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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2020)
»INSIDE THURSDAY AUG. 13 2020 ABOVE ASTORIA REAL FLAVOR PARKS MUSEUMS, SEE AND ART TO PAGE 2 NDS HOLIDAY FRIE ALBUM RELEASE NEW PAGE 6 PAGE 3 RY, THWEST POET K NEW NOR TOG RAPHY BOO PHO 4 PAGE $ 100 HOURLY CASH DRAWINGS! 148TH YEAR, NO. 19 ays 11am AUGU ST: Sund s 5pm - 9pm - 9pm & Wednesday DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 $1.50 CORONAVIRUS Historic fishing boat gets another chance Seaside will start school remotely over virus New campus still under construction By R.J. MARX The Astorian SEASIDE — There will still be some construc- tion activity at the new school campus even after students return to in-per- son classes later this fall. Seaside Superintendent Susan Penrod on Tuesday recommended starting the school year with a distance learning model for the fi rst six weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic before returning to in-per- son learning in late Octo- ber. Students can also opt for 100% online learning. During a recent qual- ity control check, ran- dom testing revealed the weather barrier on parts of the high school and middle school was thinner than specifi ed, Cary Bubenik, operations manager for Steve Petersen steers the John M with owner Kent Craford’s two sons aboard on the Skipanon River in Warrenton. Petersen and local shipwright Ric Lahti rebuilt the historic gillnet boat. New life for the John M By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian ent Craford’s wife used to joke that she’d probably have to bury him in the old gillnet boat he bought on a whim when they were young and broke and that for years his children called “the rusty boat.” Many people’s boat dreams have sunk at the dock — to the despair of marina managers everywhere. But not the John M, Craford’s 113-year old wooden fi shing boat. Yes, it nearly sank one day in 2010 when the pump failed and rainwater fi lled it. That was a turning point. Craford, who spent summers in Forest Grove and sailed with his grandfather on the Columbia River and around Puget Island, is the co-owner of Alaska Seaplanes. He remembers looking at the John M and thinking, “I need to sell this boat or really do some- thing about it.” Nearly 10 years later, the John M is ready to launch again. Rebuilt by local shipwrights Ric Lahti and Steve Petersen, the John M preserves a shape that regional historians and boatbuilders say is almost impossible to fi nd anymore even though such boats once formed the backbone of Columbia River salmon fi shing. “I think it’s an incredible piece of our region’s maritime history,” Craford said. “It’s one of a kind. K Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian Kent Craford examines original pieces of the John M that did not make it back into the rebuild. It’s among the oldest of its kind and it’s just a delight to be able to use it and to have another generation of kids — my kids and others — have some connection to it and to the river history.” He knows how quickly that history is fading, how easy it is for old boats to melt away into the landscape. ‘Boat nut’ Craford fi rst saw the John M “looking forlorn” at the Elochoman Slough Marina in Cathlamet, Wash- ington , in 1999. His grandfather, a “boat nut” who particularly loved old wooden boats, used to take him to the docks in Astoria and Ilwaco and Nahcotta . Craford knew what he was looking at, and exactly how rare it was to see. See Boat, Page A6 Kent Craford Previous owners of the John M take the boat out for a ride. Hoffman Construction, said at Tuesday’s citizen oversight committee on school construction. The weather barrier, a sprayed-on application, allows the substrate to breathe but prevents mois- ture from getting into the building. While consid- ered adequate, the con- struction team chose to replace the barrier. The area impacted is a portion of the building between the middle school gym at the north end and the high school gym at the south. “We’re going to reap- ply the weather barrier and we’ve ordered new brick and brick veneer, and (will) reinstall the metal panels at no cost to the project, ” Bubenik said. See Seaside, Page A6 Warrenton talks turn fowl Some residents upset about chickens By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian WARRENTON — Chickens technically aren’t allowed on properties of less than 1 acre in Warren- ton, although the city has mostly looked the other way as long as neighbors don’t complain. But after a neighborhood dispute over a coop in Ham- mond, the City Commission is looking at how to better govern fowl. Ben Garber owns Dock 420 B&B, a marijua- na-friendly homestay lodg- ing near Fort Stevens State Park. He lives on the prop- erty and rents out most of it to help cover his mortgage and travel. Garber unsuccessfully tried to bring a box of dead fl ies into City Commis- sion chambers Tuesday. He told commissioners the fl ies had come from a coop Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Warrenton residents are not supposed to have chickens in their yards if they live on less than 1 acre. next door, where he said the neighbors had amassed 12 hens, a rooster and several ducks. On Wednesday at his house, he held aloft two fl y traps fi lled with carcasses he said had been gathered over only three days. Others still buzzed around the property. “They’re beautiful,” Garber said of the chickens and ducks. “I’ve got nothing against animals. It’s respect- ing your neighbors.” The city fi ned the neigh- bors around $1,000 for hav- ing a rooster. City Manager Linda Engbretson said the See Chickens, Page A6 Late hairdresser was a fi xture in Uniontown Adolphson was committed to his community By NICOLE BALES The Astorian LeRoy Adolphson, a hairdresser who was a fi xture in Uniontown, died on Aug. 5, just three weeks after being diagnosed with lung can- cer, his friends said. A gracious but gruff man often referred to by his friends as “Ming the Merciless,” Adolphson, 72, was a visible part of Astoria’s gay commu- nity. A longtime advocate for Union- town, he is remembered for his lead- ership and deep commitment to his community, friends and clients. “Some people would say he was the unoffi cial mayor of Uniontown,” said Tessa Scheller, chairwoman of the Lower Columbia Q Center. “Other people would say he was the queen of Uniontown.” Adolphson’s legacy has been described as an extension of his grandmother, Emilia Peuhku- rinen-Bohm, a communist who ran for mayor of Astoria in 1934 and was ostracized for her activism. “That sense of personal freedoms was really dear to him. That’s what he magnifi ed that Emilia started,” Scheller said. “And growing up as a young gay kid before the word ‘gay’ was even used, he kind of led the way in understanding what it means to be oppressed and marginalized and to hold your head high and to stand tall,” Scheller added. Colin Murphey/The Astorian See Adolphson, Page A2 LeRoy Adolphson cuts a clients hair in 2017 in Astoria.
