»INSIDE WEEKLY RTAINMENT ARTS & ENTE THURSDAY APRIL 1 2021 TIME H ges ROUG l ima IP TH PAGE 8 A TR s historical loca book feature New HAR EXPLORE GEAR AND SEASIDE’S ART WALKS T ENJOY STEW GS AND DUMPLIN FOR DINNER BIT MUSEUM EXHI FOCUSES ON S LUXURY SHIP PAGE 10 PAGE 6 PAGE 4 BAY CASINO; Col- SHOALWATER x 108 Front Cover- ; 756 235549-1; 04.01 x 1.5; XPos: 0 YPos: 0, Width: or; 4 148TH YEAR, NO. 118 DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2021 $1.50 CORONAVIRUS Appeals court overturns ‘peeping Tom’ convictions Cazee was sentenced to more than 35 years in prison By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Betty McWhorter leads the congregation at Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria, in-person and online, in prayer during the Palm Sunday service. ‘Throughout this year, we have never been alone’ At Easter, churches wonder about the future See Appeal, Page A6 Convention center looks beyond the pandemic By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian t isn’t usually so diffi cult for Betty McWhorter, a veteran Episcopalian reverend, to write the annual Easter letter to her congregation. But after a year marked by disease, isolation, loss and social upheaval — a year where Easter celebrations hap- pened on the calendar but not inside most church buildings — the interim rector for Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria labored over what to say this year. Easter, the spring time commem- oration of the death and resurrec- tion of Jesus, is seen by Christians as a time of renewal, newness. In the let- ter McWhorter eventually wrote, she concluded that, despite everything, “throughout this year, we have never been alone.” On Sunday, some North Coast churches will mark Easter in-person, with people sitting at a distance from each other, masked. Other churches will continue to worship over a Zoom call or Facebook Live. One church is in the middle of polling members about how they feel about returning to in-person worship and will off er a drive-thru style gathering instead. “All the trappings that we put around how to make it perfect: the music, the fl owers, the new clothes, the hats … whatever it is that we said, ‘Oh, this The Oregon Court of Appeals has overturned the convictions of a Surf Pines man who was found guilty of several charges tied to “peep- ing Tom” incidents in his neighborhood. Kirk Richard Cazee, 59, was sentenced to more than 35 years in prison in 2018 after a Cir- Kirk Richard Cazee cuit Court jury found him guilty of peering through bedroom windows and recording videos of residents during private moments. He was convicted on six counts of using a child in a display of sexual conduct, eight counts of invasion of personal privacy, fi ve counts of stalking and four counts of criminal trespass. The appeals court found that there was not probable cause to obtain a search warrant for Cazee’s cellphone because no one ever saw him holding a cellphone or using one during his crimes. I Manager hopeful that events will rebound A table at the entrance to Grace Episcopal Church has palm crosses for the congregants and sign-in sheets for contact tracing in the event of an exposure to COVID-19. makes a perfect Easter,’” McWhorter said. “Those have all been stripped away. We’re back to the bare bones of the story.” And even as communities fi nally start to see a light at the end of a long pan- demic tunnel, every church is going to come out of this changed, church leaders believe. The question is what to do next. ‘We have only met on Zoom’ Pastor Michael Avila has never met the congregations he leads in person. He was appointed to the United Method- ist churches in Seaside and Astoria last July, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. “We have only met on Zoom,” he said. At the direction of their bishop, the churches have continued to meet online even as churches in other denominations return to their buildings. So Avila stands in front of a camera during Eucha- rist, or Communion, in the offi ce that reminds him of NBC Studios in New York City — down to the blue curtain and the chilly temperatures — and says the familiar words: “This is the body of Christ, the bread of h eaven …” By R.J. MARX The Astorian SEASIDE — With a newly renovated building and contracts for events through 2030, Russ Vanden- berg, the general manager of the Sea- MORE side Civic and Con- INSIDE vention Center, pro- jected optimism as he County presented the center’s reports annual report. new virus “COVID-19 taught cases • A6 us to be stronger and more resilient,” he said. “We can now toss aside our 2020 calendars with hope and anticipation that 2021 will be a better year.” See Churches, Page A6 See Center, Page A6 A collaboration of craft and science Netmaking survives along the coast By JILLIAN FARMER The Other Oregon NEWPORT — In an industrial building near the port, men worked on a fi shing net to the sounds of the radio, the rain and the “click-click” of needles working the twine. “It’s not noisy,” said Sara Skam- ser, the owner of Foulweather Trawl . When it comes to making nets, Skamser said it is best described as knitting. Except she uses rope and twine instead of yarn. The basic material is commer- cial-grade fi sh netting, mostly poly- ethylene from Japan or Ireland. It arrives in a bale that’s about the size of a bale of hay. When the bale of netting arrives, it is opened “like a bolt of cloth” and pieces are then cut out and assem- bled into the shape of whichever net is being made. Rather than shap- ing the pieces into a pair of pants, Skamser said you would shape it, for example, into a funnel-shaped trawl net. “Then you use a needle full of twine and sew the seams,” she said. At Foulweather Trawl, that process is referred to as “lacing” and that needle is almost a foot long. “That’s how the shape and structure start coming together.” To make the net rugged enough to be pulled on and off a vessel, and strong enough to hold fi sh, ropes are then put on the laced seams to give it strength. Skamser started the business in 1984 with her husband, John, but never thought she would end up in such a niche market. Over the years, her business has stood out with its specialized nets designed to keep out unwanted fi sh. The style, spearheaded by scientists, made net fi shing much more pre- cise. That has earned Foulweather Trawl a customer base from Mon- terey Bay, California, to Neah Bay, Washington , and from Kodiak to Akutan, Alaska, as well as the Aleu- tian chain. Jillian Farmer See Nets, Page A6 Shawn Lafontaine, a net builder, holds up a shrimp net made with a grill to help keep out unwanted species.