FIRST EVER CRYSTAL CREEK RUN IS SEPT. 21
KITES WILL COLOR THE SKY IN LINCOLN CITY
CAUTION IN LATEST ECONOMIC FORECAST
Sports PAGE B10
Coast Life PAGE B1
Business PAGE A10
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
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Lincoln County, Oregon
Oregon’s ‘ghost gun’ ban now in effect JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
Oregon’s new ban on ghost guns took effect Sept. 1. Ghost guns have created real and serious risks to public safety, according to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. They are the fastest-growing gun safety problem facing the country, according to the Oregon Department of Justice. “They are becoming a
weapon of choice for violent criminals, gun traffickers, and others who cannot legally obtain firearms. They have also been used in incidents of gunfire on school grounds and unintentional shootings by children,” the Oregon Department of Justice states in a fact sheet. In 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2005 banning “ghost guns” — firearms that do not include a serial number and are
home-built or assembled using parts purchased separately. Often obtained online, ghost gun parts can be assembled See BAN, page A7
Ghost guns are the fastestgrowing gun safety problem facing the country, according to the Oregon Department of Justice. (Photo by Metro Creative Connection)
Arson was cause of Waldport church fire STEVE CARD Lincoln County Leader
Arson was determined to be the cause of an Aug. 12 fire that did extensive damage to Our Savior Lutheran Church, located at 38 N Bayview Road in Waldport. The hardest hit area was the pastor’s office, and his personal books acquired over 40 years of ministry were destroyed in the fire. (Photo courtesy of the Seal Rock Fire District)
New teachers in Lincoln City hope to make a difference
Investigators have determined that arson was the cause of an Aug. 12 fire that did extensive damage to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Waldport. The fire was first noticed at around 6 a.m. that Monday morning. The church is located at 38 N Bayview Road, on the north side of Alsea Bay, and as such, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Seal Rock Fire District. Seal Rock Fire Chief Will Ewing said a fire alarm detected smoke in the church sanctuary, which generated the initial alert. “Then there was a second call that somebody saw a lot of smoke in the area. There were people having coffee on their deck and they saw the smoke. They called it in as a brush fire.” But when the first fire crew arrived on the scene, they discovered that it was, in fact, a structure fire, and the call was put out for additional units. “My first-in unit saw a lot of smoke, and the smoke was burning in the planter next to the building. Then they realized once the smoke let up a little bit that they were dealing with See FIRE, page A8
Anna Kelley, 31, a second-grade teacher at Crestview Heights School in Waldport, was killed in a two-vehicle car crash Aug. 20 on Highway 20 near Blodgett. (Courtesy photo)
Waldport teacher killed in car crash STEVE CARD Lincoln County Leader
Just two weeks before the start of a new school year, the Waldport community was stunned at the news that one of its elementary school teachers, 31-year-old Anna Kelley, was killed in a head-on car crash on Highway 20 near Blodgett. See CRASH, page A9
Cable work continues
JEREMY C. RUARK Lincoln County Leader
Tracy Lilly is one of the new teachers hired by the Lincoln County School District (LCSD) to be an instructor at Taft Middle/High School this year. Lilly said she was inspired to be a teacher by her father, who taught for 39 years. “He had this school project called Elwood,” she said. “A stuffed doll that his students would write letters from all over the world for Elwood to go visit.” The doll was sent all around the world to visit various places.
Tracy Lilly and Adam Martinez are two of the 42 new teachers hired by the Lincoln County School District. (Photo by Jeremy C. Ruark)
Cable work continues at Oregon State University’s PacWave South, the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States. Subsea cables have all been laid to the offshore test site, and work continues at Driftwood Beach State Park south of Newport to connect those subsea cables in vaults underneath the parking lot to the terrestrial cables that run up to the utility control and monitoring facility, which is just down the street and across the highway. The work at Driftwood is expected to continue for a few more weeks. (Photo by Steve Card)
See TEACHERS, page A7
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