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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2018)
6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018 WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Florida governor expected to sign gun bill today TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to meet today with families of the 17 people who were killed in a school shoot- ing, and then sign a $400 million school safety bill with new gun controls opposed by the NRA and a plan to arm staff that teachers don’t want. State Rep. Jared Moskowitz — a Democrat who represents the South Florida district where the shooting happened — said in a text that Scott will sign the bill today. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said the same. The Legislature delivered the bill to Scott on Thursday. It narrowly passed the House and Sen- ate, and falls short of what he wanted and what survivors of the massacre demanded. Florida’s teachers’ union and the National Rifle Associa- tion are opposed. The measure would raise the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21, extend a three-day wait- ing period for handgun purchases to include long guns, and ban bump stocks that allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire. In schools, it would create a “guardian” pro- gram enabling staff with law enforcement train- ing and school district approval to carry con- cealed handguns on campus. It would create new mental health programs for schools and establish an anonymous tip line where students and others could report threats. It also seeks to improve com- munication between schools, law enforcement and state agencies. The National Rifle Association opposes rais- ing age limits to buy weapons or imposing new waiting periods. Teachers, meanwhile, called on Scott to use his line-item veto power to zero out the $67 million set aside for the program to train and arm school employees. Officer charged with assaulting black jaywalking suspect RALEIGH, N.C. — A white police officer whose body camera recorded him beating a black pedestrian he accused of jaywalking has been arrested on assault charges in North Carolina. Christopher Hickman was charged late Thurs- day with assault by strangulation, assault inflict- ing serious injury and communicating threats, according to the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office. The Asheville Police chief put Hickman on desk duty immediately following the beating last August, and he resigned from the force in Janu- ary after an internal investigation determined he should be fired. Still, the case remained a secret until the recording was leaked to the local news- paper and published last week, sparking commu- nity outrage. The FBI is now investigating. The camera recorded Hickman saying “he’s not learning!” before a trainee confronts John- nie Jermaine Rush for jaywalking. Hickman first told the trainee to write him a ticket, but then told Rush to put his hands behind his back after Rush complained that officers didn’t have anything bet- ter to do than “harass somebody” for walking. Rush then tried to run and Hickman brought him down, repeatedly punching him in the head, the video shows. Hickman also struck him and shocked him with a stun gun and put him in a chokehold, according to city documents. Officers charged Rush with impeding traffic and resisting arrest, but the charges were dropped. In the recording, made as the streets were deserted, Rush said he was just walking home from his restaurant job when he was stopped near a minor league ballpark and breweries that fuel the city’s booming tourism industry. Slow recovery from latest nor’easter; 3rd storm on tap? BOSTON — The sun came out across much of the Northeast today as utilities tackled the ardu- ous task of restoring power to hundreds of thou- sands of customers who lost electricity during the storm that hit the region this week, all with the possibility of a third nor’easter in the offing. Utilities asked for patience, warning that because of the damage caused by the nor’easter that dropped 2 feet of snow in some areas, pulling down trees, branches and power lines and block- ing roads, it could be days before power is back on. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee A fisherman prepares to cast a line as the sun rises behind him in Bal Harbour, Fla. Florida will join most of the nation in spring- ing ahead, moving clocks up one hour to observe daylight saving time. Let there be light, an hour longer into the evening sky WASHINGTON — Time to set your clocks and watches one hour ahead. And maybe save some time to grouse about losing an hour’s sleep Saturday night. The shift from standard to daylight saving time officially comes at 2 a.m. Sunday across About 450,000 customers across the North- east were without power today, according to the poweroutage.us website, which compiles statis- tics from utilities across the nation. New Jersey and Massachusetts had the most. People without power piled into relatives’ homes, hung out at the local coffee shop or went to “warming centers” that some towns opened in libraries or senior centers. The storm was being blamed for at least two deaths in New York and New Jersey. In Maine, excessive speed on icy roads is being blamed for a 14-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95; no injuries have been reported. The heavy wet snow was also the apparent cause of a roof collapse in a vacant building in Bridgeport, Connecticut. No one was hurt. The rush is on to restore power as forecasters monitor another system that could move up the coast Monday. Some weather models, however, have the storm missing the mark. Former Trump campaign aide Nunberg at court for grand jury WASHINGTON — A former Trump cam- paign aide arrived today at the federal courthouse in Washington for a scheduled grand jury appear- ance days after he defiantly insisted in a series of news interviews that he intended to defy a sub- poena in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Rus- sia investigation. Sam Nunberg did not respond to reporters’ questions as he entered court shortly after 9 a.m. Nunberg on Monday had balked at comply- ing with a subpoena that sought his appearance before a grand jury as well as correspondence with multiple other campaign officials. But later that night, Nunberg said he had relented and would wind up complying after all. He said he had worked for hours to produce the thousands of emails and other communica- tions requested by Mueller, who is investigating whether the Trump campaign improperly coor- dinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. “I thought it was a teachable moment,” he said of his 24 hours in the limelight. So far, 19 people and three companies have been charged in Mueller’s investigation. Among them are Trump’s former campaign chairman and the former White House national security adviser. much of the country. Daylight will last lon- ger into the evening but take an hour longer to emerge in the morning. No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas. Florida could Five people have pleaded guilty. Bundy — leader of standoffs — says he’ll run for Nevada governor LAS VEGAS — A leader of two high-profile armed standoffs with U.S. agents whose Bundy ranching family has decried federal ownership of public land says he’ll mount an independent cam- paign for Nevada governor. E TH eventually join that list if GOP Gov. Rick Scott signs the “Sunshine Protection Act” passed this week and Congress goes along. It’s a good time to consider installing fresh smoke detector batteries. Standard time returns Nov. 4. Ryan Bundy said Thursday that he doesn’t think other candidates running to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval would properly protect states’ rights. The 45-year-old son of Cliven Bundy says he intends to file candidacy papers next Wednesday in Las Vegas and embark on a statewide speak- ing tour. Ryan Bundy has won criminal cases over armed confrontations in two states. U.S. charges were dropped in January against him, his father and his brother Ammon in a 2014 standoff in Nevada over a roundup of Bundy cattle. ® E V I N R U D E E-TEC ® PERFECT NOV. 1, 2017 10 APR. 30, 2018 SALES EVENT * Drug users: ‘No easy solutions’ 10-YEAR COVERAGE Continued from Page 1A The White House also recently proposed $13 billion in new funding for treatment with the Department of Health. Emergency rooms saw a big jump in overdoses from opioids last year — the latest evidence the nation’s drug crisis is get- ting worse. A government report released this week shows over- doses from opioids increased 30 percent late last summer, com- pared to the same three-month period in 2016. The biggest jumps were in the Midwest and in cities, but increases occurred nationwide. “This is a very difficult and fast-moving epidemic and there are no easy solutions,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, acting director of the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention. Overdose increases in some states and cities may be due to changes in the volume and type of illicit opioid drugs being sold on the streets, health officials said. The report did not break down overdoses by type of opi- oid, be it prescription pain pills, heroin, fentanyl or others. The CDC recently started using a new system to track ER overdoses and found the rate of opioid overdoses rose from 14 to 18 per 100,000 ER visits over a year. Almost all those over- doses were not fatal. The CDC numbers are likely an undercount. It’s tracking sys- tem covers about 60 percent of the ER visits in the whole coun- try and some people who over- dose don’t go to the hospital, Schuchat said. Opioids were involved in two-thirds of all overdose deaths in 2016. That year, the powerful painkiller fentanyl and its close opioid cousins played a bigger role in the deaths than any other legal or illegal drug. More recent CDC data shows overdose deaths rose 14 percent from July 2016 to July 2017, but that data doesn’t dis- tinguish opioids from other drugs. Associated Press writer Mike Strobbe contributed to this report. CLATSOP POWER EQUIP. INC. 34912 HWY. 101 BUSINESS ASTORIA, OR 97103 1-800-220-0792 • 503-325-0792 UP TO A $7,500 RETAIL VALUE PER ENGINE ** OFFER VALID IN USA ONLY ©2017 BRP US Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ®,™ and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. or its affiliates. Offer valid only to qualified buyers on purchases of engines bought for recreational use only. Excludes engines purchased under commercial, professional, and government programs. 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