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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City councilors in Gearhart on Wednesday voted to adopt an ordinance setting new parameters for tree removal.

The ordinance, which passed by a 3-2 vote, was introduced to the City Council earlier this year and has been a subject of discussion and revision for the past several months. The aim is to ensure that mature trees are cut only when necessary.

The city’s existing code allows property owners to cut up to five trees per year before needing a permit – but the new ordinance lowers that threshold.

Different iterations of the ordinance have yielded dozens of public comments, with some residents calling the rules an overreach and others viewing them as an important step for preserving trees. After numerous amendments, the ordinance now defines and sets requirements for two types of tree removal permits: major and minor.

See the story by Olivia Palmer by clicking here.

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The Sunset Empire Transportation District is looking to move forward on a microtransit pilot program with the help of a new $50,000 grant.

Microtransit is a flexible, on-demand transit service where participants use technology like an app to schedule rides.

In the spring of 2023, the transit district experienced a financial collapse that led to the temporary suspension of bus service and other operations. Jennifer Geisler, the district’s chief operations officer, said microtransit could play an important role in filling gaps as they work to rebuild.

“Even after and especially after the shutdown and coming back into service, we aren’t meeting what we used to do,” Geisler said in a presentation to the district’s board on Thursday. “And then there are also other parts of our community that we have never reached or still reach or don’t reach at all. So microtransit does offer efficient, shorter trips in those underserved or unserved areas.”

Read the story by Olivia Palmer by clicking here.

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Thirty Christmases. Thousands of kids. One Purple Cow Toys store for sale. After three decades of supplying fun to the smiling faces of Astoria, Katie Murray is ready to retire.

“It’s time to pass the torch on to somebody younger, more energetic,” she said.

The store’s lease on Commercial Street runs out in July.

“I’m hoping to have it done by then,” she said. “I would like to see somebody putting a new touch on it.”

Murray has started to put the word out and has already garnered some interest both locally and from out of town.

Murray and her late husband, Bill Colwill, opened Purple Cow Toys — “with no retail experience and on a shoestring budget”— on June 1, 1995 after they relocated to Astoria from New York.

Take a look at the story by freelancer Peter Korchnak by clicking here.

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— Derrick DePledge