Alek Skarlatos, a Republican candidate for newly drawn House District 4, as part of a tour of Lincoln County, will stop in Lincoln City Wednesday.
“I look forward to meeting with voters in Lincoln City, where we will discuss fighting inflation and reducing the cost of gas, which will help with tourism. Additionally, I’m looking forward to a discussion about lowering the cost of healthcare and expanding healthcare access for rural Oregon, especially in Lincoln City, where the only hospital has just 25 beds. I’m running for Congress to balance out extreme ideas coming from Washington and to offer solutions to get our country back on track.” – Alek Skarlatos
Skarlatos, an Oregon National Guard veteran, and his traveling companions thwarted a terrorist attack while in Europe aboard a Paris bound train in August 2015. The incident was later turned into a Clint Eastwood directed movie 15:17 to Paris. The film was unique as Skarlatos and company portrayed themselves.
Focusing on solutions to inflation, gas prices, and reducing healthcare costs to Oregonians, Skarlatos is visiting 30 communities in all seven counties with his “On Duty with Alek District Tour.”
Oregon’s 4th Congressional District is represented by Peter Defazio, who will not be seeking reelection. Skarlatos will face Val Hoyle in November’s general election. Skarlatos narrowly lost to DeFazio in 2020 by 24,000 votes.
Skarlatos will be in Lincoln City Wednesday, Aug. 17, 12-2 p.m. at the Old Taft Firehall, 1206 SE 48th Place. The public is invited.
“Dancing man of Lincoln City” Stephen R. Goetz, dances on the corner of 25th Street and Highway 101 Monday afternoon
Stephen R. Goetz, “Dancing man of Lincoln City,” is boogieing on Highway 101 almost every day to “make people happy.”
Goetz is not asking for money and will refuse it if offered. He’s out there “rain or shine” for exercise and to “get some honks and smiles.”
Many passing vehicles honk and there’s no shortage of smiling faces. A few motorists have given Goetz the bird and his response is to blow kisses, wave and smile. “It doesn’t bother me,” he said.
Dancing Man of Lincoln City is happy with a fresh honk from passing motorists
Goetz elaborated in an interview Monday, answering why he dances on Highway 101 near daily.
“I never pursued what I wanted to do in life,” The 75-years-young man said. “My family — father mostly — told me what to do. And there’s some trauma, but I’m out here trying to make people happy.”
In his younger years, Goetz was able to do some street performing in San Francisco with clad in silver “Tin Man,” a popular artist at the time.
“Tin Man put me up on a milk crate and had me dance. I’ll never forget it.”
Goetz is a writer and spends time writing books and poetry when he’s not dancing.
When asked what he wants to say to the world, Goetz offered this:
“I can’t get in your shoes, but do not give up. You can do anything you want to.”
The Dancing Man of Lincoln City can be found on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Traffic in Lincoln City is high Friday afternoon as visitors come for the cool weather.
With scorching temperatures in the valley, traffic in Lincoln City is up as people find their way to the respite of cool weather on the coast.
Lincoln City beaches had their fair share of visitors amid 63 degree weather and a 10 mph wind. A light misty cloud cover doesn’t offer the best views from hotels, but is a welcome sight from the blazing sun in Portland, according to tourists from Oregon’s most populous city.
Mist hangs over D River beach Friday
A few visitors did complain of traffic jams caused by the large influx of vehicles on Highway 101, but were happy it was “cold.”
“I’ve been cut off twice,” said Ray McMahon, from Salem. “I let people in all the time too. Oh well, we’re going to the beach and putting our toes in the sand.”
“Consistent onshore flow is why it’s cool at the coast,” National Weather Service Meteorologist David Bishop said. “The Marine Layer is also a factor by providing insulation.”
Local restaurants and shops are also seeing increased activity as the heat wave hits.
“We are doing Sunday business every day of the week,” Lil Sambos Restaurant Manager Cary Moore said. “I’m pretty sure nobody is left in the valley because they’re all here.”
Lincoln City Homepage is pleased to announce a new Archives page allowing for much easier access to all our stories for researches and news junkies alike.
The new archives page can be accessed from our main menu and in the sidebar on desktop or at the bottom of our site on mobile.
The new format allows searching by year and month as far back as our website goes and includes all Lincoln City Police Logs. Popular categories and tags can also assist someone looking for more information on a specific subject.
HINT: You can search for any month and year by adding it to the end of our URL. Example: https://lincolncityhomepage.com/2019/01 will show you all the articles from January, 2019.
Homepage welcomes feedback on the new page and we hope you find what you are looking for.
A car pulls into Samaritan Health’s COVID-19 mobile test center in Depoe Bay.
Feeling feverish? Are you coughing? You say you suddenly can’t smell or taste that great home cooking?
Those signs and others could indicate COVID-19. However, expanded testing is now available in Lincoln County with Samaritan Health drive-through locations in Depoe Bay and Waldport, just to be sure.
“We encourage anyone who has any cold or flu-like symptoms to contact their health care provider to find out whether they should get tested,” said Adam Brady, MD, a Samaritan infectious disease expert. “We believe increased testing availability will further help reduce the spread of the virus and help our communities get a better sense of how the disease is spreading.”
Workers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic at the mobile test center in Depoe Bay.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, headache, sore throat, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain and new loss of taste or smell.
According to the Lincoln Co. Emergency Operations Center, all patients with symptoms and a clinician order can get tested. Residents, staff, children or other people in a care facility or group living setting can also be tested “as long as have capacity.” To become a new patient at the county health center, call 541-265-4947.
The testing locations are at 531 Hwy. 101 in Depoe Bay and 920 SW Range Dr., Waldport.
NEWPORT — State Fish and Game Trooper Andrew Butler didn’t have to run down the suspect in a case of alleged poaching on the Siletz River — instead, he found Mosher A. Hall, 37, of Siletz, at the county jail.
“OSP received information of a subject retaining steelhead on the Siletz River on May 5, 2020 and again on May 4, 2020 while the subject did not possess a valid 2020 Resident Angling License or Combined Angling Tag,” reported Butler. “On May 5 the subject was contacted at the Lincoln County Jail where he was interviewed and subsequently issued cite and release citations.”
WALDPORT — State Trooper Zach Taylor was sent to an accident scene 15 miles east of here May 8 at 7:53 a.m., where he found a vehicle on its side in the westbound lane and “multiple alcohol containers” spilled across Highway 34.
Based on the evidence Taylor determined the vehicle drifted over the fog line into the shoulder, then rolled up the embankment and came to an uncontrolled rest on its side. “The driver had an odor of alcohol coming from his person, had glassy eyes, and slurred speech,” reported the trooper. OSP gained consent from the driver for SFST’s. During the tests, the driver displayed signs of impairment and was placed under arrest.
Waldport Tire and Auto towed the Ford ECS from the scene to their tow lot. The driver, Michael Patrick King, 43, of Tidewater, consented to both a breath and urine test. His BAC was 0.00%, and a urine sample was collected. He was cited and released for DUII – alcohol and controlled substances.
Kimberly Stokes of Toledo, Ore., gets a trim after Kristen Savage opened her Newport hair salon Tuesday in defiance of a statewide lockdown of “non-essential” businesses in March. Savage’s phone went silent after police visited her that afternoon. (Photo by Rick Beasley)
NEWPORT — Add to the pantheon of great American dissidents a working mother of five from Toledo, Ore., who reopened her hair salon against pandemic lockdown orders with a defiant question for Governor Kate Brown.
“Where does she get HER hair done?” wondered Kristen Savage as she snipped the locks of a longtime customer at Cutting Edge Hair Salon Tuesday, May 12. “She’s looking good — it’s pretty obvious someone’s cutting her hair. She hasn’t missed a beat.”
Savage, 34, opened after calling a couple of state agencies, OSHA (occupational health) and the salon-licensing bureau, which told her they had no jurisdiction over a one-person shop that otherwise followed administrative rules. Announcing the event on her Facebook page, she opened at 10 a.m. and was working on her fourth customer at 2 p.m.
“I’m doing everything right,” Savage said, taking a hair dryer and brush to her client’s bangs behind a colorful surgical mask and DEQ-approved gloves. “Everything is sanitized for 10 minutes before use. I wash my hands, use a glove and a mask and space it out between appointments.”
Outside, a Newport police vehicle cruised by slowly as the officer peered inside the clean two-chair salon in a mall behind Newport Café.
“They’ve been by five times but never stopped,” Savage remarked. “I’ve had some people who have struck out at me on Facebook, though. For the most part, people are supportive.”
Savage cited the shifting goalposts of the lockdown as one reason she couldn’t wait a day longer to reopen her business, shuttered since March 23 by Gov. Brown’s order to shut down “non-essential” businesses, schools and parks. County officials have gone even farther, closing the tourist industry with a ban on motels, RV parks and vacation rentals.
“The governor said she would allow businesses to reopen May 15 if the county was approved, but I have personally called the (Lincoln County) commissioners and they say we can’t open until June 1 and only if they meet some kind of nebulous requirements,” she recalled, saying it now appears the lockdown might continue well into July.
State and county officials who are still collecting paychecks have failed small businesses like hers, allowing citizens to shop unfettered in big-box stores and pot shops while they suffer, Savage noted.
“When we originally got the order on March 23 to close down I had two to four weeks of finances, but two months is a death sentence for my business,” she said. “I’ve got bills to pay and children to feed, and I want to keep everything I’ve worked hard for.”
Lincoln County has a high proportion of bra-burners and herbicide protestors, but it takes a special kind of courage to stand alone against dawdling government ineptitude and overreach. Later that day, however, the police stopped circling and closed in.
“Our police department made contact and explained that under the governor’s order she was not allowed to be opened, and she refused to close,” reported Newport City Manager Spencer Nebel on Tuesday afternoon after Savage’s phone went silent. “The way the process is set up, we’re supposed to make contact and educate the person, then refer them to the Oregon Health Authority.”
It’s hard to say what Kristen Savage’s civil disobedience will cost. This is a weird time, when governments are on edge, whistleblowers disappear and all the worst divisions in America — race, class and religion — are being stirred and stretched by politicians from the city councils to Congress. All I know is her phone continues to ring, unanswered.
Lincoln County Commissioners voted 2-1 Monday to approve submitting an application for Phase One reopening to Gov. Kate Brown and Tuesday it was finalized and sent.
Lincoln County officials are uncertain when the Governor’s office will approve the application and said it’s possible the County could be asked to revise the application prior to approval. The Governor’s office will be contacting applicants if necessary if additional information is needed.
According to Lincoln County, when the application is approved, Lincoln County will be allowed to enter a Phase One reopening. Guidelines for the reopening are provided on the Governor’s website.
From Lincoln County Public Information Officer Casey Miller:
It’s also important to recognize the County and most local jurisdictions have a local ordinance – Order #3-23-85 Minimize the Effects of the COVID-19 Emergency – that currently has certain provisions for VRD/STR and lodging facilities that describe allowable use of those facilities through the end of May.
A third Joint meeting of all jurisdictions regarding Order #3-23-85 is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2020 at 3:00pm. Public input received and forthcoming agenda information for this meeting is located online. This meeting will be streamed through the City of Newport’s website.
Commissioner Claire Hall addressed the timeliness of Lincoln County’s application submission:
“We understand the communities frustration that our application was not submitted on Monday as previously planned. But it was important to us that everything in the application was in proper order to ensure the Governor would accept our application in full as submitted. We needed more time than expected to ensure their review process would accept our application outright.”
