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.
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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.
While Brian Mead’s custom order of bacon and anchovies was denied, the Salem resident wolfed down his pizza in record time Sunday to win the first Otis Pizzeria Pizza Eating Contest for charity.
Mead consumed a large pizza in approximately eight minutes to win the $100 first prize.
Sixteen-inch pizzas were placed in front of eight contestants who deployed a variety of strategies to devour the pies as fast as possible. Mead finished with fellow Salem resident Rusty Shackleford hot on his heels in a photo finish in the frigid cold.
Mead said he was at home this morning scratching his “money maker” (indicating his stomach) and thought he could come to Otis despite 39-degree weather and win the top prize. Mead finished third in the Pronto Pup Eating Contest in late January.
“I decided to eat fast,” he said, “and that seemed to be the key to winning. I ate fast and I ate a lot.”
Shackleford, who came in second at the Pronto Pup Eating Contest, repeated his runner-up finish to earn a $100 gift certificate to Otis Pizzeria.
“I came in here with the same strategy I had for the Pronto Pup,” he said. “I decided to layer them on top of each other because I figured that was the most efficient way to do it.”
Lincoln City resident Seth (who declined to give his last name) placed third with his “dunk-pizza-in-water” strategy and took home a $50 gift certificate.
Proceeds from the contest go to Newport-based thrift store Pick of the Litter, where the sale of donated items assists the Lincoln County Animal Shelter.
Otis Pizzeria will host the Philly Cheesesteak Eating Contest, the third and final event in its series of charity eating contests, at 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 24.
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Otis Pizzeria Logo
Seth, left, and Oscar Ochoa
Rusty Shackleford, left, Mercedes and Cody from Salem.
From left, Tanner Landry, Joram Hoff, Hunter Lunstedt and Sam Cortes are headed to State
Taft High swim coach Lissa Parker can’t say for sure who will advance to State, but one thing she does know is her team peaked at the most appropriate time this weekend at the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 1 Swimming Championships.
The Taft boys placed second and the girls fifth at the Newport Aquatic Center as 18 of the Tigers’ 23 swimmers reached Saturday’s finals, with many posting personal-best times in Friday’s prelims to get there.
Newport boys win District title
“It was a very exciting final meet today, punctuated by concerns about the weather,” Parker said after Newport claimed the boys title and Valley Catholic the girls in the eight-team District meet that determines next weekend’s State championship field at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
“I think overall most were satisfied with their seasonal progress, and the ones who didn’t make the finals cheered the team on today,” she said.
Results Saturday in four district competitions throughout Oregon will determine which Tigers advance to State once the OSAA verifies results sometime Sunday.
Taft’s Joram Hoff and Hunter Lundstedt
Parker said her own review of the results indicate that senior Joram Hoff and freshman Sam Cortes are likely to move on in their specialties, while juniors Samantha Halferty and Hunter Lunstedt are possibilities in the breaststroke.
Taft’s boys 400-yard freestyle relay team –- comprised of Tanner Landry, Lunstedt, Cortes and Hoff — will advance after placing second.
Regardless of who goes, Parker said she was pleased with the effort put forth by her team against formidable odds, which included inclement weather just to get there.
“Almost everyone in prelims had at least one personal-best time and some dropped a lot of time, like Micah McLeish in his 500 free swims both days, and Ayden Woodard in his 100 breast in his first season of swimming,” she said. “Fortunately, all the teams were able to make it down to Newport today. Many of the traveling teams stayed overnight Friday.
“As a result, we did try our best to move things along quickly,” said Parker, who added that the awards ceremony was not held and medals would be mailed to the recipients.
The 200 free, with Hoff, McLeish and Cortes, and 100 back, with Hoff and Cortes, “were exciting, as we had some close races between Taft and Newport swimmers,” she said.
“We also had tight swims for Hunter in both his races, and Tanner did well in the 100 free. Dylan Barrera and Angel Moreno stepped up to do the 100 fly, as did Cassandra Galvan for the girls in her first time on Friday.”
Teams such as Class 4A Tillamook and Valley Catholic, which features speedy age-group swimmers from the Beaverton area, outnumbered the Taft girls.
From left, Charlotte Lundstedt, Sammy Halferty, Aubrey Sciarrotta and Lydia Prins
“We still had some notable efforts,” Parker said. “Samantha dropped time in her 100 breast in the finals, and Lydia Prins was able to stay at her best time in the 200 IM for a third.
“Brie LeBeouf was excited to finally break a 30 in the 50 free, and Isabelle Serrato pushed hard in her 500 free after losing her goggles early in the race.
“All the girls relays dropped time from prelims to finals, and some swimmers were still battling colds, like Napy Meyer. Some had to step up to fill in more on relays. Charlotte Lunstedt and Aubrey Sciarrotta swam well in their races.”
Taft experienced a couple of “unfortunate disqualifications,” Parker said, including junior Jose Luis Segura in the 100 breast for a technical touch on a turn, and — most notably — the second-place boys 200-yard relay team (Landry, Lunstedt, Cortes and Hoff) for an early departure from the blocks.
“They were pretty bummed as it was at the beginning of the meet, but they had to turn around quickly and stay on top of their game so they could excel in their other events, which they all did,” Parker said.
Five medley relay teams were disqualified throughout competition across four districts throughout the state Saturday, so the Tigers were hardly alone in their eagerness to touch first, she said.
“It happens at high levels, where everyone gets super-excited,” she said. “However, the 400 free relay did very well and they all had PBs [personal-bests]. Newport was closer in prelims, but then substituted their fastest alternates for finals to win that race by a longer gap.”
Newport defeated Taft 454-191 in the boys competition, while Valley Catholic outdistanced the Cubs 227-212 for the girls title.
National Weather Service Portland (NWS) has issued a Special Weather Statement advising unseasonably cold weather with temperatures dropping into the mid-20s for the coast tonight.
The NWS warning says, “the coldest air so far this winter season” will hit tonight with temperatures dropping to freezing quickly between 5-8 p.m. This can create issues for motorists and pedestrians alike, and they should be prepared for such conditions.
Any moisture on roadways and sidewalks will freeze creating many icy spots, especially on rural and secondary roads.
Tips from NWS:
If going out tonight, ensure you are dressed appropriately for the cold.
Those with pets who often stay outdoors at night should bring them inside.
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.
“They were pretty bummed as it was at the beginning of the meet, but they had to turn around quickly and stay on top of their game so they could excel in their other events, which they all did,” Parker said.
