Thank you for your interest in reading The Astorian. Here are a few stories that you might have missed this week:

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The Columbia Inn could be converted into emergency shelter and transitional housing for the homeless.

The Marine Drive motel has 22 rooms and could house about 44 people.

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners authorized the county manager to sign a purchase and sale agreement for the property, part of Project Turnkey 2.0, a state program.

“It is going to take a lot of stars to still align for this to move forward,” County Manager Don Bohn said. He described it as “the first step, but I think it’s an important step.”

Read the story by Erick Bengel by clicking here.

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The Astoria Riverwalk has reopened near Buoy Beer Co. more than four months after a partial building collapse.

The reopening means the Astoria Riverfront Trolley will be able to make full runs again between Uniontown and Pier 39.

“The south wall of the building adjacent to the Riverwalk has been reinforced through an initial stabilization project that will also allow crews to safely begin partial demolition of the collapsed area in the coming weeks and months,” Buoy Beer said in a statement.

Take a look at Erick Bengel’s report by clicking here.

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Several factors have contributed to the lack of child care options for parents on the North Coast.

But for many working families and child care providers, the shortage comes down to wages.

“Child care is costing more than mortgages,” said Eva Manderson, the director of Northwest Regional Child Care Resource and Referral. “So if parents can’t afford, then child care workers make less. If child care workers make more, more parents can’t afford because it’s more expensive. And so it’s this continual tension between what can families pay and how little can child care workers make.”

New child care grants offered by Clatsop County through federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars come with classes from the Small Business Development Center to help providers develop sustainable business models.

See the story by Abbey McDonald by clicking here.

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