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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2019)
A11 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 22, 2019 OBITUARIES SPORTS Fern Ann Pletschet Carson City, Nevada April 27, 1932 — June 9, 2019 Fern Ann Pletschet, a resident West, Arizona; and 14 nieces and for nine months of Farmington nephews, to whom she was very Square Assisted Living in Beaver- devoted. ton, Oregon, passed away on June Fern was a member of the 9, 2019, at the age of 82, from Dominican Sisters of Adrian, heart disease. Michigan, for 17 years. She Fern was born on April 27, taught elementary school for most 1936, in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, of those years. She then worked Canada, to Margaret and John for Bank of America as a super- visor until her retirement in South Pletschet. She was preceded in death by Fern Pletschet Lake Tahoe, Nevada. She later her brother, Clifford Pletschet, lived in Carson City, Nevada, for and sister, Irene Delucchi. many years. She is survived by her sister, Jean She enjoyed her home, her many friends Hooge, and Jean’s husband, Norman, both and traveling. of Astoria, Oregon; her brother-in-law, Wil- There is no service planned at this time. liam Delucchi, of Newark, California; sis- A celebration of life may be planned at a ter-in-law, Francis Pletschet, of Sun City later date. Supreme Court tosses black man’s murder conviction over racial bias By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday threw out the murder con- viction and death sentence for a black man in Missis- sippi because of a prosecu- tor’s efforts to keep Afri- can Americans off the jury. The defendant already has been tried six times and now could face a seventh trial. The removal of black prospective jurors deprived inmate Curtis Flowers of a fair trial, the court said in a 7-2 decision written by Jus- tice Brett Kavanaugh. The long record of Flowers’ tri- als stretching back more than 20 years shows Dis- trict Attor- ney Doug Curtis Flowers E v a n s ’ “relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individuals,” with the goal of an all-white jury, Kavanaugh wrote. In Flowers’ sixth trial, the jury was made up of 11 whites and one African American. Prosecutor Evans struck five black prospective jurors. In the earlier trials, three convictions were tossed out, including one when the pros- ecutor improperly excluded African Americans from the jury. In the second trial, the judge chided Evans for strik- ing a juror based on race. Two other trials ended when jurors couldn’t reach unani- mous verdicts. “The numbers speak loudly,” Kavanaugh said in a summary of his opin- ion that he read in the court- room, noting that Evans had removed 41 of the 42 pro- spective black jurors over the six trials. “We cannot ignore that history.” In dissent, Justice Clar- ence Thomas called Kava- naugh’s opinion “manifestly incorrect” and wrote that Flowers “presented no evi- dence whatsoever of pur- poseful race discrimination.” Justice Neil Gorsuch joined AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Attorney Sheri Johnson leaves the Supreme Court in March after challenging a Mississippi prosecutor’s decision to keep African-Americans off the jury in the trial of Curtis Flowers. most of Thomas’ opinion. Thomas, the only Afri- can American on the court, said the decision may have one redeeming quality: “The state is perfectly free to con- vict Curtis Flowers again.” Flowers has been in jail more than 22 years, since his arrest after four people were found shot to death in a fur- niture store in Winona, Mis- sissippi, in July 1996. Flowers was arrested sev- eral months later, described by prosecutors as a disgrun- tled former employee who sought revenge against the store’s owner because she fired him and withheld most of his pay to cover the cost of merchandise he damaged. Nearly $300 was found miss- ing after the killings. Defense lawyers have argued that witness state- ments and physical evi- dence against Flowers are too weak to convict him. A jailhouse informant who claimed Flowers had con- fessed to him recanted in recorded telephone conver- sations with American Pub- lic Media’s “In the Dark” podcast. A separate appeal is pending in state court ques- tioning Flowers’ actual guilt, citing in part evidence that reporters for “In the Dark” detailed. “A seventh trial would be unprecedented, and com- pletely unwarranted given both the flimsiness of the evidence against him and the long trail of misconduct that has kept him wrongfully incarcerated all these years. SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY We hope that the state of Mis- sissippi will finally disavow Doug Evans’ misconduct, decline to pursue yet another trial and set Mr. Flowers free,” Sheri Lynn Johnson, who represented Flowers at the Supreme Court, said in an emailed statement. Evans said he remained confident of Flowers guilt but hadn’t decided on retrial, according to American Pub- lic Media. However, he denied trying to exclude African Americans from the jury. In the course of selecting a jury, lawyers can excuse a juror merely because of a suspicion that a particular person would vote against their client. Those are called peremptory strikes, and they have been the focus of the complaints about discrimination. The Supreme Court tried to stamp out discrimina- tion in the composition of juries in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986. The court ruled then that jurors couldn’t be excused from service because of their race and set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claims of discrimination and the race-neutral explanations by prosecutors. Justice Thurgood Mar- shall, who had been the nation’s pre-eminent civil rights attorney, was part of the Batson case majority, but he said the only way to end discrimination in jury selection was to eliminate peremptory strikes. TUESDAY WEDNESDAY AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino United States players embrace following their 2-0 win over Sweden. Maybe the US is as good as American players say round of 16 match against 13th-ranked Spain at Reims — where the temperature is expected to be in the 90s. The winner meets host France or Brazil in a quarterfinal in Paris, and possible semifinal opponents include England, Australia, Norway or Cameroon. A few numbers to digest: The U.S. set a record with 18 group phase goals, one more than Norway in 1995. The Americans ended the group stage unscored on for the first time in team history. They started 3-0 for the first time since 2003. Despite the relative ease of passage, coach Jill Ellis insisted complacency is not a concern. “This team is firmly rooted on the ground,” she maintained. “These players have played this game long enough to know you have to earn every result.” At least for three games, the Americans routed rivals in the same manner Barcelona beats up La Liga opponents. The U.S. had an 83-9 advantage in shots in the three games and had 75% possession against Thailand, 68% vs. Chile and 58% against the Swedes. Alyssa Naeher — remember her? — had to make just four saves over the three matches, getting only infrequent tests in her first World Cup succeeding Hope Solo as the Americans’ No. 1 goalkeeper. “I don’t think the first two games sent a message. They weren’t great teams to be honest. With that said, you have to go out and perform,” midfielder Megan Rapi- noe said, laughing. “I feel like we have a big target on our back already. So I don’t know how much bigger it can get with the performance.” By RONALD BLUM Associated Press LE HAVRE, France — Maybe they are as good as they say they are. The United States is moving through the World Cup field like sharks through the Atlantic. “The message is that we’re on our game, that we’re building momentum, that we’ve gotten some good results, we’ve scored some good goals and we haven’t let any goals in,” defender Becky Sauerbrunn said after Thursday night’s more dominating than it appeared 2-0 win over Sweden com- pleted a record-setting group phase. “So I hope the teams that are preparing for us are getting ready for what’s going to be a really, really tough match.” The American Outlaws supporters in red, white and blue filled the trains north from Paris. As gulls flew overhead on a mild and breezy afternoon, they walked the streets and museums of this coastal Normandy town with their “Tour de Four” T-shirts, sig- nifying the fourth title they hope the U.S. brings home on July 7. They were still in their throaty start-of- game chants when Lindsey Horan scored 2 minutes, 40 seconds in, the fastest goal of the tournament. By the time Tobin Heath’s 50th-minute shot deflected off Jonna Andersson for an own goal, the Outlaws’ “We are the U.S.!” chant had been met by a playful “You are the U.S.!” response from the ever-polite Swedes at the other end of the Stade Oceane. Now the route through the field is clear and the heat really will be on for Monday’s Providence is calling for a nurse manager to lead surgical services Providence Seaside is seeking a nurse manager to lead our Surgical Services Department to oversee daily activities related to pre-admit, operating room, PACU, endoscopy and sterile processing. We offer competitive salary, benefits and a $5k signing bonus. Some of the qualifications needed include: x Bachelor of Science in nursing and current RN license x Recent experience as a RN circulator x Previous management experience Other open positions x Care management manager x Housekeeping attendant, full-time x Medical assistant, full-time x PACU RN, full-time x Maternity RN, full-time Learn about these and others jobs at www.Providenceiscalling.jobs. THURSDAY FRIDAY REGIONAL FORECAST Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Seattle 63 53 Partial sunshine 62 50 A passing shower 63 49 62 51 Mostly cloudy Showers possible 63 52 63 52 Mostly cloudy Variable cloudiness 64 51 Partly sunny Aberdeen Olympia 62/52 68/54 Wenatchee Tacoma Moses Lake 68/52 ALMANAC UNDER THE SKY TODAY'S TIDES Astoria through Thursday Tonight’s Sky: Summer arrives at 8:54 a.m., which is the moment of the summer solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. Astoria / Port Docks Temperatures High/low ................................ 62/51 Normal high/low .................. 64/51 Record high .................. 86 in 1902 Record low .................... 42 in 1947 Precipitation Thursday ................................. 0.06” Month to date ........................ 0.60” Normal month to date ......... 1.92” Year to date .......................... 22.61” Normal year to date ........... 35.28” Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI Sunrise today .................. 5:24 a.m. Sunset tonight ............... 9:11 p.m. Moonrise today ........... 12:24 a.m. Moonset today ............ 10:31 a.m. New First High (ft.) Time Low (ft.) 4:33 a.m. 6:19 p.m. Full 4:12 a.m. 5:59 p.m. 4:26 a.m. 6:05 p.m. Warrenton 4:28 a.m. 6:14 p.m. Knappa 5:10 a.m. 6:56 p.m. Depoe Bay June 25 July 2 July 9 July 16 7.2 11:36 a.m. 0.1 6.7 11:56 p.m. 3.0 Cape Disappointment Hammond SUN AND MOON Last Time 3:26 a.m. 5:17 p.m. 6.8 10:55 a.m. -0.1 6.2 11:16 p.m. 3.2 7.4 11:08 a.m. 0.0 6.8 11:31 p.m. 3.3 7.6 11:20 a.m. 0.2 7.1 11:40 p.m. 3.1 7.4 12:10 a.m. 2.6 6.9 12:37 p.m. 0.0 7.1 10:24 a.m. -0.2 6.6 10:44 p.m. 3.4 City Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Denver Honolulu Houston Los Angeles Miami New York City Phoenix San Francisco Wash., DC Sun. Hi/Lo/W 90/73/t 78/64/pc 73/64/t 92/74/pc 62/45/t 89/76/sh 93/81/pc 74/60/pc 95/78/pc 81/64/s 98/75/s 78/56/s 82/64/s 91/75/t 82/65/s 80/69/t 91/70/c 67/48/pc 90/77/s 92/78/pc 77/61/pc 93/79/t 83/67/s 101/76/s 78/54/s 85/68/pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. 79/58 Hermiston The Dalles 85/57 Enterprise Pendleton 71/44 81/53 76/57 La Grande 75/46 75/52 NATIONAL CITIES Today Hi/Lo/W 72/52 Kennewick Walla Walla 81/56 Lewiston 85/56 68/53 Salem Pullman 83/52 Longview 63/53 Portland 74/56 74/52 Yakima 84/56 68/49 Astoria Spokane 80/58 Corvallis 76/50 Albany 76/52 John Day Eugene Bend 78/50 77/43 75/47 Ontario 81/54 Caldwell Burns 75/43 77/51 Medford 85/52 Klamath Falls 78/41 City Baker City Brookings Ilwaco Newberg Newport Today Hi/Lo/W 74/43/pc 69/52/s 60/53/pc 74/50/pc 59/50/pc Sun. Hi/Lo/W 74/39/pc 69/53/pc 60/52/c 71/47/c 58/45/c City North Bend Roseburg Seaside Springfi eld Vancouver Today Hi/Lo/W 62/52/s 80/56/s 62/53/pc 78/53/s 72/54/pc Sun. Hi/Lo/W 62/49/c 79/49/pc 61/51/sh 75/46/pc 69/49/c
