Travel Oregon’s Only Slightly Exaggerated depicts a fun, exciting and diverse landscape that truly embodies what it is to experience what Oregon has to offer.
The video, directed by Kylie Matulick and Todd Mueller and written and produced by Portland-based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, was animated by Psyop and Sun Creatures Studio. The one-minute, 30-second video features a musical score by the Oregon Symphony that flows perfectly with the animation.
The film is an animated snapshot of Oregon, replete with a beach-side dune buggy accompanied by flying fish, an underground cave network twisting through marble rock, ghost forests submerged in clear blue waters, a bee flying through colorful flora, majestic outdoor Oregon scenery, hiking, hang gliding and presents the viewer with a real sense of adventure.
The Travel Oregon website features the video on its homepage and dedicates a portion of the site to the video, where visitors can “Explore More of Oregon, Only Slightly Exagerated.”
The whimsical and, at times, surreal video strikes a fine balance of fantasy and reality and paints Oregon as a vividly green state.
The Oregon Tourism Commission, doing business as Travel Oregon, is a semi-independent agency created by the Oregon Legislature in 2003 to enhance Oregonians’ quality of life by strengthening economic impacts of the state’s $11.8 billion tourism industry.
The Travel Oregon staff develops and implements a biennial strategic marketing plan which includes advertising and marketing, publication development, cooperative promotions, consumer fulfillment, public relations, international marketing, tourism product development, State Welcome Centers, research, and industry relations. Travel Oregon cooperates extensively with local communities, industry associations, government agencies, and private businesses in the implementation of its strategic plan.
The Oregon Tourism Commission, a nine-member board appointed by the Governor, governs the Travel Oregon staff and its programs; the agency is funded by a 1.8% statewide transient lodging tax.
The U.S. Coast Guard Alert was involved in the arrest April 9 of a Canadian national allegedly distributing meth
A criminal complaint was filed today in federal court alleging Canadian citizen John Phillip Stirling, 65, illegally possessed, with intent to distribute, methamphetamine aboard a U.S. flagged vessel in Oregon waters.
According to court documents, while on a routine patrol April 9, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alert detected a sailing vessel traveling north 225 nautical miles from Newport.
The vessel, named Mandalay, listed a home port of Seattle and visible U.S. registration numbers. When Coast Guard personnel attempted to communicate with Stirling, he went below deck and would only respond via VHF radio. Once Coast Guard personnel determined the Mandalay was a U.S. flagged vessel, they boarded and found Stirling to be the vessel’s sole occupant.
Stirling stated he did not have vessel documentation and refused to produce identification. Upon further questioning, Stirling’s speech began to deteriorate and he displayed signs of a possible drug overdose.
Coast Guard personnel administered medical aid to Stirling and evacuated him by helicopter to Astoria. He was later transported by ambulance to Adventist Health Portland for additional treatment.
Coast Guard personnel conducted a search of the Mandalay and discovered 28 seven-gallon jugs containing liquid methamphetamine.
Stirling made an initial appearance today in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman. Stirling was ordered detained pending trial.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The Lincoln County Assessor’s Office will conduct a physical reappraisal of all residential properties in Lincoln City areas through spring and summer of 2019.
Specific areas include Taft, Nelscott, Drift and Schooner Creek Road, Otis and Rose Lodge. County Appraisers will attempt to visit each property, driving marked County vehicles and carrying Assessor’s Office identification.
Physical reappraisals are routinely conducted to update the Lincoln County assessment records and maintain equitable assessments. Newly reappraised values in these areas will be reflected on the 2019-20 tax statements which will be mailed in late October 2019. Appraisal questions may be directed to Appraisal staff at (541) 265-4102.
The Assessor’s Office is located in room 207 on the second floor of the county courthouse, at 225 West Olive Street in Newport. The front counter is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Property assessment data can also be accessed on the computer terminal in the hallway outside the Assessor’s Office, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.. Access to Assessor’s Office maps and prior year property and value information continue to be available on the Assessor’s web page at: www.co.lincoln.or.us/assessor.
For additional information, contact the Lincoln County Assessor’s Office at 541-265-4102 or at [email protected].
Newport High School Robotics Club members with some of the materials accepted at their Earth Week e-cycling event
Lincoln County residents can avoid illegal disposal of computer and related electronics equipment when Newport High School’s Robotics Club and Thompson’s Sanitary Service host Earth Week Electronics Recycling, April 26-27.
The annual event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days in the east campus parking lot at Newport High, 322 NE Eads St.
With more than two billion computers in use worldwide, safe disposal of e-waste has become a critical concern. It is illegal to dispose of e-wastes in landfills in Oregon because they contain hazardous chemicals like lead, cadmium, mercury and more that can contaminate water supplies. However, most of this waste can be recycled and reused, which is the goal of the event.
Items accepted for recycling (at no charge) include: TVs, computers (monitors, towers, laptops, desktops); computer peripherals (mice, printers, speakers); camcorders and cameras; MP3 players (iPods, zunes, etc.); printer ink and toner cartridges; cables and power supplies; cellular, corded, and cordless phones.
Data security on computers is the donator’s responsibility. Hard drives can be removed and hammered prior to recycling or erased by programs like Killdisk (there’s a free version at killdisk.com.)
Items not acceptable include batteries, DVD and VHS players, game consoles and handheld electronic games, scanners, and fax machines. Many of these items might be donated to local service organizations, if in working condition.
The event marks the fourth time NHS Robotics Club has helped host this event. Over the past 10 years, the club has managed to keep more than 70 tons of materials from entering the waste stream, with around one-quiarter of that being e-waste.
The club also partners with Lincoln County to host a surplus office equipment sale every fall.
For more information, call Liz Fox at 541-265-9281, x231 or email [email protected].
For more information about Thompson’s Sanitary Service Recycling, contact Aimee Thompson at 541-265-7249 or email [email protected].
EDITOR’S NOTE:The following letter from Lincoln City Planning Director Lindsey Sehmel seeks local business owners’ input regarding future sign ordinance options:
Dear Business Owner:
The City of Lincoln City recently passed two ordinances (2019-14 & 2019-15) making amendments to the City’s sign regulations. In doing so, City Council directed staff to provide all businesses in the commercial zoning districts with this letter identifying the changes and summarizing the future work program relating to signage.
First, the recently adopted ordinances are not the final review of signs. Council seeks your input on future decisions on signage options, opportunities, and design. Council was clear that additional review and public engagement is necessary and directed certain matters be
brought forward in the design standards review process. Planning Department staff will engage, educate, research and prepare for public outreach on the future work to the City’s sign regulations.
Summary of noteworthy changes in Ordinance 2019-14 and Ordinance 2019-15, which will be in effect ,May 8, include:
• Chapter 17.72 is now consistent with Ordinance 2018-13 (Chapter 9.34) adopted last October, in that content-based definitions and terms in Chapter 17.72 were removed from the code consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert.
• Chapter 9.34 primarily concerns exempt temporary signage (not requiring a permit).
• Chapter 17.72 primarily concerns permanent signage and temporary signs issued pursuant to a permit, or with certain limitations.
• Both chapters place a cap on flags at a maximum of three flags and two windsocks per residence or business. Such flags must be located on private property, not public property. This limitation on flags and windsocks has been referred for review in the ongoing design standards review process.
• Both chapters permit a business to substitute two feather banners for two flags for an interim six-month test period. Business owners have been adamant that such banners should be allowed. Council has directed that the ongoing design review process review any problems or benefits of such feather banners discovered during the test period. This allowance sunsets on Oct. 8, 2019, and again only concerns feather banners on private property.
• Council requested that the design standards review process look at the current code allowance for 24 inches of encroachment into street right of way for wall mounted signs above 7.5 feet.
• The design standards review process will explore the current prohibitions and permitting hurdles to signage on City and ODOT right-of-way, including ADA concerns.
I will be working with my department staff to identify and prepare a draft scope of work and timeline to address the remaining sign code ordinance issues as directed by council.
This includes reviewing and preparing design standards for the sign ordinance, reviewing the current regulations in conjunction with the pending draft commercial and multi-family residential design standards and ensuring the new design standards and an updated sign code reflect the vision and desire of Lincoln City into the future. This scope of work will be presented to the Planning Commission for a work study meeting in May 2019.
Please contact me via [email protected], if you have any questions, concerns, or would like to be added to the email list for future notifications on the pending work related to permanent signage design and aesthetics in Lincoln City.
Respectfully,
Lindsey Sehmel, EMPA, AICP
Director Planning and Community Development
Passage of Automatic Mutual Aid was the major order of business at the meeting, where the Board voted to direct dispatch to notify both Depoe Bay and North Lincoln fire districts automatically in emergency situations rather than one or the other.
In his post, which Dahlman took down after receiving public criticism of his comments, the interim chief called the three candidates “negative people” who have “no business in public office, at any level.” He later admitted he had never met at least one of the candidates and didn’t even know who he was.
George Blacketer
During the public comment portion of the meeting, George Blacketer, a volunteer lieutenant with Otis Station 1300 who is seeking the Board post held by Ron W. Woodard II, took issue and chastised Dahlman over his March 20 post:
“I took great exception to what was posted about myself and the other two members running for Board,” Blacketer said. “The reason I took exception to it is because, back in February, I was threatened to be put on leave of absence for posting on Facebook for something that had nothing to do with North Lincoln Fire.
“I didn’t mention anything going on or anybody. The next day, I received a phone call saying if I did not stop posting on Facebook, I was going to be put on leave of absence.
“The only thing I posted was #volunteersmatter,” he said. “I’m also the president of the Lincoln City Youth League, which is a volunteer position. I volunteer anywhere I possibly can. And the next day I’m threatened to be put on leave?
“I make it public that I’m running for Board of Directors, and all of a sudden I’m an evil person? I’m a negative person?”
Blacketer continued: “I have a letter written by another volunteer who had a conversation with Chief Dahlman and the letter states: ‘I was at Station 1600 attending Monday Night Drill and speaking with Chief Rob Dahlman regarding the new chain of command. As Dahlman went down the list, Lieutenant George Blacketer’s name came up. Dahlman’s whole demeanor changed and he became angry. Dahlman stated that George needs to calm down, and if George does not calm down, then George needs to take a six-month leave of absence.’ This was repeated several times.”
“All I did was put my name on the ballot, and now I’m being targeted for doing such. And, yes, I know as a volunteer I cannot be on the Board of Directors, and I know that, if elected, I have to resign. That is a decision I am willing to make.
“I don’t know how everybody else feels about the post. I know it went viral very quick. Our legal team said nothing could be done based on the formal complaint that was filed. But the question is, as a chief of any level, what’s the consequences for something like that? For me to be threatened with leave of absence over a simple statement. But then our chief — granted it was his personal page — attacks the three of us.”
Board member Danny Curler responded to Blacketer’s comments.
“I read the post and, legally, I think we all have the right to say whatever we feel,” he said. “Professionally, I didn’t approve of it. I thought it was out of line.”
A Board member asked Dahlman if he’d like to say anything and Dahlman declined.
Business owner and former volunteer firefighter Dan Stuebgen, who was also targeted in the post, also addressed the Board.
Dan Stuebgen
“I took exception to it as well,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met Rob Dahlman. I thought it was inappropriate. What a great way to introduce yourself to a prospective Board member. I’ll be on the ballot.”
Stuebgen’s wife, Terri, had a more personal message for Dahlman.
Terri Stuebgen
“I’m the one who answered or rebutted what you said, and I ended it with ‘shame on you’ and that is true — shame on you for acting like a teenager and ranting all over Facebook,” she said. “That was very wrong … very, very, very wrong.
“You owe these guys an apology, definitely,” she added. “You don’t know them well enough to say anything like that.”
Roy Cabal, a Chinook Winds Casino Resort security guard, former emergency medical technician and NLFR lieutenant who is running for a Board seat, said, “I hope I get elected so I can restore integrity to the District.”
Roy Cabal
Woodard will be opposed on the May 21 ballot by Blacketer in Position 1; Tim J. Beatty by Cabal in Position 2; and Alan Lee by Stuebgen in Position 3. Jamie Wright in Position 4 and Curler in Position 5 will continue serving their terms.
Meanwhile, Dahlman, who is under a one-year contract as longtime Chief Doug Kerr’s replacement, gave his monthly report, which included urban renewal at Roads End and Nelscott and how it affects the department. He also spoke about how the City wants to purchase an emergency generator.
Dahlman said he received a special invitation to City Council so he “could show them that we’re there” and “that we have a seat at the table.”
“We want to be in the loop so that when they are improving stuff in the area, we have water systems that are adequate for fire suppression,” he said.
NLFR Board meetings are held at 4 p.m. the second Wednesday of every month at the Taft Fire Station, 4520 Highway 101.
Taft High golfers compete Wednesday in the rain at Salishan Golf Resort in Gleneden Beach
Golf is a four-letter word, but it probably wasn’t the one heard most often Wednesday from Taft High boys coach Andy Morgan while his team toured about every inch of real estate there is to visit within the confines of Salishan Golf Resort.
“Grim,” Morgan said, using another passive four-letter word to describe the Tigers’ play in the Taft Invitational on a brisk, rainy day on the team’s home course.
Taft placed last among four teams in its first 18-hole competition of the season with freshman Zac Wil shooting 117 to finish fifth overall, 25 strokes behind Blanchet Catholic medalist Jason Liu’s 92.
Blanchet’s Nikhil Namburi was the only other player to break 100 with a 95.
The Cavaliers won the team title 451-477 over East Linn, with Regis third at 480 and Taft fourth at 512.
Taft senior William Brooks and freshman Ethan Unruh shot 124, and freshman Eston Whistler 147.
The Tigers return to the tee Monday, April 22, at Cross Creek Golf Course in Amity.
Coach Andy Morgan’s comments
“As always, I can’t say enough about our home course — Salishan. This time, however, I have to really work hard to find the silver lining in the effects this beautiful field has on the psyche of the young men who thoroughly struggled through the rain to get around the 5 1/2-hour challenge.
“To sum things up, four able golfers representing Taft Tiger championship golf carded a team total 512, after an 18-hole struggle. To put that score into perspective, Taft once won a State championship with a team total after 36 holes of only 611.
“The struggle was real. The best team score of the tournament was that of Blanchet — 451. Consider the idea of doubling that best score, making it a 36 hole total 902, which would be nearly half again as many as that historic Taft championship.
“My point is, Taft was not the only team to struggle on Wednesday. However, it was our home course, we were the hosting school, and we let the course at Salishan show the young Tigers who was the boss for the day. Mother Nature certainly didn’t take the side of the Tigers. It was rain that brought flooding to the Willamette Valley after dumping on the competing schools of Taft, Amity, Blanchet, East Linn, Regis, Toledo and Waldport.
“For winners, Blanchet’s leading scorers, Namburi and Liu, have both become familiar with Salishan, with both participating in the District championships last May prior to also participating in the State championships. Besides these two veterans, their teammates struggled to scores of 126 and 138.
“The Tigers were anchored by one returning varsity golfer with State championship experience, William Brooks. Unfortunately for Brooks, it was a really tough day. Nines, 10s and the like are not familiar numbers on the card of the normally steady Brooks.
“Sometimes the game is brutal, and this was certainly the experience for the Taft senior. With three teamates with virtually no varsity experience –except last week’s debut of Zac Will — the freshman teammates were introduced to varsity golf under the worst kind of playing conditions.
“At times, the boys were likely praying for lightning, which would have chased them from the brutal weather and playing conditions. Instead, the new members of the Taft team played through what could likely be the worst conditions they will see before graduating in three more years.
“The rebuilding effort of Taft championship golf will make no excuses for the miserable results. We have work to do. We will need to play countless hours of golf.
“We will need to spend day after day hitting balls on the practice range. The putting green will destroy the nerves, as this team sinks ball after ball into the shallow cups. The course superintendent will likely need to reseed much of the fairways, and refill the sand bunkers, for these boys will dig holes with their wedges from thousands of swings.
“Dreams, and nightmares will be experienced, as these boys sleep off the sore muscles and joints. But, mark my words, this team will not quit. This group of young men enjoy the game, the competition, the challenge and the camaraderie.
“We want to than the team from Blanchet for kicking our rears. We will challenge the boys from Regis and East Linn. We will chase La Pine. Mostly though, we will demand a better effort of ourselves.
“Our goals are grand, and we know we have a long way to go. It won’t be easy bringing a championship back to Taft. William may not be around when it happens, but he will be watching. It’s going to be a good show.”
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck off the Southern Oregon Coast at 7:11 a.m. Wednesday, six miles beneath the surface, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The quake occurred at approximately 230 miles off the Oregon Coast on the southwest boundary of the Juan de Fuca Plate.
“This is a transform boundary, so you have lateral movement and you don’t have any vertical movement,” USGS Geophysicist Don Blakeman said. “You have to have vertical movement to have a tsunami.”
“The types of faults or plate boundaries that generate tsunamis are those where a plate is pushing down underneath another one subducting. Then you could get some vertical movement,” he said.
“If this had happened on the Coast, then a lot of people would have felt it and it would have knocked some stuff off of shelves, but this was so far out in the ocean the energy dies away before it gets to the shore.”
The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program is part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), established by Congress in 1977, and the USGS Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) was established by Congress as a NEHRP facility. The USGS and its partners monitor and report earthquakes, assess earthquake impacts and hazards, and perform research into the causes and effects of earthquakes.
Lincoln County School District Board members listen to concerned parents Tuesday night
Lincoln County School District Board members meeting in regular session Tuesday at Taft High to discuss their usual educational business heard from a group of parents regarding an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
Due to the number of people wanting to comment on the incident that occurred last year at Oceanlake Elementary School, the Board limited the time for each person to speak to two minutes.
Parent Dan Porter spoke about the Oregon Department of Education investigation into the alleged inappropriate sexual behavior that took place among three kindergarten students.
Oceanlake parent Dan Porter voices his concerns
“We didn’t know our rights as parents, but we’ve done a bit of research since then,” Porter said. “My first problem with this is the time they took from when they knew about the incident and called us and informed us about it.
“The second is the no contact from the school, following any type of investigation. We don’t even know if one was held. And the brief talks we had with the principal, that was all us that had to pursue that.
“The incident recently became public and it was a hard decision for our family to make because we did not want possible exposure to our son or ourselves with uninformed people that don’t know the situation.”
At this point in Porter’s speech, a Board member keeping track of the time informed Porter his time was up and another parent asked if they could give their time to Porter. The Board agreed and he continued.
“The school didn’t follow the Title IX requirements. They’re supposed to do a thorough and prompt investigation. They failed to stay in contact with the families. There was no separation of the students for their safety. Our son had to sit through class with these kids for the rest of the year. The incident that I know of was not reported.
“The changes we feel that need to be made is that everybody deserves better communication from the school; better handling of situations. A simple bathroom plan is not a resolution to issues like this. and it does not ensure the safety of the kids.
“Student-on-student assault cannot be taken lightly no matter what age it is. Our son was exposed to some stuff he shouldn’t have been exposed to.
“The school needs more help, or staff and volunteers. The school needs to be held responsible for not following the Title IX requirements. Our kids are the most precious part of the community and they should be protected at all costs –especially in school.”
Tiffany Hill, pictured in middle, addresses the school board
“I feel there needs to be immediate changes made to existing policies or create new policies and procedures,” she said. “My son was forced by a student to perform [redacted] in the bathroom at school. This student threatened my son.”
Another parent, Karen Johnson, spoke about issues she had with her autistic son at Oceanlake.
“We had problems from the very beginning when we started,” she said. “One time, I came to pick up my son from school and his shoes were taped on him. I was told that was how they were going to handle him taking off his shoes. He’s autistic and has ‘ticks.’ He doesn’t like wearing shoes.”
Parent Shawnee Bledsoe also addressed the board.
“Schools are tasked with an unrealistic expectation,” she said. “Schools are no longer only in the business of education, but also of social services. In many ways schools are parenting our children.
“Successful education is like a three-legged stool, the district, the families and the students make up the legs that support the success of our students. The situation presented for us today is an example of a shaky foundation. There are many things that can be improved upon.”
LCSD Superintendent Dr. Karen Gray, who said she couldn’t address the incident specifically, said:
“The incidents are under investigation by the Department of Education. There’s absolutely nothing I’m allowed to say.
LCSD Superintendent Dr. Karen Gray
“When these kinds of claims and allegations and investigations come to the public, the Board is not able to speak on that in public and neither is the superintendent. Because you are hearing one side of the coin, you’re not hearing any investigatory rebuttal to anything and you’re not going to hear it here because that’s not what we do.
“We’re not going to sit here arguing with people or present information about children that’s confidential and not things that we say in public because that is not what we do in school districts and we’re not going to.”
However, Gray added:
“We do take student safety seriously. There have been incidents that have happened in this school district. We also don’t divulge the upshots of our investigation and, in fact, there is an Oregon Department of Education complaint that the Porters and the Hills have against the district that is under investigation and, therefore, we are not allowed to speak to what that investigation looks like, what the District side of that investigation is.
“We’re not allowed to speak to that because it taints the investigation and we want a fair investigation because when the investigation results come out, the District will be reporting that to the media. So, we’re just not there yet.”
Gray went on to say that an administrative team had a professional development workshop with the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in Newport. She said all five members of their team talked about the serious matter of sexual behavior among children. The teams covered what is appropriate sexual behavior and awareness of children by developmental age and what is inappropriate.
CAC will be coming to Oceanlake to conduct a parent workshop on appropriate sexual behavior versus inappropriate sexual behavior, Gray said.
“Frankly, we would like them to do that at every school,” she said. “This is not a comment on what the parents are saying. This is our education as administrators. We want to know what is appropriate, what is inappropriate and what is our response to that.”
News organization eligible to attend executive sessions
The Lincoln City City Council voted unanimously Monday to accept the findings of an independent hearings officer and declare Lincoln City Homepage a legitimate media outlet eligible to attend executive sessions.
The 5-0 vote ends a 10-month process that included an Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) investigation confirming Homepage as a qualified and viable news representative; dismissal of the case by OGEC due to jurisdiction issues; Council development of an application process for new media; and the hiring by Council of a third-party hearings officer to review the matter and share his findings.
In his report to Council, attorney Dan R. Olsen of Portland, determined:
“Lincoln City Homepage very likely qualifies as ‘news media.’ Representatives of Lincoln City Homepage, therefore, are eligible to attend executive sessions of local governing bodies, subject to the limitations set forth in ORS Chapter 192, including that such representatives not disclose information specified as confidential.”
Although not on the initial agenda for its regular Council session, Mayor Dick Anderson and councilors Diana Hinton, Rick Mark, Diane Kusz and Judy Casper voted Monday to accept Olsen’s recommendation to recognize Homepage as a bona fide news source and approve its application to attend executive sessions.
Councilor Riley Hoagland, who said he had not seen the confidential report, abstained. Councilor Mitch Parsons, who opposed the hiring of a hearings officer in addition to Homepage’s compliance with a newly developed application process, was excused.
Council then voted to make public and not redact any of Olsen’s report, with only Casper objecting. Council reiterated that a no disclosure agreement be made clear at the start and/or end of the special sessions, and that any Homepage representative other than Publisher Justin Werner or Executive Editor Jim Fossum provide verification of their affiliation with the news organization.
Under its newly adopted media policy, Council cannot hold an executive session while there is an application pending.
Citing the need to avoid a perception of bias, the Council opted on March 11 to forego consideration of an agenda item to hear a short presentation from Werner and review his organization’s application in favor of obtaining outside consultation. Under state law, recognized media is allowed to attend but not record or report on discussion in executive sessions.
Prior to that, in mid-January, an OGEC investigation found that Homepage qualified as legitimate media and was barred from a Council meeting last summer in violation of state law.
“There is a preponderance of evidence that a representative of the news media [Werner] was excluded from attending an executive session held by the Lincoln City City Council in violation of ORS 192.660(4),” OGEC Compliance and Education Coordinator Diane Gould said.
However, citing jurisdiction issues, OGEC’s Board of Directors bypassed its own investigation’s findings and dismissed the case in late January.
Homepage maintained it was illegally excluded from attendance at a June 4, 2018, special session under Oregon public meetings law because it regularly covers Council meetings and local government and corresponds regularly with City officials to report the news.
The findings countered City claims that Homepage did not meet screening criteria as a media representative and needed to gain approval or give advance notice for attendance at the executive session.
Homepage has already been recognized as news media by Apple News, Google News, Facebook, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, the Lincoln County School District, Lincoln County Public Health, the Department of Human Services, the Oregon School Activities Association, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Samaritan Health Services, the National Weather Service, various local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies and more.
Over the past 28 days, from March 12 through April 8, Homepage reached 63,291 people on Facebook. Nearly 26,000 people viewed Homepage’s Facebook posts last week alone.
Homepage has experienced more than half a million hits in the past year with tens of thousands of users from across the United States and is projected to exceed one million by the same time next year.
“Grim,” Morgan said, using another passive four-letter word to describe the Tigers’ play in the Taft Invitational on a brisk, rainy day on the team’s home course.
The Cavaliers won the team title 451-477 over East Linn, with Regis third at 480 and Taft fourth at 512.
