Record 50 years South Whidbey
INSIDE: Go Hawks! A10-11
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 3 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders
By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record
Justin Burnett / The Record
George, Matt and Luke Nichols sit on the bow of the Oscar B, a newly completed ferry that will be christened today. The boat is a replacement for a Wahkiakum County ferry, built by Matt and Luke’s grandfather, George Mark Nichols, in 1961. The Freeland yard is now 50 years old.
Shipbuilder maintains tradition of quality, technological advancement By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
Frank Nichols
Hospital CEO grilled in court, prosecutor questions testimony
Like it has done nearly 200 times before, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders will christen a newly completed vessel this weekend. This simple ceremony, meant to formally welcome and bless a boat into the realm of Poseidon, has been done so many times by the shipyard over the years that it’s practically routine. But the Oscar B, a stout but seemingly insignificant 23-car ferry, isn’t just any boat. It’s special. It was constructed for Wahkiakum County as the replacement vessel for a ferry built by George Mark Nichols in 1961 in Hood River, Ore. A short time later in 1964, Nichols’ son Frank Nichols relocated to Freeland and opened his very own shipyard, which would later be taken over by his sons, one of whom includes current Executive Vice President Matt Nichols. So, Saturday’s ceremony is more than a simple christening — it’s a celebration of 50 years in business, and a reminder of one family’s mark on the shipbuilding industry.
The machine shop When Frank Nichols moved to Freeland and opened Nichols and Downing Boat Works with business partner Jack Downing, he already had more than 40 years of shipbuilding experience under his belt. The family had been building boats in Oregon since the 1930s. But starting out somewhere new isn’t easy. The shipyard was nothing like the mega complex that it is today, but rather was a half-acre lot on the shoreline with a single machine shop. Under that roof was a steam engine, which powered every other machine in the shop, and the entire Nichols family, including Frank Nichols, his wife and their 11 children. Windows covered by plastic and parts of the building lacking flooring, the family slept in one room with a kitchen in the back. “It was tough living in those days,” Matt Nichols recalled. “But we never complained and we all got along OK.” The fledgling business’s first job was a 42-foot steel beach seiner, commissioned for a fisherman who lost SEE NICHOLS, A3
Two administrators at Whidbey General Hospital gave conflicting testimony under oath during a court hearing Tuesday over how they handled an assault allegation against a fellow administrator. Moreover, under questioning by the judge, one of the administrators, CEO Tom Tomasino, could not explain what authority he had to place the other administrator on paid administrative leave and then allow her to come back to work without ever starting a disciplinary investigation into an allegation that she assaulted a restrained patient. He testified that the only hospital investigation into the alleged conduct — which led to an assault charge — was done under a secretive quality assurance program — also referred to as a quality improvement program — which means the decisionmaking process is cloaked from the public’s view. Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks, who observed the hearing, said he was outraged at the secrecy and lack of accountability within the hospital’s management. “Completely separate from this criminal case, the public should be concerned that the hospital administration has gone to great lengths and expense to hide its inquiry into alleged official misconduct,” he said after the hearing. “Any allegation of misconduct by upper management will apparently be investiSEE HOSPITAL, A19