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THURSDAY
APRIL 8
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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021
148TH YEAR, NO. 121
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Church annex draws
ire of neighbors
Uppertown
church wants
to expand
Hood to
Coast
could
return
Last year’s event was a
casualty of the pandemic
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
L
ief Erikson Drive in Uppertown
divides
the
neighborhood
between large commercial prop-
erties such as Safeway and Comfort
Suites to the north and mostly sin-
gle-family homes to the south.
A proposed annex by Bethany
Free Lutheran Church on 34th Street
has two families up the hill opposed
to what they see as encroachment of
another box of a building on a historic
neighborhood.
Bethany Free Lutheran, formed in
1890, spent nearly a century on Frank-
lin Avenue amid a collection of his-
toric homes on a bluff overlooking the
Columbia River. The church moved in
the 1980s to 34th Street, buying a lot
across the street and next to the U.S.
Customs house replica for overfl ow
parking and an eventual expansion.
Craig Johnson, the pastor of Beth-
any Free Lutheran for more than
20 years, said there has long been
talk of building an annex across the
street. Older congregation members
have expressed concerns over lim-
ited access to the Astoria Senior Cen-
ter, he said, while church-related youth
groups have found it more diffi cult to
fi nd after-school activity space in pub-
lic buildings.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Vincent Tadei sits next to his window, which overlooks the Columbia River and the
lot Bethany Free Lutheran Church plans to develop. Bethan Free Lutheran Church
is facing opposition from some neighbors over plans to develop a 5,000-square-
foot annex on this plot of land.
See Relay, Page A6
RDA Project Management
See Annex, Page A6
SEASIDE — The Hood to Coast Relay
is back on track .
The “mother of all relays,” which was
canceled last summer because of the coro-
navirus pandemic , could take place Aug.
27 and Aug. 28, with 12-member teams
running 199 miles from the top of Mount
Hood to the beach in Seaside.
“We’ve been planning on operating
our 2021 relay events since the beginning
of the year,” Hood to Coast Chief Oper-
ating Offi cer Dan Floyd said . “We feel
strongly that we can safely operate the
2021 events.”
The relay team lottery has fi lled its
limit, with 1,050 Hood to Coast running
teams and 400 Portland to Coast Walk
Bethany Free Lutheran Church is planning a 5,000-square-foot annex on 34th Street.
County to
remain at
moderate
risk for virus
Recent spike not enough
to change risk level
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Clatsop County will remain at mod-
erate risk for the coronavirus on Friday
even after a recent spike in cases.
The county has been at moderate risk
since late March.
“We are at a critical moment in this
pandemic as we face
more contagious vari-
ants of COVID-19 tak-
MORE
ing hold in our com-
INSIDE
munities,” Gov. Kate
County
Brown said in a state-
reports
ment Tuesday. “Now
new virus
more than ever it’s
cases • A6
imperative that we
all continue wearing
masks, maintain physi-
cal distance, stay home when sick and get
the vaccine when it’s available to you.”
See Risk, Page A6
Educators expect
strong demand
for kindergarten
A large class likely
at Astor Elementary
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Educators expect a large
class of incoming k inder-
gartners at Astor Elemen-
tary in September as regis-
tration opens this month.
The Astoria School Dis-
trict started this school year
online only and principal
Kate Gohr believes many
families opted to wait a
year to enroll their young-
est children. Some rea-
soned that their kids would
gain little from online
schooling while the s chool
d istrict remained shut
down to in-person classes
because of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Now, with widespread
vaccinations
underway
and a more positive out-
look on pandemic-related
precautions, Gohr expects
See Kindergarten, Page A6
Leaders back historic cemetery name
Pioneer Cemetery
was once called
Hillside Cemetery
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
John Goodenberger, a local historian and preservationist,
said the stone Astoria Pioneer Cemetery plaque would likely
stay as part of the site’s history after the name reverts to
Hillside Cemetery.
The Astoria Pioneer Cem-
etery, a burial ground off
Niagara Avenue that used to
be named the Hillside Ceme-
tery, will revert to its histori-
cal name during a restoration
by Clatsop Community Col-
lege students.
Astoria city council-
ors on Monday voiced their
approval of the college using
the older name in a new
wooden sign on 14th Street a
student will make as part of
their capstone project.
In 1865, John Welch
deeded land for Hillside
Cemetery, which replaced
Potter’s Field at 14th and
Irving Avenue as the city’s
primary burial ground . By
the 20th century, the city
established Ocean View
Cemetery in Warrenton and
outlawed further interments
in Astoria.
Many
bodies
were
exhumed and moved to
See Cemetery, Page A6