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Toledo police traffic stop leads to identity theft bust

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A couple was arrested on multiple identity theft-related charges Saturday following a traffic stop initiated by Toledo Police Officer Michael Henderson.

Sarah Marie Leclaire is charged with five counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, four counts of forgery in the second degree, three counts of identity theft, three counts of possession of heroin and providing false information to a police officer.

Gregory Lee Orman faces 12 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, 12 counts of forgery in the second degree, 12 counts of identity theft, providing false information to a police officer, DUII and driving while revoked.

Leclaire and Orman were booked at the Lincoln County Jail.

The couple were engaged to be married Oct. 13.

A detailed news release from the Toledo Police Department will be issued Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving Lincoln City

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Homepage ThanksgivingLincoln City Homepage has been around since 2015, but it wasn’t until about eight months ago that the decision was made to sink time and resources into the operation in an effort to become the most reliable and read news source in Lincoln City.

For that, we at Homepage are thankful.

As we give thanks for various things this Thanksgiving, Homepage says special thanks to all the fine citizens of Lincoln City for going out of your way to make sure we have access to important information that affects you and your lives. We wish to thank you for coming to our website and for offering us news tips, praise and credit.

While reaching 2,500 “Likes” on Facebook in the span of seven months, people from throughout Lincoln County and beyond are sharing our stories with their friends and families. Our remarkable growth has opened doors to us that has made our job easier and our reporting more efficient and professional.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from Homepage. May your future be as bright, rewarding and successful as the past several months have been for us.

Justin (Publisher) and Jim (Executive Editor)

Animation – New Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital

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Architects have created a video animation of the interior and exterior of the replacement Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital.

City Manager Chandler listens to community homeless feedback

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In the first of two planned meetings with the public concerning the fate of Lincoln City’s Warming Shelter, City Manager Ron Chandler listened to a large group of citizens at Driftwood Public Library Tuesday.

Chandler said he would bring the feedback to the City Council at their regular meeting 6 p.m. Nov. 26.

The second meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum.

Siletz Tribe giving surpasses $16 million since 2001

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Siletz Tribal

The Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund distributed more than $180,000 to 57 organizations earlier this month as it continues its quarterly giving to nonprofit groups that now exceeds $16 million in overall donations since 2001.

The Siletz Tribe has made contributions through employment, monetary donations and cooperative measures to the Siletz community, Lincoln County and the state of Oregon. The seven-member Charitable Fund Advisory Board has distributed more than $12.3 million since its inception 17 years ago, while $16.1 million has been granted through the charitable fund and other Tribal resources.

Chinook Winds has donated more than $6.5 million in cash and fund-raising items since it opened in 1995. The casino also provides in-kind donations of convention space for various fund-raisers, as well as technical support, advertising and manpower for many events.

The next deadline to submit applications is March 4. Eligibility for money from the charitable fund is limited to two categories:

  • Entities and activities located in the Siletz Tribe’s 11-county service area (Lincoln, Tillamook, Linn, Lane, Benton, Polk, Yamhill, Marion, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties)
  • Native American entities and activities located anywhere in the United States

Applications and requirements can be obtained at ctsi.nsn.us/charitable-contribution-fund; by calling 800-922-1399, ext. 1227, or 541-444-8227; or by mailing Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549. Applications can be submitted via e-mail at stccf@live.com.

Arts – $12,400

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology – equipment for and production of 3-D video experience for Sitka Art Invitational; Otis, OR; $4,900

Yaquina Art Association – replace roof on 104-year-old art association building; Newport, OR; $7,500

Cultural Activities – $1,000

Oregon State Correctional Institution NAPA – regalia material, giveaway items, books, CDs, and feather and beading supplies; Salem, OR; $1,000

Education – $38,606.63

Bridgeway House – active sensory panels for autism classrooms; Eugene, OR; $1,818

Eugene Science Center – scientific instruments for monitoring and improving water quality and aquatic habitats; Eugene, OR; $5,000

Friends of the Lebanon Library – books for summer 2019 reading program; Lebanon, OR; $1,200

Lakota Waldorf School – materials and supplies for Lakota language and culture enrichment activities; Kyle, S.D.; $5,064

Newport Middle School – 3-D printer for robotics and STEM projects; Newport, OR; $2,500

Newport High School – set of Plants of the Pacific NW field guides; Newport, OR; $900

Oregon Coast Aquarium – support new changing exhibit The Argonaut: A SteamPunk Powered Undersea Adventure; Newport, OR; $5,000

Oregon Coast Community College, Library – 30 Chromebooks plus education licenses for checkout to classrooms, events and students during library hours; Newport, OR; $5,429.48

Philomath School District – banners and posters for Inspired Day to promote positive student choices; Philomath, OR; $1,176

Salem-Keizer Public Schools, Indian Education – culturally based graduation celebration and meal for American Indian students, families and community; Salem, OR; $2,000

Sweet Home Public Library – collection of VOX books with audio that narrate stories to child readers; Sweet Home, OR; $1,519.15

The Shadow Project – books and materials for special education reading engagement in low-income Portland and Yamhill County schools; Portland, OR; $7,000

Environment & Natural Resource Preservation – $9,394.65

Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council – lab equipment and labware to study ocean acidification and water quality; Neotsu, OR; $6,298.65

Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District – panels and materials for interpretive and educational signage for Miller Woods; McMinnville, OR; $3,096

Health – $40,196.97

Alsea Valley Gleaners – freeze drier to preserve gleaned foods and meats; Alsea, OR; $3,316.97

Alsea Valley Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Alsea, OR; $2,000

Canyon Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Mill City, OR; $2,000

Fish of Lebanon – food for community food pantry; Lebanon, OR; $2,000

Florence Food Share – food for community food pantry; Florence, OR; $4,000

Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation – patient and family lodging for Lincoln County residents at Mario Pastega House; Corvallis, OR; $6,000

Harrisburg Harvesters Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Harrisburg, OR; $2,000

Janus Youth Programs – oatmeal, bowls and utensils for Oatmeal for Kids project; Portland, OR; $2,100

Lebanon Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Lebanon, OR; $2,000

Mapleton Food Share – food for community food pantry; Mapleton, OR; $2,000

Marion-Polk Food Share – vacuum seeder, propagation trays and cultivation equipment for youth farm and garden program; Salem, OR; $1,880

Marys River Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Corvallis, OR; $2,000

North End Senior Solutions – food and supplies for nutritional meals and activities for adult day services; Otis, OR; $2,400

Oregon Cascades West Council of Government, Senior Companion Program – mileage reimbursement for senior companions assisting homebound elders; Toledo, OR; $2,500

South Benton County Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Monroe, OR; $2,000

Willamette Valley Gleaners – food for community food pantry; Corvallis, OR; $2,000

Historical Preservation – $11,319.48

North Lincoln County Historical Museum – digital camera, computer, scanner and external hard drive to digitize museum’s collection; Lincoln City, OR; $1,451.98

Oregon Retired Educators Association, Unit 39 – repair dry rot and replace windows of historic one-room Criterion schoolhouse at state fairgrounds; Portland, OR; $6,100

Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society – lumber and supplies to build and install four-car railroad play structure at railroad museum; Toledo, OR; $3,767.50

Prevention – $30,963

Beaverton High School, Grad Night Committee – alcohol- and drug-free graduation celebration; Portland, OR; $500

Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis – support purchase and installation of outdoor playground; Corvallis, OR; $2,500

CASA of Linn County – capacity building to recruit and train 16 new volunteers; Albany, OR; $2,000

Chess for Success – after-school chess classes and activities; Portland, OR; $5,000

Clackamas Women’s Services – gas cards for Promontoras to enhance domestic and sexual violence prevention outreach; Oregon City, OR; $5,400

Lincoln City Parks and Recreation – outdoor soccer goals and equipment for new youth soccer league; Lincoln City, OR; $5,140

Nestucca High School, Softball – catcher’s equipment and game bats; Cloverdale, OR; $1,000

Oregon Titans Fastpitch – helmets and uniforms for girls age 9-18 softball team; Independence, OR; $558

Partnership Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse – training and conference for Siletz Valley Schools and Eddyville Charter School students; Newport, OR; $1,950

Silverton Together Inc. – snacks and supplies for parent education workshops; Silverton, OR; $1,410

Sprague High School, National Honor Society – replace stoles and cords worn during graduation; Salem, OR; $500

Tillamook High School, Baseball – match NIKE gift of $5,000 for uniforms and hats; Tillamook, OR; $5,005

Public Safety – $11,998

East Lincoln County Emergency Responders – supplies and instructor fee for emergency medical responder and CPR training; Toledo, OR; $3,398

Siletz Valley Fire District – operational costs for workers’ comp, employee assistance program, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and life insurance; Siletz, OR; $8,600

Other – $24,263.16

Central Coast Humane Society – support reduced cost of veterinary dental care for cats and dogs; Newport, OR; $2,000

Christmas Storybook Land – replace 10 tires on semi-trailers used to transport and store storyland displays; Albany, OR; $1,158.16

Cornerstone Associates Inc. – fire fighting skid for lawn and garden maintenance business staffed by adults with disabilities; Corvallis, OR; $3,950

Greater Toledo Pool Recreation District – master plan tools, including architectural illustrations, 3-D models, posters and brochures; Toledo, OR; $7,200

Kilchis-Tillamook VFW Post 2848 – supplies, materials, printing and breakfast foods for Veterans Tribute on Veterans Day; Bay City, OR; $1,500

North Lincoln Eagles #2576 – Christmas holiday food baskets, plus gifts for children; Lincoln City, OR; $6,000

Northwest Indian Veterans Association – rental fee, buffet meal and gifts for honoring veterans in the community; Portland, OR; $2,455

Thanksgiving camp stuffs North County kids with fun and games

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While schools are closed throughout this week in Lincoln City, the community has rallied to provide an array of activities for North County students.

Taft High 7-12 is hosting a two-day Thanksgiving Break Enrichment Camp that is free to all school-age students.

The event features sports, games, yoga, Zumba, cooking, team building and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) activities, and free breakfast and lunch, which included a Tuesday night Thanksgiving dinner.

The Lincoln County School District thanks volunteers, staff and community partners, including OSU Extension Service, Lincoln City Police Department, Sodexo Food Services, NW Natural, Gallucci’s Pizzeria, Chinook Winds Casino Resort and Meredith Lodging for supporting North-area students.

It’s official: Anderson elected mayor of Lincoln City

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Dick Anderson Mayor
Mayor-elect Dick Anderson

Dick Anderson was officially elected mayor of Lincoln City by a margin of 16 votes over Susan Wahlke.

Anderson will be sworn in as Don Williams’ replacement Monday, Jan. 14, at the regular City Council meeting.

Anderson was Lincoln City mayor from 2011-2014 and has been a Lincoln City councilor from 2009-2010 and 2015 to present.

  • Dick Anderson
  • Susan Wahlke
  • David Dahle
  • 1425
  • 1409
  • 1167

Newport City Council, mayor-elect ‘blindsided’ by homeless bus plan

Dean Sawyer
(Photo illustration by Justin Werner)

Lincoln City’s plan to bus its homeless to a Newport warming shelter was not communicated to the Newport City Council, Newport Mayor-elect Dean Sawyer said Tuesday.

“This whole thing blindsided us,” Sawyer said of Lincoln City City Manager Ron Chandler’s arrangement with Grace Wins Haven in Newport to house North County homeless overnight on a temporary basis. “Our City Council never heard of this. I wish Lincoln City would have contacted us earlier in the process so we could have gone over the logistics.”

Sawyer said Chandler spoke Tuesday morning with Newport City Manager Spencer Nebel and told him, “The plan is dead in the water.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Chandler told Homepage, “The Warming Shelter LLC isn’t interested in pursuing this so it’s not going anywhere. There’s no story in this other than the City was trying to help the Warming Shelter find a temporary solution, but they weren’t interested.”

In an email thread late last week between Chandler and Lincoln City Warming Shelter President Patrick Alexander obtained by Homepage, Chandler said:

“Dear Patrick: I’m pleased to inform you that I’ve made arrangements with Traci Flowers of Grace Wins Haven in Newport and the County to house those in Lincoln City needing temporary, overnight housing at the Grace Wins Haven facility in the County Fairgrounds. Traci said that she will need volunteers from your organization to assist when Lincoln City patrons are there and that we transport the patrons back to Lincoln City the next day. . . .”

Chandler went on to inform Alexander he had reached an agreement with Lincoln County Transit to purchase vouchers to transport patrons to Newport.

After learning of the arrangement, Alexander said busing his clients to Newport could only be considered as a “short-term stopgap measure” while a local shelter site is worked out.

Flowers told Homepage on Monday that her shelter at the County Fairgrounds was dropping its arrangement with Chandler, saying, “I’m not going to be a part of this unless the City is behind it.”

Since Homepage’s initial report Sunday, citizens from throughout Lincoln County have widely spoken out against such a plan, citing freezing temperatures as unsafe for travel and concerns about where homeless would store their belongings and pets, among numerous other considerations, such as getting clients back for work or job interviews.

Sawyer said he was surprised to learn of Lincoln City’s plans to bus its homeless to his city through Homepage.

“I thought Lincoln City had a warming shelter figured out,” he said.

Sawyer said Grace Wins Haven has been doing a great job serving Newport’s homeless population, and that its leader, Flowers, has a “huge heart.” He said it’s difficult to keep volunteers working long hours to help the homeless.

“Finding people to work at 3 a.m. is a difficult task,” he said. “Working with the homeless can be difficult at times, and keeping volunteers can prove challenging.”

Sawyer said the homeless do not possess modern society’s use of communication tools such as Facebook, email and smartphones to alert the public to changes in services and how to obtain them.

“If you are changing the location on the homeless, it’s hard to get the word out to them,” he said. “A coordinated effort needs to be made to create one place to get what you need, not 16 different places.”

The League of Oregon Cities provides an opportunity quarterly each year for city officials to network and discuss common issues and solutions, he said.

“League of Oregon Cities talks about problems like homelessness,” Sawyer said. “A couple councilors from Lincoln City and myself recently attended one of the meetings and they never said anything about problems with their warming shelter.”

Preparing a strategy and experimenting with new ideas could help tackle homelessness, he said.

Sawyer said plans are in the works to create a committee or “task force” on homelessness in about a month that will be composed of Flowers, local businesses and citizens. Anyone interested in joining the committee is invited to apply on Newport’s website.

“Every city has the same problems,” he said. “We all have to try things and share our successes and failures.”

Chandler has scheduled a meeting at 6 o’clock tonight (Tuesday) at the Driftwood Public Library, and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum to discuss the homeless issue.

HOMEPAGE’S EARLIER COVERAGE

Plans made to bus Lincoln City homeless to Newport for temporary shelter

Resistance to homeless busing plan leads to Newport shelter’s withdrawal

Resistance to homeless busing plan leads to Newport shelter’s withdrawal

homeless busing
Photo illustration by Justin Werner
Newport Mayor-elect Dean Sawyer
Newport Mayor-elect Dean Sawyer

Overwhelming opposition in political circles and on social media have caused Grace Wins Haven to withdraw from its arrangement to house Lincoln City’s homeless at its warming shelter in Newport.

Traci Flowers, who oversees the Newport shelter North County homeless would be bused to, said Newport Mayor-elect Dean Sawyer adamantly opposes Lincoln City City Manager Ron Chandler’s plan and doesn’t want to begin relationships with the new city government on a sour note.

“I’m not going to be a part of this unless the City is behind it,” Flowers said. “I don’t think it’s a great idea, but I’m not going to let people die.”

Efforts to reach Sawyer and Newport City Manager Spencer Nebel for comment have gone unanswered.

Lincoln City Warming Shelter President Patrick Alexander said busing his clients to Newport can only be considered “a short-term stopgap measure” while a local site is worked out.

Chandler has scheduled two meetings this week to discuss overnight housing in the Taft area – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20, at the Driftwood Public Library, and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum.

Announcement of the plan, first posted yesterday (Sunday, Nov. 18) on Homepage and shared on Facebook, has generated nearly 8,000 views, with the vast majority of users expressing disdain and condemning the plan.

Plans made to bus Lincoln City homeless to Newport for temporary shelter

Patrick Alexander and Ron Chandler

Oregon Strike Team 11 returning home from ‘Camp Fire’

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Oregon Strike Team 11
Oregon Strike Team 11

Oregon Strike Team 11 Leader Andy Parker reports in a North Lincoln Fire & Rescue Facebook post that his squad is returning from fighting the California “Camp Fire.”

The team was comprised of crews from Lincoln and Polk counties. Crew members from Newport, Toledo, Depoe Bay, Yachats, Lincoln City, Central Coast, Dallas and Polk County worked on dousing the fire.

“We were assigned structural protection, line construction and prep, triage and prep of homes, search and rescue operations in different areas of the fire,” Parker, Newport Fire Department engineer, said. “Everyone did a great job putting in long hours and a lot of hard work to help with the fire.”

North Lincoln Fire & Rescue firefighters Brian Nordyke, Eric Maestas, Jeff Cutler and Lt. Loren Nordyke are on their way home.

The death toll from the Camp Fire in Northern California increased to 76 Saturday, while the number of people unaccounted for increased to 1,276.

The blaze is 60 percent contained after consuming more than 149,500 acres.