Page 10A
NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 13, 2016
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Bill Clinton: email server ‘a mistake’
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By MICHELLE RINDELS
Associated Press
PORTLAND (AP) —
For the second year in a
row, beef is Oregon’s No. 1
agricultural commodity.
The state Department
of Agriculture this week
released the list of Oregon’s
top 10 crop and livestock
values for 2015. The
commodities on the list are
the same as the year before,
except onions replaced
hazelnuts.
Cattle
and
calves
brought in $914 million,
down from $922 million in
2014, edging greenhouse
and nursery products for the
top spot.
Agriculture Department
spokesman Bruce Pokarney
said in a news release that
the cattle industry is cyclical
and prices have weakened
in 2016: “Nonetheless,
cattle and calves is expected
to be a mainstay at or near
the top all commodities in
the foreseeable future.”
Rounding out the top 10
for 2015 were hay, milk,
grass seed, wheat, potatoes,
pears, wine grapes and
onions. Hay and milk
retained their positions
despite seeing their values
drop by $100 million and
$180 million, respectively.
Though ninth of the list,
the wine grape sector has
been the greatest gainer over
the past decade. Pokarney
said the production value
for 2015 was $147 million,
an increase of more than
300 percent since 2005.
Outside the top 10,
three commodities that
have shown tremendous
growth in the last decade
are blueberries, eggs and
apples. Oregon harvested a
record 97 million pounds
of blueberries last year,
satisfying demand for the
berry that has a reputation
as a superfood. The Oregon
crop value is up about 250
percent since 2005.
As for apples, Pokarney
said the growing popularity
of ciders is perhaps why
the value of production has
spiked 131 percent since
2005.
The state produces
more than 220 agricultural
commodities and the overall
crop value for 2015 was
$5.4 billion, similar to 2014.
Only one of Oregon’s top
20 commodities, Christmas
trees, has declined in
production value over the
past decade, and it’s only
down 2 percent.
NORTHWEST BRIEFLY
Standoff defendant
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PORTLAND (AP)
— An Oregon standoff
defendant who has had
multiple clashes in court
with the presiding judge has
now ¿led a lawsuit against
her.
The Oregonian/
OregonLive reports that in
a lawsuit ¿led :ednesday
against U.S. District
Judge Anna Brown and
prosecuting attorneys in his
case, Kenneth Medenbach
takes accuses Brown of
failing to take an oath of
of¿ce.
Medenbach, who is
representing himself, has
raised multiple questions
about Brown’s oath of
of¿ce during his criminal
proceedings. He is one of
26 people being charged in
connection to the 41-day
occupation of the Malheur
National :ildlife Refuge.
In his complaint pro se,
Medenbach calls for all
plaintiffs to be released and
that all pending criminal
charges against standoff
defendants be dismissed. He
is also seeking $150,000 in
damages for each plaintiff.
Brown declined to
comment citing the ongoing
criminal case
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SALEM (AP) — In a
sign of how mainstream
the once-illicit marijuana
industry is becoming in
Oregon — one of four
states to have legalized
it — exhibitors are heading
to the state capital to set up
for the inaugural Oregon
Cannabis Grower’s Fair.
:inners of the pot-plant
competition at the Oregon
Cannabis Grower’s Fair in
Salem this weekend will
showcase their products
at the Oregon State Fair,
along more traditional
items like tomatoes, hogs
and horses.
Don Morse, executive
director of the Oregon
Cannabis Business
Council, says “Oregon is at
the forefront in recognizing
cannabis as a real
agricultural product.”
Mary Lou Burton, who
is producing the cannabis
fair, says there will be
more than 80 exhibitors.
Attendees will be able to
see non-Àowering plants,
meet growers and learn
about the industry.
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ASTORIA (AP) — The
fall salmon season has
begun on the Columbia
River bringing hundreds of
boats seeking Chinook.
The Daily Astorian
reports that of¿cials predict
a high Chinook return this
season, but sample ¿gures
show ¿shing at the mouth
of the river has started slow
this year.
Oregon Department
of Fish and :ildlife
Columbia River Manager
John North says the catch
rate for the opening week
was about .1, meaning only
one in 10 anglers brought
home a salmon. Last year
had a catch rate of .7.
Despite the slow start,
wildlife of¿cials predict
this year will have about
960,000 salmon.
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BEND (AP) — Court
records show a police
corporal in central Oregon
was cited after crashing his
patrol car into a doughnut
shop.
The Bulletin reports
that records show Bend
Cpl. Robert Emerson was
¿ned $260 for the March
incident.
Oregon State Police
say Emerson collided
with a pickup truck, slid
across an intersection,
hit a pedestrian and
smashed into the Dough
Nut. According to
Bulletin archives, no shop
employees or customers
were injured.
Emerson and pedestrian
Brian Zacher of Tualatin
were taken to the hospital
with non-life-threatening
injuries.
Bend Police Chief Jim
Porter says the corporal
likely had his emergency
lights and siren activated
and was responding to a
report of someone Àeeing
in a stolen vehicle. Porter
says the department is still
deciding whether or not to
discipline Emerson.
LAS VEGAS — Bill
Clinton said it was a mistake
for Hillary Clinton to main-
tain a personal email server
even though her predecessors
and her successor at the State
Department did it, adding
that she should’ve known a
different set of rules would
apply to her if she ever ran
for president.
Bill Clinton’s acknowl-
edgement came during a
question and answer period
on Friday at a Las Vegas
forum organized by Asian
American Paci¿c Islander
journalism and voter advo-
cacy groups. But the former
president spent much of
his response defending his
wife, calling the controversy
“the biggest load of bull
I’ve ever heard” and saying
issues emerged because of
different records classi¿ca-
tion processes between the
State Department and the
intelligence community.
“That is not a cause for
distrust,” he told the audience
in the 4,000-seat Colosseum
auditorium at Caesars Palace.
“If it were a cause for distrust,
it’s inconceivable that all
these prominent national
security people ... would’ve
endorsed her.”
Bill Clinton took on a
range of topics during his
keynote address, touching
on trade and immigration to
make an argument that “our
diversity is a blessing.” He
characterized the election as
a choice between building
walls or building bridges,
AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
In this March 12, 2012, file photo, then-Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton checks her mobile phone after
her address to the Security Council at United Nations
headquarters.
saying his wife was best
prepared to work with other
countries and make the best
of those relationships.
“The truth is, we live in a
world that is interdependent,”
he said. “That’s just a fancy
word for saying divorce is
not an option.”
Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump did
not attend, but his campaign
sent Utah Attorney General
Sean Reyes as a surrogate.
Reyes, who is of Filipino,
Hawaiian and Japanese
descent, joked with audience
members about their shared
heritage before doing damage
control over comments the
businessman made last week.
Trump said at a rally in
Maine that the U.S. needs to
bar refugees from terrorist
nations, and named the
Philippines in a list of such
countries. Reyes said he
had full authority to clarify
the remarks, which have
prompted a backlash in the
Philippines.
“He
welcomes
law-abiding Filipinos who
want to come and have a
better life,” Reyes said. “But
he was talking about specif-
ically terrorist elements that
do exist in the Philippines,
and there’s no one here that
is from the Philippines that
can dispute that.”
Other candidates who
attended in person included
Green Party presidential Jill
Stein, who lamented climate
change and emphasized its
effects on low-lying islands
in the Paci¿c. Her proposal
for ¿xing creating jobs and
ending oil-driven wars in the
Middle East is what she calls
the “Green New Deal” — a
rapid shift to a renewable
energy economy.
Her address came the
same day that the Nevada
Secretary of State’s Of¿ce
ruled that no Green Party
candidates can appear on the
state’s ballot. The party fell
short in its attempt to petition
for ballot access, of¿cials
said.
Asked why she couldn’t
support the Democratic
Party, Stein argued that
they have “sabotaged” Sen.
Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
She pointed to leaked
emails from Democratic
National Committee staffers
that appeared to show favor-
itism toward Hillary Clinton,
citing efforts to portray
Sanders as an atheist to more
religious audiences.
Fellow
minor
party
candidate Gary Johnson, a
Libertarian and the former
governor of New Mexico,
told the crowd that he thinks
he has a chance at the presi-
dency if he gets to participate
in debates with the major
party candidates. He said he’s
trying to pick up votes from
“the big six-lane highway
between Republicans and
Democrats” this cycle.
“A wasted vote is voting
for someone you don’t
believe in,” he added.
Johnson is known for
his permissive stance on
marijuana, noting that his
most recent experience was
consuming an edible product
called Cheeba Chews three
months ago. But he said
he wasn’t currently using
cannabis because he didn’t
want to come to work unpre-
pared.
Libertarians, he explained,
“always come down on the
side of choice ... as long as
those choices don’t adversely
affect others.”
After verbal missteps, Trump blames others
By JOSH LEDERMAN
Associated Press
ERIE, Pa. — It’s the
media’s fault. That’s out of
context. Never said it in the
¿rst place.
Donald Trump’s claim
Friday that he was merely
being “sarcastic” in accusing
President Barack Obama of
establishing a terrorist group
was his latest attempt to blame
others for the uproar over
what he says. It’s an instinct
that Trump’s opponents say a
president can’t possess. Some
Republicans seem to have the
same concern.
This time, it followed two
days of critical headlines
and Democratic outrage
over Trump’s claim that
Obama was the “founder”
of the Islamic State group.
As Trump repeated the claim
more than a dozen times,
interviewers sought to ensure
Trump wasn’t being miscon-
strued. Surely, they offered,
he meant Obama’s policies
had enabled the extremist
group’s rise.
“No, I meant he’s the
founder of ISIS. I do,” Trump
said, using one acronym for
the group. (His remark comes
at 15:26 of the interview .)
Then
an
about-face
Friday. “THEY DON’T GET
SARCASM?” he tweeted.
Or was he being sarcastic
about the sarcasm? Hours
later, he told a rally in Penn-
sylvania he was “obviously
being sarcastic — but not
that sarcastic, to be honest
with you.”
That it took Trump
two days to walk back his
widely debunked remark
— and then walk back the
walk-back — was worrying
for Republicans who see
such missteps as playing to
Democrat Hillary Clinton’s
advantage. Equally worrying
for some was the fact that he
again would not take respon-
sibility for his words.
Ryan
:illiams,
a
Republican strategist who
advised Mitt Romney’s
2012 campaign, said there’s
a common-sense playbook
for dealing with political
slip-ups: “Stop the bleeding
and put it behind you by
apologizing.
“That’s what normal
candidates do,” he went
on.
“However,
normal
candidates don’t careen from
one self-inÀicted wound to
another on an hourly basis.”
It was only two days
earlier that Trump blamed
the media for making much
ado about nothing after he
suggested during a rally that
gun rights enthusiasts might
¿nd a way to stop Clinton if
elected.
Clinton, whose lead over
Trump has widened in recent
polls of the most competitive
states, has seized on those
and other eyebrow-raising
comments to portray the
reality TV star as lacking
the temperament to run the
nation — Trump has his own
argument for why she’s un¿t
to do so. She’s hammered
him for avoiding account-
ability for his actions.
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HUA HIN, Thailand (AP)
— Thais and tourists headed
warily into the main part
of a big holiday weekend
Saturday as authorities
looked for suspects and a
motive behind a series of
blasts that struck tourist
resort towns across southern
Thailand in some of the
worst violence since a
military coup two years
ago. Police said at least
four people were killed and
dozens wounded, including
11 foreigners.
It was not clear who was
behind the attacks Thursday
and Friday, which followed
a successful referendum
held last weekend on a new
constitution that critics say
will bolster the military’s
power for years to come.
But the violence appeared
aimed at undermining the
country’s tourism industry,
which provides vital income
to the government. One
small bomb exploded on
a beach in Patong on the
island of Phuket and four
others rattled the seaside
resort city of Hua Hin,
prompting businesses to
shut their doors, streets to
empty and anxious tourists
to huddle inside their hotels.
Police said ¿rebombs
also triggered blazes at
markets and shops in six
places, including Phuket,
Trang, Surat Thani, Phang
Nga and a souvenir shop in
the tourist town of Ao Nang,
Krabi, a seaside province
known for its stunning lime-
stone cliffs.
On Saturday, Police Gen.
Pongsapat Pongcharoen, a
deputy national police chief,
told reporters that “we hope
we may have some suspects
today or tomorrow.” He did
not elaborate, but said police
were gathering evidence and
that international militant
groups were not believed to
be behind the attacks.
Foreign
governments,
including the United States,
issued warnings urging
travelers to use caution and
avoid affected areas.
In a televised address
late Friday, Prime Minister
Prayuth Chan-ocha said the
attacks “struck at the hearts
of all Thai people.”
He said it was unclear
who carried them out and
that the government would
do its best to investigate.
Royal Thai Police Col.
Krisana
Patanacharoen
also said Friday it was “too
early to conclude” who was
behind the attacks. But he
said the bombings followed
“a similar pattern used in
the southern parts of the
country” — a reference to a
low-level insurgency in the
country’s Islamic south that
has ground on for more than
a decade and killed more
than 5,000 people.
FIRST FOODS
Festival & Race
Saturday, Aug 13th
FORD LEADERSHIP EUC
July Grounds- 73310 July Grounds Lane, Pednleton, Or 97801
thanks the following sponsors and volunteers …
RACE AND EVENT TIMES
• 7:10 AM- Kanine Ridge Hike Departs July Grounds
• 9:00 AM- 10k Spawn Run • 9:30 AM- 5k Smolt Run
• 10:30 AM- Family Fun Walk & Cycle (Noncompetitive)
RDI
OutWest Catering
Sherwin Williams
D&B Supply
Pepsi
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Mission Music Productions
Franz Bakery
Hill Meat
Party House Jumpers
Pendleton Parks & Rec
and the neighbors.
We had a successful Day at Sherwood Park.
JACKETS AND MEDALS FOR 1ST - 3RD PLACE FOR HIKE, 10K & 5K RACE EVENTS.
2ND ANNUAL CHUMASH LACROSSE TOURNAMENT:
8:00 - 2:30