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 three judges on the Clatsop County Circuit Court gathered Thursday afternoon in ornate Courtroom 300 in Astoria to deliver the inaugural State of the Court address.

Presiding Judge Beau Peterson, Judge Dawn McIntosh and Judge Kirk Wintermute shared their outlook on a range of topics, from the state’s public defender crisis, the challenge of defendants who are unable to aid and assist in their cases and a surge in the number of people seeking to have their criminal records set aside.

The judges also previewed a new veterans treatment court and a landlord-tenant mediation program in response to pandemic-era evictions.

See the story by Jasmine Lewin by clicking here.

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Cannon Beach will move forward with a $12 million design plan for the redevelopment of the former elementary school and NeCus’ park site.

The City Council unanimously approved a motion for the project at a special meeting Tuesday night on the condition that the city would push to scale back the landscape design once landscaping plans take shape.

Read the story by Jasmine Lewin by clicking here.

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School districts in Clatsop County are taking a close look at how their youngest students learn to read.

The Oregon Legislature passed the Early Literacy Success Initiative last spring, a massive effort designed to transform literacy instruction in a state where just 39% of third graders were proficient in language arts during the last school year.

The initiative includes $90 million in grant funding for school districts statewide over the next two years. The grants are noncompetitive, but to access the funding, school districts were required to submit a lengthy application by last week detailing plans for improving literacy rates.

In particular, school districts must demonstrate their literacy plan is aligned with the science of reading — a broad-reaching approach to literacy instruction based on extensive research into how children learn to read.

Take a look at the report by Rebecca Norden-Bright by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge