Page 12A
NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
One escaped killer
fatally shot in woods,
other still on the run
MALONE, N.Y. (AP)
— One of two convicted
murderers who staged a
brazen escape from an
upstate maximum-security
prison three weeks ago was
shot and killed by a border
patrol agent in a wooded area
30 miles from the prison on
Friday, and the other was on
the run, authorities said.
Authorities tracked down
and killed Richard Matt after
a person towing a camper
reported that there was a
bullet hole through the back
of it, Gov. Andrew Cuomo
and state police said. David
Sweat hasn’t been spotted,
Cuomo said.
The shooting of the
FDPSHU OHG RI¿FHUV WR D
cabin in Malone, where
they discovered the smell
of gunpowder, said Joseph
D’Amico, superintendent of
the New York State Police.
There were indications
someone had recently been
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door, he said.
While searching the prop-
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and detected movement, and
tactical teams came upon
Matt in the woods.
“They verbally challenged
him, told him to put up his
hands. And at that time, he
was shot when he didn’t
comply,” D’Amico said.
A 20-gauge shotgun was
found on Matt, who didn’t
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said. Matt was shot by a
border patrol agent from
Vermont, U.S. Sen. Charles
Schumer said.
It was unclear if Matt
and Sweat were together
at the time of the shooting,
authorities said. The pair
escaped from the Clinton
Correctional Facility together
early June 6. Cuomo called
them “dangerous, dangerous
men.”
Police blocked off roads
LQWKHDUHDDVRI¿FHUVKXQWHG
for Sweat on Friday. The
search area for him was
centered on Titusville Moun-
tain State Forest in Malone
and spanned 22 square miles,
down from 75 square miles
earlier this week, authorities
said.
Authorities have followed
up on more than 2,400 leads,
Cuomo said.
Mitch Johnson said one
of his best friends checked
on his hunting cabin in
Malone on Friday afternoon
and noticed a liquor bottle
that hadn’t been there the
day before. Johnson said his
IULHQGFRUUHFWLRQRI¿FHU%RE
Willett, told him he immedi-
ately alerted police, about an
hour before Matt was fatally
shot.
Authorities sent a team to
the camp area, and Willett and
police later heard a gunshot
in the woods, Johnson said.
2I¿FHUV WKHQ ÀRRGHG WKH
woods, and then Willett heard
more shots, Johnson said.
“He heard: ‘Pop pop pop
pop pop pop pop,”’ Johnson
said.
State police Maj. Charles
Guess said earlier Friday that
the search area had shifted
slightly northwest to Malone
after investigators found
evidence left behind by the
escapees. Items were found
Thursday at a cabin and
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both in Malone, he said.
D’Amico cited numerous
instances of break-ins and
evidence left behind by the
inmates in the area in the
last week. On Wednesday,
a screen was discovered cut
out of a cabin and a window
was broken into. On Friday
morning, search teams found
a camp, where candy wrap-
pers and other items were
seized, and saw evidence
that someone had laid down
there.
MARRIAGE: Louisiana
only state to not issue
licenses as of Friday
Continued from 1A
long fought against same-sex
marriage, said states can
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decisions allowing slavery
or abortion, and predicted
that it would spark a national
backlash from Christian
conservatives.
“They’ve just disregarded
everything that precedent
holds, and they’ve destroyed
the foundation of our country
which is family,” Moore said.
In rural Alabama, Pike
County Probate Judge Wes
Allen said he would stop
issuing all marriage licenses
to avoid having to give
them to gay couples. Allen
said Alabama law gives
judges the option of granting
licenses, and “I have chosen
not to perform that function.”
Governors in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas also
railed against the ruling. And
clerks in some of the affected
states refused to issue
licenses, citing a three-week
grace period allowed by the
Supreme Court or forms
now out of date that specify
“bride” and “groom.”
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couples
had
received
licenses in all but one of the
14 states, according to the
Human Rights Campaign.
In Louisiana, where Repub-
OLFDQ *RY %REE\ -LQGDO LV
running for the White House
as a conservative Christian,
same-sex couples were
turned away.
“It was kind of bitter-
VZHHW´ VDLG (DUO %HQMDPLQ
who waited with his partner
for hours for a license and
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ban on same-sex marriage
remained intact — for now.
In Texas, many counties
held off on issuing same-sex
marriage licenses until
receiving guidance from
Republican Attorney General
Ken Paxton, who scolded
the Supreme Court but left
counties in limbo for hours.
Mississippi
Attorney
General Jim Hood said Friday
that same-sex marriages
cannot take place immedi-
DWHO\%XWDPLGWKHFRQIXVLRQ
over when weddings should
legally begin, three couples
received their marriage
licenses in Hattiesburg, and
took their vows on the court-
house steps.
Other clerks scrambled to
issue licenses as gay couples
UXVKHGWRWKHLURI¿FHV
In Arkansas, Pulaski
County Clerk Larry Crane
held a hand to his heart after
the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“It is a special day,”
he said, choking up. “I’m
honored to be a part of it.”
Jessica Dent and Carolee
Taylor got married a few
blocks from the courthouse
in Montgomery, Alabama.
“Never thought it would
happen in our lifetime,” said
Taylor.
After their ceremony, they
returned to the courthouse
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conservative state that had
fought back against efforts to
legalize gay marriage. After
a federal judge ruled earlier
this year that the state’s gay
marriage ban was unconsti-
tutional, about 500 same-sex
couples were married before
the Alabama Supreme Court
directly ordered probate
judges to stop issuing the
licenses.
“We waited so long. When
it came through, I can’t think
of a better way to celebrate,
the decision and our love,”
said Dent, walking out of the
courthouse holding a sign
that said “All love is equal.”
Some Southern politicians
said they were concerned
about the “religious freedom”
of ministers, cake bakers and
others who might be asked to
participate in ceremonies.
In Texas, Gov. Greg
Abbott issued a memo saying
the government should not
pressure people to violate
their “sincerely held religious
EHOLHIV´ +H ODWHU FODUL¿HG
that he does not condone
discrimination or authorize
state agencies to deny bene-
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Jindal also issued a
statement vowing to never
VWRS ¿JKWLQJ IRU ³UHOLJLRXV
liberty.”
“Marriage between a man
and a woman was established
by God, and no earthly court
can alter that,” he wrote.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Obama sings and eulogizes
victims of church massacre
By JULIE PACE
AP White House Correspondent
CHARLESTON, S.C. — After a
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Obama’s eulogy for those killed in a
South Carolina church massacre was
supposed to bring an extraordinary
week to a somber close.
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victories, Obama had spent hours
privately grappling with the tragedy in
this southern city, where nine people
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racially motivated attack. Their deaths
sparked vexing questions about racial
divisions, gun violence and the way
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history.
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to largely focus his remarks on
remembering Rev. Clementa Pinckney,
the slain pastor of Emanuel African
Methodist Episcopal Church, and the
eight other victims.
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Maybe Obama was buoyed by a week
that brought about the validation of
his sweeping health care law, a win
on trade and the Supreme Court’s
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country. Maybe he was driven by the
fearlessness he says he now feels as
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presidency.
As Obama took the stage to address
the crowd of more than 5,500 packed
into a basketball arena, he did speak
movingly about Pinckney, a state
lawmaker and popular pastor. Then the
president issued a challenge, calling
on the nation to not shy away from the
“uncomfortable truths” about the racial
prejudice that plagues the country.
He revived his push for gun control
legislation, despite staunch opposition
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during services honoring
the life of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Friday at the College of Charleston TD
Arena in Charleston, S.C.
in Washington. He called for the
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from the grounds of South Carolina’s
statehouse, a move that would repre-
sent “one step in an honest accounting
of America’s history.”
He taunted the alleged killer of
the Charleston churchgoers. While
the gunman wanted to incite fear and
deepen divisions, Obama noted the
unity Charleston has shown in the past
week and said: “God works in myste-
rious ways. God had different ideas.”
Then Obama sang.
As Obama neared the close of his
40-minute remarks, he unexpectedly
sang out the opening words of the
hymn “Amazing Grace.” The crowd
of 5,500 leapt to its feet to join the
president in song.
It was a stirring emotional moment
for a president who can often seem
detached and distant.
The president has been in this position
before, called upon to ease the pain of a
community grieving after gun violence.
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Conn., Tucson, Ariz., Fort Hood, Texas,
Aurora, Colo., Washington.
After each incident, the nation’s
eyes are sporadically open, Obama
said. He challenged the nation to
keep itself from slipping back “into a
comfortable silence,” saying that doing
so would be “a betrayal of everything
Rev. Pinckney stood for.”
Oil spill gushed like hose ‘without a nozzle’
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
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reported petroleum stench
at a California beach last
month didn’t take long
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spreading across the sand
and into the surf. Tracing
the source, they found crude
gushing from a bluff like a
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records show.
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elapse before the operator of
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that it had ruptured and
spewed the oil. An employee
at the scene for Plains All
American Pipeline initially
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that the spill “was too big
to be from their pipeline,”
according to the documents
obtained by The Associated
Press.
The description of what
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detailed in records Santa
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who arrived just before noon
quickly recognized that
“some sort of leak or spill
had occurred.”
A
Plains
company
spokeswoman would not
comment Thursday on why
it took until later in the
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File
In this May 21, 2015 photo, a bird covered in oil flaps
its wings at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta,
Calif.
afternoon for its workers to
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and spilling thousands of
gallons of oil onto the sand
and water west of Santa
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Plains is facing scrutiny
from federal regulators and
lawmakers over the spill,
which washed up goo on
beaches as far as 100 miles
away. The failed pipeline
released up to 101,000 gallons,
and an estimated 21,000
gallons reached the water.
The U.S. House Energy
and Commerce Committee
opened an investigation
Thursday and asked the
company
for
detailed
information on maintenance
of the line, including how
it addressed corrosion.
The panel also wants the
company to explain what
it did in the hours leading
up to the break and how it
reported the problem.
A key issue has been how
long it took the Texas-based
company to relay infor-
mation on the break to the
federal government. Internal
planning documents stress
the importance of notifying
the government of a leak as
quickly as possible.
Federal
regulations
require the company to
notify the National Response
Center, a clearinghouse for
reports of hazardous-mate-
rial releases, “at the earliest
practicable moment.” State
law requires immediate
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threatened release.
Company employees at
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leak until about 1:30 p.m.,
and it would be nearly 3
p.m. before the company
would contact the response
FHQWHU %\ WKHQ WKH IHGHUDO
response led by the Coast
Guard was underway.
The federal Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration is
investigating the cause of
the accident. The agency
UHOHDVHG SUHOLPLQDU\ ¿QG-
ings earlier this month that
the break occurred along a
badly corroded section that
had worn away to a fraction
of an inch in thickness.
In a separate letter
Thursday,
the
House
committee
asked
the
pipeline administration for
an update of what it called
long overdue pipeline
safety rules. The panel said
the California spill raised
questions about the agency’s
oversight of pipeline safety
and added that the agency
had failed to complete 17 of
42 requirements Congress
outlined in 2011 to help
prevent spills.
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