Citizen Tribune

6 / 17

CITIZEN TRIBUNE From Page 1
A-6 Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Corker, the Senate For-
eign Relations chairman,
has previously dubbed the
White House an “adult day
care center” and charged
that Trump could be set-
ting the nation on a path to
World War III. Trump has
called Corker “Liddle’ Bob
Corker.”
Nonetheless, Republi-
cans and the Trump admin-
istration are determined
to get tax legislation into
law this year, and all sides
seem to think they can unite
around that goal.
Prior to the lunch, Sen.
John McCain, R-Ariz., im-
plicitly criticized Trump
on Monday, though not by
name, for getting a draft de-
ferment during Vietnam for
bone spurs in his foot. And
Trump spent much of Au-
gust lashing out at Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., and blaming him for
the Senate’s failure to pass
legislation to repeal and re-
place “Obamacare.”
No. 3 Senate Republican
John Thune of South Da-
kota said he hopes to hear
Trump “drive home the
message that he wants to
be a partner, a constructive
partner that helps us get ac-
complishments that help ev-
erybody.”
“If you have people who
are running for re-election
next year, whether it’s a
House member or one of
the senators who’s up this
year, I think the best thing
you can go back and talk
about is that you got re-
sults,” Thune added. “And I
think that to the degree the
president delivers that mes-
sage it will be very well re-
ceived by Republican sena-
tors.”
The tax plan crafted by
Trump and Republican
leaders calls for steep tax
cuts for corporations and
potentially for individu-
als. It would double the
standard deduction used
by most Americans, shrink
the number of tax brackets
from seven to three or four,
and repeal inheritance taxes
on multimillion-dollar es-
tates. But crucial details
of the plan have yet to be
worked out, notably what
income levels would fit with
each tax bracket.
Corker
and hit Golden, the affidavit
said.
Golden got up off the
ground, holding his chest,
saying he couldn’t breathe.
Russell helped Ricky into
her car and she told authori-
ties she then heard three
gunshots behind them. She
drove from the barn and
called 911. Emergency
medical services began
CPR, but could not save
him, the report states.
When deputies ques-
tioned Stanley, he admitted
getting into an argument
and driving through the
barn, but “does not recall
hitting anyone with his vhi-
cle,” the affidavit states.
BY ROBERT MOORE
Tribune Staff Writer
A convicted felon from
Newport indicted last year for
illegally possessing a 9 mm
handgun indicated Tuesday
he’ll bundle that federal case
with related crystal-meth and
firearm charges and settle the
legal tabs together at a much
higher price, according to
court documents.
Jacob Douglas Lively, 43,
will face a minimum-manda-
tory 15 years in federal pris-
on – 10 years for conspiracy
to distribute more than 50
grams and a consecutive five
years for possessing a firearm
in furtherance of a drug-traf-
ficking offense. Lively will
plead guilty to these charges
“by information,” without
having been indicted.
He also filed a plea agree-
ment Tuesday indicating he
will plead guilty to being a
convicted felon in possession
of a firearm.
Lively’s crystal-meth case
appears to have high poten-
tial for collateral damage.
The defendant gave Miran-
dized statements to law en-
forcement on Sept. 23 and
Oct. 4, during which he de-
tailed both his involvement
in the meth-distribution con-
spiracy and the roles played
by others, according to his
plea agreement.
“(Lively) admits he trav-
elled toAtlanta, Georgia with
coconspirators on approxi-
mately eight occasions in or-
der to obtain resale quantities
of methamphetamine,” the
plea agreement states. “After
(Lively) and his coconspira-
tors would obtain metham-
phetamine, they would return
to areas in an around Cocke
County where they would
‘chop it up’ and sell it for
profit.”
It was actually the prom-
ise of meth-related profits –
through cooperation with a
man he met in prison – that
brought Lively to Cocke
County in the first place.
“Multiple years after his
release, (Lively) moved to
Newport … to help this co-
conspirator with his metham-
phetamine distribution,” the
plea agreement states.
Lively has prior felony
convictions in Davidson
County for burglary and
theft, and in Hickman Coun-
ty for introducing contraband
into jail, according to his plea
agreement.
In an unrelated drug and
firearm-related federal pros-
ecution that originated in
Cocke County, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Timothy C.
Harker on Tuesday recom-
mended the top-of-the-range,
115-month prison term for
James Summers, who plead-
ed guilty earlier to being a
felon in possession of a fire-
arm.
Summers admitted he
stole firearms from his broth-
er to bankroll his drug habit,
according to his plea agree-
ment.
“Even if familial bonds are
unable to restrain (Summers)
from harming his own fam-
ily, surely only lengthy incar-
ceration will dissuade (him)
from harming the public in
general,” the plea agreement
states. This factor weighs in
favor of a sentence at the top
of the guideline range.
The lowest guideline-
range sentence is 92 months.
County schools, said it’s a
good achievement.
“They are a top 5 percent
school in the state,” he said.
Ely said the credit be-
longed to the staff.
“It was a great effort by
our great group of teach-
ers,” he said. “They knew it
was a goal.”
Lincoln Heights was the
last Hamblen County school
to achieve reward school
status three years ago. Ely
said the goal is to now reach
rewards status in both prog-
ress and performance. But,
he said as long as the school
keeps progressing then
eventually it will also hit the
performance category.
“It will come on its own,”
he said.
Then after that, they have
other goals and this one is a
national one.
“We want to be the first
middle school to be a blue
ribbon school,” he said.
Yummy Cakes and More,
East Tennessee Diamond,
Katy Marie’s Upscale
Consignment and Priscilla
and Pearl Boutique.
Those interested in set-
ting up for Trunk or Treat
at the Farmers’ Market Pa-
villion can call Crossroads
Downtown Partnership at
423-312-1476.
Murder
Treat
Lincoln
Felon to take settlement
on gun and drug charges
Knox businessman sentenced
to year and a day
From Staff Reports
Kenny Lane, the Knox-
ville businessman who
once owned the Heri-
tage Park property in
Morristown and subse-
quently pleaded guilty
to bank and bankruptcy
fraud, was sentenced to 12
months and a day in federal
prison on Tuesday, accord-
ing to court documents.
Lane, who agreed to
pay approximately $2 mil-
lion to put the case behind
him, will self-report to the
minimum-security federal
prison in Montgomery, Al-
abama at a later date.
U.S. District Judge
Thomas W. Phillips, who
sentenced Lane, split the
baby in Lane’s favor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Frank M. Dale had advo-
cated at least 33 months for
Lane, who wanted a proba-
tionary sentence.
Lane pleaded guilty to
obtaining loans by offering
as collateral property he
did not own.
He also admitted try-
ing to hide $180,000 from
a bankruptcy trustee by
transferring the money to
his girlfriend, according to
his plea agreement.
In another federal pros-
ecution proceeding in U.S.
District Court in Knox-
ville, Assistant U.S. At-
torney Jennifer Kolman
on Tuesday recommended
two years behind bars for
Jerrica Marie Taylor, a Jef-
ferson County woman who
used her cousin’s identity
to obtain a passport in 2014
and travel to England.
Taylor didn’t use her
own name because she was
behind on child-support
payments, and the U.S. De-
partment of Health and Hu-
man Services won’t issue
passports to deadbeat par-
ents. Taylor is scheduled to
be sentenced on Nov. 27.
The defense sentencing
memorandum had not been
filed by press time.
GAO: Climate change already
costing US billions in losses
WASHINGTON (AP) — A non-parti-
san federal watchdog says climate change
is already costing U.S. taxpayers billions
of dollars each year, with those costs
expected to rise as devastating storms,
floods, wildfires and droughts become
more frequent in the coming decades.
A Government Accountability Office
report released Monday said the federal
government has spent more than $350 bil-
lion over the last decade on disaster as-
sistance programs and losses from flood
and crop insurance. That tally does not
include the massive toll from this year’s
wildfires and three major hurricanes, ex-
pected to be among the most costly in the
nation’s history.
The Senate on Monday gave prelimi-
nary approval to a $36.5 billion hurricane
relief package that would provide Puerto
Rico with a much-needed infusion of
cash and keep the federal flood insurance
program from running out of money to
pay claims from hurricanes Harvey, Irma
and Maria. That’s on top of another $15.3
billion aid package approved last month.
The report predicts these costs will
only grow in the future, averaging a bud-
get busting $35 billion each year by 2050
— a figure that recent history would sug-
gest is a conservative estimate.
“Climate change impacts are already
costing the federal government money,
and these costs will likely increase over
time as the climate continues to change,”
the report said.
Calculating just how much of the
spending from disasters is directly at-
tributable to the changing climate is not
possible, the report’s authors conclude,
but the trend is clear: “The impacts and
costs of extreme events — such as floods,
drought and other events — will increase
in significance as what are considered
rare events become more common and in-
tense because of climate change.”
The federal government doesn’t effec-
tively plan for these recurring costs, the
report said, classifying the financial expo-
sure from climate-related costs as “high
risk.”
“The federal government has not un-
dertaken strategic government-wide plan-
ning to manage climate risks by using
information on the potential economic
effects of climate change to identify sig-
nificant risks and craft appropriate fed-
eral responses,” the study said. “By using
such information, the federal government
could take the initial step in establishing
government-wide priorities to manage
such risks.”
GAO undertook the study following a
request from Republican Sen. Susan Col-
lins of Maine and Sen. Maria Cantwell of
Washington, the ranking Democrat on the
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources.
“This nonpartisan GAO report Senator
Cantwell and I requested contains aston-
ishing numbers about the consequences
of climate change for our economy and
for the federal budget in particular,” said
Collins. “In Maine, our economy is in-
extricably linked to the environment. We
are experiencing a real change in the sea
life, which has serious implications for
the livelihoods of many people across our
state, including those who work in our
iconic lobster industry.”
Trump’s refugee ban ends,
new screening rules coming
WASHINGTON (AP) —President Don-
ald Trump’s four-month worldwide ban on
refugees ended Tuesday, officials said, as
his administration prepared to unveil tough-
er new screening procedures.
Under an executive order Trump signed
earlier this year, the United States had tem-
porarily halted admissions for refugees
from all countries, with some exceptions.
The end-date written into the order came
and went Tuesday with no new order from
Trump to extend it, according to a State De-
partment official, who wasn’t authorized to
comment by name and requested anonym-
ity.
Refugees seeking entry to the U.S. will
face what officials described as more strin-
gent and thorough examination of their
backgrounds, in line with Trump’s “ex-
treme vetting” policy for immigrants. The
Homeland Security Department, the State
Department and other U.S. agencies have
been reviewing the screening process dur-
ing the temporary ban.
The new screening procedures were to
be announced later Tuesday. It was unclear
exactly what measures would be added,
but in the past, officials have spoken about
examining applicants’ social media posts
and other investigative measures to identify
those who may sympathize with extremists
or pose a national security risk to the United
States.
Refugees already face an extensive back-
log and waiting periods that can take years.
Any additional screening would likely ex-
tend the timeline.
Even with the ban lifted, refugee admis-
sions are expected to be far lower than in
recent years. Last month, Trump capped
refugee admissions at 45,000 for the fiscal
year that started Oct. 1, a cut of more than
half from the 110,000 limit put in place the
year earlier by President Barack Obama.
And the actual number admitted this year
could be far lower than Trump’s 45,000 cap,
which sets a maximum but not a minimum.
The refugee restrictions were in addition
to Trump’s broader “travel ban” on people
from several countries. Courts have repeat-
edly blocked that policy, but largely left the
temporary refugee policy in place.
Trump has made limiting immigration
the centerpiece of his policy agenda. In
addition to the travel ban, which initially
targeted a handful of Muslim-majority na-
tions, the president rescinded an Obama-
era executive action protecting young im-
migrants from deportation and vowed to
build a wall along the southern border with
Mexico.