Craig Prins, the state administrator tapped by Gov. Tina Kotek to steady the beleaguered Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, announced Thursday his abrupt retirement after two years on the job.

Prins, 55, told the commission of his plans to leave the agency during the commission meeting.

He said his retirement is effective July 1. His salary is about $233,000.

“I am very proud of what we accomplished since I came on board,” he said.

He said the decision is a personal one.

“I really feel this is the right decision for my family,” he said.

Chair Dennis Doherty praised Prins for steadying the agency and said he knew Prins had planned to stay for only two years when he took the job.

“I said, OK, but I held on to you for what, two years, four months,” Doherty joked.

Prins leaves at a critical time for the agency as it shepherds a major new warehouse project in Clackamas County and rebuilds its ranks after the departures of top managers.

The agency regulates the sale of liquor in Oregon, generating a projected $576 million for the current two-year budget.

Kotek’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about plans for Prins’ replacement.

Prins came to the OLCC from the Oregon Department of Corrections, where he served as longtime inspector general. He succeeded OLCC director, Steve Marks, whose tenure was clouded by a bourbon diversion scandal that engulfed the liquor commission and led to turnover in its upper-management ranks.

Kotek at the time said Prins would “correct the course of the commission and support the employees doing the work everyday.”

Prins has a long career in state government and held management positions at the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission and the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

Earlier this year, he was investigated by the Oregon Department of Administrative Services for leaving a work conference in Florida to attend the Orange Bowl.

An employee complained that Prins had potentially misused state resources on the trip; the investigation concluded that Prins paid for his own game ticket and rental car when he attended the high-stakes semifinal college football game between Notre Dame and Penn State.

He did not misuse state money, the investigator found, but the report noted that Prins drove to the game during work hours, later submitting a request for 4.5 hours of time off “after being notified of this investigation.”

Prins bought the ticket a week in advance but did not tell his boss about it until the morning of the game and then asked to skip out on the afternoon meetings at the conference, according to the investigation.

Prins said the allegation was “thoroughly investigated” and did not find wrongdoing.

Prins took over the leadership of the liquor commission after a 2022 human resources investigation concluded Marks and five other managers used their positions to access prized bourbon.

The managers bought highly sought-after bourbon that had been held in reserve, a supply known as safety stock, an internal investigation found.

The managers said they had the bottles sent to liquor stores, where they purchased it and that they kept it for themselves or gave the liquor as gifts, according to the investigation. All denied reselling the bottles, which are coveted on the secondary market.

— Noelle Crombie is an enterprise reporter with a focus on criminal justice. Reach her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.com

North Oregon coast travelers will get another beach option this spring.

Nehalem Bay State Park, which has been closed for more than six months, will reopen to the public May 23, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced Wednesday — though the campground will remain closed through June.

The oceanfront park in Manzanita closed Nov. 1, 2024 to install new water and electrical lines, add restroom and shower buildings, renovate nine campsites to improve accessibility, and repave and add traffic calming improvements to the park entry road.

Improvements were paid for by Oregon-issued GO Bonds, approved by the Oregon Legislature in 2021. The $50 million investment is earmarked for nine park projects across the state, including Silver Falls and Smith Rock state parks.

Day-use areas, including the boat ramp, south day-use parking area, the airport and the multi-use path east of the main entrance road will reopen May 23, the parks department said. The main entrance on Garey Street in Manzanita will also reopen that day.

The campground and the Horizon Street entrance is scheduled to reopen July 1 at the earliest, park officials said. Campground reservations will open for July and beyond in the next few weeks, available online at oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.

–Jamie Hale covers travel and the outdoors and co-hosts the Peak Northwest podcast. Reach him at 503-294-4077, jhale@oregonian.com or @HaleJamesB.

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CORVALLIS — Before the Oregon State baseball team played its final midweek game of the season, coach Mitch Canham strolled up to sophomore Laif Palmer with a simple question.

“How are we feeling?” he asked, assessing the readiness of his right-handed reliever.

“We’re in the last four games of the regular season,” Palmer replied. “We’ve got a week-and-a-half off after this. So, yeah, I’m good.”

Good enough, anyway. And that pretty much sums up the seventh-ranked Beavers’ 5-3 win over the Portland Pilots on Tuesday night at Goss Stadium. Oregon State was good enough.

James DeCremer had a solid performance in his first-career start, Palmer was dominant out of the bullpen, AJ Singer had a three-hit game and the Beavers (38-12-1) walked their way to a sluggish win before 3,542 in Corvallis.

Canham stopped himself mid-sentence from saying his team didn’t play well, but it was clear he left Goss longing for more from a group that found itself in a dogfight with the Pilots (21-27) well into the late innings Tuesday night.

When Singer and Canon Reeder smacked back-to-back run-scoring singles in the bottom of the fifth inning, it gave the Beavers a 3-1 lead and control of the game. But Tyce Peterson struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning without further damage, and the Pilots immediately responded in the top half of the sixth, using a Riley McCarthy two-run single to tie the game 3-3.

After playing 18 of the previous 21 games on the road or in neutral-site parks, it looked like the travel-weary Beavers might fade from there. Instead, they gutted out a gritty win with a pair of seventh-inning runs.

Wilson Weber started the rally with a one-out triple off the left field wall and Singer kept things going with an infield single, putting runners on the corners. Two batters later, Reeder drew a walk to load the bases and it was a prelude of things to come. Peterson followed with an eight-pitch walk, bringing home the go-ahead run, and three pitches later, Pilots reliever Kaden Starr plunked Dallas Macias in the back with a 2-0 fastball, giving Oregon State a 5-3 edge.

It proved to be enough for Palmer. The 6-foot-6 sophomore closed the game with 2 1/3 hitless innings, retiring all seven batters he faced on 27 pitches, to improve to 2-0 this season.

“I really liked what we all saw out of Palmer,” Canham said. “He’s just filling it up.”

The Beavers also saw a few nice things out of DeCremer.

The 6-2 redshirt freshman, who found out four hours before Tuesday’s first pitch that he would be making his first start, worked around a rough second inning to deliver a solid performance. He allowed one run on five hits and finished with three strikeouts in four innings, during which he threw 54 pitches, including 39 for strikes.

DeCremer was untouchable in the first inning, retiring the side in order on just seven pitches — all strikes — but had a bumpy second inning, giving up four hits and his only run. Portland cleanup hitter Zach Toglia led off the inning with a home run to left field, crushing a 2-1 pitch into the parking lot over the bullpen, and it seemed to momentarily rattle DeCremer. Cole Katayama-Stall followed with a single to right field, McCarthy ripped a double down the third base line, Henry Muench hit a pop-up to third base that Trent Caraway couldn’t handle, and, suddenly, the Pilots had the bases loaded with no outs.

But DeCremer didn’t bat an eye.

He worked out of the jam on just six pitches, using a pair of flyouts and a strikeout to escape further damage, then tossed scoreless innings in the third and fourth. DeCremer lobbied to return for the fifth, but was overruled by pitching coach Rich Dorman.

“Of course, you always try,” he said, smiling, when asked if he tried to talk his way into another inning. “But you have, like, 20 guys in the pen that can all do a really good job. So it doesn’t matter. We won.”

Singer finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs, delivering run-scoring singles in the first and fifth innings, and Aiva Arquette went 2 for 5, as two of the Beavers’ most consistent hitters produced more than half of the the team’s nine hits.

It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was a win nonetheless, moving the Beavers to the doorstep of their final series of the regular season.

“We pulled it out, which is great,” Canham said. “But I still have extremely high expectations for what the guys need to do.”

Next up: The Beavers open a three-game series against the Long Beach State Dirtbags on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35.

— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.