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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Visitors to the Astoria Aquatic Center could see an increase in facilities and programming, as the city’s Parks and Recreation Department aims to expand the complex on Marine Drive.

Jonah Dart-Mclean, the city’s parks and recreation director, and Tyler Lyngstad, recreation manager, presented the expansion plan at a City Council work session on Monday night.

The expansion was included as a target in the city’s 2016 parks master plan. Last year, the City Council voted to approve a contract with Scott Edwards Architecture, a Portland firm, to conduct a feasibility study and come up with a preliminary design.

Dart-Mclean spoke about the history and use of the aquatic center, which was constructed in the 1990s. The facility is used by U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers, the Astoria High School swim team, the Columbia Memorial Hospital physical therapy program and others.

“All use that facility for various purposes,” Dart-Mclean said. “So we really see that that was a tremendous amount of forethought from the community to build this, and we want to find ways to sustain it.”

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

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In the final weeks before new rules for flood plain development take effect in Clatsop County, local leaders are bracing for changes they say could affect residents across the region.

The rules — which the Federal Emergency Management Agency is requiring jurisdictions throughout Oregon to adopt by December — would halt or limit new development in special flood hazard areas.

“This is an issue of supreme importance to both the cost of living here on the coast and to our way of life,” Warrenton Mayor Henry Balensifer said at a town hall at Warrenton High School on Monday. “And this is not just for builders. This has to do with if you want to do something to your existing home. This is going to have to do with things if there’s any damages, if you have an apartment complex and something happens, this is going to affect your rent. This is going to affect infrastructure projects.”

Read the story by Olivia Palmer by clicking here.

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On the North Coast, a new program is paving the way for more diverse voices in conservation.

Días del Salmon — a project aimed at increasing engagement and education opportunities for Latinx residents — is a partnership between the Necanicum Watershed Council and Consejo Hispano. The two organizations began working together in 2022, and in August, they formalized their relationship through a memorandum of agreement.

“By working together, both organizations can ensure that conservation efforts are culturally inclusive and accessible to historically underserved (communities),” Jenny Pool Radway, Consejo Hispano’s executive director, told The Astorian in a statement.

Pool Radway sees the partnership as an opportunity to not only share resources and expertise for more comprehensive programs, but to ensure that people in the Latinx community are actively involved in conservation and environmental initiatives. According to recent census estimates, about 10% of Clatsop County’s population is Hispanic or Latino — but over time, the watershed council has identified gaps in its outreach. Through Días del Salmon, they’re looking to expand their reach with bilingual youth education programming, adult workshops and Spanish-language materials.

“We know that we have a big Hispanic community and Latin community in the Necanicum basin and in Clatsop County,” said Djennyfer de Melo Ferreira, the nonprofit’s stewardship and restoration director, “and we wanted to give them active voice and participation in the decisions that we do.”

Take a look at the story by Olivia Palmer by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge