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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2018)
6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 Man detained in Florida in mail-bomb case By MICHAEL BALSAMO, ERIC TUCKER and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON — Federal authorities took a man into cus- tody today in Florida in con- nection with the mail-bomb scare that earlier widened to 12 suspicious packages, the FBI and Justice Department said. The man was identified by law enforcement officials as Cesar Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Florida. He was arrested at an auto parts store in the nearby city of Plantation. Court records show Sayoc has a history of arrests. Law enforcement officers were seen on television exam- ining a white van, its windows covered with an assortment of stickers, in the city of Planta- tion in the Miami area. Author- ities covered the vehicle with a blue tarp and took it away on the back of a flatbed truck. The stickers included images of American flags and WPLG-TV FBI agents cover a van parked in Plantation, Fla., that federal agents and police officers have been examining in connection with package bombs that were sent to high-profile critics of President Donald Trump. what appeared to be logos of the Republican National Com- mittee and CNN, though the writing surrounding those images was unclear. President Donald Trump said he expected to speak about the investigation at a youth summit today. The development came amid a coast-to-coast manhunt for the person responsible for a series of explosive devices addressed to Democrats includ- ing former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Law enforcement officials said they had intercepted a dozen packages in states across the country. None had exploded, and it wasn’t immediately clear if they were intended to cause physical harm or simply sow fear and anxiety. Earlier today, authori- ties said suspicious pack- ages addressed to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper — both similar to those containing pipe bombs sent to other prominent critics of President Donald Trump— had been intercepted. Investigators believe the mailings were staggered. The U.S. Postal Service searched their facilities 48 hours ago and the most recent packages didn’t turn up. Officials don’t think they were sitting in the system without being spotted. They were working to determine for sure. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condi- tion of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The FBI said the package to Booker was intercepted in Florida. The one discovered at a Manhattan postal facility was addressed to Clapper at CNN’s address. An earlier package had been sent to former Obama CIA Director John Brennan via CNN in New York. Attorney General Jeff Ses- sions said today the Justice Department was dedicating every available resource to the investigation “and I can tell you this: We will find the person or persons responsible. We will bring them to justice.” Trump, on the other hand, complained that “this ‘bomb’ stuff” was taking attention away from the upcoming elec- tion and said critics were wrongly blaming him and his heated rhetoric. Investigators were analyz- ing the innards of the crude devices to reveal whether they were intended to detonate or simply sow fear just before Election Day. Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged to explode upon opening. But they were uncertain whether the devices were poorly designed or never intended to cause physical harm. Most of those targeted were past or present U.S. offi- cials, but one was sent to actor Robert De Niro and billion- aire George Soros. The bombs have been sent across the coun- try — from New York, Dela- ware and Washington, D.C., to Florida and California, where Rep. Maxine Waters was tar- geted. They bore the return address of Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. The common thread among the bomb targets was obvious: their critical words for Trump and his frequent, harsher criti- cism in return. Trump claimed today he was being blamed for the mail bombs, complaining in a tweet sent before dawn: “Funny how lowly rated CNN, and oth- ers, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the cur- rent spate of Bombs and ridic- ulously comparing this to September 11th and the Okla- homa City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!’” Students: ‘There is more work that needs to be done’ Continued from Page 1A to release the already com- pleted report cards until after the November election. Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat who appointed Gill, is in a hotly contested race with state Rep. Knute Buehler, a Republican who has criticized her response to the state’s chronically poor academic performance. Brown ordered the release of the report cards on Wednesday. Warrenton was the only school district in the county to post a high rating in terms of the academic progress of stu- dents between the third and eighth grades. That included high marks for low-income students and average aca- demic progress for Hispanic and multiracial students. “While we are pleased with the data, and excited about the trends, we agree there is more work that needs to be done and that our numbers, which are close to or exceed the state average, still have plenty of room for improvement,” said Mark Jeffery, the school superintendent in Warrenton. Warrenton’s academic prowess was most pronounced in math, where half of the dis- trict’s eighth graders met or exceeded grade-level compe- tency, compared to 41 percent statewide, 33 percent in Sea- side, 32 percent in Astoria, 22 percent in Knappa and 21 per- cent in Jewell. Tom Rogozinski, princi- pal of the Warrenton Grade School, said the district has over the past three years shifted its schedules and doubled the time spent in math. Every student in third- through-eighth grade now receives 90 minutes of math instruction daily. “Our philosophy was we wanted to make sure kids had the foundational skills they needed,” he said. “We really also wanted to make sure we had time for the application side of things.” CC Travers, an eighth- grade math teacher, said the longer classes allow her to get creative, using activities like Rubik’s Cubes and computer coding to apply students’ edu- cation to the real world. Travers also credits the younger grades for focus- ing on fact fluency and prob- lem-solving, better preparing students before they reach her class. The district also iden- tifies advanced learners and allows them to take a math class one or more grade levels up. About one-third of the dis- trict’s eighth graders take high school algebra classes. Warrenton’s third graders also vastly outperformed their peers in the county and state- wide in English language arts competency, with 69 percent meeting or exceeding state standards, compared to 51 percent in Astoria, 47 percent statewide, 42 percent in Sea- side, 18 percent in Jewell and 11 percent in Knappa. Academic competency is based on students’ scores in the Smarter Balanced annual statewide exam. The district tries to embed good test-tak- ing skills into its curricu- lum while also striking a bal- ance toward diverse academic offerings, Rogozinski said. “We’re not teaching stu- dents to learn to the test, but to respond to any academic chal- lenge,” he said. Despite Knappa students’ struggles to meet math and English competency, they were by far the most on-track toward completion in the ninth grade — 89 percent — and most likely to finish high school on time — 91 percent — in the 2016-17 school year. The district graduated all His- panic students on time that year, along with three-quarters of those considered low-in- come, and 71 percent of stu- dents with disabilities. Knappa’s graduation rate was the only one to outstrip the state average of 77 percent in 2016-17, compared with 75 percent in Warrenton, 75 percent in Jewell, 67 percent in Seaside and 63 percent in Astoria. Paulette Johnson, the school superintendent in Knappa, said the district has focused on checking students’ attendance and grades every quarter to ensure they are on track. There are also multiple assessment options the district uses to help students meet the requirements for graduation, she said. “The function of school is to get our students ready for the real world no matter the pathway,” Johnson said. “We are doing that.” Jewell, a rural school dis- trict, had the highest atten- dance rate at more than 95 percent. Astoria, which has placed a focus on attendance with a publicity campaign, reached 87 percent, compared to 83 percent in Warrenton, 83 percent statewide, 76 percent in Knappa and 74 percent in Seaside. Registered, Licensed Nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants Clatsop Care Health and Rehabilitation has select openings for both Full and Part-time licensed caregivers. We are proud to serve the Astoria community since 1929. We are located at 646 16th Street in the original Columbia Memorial Hospital. We have helped hundreds of our friends, family and neighbors with age related challenges. Our TEAM of Professionals are dedicated and committed in our mission of care. Come by for a tour OR visit our website for employment details to include paid healthcare benefits! 646 16th Street, Astoria • 503.325.0313 www.clatsopcare.org Clatsop Distributing held its 38th annual golf tournament on Sept. 5th at the Astoria Golf and Country Club. The tournament is a fundraiser for local sports and scholarship foundations including Astoria Youth Athletics, Seaside Kids, Warrenton High School Sports, Knappa High School sports, and Ilwaco Golf. The tournament raised $5,700 with the participation of 92 players and from donations by previous participants. An additional $1,000 was raised by Clatsop Community Bank, Jack Ficken and Joe Schulte. Special thanks to Astoria Golf and Country Club, PGA Pro John Kawasoe, Greens Superintendent John Whisler and tournament chairman Fred Hamel.
