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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For Dan Haag, outdoor recreation is in Oregon’s DNA.

“It’s huge,” he said. “Hiking, skiing, beachcombing — you name it. There’s 10 million things you can do in the outdoors in Oregon, on the coast and everywhere else in the state.”

But a recent court ruling could impact the future of some of those activities.

Haag is the trails, outdoor recreation and accessibility director at Tillamook Coast Visitors Association. He’s also part of a growing conversation around changes to recreational immunity — an Oregon law that limits the liability of landowners who offer their land for public recreational use.

If a hiker falls on a county trail, the county can use recreational immunity as a defense in court. The statute isn’t bulletproof — it won’t shield a jurisdiction against gross negligence, for example — but generally speaking, it’s stopped liability lawsuits at the door.

Now, that’s being challenged.

See the story by Olivia Palmer by clicking here.

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A pedestrian crosswalk on Marine Drive between Columbia Memorial Hospital and the Astoria Co+op will be upgraded after years of safety concerns.

The project, which received $200,000 in grant funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program, will add a raised refuge island at the intersection of 23rd Street, along with a rectangular rapid flashing beacon to alert vehicles when someone is trying to cross.

The City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a construction contract with Eugene-based Brown Contracting Inc. for about $257,000.

Read the story by Nicole Bales by clicking here.

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Though the idea of solar as an effective energy source does not typically evoke an image of the gray, rainy climate of the Pacific Northwest, an Astoria man is challenging preconceptions with his retrofitted passive solar powered home on Sixth Street.

Ron Maxted, who has worked in construction since the 1970s, said he became interested in solar when he got the opportunity to build a demonstration project on passive solar technologies and different building techniques for the Bonneville Power Administration.

“After that, it was just kind of common sense,” he said. “Passive solar is really just taking advantage of what’s available.”

Take a look at the report by Jasmine Lewin by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge