As fish swim around in the ocean, they leave pieces of themselves behind. “At sort of the least technical level: It’s slime. It’s skin. It’s poop,” said Andrew “Ole” Shelton, a researcher with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. “It’s, you know, all the things you don’t really want to think about being in…
Local News
The Astoria City Council signaled today that it will be stepping back from a proposed downtown workforce and affordable housing project. During an executive session earlier this week, city councilors learned exactly how much Portland developer Edlen & Co. was asking the city to contribute to get the proposed housing project at Heritage Square off…
Clatsop County is looking to develop housing at foreclosed properties the county owns in several North Coast cities. Monica Steele, assistant county manager, told members of Astoria’s Homelessness Solutions Task Force at a meeting Thursday that the county is talking with nonprofits and private developers to see what interest there might be to create various…
Terrible Tilly, the 141-year-old Tillamook Rock Lighthouse near Cannon Beach, is for sale. Owner Mimi Morissette has listed the property for $6.5 million. She once hoped to turn the lighthouse into a large columbarium, a place to store people’s cremated remains. There was room, she said, for up to 300,000 urns. But Morissette’s plan never…
The suspect in a string of arson fires in Astoria’s Uppertown neighborhood is in custody. Preston Powers, 18, was arrested by sheriff’s office deputies in Gainesville, Florida where he is accused of making multiple bomb threats toward Buchholz High School in August 2021. According to Paul Charas, a deputy district attorney for Clatsop County, the…
UPDATE — KMUN was at the city’s forum on livability and homelessness in Astoria and recorded the event. You can listen by clicking play on the sound file above. Lorraine Veach recently overheard two women talking about a divisive proposal to build workforce and affordable housing in Astoria’s Heritage Square downtown. The women were bemoaning…
It has been nearly a decade since researchers and beachcombers watched sea stars seemingly melt away in front of them. Beginning in 2013 and 2014, a mysterious disease decimated sea star populations on the West Coast. The cause of sea star wasting syndrome, which hit some 23 different species of sea stars, remains a scientific…
A landslide that state geologists describe as large and complex closed a portion of U.S. Highway 101 near Wheeler for nearly two days. The highway reopened to one-lane traffic near milepost 47 late Wednesday afternoon, but flaggers could be guiding traffic through for several weeks to come. State road crews will need to clear vegetation…
Giants are passing by the Oregon Coast right now: Gray whales migrating north, heading to the Bering Sea from calving grounds in Baja California, Mexico. After several years of seeing “skinny” gray whales — whales apparently not finding enough food en route — and varied improvement since amid shifting ocean conditions, researchers have been concerned…
Anyone who has spent time in Astoria or considered buying property in the city, often learns one thing very quickly: It is a landscape prone to sliding. The evidence of past slides can be as subtle as oddly slanted trees on a hillside, but the scar of one slide visible just beyond two major tourist…
Photo courtesy of ODOT U.S. Highway 101 is closed south of Wheeler tonight and through tomorrow morning because of an active landslide. The landslide began early this morning near milepost 47 in Tillamook County. State road crews tried several times to reopen a lane on the highway today only to have more rocks and material…
A challenger has emerged in the race for a seat on the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners. Nathan Pinkstaff has announced he will run for the District 3 seat currently held by County Commissioner Pamela Wev. Pinkstaff works as deck mechanic for Tidewater Barge Lines and has worked in the timber and commercial fishing industries…
Flaggers stop traffic in both directions and the Astoria Bridge falls silent. Until the fireworks begin. The pyrotechnics go off in lone bursts with long gaps in between, each one leaving a thin trail of smoke that hovers over the Columbia River. Angela Beers-Seydel, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Transportation, leans against the…
Expect loud noises and intermittent traffic delays on the Astoria Bridge today as crews test out techniques to clear double crested cormorants from the bridge. The bridge is scheduled to be under construction for protection work and painting this summer and the increased presence of cormorants on the bridge has become a problem. Traffic today…
A high wind warning is in effect for Oregon’s North Coast beginning tonight through late Monday afternoon. The warning also applies to the south Washington coast. The National Weather Service says people should expect south winds of up to 35 miles per hour with gusts of 45 to 60 miles per hour. Winds will be…
The announcement that Oregon officials will lift the state’s indoor mask mandate ahead of schedule on March 19 was welcome news for people who had pushed for an easing of masking requirements in schools — or at least, for local control so districts could make such decisions on their own. To mask or not to…
The Astoria City Council pushed ahead last night to bring workforce housing and housing for people struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues to Heritage Square. Calling the amount of community input staggering and passionate on both sides, the council voted 3-2 to negotiate with a Portland developer Edlen & Co. to redevelop most of…
Astoria city leaders are planning to get out of the childcare business. At a work session Wednesday afternoon, city councilors said they couldn’t support continuing with the city’s Sprouts Learning Center daycare. The daycare center, one of the larger facilities in Clatsop County, is run through the Astoria Parks and Recreation Department, serves 21 families…
Clatsop County held an online press conference about COVID trends and testing. The County is bracing for an Omicron surge. By Joanne Rideout [Scroll down to listen, script below] Judy Geiger is vice president of patient care services at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. Judy Geiger: “We’ve seen an uptick in COVID but it’s staying…
Interstate Meat Distributers Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. Coli 0157:H7 Contamination WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2022 – Interstate Meat Dist. Inc., a Clackamas, Ore., establishment, is recalling approximately 28,356 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today….
Clatsop County hospitals are bracing for yet another Covid-19 surge. That’s due to the Omicron variant. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin has this report: [Scroll down to Listen:] Oregon Health Sciences University’s top forecaster is projecting that Omicron covid hospitalizations will soon surge to 17-hundred per day statewide, up from a peak of 12-hundred with the delta…
This fall, the Port of Astoria began partnering with the city on a sweeping master plan to upgrade parts of port property, encourage business and beautify the west end of town where the port sits. At a virtual meeting November 3rd, members of the public saw a presentation of the plan, which echoed the ambitious…
One lane on a section of U.S. Highway 30 east of the Bradley State Scenic Viewpoint will remain closed through the holiday weekend as the state continues to evaluate a rockslide in the area. The lane closure is not impacting traffic flow, according to a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation. The transportation…
This report today from The Washington State Department of Transportation, about a mudslide blocking an important route between Astoria and Naselle: Rocks and a mudslide on SR 401 southbound at milepost 2 has both lanes blocked by debris since 11:00 am today [Wednesday] until further notice. For reference, Route 401 is the road drivers are…
Story by KMUN Correspondent Jacob Lewin [Scroll down to listen] Astoria city officials are upbeat about compliance with the city’s covid vaccine mandate. Next Monday is the deadline and 89% of staff have been vaccinated. Others are in the process of being vaccinated or have been exempted but are working under restrictions. Fire Chief Dan…
Volunteer firefighters in Warrenton have had a change of heart. A month ago, city officials feared that most of them would resign rather than be forced to get vaccinated. Today the situation is very different. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin reports: [Scroll down to listen] The city of Warrenton has 20 volunteer firefighters, three paid staff, and…
Administrators from Clatsop County school districts weighed in at a press conference Wednesday about what seems to be a successful school year so far, as COVID-19 continues to define how adults and children interact outside of home. Joanne Rideout reports. [Scroll down to listen] “I think the community needs to understand the details that we…
Now that fall is here, the Oregon Health Authority wants Oregonians to know we could be headed into a bad flu season. The season for flu generally starts around October and can continue into the spring. The pandemic had a large impact on last year’s flu season. We were staying physically distant, wearing masks and staying home…
ODOT has started installing containment equipment on the bridge to prepare for the upcoming painting and repairs. During construction, plan for a single lane traffic with flaggers and up to 20 minute delays on weekdays. Single lane closures will be allowed: Daily, Monday through Thursday, between 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Daily, Friday, between 6 a.m. to 5…
CLATSOP COUNTY HOSTS PUBLIC FORUMS ON DISTRICT BOUNDARY PROCESS The public is invited to offer input on the process to redraw the boundaries of the five Clatsop County Board of Commissioners districts. The county is required, under its charter, to review the boundaries every 10 years following the release of population data from the federal…