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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com 143RD YEAR, NO. 190 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016 WARRIORS EARN NONLEAGUE SPORTS WIN • 9A ONE DOLLAR HERE’S TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH INSIDE Arts center offer booed off stage College board rejects affordable housing bid By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Crews remove plane debris from the Columbia River on Tuesday. The privately owned AT-6A North American military trainer from 1941 crashed into the river about a mile north of Pier 39 in Astoria on March 23. RAISED FROM THE RIVER National Transportation Safety Board investigation underway By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian A salvage crew has recovered most of the wreckage from the site where two Washington state residents died in a plane crash about a mile north of Asto- ria’s Pier 39 last week. The recovery took place Tuesday, almost a week after the airplane’s owner, John McKib- bin — a 69-year-old Vancouver, Washington, man — À ew Irene Mustain, 6, of Woodland, Washington, to the coast, where she wanted to scatter her husband’s ashes on his 69th birthday. “John had done this previously on at least two or three other occasions that I knew, and maybe more,” George Welsh, McKibbin’s friend, who co-owned the plane with him, said. A pair of small buoys À oating a short dis- tance apart — barely visible in the wide mouth of the Columbia River — marked the under- water crash site. One was tethered to the man- gled fuselage and tail section, the other to the detached right wing. Those were the two largest pieces of plane remaining after the impact. The nose and left wing had broken up, the propeller engine had come off and the aluminum skin had shattered, leaving shards spread throughout the debris ¿ eld. The private aircraft — a World War II-era North American AT-6A — had taken off in the afternoon of March 23 from Vancouver’s Pear- son )ield and reportedly went down around p.m., according to eyewitnesses. Sonar scans and blobs of fuel À oating on the river’s surface led the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Of¿ ce marine patrol to the missing plane’s location Friday. See ARTS CENTER, Page 7A ABOVE: Crews position the barge as they prepare to remove plane debris from the Colum- bia River on Tuesday. LEFT: Crews inspect plane debris onboard a barge on Tuesday. See LIBERTY, Page 7A Kim Blau The Columbian McKibbin collaborator, said every time McKibbin asked for a few minutes of his time, he knew he wouldn’t emerge for hours. He and McKibbin were supposed to have a meeting on Thursday, he said, and there was comedic negotiation by email as the two busy men settled By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian See VIGIL, Page 12A John McKibbin, a community leader in Vancouver, Wash., was killed in a plane crash in the Columbia River last week. By SCOTT HEWITT The Columbian Shepherd has worked with the Astoria Music Festival upon exactly 9½ minutes of face time. “I know that 9½-minute meeting would have been the best 2½ hours of my week,” Matthias said. Hundreds of people turned out Vigil honors memory of community leader McKibbin had long resume of public service Liberty chooses interim manager Carol Shepherd, who was brought in to provide direction during the management turmoil at the Astoria Music Festival, has been hired as the interim manager of the Lib- erty Theater. Shepherd is an experienced manager who has worked with several nonpro¿ ts and arts organizations. She is expected to start Friday. Rosemary Bak- er-Monaghan, who was the executive director of the Liberty Theater for the past decade, has resigned effective April 15. “We look forward to the future and how Carol we can better serve Shepherd the community of the North Coast,” the theater’s board of direc- tors said in a statement. “We strive to pro- vide quality entertainment from all areas of the performing arts. We are excited about the experience that Carol brings to the table and the management experience she will provide.” The theater’s board also recognized Bak- er-Monaghan, a former mayor of Seaside and board member at Clatsop Community College, for her service. See PLANE, Page 12A VANCOUVER, Wash. — When John McKibbin came calling, you knew you needed to set aside some time and brain cells and get ready for something big. Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt said pad and paper was always a good idea. “There was so much energy and so much information coming from him,” Boldt told a vigil in honor of McKibbin on Saturday evening. Mark Matthias, the owner of Beaches restaurant and a frequent The Clatsop Community College Board rejected an offer on the Performing Arts Center and Josie Peper Building Tuesday after impas- sioned public comments from people who use the center for plays and concerts. The college had been approached by a developer earlier this month tendering an unsolicited offer on the buildings at 16th and Franklin streets for an as-yet undisclosed amount. Karen Radditz, the R ealtor repre- senting the college on the offer, said the devel- oper intended to develop affordable, student and short-term housing for Columbia Memo- rial Hospital on the city block, while keep- ing the Performing Arts Center a “community center.” The identity of the developer was unknown until after the meeting, when Radditz revealed it was WTJ Development, a limited liability corporation registered in October to attorney Donald Grim in Portland, according to state records.
