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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
Former Trump adviser Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI
Flynn will
cooperate with
investigation
By ERIC TUCKER and
CHAD DAY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Michael Flynn, President
Donald Trump’s former
national security adviser,
pleaded guilty today to lying
to the FBI, becoming the first
Trump White House offi-
cial to face criminal charges
and admit guilt so far in the
wide-ranging election inves-
tigation by special counsel
Robert Mueller.
Flynn also agreed to coop-
erate with Mueller’s probe,
which focuses on Russian
meddling in the 2016 elec-
tion and possible coordi-
nation between Russia and
Trump’s team in the cam-
paign that sent the Republi-
can businessman to the White
House.
Court papers make clear
that Flynn knows the iden-
tities of at least two mem-
bers of Trump’s transition
team who were intimately
aware of his outreach to Rus-
sian government officials in
the weeks before the inau-
guration. Mueller’s prosecu-
tors did not reveal the names
of the officials, but indicated
they were senior and within
Trump’s inner circle.
Trump ignored reporters’
shouted questions as he wel-
comed the Libyan prime min-
ister to the White House, and
aides canceled media access
to a later meeting between
the two.
Flynn was an early and
vocal Trump supporter on
the campaign trail and was
present for consequen-
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was fired
last February after he misled Vice President Mike Pence
and other senior officials about his contacts with Russian
intermediaries.
tial moments in the cam-
paign, the following transi-
tion period and the early days
of Trump’s presidency, mak-
ing him a valuable poten-
tial tool for prosecutors and
agents. His business dealings
and foreign interactions have
made him a central focus of
Mueller’s investigation.
Trump’s former national
security adviser admitted to
lying about his conversations
with Russia’s ambassador
to the United States during
the transition period before
Trump’s inauguration.
In a statement, Flynn, a
retired Army lieutenant gen-
eral said he accepted respon-
sibility for his actions and
added: “My guilty plea and
agreement to cooperate with
the Special Counsel’s Office
reflect a decision I made in
the best interests of my fam-
ily and of our country.”
Flynn is the fourth for-
mer Trump associate to face
charges in the investigation,
the first who actually served
in Trump’s White House. He
has been under investiga-
tion for a wide range of alle-
gations, including lobbying
work on behalf of Turkey, but
the fact that he was charged
only with a single count of
false statements suggests he
is cooperating with Mueller
in exchange for leniency.
White House lawyer Ty
Cobb sought to distance
the plea from Trump him-
self, saying, “Nothing about
the guilty plea or the charge
implicates anyone other than
Mr. Flynn.”
Early on in is administra-
tion, Trump had taken a par-
ticular interest in the status
of the Flynn investigation.
Former FBI Director James
Comey, whose firing in May
precipitated the appoint-
ment of Mueller as special
counsel, has said Trump had
asked him in a private Oval
Office meeting to consider
ending the investigation into
Flynn. Comey has said the
encounter unnerved him so
much that he prepared an
internal memo about it. The
White House has denied that
assertion.
Oregon’s 18 timber counties to get $1.4M Warrenton promotes
Associated Press
ROSEBURG — Finan-
cially strapped counties in
western Oregon that rely on
logging revenue will receive
nearly $1.4 million that had
been withheld by the federal
government due to budget
caps, authorities said Thursday.
The Association of O&C
Counties — commonly called
the “timber counties” — said
Thursday the counties will see
the funds soon.
The 18 counties, which
include Columbia and Tilla-
mook but not Clatsop County,
customarily receive a share of
timber receipts from logging
on 2.1 million acres to com-
pensate them for the loss of
revenue when the Bureau of
Land Management took over
the acreage. But nearly 7 per-
cent was withheld in 2016
because of a governmentwide
mandate to cut federal spend-
ing by 6.9 percent.
“When we received our
timber payments in January
for fiscal year 2016, we were
shocked to find they were short
by 6.9 percent,” said Doug-
las County Commissioner Tim
Freeman. “Our budgets are
already under terrible pressure
and the sequestration made a
bad situation even worse.”
The cuts happen when U.S.
government spending exceeds
certain budget caps.
The counties have strug-
gled from a sharp decline in
logging over the past several
decades. Douglas County was
even forced to close its librar-
ies this year because of lack of
public funds.
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke said Thursday the BLM
will issue payments totaling
$19.5 million to the 18 coun-
ties, including the $1.4 million.
“My next priority is ensur-
ing that these lands continue to
provide sustainable timber har-
vests that support the commu-
nity and strengthen the health
of the forest,” Zinke said in a
statement.
Freeman, who is also pres-
ident of the Association of
O&C Counties, credited Zinke
for working with the associa-
tion to persuade the Office of
Management and Budget to
release the sequestered funds.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, a
Republican from Hood River,
said the money “will be criti-
cal to funding essential county
services from law enforcement
and emergency operations
to schools and infrastructure
projects.”
Portland City Council supports roadway tolling
Congestion in
Rose Quarter
By AMELIA
TEMPLETON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
PORTLAND — The Port-
land City Council has unani-
mously approved a resolution
in support of tolling to ease
traffic on Interstates 5 and 205.
At the crux of the debate
is the stretch of I-5 that
cuts through the city’s Rose
Quarter.
The Oregon Department of
Transportation says it’s often
backed up for 12 hours a day.
The state Legislature has
approved a $400 million plan
to add lanes and improve it,
but also directed the Oregon
Transportation Commission to
develop a proposal for tolling
on I-5 and I-205 in the Port-
land region.
Critics say widening the
highway will just encour-
age more people to drive — a
problem transportation plan-
ners call “induced demand.”
Portland
Commissioner
Dan Saltzman, who runs the
city transportation bureau, said
he thinks the state should try
tolling before it moves forward
with the freeway expansions.
“Let me be clear: In my
opinion, congestion pricing
should happen in these corri-
dors before any shovels break
ground,” he said.
Under congestion pric-
ing, the cost of using a road or
bridge rises depending on the
time of day or amount of traf-
fic. It’s a strategy that a number
of cities have adopted recently,
including London, Stockholm,
New York and Seattle.
The City Council’s reso-
lution also directed the city’s
transportation bureau to study
whether congestion pricing
strategies could improve other
bottlenecks.
Saltzman and Mayor Ted
Wheeler said they see conges-
tion pricing as a key strategy to
ease the city’s growing pains
while raising new revenue for
badly needed investments in
street maintenance and public
transit.
A variety of transportation
and environmental organiza-
tions testified in support of the
resolution, including the Port
of Portland, Portland Walks
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Stelzig had
been serving as
interim director
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Warrenton’s city engineer
will take over as public works
director.
Collin Stelzig had already
been serving as interim direc-
tor since the departure of Jim
Dunn in September. Stelzig,
who grew up in Tillamook,
has worked with the city,
first as a consultant and more
recently as an employee, for
more than a decade.
When he was hired as city
engineer two years ago, he
didn’t have much interest in
running a department, but that
changed as he got to know the
other city employees and the
public works employees in
particular.
“Everybody’s got a lot of
energy and wants to do better
by the city,” he said.
As public works direc-
tor, he will lead the city’ larg-
est department, overseeing 19
full-time employees and man-
aging capital improvement
projects for water, sewer,
stormwater, city parks and
city streets and trails. Public
works staff maintain 38 pump
stations, 80 lane miles of
streets and 10 miles of levees.
The department also includes
a water treatment plant, a 17.5
million gallon reservoir for
raw water and two 3.5 mil-
lion gallon reservoir tanks for
treated water.
For Stelzig, the first big
project on his plate is to finish
the city’s water master plan,
which hasn’t been updated in
close to 20 years.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” he
said of the plan. “We have a
lot of information to give the
commission.”
Stelzig’s promotion leaves
Warrenton without a city engi-
neer. The city contracts out for
some engineering services and
City Manager Linda Engbret-
son says she hopes to revamp
the position, turning it into
“more of a project manager/
engineering tech position.”
GAME MEAT PROCESSING
Debbie D’s will NOT be at the
the Cash & Carry in Warrenton
on Saturday, December 2nd.
She will be back on Saturday,
November 9th at 10:00 am
for the regular pick up and
delivery of meat for processing.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
and the Oregon Environmen-
tal Council.
Opposition came from
members of the group No
More Freeway Expansion.
They say the council needs
to more forcefully oppose the
state’s proposal to widen the
highways.
Economist Joe Cortright
called congestion pricing the
only way to reduce congestion
in an urban setting.
“What this project amounts
to, effectively then, is a half
a billion dollars to the free-
way gods or the world’s most
expensive piece of perfor-
mance art,” he said.
city engineer to
public works director
Please call or leave message by
Friday so we know to expect you!
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