Federal attorneys now say Coast Guard helicopter will remain in Newport until spring and then could be moved

This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.

When U.S. Department of Justice attorneys appear in federal court Monday in Eugene, they will argue that Newport Fishermen’s Wives, Lincoln County and the state of Oregon shouldn’t be allowed to interfere in routine and temporary operations as to when, where and how the Coast Guard deploys its rescue helicopters.

Portland-based assistant U.S. attorneys representing the Department of Homeland Security say that while the Coast Guard is following a Nov. 24 court order to return a rescue helicopter to Newport, it will remain there only through next spring when the agency “will assess its resources for the summer season as it has for the past several years” and may request permission to consolid