AGATE BEACH SURF CLASSIC
STATE PARK HOSTS SANDCASTLE COMPETITION
LINCOLN CITY CHAMBER OUTLINES PRIORITIES, PARTNERSHIPS
Sports PAGE B8
Coast Life PAGE B1
Business PAGE A8
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
A new place to call home in Lincoln City JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
Michael Hast escaped the Echo Mountain Wildfire as it raced through Otis Sept. 9, 2020, but his memories of the blaze are still haunting. “It is something that took me a long time to get over,” the 79-year-old Hast said. “I couldn’t even go to sleep at night because I could see fire in my sleep.” Hast said he was living with one of his daughters and
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Lincoln County, Oregon
a grandson when the Echo Mountain Wildfire raged into the area and destroyed their home, and adjacent houses. “We lost everything,” he said. Since the wildfire, Hast’s daughter and grandson have purchased a home in Lincoln City, and he has just moved into Wecoma Place, a new affordable housing complex at Highway 101 and 29th Street in Lincoln City.
Tenants Michael Hast, left, and George Allmeneinger share a moment in the Wecoma Place courtyard during the new housing development opening celebration. (Photo by Jeremy C. Ruark)
See HOME, page A6
Boating fun in Toledo
Missing child found in Yaquina Bay mud flats JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
There may have been a bit of rain here and there on Saturday, Aug. 17, but the Port of Toledo’s annual Wooden Boat Show didn’t disappoint, as a large crowd gathered to enjoy festivities during the two-day event. Always popular is the cardboard boat race (above), which even includes a prize for the most spectacular sinking. A favorite of the younger generation are the potato cannons (lower left) where they fire at a boat target just offshore. There were also a variety of wooden boats on display (lower right), along with live music, food, crafts and more. (Photos by Steve Card)
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received an urgent call of concern from a South Beach family on Aug. 13 that was unable to locate their autistic 10-year-old son. The family reported noticing their son was missing within three minutes and had looked for him briefly before calling for help. The Newport Police Department and Newport Fire Department responded to assist in attempting to locate the missing boy, while the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team gathered to organize a broader search operation. “Approximately two hours after the boy went missing, an alert employee from the Oregon Coast Aquarium noticed a juvenile playing in the mud flats approximately 300 feet off Southeast 30th See CHILD, page A6
Paid parking on Bayfront achieving initial goals STEVE CARD Lincoln County Leader
On May 1, a pay-to-park program on the Newport Bayfront officially took effect, and after the first three months, the program appears to meeting expectations. “We need to continue to monitor this through a full season to really fully understand it, but I think it has been very effective in a few areas,” Newport Community Development Director Derrick Tokos said in a recent interview with the Lincoln County
Leader. “It’s been effective at changing parking behavior with those regular users of the Bayfront. We’ve had a lot of turnover and tourist usage of that large public parking lot next to Rogue and the minimart. That wasn’t an option in the past because it was fully utilized by people working down on the Bayfront.” He said right now it appears vehicles are turning over at least 20
A visitor to the Newport Bayfront uses his phone to scan a QR code at a pay station that automatically allows him to pay the required parking fee online. (Photo by Steve Card)
See PARKING, page A4
1422 N Coast Hwy 101 • Newport • 541-265-7731
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