Searching for Earth’s oldest ice . . ........... PAGE A10 Celebrating the holiday with art . . . PAGE A11
November 29, 2022
Serving Lincoln City Since 1927
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Smoke, fire damages east city motorhome, adjacent structure JEREMY C. RUARK Country Media, Inc.
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irst responders rushed to Quay Avenue and 8th Street just before 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 24 after calls to 9-1-1 of a structure fire in the area of east Lincoln City. Black smoke could be seen blocks away from the fire scene. Lincoln City Police Patrol Officer Jon Humphreys was one of the first responders to arrive at the scene were he spotted smoke coming from a parked motorhome. “There was heavy smoke coming from the back side of the trailer,” he said. “We were on scene for just a couple of minutes and flames started coming out and about that time North Lincoln Fire & Rescue showed up.” North Lincoln Fire & Rescue (NLFR) crews positioned their fire trucks close to the fire scene, pulled hoses from the rigs, and began attacking the blaze from the outside. Humphreys said it did not appear that anyone was occupying the burning motorhome or adjacent structure. Crews were able to put out the blaze shortly after arriving at the scene. The estimated amount of damage and the cause of the fire were not immediately available.
JEREMY C. RUARK / THE NEWS GUARD
North Lincoln Fire & Rescue crew members work to put out the blaze. See more photos at thenewsguard.com
JEREMY C. RUARK / THE NEWS GUARD
Smoke filled the neighborhood at the fire scene in east Lincoln City.
Governor pardons 45,000, forgives $14M in pot possession cases JEREMY C. RUARK Country Media, Inc.
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METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION
The pardon applies to electronically available Oregon convictions for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, in pre-2016 cases in which the person was 21 years of age or older, where this was the only charge, and where there were no victims.
overnor Kate Brown has announced a pardon for prior Oregon offenses of simple possession of marijuana. The act that will impact an estimated 45,000 individuals across the state. The pardon will remove 47,144 convictions for possession of a small amount of marijuana from individual records, eliminating barriers for thousands of people seeking employment, housing, and educational opportunities who have otherwise been ineligible, according to a release from Brown’s
office. Brown’s pardon order also forgives approximately $14 million in unpaid court fines and fees associated only with the pardoned convictions. As a result, the state will no longer collect those fines and fees, however, it may take a few weeks for the state to update its records and to reach out to collection agencies to waive the fines and fees included in the Governor’s pardon, according to a release from Brown’s office. State officials anticipate that all records should be updated to clear the remaining balance on the associated case within one month of the
Governor’s action. The pardon applies to electronically available Oregon convictions for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, in pre-2016 cases in which the person was 21 years of age or older, where this was the only charge, and where there were no victims. This pardon does not apply to any other offense related to marijuana or other controlled substances. “No one deserves to be forever saddled with the impacts of a conviction for simple possession of marijuana — a crime that is See PARDONS, Page A10
Visitor Spending tops $1.46 billion in NW Oregon in 2021 ERIK KNODER News Guard Guest Article
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isitor spending rose to $1.46 billion in Northwest Oregon in 2021. This was an increase of 46.4% after adjusting for inflation from 2020. Visitor spending collapsed by 42% in 2020 when the pandemic recession struck, and businesses were curtailed in March of that year. The jump in spending in 2021 was the largest since data has been collected, but it still yielded less spending than the $1.73 billion that was spent in 2019. Visitor spending had been growing about 3% per year since 2011. The region had seen drops in spending before, such as during the Great Recession, but nothing compared to the collapse in 2020. The leisure and hospitality sector was commonly the largest industry sector in Northwest Oregon measured by employment, but the pandemic recession reduced its size to where it was slightly smaller than the trade, transportation, and utilities sector in 2020 and 2021. Leisure and hospitality provided 14,906 payroll jobs on an annual average basis in 2021. This was about
METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION
Visitor spending at $1.46 billion in Northwest Oregon in 2021 was the largest since data has been collected. 16% of all jobs (excluding selfemployment) in Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Lincoln, and Tillamook counties combined. The two largest parts of the sector are the accommodation industry (e.g. motels and campgrounds), and the food services and drinking places industry (e.g. restaurants and bars). The sector’s
health depends in large part on spending by visitors. Visitors also spend money in other sectors such as retail trade, transportation, and even health services when vacation accidents happen. But because visitors account for a smaller portion of spending in these industries, the leisure and hospitality sector is considered the best proxy for the tourism industry as a whole. Visitor spending peaked in 2006 at $1.43 billion (in 2021 dollars), and then fell two percent the next year. Spending was up and down during the Great Recession and recovery before climbing steadily from 2012 until the pandemic hit in 2020. Travel and occupancy restrictions reduced the number of customers available for lodging and food service businesses, and many tourism businesses closed or dramatically reduced their offerings. Visitor spending in Northwest Oregon fell 42% in 2020 to $998 million. This was just above the level of 1992. Benton County had the secondlargest drop in visitor spending (-57.2%) of all counties in Oregon in 2020. But the county bounced back dramatically in 2021 with visitor spending increasing 158%
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employment growth in 2022 was the tight labor market, not lack of visitor spending. Job vacancy surveys showed that there were more job openings than people who were unemployed in 2022. The long-term outlook for visitor spending is good. The leisure and hospitality sector’s employment in Northwest Oregon is expected to grow 44% from 2020 to 2030. Most of that growth is based on the expectation that the sector recovers to its former level. After that, the sector’s employment will probably grow at a little less than 1% per year. A major unknown factor will be how the pandemic recession and subsequent tight labor market will affect the sector’s adoption of laborsaving technology and business practices. Businesses may be more likely to implement service models, such as takeaway food, that allow them more flexibility in adapting to any future pandemic. There is nothing leisurely in the work life of leisure and hospitality managers! Erik Knoder is a regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department. He may be reached at 541-351-5595.
TheNewsGuard.com
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to a record $148 million. The drop and recovery are probably due to changes by students at Oregon State University; in-person attendance was suspended in 2020 and resumed in 2021. The other counties in Northwest Oregon saw visitor spending increase sharply in 2021, but not quite recover to pre-pandemic levels. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector tends to parallel visitor spending. It’s improving rapidly but is still not completely recovered, except in Benton County. Employment in the five counties in Northwest Oregon dropped an unprecedented 54% from March to April in 2020. Employment has been growing since then. In September 2022 it was 8.6% higher than the year before, but it remained 1.2% lower than in September 2019 – the last year before the pandemic recession. As Northwest Oregon’s leisure and hospitality sector headed towards winter in 2022, employment was starting its seasonal decline. It seems likely that the sector will continue to grow in the longer run and its employment will return to pre-pandemic levels by next year. In fact, there is some reason to think that the main constraint on
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