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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Robert Morey, a developer who is campaigning for mayor, has offered to donate a portion of the old Gearhart Elementary School grounds to the city for a new public safety building.

City leaders have not decided on a location for construction, though they have considered rebuilding at the site of the aging fire station on Pacific Way that was built in 1958.

Gearhart has long sought to build a new firehouse or public safety building. Over the years, a vocal faction in the community has shown a preference for building at the existing location.

Voters rejected a $14.5 million bond measure in 2022 that would have financed a new firehouse off Highlands Lane along U.S. Highway 101. Earlier this year, residents pressured the City Council to drop Lesley Miller Park as a potential location for a public safety building.

“We happen to have sufficient extra land that we can provide alternatives to the city for locating their fire station, public safety building and also public works,” Morey, who purchased the former elementary school with his wife in 2020, told The Astorian. “It really fits in with us, once we know we have rezoning we know how our house is going to be situated on the lot.

“It’s something we can do, something the community needs an option on, so we’re just happy to do it.”

See the story by Jasmine Lewin by clicking here.

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Students in Clatsop County and across Oregon are still struggling to recover from pandemic-era learning loss, according to the latest Oregon State Assessment System scores.

The state Department of Education released results for all school districts on Thursday. Students in third-through-eighth grades and in 11th grade are tested each spring in math and language arts, although testing was waived for two years during the coronavirus pandemic. Students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades are tested in science.

Statewide, 42.5% of all students demonstrated proficiency in language arts, compared to 43% the previous year. Math scores saw a slight boost, with 31% of all students showing proficiency, up from 30.6% the previous year. In science, 29.3% were proficient, holding steady from 29.4% the previous year.

The state considers a proficient score as receiving a level three or four on the assessment, which is meant to track college and career readiness.

Scores in most Clatsop County school districts stubbornly hover below state averages in language arts, math and science, though county superintendents stress that the results — given that the state allows students to opt out of testing — are not the most accurate reflection of student performance.

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

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The Port of Astoria has taken its first big step toward the redevelopment of the waterfront in Uniontown.

On Tuesday, the Port Commission voted in favor of opening a request for expressions of interest for the revitalization between Pier 1 and the Astoria Bridge, with a particular emphasis on a hotel to replace the Astoria Riverwalk Inn.

The Port has worked with the city to develop a waterfront master plan, which received final approval from the City Council last year for zoning changes necessary for its implementation. The plan, crafted by Portland-based landscape architecture firm Walker Macy, outlines a new hotel, space for private marine industrial uses on Pier 1 and concepts for a market hall, fishing village and boardwalk around the West Mooring Basin.

Will Isom, the Port’s executive director, described the request for expressions of interest as “the first big public step forward” for the implementation of the waterfront master plan.

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

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— Derrick DePledge