River and Central Oregon Subareas), bottomfish and salmon may be retained (as bottomfish and salmon regulations allow) with halibut. However, once halibut are onboard, no fishing may occur outside of the 40-fm curve.
- When angling for Pacific halibut outside of the 40-fm curve only salmon (as regulations allow), bottomfish as regulations below allow, tuna and most other offshore pelagic species may be in possession or landed when Pacific halibut are onboard the vessel.
- It is unlawful to fish for or take and retain any species while possessing onboard any species not allowed to be taken in that area at the time.
- Anglers are advised to consult the 2022 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations for General (statewide), Zone, and Special Regulations prior to fishing.
FOR MORE INFO: https://myodfw.com/pacific-halibut-sport-regulations
Yachats City Council Gives Go-Ahead to Build Boardwalk
The Yachats City Council has given the go-ahead for the next step to build a 350-foot boardwalk along Ocean View Drive overlooking the Yachats River.
The council voted unanimously and enthusiastically Thursday to seek and negotiate detailed engineering designs for the boardwalk. Those designs will be used to better estimate the cost of the project, seek bids and award a construction contract. This could be a $950,000 project.
A team of Yachats volunteers, the city’s engineer, and streets supervisor Rick McClung have been sketching out and then refining plans for the boardwalk for a year, following encouragement from the city council as far back as 2017.
On Thursday it made its first presentation to the council since last August, hoping to get approval for the engineering and design so the city can get everything lined up this year and to build it in 2023.
Civil West Engineering of Newport, the city’s regular engineering firm, was the only company that responded to requests for preliminary work and is expected to do the final engineering and cost estimates. It also offered to write grant applications, with the help of the design team, to help fund the project.
The city already has $125,000 allocated in its 2021-22 budget for engineering. Council members had only a few questions during the presentation, which included a timeline, a preliminary design and cost estimate, an explanation and justification for materials, and possible ways to fund it.
While the city has plenty of money from its lodging taxes and the 804 Trail settlement fund that can be used for projects, design team member Joanne Kittel said there are ample opportunities for grants. These include Oregon State Parks and Recreation, Travel Oregon, the Oregon Coast Visitor Association, and the Oregon Department of Transportation, and even $26,000 already donated to View the Future, a Yachats nonprofit, Kittel said.
The first phase of the boardwalk project had already received unanimous approval from the city’s Parks & Commons Commission, which has been getting regular updates from the design team volunteers.
The boardwalk would replace a gravel path along the narrowest portion of Ocean View Drive between Beach Street and Highway 101. The path is part of the 804 Trail and the state-recognized Oregon Coast Trail and is the only broken, unsafe link of the Coast trail through Yachats.
A second phase of the project would involve improving the trail – but nothing as extensive as the boardwalk – between Beach Street and Yachats State Park.
In this phase of the pandemic it’s important to consider the level of COVID-19 transmission in your community so you can make decisions about masking, attending social gatherings and other activities.You may be accustomed to considering your health and vaccination status (and the health of vaccination status of the people you live and work with), but there are additional ways to help you decide which situations are safe.
Data from the CDC and Oregon Health Authority show COVID-19 spread in your community, another indicator that can help you make personal decisions about your risk of COVID-19.To learn more about how to use data to navigate day-to-day life, visit our blog: http://ow.ly/1PkY50J1NUi
State continues paying out Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program applications to renters and landlords across Oregon
More than 51,000 Oregon households facing pandemic hardship receive over $340 million in rental assistance relief
Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is processing for payment applications submitted through the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP) which stopped accepting applications on March 21, 2022. As of today, the agency has paid out $340.3 million in emergency rental assistance to 51,780 households.
The state has received the additional $16 million the U.S. Department of Treasury allocated in March. The funds were reallocated from other states to high-performing states such as Oregon, demonstrating both speed and continuing need.
As application processing and payout of new applications received after Dec. 1 continues, the program identified a sizeable number of recent applications that were over income or did not meet minimum eligibility criteria in the compliance phase. Program staff are reaching out to tenants to verify documents and ensure the basic eligibility criteria are met before moving forward with the standard denial process for those that do not qualify before redirecting available funds to other eligible applicants.
OERAP staff and customer support vendors have launched a recertification phase in response to feedback from local partners for tenants who may need additional support. Beginning next week, program staff will reach out to current applicants with applications in the system who may not have requested the full 15 months of assistance allowable by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Eligible tenants who previously applied and have unpaid rent balances or need a few additional months of assistance to be made whole will be contacted by the program.
The OERAP portal remains closed to new applicants; however, local-level assistance is available for applicants who meet minimum eligibility criteria from Community Action Agencies. Landlords can be reimbursed for eligible non-payment costs such as rent and late fees incurred during the “safe harbor” period by applying to the Landlord Guarantee Program. Tenants with questions about local-level resources and supports can call 2-1-1 to be connected with their regional Community Action Agency.
Oregon Disaster Assistance For Agriculture Aid Opens Monday 5/9
Drought, smoke, heat and pests are all reasons Oregon is offering aid to farmers and ranchers for 2021 natural disaster effects.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) says starting Monday, May 9, 2022, Oregon Disaster Assistance Program (ODAP) applications will be available to farmers and ranchers who experienced financial losses due to various natural disasters in 2021.
It says they can apply for ODAP state-level assistance as local banks and credit unions familiar with agriculture will administer ODAP aid throughout the state. A list of partners and a sample application are available at the ODAP web page. Applications will be available until June 3, 2022.
ODA Director Alexis Taylor says, “Oregon’s farmers and ranchers are used to dealing with issues beyond their control, but the series of natural disasters, where historic drought conditions were compounded by record-breaking heat, wildfire smoke, early winter storm damage, and pest infestation in 2021, was hard for any producer to absorb.”
ODA says the Oregon Legislature granted ODA the legal authority and $40-million last December to establish a disaster assistance program which ODA designed as a forgivable loan program with stakeholders and industry partners, adding, “The program calculates assistance for eligible farmers and ranchers in Oregon on the loss of Gross Farm Income. ODAP is based on tax filing from 2017, 2018, and 2019 to establish a 3-year baseline of what a producer could have expected in farm income without disaster impacts. Using the producer’s 2021 Gross Farm Income, the difference between 2021 income and the 3-year baseline is considered a loss due to natural disasters.
“The maximum assistance is $125,000 or 90% of the three-year baseline. In addition, producers who meet the USDA definition of a historically underserved producer or have less than $350,000 in gross income may qualify for maximum assistance is $150,000 or 95% of the three-year baseline.
“Assistance will be forgiven unless the producer receives additional funds under ODAP and certain US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance. USDA FSA disaster assistance will be reported back for redetermination for any repayment or forgiveness. Based on available funds, ODAP may conduct a second round of applications.”
Oregon farm regulators might decide to take over fresh produce safety inspections from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year.
The FDA began performing inspections in Oregon in 2019 to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act, a
federal statute intended to prevent foodborne illness. Since then, the state Department of Agriculture has focused on providing education and technical assistance to fresh produce growers rather than directly conducting on-farm inspections.
However, some farmers have told ODA that they’d prefer to be overseen by state inspectors who are more familiar with local crops, said Susanna Pearlstein, the agency’s produce safety program manager.
Public Defender Shortage Hurts Many Oregonians
Oregon’s public defender system has shown cracks for years, but a post-pandemic glut of delayed cases is exposing shocking constitutional landmines. Those problems are impacting defendants and crime victims alike in a state with a national reputation for progressive social justice.
An acute public defender shortage means hundreds of low-income criminal defendants don’t have legal representation – sometimes in serious felony cases – and judges have dismissed several dozen cases.
Hearings in others are delayed, leaving defendants and victims in limbo. Lawmakers are ordering reforms and budgeting millions for fixes after a recent study found Oregon has 31% of the necessary public defenders.
Avian Flu Detected in Oregon
The avian flu that’s spreading quickly across the U.S. has been detected in Oregon for the first time since 2015, in a backyard flock of birds in a rural area, authorities said. The presence of the highly contagious virus in Linn County, about 110 miles southeast of Portland, was confirmed Friday by federal officials after state officials conducted
preliminary testing, the Oregon Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The latest outbreak has led to the culling of about 37 million chickens and turkeys in U.S. farms since February, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed 956 cases of bird flu in wild birds, including at least 54 bald eagles. But the actual number is likely significantly higher because not every wild bird that dies is tested and the federal tally doesn’t include cases recorded by wildlife rehabilitation centers.
The discovery of the avian flu in the Pacific Northwest wasn’t unexpected as the virus has been spreading rapidly across the country in both domestic and wild birds. An infected bald eagle was found in British Columbia, Canada, in early March, said Dr. Ryan Scholz, Oregon’s state veterinarian.
Klamath County Sheriff’s Office Asks for Public’s Help in Search For Trucker Suspect
The first real clue to come in on all the missing person cases in the area. Help Klamath Falls Oregon Sheriff Office ID this trucker. He was the last to see this woman alive and could be the key to not only solving this woman’s disappearance but a number of the hundred other women missing in PNW. IF you have any information, please call (541) 883-5130
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/