I'm only finding this now, a year late. Shasta was consistently courteous even when she disagreed politically with most of the people here. She was pained whenever political disagreements turned personal or harsh. She was a very fine person.
The last ten minutes have been a roller coaster of emotion for me as I read through this thread with hope, and followed the links, only to find she had died after all. It looks like Shasta was well-loved by her local community. The link that David posted above is for a scholarship set up in her memory.
Wishing you all well.
