143RD YEAR, NO. 187
FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016
WEEKEND EDITION
SEA LIONS
VS. THE PORT
ONE DOLLAR
OREGON MEN, OSU
WOMEN ADVANCE
FRIDAY EXTRA 1C
SPORTS 4A
5LYHUZDON,QQ¿JKWVSLOOVRYHULQWRFRXUW
3ortlanG hotelier
claims IrauG
breach oI contract
to a court hearing in April aIter the
parties trieG anG IaileG to resolYe their
GiIIerences.
3aram +otel *roup a 3ortlanG
hotel operator sueG the 3ort oI Astoria
which owns the hotel in 1oYember on
claims oI IrauG anG breach oI contract.
The compan\¶s law\er Colin
+unter also aGGeG Chester Trab ucco
anG :illiam Orr the locall\ connecteG
representatiYes oI hotel operator Asto-
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The battle oYer the operation oI
the Astoria 5iYerwalN ,nn is heaGeG
ria +ospitalit\ 9entures as co-GeIen-
Gants unGer the claim the\ intentionall\
interIereG with a preYious agreement
between the 3ort anG 3aram .
Orr holGs a maMorit\ ownership in
+ospitalit\ 9entures with his wiIe
Sara Orr whose brother is 3ort Com-
missioner Stephen )ulton. +ospi-
talit\ 9entures is registereG to
th St. in Astoria owneG b\ a )ul-
ton Iamil\ trust.
³The\ pursueG bacNroom Geals
with the 3ort anG its goYerning Com-
mission in an intentional eIIort to
interIere with 3aram¶s e[isting agree-
ment to taNe oYer the 5iYerwalN ,nn´
+unter¶s original complaint saiG oI
Orr anG Trabucco. ³The\ accom-
plisheG this interIerence through
improper means incluGing use oI
Orr¶s Iamil\ relationship to a 3ort
Commission member, misrepresen-
tations regarGing their IunGing anG
Tuali¿ cations, anG Ialse, Gisparaging
comments about 3aram¶s business.´
The parties ¿ rst canceleG a hear-
ing scheGuleG in )ebruar\ to pursue
meGiation. :hen meGiation IaileG, a
hearing scheGuleG Ior last weeN was
moYeG to April so the parties coulG
haYe more time to prepare.
See INN, Page 9A
Coast
*uarG
calls oII
search
Ior plane
SheriII’s OI¿ ce
hopes to senG
GiYe team Gown
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Since the park aGGeG Gelu[e
cabins ¿ Ye \ears ago, :ing saiG,
more Yisitors haYe been enticeG to
sta\ Guring the winter.
The Gelu[e cabins, which sleep
Iour to ¿ Ye people, haYe a liYing
room, bathroom anG kitchen. The
liYing room has a Iuton couch anG
À at screen T9 with a '9' pla\er.
1o linens or utensils are proYiGeG,
but the cabins haYe electricit\ anG
heat.
The 8.S. Coast *uarG has sus-
penGeG its search Ior two missing
:ashington state resiGents whose
plane crash-lanGeG into the Colum-
bia 5iYer oII 3ier in Astoria late
:eGnesGa\ aIternoon.
The Clatsop Count\ SheriII’s
OI¿ ce, howeYer, plans to senG a
GiYe team into
the water Fri-
Ga\ to e[plore
what the Coast
*uarG
has
GescribeG as
an ³uncharteG
anomal \´
pickeG up on
sonar.
John McK-
ibbin — a Ior-
John
mer
:ash-
McKibbin
ington
state
representatiYe anG Clark Count\
commissioner anG an amateur pilot
— was in the priYate plane with
a Iamil\ IrienG, ,rene Mustain, oI
:ooGlanG, :ashington.
The\ haG planneG to scatter the
ashes oI Mustain’s husbanG, Terr\,
who GieG in October . :eGnes-
Ga\ woulG haYe been Terr\ Mustain’s
th birthGa\.
³She Must wanteG to spreaG his
ashes at the beach on his birthGa\,´
,rene’s son, Christopher Mustain, oI
Seattle, saiG. ³She was Going some-
thing on his birthGa\ that she Ielt that
she neeGeG to Go.´
+is parents enMo\eG the beach, he
aGGeG.
McKibbin, , was last seen at
appro[imatel\ p.m. :eGnes-
Ga\ when he anG Mustain took oII
Irom 3earson FielG in 9ancouYer,
See FORT STEVENS, Page 13A
See PLANE, Page 12A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Visitors look for clams to dig along the beach at Fort Stevens State Park in February. The usually quiet months between November and
February have seen visitor increases to the park in recent years.
Fort Stevens is always in season
Iour months increaseG Irom ,
to , between - anG
-. That is an increase oI
, campsites useG in one \ear.
This past winter saw a consis-
tent turnout oI more than ,
campsites useG Irom 1oYember to
)ebruar\.
:hat was consiGereG a Iour-
month oIIseason has shrunk to
'ecember anG -anuar\, when Yisit-
ing Gips below , Iull campsites
each month.
There is new
Yisitor interest
at state park in
winter months
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
A55E1TO1 — )ort Ste-
Yens State 3ark no longer
has much oI an oIIseason.
TraGitionall\ s low winter months
haYe speG up at the state park with
more Yisitors braYing the weather
to recreate or GeciGing to sta\ warm
insiGe new Gelu[e cabins. Consis-
tent Yisitation leaYes little time Ior
park rangers to ¿ nish maintenance
proMects in time Ior the peak sum-
mer months.
³There were the times when
some parks eYen closeG in the win-
ter on the coast,´ )ort SteYens State
3ark Manager Teri :ing saiG. ³1ot
an\ more. :e are open \ear-rounG.´
W
‘Cozy and warm’
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
People fish at Coffenbury Lake at Fort Stevens State Park. The park is
forming a partnership with Clatsop Paddle Co . to offer adventure pack-
ages that bundle a stay at the park with paddle boarding on the lake.
AttenGance peakeG last \ear in
-ul\, when , campsites were
occupieG. On some Ga\s in the
summer, the park’s population mir-
rors the largest cities in Clatsop
Count\.
:hile the park e[pects high turn-
out arounG -ul\, the usuall\ Tuiet
months between 1oYember anG
)ebruar\ haYe seen Yisitor increases
in recent \ears.
Campsites occupieG in those
Initiative would put liquor on the grocery list
Sponsors can
now begin
collecting
signatures
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Ore-
gon Supreme Court certi-
¿ eG the ballot title Ior a gro-
cer-bacNeG ballot initiatiYe
that woulG priYati]e liTuor
sales in Oregon.
The certi¿ cation on Thurs-
Ga\ came aIter the court
GenieG a reTuest b\ sponsors
oI ,nitiatiYe 3etition to
reYise the ballot title written
b\ the Oregon Attorne\ *en-
eral¶s OI¿ ce. Sponsors *err\
'or\ anG L\nn *ust oI :il-
sonYille obMecteG to a state-
ment in the title that saiG the
measure woulG ³eliminate
liTuor reYenue.´
The ballot certi¿ cation
clears the wa\ Ior the spon-
sors to collect the sig-
natures neeGeG to place the
measure on the 1oYember
ballot.
³:e¶re pleaseG with the
court¶s reYiew is concluGeG
anG eager to begin engag-
ing Girectl\ with Oregonians
about getting the state out oI
the business oI promoting anG
selling liTuor´ 5uG\ 'or\
co-IounGer oI %enG¶s emplo\-
ee-owneG 1ewport AYenue
MarNet anG co-sponsor oI the
initiatiYe saiG in a statement.
The measure woulG enG
state sale anG Gistribution
oI liTuor anG allow beer anG
wine retailers incluGing gro-
cer\ stores to sell liTuor.
3riYati]ation woulG result
in the loss oI more than
million in state reYenue useG
to pa\ Ior state anG local ser-
Yices accorGing to Orego-
nians Against The TaNeoYer
a coalition oI labor organi]a-
tions craIt brewers Gistillers
anG winemaNers that opposes
the ballot initiatiYe.
See LIQUOR, Page 9A
Don Ryan/AP Photo
Brittany Whalen makes change for a sale at a liquor store
in Portland. Operating under a group called Oregonians
for Competition, Oregon grocers have had their ballot title
certified for a ballot measure that would allow hard liquor
sales to be privitized.