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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2019)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2019 WORLD IN BRIEF “Access Hollywood” scandal in the closing weeks of the election campaign. But Ryan was the main focus of his Twitter rage. “Paul Ryan, the failed V.P. candidate & for- mer Speaker of the House, whose record of achievement was atrocious (except during my fi rst two years as President), ultimately became a long running lame duck failure, leaving his Party in the lurch both as a fundraiser & leader,” Trump began his tweetstorm. Associated Press Secretary Acosta resigning amid Epstein deal scrutiny WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Alex- ander Acosta said Friday he is resigning follow- ing renewed scrutiny of his handling of a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy fi nancier Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. President Donald Trump, with Acosta at his side, made the announcement as he left the White House for a trip to Wisconsin and Ohio. The president said “I hate to see this happen” and he did not ask Acosta to leave the Cabinet. But conservatives, who are unhappy with steps Acosta has taken at the department, had been pushing for his ouster. Trump, who publicly faults the news media nearly every day, said Acosta put the blame there, too, for his departure. The president tweeted from aboard Air Force One that Acosta “informed me this morn- ing that he felt the constant drumbeat of press about a prosecution which took place under his watch more than 12 years ago was bad for the administration, which he so strongly believes in, and he graciously tendered his resignation.” Acosta was the U.S. attorney in Miami when he oversaw a 2008 nonprosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges but plead guilty to state charges and serve 13 months in jail. Similar charges fi led against Epstein by federal prosecutors in New York this week had put Acosta’s handling of the 2008 agreement with the now-jailed fi nancier back in the spotlight. Over the years, Epstein has counted Trump and former President Bill Clinton among his powerful friends, and Trump was quoted in 2002 as saying the fi nancier was “a lot of fun to be with,” a “terrifi c guy” of whom “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Trump now says he and Epstein had a fall- ing-out and he is “not a fan.” Acosta said his resignation would be effec- tive in seven days. He said he didn’t think it was right for his handling of Epstein’s case to dis- tract from the president’s agenda and his work as secretary of labor. “My point here today is we have an amaz- ing economy, and the focus needs to be on the economy,” Acosta said. New Orleans’ levees face a hard test as storm bears down Even as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Mississippi River’s levees held up when those in other parts of the city did not. But as Tropical Storm Barry threatened New Pentagon in longest-ever stretch of leadership limbo AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, right, accompanied by President Donald Trump, speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. Orleans with torrential rains that will test the city’s fl ood defenses this weekend, the height of the city’s river levees was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ greatest concern, spokes- man Ricky Boyett said. The danger to New Orleans — bound by the Mississippi River on its south side, Lake Pon- tchartrain on its north side and tributaries lead- ing into the nearby Gulf of Mexico on the east — is threefold: storm surges from the sea, rain from the sky and water from the rising river if the levees fail. While the Army Corps wasn’t expecting the swollen river to spill over into the city, the threat from Barry was real with a storm that was forecast to dump 10 to 20 inches of rain on New Orleans through Sunday, with isolated areas getting 25 inches. The river was expected to crest at about 19 feet on Saturday in New Orleans, where the levees protecting it from the water range from about 20 to 25 feet in height, said Jeff Gra- schel, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. R. Kelly arrested again in Chicago on federal sex charges CHICAGO — Singer R. Kelly, already fac- ing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors, was arrested in Chicago Thurs- day on a federal grand jury indictment listing 13 counts including sex crimes and obstruction of justice. U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick said the R&B singer was taken into custody and was being held by federal author- ities. According to the Federal Bureau of Pris- ons website, Kelly is being held at the Metro- politan Correctional Center, Chicago. He was arrested after the indictment was handed down earlier Thursday in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois. “The counts include child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice,” Fitzpat- rick said, adding that further details would be released Friday. The arrest was the second time this year that Kelly has been taken into custody in Chicago on sex charges. The 52-year-old Grammy winner, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was arrested in February on 10 counts in Illinois involving four women, three of whom were minors when the alleged abuse occurred. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and was released on bail. Trump unloads on Ryan, calls him ‘a lame duck failure’ WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unloaded via Twitter on former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, calling him a “lame duck failure.” Ryan is very critical of Trump in the book “American Carnage” by Tim Alberta of Polit- ico, in excerpts running in various publi- cations. Alberta wrote the former speaker could not stand the idea of another two years with the president and saw retirement as the “escape hatch,” according to The Washington Post. Ryan is quoted saying: “I’m telling you, he didn’t know anything about government. I wanted to scold him all the time.” Trump tweeted late Thursday: “He had the Majority & blew it away with his poor lead- ership and bad timing. Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!” Trump may have been angered by various revelations in the book, including accounts recalling widespread negative GOP reactions to his off-color videotaped comments in the WASHINGTON — When he resigned as defense secretary last December, Jim Mat- tis thought it might take two months to install a successor. That seemed terribly long at the time. Seven months later, the U.S. still has no con- fi rmed defense chief even with the nation fac- ing potential armed confl ict with Iran. That’s the longest such stretch in Pentagon history. There is also no confi rmed deputy defense secretary, and other signifi cant senior civilian and military Pentagon positions are in limbo, more than at any recent time. The causes are varied, but this leadership vacuum has nonetheless begun to make mem- bers of Congress and others uneasy, creating a sense that something is amiss in a critical arm of the government at a time of global uncertainty. William Cohen, a former Republican sen- ator who served as defense secretary during President Bill Clinton’s second term, says U.S. allies — “and even our foes” — expect more stability than this within the U.S. defense establishment. Passengers violently ejected from seats on turbulent fl ight HONOLULU — Dozens of people were violently slammed off the ceiling of a jetliner that encountered unexpected and intense turbu- lence over the Pacifi c Ocean Thursday. An Air Canada fl ight to Australia made an emergency landing in Honolulu after 37 peo- ple were injured, nine seriously, during the sud- den loss of altitude that sent people fl ying into the luggage compartments and aisles of the airplane. The fl ight from Vancouver to Sydney encountered “un-forecasted and sudden turbu- lence,” about two hours past Hawaii when the plane diverted to Honolulu, Air Canada spokes- woman Angela Mah said in a statement. “The plane just dropped,” passenger Steph- anie Beam told The Associated Press. “When we hit turbulence, I woke up and looked over to make sure my kids were buckled. The next thing I knew there’s just literally bodies on the ceiling of the plane.” The Clatsop County Fair July 29 - Aug 3 LIVE LOCAL MUSIC BEER + WINE GARDEN ARTIST + MAKER POP-UPS SMOKED BONES BBQ KIDS’ ACTIVITIES 10am - 10pm Adults $5 | 12 & Under $3 | Parking $2 TUES: FREE Hog Roast • 4pm FRI: Midland Concert, gates open 6pm SAT: Demolition Derby •11am FRIDAY JULY 19TH 2-8PM 14TH STREET BETWEEN MARINE + COMMERCIAL AFTER PARTY AT ALBATROSS & CO. 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