A suspect in two homicides in Washington state is dead after a shoot out with police in Seaside Wednesday evening No other injuries were reported and the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. Oregon State Police is leading an investigation into the incident. According to the agency, the man shot…
Changes to Astoria’s camping ordinance won’t go into effect until July 15, but work is already underway to prepare people camping on city streets. Earlier in June, Astoria City Councilors passed amendments to the city’s camping ordinance as part of a new multi-pronged “shelter first” policy. Among other things, the changes councilors approved spell out…
Clatsop County is set to distribute $1.6 million in state funds for county-wide shelter response, but one shelter says its cut of that money won’t be enough to keep the doors open going into next month. The possible closure of LiFEBoat Services’ 22-bed shelter in downtown Astoria comes as the city is launching a new…
Clean up of an oil spill from a long unused pipe at the Port of Astoria is complete as of this week and the state will not require follow-up remediation at this time. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to monitor affected areas over the next two weeks,…
Port of Astoria leaders say staff who allowed federal immigration enforcement officers to access fenced-off property at the port on June 7 followed state law and did the right thing in a tricky situation. ICE officers claimed it was an emergency when they asked for access to the property, Port Commission President Dirk Rohne told…
Longtime St Helens City Administrator John Walsh is presumed dead after he fell into the Columbia River Saturday night. Walsh reportedly slipped and fell into the river while moving from a boat to the St. Helens City Docks. He was swept downriver and not seen to resurface. Search and rescue efforts were ongoing Sunday. The…
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have confirmed that two men were arrested on Oregon’s North Coast on June 7 in an operation that triggered additional concerns about a possible violation of Oregon’s sanctuary law and resulted in one Astoria woman being pepper-sprayed. In a June 11 email an ICE spokesperson called concerns about…
Local immigration advocates say the use of Port of Astoria property by federal immigration officers during an operation Sunday morning in which it is believed three people were detained may have violated Oregon’s sanctuary law. This law prohibits local and state police as well as state agencies from participating “directly or indirectly in immigration enforcement…
Astoria leaders are moving forward on two key pieces of a new “shelter first” policy intended to address homeless camping downtown. The policy, presented by City Councilors Andrea Mazzarella and Elisabeth Adams at a recent meeting, came after months of public meetings and discussions and several stalled attempts at other policies and approaches. The shelter…
An Astoria man jumped from the Astoria-Megler Bridge Friday night. He was recovered from the Columbia River nine minutes after he jumped, but could not be revived. Because of the nature of the incident, the Astoria Police Department has said it will not be releasing the 35-year-old man’s name. Police responded to the bridge after…
In contested races for seats on the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, candidates endorsed by incumbents led the pack Tuesday night According to preliminary unofficial results, Mike Brosius, a retired Costco executive, held 64% of the vote as of Wednesday for the District 3 seat, a four-year term representing the Astoria area. His opponent Mitra…
A question with a long and contentious history in Cannon Beach is being asked again, and it’s causing a stir. What, if anything, should the city do about dunes on the city’s north side? Cannon Beach resident Tim Ramey and Tommy Thayer, lead guitarist for the rock band KISS, are pushing for an initiative that,…
Homeless advocates and police say an illegal noisemaking device was used against unhoused campers in downtown Astoria in early May. The incident comes after efforts to establish an official campsite stalled and as city leaders are set to continue discussions about how to address concerns and issues tied to Astoria’s most visible homeless residents. On…
Oregon’s valuable commercial Dungeness crab fishery has seen significant changes in recent years as the state looks to minimize and monitor whale entanglements involving gear used in the fishery. Now more changes are on the horizon. And looming over everything is uncertainty around the details of a federal permit the state is seeking that would…
The Seaside City Council is down two councilors after one was recalled and another resigned. At a council meeting on March 23, City Councilor Heidi Hoffman announced she was resigning effective April 15 because she is moving to Astoria. “No, I am not resigning in protest of the recall vote,” she said, referring to the…
Amid an ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown and heightened tensions over immigration enforcement, newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stopped in Astoria Wednesday and toured Coast Guard facilities at the mouth of the Columbia River. Mullin visited U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria in Oregon and the Cape Disappointment Motor Lifeboat…
4/13/26: This story has been updated to clarify the relationship between the Astoria Housing Alliance and the Astoria Housing Initiative. A group looking to address housing shortages in Astoria hopes to get a measure on the November ballot that would tax vacant houses. The group behind the Astoria Housing Initiative announced this week that it…
Clatsop Community College leadership laid off five full-time positions in March, moved other positions to part-time and has proposed suspending three programs going into the next academic year, citing low enrollment and a $700,000 budget deficit due to rising costs. The programs facing suspension include the automotive technology program, computer aided design and drafting, and…
Hundred of people gathered on streets and sidewalks across Oregon’s North Coast and in Southwest Washington to protest the Trump administration Saturday, joining a nationwide turnout that organizers estimate was larger than previous “No Kings” protests. More than 900 people participated across two protests in Astoria Saturday. A protest in Seaside drew hundreds, according to…
Federal funding for a major hospital expansion project in Astoria was in jeopardy last year after the Trump administration abruptly announced it was shutting down the grant program that had awarded the money. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said the decision to halt the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program, or BRIC, was part…
A nonprofit that serves the North Coast’s Latinx community has landed major funding, bringing it closer to its goal of establishing a cultural center in the region. The Oregon Legislature approved $1.9 million in lottery revenue bonds for Consejo Hispano’s headquarters, Casa Mariposa, based out of a former Lutheran church in downtown Astoria. That translates…
(Click here for PART ONE) State support Connect Oregon grant funds are intended for non-highway transportation projects: rail, aviation and marine capital infrastructure. In April 2022, a final review committee looked at 49 applications for $46 million in available funding. Among the applications was Hyak’s boat lift. All of the projects had already gone through…
ASTORIA, Ore. — When the tug and barge building company, Hyak Tongue Point, proposed an ambitious plan to develop a shipyard at long under-utilized industrial land east of Astoria, the North Coast was sold on the idea. With the closures of other small and medium-sized boatyards in the region, Hyak’s shipyard at North Tongue Point…
In Clatsop County, some emergency responders rely on their cellphones to communicate during an emergency — not their radios. Local officials say this is just one example of how responders have found ways to work around a fractured emergency communications system spread across two separate dispatch centers and in need of upgrades. Now city and…
A debate about a candidate for an open seat on the Seaside City Council has continued to rage online after leaders were split on who to appoint last week. Brandon Kraft, a regional manager for a hotel management company, is one of two candidates vying for a temporary appointment to the Ward 4 seat. That…
UPDATED 1/17/26: Since publication of this story, R.J. Marx has provided KMUN with a transcript of his interview with Brandon Kraft. Aspects of the Q&A-style interview Marx published on Substack were altered for publication — Marx appears to have consolidated some back and forth leading up to a question about a statement of support by…
A declaration of a local state of emergency in Manzanita will continue through early February because of a slope on city-owned property that was destabilized by erosion and wet conditions in mid-December. The Manzanita City Council has opted to continue the declaration through Feb.4 out of an abundance of caution. Mitigation work has been done…
At the end of a vigil in Astoria on Saturday held in part to remember people who died while being detained by federal immigration officers or while in their custody, someone accidentally knocked over a glass candle holder that had been placed at the center of the event space. It shattered loudly. “That actually feels…
Police have arrested a man in connection with an explosive device discovered at a public restroom on Oregon’s North Coast last September. Oregon State Police arrested James Mason Liggett, 52, of St. Helens in Grants Pass on Sunday. Liggett was wanted on charges of attempted murder, attempted assault in the first and second degree, first…
Two candidates are vying for an open seat on the Seaside City Council. City Councilor David Posalski resigned in November because he was moving outside of city limits and would no longer be eligible to serve on the council representing Ward 4. His resignation was effective Dec.20. At a candidates forum Wednesday night, Padraic Ansbro…