Local News

Talk of Our Towns – March 07 2024

Donna Quinn interviews guest Elizabeth Hayes, the President of the ENCORE, about the classes their organization offers. These classes cover across a range of subjects in the interest of our elder community members. They discuss the importance and benefits of providing a place for seniors to learn and grow together.


Officials propose solutions for Westend water

ROSBURG, WASH. — At Ron Thielen’s house near the end of Oneida Road in Wahkiakum County, Washington, an engineered rainwater collection system is his source of water. He is not alone. There are no water facilities along this stretch of State Route 4 from the Wahkiakum County-Pacific County line to the Deep River Bridge just…


Crabbers rebound from Ilwaco fire

ILWACO, Wash. — On Monday, commercial crabbers in Oregon and Washington state started dropping baited circular steel crab pots into the ocean. On Thursday, they will start hauling them back up — hopefully full of Dungeness crab. It’s a critical and fast-paced time. The bulk of the crab caught in the lucrative fishery is typically…


Landslide closes road, impacts homes

ASTORIA, Ore. — A shallow, slow-moving landslide impacted seven houses in Astoria’s Uppertown neighborhood over the weekend.  As of Sunday evening, five houses have been “red tagged,” meaning they are unsafe to occupy at this time, according to Jeff Harrington, public works director for Astoria. City Manager Scott Spence says the area moving near 27th…


Cause of Ilwaco fire still unknown

  ILWACO, Wash. — The cause of a massive fire that destroyed a seafood landing facility and thousands of commercial crab pots in Ilwaco on Monday is still unknown. Investigators from Pierce County and from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were expected to be on scene Wednesday to conduct a routine investigation….


Fire devastates Ilwaco seafood facility

ILWACO, Wash. — A massive fire broke out at a crab-landing facility in Pacific County on Monday, inflicting significant damage on the facility and destroying fishing gear ahead of Washington’s commercial Dungeness crab season. Ilwaco residents were warned to stay indoors and keep windows and doors shut because of hazardous smoke from the fire. This…


Winter weather slows North Coast

NORTH COAST, Ore. —With winter storm warnings and advisories in effect across much of the state, county officials on Oregon’s North Coast are urging people to stay home. Clatsop County officials say the hazardous and icy conditions that arrived Saturday morning  have made it difficult to apply treatments to roads and sidewalks. Local roads and…


Boil water notice lifted at Evergreen Acres in Jewell

JEWELL, Ore. — The water is safe to drink again in a rural neighborhood that has been living under a boil water notice for more than a year. State and county officials announced Friday evening that samples from the Evergreen Acres water system have come back clean of coliform bacteria, or E. coli. The system…


Water crisis deepens in Jewell neighborhood

JEWELL, Ore. — A rural neighborhood on Oregon’s North Coast that has been living under a boil water notice for more than a year did not have any water at all for several days this week. Residents said Tony Cavin, who operates the Evergreen Acres water system that provides drinking water to around 100 people,…



Beacon RV owners face penalties

ILWACO, Wash. — A Washington state judge has ordered that the owners of an RV park in Pacific County violated the customer protection act when they tried to illegally evict tenants last year. On Thursday, Judge Katherine Svoboda issued an order granting partial summary judgement in the lawsuit filed by the Washington Attorney General’s Office…



Investigation finds Rockaway Beach shooting justified

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. — The fatal shooting of a Rockaway Beach man by officers in September was justified according to findings released this week. In a lengthy statement, Tillamook County District Attorney Aubrey Olson detailed her review of the Clatsop County Major Crimes Team investigation into the incident, described the events leading up to the…


Astoria prepares for Halloween

ASTORIA, Ore. — For years, kids in Astoria have known you get the really big candy bars at Coast Guard housing. The South Slope neighborhood attracts a truly astonishing crowd of trick-or-treaters to a relatively small area on Halloween: an actual sea of people surging together up and down the sidewalks. Often many families in…



More details released about Rockaway Beach shooting

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. — More details have been released about an officer-involved shooting in Rockaway Beach. The shooting on Sept. 7 left one Rockaway Beach man dead and the community with lingering questions. The two officers involved — a Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office deputy and an Oregon State Police trooper — have both been placed on…



New collective helps people navigate death — and dying

CLATSOP COUNTY, Ore. — Jeff Carlsen and his wife thought they were ready to have the conversation. They’d been reading books about death and dying and thinking about how they wanted to approach this time of their life. They were older and the idea of their own mortality was becoming less abstract. They felt open…


Cougar sighting rattles Cannon Beach

CANNON BEACH, Ore. — Cannon Beach’s most famous landmark was closed all day Sunday after one stubborn and unusual visitor refused to leave. When Mylasia Miklas, the communications coordinator for the Haystack Rock Awareness Program, saw a picture of a cougar prowling around Haystack Rock, her first thought was that it couldn’t be real. She…


Nurses picket in Astoria

ASTORIA, Ore. — Nurses at Columbia Memorial Hospital are not on strike – at least not yet.  But on Tuesday they held an informational picket in front of the Astoria hospital — a sort of prelude to a possible strike. The demonstration was an attempt to sway administration as the labor union, which represents around…


Brewery building’s future unclear one year later

ASTORIA, Ore. — A year after a portion of Buoy Beer Co.’s waterfront facility collapsed over the Columbia River, the fate of the building remains in limbo. Buoy has no permits in front of city building officials for the structure located between Seventh and Eighth streets. “We’re waiting to hear from the property owners about…


Hospital expansion estimated at $175 million

ASTORIA, Ore. — A filing with the Oregon Health Authority has revealed the estimated price tag for major expansion plans at Astoria’s Columbia Memorial Hospital — and it’s big. In a letter of intent to the state, the hospital says the project is estimated to cost $175 million, not including interest. The 180,000-square feet of…


Federal protection sought for sunflower sea stars

The last time Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock Awareness Program recorded a sighting of a sunflower sea star was in 2019.  They are one of the largest sea stars in the world, measuring up to one meter across, with as many as 20 arms. Voracious predators, they feed on urchins, fish and even birds. For visitors…


Fire destroys High Life zip line building

WARRENTON, Ore. — A massive, quick-moving fire destroyed a building at the High Life Adventures zip line facility in Warrenton early Thursday morning. The building included the High Life Zip N’ Sip Restaurant and a workshop. The Warrenton Fire Department responded to the fire just after 1 a.m. and had to call in the Astoria…


Shelter options remain scarce in Astoria

Astoria, Ore. — Winter hit Oregon’s North Coast especially hard in the last half of February. For homeless people in the Astoria area, the dip in temperatures and the snow, ice and windstorms came at a time when there were even fewer than usual options for shelter. The Astoria Warming Center, which would typically provide…


City eyes erosion issues on Riverwalk

ASTORIA, Ore. — It is Astoria’s most-used park and one of its iconic attractions, but the Astoria Riverwalk along the Columbia River took a beating during storms this winter. Created in the mid-90s, the Riverwalk has never seen so much damage in terms of the number of locations affected. City staff met with officials from…


Crab fishermen weather mixed season

It was a dream season for Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishery last year. Fishing began on the traditional Dec. 1 opener for the first time in years. Domoic acid, a marine toxin that has hampered the valuable commercial fishery time and again in recent years, was almost nowhere to be seen in Oregon or Washington state waters….


Poaching at Haystack Rock raises concerns

CANNON BEACH — Someone is stealing mussels off the iconic Haystack Rock. Bald patches on the rock and nearby boulders have appeared after nighttime and evening low tides — after staff and volunteers with the city-run Haystack Rock Awareness Program have gone home. In addition to the bare spots, volunteers and city staff have found…



Jacob Lewin interviews candidates for Astoria City Council

KMUN’s Jacob Lewin recently spoke with each of the four candidates running for positions on the Astoria City Council in this November’s election. Below are the interviews in their entirety: Council Ward 1: Andrew Davis: Geoff Gunn: Council Ward 3: Elisabeth Adams: Kris Haefker:   Andrew Davis is a research analyst for the Oregon Health…