Exploratory action into the possibility of consolidating services between Lincoln City and Depoe Bay fire and rescue operations will be reignited at 5 o’clock tonight at Station 2200 at 6445 Gleneden Beach Loop.
“The two boards are looking at ideas in how they can work together,” North Lincoln Fire Rescue (NLFR) Chief Doug Kerr said. “Sharing resources can be beneficial.”
The long-proposed possibility of merging services, renewed by the 63-year-old Kerr’s retirement this month, will be heard by Depoe Bay Fire Chief Bill Johnson and relayed at a subsequent NLFR meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at St. Clair Station, 4520 SE Highway 101.
“It’s a dynamic situation with some people wanting to push it through and others who don’t feel it’s the right move,” Patrick Ganz, president of Depoe Bay Firefighters Local 5154, said. “Everyone believes a merger needs to happen, but it needs to be done with the right people in leadership positions.”
Kerr said working together could help both agencies financially by combining services such as payroll, training and administrative duties.
“This is the direction the industry is taking,” he said. “Other agencies are looking into or doing this.”
The meetings to discuss the possibility of partnering to avoid duplication of services are open to the public.
“I’d say it could go either way,” Ganz said. “We will know more after tonight, but North Lincoln is losing Chief Kerr this month, to my understanding, so there has been some urgency to this.”
“Murder at the Oscars,” a self-scripted original production of Taft High student-actors to help pay for costumes, scripts and set design for the group’s April production of “Shrek The Musical,” will be held at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Saturday, Feb. 23 — the eve of the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Taft High drama students will roll out the red carpet for two shows — the first at 3 p.m. during the pre-Oscars party, and the second at 7 p.m. the night before the 91st annual event’s live ABC telecast that rewards Hollywood’s finest achievements in film-making and acting.
The cast
Among the students taking center stage posing as Hollywood luminaries in a script written by the students will be Kayla Brown as Anne Hathaway, Anna Gabler as Jennifer Lawrence, Sydney Riddle as Lady Gaga, Gavin Suckow as Jack Black, McKenzie Delugach as Millie Bobby Brown, Dez Swisher as Neil Patrick Harris, Krysta Delugach as Melissa McCarthy, Jesse Rose as the detective and many more real-life Oscar attendees.
“Fun, mystery and mayhem . . . can you guess the culprit?” assistant director Lee Ann Gabler asks.
Tickets for the event are $20 per person and $35 per couple and available at lincolncityculturalcenter.org. Call 541-921 3242 for further information.
North Lincoln Fire Rescue (NLFR) is responding to a detached traffic light cable at NW Highway 101 and Logan Road caused by high winds.
According to NLFR Chief Doug Kerr, an extreme wind gust caused a cable to detach from the signal lights on the west side of the intersection.
The traffic lights are still held up by a second cable, and firefighters attached the fallen cable to Engine 1407 to keep it out of harms way while they await Pacific Power and the Oregon Department of Transportation to fix the cable.
Traffic continues to move along Highway 101 and Logan road with safety cones set up around the fire engine. Motorists are urged to use caution while driving past emergency crews.
Taft senior Tyee Fisher, shown in an earlier home game,closed out his last basketball career for the Tigers on Monday
The Taft High boys basketball team, playing without leading scorer Ray Darrington due to concussion protocol, fell 59-51 at Willamina in a Coastal Range League game Monday night that closed out the Tigers’ 2018-19 season.
Taft concluded its season 7-15 overall and 2-10 in league play, while the fourth-place Bulldogs finished 12-10, 4-8.
File photos by Lon French
Coach Andy Morgan’s Comments
“Once again, the visiting Taft Tigers had a chance to dampen the mood, as the home team celebrated Senior Night. The final game of the Tiger season was a montage of the season. Senior captain Ray Darrington would spend his last night on the Tiger basketball team — as a spectator.
Taft boys coach Andy Morgan
“Darrington led all Tiger scorers this season, but could only cheer his teammates in a game that meant little to either squad, except for bragging rights. The Bulldogs won the first meeting of the season, in overtime, with four Tigers riding the pine for the entire game. In this final contest, juniors Jordan Hall Lucas Hindman and Eli DeMello, along with senior William Brooks, were all available — while their dominant man in the middle, the 6-9 Darrington, sat on the bench.
“Willamina took an early 10-8 lead in the first quarter as the Tigers adjusted to their smaller lineup, including ironman Clay Nelson in the post against the much larger Bulldogs. Nelson, missing only one day this year due to procedures involved with his future military position, has been willing to participate in whatever capacity he is needed. While Nelson doesn’t normally make a splash in the stat columns, his dedication to the concept of ‘team’ has earned him the permanent roll of captain on this squad.
Hall led Taft with five points and freshman Kaden Hindman added a 3-pointer. Senior Tyee Fisher was whistled with a couple of quick fouls, causing some concern for the visiting team already battling the pair of dominant interior players of the Bulldogs. Taft was already challenged by the absence of Darrington, compounded by the illness of “Little Fish,” Trenton Fisher, who was barely getting back to full health following an extended leave during the month of December. The Tigers, finding themselves short a post and a point-guard, fought through the first eight minutes, committing few turnovers, and managing to hold the Bulldogs with man-to-man defense.
“As the second period began, the Tigers continued with their game plan of man defense, and advancing the ball in transition quickly through the middle. Hall made his second deep-ball during the second, and added a couple of critical free throws. The team recognized the foul situation, and penetrated the middle, finding their way to the free throw line. The awaited return of DeMello, who hadn’t seen a minute of league play due to an injury sustained in preseason — was welcomed as he scored a 3-pointer, a layup, and went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Francisco Ramos scored five in the frame, and a pair of free throws by both Lucas Hindman and William Brooks had four players in the scorebook who didn’t play in the first meeting between the teams.
“This Tiger squad, particularly the juniors, have played together for many seasons and have been waiting all season to share the floor together. The Tigers went into halftime leading 30-23, and the Bulldogs looked confused.
“The third period has often been a do-or-die opportunity for the Tigers. Often returning from the break a bit flat, the Tigers were properly motivated upon the return to play. With Tyee Fisher still looking at some early foul trouble, Taft came out with their smallest lineup of the year, including both Hindman brothers, Hall, DeMello and Ramos. Taft seemed to struggle with the adjustments, missing someone more familiar with the transition offense, as the Tigers faced full-court pressure from the Bulldogs. Tyee Fisher returned to the game and added five points as the Tigers were outscored 16-13 in the third frame. Hall, DeMello and Ramos recorded the additional points as Taft held on to a four-point lead.
“The fourth period has been critical for Taft in recent games. The Tiger team has become unhinged when carrying a lead, and has been apprehensive about trusting the system, the team, and themselves. For the fifth game in the past six, the Tigers failed to put up double digits on the scoreboard, and allowed a game high 20, by the Bulldogs.
“Tyee Fisher led the Tigers with a single 3-ball, but was hammered with a technical foul for celebrating it. It is a rule that is very loosely enforced and relies on opinion, and individual judgment by the official. It was a disappointing call, and influenced the Tiger defensive plan.
“Playing predominantly a 2-3 zone following the first quarter, Taft would need to continue combating the Bulldogs with a smaller defense. Senior, William Brooks went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe in a critical transition in the fourth, before Willamina’s Watkins buried his fifth 3-pointer of the night, giving the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish.
“Besides the obvious scoring woes, the Tigers turned the ball over in the fourth — like they had against earlier league foes. “It’s a recipe for disaster,” as assistant coach, Kyle Hindman has reminded them often as he looks over his stat sheets. Finishing with 19 turnovers and 11 points from the seniors, it was too much to overcome for the visiting Tigers, falling 59-51.
“Willamina will travel to Warrenton for a league playoff game on Thursday night. The Tigers will go fishing. The Tigers used 14 starting lineups in 22 games. In all, the seniors missed a collective 13 games, juniors 33 games. Starting guards Trenton Fisher and DeMello played in only four games together this season — as Eli was only able to participate in a total of three quarters in the final game.
“Early in the season, it was decided to play sophomore Graden Kehr, sophomore Fco Ramos, and freshman Kaden Hindman on both JV and varsity squads. As it turns out, they all played significant minutes and all started varsity games. Kehr was sidelined late in the season, at the peak of his performance, due to a concussion. Nobody plays harder than Graden, and as he returns to full health, it’s a shame we don’t have more games to watch his development.
“My grandmother stitches patch quilts, and it is possible that she should have been on the team this year. Her expertise of making something beautiful from parts and pieces that are so very different would have been an inspiration. Our final product this year, much like my grandma’s quilts, was unique, colorful, kind of ugly in places, but when you stand back and look at the group of guys that made it work — they are all pretty remarkable young men, and quite nice to see. We rarely had more than nine dressed for any single game, while the full roster should have had 11 young men on it, including our seniors.
“These seniors will get to be the first to prove their worth in this world. I am certain they will. We are building a culture with Taft basketball. We are learning to be confident and strong, to be willing to help when needed, to lead when necessary, to trust, and to always be fearless. Winners are those who accept the challenge to play, and every single athlete that has played for Taft this year is a winner.”
Taft junior Emma Coulter drives to the hoop during an earlier game for the Tigers
The Taft girls suffered a 51-25 road loss to the Bulldogs for their 19th straight defeat.
Third-place Willamina improved to 14-10 overall and 6-6 in league play, while the Tigers finished the season 2-20, 0-12.
Lincoln City Homepage is pleased to announce several new features and improvements designed to enhance the delivery and presentation of the news to our rapidly growing readership.
To start, Homepage has added a daily email service that sends our latest news, features, sports stories and photos directly to your inbox every morning.
Subscribers can begin receiving the service at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, and will be provided with our five most recent articles and links to our more attractively designed and aesthetically pleasing website and posts.
To receive the daily email, enter your email address on the subscription form on the site’s homepage:
A multi-colored crawler that appears directly underneath a newly designed Homepage masthead alerts readers to the latest in breaking news and the most worthwhile upcoming events.
[ditty_news_ticker id=”17392″]
In addition, Homepage has introduced a diversified new look to specific information categories, such as local daily and breaking news, features and human interest stories, letters to the editor, columns and sports.
Access to information that affects your daily lives has been added to long-standing attractions such as the flash-feed from local law enforcement agencies, up-to-the minute weather updates, reader polls and quizzes, and full-length video replays of local government meetings.
The Taft Teampage continues to bring you the most comprehensive coverage and updated scores, standings, schedules and statistics from your local high school and youth and community sports teams. Homepage’s unrivaled sports content can be linked directly from the OSAA website through a long-running arrangement with the governing body of Oregon prep sports.
Virtually all of Homepage’s content can also be accessed on Google and Apple news apps.
Homepage thanks you for your continued support and readership, and welcomes your suggestions and news tips.
The Lincoln City Police Department will hold a two-day self defense class for women 16 and older March 16-17 at the Lincoln City Community Center.
The first day will feature classroom discussion on how to avoid being a victim. Topics such as personal safety, home security, vehicle security, weapons use, rape and sexual assault and reporting crimes will be discussed.
Participants will learn various punches, strikes and kicks, as well as distraction techniques to help escape if grabbed in various holds. Attendees will also be taught some basic techniques on how to get away from an attacker while on the ground.
Lessons learned will be applied on the second day, with a minimum of three scenarios that progress with “a bad guy” in protective gear. Attendees are also suited in protective gear.
The class is designed to help prevent women from being targets and help former victims of rape or assault gain confidence. It emphases the empowerment of women to prove to themselves they don’t have to be victimized.
For more information, email Sr. Officer Danneker at [email protected].
The High Wind Warning includes the cities of Lincoln City, Newport, Cape Foulweather, Yachats, and Florence.
High winds 25-40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph are expected from 4 p.m. this afternoon until 10 a.m. Tuesday. The strongest winds will hit early this evening and continue until 6 a.m.
Strong winds may blow down trees and scattered power outages are expected.
Flood Watch
A flood watch is also in effect from 7 p.m. tonight through late Tuesday night.
This Flood Watch is for portions of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington, including the following areas, in Northwest Oregon, Central Coast Range of Western Oregon, Central Oregon Coast, Central Willamette Valley, Coast Range of Northwest Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Area, Lower Columbia, North Oregon Coast, and South Willamette Valley. In Southwest Washington, Greater Vancouver Area and I-5 Corridor in Cowlitz County.
Heavy rain at low elevations Monday night and Tuesday may cause ponding in roadway low areas and flooding along small streams. Rainfall totals for low elevations are forecast to be 1 to 4 inches. Minor flooding along a few rivers and creeks in the Willamette Valley and Portland metro area is possible Tuesday and Tuesday night.
* Rivers of greatest concern include the Marys in Benton County, the Luckiamute in Polk and Benton counties, and Johnson Creek in Multnomah and Clackamas County. As of Monday morning, only minor flooding is predicted.
Slick, icy roads are likely to blame for the death Saturday of an Oregon woman and her dog following a head-on collision with a mattress delivery truck on Highway 101 near Florence.
Jamie Jones, 52, of Mapleton, and her pet were killed after she lost control of her green 1999 Ford Explorer on the snow-covered road, striking a white 2015 Isuzu truck operated by Daniel Crump, 25, of Reedsport, an Oregon State Police (OSP) investigation revealed.
Jones, who slid across the center stripe into the southbound lane near Milepost 193 at approximately 11 a.m., was transported to Florence Peace Harbor Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her companion dog was found deceased at the scene.
Crump and his passenger, Nicholas Housego, 32, of Bandon, were transported to Peace Harbor Hospital with serious injuries.
Highway 101 was closed for approximately three hours following the crash.
OSP was assisted by Siuslaw Valley Fire, Western Lane Ambulance, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Mast Brother’s Towing.
Clockwise from top left, Joram Hoff, Sam Cortes, Tanner Landry, Sammy Halferty and Hunter Lunstedt
Youth and experience were served on the Taft High swim team Sunday with the OSAA’s announcement of the field for next week’s Class 4A/3A/2A/1A State Swimming Championships in Beaverton.
Senior Joram Hoff and freshman Sam Cortes will compete in two events and a relay for the Tigers when the State meet is contested Friday and Saturday at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center.
Taft’s tandem of star swimmers will be joined by senior Tanner Landry and juniors Hunter Lunstedt and Sammy Halferty based on results from Saturday’s Special District 1 meet in Newport.
The 14-year-old Cortes, a dominant age-group swimmer for years throughout the state as a member of the Lincoln City Swim Club, is seeded eighth in the 200-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100 backstroke. Hoff, 18, is seeded ninth in the 200 free and 100 back.
Lunstedt, 16, will start 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke; Halferty, 17, 11th in the same event for the girls; and Landry, 17, 12th in the 200 individual medley.
Taft’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Landry, Lundstedt, Cortes and Hoff is seeded fourth.
Senior Micah McLeish, 17, and junior Jose Luis Segura, 16, are likely to attend as alternates, Taft Coach Lissa Parker said.
Results Saturday in four district competitions throughout Oregon determined the field for State.
The Class 3A Taft boys placed second Saturday to Class 4A Newport and the girls fifth to 4A Valley Catholic in the two-day event at the Newport Aquatic Center.
Jamie Jones, 52, of Mapleton, and her pet were killed after she lost control of her green 1999 Ford Explorer on the snow-covered road, striking a white 2015 Isuzu truck operated by Daniel Crump, 25, of Reedsport, an Oregon State Police (OSP) investigation revealed.
