ASTORIA, Ore — A federal judge has temporarily blocked the closing of Job Corps centers across the nation, days after the Trump administration announced it was shutting down the job training program. The restraining order buys extra time for staff and students at the Tongue Point Job Corps center in Astoria. Some of them faced…
Local News
Vacation rentals in Astoria now come with a licensing requirement and a cap on the total number allowed in the city. On Monday, the Astoria City Council voted 4-1 to approve an ordinance establishing a vacation-rental license program and capping the number of rentals at 50. Astoria currently has 43 vacation rentals. Councilors Andy Davis,…
Astoria city leaders will hold community meeting to discuss issues as local Job Corps center prepares to close ASTORIA, Ore. — An estimated 20 students at the Tongue Point Job Corps Center in Astoria and 18 staff members and their families could lose their housing by the end of the week. The center is due…
Police have identified the victim in a fatal hit and run in Astoria on Sunday. Patricia Harrison, 77, of Astoria died after being hit by a vehicle near 16th Street and Irving Avenue. The suspect allegedly fled the scene and struck another car farther up in the neighborhood then continued on 17th Street. Officers with…
Updated Sunday, June 1, 9:45 p.m. An elderly woman is dead following an alleged hit and run Sunday morning near downtown Astoria. The Astoria Police and Fire Departments responded to a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian crash near 16th Street and Irving Avenue around 9:18 a.m. The 77-year-old pedestrian died at the scene. The…
Astoria city leaders are considering ways to help close a funding gap for a lower-income housing project downtown. Copeland Commons, a former historic hotel on Marine Drive, would add up to 68 units to a city that has long felt a lack of affordable and workforce-priced housing. The Copeland Commons project has been in the…
There were two types of people outside of the Goonies House one recent afternoon: Capital “F” fans of the classic 80s film “The Goonies,” who couldn’t believe they were actually here — in front of the house from the movie — and the bemused family members and friends indulging them. Minnesota resident Cynthia Ballman…
The KMUN station will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday. To give our news department the day off, NPR will play over the usual local and regional news inserts (and The Ship Report!) on Monday and Tuesday. We’ll be back working as usual on Tuesday, gathering news for your ears on Wednesday.
Oregon’s Special Election was last night and preliminary unofficial results are now available. KMUN covers three counties in Oregon: Clatsop and Tillamook Counties and a portion of Columbia County. We started covering results of races in Clatsop County on Wednesday morning. If you missed that story when it aired, you can listen to it on…
A new licensing program for vacation rentals in Astoria, including a cap on the number allowed in the city, is moving forward. At a meeting Monday, a majority of the Astoria City Council approved the first reading of an amended version of the ordinance. They said it is an attempt to get ahead of a…
At a recent rally on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula, retired attorney Cathy Cruikshank painted a picture of what she is worried will happen at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge if plans by the Trump administration to open public lands to private use and alter the Endangered Species Act move forward here. Among her concerns were the…
One of Clatsop County’s largest child care providers is looking to expand. On Monday, Angie Jannusch, co-owner of the Astoria-based day care Bumble, told Astoria city councilors the business has applied for a grant through Business Oregon that, if successful, would allow Bumble to purchase a house near its location to use for infant care….
A majority of Astoria City Councilors still question whether an ordinance that would temporarily ban people from the downtown area will be effective at curbing unwanted behaviors, but they say they’re ready to move forward — with certain guardrails in place. The City Council held off on voting on a proposed exclusion zone ordinance at…
A roadmap for how Oregon would handle offshore wind energy development is still in the works even as the Trump administration looks to stop future projects. In January, one of President Donald Trump’s early executive orders halted permits for onshore wind projects and withdrew all of the outer continental shelf in federal waters from future…
While millions of dollars in federal funding for a major hospital expansion project on Oregon’s North Coast remain uncertain, U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici told local leaders she’s not giving up. On Friday, the Oregon Democrat told Clatsop County and Astoria leaders there is a relatively new bi-partisan call to reverse the Trump administration’s decision earlier…
Uncertainty was its own theme at a candidates forum in Astoria this week. Candidates vying for special district seats in Oregon’s upcoming May election wrestled with variations of the question: How would they help grow and maintain stability amid uncertainty? The forum, hosted by the Astoria branch of the American Association of University Women, included…
Candidates running for the Position 4 seat on the Astoria School Board in Oregon’s May 20 regular district election emphasized a student-first approach at a forum this week. But they also said the district also faces some very big challenges. Near the top of the list: the budget. The candidates forum, hosted by the Astoria…
A transportation district on Oregon’s North Coast that survived a recent financial collapse hopes a new executive director will keep them moving toward stability. On Wednesday, the Sunset Empire Transportation District announced the hiring of David Carr to replace former executive director Craig Johnston. Johnston announced he was stepping down late last year. He was…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Important funding for a North Coast hospital has been canceled after the Trump administration ended a grant program intended to help communities prepare for disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program last week. The program had been started…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Astoria leaders are holding off on an ordinance that would have temporarily banned people from a large part of downtown if they were cited or arrested for certain crimes in that area. At a hearing Monday night, City Councilors Andy Davis, Andrea Mazzarella, Elisabeth Adams and Vance Lump said they wanted more…
ASTORIA, Ore. — The Astoria City Council will consider a new ordinance tonight that would temporarily ban people from downtown Astoria and is intended to address an uptick in what police consider “quality of life” crimes. But critics argue the ordinance will not provide lasting solutions. Astoria has explored the idea of exclusion zones in…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Thousands of people turned out for rallies across Oregon and on Oregon’s North Coast on Saturday, joining nationwide protests of the Trump administration’s actions since coming into office. The rallies were held days after President Donald Trump rolled out new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners and followed whirlwind weeks of…
Oregon’s North Coast is trying to figure out where the impacts of a federal funding freeze hit home. Mike Brosius, a retired Costco executive, is spearheading an effort to gather together people who represent governments, agencies and organizations across Clatsop County. He wants to talk to them — and have them talk to each other…
The Astoria City Council is again discussing the possibility of regulating vacation rentals in the city. And — with two new councilors in place after the November election — a cap on the number of vacation rentals allowed in the city also seems to have council support. The previous council was split on several aspects…
A continued freeze on federal funds and uncertainty about the future of Medicaid have put a North Coast hospital in a wait-and-see situation. Columbia Memorial Hospital, or CMH, is in the middle of a massive expansion and renovation project at its Astoria campus. The hospital is due to receive a $20 million resiliency grant through…
Updated 3/2/25, 3 p.m. The long term impacts of recent staff cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are still unknown, but fishery managers on the West Coast called the situation troubling. On Thursday, NOAA laid off more than 800 workers as the Trump administration continues its push to reduce the federal workforce. West…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Elias Hess wanted to stir things up. On Saturday, more than 700 people attended a town hall event with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Sen. Jeff Merkley at Clatsop Community College, but only a few of them got the chance to ask the lawmakers a question. People asked how the Democrats planned…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Astoria leaders have agreed to cover a major city fee for a nonprofit looking to move into a former church downtown. Jenny Pool Radway, executive director of Consejo Hispano, said the decision is a huge relief. Consejo Hispano serves Latinx communities on Oregon’s North Coast and is on track to close on…
ASTORIA, Ore. — It’s a good day when you can flush the toilet without a second thought. An upcoming Astoria Public Works project hopes to keep it that way on a citywide scale. At a recent meeting, the Astoria City Council signed off on a number of items related to upcoming major maintenance work on…
ASTORIA, Ore. — Candidates vying for a seat on the Port of Astoria Commission this May agree on at least one thing so far: Something needs to be done about the East Mooring Basin. These days, its docks see more foot traffic from sea lions than from fishermen. Last year, the port removed a deteriorating…