National Weather Service Portland (NWS) issued a high wind warning along the central and northern Oregon coasts until 10 p.m. Friday.
Winds 30-40 mph are predicted with gusts up to 60 mph possible along beaches and headlands.
NWS says travel may be difficult for high-profile vehicles and high winds can blow down weakend tree limbs potentially causing scattered power outages.
People should avoid being outside in forested areas due to trees and branches that could be blown loose and cause injury.
Hello Friends,
Happy New Year! Happy New Decade!
With the new year, comes the implementation of new laws approved by the Oregon State Legislature in 2019.
You have heard me observe before that about 2000 proposals were introduced during the legislative session. Oregon lawmakers passed about 750 bills – the great majority with bi-partisan support. Many took effect on January 1st. Here’s a sampling of some of the most important of those new laws:
HB 3427 also known as the “Student Success Act” dedicates over $1 billion per year to early childhood and K-12 education to help Oregon schools confront their many diverse challenges. The measure is funded with a roughly one-half percent tax on corporations with more than $1 million commercial activity in Oregon. (I successfully argued to exempt smaller businesses, fuel, groceries and health care, and increase deductions for low-margin companies while maintaining the investment in our schools and kids.)
SB 256 prohibits the production of oil, gas or sulfur in the Oregon territorial sea. The “territorial sea” is defined in statute as the waters and seabed extending three geographical miles seaward from the coastline in conformance with federal law. (I was a chief sponsor of the bill along with Senator Roblan and Representative Brock-Smith.)
HB 2509 bans stores and restaurants from providing single-use plastic bags at checkout, and requires them to charge at least five cents per bag if they provide paper or other alternatives, beginning in 2020. (I was a sponsor.)
SB 90 prohibits restaurants from giving customers single-use plastic straws unless the customer specifically requests one.
HB 2005 sets up a system for paid family leave so Oregon workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child or sick family member, or to recover from a serious illness or domestic violence. The leave would be paid for by a state insurance fund that employers and employees contribute less than 1% of their paycheck to, similar to worker’s compensation. Employers with fewer than 25 employees will not have to pay into the fund but their employees will still be eligible. The state will begin collecting funds in 2022 and employees will be able to begin collecting benefits in 2023. (I successfully argued to exempt smaller employers and allow compensation to businesses with fewer than five workers if key employees take family leave.)
SB 861 provides for prepaid postage on ballots, allowing Oregonians to vote by mail without paying for a stamp starting in 2020. (I have consistently supported efforts to make voting easier. But I opposed this bill believing the $3 million cost could be better spent elsewhere.)
SB 608 caps annual rent increases at 7% plus the change in consumer price index (this year about 3%). The bill also prohibits landlords from evicting month-to-month renters without cause after 12 months of residency. (I opposed the bill believing it would harm our fragile coastal housing market by encouraging more landlords to shift from housing to nightly rentals.)
SB 320 would allow Oregon to stay on daylight savings time year-round, but only if the federal government passes a law allowing the switch and Washington and California also agree to change. The bill would exempt the sliver of Eastern Oregon that operates on Mountain Time.
SB 3 allows community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees. The bill will expand opportunities for students in Oregon’s 17 community colleges – many of which operate in some of the most rural reaches of the state. Colleges would have to gain approval through the Higher Education Coordinating Committee by showing that new programs will address a workforce need not being met.
HB 3415 requires institutions of higher education to adopt written policies on sexual harassment and assault. It also requires staff to receive evidence-informed annual training. These new requirements will begin with the 2020-2021 school year. Nationally, 1 in 5 women, 1 in 14 men, and 1 in 4 transgender students experience sexual assault while in college.
SB 5510 funded the Department of Fish and Wildlife and included a number of fee increases. For the past six years, the cost to fish and hunt has gradually increased. A fishing license will cost Oregonians $44 in 2020, up from $41 last year. A hunting license will reach $34.50, up from $29.50 in 2014. The cost of tags is also going up. An adult angling tag — required if fishing for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon or halibut — will reach $46, up from $40.50 in 2019 and $26.50 in 2014. The increase was fueled by a $32 million shortfall in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife budget back in 2014, caused in part by the long-term decline of anglers and hunters buying licenses. (I voted no on the measure.)
SB 420 allows a person to apply to set aside convictions for marijuana possession, delivery and manufacture if conduct upon which conviction was based is no longer a crime.
SB 445 would require the Oregon Invasive Species Council to submit a biennial report to the Legislative Assembly, revises the Council membership, and appropriates funds to the Council. “Invasive species” is defined as nonnative organisms that cause economic or environmental harm and are capable of spreading to new areas of the state. Invasive species does not include humans, domestic livestock or non-harmful exotic organisms.
HB 2576 allows you to transfer the plates and registration from a vehicle that is totaled or substantially altered to a new vehicle. It also allows a special interest plate to be transferred from one vehicle to another qualifying vehicle.
HB 2393 strengthens Oregon’s “revenge porn” laws by making it a crime to distribute intimate photos or videos of a person without their consent. Previously the law only covered posting such content to a website, but now includes other methods of electronic dissemination such as text message, email and apps. It allows victims to sue for up to $5,000 in damages.
HB 2328 will make it easier for police to put car thieves behind bars. A 2014 court decision said that prosecutors have to prove a person had knowledge the vehicle they were driving was stolen. Now, they merely have to show that the person disregarded a “substantial and unjustifiable risk” that the vehicle might be stolen.
SB 485 requires the Oregon Health Authority to work with education entities on a plan to responding to youth suicides. According to the 2017 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey, suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregonians aged 10 to 24 with 107 recorded fatalities in 2017.
SB 998 allows bicyclists to yield, rather than come to a full stop, at stop signs and traffic signals. (I opposed the bill, concerned that it would affect traffic safety.)
HJM 8 urges Congress and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to adopt and enforce stringent regulations for accuracy in wine labeling, packaging, and advertising. The measure also urges states to enter into mutual agreements for the reciprocal enforcement of wine labeling, packaging, and advertising laws. (After discovering the California-made “Oregon Coast Pinot Noir”, I was chief sponsor of the measure.)
SB 47 will increase the cost of floating Oregon’s waterways with a raft, kayak, canoe or stand-up paddleboard. Anyone paddling a non-motorized boat over 10-feet long will need to purchase a Waterway Access Permit for $17 annually or $30 for two years. A $5 weekly option will also be available. Boaters under age 14 won’t need one. For the past decade, Oregon has seen a growing number of non-motorized boaters at facilities funded largely by motorized boaters. Revenue from the new system will go into a fund to improve boat ramps, parking lots and even purchase land to improve access to Oregon’s waterways. The permit replaces the previous $5 invasive species permit.
SB 1 establishes a System of Care Advisory Council to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of state and local services to children with distinctive mental, or behavioral health needs.
SB 9 allows pharmacists to prescribe emergency refills of insulin and related supplies instead of requiring patients who run out to wait for their doctor’s office to open to get a new prescription.
SB 579 waives the 15-day waiting period between Death With Dignity Act requests when the attending physician determines, with reasonable medical judgement, that the person will die within 15 days of making the initial request. It also requires a medically-confirmed certificate regarding the patient’s probability of imminent death to be included in the medical record.
SB 69 requires the Public Utility Commission to establish a plan to provide low-income Oregonians assistance for accessing broadband internet services. To quality, a family must demonstrate its income or participate in government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SB 664 requires school districts to provide instruction about the Holocaust and genocide. It also directs the Department of Education to provide technical assistance to school districts on implementing the curriculum. These new instruction requirements will apply beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. (I was a co-sponsor of the bill.)
HB 2015 allows undocumented residents and Oregonians who cannot find their original birth certificate to obtain driver’s licenses. Those who can’t provide documentation of citizenship will not be added to the voter rolls.
SB 870 adds Oregon to the National Popular Vote Compact. States belonging to the compact agree to award their electoral college votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The compact will take effect once states representing 270 electoral college votes join. Oregon brings the total to 196 votes. (I co-sponsored the bill.)
HB 3216 allows you to sue a person who “summons a police officer” as a way to discriminate, harass, embarrass, or infringe on your rights or expel you from a place where you are lawfully located.
SB 665 permits school districts to adopt rules to allow trained school personnel to administer naloxone and similar medications if a student or other individual overdoses on opioids at school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity. Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. In 2016, there were 312 opioid-related overdose deaths in Oregon.
To learn more about these bills, visit the Oregon Legislative Information System. Select the 2019 Legislative Session and then search for bills by number, key words, or sponsor.
Most of these measures are policy proposals and not part of the biennial state budget. In that budget, we addressed housing and health care, veterans and small business, public safety, transportation, and efforts to better collect money owed to the state.
I look forward to returning to the Capitol in February for the one-month “short” session. I’ll continue fighting for rural and coastal Oregonians, creating an environment in which local businesses thrive, livability for seniors, workers, and families, dealing with housing and homelessness, fixing our state’s health care system, and addressing the very real threat that climate change poses to our communities and our state.
Warm Regards,
Representative David Gomberg
House District 10
email: [email protected]
phone: 503-986-1410
address: 900 Court St NE, H-471, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
National Weather Service Portland (NWS) issued a beach hazards statement Thursday calling for a higher chance of sneaker waves, making it the third such advisory from the agency since Christmas.
The latest warning is in effect until 3 a.m. Jan. 3 and is for the north and central Oregon coasts.
According to NWS officials, the reason for a sneaker wave warning is due to an Alaskan low pressure system producing a large westerly swell.
“The swell has a lot of energy with it,” NWS Meteorologist Treena Jensen said. “The wave frequency is high but does not trigger our high surf warning.”
Sneaker waves can run up significantly farther on beaches, knocking people off their feet and quickly pulling them into the ocean. Beachgoers are reminded to stay off rocks, logs and jetties and keep kids and pets out of the surf zone.
If you see someone swept into the sea do not follow them in. Call 911 and keep track of them until help arrives.
You may have heard that timing is everything. And in many walks of life, that may be true – but not necessarily when it comes to investing.
To understand why this is so, let’s look at three common mistakes investors make:
All these mistakes are examples of a risky investment strategy: trying to “time” the market. If you try to be a market timer, not only will you end up questioning your buy/sell decisions, but you also might lose sight of why you bought certain investments in the first place. Specifically, you might own stocks or mutual funds because they are appropriate for your portfolio and your risk tolerance, and they can help you make progress toward your long-term financial goals. And these attributes don’t automatically disappear when the value of these stocks or funds has dropped, so you could end up selling investments that could still be doing you some good many years into the future.
While trying to time the market is a difficult investment strategy even for the professionals, it doesn’t mean you can never take advantage of falling prices. In fact, you can use periodic dips in the market to buy quality assets at more attractive prices. Suppose, for example, that you invested the same amount of money every month into the same investments. One month, your money could buy more shares when the price of the investment is down – meaning you’re automatically a savvy enough investor to take advantage of price drops. While your money will buy fewer shares when the price of the investment is up, your overall investment holdings will benefit from the increase in price.
Buying low and selling high sounds like a thrilling way to invest. But in the long run, you’re better off by following a consistent investment strategy and taking a long-term perspective. It’s time in the market, rather than timing the market, that helps keep portfolio returns moving in the right direction over time.
This article was written by Edward Jones for use by Edward Jones Financial Advisor Wendy Wilson.
National Weather Service Portland (NWS) has issued a high surf advisory through Wednesday evening for north and central Oregon coasts in addition to an enhanced sneaker wave advisory expiring Tuesday night.
The new advisory calls for breakers up to 25 feet from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 10 p.m. Wednesday.
According to NWS, destructive waves may wash over beaches, jetties and other structures unexpectedly. People can be swept into the ocean by fast moving waves and encourage beachgoers to stay well back from the water’s edge and be alert for exceptionally large waves.
In addition to the high surf advisory, sneaker waves are still possible through Tuesday night. The ocean can surge up the beach, lifting or rolling logs and killing anyone caught in their path.
2019 was a great year for news in Lincoln City, even as long-established newspapers shutter their doors or scramble to increase their internet presence across the country.
Our meteoric rise has had a positive effect on local news media as evidenced by a more informed public and increased level of quality professional reporting across the board. Sometimes a kickstart is all it takes to get something good going — and right now — the going is good.
A very special thank you is in order for our readers as you have been instrumental in making our success possible. Placing your trust in us has been a great honor and we will continue to uphold our ethics and quality controls in our reporting.
With this success, we have been able to attract advertisers, and with the funds received from them we procured tools to do our job more effectively. We plan to bring you high-quality video reporting about things you care about in glorious HD with our new professional video camera.
We have also been able to increase all aspects on the website side, such as a better server and self-hosted video — all of which is very technical and boring so we’ll leave it there, but please note our internet capability has increased about 1000 percent.
Homepage Executive Editor Jim Fossum constantly speaks his mind on all things pertaining to our readership, including how he feels “mind-boggled” about our growth, the number of hits our articles get and breaking 5,000 Likes on Facebook. Everyone at Homepage has experienced mind-boggling and we’d like to thank you for it.
As 2020 looms, we have big plans in store to increase our coverage of all things that affect you and your daily lives.
We have the technology in place to bring you a streaming video service. Those of you who enjoy filming are invited to get on board from the beginning. We are currently looking for video partners by way of cooking shows, documentaries and anything you’d find on the big streaming providers. Our beta test group was “blown away” and went “absolutely insane” when we showed them our test site. You’ll see it soon as we get more content for you to consume.
We are hard at work on an app that will potentially make every local citizen a reporter. Can’t get into details about it just yet but it should prove to be a huge benefit to those wanting to tell their stories easily.
Homepage will continue to deliver the news daily to the people of Lincoln City (and beyond) and to further this we have obtained a brick-and-mortar location where citizens can come in to tell their stories or voice their concerns. We’ll make the location public as soon as the paint on the walls is dry.
Thank you so much for visiting our website, greeting us in public, inviting us to your events and believing in us. Hope you have a great 2020.
Sincerely,
Lincoln City Homepage Publisher Justin Werner
National Weather Service Portland (NWS) issued a beach hazards statement for north and central Oregon coasts calling for possible sneaker waves from Monday morning through Tuesday night.
Sneaker waves can run up beaches higher than normal, causing beachgoers to be swept off their feet and possibly into the ocean. If you witness someone being pulled into the Pacific do not attempt to follow them in. Call 911 and keep track of their position.
NWS reminds anyone headed to the beach to stay off rocks, logs and jetties and keep kids and pets out of the surf zone.
Tiger boys wrestling placed first out of 17 teams at the Class 3A Bill Hagerty Invitational tournament Dec. 21 in Nestucca while the Tiger girls showed teeth at their tournament in Hillsboro.
“It was great to win a tournament like this,” Head coach Robb Ellis said. “It was a memorable day and the kids wrestled hard.”
Tiger boys beat out top teams Willamina and Scio to earn the victory.
220 pound Jace Phippen, 152 pound Riley Ellis and 120 pound Jose Flores all placed second to lead the Tigers to a win.
Taft girl wrestlers took 16th out of 29 teams at the Liberty High School Girls Tournament in Hillsboro. Featuring teams from all school classifications, including 6A schools, Taft’s Kadence James, Lucy Reyes and Sabrina Campos each won two matches. Jada Ellis, Kylee Molvig and Ryan Sou won one match apiece.
“It is great to see our girls wrestling team doubling from 3 girls last year to six this year,” Ellis said. “The numbers overall in the state for girls wrestling have been doubling every year the last few years so we are keeping up with the rest of the state.
“What is also great to see is Kadence James our most experienced wrestler starting to be seen as one of the veterans in the room. She is showing more and more skill on the mat and knows a lot of the wrestling lingo like the veteran guys and they accept her as one of them. As the girls numbers keep growing it won’t just be experienced guys that are the most visual part of the program. Our veteran girls will be right there with them!”
Tiger girl wrestlers placed second out of the Class 3A teams at the tournament finishing behind Warrenton.
Big surf and waves running up the beach hit Lincoln City’s Nelscott District Friday afternoon, as promised earlier by National Weather Service Portland (NWS) in a beach hazards statement issued Thursday.
Wave watchers beheld breakers from a safe distance Friday and were awed by the power of the ocean as it slammed into the rocks beneath Joe the Sea Lion at 35th Street beach access in Nelscott.
NWS came through on the prediction for increased chance of sneaker waves — from Thursday to Sunday with the biggest waves happening Friday — as evidenced by waves running up the beach farther than normal.
“The waves will have the highest energy on Friday,” NWS Meteorologist Treena Jensen said Thursday in a phone interview. “Sneaker waves will be possible throughout the weekend.”
To protect mothers, their newborns and pediatric patients from flu viruses circulating in our region, all Samaritan Health Services hospitals will limit visitors in birthing centers and pediatric units beginning Monday, Dec. 30.
Samaritan’s Infection Prevention team monitors state surveillance data to determine when influenza-like illness has reached a high threshold in Samaritan’s service area of Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties.
Visitor restrictions will include the following:
All visitors need to be free of flu symptoms and carefully follow infection control guidelines, such as hand washing.
Children and pregnant women are among those in high-risk categories for complications from influenza-like illnesses, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control. Limiting visitors to hospital birthing centers reduces the potential for exposure for this vulnerable population.
The best defense against flu viruses, both at hospitals and in the community, is to avoid exposure through the following basic hygiene and infection control measures:
For basic information about the flu, visit the Oregon Department of Human Services’ flu prevention website at flu.oregon.gov.
