DailyAstorian.com // Tuesday, June 15, 2021
148TH yeaR, nO. 150
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Great
Columbia
Crossing
set to return
Held virtually in 2020
because of the pandemic
By ALYSSA EVANS
The Astorian
Grab your best running or walking
shoes.
After nearly two years, hundreds of
walkers and runners in October will cross
the Astoria Bridge by foot for the Great
Columbia Crossing.
The 10K run or walk will be held
in-person on Oct. 10. Participants travel
from Washington state, across the Astoria
Bridge, to Astoria. As of now, event coor-
dinators expect the event to look like previ-
ous years, but details are subject to change
based on health and safety regulations tied
to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Event planning during this pandemic
is challenging and we appreciate your
patience,” Bayly Lay, the event coordina-
tor for the Astoria-Warrenton Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, said in a statement.
The event, like many others on the
North Coast, was held virtually in 2020
because of the pandemic. The race is one
of the chamber’s largest fundraisers.
“The reason we plan these events when
we do is we want to increase commerce in
the area when it’s not necessarily happen-
ing … We try to get our runners, especially
those from out of town, to get into the area
PRIDE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Tesla Dobson, left, and Lucy Hart
dance together at Astoria Pride on Saturday. The Lower
Columbia Q Center organized events throughout the
city over the weekend to celebrate the LGBT community.
• The Turnback Boyz, a queer boy band from Portland,
perform at Pride. • A Pride attendee does a TikTok
dance. • Taz Davis as Miss Ariel View lip syncs to ‘And
I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ by Jennifer Hudson.
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The astorian
See Crossing, Page A8
Cities plan
a range of
Fourth of July
celebrations
Astoria to host biggest
fireworks show
State dismisses an ethics complaint against
Cannon Beach public works director
City claims La Bonte
a target of harassment
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH — A
second ethics complaint against
Karen La Bonte, Cannon
Beach’s public works director,
has been dismissed.
The complaint concerned how
La Bonte disposed of surplus city
fencing material in 2018. It was
filed by Manzanita resident Rusty
Morris, who has lodged other
complaints against La Bonte in
recent months. He has also begun
to circulate a petition online call-
ing for her dismissal.
A preliminary review com-
pleted by an investigator for
the Oregon Government Eth-
ics Commission concluded that
more investigation was needed
to determine if La Bonte had
abused her position to benefit
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Astoria is planning its biggest Fourth
of July fireworks show ever — even big-
ger than the surprise display that boomed
over the city last year.
But as other North Coast cities cancel
annual fireworks shows again because of
the coronavirus pandemic or clamp down
harder on fireworks restrictions, Astoria
could be the only show in town.
“I will happily tell (Astoria Mayor
Bruce Jones) that we’re sending every-
body his way,” Cannon Beach Mayor
Sam Steidel joked at a recent City Coun-
cil meeting.
financially or skirt state conflict
of interest provisions.
Last week, the ethics board
voted to dismiss the case rather
than investigate further.
“The commission did not find
cause to proceed with an inves-
tigation,” Ronald Bersin, the
commission’s executive direc-
tor, wrote in a letter. “Therefore,
the matter is dismissed and no
further action will be taken.”
See Complaint, Page A8
A sign in Cannon Beach during the
coronavirus pandemic.
See Fireworks, Page A8
Shepherd known as the ‘first lady of Hammond’
Family has deep
roots in the region
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
E
Carol shepherd
Longtime Hammond resident Carolyn Shepherd.
very small town has its
“first families.” Familiar
names and descendants that go
back to the town’s beginning,
or even led to the naming of the
town itself.
In Hammond — incorpo-
rated and originally named
New Astoria in 1899, then
later named for Andrew B.
Hammond — the list of pio-
neer families would definitely
include the Petersens and the
Shepherds.
Specifically, Carolyn Shep-
herd — the “first lady of Ham-
mond.” It sounds royal enough.
And it is fitting.
When Lewis and Clark and
the Corps of Discovery got
out of their canoes after they
arrived at the lower Colum-
bia River in 1805, one of Shep-
herd’s ancestors — a legendary
Chinook Indian chief — was
there to greet them.
Later, Shepherd’s father,
Conrad Petersen, and her late
husband, John Shepherd, were
influential community mem-
bers, from the early days until
1991, when Warrenton annexed
Hammond.
Petersen was a local busi-
ness owner, and John Shepherd
— among his many duties, was
a fire chief, business owner and
town councilman for nearly 30
years.Shepherd is closing in on
her 90th birthday, which she
hopes to celebrate in 2022.
A life in Hammond
Shepherd has spent much
of her 89 years in Hammond,
where she and her friends rode
their bikes as kids, coming and
going as they pleased in the
cannery and the grounds of
Fort Stevens during the days of
World War II.
She remembers spending
time at the train depot, going in
the back door of the cannery to
watch the workers, and spend-
ing a dime to watch movies in
the Fort Stevens theater.
Then there was the June night
in 1942, when the sleepy hamlet
of Hammond was wide awake.
“I was at a neighbors house
for a sleepover that night,”
Shepherd said. “We were awake
and we knew what was happen-
ing. Once in a while, the fort
would have nighttime practices,
but it didn’t sound like that,
that night. We could hear the
shells coming in, and they were
exploding not too far from us.”
See Shepherd, Page A8