Public Safety Log
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$1 | VOL. 86 | NO. 30 | 2 SECTIONS YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1927
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DAILY LINCOLN CITY
Local boy in Soap Box finals
Crews work to finish school
LINCOLN CITY, OREGON
Family’s gift gives needy place to call home JIM FOSSUM The News Guard
The generosity of a Lincoln City family will help give homeless families hope and Family Promise a place to call home. Don and Debbie Williams, owners of Nelscott Cafe, have purchased the old Taft Fire Hall and Oregon Coast Community College building on S.E. 48th Street from the college to start a catering
business on 2,000 square feet of the property and a daytime shelter for the homeless on the remaining 4,000 square feet for $1 a month rent for 10 years. “This is huge blessing,” said Family Promise homeless advocate Hanna Connett, who said 170 Lincoln City children are homeless, a considerable portion of the 582 homeless kids in Lincoln County. “We had a prayer meeting at the end of May
and everybody talked about the needs and wouldn’t it be great if somebody would donate a day center and things like that, and the next day Debbie called and said, See FAMILY PROMISE, Page A6
From left, Don and Debbie Williams and Hanna Connett of Family Promise stand in front of Lincoln City’s first homeless shelter JIM FOSSUM/THE NEWS GUARD
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WEATHER GUIDE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS High Low Prec. 59
51
0
Wed., July 24
60
50
0
Thurs., July 25
66
49
0
Fri., July 26
63
49
0
Sat., July 27
64
50
0
Sun., July 28
62
53
0
Mon., July 29
62
54
0
JIM FOSSUM The News Guard
incoln City resident Cameron Ogle has resumed skating only fairly recently after being involved in a skateboarding accident last summer that doctors say would have taken his life had he not been wearing a helmet. The 14-year-old Taft High 7-12 freshman has resumed skateboarding for at least a couple of hours almost every day since being hit by a car and breaking his hand and wrist when it went through the windshield and almost touched the driver’s face. Using a skateboard given to him last week by an avid 8-year-old skateboarder at Lincoln City Skatepark, Ogle says helmet safety is tantamount to enjoying a good time on city sidewalks. “My mom would kill me if I didn’t wear one,” he said. “Besides, I’ve learned how important it is.”
Page B1
Tues., July 23
Power outage hits Lincoln City
Sidewalk Surfin’
SANDCASTLE CONTEST
JULY 31, 2013 | WEDNESDAY
Weekly Rainfall: 0 inches Yearly Rainfall: 32.57 inches
A power outage due to a faulty transformer switch causing fuses to blow at the Devils Lake substation Monday afternoon shut down service throughout Lincoln City and stretched from the south of town at Siletz Bay in the south to Otis in the north. A Pacific Power spokesperson said 10,305 customers were initially affected before power was restored to about half of the city at approximately 2:50 p.m. Customers continued to have power restored throughout the afternoon until the final 960 users had their power return at 4:43 p.m., the spokesperson said. The switch defect caused fuses to blow, which automatically shut down some operation at other substations for safety reasons. Procedures were followed and inspections done before the city was completely reenergized, the spokesperson said. Traffic was backed up throughout the city for about an hour due to nonoperational traffic signal lights. No injuries were reported.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JIM FOSSUM
WEEKLY OUTLOOK July should end with no measurable precipitation. August should continue the dry spell, with the first weekend being partly to mostly sunny.
The News Guard
Weather data provided by Roads End Weather Watcher Sheridan Jones
Glitch found in city water billing system JEREMY C. RUARK The News Guard
Lincoln City officials are informing customers of a technical problem that has led to errors on some paper water bills. “Our billing system used the peak water rate for usage charges when it should have used the normal rate,” said Debbie Mammone, Lincoln City finance director. “We discovered this issue before mailing the bills, and we corrected the usage charges both in our system and on the bills. However, while the usage charges are correct on the mailed bills, the total amount due shown on the bottom of the bills did not update. Therefore, the total amount due that is listed on the mailed bills is more than the total of the
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issued through Xpress Bill Pay list the correct amount due. The technical issue will impact commercial
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amount of 400 cubic feet of water per billing cycle. As such, a customer living in a single-family dwelling who used less than 400 square feet will have received a correct bill. The City is encouraging customers who have received paper bills to add up their detailed charges for water and sewer and send in that amount for payment. However, if a customer sends in the total amount shown due, they will get credit for their overpayment on next month’s bill. Most overpayments will be less than $5. “We apologize to our utility customers for the inconvenience caused by this technical glitch,” said Mammone. “We will make sure that any customers who did overpay receive their credit.”
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detailed charges.” Bills for June 15 through July 15 were mailed to customers on Thursday, July 18. Online water bills
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JEREMY C. RUARK/THE NEWS GUARD
The City of Lincoln City has notified customers of a technical glitch in its water billing system.
properties and multifamily dwellings, she said. Water bills for single-family dwellings will be impacted if the customer has used more than the base amount of 400 cubic feet. The normal water billing rate for commercial and multifamily properties within the City is $2.95 per 100 cubic feet used (100 cubic feet equals 748 gallons). During peak times, the water billing rate increases to $3.21 per 100 cubic feet used. Outside of City limits, the normal water billing rate is $6.27 per 100 cubic feet used. During peak times, this rate increases to $6.83 per 100 cubic feet used. Single-family residences are billed at the same rates; however, customers at a singlefamily residence get a base
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