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East Oregonian
Thursday, October 26, 2017
AP Explains: What could be in the long-secret JFK files?
By ALANNA DURKIN
RICHER
Associated Press
BOSTON
—
For
decades, the existence of
secret government files
linked to President John F.
Kennedy’s
assassination
has helped fuel conspiracy
theories that others besides
Lee Harvey Oswald were
involved in his murder. Now
the public is going to get a
deeper look at the collection.
The
government
is
required by Thursday to
release the final batch of files
related to Kennedy’s assas-
sination in Dallas on Nov.
22, 1963. Experts say the
publication of the last trove
of evidence could help allay
suspicions of a conspiracy
— at least for some.
“As long as the govern-
ment is withholding docu-
ments like these, it’s going to
fuel suspicion that there is a
smoking gun out there about
the Kennedy assassination,”
said Patrick Maney, a pres-
idential historian at Boston
College.
Here’s a look at what to
expect from the files:
How many files are
there and how can I see
them?
The collection includes
more than 3,100 documents
— comprising hundreds of
AP Photo/Jim Altgens, File
In this Nov. 22, 1963 file photo, President John F. Kennedy waves from his car in a
motorcade in Dallas. Riding with Kennedy are First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, right,
Nellie Connally, second from left, and her husband, Texas Gov. John Connally, far left.
President Donald Trump says he plans to release thousands of never-seen govern-
ment documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
thousands of pages — that
have never been seen by
the public. About 30,000
documents were released
previously with redactions.
The National Archives is
planning to post the files on
its website.
Will all of them be
released?
It’s unclear exactly how
many files will be released.
President Donald Trump
is the only person who can
stop any of the documents
from becoming public and
he’s not tipping his hand.
On Wednesday, the eve of
their scheduled release,
Trump tweeted: “The long
anticipated release of the
#JFKFiles will take place
tomorrow. So interesting!”
On Saturday, he had
tweeted that — “subject to
the receipt of further infor-
mation” — he will allow the
“long blocked and classified
JFK FILES to be opened.”
The CIA and FBI, whose
files make up the bulk of
the final batch, have refused
to say whether they’re
lobbying the president to
keep any of the files under
wraps.
Experts
expect
certain IRS files to remain
secret, like the tax return
of Jack Ruby, the man who
killed Oswald two days after
Kennedy’s
assassination
when the suspect was in
police custody.
Why are they becoming
public now?
President George H.W.
Bush signed a law on Oct.
26, 1992, requiring that all
documents related to the
assassination be released
within 25 years, unless the
president says doing so
would harm intelligence,
law enforcement, military
operations
or
foreign
relations. The push for
transparency was driven
in part by the uproar in the
wake of Oliver Stone’s 1991
conspiracy-theory filled film
“JFK.”
Will there be any bomb-
shells?
The chances are slim,
according to the judge who
led the independent board
that reviewed and released
thousands of the assassina-
tion documents in the 1990s.
The files that were withheld
in full were those the Assas-
sination Records Review
Board deemed “not believed
relevant,”
Judge
John
Tunheim of Minnesota told
The Associated Press. But
Tunheim said it’s possible
the files contain information
the board didn’t realize was
important two decades ago.
JFK experts believe the
files will provide insight
into the inner workings of
the CIA and FBI. But they
stress that it will take weeks
to mine the documents for
potentially new and inter-
esting information.
What will the files
show?
Some of the documents
are related to Oswald’s
mysterious six-day trip to
Mexico City right before the
assassination, scholars say.
Oswald said he was visiting
the Cuban and Soviet Union
embassies there to get visas,
but much about his time
there remains unknown.
The
to-be-released
documents contain details
about the arrangements the
U.S. entered into with the
Mexican government that
allowed it to have close
surveillance of those and
other embassies, Tunheim
said. Other files scholars
hope will be released in
full include an internal CIA
document on its Mexico
City station, and a report on
Oswald’s trip from staffers
of the House committee that
investigated the assassina-
tion.
BMCC: Currently has 2,766 students
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Children play on new playground equipment on Wednesday at Sunset Park in
Hermiston.
PLAYGROUND: Hermiston received
more than 19,000 votes in the contest
Continued from 1A
ribbon cutting ceremony
Wednesday.
Parks
in
Portland, Tillamook and
Hermiston were up for
consideration for the grant,
and many residents voted
over and over again each
day to help Hermiston pull
ahead of Portland.
“In February an epic
battle ensued between the
biggest city on the west
side — Portland — and the
biggest on the east — Herm-
iston,” he said. “... When
the dust settled, the clear
winner was the children of
Hermiston.”
Ryan and Christina
Schaan were some of the
voters who helped make it
happen, and were on hand
with their son Cameron,
8, on Wednesday to help
celebrate.
“It’s fun to see stuff like
this go on in Hermiston,”
Ryan said. “You don’t see
it happen very often so we
wanted to support it.”
Christina said she liked
the variety of the equip-
ment, including pieces like
the drums and other noise
makers that are accessible to
children with disabilities.
“It makes it more versa-
tile,” she said.
Rebecca, Natalia and
Camille LaBelle also voted
in the online contest and
came out Wednesday to see
the fruits of their labors.
Rebecca said their family
frequents all the parks in
Hermiston, and Natalia
said she was glad to see
Sunset Park expanded and
improved with equipment
that seemed safer than the
old playground.
Camille, 10, said she
thought the giant bears were
“cool” and fun to climb.
She was one of about 40
children participating in
basketball clinics at the park
on Wednesday, hosted by
the Trail Blazers.
Matt Dietrich, lead youth
development coach for
the Blazers, said he enjoys
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Avery Warner, 4, of Hermiston, watches her spin on a
question wheel as Mike McGuffey, with Moda Health,
waits to ask her a question for a prize Wednesday at
Sunset Park in Hermiston.
“The most important thought of the day
today was really about building healthy
communities, to get them active. We
did as many active drills as possible.”
— Matt Dietrich, lead youth development coach
for the Trail Blazers
hosting clinics around the
state to help the Blazers’
youngest fans get active and
have a positive experience
with basketball.
“I can’t believe I get paid
to do this,” he said after
one of the half-hour clinics
that involved passing drills,
defensive drills, shooting
drills
and
basketball
pointers.
Dietrich worked with
the kids on good defensive
stances, accurate shooting,
effective passing and quick
hands and feet.
“The most important
thought of the day today
was really about building
healthy communities, to get
them active,” he said. “We
did as many active drills as
possible.”
Christa
Stout,
the
Blazers’ vice president of
social responsibility, said
children today are less active
than they have ever been,
and thanked the city and its
partners for helping create a
park that will help children
in the community be more
active. Robin Richardson,
senior vice president for
Moda Health, told the crowd
at the park that the Moda
Assist grant program was
a “cool example” of how
the Blazers and Moda work
together to help children.
“Healthy kids need
places to play,” he said.
The Hermiston play-
ground is the third paid for
by the Moda Assist program.
Each year Moda Health and
the Trail Blazers choose
three projects in cities
around Oregon and sponsor
an online voting contest. The
city with the most votes gets
$10 per assist made by the
Blazers during their season.
Last winter businesses like
Smitty’s Ace Hardware and
organizations like Altrusa
helped parks and recreation
director Larry Fetter publi-
cize the contest, rallying
more than 19,000 votes for
Hermiston.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
another stream of words:
big, scary, expensive, huge,
money, dorms and debt.
He segued into a
discussion of why small
can be good. BMCC has
an average class size of
15, he said, quite different
from four-year institutions
where freshmen often find
large lecture halls and little
or no one-on-one time with
instructors. Students asked
about programs, financial
aid and how to find schol-
arships. When the recruiter
wrapped it up, students
crowded around him to ask
follow-up questions.
What Hill is doing seems
to be working.
BMCC reported enroll-
ment of 11 percent more
students compared with
last fall term — while the
nation’s community colleges
are collectively experi-
encing a downward trend.
Lane Community College
in Eugene, for example,
experienced a 6.5 percent
decline compared with last
fall according to an article
in “The Torch,” the college’s
media organization. The
BMCC number, which is
2,766 students, up from
2,491 in 2016, is just a snap-
shot, a moment in time, but
administrators are ecstatic.
BMCC
Vice-President
of Student Affairs Diane
Drebin said the Pendleton
college has managed to buck
a trend.
“It is unusual to see a rise
in enrollment when it isn’t
associated with a decline in
the economy,” Drebin said.
BMCC President Camille
Preus credits a switch in
recruitment strategy that
began three years ago. It
didn’t — Shazam — just
happen, she said.
The college got inten-
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
BMCC outreach assistant Abby Pierson uses humor
as she engages a group of middle school students
during a recent campus tour.
tional about face time with
potential students and
outreach is at full-throttle.
Hill treks to each high school
in BMCC’s 18,000-square-
mile district at least twice a
year.
He said he tries to bust the
stereotypes that community
colleges are small and cheap.
“They aren’t cheap,” he
said. “They are more afford-
able.”
Hill said he likes hearing
teenagers tell their stories.
“High school students
are awesome,” he said. “I
just talk with them hoping
to spark questions. Seniors
have a lot of questions and
college is on their minds.
A lot of what I do is to stay
patient and wait for them to
ask.”
The other full-time
recruitment person, program
assistant
(and
BMCC
graduate) Abby Pierson,
focuses on younger students.
Pierson engaged several
dozen Hermiston middle
school students during a
recent campus tour. Pierson
connected with them by
revealing her silly side.
“Fun fact,” she said. “I
can lick my elbow.”
She
demonstrated,
eliciting giggles, then did
a quick blast of BMCC
history, telling students
they would need to regur-
gitate the information in
a Jeopardy-esque game at
the end. She explained the
FAFSA (otherwise known
as the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid), the
cost of attending college
and
the
relationship
between education and
future earnings. A list of
all 70 BMCC degrees and
certificate programs flashed
onto a screen. Pierson sped
up, slowed down, changed
gears and pulled them along.
Afterwards, the students
toured campus, visiting the
library, bookstore, athletic
center, art museum, the
farm, diesel lab and other
buildings on campus. By the
time they climbed back on
the bus, they could imagine
themselves at BMCC.
Outreach with the high
school seniors continues via
social media. The outreach
office tracks the journey each
potential new student makes
from FAFSA to enrollment.
“We’ve shifted from
a passive approach to an
intentional one. Once we
get their attention, we stay
connected and do a lot of
follow-up,” Drebin said. “It
isn’t just opening our door
and saying, ‘Y’all come.’”
Introducing
Eastern Oregon Events
The Eastern Oregon Events Calendar is the place
to fi nd everything happening in Eastern Oregon
including all events from A to Z!
Auditions, Bird Watching and Concerts…
to Youth Camps and Zumba Classes!
If it’s happening, it’s posted in the
Eastern Oregon Events Calendar!
Have you posted your events? It’s fast and easy!
1. Simply go to EasternOregonEvents.com and click on the Calendar tab
2. Click on the + Add Event button
3. Set up an account using your email or Facebook/Google+ login
4. Enter your event details
And we can help you promote your event!
Just contact your Advertising Consultant:
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Hermiston Herald: 541-567-6457
Blue Mountain Eagle: 541-575-0710
Wallowa County Chieftain: 541-426-4567
For additional calendar posting assistance,
contact our calendar team at
online@eomediagroup.com