4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017
Senators: Trump
dismissed claims
on Twitter account
Continued from Page 1A
Merkley said last week
that Trump should resign.
“The president should resign
because he certainly has a
track record with more than
17 women of horrific con-
duct,” the senator said on
MSNBC’s “Meet the Press
Daily.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,
D-N.Y, Sen. Cory Booker,
D-N.J., and Sen. Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt., have also
called for Trump to resign.
Trump, on Twitter today,
dismissed the sexual miscon-
duct claims as “false accusa-
tions and fabricated stories
of women who I don’t know
and/or have never met.”
Trump, a Republican,
said Democrats “have been
unable to show any collusion
with Russia” and now are
“moving on” to these alle-
gations. He added: “FAKE
NEWS!”
The
president
also
attacked Gillibrand.
Trump said Gillibrand
is a “total flunky for Chuck
Schumer,” the Senate Dem-
ocratic leader. He said Gilli-
brand, “who would come to
my office ‘begging’ for cam-
paign contributions not so
long ago (and would do any-
thing for them), is now in the
ring fighting against Trump.”
The New York Democrat
responded on Twitter, saying:
“You cannot silence me or
the millions of women who
have gotten off the sidelines
to speak out about the unfit-
ness and shame you have
brought to the Oval Office.”
On Monday, the women
— Jessica Leeds, Samantha
Holvey and Rachel Crooks
— urged Congress to investi-
gate Trump. A fourth woman
also spoke at a news confer-
ence with them via phone.
In a heated exchange with
reporters in the White House
briefing room on Monday,
press secretary Sarah Huck-
abee Sanders steadfastly dis-
missed accusations against
the president and suggested
the issue had been litigated
in Trump’s favor on Election
Day.
The allegations surfaced
during last year’s presiden-
tial campaign, but the women
raised the issue anew on
NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today”
and at a news conference.
“It was heartbreaking last
year,” Holvey said. “We’re
private citizens and for us
to put ourselves out there to
try and show America who
this man is and how he views
women, and for them to say,
‘Eh, we don’t care,’ it hurt.”
The former beauty queen
claimed that Trump ogled her
and other Miss USA pageant
contestants in their dressing
room in 2006. Crooks is a
former receptionist at Trump
Tower and Leeds says she
met Trump on a flight.
Sixteen women have
come forward with a range of
accusations against Trump,
many after the release of the
“Access Hollywood” tape
last October in which Trump
was caught on an open micro-
phone bragging about grop-
ing women. One woman,
Summer Zevos, a contes-
tant on Trump’s reality show,
“The Apprentice,” sued, con-
tending that Trump’s denials
of her accusations amount
to false and defamatory
statements.
Rosenbauer America
Tractor-drawn aerial apparatus similar to the type pur-
chased by Seaside Fire and Rescue.
Fire truck: ‘We’ll be
able to reach places
we can’t right now’
Continued from Page 1A
The tractor-drawn aerial,
known as the tiller, will
offer navigability down
the city’s narrow one-way
streets.
“Through training and
viewing of it, we found the
tractor-drawn aerial — the
tiller — would be a lot more
versatile for our city,” Dan-
iels said.
In addition, the new rig
will fit in the city’s Broad-
way fire station without
the need to make building
modifications.
The bid was presented
by General Fire Apparatus,
based in Spokane.
The second bid was only
$2,600 higher, Daniels said,
requiring meticulous review
of a 365-page proposal and
multiple trips to test-drive
vehicles.
The department’s 75-foot
ladder truck will remain in
use while the new vehicle is
built to specifications. Dan-
iels said. The engine will take
about eight to 11 months for
delivery and the truck about
12 to 18 months.
Funds for the appara-
tus, to be manufactured by
Rosenbauer America, will
come from the fire depart-
ment’s levy fund, Daniels
said. He thanked voters for
their support.
City councilors unan-
imously
endorsed
the
purchase.
“This is going to be such a
great addition to the safety of
our city,” Mayor Jay Barber
said. “We’ll be able to reach
places we can’t right now.”
Fire board: ‘You are
going to be missed’
Continued from Page 1A
a part of your lifestyle,”
Morgan said. “I missed the
camaraderie and the service
to the community, so when
Linda asked me I saw it as an
opportunity to get involved
again.”
Morgans said he hopes to
bring his dual perspectives
as a firefighter and as a busi-
nessman to the table to help
the district achieve its goals.
“With my background, I
am concerned with the needs
of firefighters and the taxpay-
ers of Cannon Beach,” Mor-
gans said.
Beck-Sweeney, who is
the owner of Cannon Beach
Vacation Rentals, said that
while she is resigning from
the board she “isn’t going
anywhere.” She plans to
still volunteer at fundraising
functions and host barbecues
at her business across the
street from the district.
Board members thanked
Beck-Sweeney for her work.
“You are going to be
missed. Thank you so much
for your time and efforts,”
said board member Garry
Smith.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Processed wood products move along a conveyor system at the Hampton Lumber mill in Warrenton.
Zika: ‘I think there’s a bright future’
Continued from Page 1A
A: Timber supply is
always going to be the No.
1 factor, because we have
the federal forests locked up,
and because of the large vol-
ume of log exports — I call
them raw log exports — to
Asia. The timber price, the
log price, is the highest here
in all of North America, and
logs tend to be about 70 per-
cent of your cost of making
lumber. So when your cost is
really high, you’ve got to be
really efficient at the process-
ing and the rest of the costs
that go into the product.
Q: What impact have
Canadian softwood lumber
imports had on U.S. firms?
A: It’s somewhat of an
argumentative issue in terms
of how much Canadian lum-
ber affects the price of lum-
ber in the U.S. The U.S. coa-
lition says that the lumber
producers up there are subsi-
dized with cheap logs. I don’t
believe that’s the case. The
log price in the U.S. South is
way below what the log price
is in British Columbia, but the
Canadians do benefit from
a cheap currency. Their cur-
rency is related to oil prices.
That’s a big part of their
economy. So as the currency
got cheap, that makes them
more competitive in making
lumber.
Q: What’s your take on
the recent tariffs imposed on
Canadian lumber imports
to the U.S.?
A: What our company
would like to see is both sides
sit down and negotiate a settle-
ment that’s fair to both sides.
One of the things that I par-
ticipate in is called the Soft-
Recently cut boards near the end of one of the processing facilities.
wood Lumber Board. That’s
made up of U.S. companies
and Canadian companies that
sell into the U.S. market, and
we’ve been investing in trying
to look for new uses of wood,
things like cross-laminated
timbers, tall wood buildings,
comes out of some of the
work the Softwood Lumber
Board is doing. So I would
like to see us continue to grow
the pie, so to speak, so there’s
more wood use, as opposed
to fighting against each other
with these duties.
Q: How has automation
affected employment at the
mills?
A: First of all, you have
the optimization, looking at
each log to make the maxi-
mum value out of every sin-
gle log, because the logs are
expensive, so you’re trying
to find the best solution for
how to cut that log into lum-
ber. The second part is the
machines, since they talk to
each other now, hand off the
lumber from one machine to
another. So what you have is
these control systems that are
really the automation.
What we’re trying to do,
also, is automate some of the
jobs that maybe we have trou-
ble recruiting for, like clean-
ing up the mill. It’s tough to
talk young people into com-
ing and shoveling sawdust
like they did in the old days.
Q: Do you see any new
opportunities for diversi-
fication and creating new
lumber demand?
A: I think there’s a bright
future. Part of it can be
restricted if we’re going to
restrict the amount of trees
that can be harvested. Instead
of harvesting 2 percent of the
federal growth, if we har-
vested 10 percent and thinned
the forest so we had healthy
forests, I think that would
create a wood source that
would allow us to not only
make more lumber or ply-
wood, but then maybe set us
up for cross-laminated tim-
bers and some of these other
value-added products. I think
people are getting more cre-
ative on how to use wood
beyond just basic lumber.
Tax package would ease hit to residents of high-tax states
By STEPHEN
OHLEMACHER and
MARCY GORDON
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Con-
gressional Republicans on
Tuesday were speeding toward
an agreement on a massive tax
package that would ease the hit
on Americans living in high-
tax states and appease corpora-
tions that could have lost pre-
cious tax breaks.
Negotiators were work-
ing to expand a deduction for
state and local taxes to allow
individuals to deduct income
taxes as well as property taxes,
said two congressional aides.
Negotiators were also work-
ing to eliminate the alternative
minimum tax for corporations,
the aides said.
The aides spoke on condi-
tion of anonymity because they
were not authorized to publicly
discuss private negotiations.
Negotiators were still work-
ing Tuesday on how to pay
for the expanded tax breaks,
though Republican lawmakers
were optimistic that a deal was
eminent. The total amount of
tax breaks cannot exceed $1.5
trillion over the next decade,
under budget rules adopted by
both the House and Senate.
The Senate’s No. 2 Repub-
lican, Sen. John Cornyn of
Texas, said a deal could come
as soon as Tuesday. “I think it
could and I hope it is,” he said.
Both the House and Sen-
ate bills would scale back the
deduction for state and local
taxes, limiting it to $10,000
in property taxes. The issue
is important to lawmakers
from high-tax states such as
New York, New Jersey and
California.
California Republicans are
pushing to amend the bill to
enable individuals to deduct
state and local income taxes
as well as property taxes. Rep.
Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said
there is an agreement on how
to address the issue, though he
wasn’t specific.
“It’s a huge issue in dis-
tricts and there’s an agreement
about how they are going to
approach it and I just want to
see that issue taken care of,”
said Sessions, chairman of
the House Rules Committee.
“Once again, we’re in negotia-
tion, and sometimes when you
negotiate you have to decide
what you’re willing to fight for
and we need to fight for that.”
Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y.,
warned that nothing is final
until the whole package is
worked out. But, he said, he
believes negotiators have
found a way to include income
taxes in the deduction for state
and local taxes.
“I’m sure income tax is
something, obviously address-
ing that concern is a big con-
cern for many members, so I
think there’s a solution there,”
Reed said.
Rep. Lee Zeldin of New
York, one of 13 House Repub-
licans who voted against
the tax bill in protest of the
reduced deduction, said Tues-
day he was awaiting details
from leaders of a new agree-
ment affecting income or prop-
erty taxes. Doubling the limit
to $20,000, he said, would
help a number of homeown-
ers in his high-tax Long Island
district.
“Somebody might be a loser
under $10,000 and become a
winner above $10,000,” Zel-
din said.
For corporations, the
House-passed bill would elim-
inate the alternative minimum
tax but the Senate bill would
retain it. The tax was meant to
ensure that corporations pay at
least some tax.
Republican
lawmakers
from both the House and Sen-
ate said retaining the tax would
limit the ability of corporations
to take advantage of popular
tax credits, including one for
research and development.
House Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has
come out in favor of repealing
the corporate AMT, giving the
proposal momentum.
Both the House and Sen-
ate bills would cut the corpo-
rate income tax rate from 35
percent to 20 percent. Republi-
can lawmakers said they were
resisting efforts to set the tax
rate at 22 percent as a way to
pay for other tax breaks. Busi-
ness and conservative groups
have been lobbying hard for
the 20 percent rate.
“We’re obviously trying to
drive as low as possible in the
House and the Senate, so we’ll
see where it lands,” Reed said.
House and Senate negotia-
tors were rushing Tuesday to
finalize the tax package so both
chambers could vote on it next
week, handing a major leg-
islative achievement to Pres-
ident Donald Trump before
Christmas.
The chief tax-writer in the
House, Rep. Kevin Brady, said
“We’re on track to finish” this
week.
Trump will try on Wednes-
day to sell the American peo-
ple on a GOP tax overhaul
that is unpopular with many.
His pitch: the plan will lift
all economic boats, bringing
a brighter future for taxpay-
ers and their families, accord-
ing to spokeswoman Lindsay
Walters.