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East Oregonian
Suspect says imam planned to
blow himself up in Barcelona
MADRID (AP) — An
extremist cell was preparing
bombs for an imam who
planned to blow himself up
at a Barcelona monument,
a key suspect in the attacks
that killed 15 people in
northeastern Spain told a
judge Tuesday, according to a
judicial offi cial.
The suspect, Mohamed
Houli Chemlal, was one of
four men taken before Spain’s
National Court in Madrid to
testify about the Islamic cell
that attacked pedestrians in
Barcelona and the nearby
seaside town of Cambrils last
week.
National Court Judge
Fernando Andreu questioned
the four about the vehicle
attacks as well as the fatal
explosion at a bomb-making
workshop that police said
scuttled the group’s plot
to carry out a more deadly
attack at unspecifi ed Barce-
lona monuments. After the
session, the judge ordered two
of the surviving suspects held
without bail, another detained
for 72 more hours and one
freed with restrictions.
A Spanish judicial offi cial
said Houli Chemlal, 21, and
suspect Driss Oukabir, 28,
identifi ed imam Abdelbaki
Es Satty as the ideological
leader of the 12-man cell.
Oukabir and the other
two surviving suspects who
testifi ed, Mohamed Aalla
and Sahal El Karib, denied
being part of the cell, said
the court offi cial, who was
not authorized to discuss the
case and insisted on speaking
anonymously.
The cell’s other eight
members are dead. Police
shot fi ve during an attack
Friday and one more Monday
after a manhunt. Es Satty
and another accidentally
blew themselves up while
preparing explosives in a
house in the coastal town of
Alcanar, south of Barcelona.
Es Satty preached in a
mosque in the northeastern
town of Ripoll, home to
most of the 12 pointed to by
police as suspected members
of the cell. Police identifi ed
his remains amid the rubble
AP Photo
In this combination photo, four un-named alleged members of a terror cell ac-
cused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona leaves a Civil Guard base on
the outskirts of Madrid before appearing in court in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday. Four
men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or ex-
ecution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of
Cambrils early Friday.
AP Photo/Santi Palacios
A policeman hugs a boy and his family that he helped
during the terrorist attack, at a memorial to the vic-
tims on Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain, Monday.
of the Aug. 16 explosion
that destroyed the house in
Alcanar.
Police found in the house
over 100 tanks of butane gas
and materials to make TATP,
an explosive frequently used
in attacks by Islamic State
militants. The group has
claimed responsibility for
both attacks on pedestrians
— one Thursday by a van
that mowed down people
on Barcelona’s famed Las
Ramblas promenade and
another early Friday in
Cambrils. The attacks and
a bloody getaway in which
a man was stabbed to death
left 15 dead and over 120
wounded.
Houli Chemlal, the only
survivor of the Alcanar blast,
told the court Tuesday that
he is alive because he was
on the ground fl oor of the
house washing dishes after
dinner. He testifi ed from a
wheelchair without lifting
his eyes up from the ground,
according to the court offi cial.
He has been hospitalized
under guard since his arrest
Thursday.
The second suspect inter-
rogated, Oukabir, testifi ed he
rented the vans used in the
attacks on pedestrians but
said he thought they were
going to be used for a house
move. His brother Moussa
was one of the fi ve radicals
shot dead Friday by police in
Cambrils.
According to another
person who attended Tues-
day’s interrogation, Oukabir
told the prosecutor that his
fi rst version of events —
telling police his documents
were stolen by his brother —
was something he had done
out of fear. The person spoke
on condition of anonymity to
discuss the hearing.
The third suspect, Aalla,
said an Audi A3 used in last
week’s attack in Cambrils
was registered under his
name but used by another
sibling, the judicial offi cial
said. Police say one of Aalla’s
younger brothers died in
Cambrils and another one
is believed to be the second
casualty in the Alcanar house
blast where the imam died.
The
last
surviving
suspect, El Karib, the owner
of a cybercafe in Ripoll,
told the judge that he was
only trying to make a profi t
when he bought at least two
plane tickets for two alleged
members of the cell.
Police later Tuesday
raided the cybercafe in Ripoll
as well as a house in Vila-
franca del Penedes, searching
for more evidence.
After the questioning,
the judge said there was
enough evidence to hold
Houli Chemlal and Oukabir
on preliminary charges of
causing homicides and inju-
ries of a terrorist nature and
of belonging to a terrorism
organization. Houli Chemlal
also has an additional charge
of dealing with explosives.
However, the judge ruled
the evidence was “not solid
enough” to keep holding
Aalla, who was freed on
condition he appear in court
weekly, relinquish his pass-
port and not leave Spain.
ECLIPSE: Fossil fairground sold out all campsites
Continued from 1A
pleased,” Strandberg said.
“We got our message out
there.”
The U.S. Forest Service
was also pretty pleased
with how campers behaved
as they gathered to watch
the eclipse in the woods.
Mike Stearly, spokesman
for the Malheur National
Forest, said they fi lled every
campground in and around
the path of totality, including
as many as 300 people in
the Strawberry Mountain
Wilderness.
The biggest concern
heading into the weekend
was the risk of wildfi res amid
extreme fi re danger. All three
Blue Mountains national
forests — the Umatilla,
Wallowa-Whitman
and
Malheur — are currently
in Phase C public use
restrictions, which includes
a complete ban on campfi res.
Stearly said the forest
did a large fi re prevention
campaign in advance of the
eclipse rush, and by the end
they had reported no new
human-caused fi res.
It was a similar situation
on the neighboring Wallowa-
Whitman National Forest,
where spokesman Chris
Bentley said they set up fi ve
public information stations to
notify out-of-town campers
about the burn ban and other
regulations.
Like the Malheur forest,
Bentley said the Wallowa-
Whitman managed to navi-
gate the eclipse without any
major emergencies.
“We like to plan for the
worst and be pleasantly
surprised,” he said.
Jena Knowles, public
relations director for the Blue
Mountain Hospital in John
Day, said they originally
planned for heavy traffi c at
the hospital, even bringing
in outside volunteers to
help keep things organized.
Instead, she said the weekend
was much calmer than they
anticipated.
“It was crazy, just how
quiet it was,” Knowles said.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
MARIJUANA: Board will
also discuss life insurance
Continued from 1A
the Board of Trustees, the
governing body who set
policy and make fi nal deci-
sions on tribal affairs.
Although Oregon voters
legalized recreational mari-
juana in 2014 and Pendleton
voters legalized marijuana
sales in 2016, marijuana
remains illegal on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
If the board refers the
issue to voters and they
approve it, the CTUIR
wouldn’t be the fi rst tribes to
embrace cannabis.
According
to
The
Oregonian, two tribes in
Washington signed agree-
ments to operate marijuana
stores. Additionally, the
Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation
in Central Oregon grow and
cultivate its own marijuana,
although its sold off-site at
stores in Portland and Bend.
Marijuana isn’t the only
issue the Board of Trustees
will consider putting on the
ballot.
Sams said the General
Council has also recom-
mended a referendum on
a tribally owned life insur-
ance policy.
If approved by voters,
the $50,000 policy would be
offered by the tribal govern-
ment exclusively to tribal
members.
Although it was discussed
at the board level, Sams said
a referendum on universal
basic income will not be
on the November ballot
because it didn’t meet the
tribes’ constitutional notice
requirements.
Universal basic income
is a concept being studied
around the world where
citizens get an income from
the government in perpetuity
with no strings attached.
Since the universal basic
income referendum never
made it past the idea stage,
Sams said there aren’t any
specifi cs regarding a CTUIR
income program, although
it could be considered for
future election beyond
November.
The board will meet
Monday to consider the
marijuana and life insurance
ballot referendums. Both
will be considered in the
tribal session, rather than the
open portion of the meeting,
although the board’s deci-
sion could be announced
after the meeting concludes.
WASTEWATER: Next step is to
seek grants, loans to build pipeline
Continued from 1A
to take the treated water if
the numbers penciled out for
both cities. He said Stanfi eld
had the capacity to handle
the extra water and still have
room to grow.
Echo’s recycled water
is currently emptied into
the Umatilla River after
treatment, but does not meet
Department of Environ-
mental Quality standards for
biological oxygen demand.
The city is on its 12th year
and sixth extension of a
mutual agreement to allow
the practice to continue as
it searches for solutions, but
the state has warned that it
will not continue extending
the agreement indefi nitely,
and failure to extend the
agreement would result in
signifi cant fi nes for Echo.
City Manager Diane
Berry said Echo’s next step
after Stanfi eld formally
signs off on the agreement
is to seek grants and loans
to build a pipeline to a
sewer manhole near the
Pilot Travel Center in
Stanfi eld and to fund “the
other required and needed
improvements.”
Berry said the option
of sending wastewater to
Stanfi eld had been rejected
years ago because at the
time the volume of water
was too cost-prohibitive.
However, new evaporation
fountain technology that
has since become readily
available, which Echo
plans to incorporate into its
upgrade, will greatly reduce
the volume. She said the
city is also giving Echo a
reduced price because it
will only be sending treated
water, not untreated sewage,
making the deal “possible
and affordable.”
According to the agree-
ment — which could end
up being modifi ed if the
Stanfi eld City Council
has objections — Echo is
expected to discharge no
more than 60,000 gallons
per day, with 75 percent of
the discharge taking place
between Nov. 1 and May 1.
The city will pay $2.25 per
thousand gallons and the
deal will be subject to rene-
gotiation if Stanfi eld reaches
more than 85 percent of its
sewer system capacity.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
TRANSPORTATION: Plan
includes staggered hikes to gas tax
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Lydia Bird of San Francisco adjusts a spotting scope she used to project an image
of the eclipse on a white piece of board on Monday in John Day.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Henry Greutert and Katie Mertel, both of Mercer
Island, watch the eclipse on Monday in John Day.
“We were prepared for a lot
different scenario.”
In Wheeler County,
Sheriff Chris Humphreys
compared the eclipse to what
they would normally see
during any given Memorial
Day Weekend. Monday’s
mass exodus of people
following the eclipse kept
them busy, Humphreys said,
but nothing they weren’t
prepared to handle.
“We just put the right
amount of planning on this,”
he said. “This is exactly what
we expected.”
Humphreys said he
was even able to share
some of his offi cers with
neighboring Crook County,
where they were dealing
with much larger crowds at
the Symbiosis Gathering on
Big Summit Prairie. With
a population of just 1,344,
Wheeler County may very
well have been overwhelmed
if not for a multi-area coordi-
nation with Crook, Jefferson
and Deschutes counties,
Humphreys added.
In Fossil — population
473 — city recorder Jeanne
Burch said the county
fairgrounds did sell out all
115 available campsites,
though crowds never grew
out of hand. Many of the
visitors remained in town as
of Tuesday, she said, lining
up to check out the Fossil
Museum and patronizing
local businesses.
“They really do seem
like they are having a good
time,” Burch said.
Debbie Starkey, a city
councilwoman for the even
smaller community of Spray,
said they began planning
for the eclipse as early as
January, with emergency
management, law enforce-
ment and economic develop-
ment all at the table. Though
crowds weren’t as high as
they originally expected,
she said no one came away
disappointed.
“It was almost folksy,
the way things unfolded,”
Starkey said. “There wasn’t
the Madras hype that every-
body heard about.”
Starkey said she felt the
town was as prepared as it
could be — perhaps even a
little over-prepared.
“I don’t regret it at all,”
she said. “We had no issues.
There were no problems.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
ating an agreement between
Republicans and Democrats
that would win enough votes
to pass the bill, said House
Minority Leader Rep. Mike
McLane, R-Powell Butte.
“I am happy she is
coming here,” Bentz said
in a phone interview from
Ontario Tuesday. “I think it
is an important part of the
process of sharing with the
state the importance of this
particular legislation.”
Bentz and Rep. Greg
Smith, R-Heppner, Malheur
County economic develop-
ment director, both served
on the legislative committee
that crafted the transporta-
tion package.
Smith is guiding plan-
ning for development of the
reload facility in a proposed
industrial park, with a
to-be-determined
loca-
tion, The Argus Observer
reported.
A non-profi t corporation
is being formed to govern
the new facility and hire a
manager, according to the
Argus newspaper.
The eight-year trans-
portation plan includes
staggered hikes in the gas
tax, increases to registration
and title fees, and new taxes
on payroll, new vehicle
purchases and bicycles
priced more than $200.
The package also calls for
congestion-priced tolling at
some of Portland’s bottle-
necks, which could include
certain lanes on Interstate 5
and Interstate 205, to pay for
congestion-busting projects.
Among major projects
specifi ed in the plan
are congestion relief on
Highway 217, widening
northbound I-205 from
Powell Boulevard to Inter-
state 84 and initial invest-
ment in adding new lanes
to I-5 through Portland’s
Rose Quarter.
Route work
pays for my
children’s
activities.
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