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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2019)
NATION/WORLD Thursday, November 21, 2019 BRIEFLY Prince Andrew to step back from public duties LONDON — Britain’s Prince Andrew said Wednes- day he is stepping back from public duties with the queen’s permission. Andrew said it has become clear to him in recent days that his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become a “major distraction” to the royal fam- ily’s work. He said he regrets his asso- ciation with the former U.S. businessman and that he “deeply sympathizes” with his victims. The prince said his mother Queen Elizabeth II had given him permission to step back from royal duties. Andrew has been heavily criticized for his performance in a TV interview Saturday in which he failed to express concern for Epstein’s victims. He seemed to show no remorse for his close asso- ciation with a convicted sex offender who had abused many underage girls. Some charities that he has worked with as a patron have said they were reviewing their association with the prince because of his actions. Epstein was awaiting trial on sex traffi cking charges when he was found dead in his cell, robbing his alleged vic- tims of a chance for their day in court. His death on Aug. 10 in a New York prison has been ruled a suicide by the city’s medical examiner. Israel heads toward 3rd election in 12 months JERUSALEM — Israeli kingmaker Avigdor Lieber- man on Wednesday refused to endorse a candidate for prime minister, virtually guaranteeing the country will be forced into a new election, the third in less than a year. Lieberman’s comments came ahead of a midnight deadline for Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz, to form a coalition. A September election left both Netanyahu and Gantz short of securing a required parliamentary majority to form a government, with Lieberman holding the deci- sive votes. But after weeks of nego- tiations, Lieberman said he could not endorse either side. “I made every effort. I turned over every stone,” he said. Lieberman had called for a national unity government between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White. But the two leaders could not agree on a pow- er-sharing agreement. Gantz has until midnight to try to seek other partners, but without Lieberman, that appears impossible. Gantz was given the opportunity to form a gov- ernment last month after Net- anyahu failed in the task. North Carolina county removes Confederate statue PITTSBORO, N.C. — A Confederate statue has been removed overnight from a historic North Carolina courthouse. Chatham County offi cials issued a news release late Tuesday night saying work had begun to take down the soldier that stood in front of the courthouse in Pittsboro since 1907. News outlets report that a subdued crowd of several dozen watched the work. Even the base of the statue was gone before dawn. It has been rare for public offi cials to take down Confed- erate statues in North Carolina since the enactment of a 2015 state historic monuments law restricting the removal of pub- lic monuments. But county offi cials argued in court that the monument was private property, owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and a judge hearing the group’s challenge declined to block the removal. — Associated Press East Oregonian A7 PG&E begins power shutoff over fi re danger public safety.” Meanwhile, Califor- nia’s utility regulators are demanding answers from wireless, internet and land- line providers whose equip- ment failed during previous outages, leaving hundreds of thousands of people with- out a way to get emergency alerts or make 911 calls. Statewide, about 3% of cell towers failed at one point in late October, but the numbers were much higher in northern counties, such as Marin, which had 57% of its towers out and Sonoma, which had 27% out. In some cases, public safety workers had to drive for an hour to see if they needed to check in, said John Kennedy of the Rural County Representatives of California. Fire depart- ments lost contact with fi re trucks and some had to rely on radios because download speeds were so slow or out of service, he said. More than 450,000 peo- ple were left without com- munications, according to the group. By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Pacifi c Gas & Elec- tric Co. turned off electric- ity Wednesday for about 120,000 people in North- ern California to prevent power lines from sparking wildfi res as the region faced a new bout of windy and warm weather. The utility originally said that about 150,000 custom- ers, or about 375,000 people, would be affected by the out- ages but signifi cantly low- ered that number after some areas got rain or increased humidity that lowered the fi re threat. PG&E spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen said about 35,000 more people were told they could lose power later Wednesday if weather condi- tions do not improve in their communities. People who lost power were expected to get it back Thursday. A virtually rainless fall has left brush bone-dry and forecasts called for low humidity and winds gusting AP Photo/Elias Funez Grass Valley’s Dionicio Torres looks at the gas can selection before taking the last 5-gallon gas can on the shelves at B&C Ace Home & Garden Center in Grass Valley, Calif., on Tuesday in preparation of Wednesday’s planned public safety power shutdown. at times to 55 mph, which could fl ing tree branches or other debris into power lines, causing sparks that could set catastrophic fi res in the region, PG&E offi - cials said. The blackout is the latest in a series of massive out- ages by the country’s larg- est utility, including one last month that affected nearly 2.5 million people and out- raged local offi cials and customers who accused the utility of overkill. Offi cials have accused the company of using the blackouts as a crutch after years of failing to harden its infrastructure to withstand fi re weather. PG&E CEO Andy Vesey acknowledged the outages have been “terribly disrup- tive” and said the company is taking steps to avoid them in the future, but for now, “we won’t roll the dice on Sondland: Trump directed Ukraine ‘quid pro quo’ By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK AND ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON — Ambassador Gordon Sond- land declared to impeachment investigators Wednesday that President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani explicitly sought a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine, lever- aging an Oval Offi ce visit for political investigations of Democrats. But he also came to believe the trade involved much more. Besides the U.S. offer of a coveted meeting at the White House, Sondland tes- tifi ed it was his understand- ing the president was hold- ing up nearly $400 million in military aid, which Ukraine DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP TODAY! badly need with an aggres- sive Russia on its border, in exchange for the coun- try’s announcement of the investigations. Sondland conceded that Trump never told him directly the security assistance was blocked for the probes, a gap in his account that Republi- cans and the White House seized on as evidence the president did nothing wrong. But the ambassador said his dealings with Giuliani, as well as administration offi - cials, left him with the clear understanding of what was at stake. “Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’” Sondland testifi ed in opening remarks. “With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.” The rest, he said, was • Personalize your news feed with the stories you want. Sondland’s account. However, Sondland said, “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.” The ambassador said that he and Trump spoke directly about desired investigations, including a colorful cell- phone call this summer over- heard by others at a restau- rant in Kyiv. Trump himself insists daily that he did nothing wrong and the Democrats are just trying to drum him out of offi ce. As the hearing proceeded, he spoke to reporters out- side the White House. Read- ing from notes written with a black marker, Trump quoted Sondland quoting Trump to say the president wanted nothing from the Ukraini- ans and did not seek a quid pro quo. Holiday savings so good, you’ll jump for JOY Our new app offers access to the latest news as it happens with customizable features for mobile and tablet devices: • Scroll through the latest headlines while on-the-go. obvious: “Two plus two equals four.” Sondland, the ambassa- dor to the European Union and a major donor to Trump’s inauguration, was the most highly anticipated witness in the House’s impeachment inquiry into the 45th presi- dent of the United States. In often-stunning testi- mony, he painted a picture of a Ukraine pressure cam- paign that was prompted by Trump himself, orches- trated by Giuliani and well- known to other senior offi - cials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Sond- land said he raised his con- cerns about a quid pro quo for military aid with Vice Presi- dent Mike Pence — a conver- sation a Pence adviser vigor- ously denied. Pompeo also dismissed The perfect holiday gift is available now! BOOK DETAILS: Hardcover, 144 pages • Historic photos of Umatilla County Limited time offer — discount expires Dec. 31, 2019! • Receive breaking news alerts on $34.95 your phone. reg. $44.95 • Explore photos, videos plus shipping and more. • Easily save articles for Just released! reading later. • Share articles with the tap Pick up your books locally, including pre-orders of a finger. East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton (Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.– 5 p.m.) • Content can be viewed offline when out-of-service or in flight. • Customizable settings allow you to enlarge type and choose how often content refreshes. Order online and save with flat-rate shipping Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Expedited shipping available for Christmas delivery Order by mail now (discount expires 12/31/19): Postmark by 12/5/19 for Christmas delivery Ship my order to me: $34.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. Order will be shipped to the address below. Quantity: ___ x $41.90 = $______ total Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Name Address To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or log on to www.eastoregonian.com/subscribe-now City State Phone E-mail Zip From the archives of the Athena Public Library, City of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society, Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society Send form and payment to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or call 800-522-0255
