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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
Pence warns NKorea ‘era of
strategic patience is over’
PANMUNJOM, South Korea — Viewing his adversaries in the
distance, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the tense zone
dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang that after
years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambi-
tions, “the era of strategic patience is over.”
Pence made an unannounced visit to the Demilitarized Zone
today at the start of his 10-day trip to Asia in a U.S. show of force
that allowed the vice president to gaze at North Korean soldiers
from afar and stare directly across a border marked by razor wire.
As the brown bomber jacket-clad vice president was briefed near
the military demarcation line, two North Korean soldiers watched
from a short distance away, one taking multiple photographs of the
American visitor.
Pence told reporters near the DMZ that President Donald
Trump was hopeful China would use its “extraordinary levers” to
pressure the North to abandon its weapons program, a day after the
North’s failed missile test launch. But Pence expressed impatience
with the unwillingness of the regime to move toward ridding itself
of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Pointing to the quarter-century since the United States first con-
fronted North Korea over its attempts to build nuclear weapons, the
vice president said a period of patience had followed.
“But the era of strategic patience is over,” he declared. “Presi-
dent Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States
and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change.
We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the devel-
opment of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing
of ballistic missiles is unacceptable.”
Tribe to open giant gambling
complex in Washington state
PORTLAND — The Cowlitz Indian Tribe says it will open a
$510 million gambling complex in southwestern Washington state
on April 24.
The Oregonian reports that officials on Friday announced the
planned opening of the Ilani Casino Resort that will include 15
restaurants, bars and retail stores.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear a challenge
to the 368,000-square-foot gambling complex from card room
owners in nearby La Center concerned the new facility will draw
away business.
The complex is projected to draw away at least $200 million
annually from the card rooms, other tribal casinos and the Oregon
Lottery.
Cowlitz Tribe Chairman Bill Iyall says the resort is expected to
attract 4.5 million visitors a year and create 1,200 jobs in the region.
Search widens for Facebook
murder suspect
CLEVELAND — Police in Ohio urged residents in surround-
ing states today to be on alert for a man who they said shot and
killed an elderly passerby seemingly at random and then posted a
gruesome video of the killing on Facebook.
Steve Stephens, 37, was wanted on a charge of aggravated mur-
der in the death of Robert Godwin Sr. in Cleveland.
In a statement early today, police warned residents of Pennsyl-
vania, New York, Indiana and Michigan to be on the lookout for
Stephens, who they said may have traveled out of state.
In the video, which appears shaky, Stephens gets out of his car
and appears to randomly target Godwin, 74, who is holding a plas-
tic shopping bag. Stephens says the name of a woman, whom God-
win does not seem to recognize.
“She’s the reason that this is about to happen to you,” Stephens
tells Godwin before pointing a gun at him. Godwin can be seen
shielding his face with the shopping bag.
Arkansas fights on multiple legal
fronts to begin executions
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Lawyers for the state of Arkan-
sas faced fights on multiple legal fronts today to begin a series of
double executions before a key sedative used in lethal injections
expires at the end of the month.
Bruce Earl Ward and Don William Davis Jr. had been sched-
uled to die tonight, the first of four double executions set by Gov.
Asa Hutchinson for an 11-day period. A federal judge issued stays
for each of the inmates Saturday and a state court judge on Friday
blocked prison officials from using a paralyzing drug until he could
determine whether Arkansas obtained it properly.
Arkansas appealed in those cases and also hoped to dissolve
a separate stay for Ward that had been issued by the Arkansas
Supreme Court. In a victory for the state Sunday, a federal judge in
western Arkansas denied a stay request by Davis.
Even with the stays in place and questions remaining before a
number of courts, executions are still possible tonight. The U.S.
Supreme Court could be asked to tackle a number of questions
before the end of the day and, depending on those answers, Ward
could walk to the death chamber at Varner for a 7 p.m. execution.
“Immediate reversal is warranted,” Arkansas’ solicitor gen-
eral, Lee Rudofsky, wrote Saturday to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in St. Louis. “. (D)elaying Appellees’ executions by even a
few days — until Arkansas’s supply of midazolam expires — will
make it impossible for Arkansas to carry out Appellees’ just and
lawful sentences.”
Absences, fitness, atmosphere —
new ways to track schools
WASHINGTON — How often do students miss school? Are
they ready for college? Are they physically fit? Is their school a
welcoming place?
States are beginning to outline new ways to evaluate their
schools, rather than relying just on traditional measures such as test
scores.
The plans are required under a new federal education law, the
Every Student Succeeds Act, which takes effect in the coming
school year.
Under the new law, states are focusing more on academic
growth, meaning not just whether students have achieved a cer-
tain academic level in reading and math, but whether they have
improved over time.
Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute,
said that’s a big change from the No Child Left Behind Act, the pre-
vious version of the education law. “Schools and educators should
feel good about that; that will be a fairer way to measure school
quality,” he said.
Ex-South Korean leader Park
indicted, faces trial
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean prosecutors today
indicted ex-President Park Geun-hye on bribery, extortion, abuse
of power and other high-profile corruption charges that could
potentially send her to jail for life.
It is the latest in a series of humiliations for Park, who was
driven from office by massive and peaceful popular protests. Park
was impeached in December, officially stripped of power in March
and has been in a detention facility near Seoul since being arrested
last month on allegations that she extorted from businesses, took
bribes and committed other wrongdoing, all in collaboration with
a longtime confidante.
Prosecutors also indicted Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of Lotte,
South Korea’s fifth-largest business conglomerate, on a charge of
offering a bribe of 7 billion won ($6 million) to Park and her friend
Choi Soon-sil in exchange for a lucrative government license to
open a new duty free shop.
Park will remain jailed and be escorted from the detention center
to a Seoul court for a trial that is to start in coming weeks and could
take as long as six months. It is still unclear if the trial will start
before a May 9 special election that will determine her successor.
Park, 65, was elected South Korea’s first female president in
late 2012. The country will now watch as she is forced to stand in
court while handcuffed, bound with rope and possibly dressed in
prison garb.
Opposition to challenge votes on
expanding Erdogan’s powers
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s main opposition party today
prepared to contest the results of a landmark referendum that gave
a narrow victory to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-time
plans to greatly expand the powers of his office.
Turkey’s electoral board confirmed the “yes” victory in Sun-
day’s referendum and said the final results would be declared in
11-12 days. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the “yes” vote
stood at 51.41 percent, while the “no” vote was 48.59 percent.
The margin fell short of the sweeping victory Erdogan had
sought in the referendum. Nevertheless, it could cement his hold
on power in Turkey and is expected to have a huge effect on the
country’s long-term political future and its international relations.
“I suspect the result was narrower than what Erdogan expected,”
said Howard Eissenstat, associate professor of Middle East His-
tory at St. Lawrence University in the United States. “Erdogan has
ruled with a narrow victory before. He does not see a narrow vic-
tory as anything less than a mandate. His tendency has been to not
to co-opt the opposition but to crush it.”
Summit: Nine
needle exchanges
operate in eight
Oregon counties
Continued from Page 1A
“Folks in the North Coast
area are definitely driving to
syringe-exchange programs in
the urban areas,” said Toevs,
who spoke about decreasing
the negative effects of her-
oin at the North Coast Opioid
and Substance Use Summit in
Seaside Friday.
Toevs said exchanges can
improve public health by
taking needles off the street
while connecting drug users
with treatment.
Medical Director Saf-
ina Koreishi of the Colum-
bia Pacific Coordinated Care
Organization said the sec-
ond annual opioid summit
is meant to bring together
everyone in Clatsop, Colum-
bia and Tillamook counties
involved in the opioid issue,
from health care and law
enforcement to educators and
the general public, to discuss
new ideas, learn and bring
strategies back to better serve
their communities.
She said the idea of nee-
dle exchanges, unthinkable
years ago, is catching on
and being discussed by local
public health officials. Nine
exchanges operate in eight
urban and rural counties in
Oregon.
Dangers of sharing
Outside In’s exchange,
started in the 1980s, provides
needles, biohazard containers
and other equipment. Along
with a permanent exchange
site is a van that goes to dif-
ferent locations where people
using are concentrated.
Toevs told the story of a
2015 HIV and hepatitis C out-
break linked to intravenous
use of opioid medications
and sharing needles in Scott
County, Indiana. More than
200 people were affected,
most in the town of Austin,
population 2,500. New York
state health officials who
had dealt with a similar out-
break recommended a nee-
dle exchange. Then-Indiana
Gov. Mike Pence, who was
previously opposed to needle
exchanges, signed an execu-
tive order clearing the way.
With diseases like HIV
and hepatitis C easier to
spread by sharing needles
than by sex, Toevs said the
exchanges help lower rates of
transmission, while providing
a link to resources.
“The science shows
Submitted Photo
Dr. Safina Koreishi is the
medical director of the
Columbia Pacific Coordi-
nated Care Organization.
‘The science
shows that
people using
syringe
exchanges
are more
likely to
seek out
treatment.’
Kim Toevs
sexually transmitted
diseases program manager
at the Multnomah County
Health Department
that people using syringe
exchanges are more likely
to seek out treatment,” she
said, adding the availabil-
ity of exchanges is not found
to increase the prevalence of
heroin use.
Community buy-in
Starting and operating
an exchange, Toevs said,
involves buy-in from the
community, law enforcement
and other partners. Korei-
shi said local health depart-
ments — including Clatsop
— have started to talk about
exchanges, which would need
the approval of the local gov-
erning body.
“We have lots of mod-
els throughout the state and
country about how to do nee-
dle exchange programs,” she
said. “So then, once that hap-
pens, you just have to find a
place, get the word out and
then it takes time to build trust
in the community.”
Chef: All of Lancaster’s
travels provide him with
Town hall: ‘Sometimes people think we don’t get
anything done, but we just got the tsunami bill done’ inspiration in the kitchen
it hasn’t been signed into law
yet, there’s no reason to think
it won’t be in the next week or
two.”
Continued from Page 1A
by constituents at town halls
throughout the country this
year. But Bonamici, a Demo-
crat, saw overwhelming sup-
port and agreement Saturday.
The sole challenge presented
to the congresswoman was a
question implying Democrats
have not been forceful enough
in opposing Trump.
Foreign policy
Questions
Bonamici focused much of
the town hall on the three top-
ics she says constituents have
been most interested in lately:
health care, Trump’s proposed
budget cuts and U.S. attacks in
Syria.
Other topics included
the Dakota Access Pipeline,
Trump’s mental welfare, his
trips to Florida, immigration,
Education Secretary Betsy
DeVos and the Citizens United
v. Federal Election Commis-
sion Supreme Court ruling.
One questioner also asked
Bonamici about the loss of
agricultural lands in Oregon.
Near the beginning of her
opening remarks, she recog-
nized a bill passed by Congress
earlier this month that would
direct the National Weather
Service and National Oce-
Jack Heffernan/The Daily Astorian
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., listens to a constitu-
ent at her town hall at Warrenton High School on Saturday.
Bonamici focused much of the town hall on health care,
Trump’s proposed budget cuts and U.S. attacks in Syria.
anic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration to boost research
toward improved forecast-
ing and storm warnings ahead
of major weather events. The
bill includes a tsunami warn-
ing provision introduced by
Bonamici. Before it becomes
law, it will require Trump’s
signature.
“Sometimes people think
we don’t get anything done,
but we just got the tsunami
bill done,” Bonamici said. “If
One audience member was
concerned about possible mili-
tary conflicts after recent North
Korean provocations, as well
as the ongoing Syrian civil war.
“The specter of war hangs
over us like the sword of Dam-
ocles,” he said.
Bonamici said she was
worried about Trump’s for-
eign policy decisions, saying
they often are unclear and that
he should request congressio-
nal approval prior to any mil-
itary action against a sovereign
country.
“Erratic is not a good basis
for foreign policy,” she said.
Bonamici repeatedly touted
the president’s failure to repeal
and replace the Affordable
Care Act, or Obamacare, as a
sign that rising political activ-
ism throughout the country is
affecting policy decisions.
“That’s been really a hope-
ful thing to see how many peo-
ple are asking what’s going on
and getting involved and get-
ting engaged. It made a real
difference in the health care
debate,” Bonamici said.
Continued from Page 1A
here — emphasis on fresh,
wild, the best possible prod-
ucts I can put on the plate.”
Lancaster said he hopes
his kitchen will be in “the
realm of Bridgewater, Car-
ruthers, all the really hot din-
ing places in Astoria. I really
want to achieve that.”
When he’s not in
the kitchen, inspiration
comes from Lancaster’s
hobbies of surfing, hiking
and traveling.
“I’m a pretty avid
traveler,” he said. “When
I’m not working, between
jobs, I go surfing. It actually
provides inspiration in the
kitchen because you’re trav-
eling and eating cool food
and you think, ‘Wow, I can
do this!’ It really adds depth
to your menu when you’re
experiencing different cul-
tures and eating different
food.”
— R.J. Marx
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Dining with a view of Tillamook Head at Maggie’s.