Tornado touches down in Lincoln City; Underemployment hampering jobless; Geologic mapping at Peterson Tunnel; and Vet's get free access to ODNRA

Weather Service says tornado hit Oregon coast

A tornado with winds of 85-miles an hour tore through a stretch of Northern Lincoln City Friday night, uprooting trees, tearing the roof off of one home, wrenching a deck off another and sending it crashing into an electrical transformer. That left about 350 homes without power for several hours. The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that it was indeed a tornado. Meteorologist Tiffani Brown said it began as a water spout over the ocean before coming ashore. Brown said the service gets two to four calls a year in the Northwest about similar occurrences.

Economists say a jobless rate of 11.5 percent in Oregon is made worse by a high underemployment rate. A U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics report shows Oregon has the second highest ‘under-employment’ rate in the nation. According to the report about one in five Oregonians in the labor force can't find a job, are working fewer hours than they would like or simply have given up looking.

Lane County officials say it’s still early but they note the rate of property tax payments is lagging behind previous years. 172-thousand property tax statements sent out two weeks ago and the first installments are due next Monday. Eight drop boxes for ‘drive-up’ payments have been opened. Four are in Eugene with one each in Springfield, Cottage Grove, Junction City and in front of the Florence Justice Center on Ninth Street. Lane County Assessor Annette Spickard says property owners can also make payments online at the county’s website using Visa, Mastercard or “E-Checks”.

Crews working on ‘geologic mapping’ of the hillside above the Peterson Tunnel on Highway 126 will slow traffic today and tomorrow. The maps will be used to evaluate the stability of the slope above each portal. Flaggers will be controlling traffic during the daytime work. A final report on the assessment will take several weeks.

U.S. Veterans, members of the armed forces and their families will have access to federal recreation areas for free this Wednesday in honor of Veteran’s Day. Day use fees will be waived at the Oregon Dunes Recreation Area along with other U.S. Forest Service and BLM sites.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Prep Cross Country:

The Siuslaw Vikings brought home two second place team trophies following Saturday’s OSAA 4A State Meet in Eugene. Raelyn Robinson was the girls’ individual champion with a time of 19:47; Joseph Campbell paced the boys with a third place finish in a time of 16:40. It was the first time since 2003 that anyone other than Siuslaw had won the girls title. Marist took the top spot for the girls, Henley the boys.

Prep Volleyball:

The Siuslaw Vikings season ended in Newport Saturday night with a five game loss to the number nine ranked Cubs in five games. Mapleton’s bid also came to an end, falling in three games to Columbia Christian in three.

Prep Football:

Siuslaw will travel to Scappoose Friday night for the opening round of the OSAA football playoffs. The Vikings fell to Sutherlin 48 – 33 Friday night to wrap up the regular season. Reedsport also ended the regular season with a loss, 25 – 7 to Gold Beach. The final game for Mapleton was cancelled.

College Football:

The Oregon Ducks fell out of the top-10 with a 51 – 42 loss to the Stanford Cardinal Saturday afternoon. Oregon is now ranked 13. Oregon State re-entered the top 25 and became bowl eligible with their 31 – 14 victory over the Cal Bears.