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Wednesday, December 17, 2025
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Lincoln County, Oregon
‘Massive’ landslide closes Highway 229 High speed chase ends in arrest
JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
Ten homes have been placed on evacuation notice and three structures, including two homes, have been damage by what has been described by officials as a massive landslide along Highway 229 near Siletz. Occupants that remain in the hazard area were See LANDSLIDE, page A6
STAFF REPORT Lincoln County Leader
This drone photo from ODOT shows the widespread area of the slide. (Courtesy photo from ODOT)
Newport Police Department officers received information from area law enforcement agency at approximately 11:48 a.m. Dec. 11, of a vehicle that was suspected to be involved in a burglary from the Waldport area. Officers were provided
surveillance photos detailing the vehicle description. While searching the Newport area for the vehicle, a Newport Police officer observed a vehicle matching the description parked in the parking lot of 150 NE 20th Street at the Fred Meyer store. While the officer See CHASE, page A6
WHO WE ARE
Volunteers brighten Christmas for area families
One volunteer carefully wraps a child’s gift for the holiday event. JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
Volunteers are wrapping up the annual Lincoln City Christmas Toy and Food Drive. Each year, The Lincoln City Eagles, North Lincoln Fire & Rescue, and Les Schwab help between 1,200 and 1,500 area children and adults with donated food, clothing and toys. The volunteers gather the items donated at various businesses over the past few weeks, sort, wrap and assemble the toy and food boxes at the Fisherman’s Lutheran Church, located at 1226 SW 13th Street in Lincoln City. Eagles Lodge member Alaina Jones has coordinated the annual Eagles and North Lincoln Fire
Two of the local volunteers wrap holiday gifts for the families.
& Rescue Christmas Toy and Food Basket event at the church. She said the annual event is a labor of love that she has been doing since 1986. “Right now, we hope to serve 325 families, that includes in those families, 600 children,” she said. We’ve been doing about that amount since probably 2015. Before that when the Elks were still here, we only did See VOLUNTEERS, page A6
The donated toys and clothing items have been carefully sorted and laid out on large tables filling a large community room at the church. (Photos by Jeremy C. Ruark)
Coast Guard assures Newport rescue helicopter’s return SHAANTH NANGUNERI Oregon Capital Chronicle
A rescue helicopter that’s long been kept at Newport’s Municipal Airport and Coast Guard facility on the Oregon Coast will remain there, an official for the federal agency assured Oregon’s U.S. Senators in writing. It follows major local fallout over the Coast Guard’s decision to relocate the helicopter further south on the Coast to North Bend in late October with no explanation and ahead of the
dangerous Dungeness crab fishing season. Ongoing legal battles over the helicopter’s removal continue to play out in federal court, and a judge recently ordered it at least temporarily returned until late December. Oregon lawmakers and local residents have speculated that the federal government moved the helicopter so they can
begin to repurpose the airport site for a potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility. Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden alongside U.S. Rep Val Hoyle, who represents the state’s 4th Congressional District that includes Newport, had pushed for the
The Newport Municipal Airport hosts a U.S. Coast Guard facility, which has been at the center of a controversy gaining national attention over the Trump administration’s immigration and coastal rescue policies. (Shaanth Nanguneri / Oregon Capital Chronicle)
RECALL HALL See RESCUE PAGE A4
We must recall county commissioner Claire Hall for numerous reasons, such as ethics and non-performance.
This ad paid for by David Elton, a full-time resident of Lincoln County and the founder of “RECALL HALL” PAC. A political action committee registered with the IRS and the Oregon secretary of state (ORESTAR). Treasurer, Richard P. Burke.