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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At Port Hopper, a gift shop on Commercial Street with a global theme, a small change has made a big difference.

This summer, shop owners expanded their hours — 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays — to offer a more consistent experience for customers.

The change has paid off with an increase in revenue.

See the story by Audrey Saiz by clicking here.

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The Astoria Library has secured a temporary location while the 10th Street space is closed for renovations.

Voters overwhelmingly approved an $8 million bond measure in November 2022 for the $10.7 million renovation of the 56-year old library. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, with notable improvements including more reading rooms and expanded programming spaces.

On Monday, the City Council voted to approve a lease for the library to occupy a portion of the former Roby’s building off Commercial Street from Aug. 19 through September 2025. The building is owned by former Mayor Willis Van Dusen and also houses the Van Dusen Mercantile.

The city will pay monthly rent of approximately $4,800 for the space, or a total cost of just over $62,000 for the duration of the lease.

City staff considered several buildings for the temporary location, but decided on the former Roby’s due to its downtown location, accessibility for patrons with disabilities, space for staff offices and off-street parking availability.

The library will be closed for about three weeks while staff take books and materials to the temporary location, which is scheduled to open on Sept. 16.

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

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Buoy Beer Co. opened a new taproom with Pilot House Distilling on Friday at the old Reach Break Brewing location downtown.

Jessyka Dart-Mclean, the marketing manager at Buoy Beer, said that since the partial collapse of the brewery and restaurant building along the waterfront two years ago, the company has looked for “places within Astoria that really work with the ethos and the culture of Buoy Beer, you know, sharing a space of drinking a beer with friends after a long day of work.

“We’ve always loved drinking beer on that patio,” she said of the former Reach Break space off Duane Street. “So it seems like … a little bit of a no-brainer.”

Take a look at the report by Audrey Saiz by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge