About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2018)
TODAYS TOP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, November 29, 2018 3A Administration defends Saudis, senators weigh Yemen war sanctions EVAN VUCCII Associated Press President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 20. Russia derides Ukraine’s martial law as political trick MYKOLA LAZARENKO I Associated Press Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, second from right, speaks with soldiers during a military training at a military base in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov, 28. BY MARY CLARE JALONICK AND SUSANNAH GEORGE Associated Press WASHINGTON — Top administration officials urged senators Wednesday to keep supporting U.S. involve ment in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, but it was unclear whether their message would dissuade lawmakers who want to punish the kingdom for its role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Senate was to take a procedural vote later Wednesday on whether to consider a resolution that would end U.S. assistance for the conflict that human rights advocates say is wreaking havoc on the coun try and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing. After a closed-door brief ing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis, sev eral senators said they were unsatisfied and likely to back the resolution to halt U.S. sup port for the war. The White House issued a veto threat for that resolu tion, even as Pompeo and Mattis spoke with the sena tors. Emerging from the briefing, Pompeo said the vote would be “poorly timed” as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict were underway. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tues day that “some kind of response” was needed from the United States for the Saudis’ role in Khashoggi’s gruesome death. While U.S. intelligence officials have concluded the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, must have at least known of the plot, the CIA’s findings have not been made public and President Donald Trump has equivocated over who was to blame. Pompeo said after the briefing that there was “no direct reporting” connect ing the crown prince to the murder, and Mattis said there was “no smoking gun” making the connection. In the briefing, Pompeo argued that the war in Yemen would be “a hell of a lot worse” if the United States were not involved. A similar resolution fell six votes short of passage earlier this year, but some senators apparently were ready to switch. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he would prefer an appropriate response from the adminis tration, but barring that, “It’s very likely I will support get ting on it.” Corker said in the past he has “laid in the railroad tracks to keep us from doing things that I believe are against our national interest as it relates to Saudi Ara bia.” But he said he believes the Senate should “figure out some way for us to send the appropriate message to Saudi Arabia that appropri ately displays American val ues and American national interests.” He said the crown prince “owns this death. He owns it.” McConnell made similar remarks Tuesday, saying that “what obviously hap pened, as basically certified by the CIA, is completely abhorrent to everything the United States holds dear and stands for in the world.” The unsuccessful March vote on the resolution, spon sored by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Inde pendent Sen. Bernie Sand ers of Vermont, drew a mix of Democrats and Republi cans who had grown uneasy with U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. BY YURAS KARMANAU AND NATALIYA VASILYEVA Associated Press KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president donned combat fatigues to imple ment martial law in much of the country on Wednesday, a move Russia denounced as a cynical political trick as both sides ratcheted up ten sions after a weekend stand off in the Black Sea. Each side blamed the other for the bellicose turn of events, with Ukraine saying Russia is preparing for a full-scale invasion and Moscow calling it a political stunt by an unpopular presi dent facing tough elections. In Sunday’s confronta tion, three Ukrainian naval vessels were heading from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov when they were blocked by the Russian coast guard near the Kerch Strait between Russia’s mainland and the Crimean Peninsula it annexed from Ukraine. After many tense hours of maneuvering, the Russians opened fire and seized the Ukrainian vessels and crew. Ukrainian Presi dent Petro Poroshenko responded by ordering mar tial law in much of the coun try, a move that went into effect with parliamentary approval. Poroshenko toured a mili tary training center Wednes day in the Chernihiv region bordering Russia, one of the areas where martial law was imposed. Speaking to report ers as smoke billowed from a nearby shooting range, the camouflage-clad president pledged “not to allow the enemy to attack Ukraine” and announced a hike in salaries for servicemen. Poroshenko initially sought to impose martial law for two months, a move that would have meant pres idential elections scheduled for March would have to be scrapped due to election rules. Facing criticism in parliament, he halved the martial law time frame to a month, which would allow the election to go ahead as planned. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin bluntly accused his Ukrai nian counterpart of provok ing the naval incident in order to shore up his sagging popularity and sideline com petitors ahead of the March election. “The Black Sea incident certainly was a provoca tion organized by the sitting government, including the incumbent president ahead of the presidential vote in March,” Putin said, alleging that Poroshenko wanted to “exacerbate the situation and create obstacles for his rivals.” Ukraine has insisted that its vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules, while Rus sia claimed they had failed to get permission to pass through a Russia-controlled area. A 2003 treaty between the two countries designated the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters, but Russia claimed the strait in its entirety after annexing Crimea in 2014 and has sought to assert greater control over the passage. On Wednesday, Ukraine released what it said was the exact location where its ships were fired on by Russia, saying they were in international waters west of the Kerch Strait. Putin, meanwhile, insisted the Ukrainian vessels were in Russia’s territorial waters and refused to communi cate with the Russian coast guard or accept a Russian pilot to guide them through the narrow strait. “What were the border guards supposed to do?” the Russian leader said Wednesday. “They fulfilled their duty to protect the ter ritorial integrity of the Rus sian Federation. If they had done something differently, they should have been put on trial for that.” HALL COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHEDULE OF APPROVED LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX PROJECTS YEAR ENDED JUNE 30. 2018 AMOUNT AMOUNT ORIGINAL CURRENT EXPENDED EXPENDED TOTAL EXCESS ESTIMATED ESTIMATED IN CURRENT IN PRIOR COMPLETION PROCEEDS NOT PROJECT COST (1) COSTS (2) YEAR (3) YEARS (3) COST EXPENDED SPLOST IV Payment of a portion of the payments, including principal and interest, due on the Hall County School District's Series 2007B Bonds, with a maximum payment amount of $9,604,500; $ 9,604,500.00 $ 6,422,776.63 $ $ 6,442,776.63 $ 6,442,776.63 $ Acquiring, constructing and equipping new schools, fine arts facilities, physical education facilities, student activity facilities and other school system facilities, acquiring and conducting site preparation of real estate for school district purposes, constructing and equipping additional classrooms and instructional and support space, remodeling, renovating and equipping classrooms, instructional and support space, and other school district facilities at existing school system facilities, and acquiring furnishings, equipment and fixtures for new and existing facilities system-wide, including technology equipment, textbooks, library books and school buses, with the estimated cost of such projects to be financed from funds raised by the Sales Tax being $152,983,000; $ 151,983,000.00 $ 151,983,000.00 $ 12,343,996.90 $ 96.650,256.24 $ Payment of any general obligation debt of the Hall County School District issued in conjunction with the imposition of the Sales Tax. $ 1,000,000.00 $ 1,453,363.23 $ 51,423.23 $ 1,401,940.00 $ SPLOST V Acquiring, constructing and equipping new schools, fince arts facilities, physical education facilities, sports facilities, other student activity facilities, acquiring and conducting site preparation of real estate for current and future school district purposes, constructing and equipping additional classrooms, instructional and support space, and other school district facilities at existing school system facilities, including but not limited to roofing. HVAC, security and emergency alarm systems, flooring, plumbing and electrical capacity, and acquiring furnishings, equipment and fixtures for new and existing facilities system-wide, including technology equipment, textbooks, library books and school buses. $ 147,030,000.00 $ 147,030,000.00 $ 35,192,026.27 $ 4,448.921.31 $ Payment of a portion of the purchase price payments due on that certain Contract between the School District and the Gainesville and Hall County Development Authority, dated as of November 1, 2007, with a maximum payment of $875,975. $ 875,975.40 $ 875,975.40 $ 145,995.90 $ - $ Payment of a portion of the purchase price payments due on that certain Installment Sales Agreement between the Hall County School District and the Gainesville and Hall County Development Authority, dated as of September 1,2010, with a maximum payment amount of $1,045,000. $ 1,045,000.00 $ 1,044,992.76 $ $ $ Payment of any general obligation debt of the Hall County School District issued in conjunction with the imposition of the Sales Tax. $ 4,325,407.50 $ 4,325,407.50 $ 527,446.25 $ 109,281.25 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE Completed 6/30/2019 Completed 6/30/2023 11/30/2022 2/1/2028 11/1/2022 $ 315,863,882.90 $ 313,135,515.52 $ 48,260.888.55 $ 109,053.175.43 $ 6,442,776.63 $ (1) The School District's original cost estimate as specified in the resolution calling for the imposition of the Local Option Sales Tax. (2) The School District's current estimate of total cost for the projects. Includes all cost from project inception to completion. (3) The voters of Hall County approved the imposition of a 1% sales tax to fund the above projects and retire associated debt. Amounts expended for these projects may include sales tax proceeds, state, local property taxes and/or other funds over the life of the projects.
