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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Regional leaders have pressed the Oregon Department of Transportation to complete an audit of the financial collapse of the Sunset Empire Transportation District that crippled bus service on the North Coast.

The transit district suspended operations in late April but restored partial service through $1 million in state loans.

At a meeting of the Northwest Area Commission on Transportation in Scappoose on Thursday afternoon, former state Sen. Betsy Johnson and Astoria City Councilor Elisabeth Adams probed the state about the status of the audit.

“Why is this audit taking so long?” asked Adams, who serves on the regional transportation commission. “Where are we going to get information and when is that information going to come through? As a previous employee of (the transit district), I know how these things work financially, and with the relationship between ODOT, and so I’m just really wondering, what’s really going on? Why are we not getting the actual answers? I think that we deserve that.”

Shelley Snow, the strategic communications coordinator for the Department of Transportation, told The Astorian in an email on Friday that the department is still in the process of conducting the audit and that completion is likely several weeks away.

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

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Cannon Beach will increase the lodging tax in January to help finance two city projects.

The tax will rise from 8% to 9.5%, which is expected to help generate about $1 million annually.

The revenue will help the city pay for a new City Hall and police station, as well as the redevelopment of the former elementary school and NeCus’ Park site after the projects’ costs came in significantly higher than expected.

Read the story by Nicole Bales by clicking here.

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Seabirds are at risk at Ecola Point.

Tabea Goossen, who has been patrolling the beach and monitoring black oystercatcher nests for Portland Audubon for the past several years, witnessed people illegally climbing rocks and dogs chasing and barking at nesting seabirds over the Fourth of July holiday.

Goossen and others are hoping new signs and better enforcement will help at the protected rocky shore area.

“It’s really difficult to witness that kind of harm to the environment,” Goossen said. “And the birds are really stressed by dogs. They’re stressed by people, but especially by dogs. And so a bird that’s disturbed like that will leave and spend time away from their chicks. And the chicks are out on the beach, oftentimes before they can fly, so they’re just easy pickings for off-leash dogs.

“The animals have a tough enough time surviving out there and adding to their survival load — it’s a human impact.”

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

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— Derrick DePledge