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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019
WORLD IN BRIEF
FAA: Increase in
sick leave causing
fl ight delays
NEW YORK — The
Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration reported delays in
air travel today because of
a “slight increase in sick
leave” at two East Coast air
traffi c control facilities.
The delays come as a
partial government shut-
down threatens to under-
mine the nation’s air travel
system. Air traffi c con-
trollers and airport secu-
rity agents have been work-
ing without pay since the
federal shutdown began in
December, but high absen-
tee rates raise the possibil-
ity of long airport lines, or
even worse.
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo wrote a letter to
Trump today saying the
shutdown is impacting
safety and security at air-
ports and putting travelers
at risk.
FAA spokesman Greg-
ory Martin said the agency
has
augmented
staff-
ing, rerouted traffi c and
increased spacing between
planes as needed.
The staffi ng problems
were at air traffi c centers
in Jacksonville, Florida and
a Washington D.C. center
that controls high-altitude
air traffi c over seven states.
Both parties feel
urgency after
Senate fails to end
shutdown
WASHINGTON
—
Republican and Democratic
leaders hunted today for a
way to halt the 35-day par-
tial government shutdown,
but remained at odds over
President Donald Trump’s
demand that any compro-
mise include money for his
coveted border wall.
Senators were talking
with increased urgency
plan, even though Repub-
licans control the cham-
ber 53-47. Six Republi-
cans backed the Democratic
plan, including freshman
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah,
who’s clashed periodically
with the president.
Deep freeze grips
Upper Midwest,
more bitter cold
is expected
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Roger Stone speaks in December in Washington.
Trump confi dant Stone arrested,
faces obstruction charge
WASHINGTON — Authorities
arrested Roger Stone, a confi dant
of President Donald Trump, before
dawn today in a criminal case that
revealed that senior members of the
Trump campaign sought to benefi t
from the release of hacked emails
damaging to Hillary Clinton.
The seven-count indictment
against Stone, a self-proclaimed
“dirty trickster” with a long his-
tory with Trump, is the fi rst criminal
case in months from special counsel
Robert Mueller. Stone appeared at
court in shackles later in the morn-
ing and was released on a $250,000
bond. He did not enter a plea.
after Thursday’s defeat of
competing proposals from
Trump and the Democrats.
The bipartisan talks pro-
vided a glimmer of hope
that some agreement could
be reached to temporarily
The indictment provides the most
detail to date about how Trump
campaign associates in the summer
of 2016 actively sought the disclo-
sure of emails the U.S. says were
hacked by Russia, then provided to
the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
It alleges that unidentifi ed senior
Trump campaign offi cials con-
tacted Stone to ask when stolen
emails relating to Clinton might be
disclosed.
The indictment does not
charge Stone with conspiring with
WikiLeaks or with the Russian offi -
cers Mueller says hacked the emails.
Instead it mirrors other Mueller cases
halt the longest-ever closure
of federal agencies.
Pressure
is
build-
ing among both parties to
reopen agencies immedi-
ately and pay hundreds of
thousands of beleaguered
in alleging cover-ups and deception,
accusing Stone of lying to Congress
about WikiLeaks, tampering with
witnesses and obstructing the probe
into whether the Trump campaign
coordinated with Kremlin to tip the
election.
Some of those false statements
were made to the House intelligence
committee, prosecutors allege.
The criminal case brings Muel-
ler’s investigation into the pres-
ident’s inner circle, but it does
not accuse the president of any
wrongdoing or reveal whether he
had advance knowledge of the
WikiLeaks trove.
federal workers while bar-
gainers hunt for a deal.
But the idea has not
been endorsed by Trump,
who says any short-term
deal must include a large
down-payment for a bor-
der wall — an idea Pelosi
and Schumer immediately
rejected.
In an embarrassment to
Trump, the Democratic pro-
posal got two more votes
Thursday than the GOP
BISMARCK, N.D. —
An arctic wave has wrapped
parts of the Midwest in
numbing cold, sending
temperatures plunging and
prompting offi cials to close
schools today, but forecast-
ers say the worst may be yet
to come.
Cold weather advisories
were in effect from North
Dakota to Ohio, with dan-
gerously cold wind chills
that could dip to as low as
45 below zero in northern
Wisconsin and Minnesota
and to 35 below in parts of
northern Illinois and Iowa.
The bitter cold caused
administrators in Wiscon-
sin’s largest school district
to cancel classes, meaning
nearly 78,000 students in
Milwaukee Public Schools
were told to stay home
today. High temperatures
in the area were expected to
reach just 2 degrees with a
wind chill of minus 23.
The wind chill, which
describes the effect of wind
and cold temperatures on
exposed skin, is of more
concern because frostbite
can occur within minutes.
Schools also closed because
of the cold in western Mich-
igan, northern Illinois and
other parts of Wisconsin.
Even harsher weather is
expected next week. Bitter
cold as bad — if not worse
— than the 2014 polar vor-
tex outbreak is expected, as
frigid air escapes the Arctic
in two icy excursions into
Canada and the continental
U.S.
Freestyle Motocross Exhibition
Friday and Saturday, February 1 st & 2 nd , 2019
Coming to the
Clatsop County Fair August 2nd!
37 th Annual Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival April 26 th - 28 th
The Clatsop County Fair July 30 th - August 3 rd
Check out our website and Facebook page for more upcoming 2019 events!
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Monster Truck Shows
Antique Shows
Gun & Knife Shows
Dog Shows
and much more!
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92937 Walluski Loop Astoria, Oregon • 503-325-4600