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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2015)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian FRANCE: Police searches netted 127 arrests, 31 weapons Continued from 1A VSHFL¿FJRDOWRVRZIHDUDQGWRGLYLGH us,” Hollande told Parliament in a rare joint session convened at the Palace of Versailles. “Syria has become the biggest factory of terrorism the world has ever known and the international community is still too divided and too incoherent.” As he spoke, thousands gathered around candlelit memorials at the Place de la Republique square and beneath the Eiffel Tower, which like many top attractions in one of the world’s most-visited cities reopened IRUEXVLQHVV0RQGD\LQDGH¿DQWVSLULW The tower was bathed in red, white and EOXH ÀRRGOLJKWV RI WKH )UHQFK WULFRORU with the city’s centuries-old slogan — “Tossed but not sunk,” suggesting an unsinkable city braving stormy seas — projected in white lights near its base. French and other Western intelli- gence agencies face an urgent challenge to track down the surviving members of the three Islamic State units who LQÀLFWHGWKHXQSUHFHGHQWHGEORRGVKHGLQ France and, perhaps more importantly, to target their distant commanders in IS-controlled parts of Syria. $ )UHQFK VHFXULW\ RI¿FLDO VDLG DQWL WHUURULQWHOOLJHQFHRI¿FLDOVKDGLGHQWL¿HG Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, as chief architect of the Friday the 13th attacks on a rock concert, a soccer game and popular nightspots in one of Paris’ trendiest districts. 7KH RI¿FLDO FLWHG FKDWWHU IURP ,6 ¿JXUHV WKDW $EDDRXG KDG UHFRP- mended a concert as an ideal target for LQÀLFWLQJ PD[LPXP FDVXDOWLHV DV ZHOO as electronic communications between Abaaoud and one of the Paris attackers who blew himself up. 7KH RI¿FLDO VSRNH RQ FRQGLWLRQ of anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation. Abaaoud came to public attention last year by boasting in an IS propaganda video about his pride in piling the dead ERGLHVRI³LQ¿GHO´HQHPLHVLQWRDWUDLOHU Anti-terror agencies previously linked him to a series of abortive shooting plots this year in Belgium and France, including a planned attack on a passenger train that was thwarted by American passengers who overpowered the lone gunman. French police have used emergency SRZHUV WR FRQGXFW VHDUFKHV VLQFH Sunday night that netted 127 arrests and 31 weapons. AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza A bird flies in front of the Eiffel Tower, which remained closed on the first of three days of national mourning, in Paris, Sunday. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said police seized a Kalash- QLNRY DVVDXOW ULÀH WKUHH DXWRPDWLF pistols and a bulletproof vest from a suspected arms dealer with jihadist sympathies, and a rocket launcher and other military-grade gear from his parents’ home. But police have yet to announce the capture of anyone suspected of direct involvement in Friday’s slaughter. Seven attackers died — six after deto- nating suicide belts and a seventh from SROLFHJXQ¿UH²EXW,UDTLLQWHOOLJHQFH RI¿FLDOVWROG7KH$VVRFLDWHG3UHVVWKDW its sources indicated 19 participated LQ WKH DWWDFN DQG ¿YH RWKHUV SURYLGHG hands-on logistical support. French police accidentally permitted the suspected driver of one group of gunmen, 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, to avoid arrest at the border Saturday and cross to his native Belgium. On Monday, Belgian police in balaclavas, gas masks and body armor raided Abdeslam’s suspected hideout in the Molenbeek district of Brussels but came out empty-handed. Abdeslam’s brother, Brahim, was among the suicide bombers and killed one civilian after blowing himself up outside a restaurant. Police in Molenbeek arrested another brother, Mohamed, but freed him Monday without charge. After he left police custody, Mohamed Abdeslam told reporters that his family couldn’t believe that both of his brothers were jihadists. He said all three siblings grew up in Belgium and seemingly were content with life in the West. “I have not been involved in any way with what happened on Friday the 13th in Paris. We are an open-minded family. We never had any problem with justice,” he said. He said he didn’t know where his brother Salah was or whether he would surrender to police, and expressed familial loyalty to him despite his shock RYHU WKH PDVV NLOOLQJV ³<RX KDYH WR understand that we have a family, we have a mom, and he remains her child,” he said. Determined to root out jihadists within French communities, Hollande said he would present a bill Wednesday seeking to extend a state of emergency — granting the police and military greater powers of search and arrest, and local governments the right to ban demonstrations and impose curfews — for another three months. He also pledged to hire 5,000 more police within the next two years, to freeze cuts in military personnel through 2019, and to introduce other bills that would stiffen jail terms for DUPV WUDI¿FNLQJ DQG PDNH LW HDVLHU WR deport suspected terrorists. Hollande said he hoped to meet soon with U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Monday were attending the G-20 summit of nations in Antalya, Turkey. The two leaders maintained a publicly IURVW\GHPHDQRUUHÀHFWLQJVWUDLQHGUHOD- tions over Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russia’s go-it-alone pursuit of airstrikes against both IS and anti-IS rebels in the country, a strategy that bolsters Assad. The air power of the United States, France and Britain is solely targeting IS targets. In hopes of killing Islamic State organizers and trainees, France overnight launched its heaviest airstrikes yet on the city of Raqqa, the group’s de-facto capital in Syria. French authorities said Sunday night’s bombings destroyed a jihadi training camp and munitions dump. The Defense Ministry said 12 aircraft based in Jordan and the Persian Gulf dropped a total of 20 bombs. It called the operation the largest attack by French air power since France joined the U.S.-led coalition in targeting suspected IS power bases in Syria in September. VAN: 'LQQHUDW&DGLOODF-DFN¶VUDLVHG Institute gave items created in the prison woodshop. Tiffany Knight, a friend whose company Pendleton Web Development does social media for Cadillac Jack’s, organized the dinner. A GoFundMe account brought in $515. Glenn, who attended the dinner, said her late husband would have loved seeing the van go to transport Ember. “He would be delighted,” Glenn said. “He would be holding her right now.” Across the room, someone tickled Ember and she giggled in delight. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. Continued from 1A recalls. The news wasn’t good. Ember’s undersized brain hadn’t fully developed. The 05, VKRZHG ÀXLG SRFNHWV DQGFDOFL¿FDWLRQ “‘She will never be able to independently care for herself,’” Bissinger remem- bers the neurosurgeon saying. “‘She will be dependent on you for the rest of her life.’” Bissinger said she went into a state of shock, but eventually pulled herself together and started putting one foot in front of the other. Doctors couldn’t give her an exact road map of Ember’s future as far as her sight and hearing and development. A hearing aid has brought the little girl’s hearing into normal range, but her eyesight is still a mystery. Bissinger knows Ember sees something because she tracks objects and looks into her mom’s eyes. “Our life is a game,” she said. “It is trial and error to ¿QGRXWKHUFDSDELOLWLHV<RX have to be patient.” Doctors theorized that Ember’s condition was the result of Courtney contracting cytomegalovirus early in her pregnancy. The virus is common and gener- ally harmless — most of us get it sometime in our lives. “It’s as easy to get as the common cold,” Bissinger said. “The only time is causes harm is when you’re pregnant.” As Ember grew, getting her to medical appointments was an increasing concern, but Courtney, who had to give up her job, couldn’t afford a van with a wheelchair ramp. The Dodge Grand Caravan Entervan parked in the Cadillac Jack’s parking lot most recently belonged Staff photo by Kathy Aney Courtney Bissinger unloads her daughter, Ember, 2, from the van given to her to transport Ember in her wheelchair. to Jef Glenn, who had purchased the vehicle for her husband. Carl, a retired rail- road worker with lung and brain cancer, only rode in the van twice before his death in February. Jef later took some of Carl’s health care items to a medical equipment loan closet run by Clearview Mediation in Pendleton. She mentioned the van to Clear- view CEO Darrin Umbarger. “I told him the van needed to go to somebody who really needed it,” Glenn said. After some research, Umbarger suggested Bissinger as the recipient. 7KH GLQQHU UDLVHG to purchase the van from Glenn. Bissinger marveled at how many people stepped up. Umbarger played match- maker. Glenn detailed the van and took it to a mechanic. One guy (Bissinger regrets not getting his name) brought a teddy bear and brand-new Be a Part of Walla Walla’s Wine Future! Become a Winery Founder Preferred Stock at an offering price of $4.25 per share earning a 5.2% annual dividend. The minimum purchase is 300 shares ($1,275). Traded on the NASDAQ as WVVIP. To obtain a Prospectus, please call 503-588-9463 or visit www.w v v.com/ownership. Jim Bernau, Founder/CEO • Willamette Valley Vineyards tie-down straps for the wheelchair. Businesses and individuals donated food and door prize items. Zeigler Transmission donated labor for replacing a belt in the van. Master Printers printed À\HUVIRUIUHH,QPDWHVDWWKH Eastern Oregon Correctional Tuesday, November 17, 2015 SYPHILIS: Women can pass the infection to their babies Continued from 1A though a couple of decades ago some thought syphilis was on its way out. “It’s a disease that’s been around forever,” he said. “We had hope of eliminating it in the early part of the last decade, but that didn’t materialize.” Because syphilis is epidemic in the Portland metro area, an organization call Syph Aware recently rolled out a public aware- ness campaign that includes signs on TriMet buses and MAX trains. The group’s website proclaims “Oregon is known for many things: natural beauty, coffee, beer and pinot noir. Did you know that Oregon is also known for syphilis?” Syphilis is stealthy. The disease often appears as a small painless sore in the genital or mouth areas. After three to six weeks or so, the sore disappears. The next stage, which varies in length from weeks to months, brings a non-itchy rash or spots on the palms or the soles of the feet and sometimes fever, swollen lymph nodes or headaches. Then it goes silent. The damage appears sometimes decades later in the form of tumors, blindness, paral- ysis, dementia or damage to the nervous system. Pregnant women are of special concern because they can pass the infection to their babies. Schafer recommends screening at WKH¿UVWSUHQDWDOYLVLWDW weeks and again at delivery. Both Schafer and Waldern say they are urging physicians and other health care providers to be systematic when gathering information from patients and taking meticulous sexual and drug use histo- ries. “Syphilis has been so rare for so long that a lot of physicians have never seen a case,” Schafer said. “It’s not that they’re bad clinicians, they just haven’t seen it.” Earlier this month, Umatilla County Public Health sent letters to providers to alert them to the gonorrhea spike, its implications and recom- mendations for screening. Syphilis is treated with antibiotics. Schafer doesn’t expect the syphilis numbers to drop soon. In fact, he hopes they rise because that would mean more people are being tested. Eventually, if all goes well, the numbers will start to wane. “We want to diagnose more syphilis, not less,” he said. “We should see an increase in syphilis if our campaign is successful.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. REFUGEES: Obama announced U.S. would accept 10,000 from Syria Continued from 1A States have no authority to reject Syrian refugees or to act independently in any way concerning the handling of the Syrian refugee crisis, according to the Oregon Department of Human Services. “It’s kind of easy to pick, but it doesn’t seem anyone is paying attention to the bigger issue on whether governors can close their states to refugees, if that can actually happen,” said Navas of media coverage on Republican governors who say they’re refusing more refugees. U.S. Congress and the president set policy on accepting refugees. President Obama recently announced the United States would accept 10,000 Syrian refugees, a small fraction of some other countries. So far, only one Syrian refugee has settled in Oregon, an Oregon DHS spokesman said. Refugees may ask to settle in a particular state where they have social connections, or national volunteer agencies settle refugees based on resources available in different regions, according to Oregon DHS. 7KH 86 2I¿FH RQ Refugee Resettlement did not immediately return a phone call from the EO Media Group/Pamplin Media Group statehouse bureau seeking information on gubernatorial authority over refugee resettlement. State Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer, wrote to Brown Monday to ask the governor whether the state plans to accept more Syrian refugees. “I strongly believe that $PHULFD DQG VSHFL¿FDOO\ Oregon, should always be a place where those seeking relief from religious perse- cution may come and build a new safer life,” Post wrote. “At the same time, I am very concerned that if we take any and every refugee, we may expose Oregonians to acts of terrorism like Paris experienced last Friday.” Oregon DHS gives refugees up to eights months of cash assistance and employment services. The agency tracks only refugees participating in the short- term Refugee Program. Criminal Defense Family Law ATTORNEY DEAN F. GUSHWA 541-276-6458 410 SE Dorion, Pendleton W W W. D E A N G U S H W A . C O M