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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Hikers could soon return to Saddle Mountain.

The popular state natural area east of Seaside has been mostly closed to the public since the coronavirus pandemic.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department hopes to reopen Saddle Mountain in August, when hikers can again challenge themselves on the 2.5-mile trail to the 3,288-foot summit with sweeping views of the North Coast.

“There have been a lot of disappointed folks that the park has been closed,” said Ben Cox, the park manager at the Nehalem Bay Management Unit, which oversees Saddle Mountain. “And it has sounded — when I hear myself talk to people on the phone or in person and just sort of lay out what has happened, the timeline of events, I hear myself and it kind of sounds like a lot of excuses.

“But it’s just been a perfect storm of if it could go wrong, it went wrong. If the timing could be bad, it was bad. If a regulatory piece was going to bite us, it bit us. So I’ll be glad to get it open. The last thing in the world we want to do is have it closed.”

See the story by Rebecca Norden-Bright by clicking here.

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Oregon will share in the Biden administration’s $42.5 billion investment in broadband.

The state is set to receive $688.9 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to help improve access to affordable, high-speed and reliable internet service in underserved communities.

Rural communities in Clatsop County, such as Jewell and Knappa, have struggled with reliable internet access.

Read the story by Nicole Bales by clicking here.

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Advocates for the homeless are calling for a year-round shelter after a scramble last winter to keep people off the streets in cold weather.

The Astorian sought documents from Clatsop County through the state’s public records law and asked Clatsop Community Action, the county, Astoria and others to review what happened after a winter where homeless response appeared rushed and disorganized.

“As a social service worker, the human aspect of it — it’s heartbreaking,” Viviana Matthews, the executive director of Clatsop Community Action, told the newspaper. “And we got to do something about people being on the street. Even though people may not be ready to go into a housing program or may not be ready to be a tenant for that matter, we’ve got to offer some kind of place to be when it’s super cold outside.”

Clatsop County has had among the highest per capita rates of homelessness in Oregon. But county and city leaders have resisted developing a year-round homeless shelter and have instead worked with nonprofits on seasonal outreach.

“We have to do better,” said Matthews, who believes a year-round, low-barrier homeless shelter needs to be part of the equation.

“CCA wants to be a key partner,” she said, adding that other partners need to come to the table, including Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria and Providence Seaside Hospital, the county and cities. “It takes a community to solve issues so it’s going to take a lot more than CCA to solve homelessness. This is an issue that affects all of us. Every single one of us.”

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

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Due to the Fourth of July holiday, The Astorian will publish a digital-only edition of the newspaper.

The e-edition is available to all print subscribers at www.dailyastorian.com. Local news content is also posted on the newspaper’s website.

The print edition of The Astorian is delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Mail delivery is not available on July 4.

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— Derrick DePledge