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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Astoria has eight marijuana dispensaries.

Consumer demand has remained steady enough to sustain the local market competition since Oregon legalized the drug for recreational use in 2014.

Several reasons — tourism, variety of product, restrictions elsewhere — were cited as to why larger marijuana companies see potential in Astoria and why several dispensaries are able to coexist.

“You got your slow season and your fast season in the summer, with the tourists and everything — cruise ships,” Preston Roper, a manager at Mr. Nice Guy, said. “But once the tourists filter out, we still have our locals.”

Read the story by Ethan Myers by clicking here.

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Copeland Commons, an Astoria nonprofit that plans to renovate a former hotel building on Marine Drive into housing, and the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority, which is expanding the Owens-Adair, an affordable housing complex for seniors and people with disabilities, each received $500,000 this month.

The grants were made by three of Clatsop County’s largest health care providers — Providence Seaside Hospital, Columbia Memorial Hospital and Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare — as a result of a risk-sharing agreement with Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization, which oversees Medicaid in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties.

“We know that affordable housing helps to improve the quality of life and health status of our members and the wider communities we serve,” said Leslie Ford, the housing strategy and development adviser for the coordinated care organization. “We are grateful to be able to support our risk-share partners as they work to create affordable housing to make our communities stronger and healthier.”

Take a look at Nicole Bales’ report by clicking here.

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Astoria and a private developer have shown interest in potential housing projects at surplus Clatsop County property at Ninth and Duane streets.

The site of the former Darigold Building is one of several the county has offered for housing, child care or social services.

The county Board of Commissioners is expected to discuss the requests during a work session in early February.

While the city has not released any details about a project, the private developer, Laura Jackson, hopes to build a 45-unit apartment complex.

See the story by Nicole Bales by clicking here.

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