Vacation-rental lawsuit — A property owner fined $1.8 million for operating a vacation rental without a license is suing the Oregon coastal city of Manzanita. Sandra Petersen, a resident of Washington state, sued last month in federal court in Portland to challenge the penalty as excessive and unconstitutional. The city fined her in October for operating without a license and not paying lodging taxes. Petersen said the city notified her of the citations in one document, nearly two years after the first alleged violation. According to a court filing, Petersen believed she wasn’t violating the ordinance because she only allowed family and friends to stay there and only took donations for supplies and maintenance. A city letter in 2009 informed Petersen the property must be registered as a short-term rental to legally accept money. The city declined to comment.