146TH YEAR, NO. 121
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2018
ONE DOLLAR
Storm
headed
toward
coast
High winds, large surf
and potential flooding
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Becky Shinn, left, helps Carol Boothe with daily tasks in her apartment and running errands around Astoria.
Caregivers provide a
lifeline for people at home
Company
helps seniors
age in place
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
F
or nearly 20 years, Carol
Boothe has lived with the lim-
itations from past strokes, spi-
nal surgeries, nerve damage,
diabetes and other health issues.
She struggles to lift her arms high
enough to reach dishes in overhead
cupboards. A career cook, she can
no longer stand long enough to make
many of her favorites, such as holiday
cookies.
Boothe has been able to live inde-
pendently at the Owens-Adair Apart-
ments, in part because of caregivers
sent by Caring for the Coast, a pri-
vate in-home care service that started
in Astoria a decade ago and has since
expanded around the state.
“I couldn’t do it without this girl,”
Boothe said of Becky Shinn, one
of three caregivers who take shifts
Wednesdays and Thursdays, helping
her with everything from cooking to
picking up her medication.
Shinn, one of more than 130 care-
givers at Caring for the Coast, was
matched with Boothe two years ago
after one of her previous helpers mar-
ried a Coast Guardsman and moved to
Alaska.
“She knew my mom from the
American Legion — small town, you
know,” Shinn said of Boothe.
Growing business
Caring for the Coast, previously
A powerful storm could bring high
winds and surf, heavy rain and potential
flooding to the North Coast, weather offi-
cials warned.
“The strongest storm so far this
season appears likely to impact southwest
Washington and northwest Oregon late
Monday into Tuesday, bringing heavy
rain and gusty winds to the region,”
the National Weather Service said in a
statement.
See Storm, Page A4
Oregon
may allow
expanded
DNA tests
on evidence
Another chance to
challenge convictions
Carol Boothe, left, said she is grateful for the support of in-home caregivers like
Becky Shinn who help her remain independent.
Mr. Fluff stands watch over owner
Carol Boothe, right, and her in-home
caregiver Becky Shinn.
located in the Fisher Brothers Building
near Buoy Beer Co., recently moved
to a more visible location in the Allen
Building at the corner of 10th and
Commercial streets.
“We’ve been around a long time,
but if you ask around, there’s a fair seg-
ment of the population that’s not aware
of us,” said Adrian “AJ” Siegmann,
owner of Caring for the Coast.
Siegmann had worked in a similar
business with his mother in his home
state of Indiana. He and his wife grew
enamored with the Oregon Coast and
moved in 2007, starting Caring for the
Coast. It is one of the few local provid-
ers of in-home care, along with Clat-
sop Care Center Health District. Clat-
sop County’s online nursing home is
also operated by Clatsop Care Center.
“We want you to have the option
of living out your golden years some-
where you’re familiar,” Siegmann said.
Since opening, Caring for the Coast
has grown to cover Clatsop and Til-
lamook counties and has 138 cli-
ents. Several years ago, the company
was awarded a contract with the state
to provide in-home care services to
See Caring, Page A7
By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — After 18 years in prison,
Gerard Richardson walked free in 2013.
He had been found wrongfully convicted
in New Jersey of murder.
Experts say if an Oregon court found
him guilty, he would still be imprisoned.
That’s because Richardson’s freedom
followed testing of DNA evidence after
his conviction.
Richardson shared his case with Ore-
gon legislators Friday, joining an effort to
modify Oregon’s restrictive law govern-
ing such testing.
While getting a judge to approve the
testing in New Jersey was a long process,
in Oregon it would have been next to
impossible, according to Michelle Feld-
man, legislative specialist for the Inno-
cence Project.
Oregon law states if a person con-
victed of a crime wants subsequent DNA
testing of evidence, they must show “that
DNA testing of the evidence would,
assuming exculpatory results, lead to a
finding that the person is actually inno-
cent of the offense for which the person
was convicted.”
See DNA, Page A7
A Dave of all trades
Fondren takes on
odd jobs to support
his true passion
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
D
ave Fondren is a man of
many trades.
One of the region’s
younger artisan black-
smiths through his company,
Lonely Crow Forge, Fon-
dren, 30, recently started a
moving service and is set-
ting up a pressure-washing
company to help support
himself, his son, Oberon,
and his passion.
Originally from Olym-
pia, Washington, Fondren
grew up an Army brat mov-
ing around the U.S., from
New York and Texas to New
Mexico and Alaska. Since
his teenage years, he has
mostly lived along the lower
Columbia River.
Fondren isn’t shy about
the struggles he and his fam-
ily have gone through with
drugs. At 13, he was intro-
duced to methamphetamine
by his parents and didn’t
kick the habit until several
years later, after his niece
was born, he said. While his
father instilled a hardwork-
ing spirit, he was never
allowed to do anything and
often put down by his par-
ents. He said he was buoyed
by friends.
“By the time I had the
opportunity, I wanted to
learn all the things,” he said.
Fondren has held sev-
eral odd jobs since he was
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
See Fondren, Page A7
Dave Fondren is a local artisan blacksmith through his
company, Lonely Crow Forge.