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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2017)
Page 12A NATION East Oregonian Saturday, February 25, 2017 Pipeline protest camp cleared, DHS report disputes threat from banned nations but area far from normal CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Authorities this week cleared the last holdouts from a large Dakota Access pipe- line protest camp on federal land in North Dakota, but it will be a while before the region returns to normal. There’s tons of debris to be cleared. A main highway bridge remains closed. Hundreds of protesters are still in the area. The pipe- line operator is rushing to complete construction and says oil could flow within 10 days. Looming over it all is a still-unresolved court battle. “This was beautiful North Dakota prairie in a sensitive watershed area,” Gov. Doug Burgum said of the square- mile protest camp at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers. “It’s only use prior to this was for cattle grazing.” But since August, it was home to hundreds and at times thousands of people who support the claims of Sioux nations that the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois threatens drinking water, sacred sites and tribal Department says citizenship ‘unlikely indicator’ of terrorism threats Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, Pool A backhoe rips through a wood structure to begin the cleaning up process at the Oceti Sakowin camp as law enforcement swept through the camp arresting the final Dakota Access protesters near Cannon Ball, N.D. religious practices. Texas- based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners disputes that. The Army Corps of Engineers ordered the Oceti Sakowin camp closed Wednesday in advance of spring flooding. About 200 protesters left peacefully, with another 56 being arrested over two days for defying the order to leave. Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officers at the same time cleared the much smaller Rosebud camp just to the south, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Many who left those camps planned to go to one of three nearby camps, all of which are on the reservation. “They can get us out of Oceti, but they can’t stop what we started here,” protester Kate Silvertooth, of Loveland, Colorado, said Friday while shopping at a convenience store near the reservation town of Cannon Ball. Dems invite immigrants to attend Trump’s first address to Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners to President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress in an effort to put a face on those who could be hurt by the Republican’s policies. Lawmakers typically get one guest ticket apiece for presidential addresses, as they will for Tuesday’s prime- time speech, and the invites often go to family, friends or someone from back home. To send a message to Trump, Democrats have invited the Iraqi-American doctor who discovered elevated levels of lead in the blood of many children living in Flint, Mich- igan; a Pakistani-born doctor who delivers critical care to patients in Rhode Island and an American-born daughter of Palestinian refugees who aids people like her family in their quest to come to the United States. “I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees,” said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., whose guest Tuesday will be Fidaa Rashid, a Chicago immigra- tion attorney. Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order temporarily banning all entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority nations and pausing the entire U.S. refugee program. The order sparked worldwide confu- sion about who was covered by the edict, with thousands gathering at airports and in other settings to protest. An appeals court blocked the order. Trump has said he will issue another order along similar lines. Trump has also expanded the range of immi- grants living in the country illegally who have become a priority for removal. The president has argued that the steps are necessary to protect the nation. One of the people caught up in Trump’s executive order was Sara Yarjani, a 35-year-old Iranian graduate student studying in Cali- fornia. She was held at Los Angeles International Airport for nearly 23 hours before being sent back to Vienna, Austria, where she had been visiting family. She was able to resume her studies at the California Institute for Human Sciences after a judge halted implementation of Trump’s order. She’ll attend Trump’s speech as a guest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif. “Mr. Trump needs to see the people he has hurt,” Chu said. The focus on welcoming immigrants will also extend to the response that Democratic leaders plan for Trump’s speech. Astrid Silva, who was brought into the United States as a young child, will provide the Spanish-language rebuttal; former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will give the standard opposition-party response. All will be on high alert for any Joe Wilson moments in Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress since his inaugural address. Wilson, a longtime Republican congressman from South Carolina, shouted, “You lie!” as Obama addressed Congress in 2009. WASHINGTON (AP) — Analysts at the Homeland Security Department’s intel- ligence arm found insuffi- cient evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries included in Presi- dent Donald Trump’s travel ban pose a terror threat to the United States. A draft document obtained by The Associ- ated Press concludes that citizenship is an “unlikely indicator” of terrorism threats to the United States and that few people from the countries Trump listed in his travel ban have carried out attacks or been involved in terrorism-related activities in the U.S. since Syria’s civil war started in 2011. Trump cited terrorism concerns as the primary reason he signed the sweeping temporary travel ban in late January, which also halted the U.S. refugee program. A federal judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the order earlier this month. Trump said Friday a new edict would be announced soon. The administration has been working on a new version that could withstand legal challenges. Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen on Friday did not dispute the report’s authenticity, but said it was not a final comprehensive review of the government’s intelligence. “While DHS was asked to draft a comprehensive report on this issue, the document you’re refer- encing was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thor- ough interagency sourcing,” Christensen said. “The ... report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is incomplete.” The Homeland Security report is based on unclas- sified information from Justice Department press releases on terrorism-related convictions and attackers killed in the act, State Department visa statistics, the 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment from the U.S. intelligence community and the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2015. The three-page report challenges Trump’s core claims. It said that of 82 people the government determined were inspired by a foreign terrorist group to carry out or try to carry out an attack in the United States, just over half were U.S. citizens born in the United States. The others were from 26 countries, led by Pakistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethi- opia, Iraq and Uzbekistan. Of these, only Somalia and Iraq were among the seven nations included in the ban. Of the other five nations, one person each from Iran, Sudan and Yemen was also involved in those terrorism cases, but none from Syria. It did not say if any were Libyan. The report also found that terrorist organizations in Iran, Libya, Somalia and Sudan are regionally focused, while groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen do pose a threat to the U.S. The seven countries were included in a law President Barack Obama signed in 2015 that updated visa requirements for foreigners who had traveled to those countries. Christensen said the countries were also selected in part because they lacked the ability to properly vet their citizens and don’t cooperate with U.S. efforts to screen people hoping to come to the U.S. The report was prepared as part of an internal review Trump requested after his executive order was blocked by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It was drafted by staff of the Homeland Security Department’s Intelligence and Analysis branch at the direction of its acting leader, David Glawe. White House spokesman Michael Short said this was not the full report that Trump had requested. He said he believes “the intel community is combining resources to put together a comprehensive report using all available sources, not just open sources, and which is driven by data, not politics.” The intelligence docu- ment was circulated beyond Homeland Security. The draft document reflects the tensions between the president’s political appointees and the civil servants tasked with carrying out Trump’s ambitious and aggressive agenda. Trump has repeat- edly complained about leaks meant to undercut his poli- cies and suggested he does not trust holdovers from the Obama administration. Trump originally said the ban was necessary to over- haul the vetting system for both refugees and would-be foreign visitors, saying that terrorists may try to exploit weaknesses to gain access to the United States. The order sparked chaos, outrage and widespread protests, with travelers detained at airports and panicked families searching for relatives. But several courts quickly intervened and the 9th Circuit ultimately upheld a ruling blocking the ban and challenged the administration’s claim that it was motivated by terrorism fears. NOW THROUGH FEBRUARY 20! ALL NEW 2017 CAMRY MODELS IN STOCK $ 4 , 000 OFF MSRP Oregon Department of Transportation STIP PUBLIC MEETING FEBRUARY 27 LEARN ABOUT FUTURE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS PLANNED FOR EASTERN OREGON 188 1-2-3 $ IT’S AS EASY AS The Oregon Department of Transportation invites you to attend a Public Video Conference Meeting regarding the Draft 2018-2021 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The 2018-2021 STIP identifies major Oregon transportation projects proposed for construction between 2018 and 2021. Meeting participants will hear information on how projects are selected for funding and review projects identified for the eastern Oregon region. Interested parties are encouraged to attend this meeting at a site in your area, or connect on-line with your computer, tablet or smart phone (see below for web connection details). NEW 2017 COROLLA LE $ MO * STK # 17TH314* on approved credit 0 DOWN NEW 2017 TUNDRA DOUBLE CAB SR5 5.7L V8 399 $ STK # 17TH320* Date/Time: Feb. 27, 2017• 6-8 p.m. Pacific Time MO * on approved credit (Ontario site: 7-9 p.m. Mountain Time) Meeting Locations: Eight eastern Oregon sites listed below 1 2 3 Attend at one of these eight meeting sites Feb. 27, 6-8 p.m. Burns - Harney County Courthouse La Grande - Eastern - Oregon University Basement Mtg. Room, 450 N. Buena Vista Inlow Hall, Room 013, One University Blvd. John Day – Oregon Telephone Conf. Room, Boardman - Blue Mountain Comm. College 155 W Main Street 300 NE Front Street Baker City - Public Library Enterprise - Wallowa County ESD 2400 Resort Street, Baker City, OR 107 SW 1st Room #105 Pendleton - Blue Mountain Comm. College Ontario - OR Dept. of Transportation Office Emigrant Hall Rm. 128, 2411 NW Carden Ave. 1390 SE 1st Ave. (7:00 p.m. Mtn. Time – Ontario site) NEW 2017 RAV4 LE 245 $ STK # 17TH323* MO * on approved credit Or, connect remotely to the Feb. 27 meeting via computer, tablet or smart phone. If you can’t make it to one of the above meeting sites, you can connect to the meeting on-line at Zoom.com. Type https://zoom.us/join in your internet browser, enter Meeting ID: 175-119-566 and password: odotstip This Zoom connection information is also posted on the ODOT Region 5 web (see below) Busy Feb. 27? View the STIP information anytime at www.tinyurl.com/odot-region5. There you will find project listings, maps, comment forms and other information about Oregon’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. STK# 17TH314 2017 TOYOTA COROLLA LE. 3YR/12,000 MILES/YEAR LEASE. PLUS TAX TITLE DOC FEE. 3YR LEASE, $0 DOWN = $188MO. ON APPROVED CREDIT. STK# 17TH323 2017 TOYOTA RAV4 LE. 3YR/12,000 MILES/YEAR LEASE. PLUS TAX TITLE DOC FEE. 3YR LEASE, $999 DOWN = $245MO. ON APPROVED CREDIT. Have questions about the meeting, Zoom connection or ODOT website, call ODOT Public Information Officer Tom Strandberg at 541-963-1330 (email: thomas.m.strandberg@odot.state.or.us). This meeting is open to the public and accommodations will be provided to persons with disabilities. To request an accessibility accommodation, please call 541-963-1330 or statewide relay 711 at least 48 hours in advance. Meetings sites are accessible to persons with disabilities per ADA requirements. We hope to see you Feb. 27 STK# 17TH320 2017 TOYOTA TUNDRA DOUBLE CAB SR5 5.7L V8. 3YR/12,000 MILE A YEAR LEASE. PLUS TAX TITLE DOC FEE. 3YR LEASE, $1,999 DOWN= $399MO. ON APPROVED CREDIT. FOR ALL OFFERS: NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. A DOCUMENTARY SERVICE FEE OF $75 MAY BE ADDED TO VEHICLE PRICE OR CAPITALIZED COST. DOES NOT INCLUDE TAXES, LICENSE, TITLE, PROCESSING FEES, INSURANCE AND DEALER CHARGES. SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. OFFERS VALID THROUGH 02-20-17.
