A6
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, ApRIl 8, 2021
Relay: ‘This is all subject to change’
Continued from page A1
teams. A new event, the 130-
mile Portland to Coast Chal-
lenge Relay, leaving from the
Tilikum Crossing Bridge in
Portland, is open to 70 teams.
Still, the race series needs
approval from all 35 govern-
ing bodies along the route,
Floyd said. “Therefore, our
neighbors and the commu-
nities that host the event
will have to permit the event
first,” he said.
In March 2018, Seaside
and Hood to Coast inked
a new contract, starting at
$25,000 and increasing 5%
a year through 2022, when
Hood to Coast will pay the
city more than $30,000.
The 2019 relay brought
19,000 runners and walkers
to Seaside, and another 3,000
volunteers. Organizers esti-
mated between 40,000 and
60,000 participants, specta-
Hood to Coast Race Series
Runners at the starting line of the Hood to Coast Relay.
tors, family and friends.
The event delivered more
than $900,000 to the Provi-
dence Cancer Institute.
Last year’s Hood to Coast
was a casualty of the pan-
demic, which also led to
the cancellation of the Sea-
side Beach Volleyball Tour-
nament, the Miss Oregon
Scholarship Program and
the Fourth of July fireworks
show.
The Hood to Coast and
Portland to Coast relays will
come with social distancing
in place, face coverings and
contactless team check-in,
among other safety measures.
“Relay events are innately
socially distanced, as only
one member of a relay team
participates at any given
time,” Floyd said.
Runners will cross the fin-
ish line at the beach in Sea-
side as in years past. After-
ward, however, activities
have been curtailed, Seaside
Chamber of Commerce CEO
Brian Owen said.
“As for the beer garden,
I do not believe we will be
able to have this feature,” he
said. “We hope that the event
attendees who would gener-
ally stay for the runners’ party
will instead stay and visit our
restaurants and bars, creating
mini runners’ parties meeting
all current regulations.”
“Right now, we intend
to hold the ‘finish’ in Sea-
side, but not a ‘finish party,’”
Floyd said. “We are not going
to encourage large gatherings
by having a band, fenced
areas, or in-person dining.
This is all subject to change,
but for now, game on!”
County reports
six new virus cases
The Astorian
Clatsop County has reported six new corona-
virus cases over the past few days.
On Wednesday, the county reported two
cases.
The cases involve a woman in her 20s and a
woman in her 70s living in the southern part of
the county.
One was hospitalized and the other was
recovering at home. The county did not disclose
which one was hospitalized.
On Tuesday, the county reported four cases.
The cases involve two men in their 20s living
in the southern part of the county and a man in
his 30s and a man in his 40s living in the north-
ern part of the county.
One was hospitalized for an issue unrelated
to the virus, according to the county. The others
were recovering at home.
The county has recorded 849 cases since the
start of the pandemic. According to the county,
20 were hospitalized and seven have died.
Annex: Likely won’t come anytime soon Cemetery: ‘There’s a
lot of history up there’
Continued from page A1
“There’s a variety of ways
it could be used that we’re
looking at, in trying to serve
the community in various
ways,” he said.
The Astoria Historic Land-
marks Commission approved
a plan by the church in March
to build a 5,000-square-foot
annex, including covered
parking, a basketball half-
court, showers and a kitchen.
Gabled to mimic Bethany
Free Lutheran, the building’s
roof rises to 34 feet and runs
east-west.
Appeal
Peter, Paul and Susan
Tadei, whose family owns
a historic home above the
field, and neighbor Riley Pitts
appealed the project to the
City Council. The Tadei sib-
lings argue their father, Vin-
cent Tadei, would unfairly
lose his view after 88 years in
the historic home.
“This is not the neighbor-
hood for a building of this
size and scope,” Susan Tadei
said. “Not all property in
this city is meant to be built
upon.”
Carrie Richter, a lawyer
for the appellants, argued that
the landmarks commission
improperly compared the
annex to large commercial
buildings and a nonhistoric
church when determining
neighborhood compatibil-
ity, rather than accounting for
the historic homes it would
dwarf.
Allan McMakin, who
lives in the former Bethany
Free Lutheran Church on
Franklin Avenue, expressed
concern that the new annex
would limit access by neigh-
bors who use an easement to
reach downhill properties.
Continued from page A1
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Bethany Free Lutheran Church is on 34th Street.
Randy Stemper, who
defended against the appeal
as project manager for Beth-
any Free, said the church has
gone out of its way to work
with neighbors and has met all
the city’s criteria. The church
looked at moving the annex
farther east to avoid blocking
views but is restricted by a
city sewer easement, he said.
“We’ve proposed mul-
tiple different things with
the neighborhood to try and
make everybody happy,”
Stemper said. “But at the end
of the day, we have asked to
develop the property in what
is a compatible use and an
outright use to the city of
Astoria.”
City councilors commis-
erated with the Tadei family
and acknowledged the gray
area created by neighbor-
hood compatibility not being
defined in city code. But they
backed the landmarks com-
mission’s decision with a 4-1
vote Monday.
“I feel for the neighbor-
hood who disagree with …
the structure itself, the size
of it,” City Councilor Joan
Herman said. “But for its site
right along U.S. (Highway)
30, or very, very close to it, I
don’t think it’s incompatible.”
City Councilor Tom
Brownson argued that the
historic homes involved in
the appeal do not face the pro-
posed annex and thus are not
relevant to the design, which
is meant to mimic the church.
City Councilor Tom
Hilton, who represents
Uppertown, was the lone vote
in support of the appeal.
“I believe in the historical
significance of our commu-
nity,” Hilton said. “There’s
no doubt about that. I think
in some way, if this goes
through and they do build
this building, that in some
way they should protect the
rights of the neighbors so that
Mr. Tadei has a view, and his
neighbors have access to their
properties.”
The Tadei family has
not indicated whether they
will appeal the decision to
the state Land Use Board of
Appeals.
Fundraising
The annex likely won’t
come anytime soon, with
Bethany Free Lutheran still
needing to raise two-thirds of
the estimated cost to build it.
The church has also put the
construction phase on hold
until it finds a new pastor to
replace Johnson, who is mov-
ing to Washington state at the
Some
neighbors
have
opposed the development of
the church’s building.
end of April.
Mickey Cereghino, part
of Bethany Free Lutheran
for seven years and a board
member, said church mem-
bers will eventually vote
on whether to construct the
annex.
Cereghino is an art teacher
at Astoria High School and a
coordinator with Young Life,
a Christian youth group unaf-
filiated with the church. He
reiterated the difficulty of
finding event space and said
the annex would help serve
youth and other community
organizations.
“Our mission is to spread
the love and the word of Jesus
as far as we can, and as inti-
mately as we can with as
many community members
and people out there as we’re
able to,” he said. “The annex,
or the multipurpose build-
ing, we just feel it would be
a wonderful tool to be able to
do that.”
Risk: ‘We are going to see more cases’
Continued from page A1
Clatsop County is one of
six counties that will be at
moderate risk through April
22. Fourteen counties will be
at high risk and 16 will be at
lower risk.
Counties with a popu-
lation of 30,000 or more
are evaluated for risk based
on virus cases per 100,000
over two weeks and the test
positivity rate for the same
period.
Counties at moderate risk
have a case rate between 50
and 100 per 100,000 people,
and may have a test positivity
between 5% and 8%.
As of Saturday, Clat-
sop County had 97 cases per
100,000 over a two-week
period. Test positivity was
5.4%.
Capacity for indoor din-
ing at restaurants and bars in
counties at moderate risk is
50% or 100 people, which-
ever is smaller, with an
11 p.m. closing time and a
maximum of six people per
table. Up to 150 people can
dine outdoors. Tables must
be limited to eight people.
Gyms, indoor pools,
museums, theaters and other
entertainment venues can
operate at 50% of capacity or
CLATSOP COUNTY HAS STARTED
VACCINATING FINAL PRIORITY
GROUPS, INCLUDING FRONT-LINE
WORKERS AND PEOPLE LIVING IN
MULTIGENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS.
100 people total, whichever
is smaller. Indoor full-contact
sports are prohibited.
Grocery stores, pharma-
cies, retail shops and shop-
ping malls can operate at
75% of capacity.
Churches can convene at
50% occupancy indoors or
150 people total, whichever
is smaller, and 250 people
outdoors.
Indoor social gatherings
must be limited to eight peo-
ple from two households in
counties at moderate risk.
Outdoor gatherings can have
10 people.
Indoor and outdoor visits
are allowed at long-term care
facilities.
Employers should recom-
mend remote work if able.
The county has recorded
849 virus cases since the
pandemic began. According
to the county, 20 were hospi-
talized and seven have died.
Margo Lalich, the coun-
ty’s interim public health
director, said the county is
going to see more cases.
“And yet we’re being told
that we can open up more,
people can move about in the
community more,” Lalich
said during a county Board
of Commissioners work ses-
sion Tuesday. “We’re seeing
less people wearing masks.
It’s spring break. There’s
more people here. It’s fantas-
tic everything’s opening up
— schools are meeting more
in person, kids are playing
sports. So we are going to see
more cases.
“The challenge is if it
moves us into that high-
risk level, it becomes that
much more challenging to
shut everything back down
again, and move across the
spectrum.
“The message continues
to be, even though people
are getting vaccinated, even
though we’re being told we
can go travel, the reality is
there are still infections. And
people need to wear their
masks and they need to wash
their hands and they need to
stay home if they’re symp-
tomatic and they need to get
tested.”
Brown announced Tues-
day that all Oregonians over
16 will be eligible for vacci-
nation on April 19. The Biden
administration last month
instructed all states to make
vaccines available to every-
one no later than May 1. The
president on Tuesday moved
the deadline up to April 19.
Clatsop County has
started vaccinating final pri-
ority groups, including front-
line workers and people liv-
ing in multigenerational
households.
People 16 to 44 with
underlying health conditions
are also eligible for the vac-
cine, but the county is only
vaccinating people 18 years
and older since the Moderna
vaccine, which is the one
administered at the clinics,
has not yet been approved for
people under 18.
As of Monday, more than
17,000 vaccine doses have
been administered in the
county, and about 5,200 peo-
ple are fully vaccinated.
Ocean View, along with the
private Greenwood Cem-
etery established in 1891
near Olney. The Hillside
Cemetery fell into disrepair.
Residents spruced up
Hillside Cemetery as a park
in the 1950s and ‘60s. They
installed a wooden sign on
14th and a stone plaque
detailing Welch’s dona-
tion and the site’s history,
albeit under the name Asto-
ria Pioneer Cemetery.
City councilors shared
their surprise at the site’s
history and supported add-
ing interpretive signage.
Mayor Bruce Jones said
he’d always heard of Pio-
neer Cemetery since mov-
ing to Astoria in 2011 until
several months ago, when
someone told him about
Hillside. Later research
found references of Hill-
side Cemetery dating back
to the 1880s.
“It’s a fascinating exam-
ple of the sort of layers and
layers of history in this
town, the little mysteries,”
Jones said.
Some have raised con-
cerns that the Pioneer Cem-
etery name also glossed
over the nuanced, often vio-
lent history between Native
Americans and Euro-
pean settlers. It also didn’t
encompass the wide demo-
graphics John Gooden-
berger, a local historian and
preservationist, said have
been identified at the site.
“There were Native
Americans there,” he said.
“There were Chinese labor-
ers there. There were Scan-
dinavian cannery work-
ers there, et cetera. And
so it’s a swath of Astoria’s
history.”
College students docu-
mented tombstones at Hill-
side Cemetery, something
Goodenberger said has
been done several times
throughout history and
could help track the move-
ment of bodies out of Asto-
ria. They will clean and
realign burial markers in
the coming weeks. Good-
enberger expects the new
sign to go up on 14th Street
by the end of the college’s
spring term in June.
The Astoria Pioneer
Cemetery will likely stay
put as part of the site’s his-
tory, which Goodenberger
said could be interpreted in
many different ways.
“It could be something
like a single sign talking
about the cemetery,” he
said. “It could be a series
of signs like what they did
in the Masonic cemetery
in Eugene, where you go
around and you can read
the histories of the people
that are lying there.”
“The city has only rec-
ognized the fact that there’s
a lot of history up there, and
lots of folks don’t know it,”
he said. “So let’s put it out
there for them, so people
can appreciate what’s up
there.”
Kindergarten: Teachers plan
to emphasize outdoor play
Continued from page A1
demand to be high for next
school year.
Kindergarten registra-
tion opens April 15. Gohr
is not certain yet how many
students Astor Elemen-
tary will be able to accom-
modate as state rules about
distancing and other pan-
demic-related
measures
change weekly, but, in the
past, a large kindergarten
class could be around 160
students.
Some remote education
will likely still be offered
since every family has
different comfort levels
with a return to in-person
instruction.
For Gohr and other edu-
cators, though, in-person
school means they can see
their students’ progress.
“It’s really hard when
they’re online to see their
work and kind of help them
through it,” Gohr said.
For the kindergarten stu-
dents, in-person classes
mean they can interact with
each other and build social
and emotional skills as they
learn.
Teachers plan to empha-
size outdoor play and the
imaginative play, learning
and storytelling that can
emerge from being outside,
Gohr said.
“For a lot of kids it’s
almost foreign,” she said.
“They’re used to being
inside or on screens and
being outside is the new
and different thing.”
The school district began
the school year online and
has only reopened to regu-
lar, in-person education in
recent months.
Teachers working spe-
cifically with younger stu-
dents have seen a marked
improvement as students
began a return to class-
rooms in February. At
school board meetings,
Gohr and others work-
ing with lower grades had
often noted the difficulty
in reaching and teaching
younger students through a
computer screen.
Though schools expect
to be in a very different
place by September, some
precautionary
measures
may still be in place.
Superintendent Craig
Hoppes has said he expects
mask-wearing, for exam-
ple, will still be necessary.
But the state has already
eased certain social distanc-
ing requirements, allowing
schools to bring back even
more students in the final
months of this school year.
At the elementary
schools, educators have
found mask-wearing has
not been a problem for
students.