Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/360548
CHRISSTEWART—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Staff members of the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua, Hawaii take down umbrellas as the resort prepares for Hurricane Iselle on Thursday. ByJenniferSinco Kelleher The Associated Press HONOLULU Hawaii resi- dents preparing for the first of two hurricanes swirl- ing toward the islands got whacked by another natural hazard on Thursday when a 4.5 magnitude earth- quake struck, shaking peo- ple on the Big Island as they boarded up their homes. Though the earthquake didn't cause major damage, it hit as residents were wak- ing up to make last-minute trips to grocery stores and preparing ahead of the first hurricane set to hit the Ha- waiian islands in more than two decades. Kelsey Walker said the quake felt like a "little jolt" but didn't knock things off shelves at the Waimea gro- cery store where he works. He was trying to keep a sense of humor about it. "We have a hurricane. Now we have this on top of it. What else?" said Walker, second assistant manager at Foodland Waimea. Iselle was supposed to weaken as it slowly trudged west across the Pacific. It didn't — and now Hawaii is poised to take its first direct hurricane hit in 22 years. Tracking close be- hind it was Hurricane Ju- lio, which strengthened early Thursday into a Cat- egory 2 storm. As the two hurricanes churned toward the islands, the quake hit at 6:30 a.m. local time, the U.S. Geolog- ical Survey reported. The temblor struck on the is- land's north tip, about 7 miles from Waimea. There were no immediate reports of damage. Meanwhile, state officials were assuring the islands were ready for the storms and people should prepare but not panic. Travelers got their first word of disrupted flights Thursday, when commuter airline Island Air said it was canceling some afternoon flights between the islands and shutting down all oper- ations Friday. Hurricane Iselle was ex- pected to arrive on the Big Island on Thursday eve- ning, bringing heavy rains, winds gusting up to 85 mph and flooding in some areas. Weather officials changed their outlook on the system Wednesday after seeing it get a little stronger, giving it enough oomph to stay a hur- ricane as it reaches landfall. "What ended up hap- pening is the storm has re- surged just enough to keep its hurricane strength," said Mike Cantin, a National Weather Service meteorol- ogist. Cantin said that means stronger winds of 60 to 70 mph, though rainfall esti- mates of 5 inches to 8 inches in a short time frame re- mained unchanged. "Not a major hurricane, but definitely enough to blow things around," he said. Iselle loomed about 400 miles east of Hilo early Thursday, with sustained winds of 85 mph and trav- eling about 18 mph. Cantin said the Big Is- land's size and terrain would help break up the hurricane, weakening it into a tropical storm as it passes Maui and Oahu late Thurs- day and early Friday. Hurricane Julio, mean- while, swirled closely be- hind with maximum winds whipping at 105 mph. The National Hurricane Center said it expected the storm to strengthen even more Thursday before gradu- ally weakening by Thurs- day night. That weakening is expected to continue into the weekend. Hawaii has been directly hit by hurricanes only three times since 1950, though the region has had 147 tropical cyclones over that time. The last time Hawaii was hit with a tropical storm or hur- ricane was in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki killed six people and destroyed more than 1,400 homes in Kauai, said meteorologist Eric Lau. The two hurricanes have disrupted tourism, prompted flash flood warn- ings and led to school clo- sures. Gov. Neil Abercrom- bie, meanwhile, signed an emergency proclamation al- lowing officials to tap into a disaster fund set aside by the state Legislature. IselletogiveHawaiifirst hu rri ca ne i n 22 y ea rs WEATHER By Todd Pitman The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA They were leaders of Cam- bodia's infamous Khmer Rouge, the fanatical com- munist movement behind a 1970s reign of terror that transformed this entire Southeast Asian nation into a ruthless slave state — a place where cities were emptied of their inhabit- ants, religion and schools were banned, and anyone deemed a threat was exe- cuted. When the nightmare ended, in 1979, close to 2 million people were dead — a quarter of Cambodia's population at the time. On Thursday, a U.N.- backed tribunal convicted two of the once all-powerful men who ruled during that era of crimes against hu- manity in the first and pos- sibly the last verdicts to be issued against the group's aging, top members. Although survivors wel- comed the decision to im- pose life sentences against KhieuSamphan,an83-year- old former head of state, and Nuon Chea, the move- ment's 88-year-old chief ideologue, they also say jus- tice has come far too late and is simply not adequate. "Nothing can compare to the immense suffering they imposed, no sentence can be enough. They belong in hell, not an air-conditioned jail cell," said Youk Chhang, who heads The Documen- tation Center of Cambodia, which has collected more than a million documents related to the Khmer Rouge terror. "But this gives us hope that we can learn from the past ... that we can try to prevent this from ever hap- pening again." There was no visible re- action from either of the accused when the decisions were announced. Nuon Chea, wearing dark sun- glasses, was too weak even to stand from his wheel- chair. Defense lawyers in- sisted the case was not over and vowed to appeal within 30 days. Summarizing the ver- dict, chief judge Nil Nonn said the defendants were part of "a joint criminal en- terprise" that launched "a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population" after Khmer Rouge guerrillas seized Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. The attack took many forms, Nil Nonn said, in- cluding "murder, extermi- nation, enforced disappear- ances, attacks against hu- man dignity and political persecution." The case, which lasted about two years, focused on just one of many mass killing sites and the forced exodus of millions of peo- ple from Cambodia's cit- ies and towns, where even hospitals were emptied of patients. Top Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot had reset the clock to "Year Zero." Society was to be "purified." Money was abolished. Communal kitchens were introduced nationwide. The failed aim: to create an agrarian "utopia." Most of those who died succumbed to starvation, medical neglect and over- work. Marked for death were the educated, religious or ethnic minorities, Bud- dhist monks, and anyone suspected of ties with the former government or who questioned the new rulers. Khieu Samphan ac- knowledged mass killings took place. But during the trial he claimed he was just a figurehead with no real authority. He called allega- tions that he ordered exe- cutions a "fairy tale." Nuon Chea, known as Brother No. 2 because he was Pol Pot's trusted dep- uty, also denied responsi- bility, saying that Vietnam- ese forces — not the Khmer Rouge — had killed Cam- bodians en masse. CAMBODIA Tribunal convicts Khmer Rouge leaders HENG SINITH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cambodian former Khmer Rouge servitors, Soum Rithy, le , and Chum Mey, right, embrace each other a er the verdicts were announced, at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Thursday. By Julie Pace The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq Thursday night, warn- ing they would be launched if needed to defend Amer- icans from advancing Is- lamic militants and protect civilians under siege. His announcement threatened a renewal of U.S. military involvement in the coun- try's long sectarian war. In a televised late-night statement from the White House, Obama said Ameri- can military planes already had carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities sur- rounded by militants and desperately in need of food and water. "Today America is com- ing to help," he declared. The announcements re- flected the deepest Amer- ican engagement in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in late 2011 after nearly a decade of war. Obama, who made his remarks in a steady and somber tone, has staked much of his leg- acy as president on end- ing what he has called the "dumb war" in Iraq. Obama said the humani- tarian airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government. The food and water supplies were deliv- ered to the tens of thou- sands of Yazidis trapped on a mountain without food and water. The Yazidis, who follow an ancient reli- gion with ties to Zoroastri- anism, fled their homes af- ter the Islamic State group issued an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a reli- gious fine, flee their homes or face death. Mindful of the public's aversion to another lengthy war, Obama acknowledged that the prospect of a new round of U.S. military ac- tion would be a cause for concern among many Americans. He vowed anew not to put American combat troops back on the ground in Iraq and said there was no U.S. military solution to the crisis. "As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq," Obama said. Even so, he outlined a ra- tionale for airstrikes if the Islamic State militants ad- vance on American troops in the northern city of Ir- bil and the U.S. consulate there in the Kurdish region of Iraq. The troops were sent to Iraq earlier this year as part of the White House response to the ex- tremist group's swift move- ment across the border with Syria and into Iraq. "When the lives of Amer- ican citizens are at risk, we will take action," Obama said. "That's my respon- sibility as commander in chief." He said he had also au- thorized the use of targeted military strikes if neces- sary to help the Iraqi secu- rity forces protect civilians. Obama spoke following a day of urgent discussions with his national security team. He addressed the na- tion only after the Ameri- can military aircraft deliv- ering food and water to the Iraqis had safely left the drop site in northern Iraq. The Pentagon said the airdrops were performed by one C-17 and two C-130 cargo aircraft that together delivered a total of 72 bun- dles of food and water. They were escorted by two F/A-18 fighters from an un- disclosed air base in the re- gion. The planes delivered 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water and 8,000 pre-packaged meals and were over the drop area for less than 15 minutes at a low altitude. The president cast the mission to assist the Yazi- dis as part of the American mandate to assist around the world when the U.S. has the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre. In those cases, Obama said, "we can act carefully and responsibly to prevent a potential act of genocide." Officials said the U.S. was prepared to under- take additional humani- tarian airdrops if neces- sary, though they did not say how quickly those mis- sions could occur. Administration officials said they believe unilat- eral U.S. strikes would be consistent with interna- tional law in part because the Iraqi government has asked for Washington to take military action. They also said Obama had the constitutional authority to act on his own in order to protect American citizens. Still, there was no guar- antee that the president's threat of military strikes would actually be followed by action. He similarly au- thorized strikes in Syria last summer after chem- ical weapons were de- ployed, but those attacks were never carried out, in part because of domes- tic political concerns and also because an interna- tional agreement to strip Syria of its stockpiles of the deadly gases. The president has also faced persistent calls to take military action in Syria on humanitarian grounds, given that more than 170,000 people have been killed there. WORLD Obama authorizes airstrikes in Iraq THE WHITE HOUSE, PETE SOUZA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In this image released by The White House, President Barack Obama meets with the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House on Thursday morning in Washington. CATHERINERICHARDSON September 15, 1919 ~ July 21, 2014 Catherine Richardson passed away July 21, at the Red Bluff Healthcare Center. She was born Sept. 15, 1919 in Westwood, Plumas Co. to Edgar and Carrie Olsen. She grew up in Red Bluff on a dairy in Antelope. On Aug. 11, 1941, she married Robert L. "Bob" Richardson. During the early years of their marriage they managed the Ri- chardson Cattle Co. until the 1950's, when they along with Bob's brother Ned and wife Lucian, took over man- agement of the Richardson Springs Resort. In those years she and Bob were very active in the Arabian Horse busi- ness. She also managed the Silver Dollar Fair Horse Show during the 1960's and was on the Board of Direc- tors for the Butte Co. Fair. In 1969 the resort was sold and she and Bob moved to Palm Springs. It was at that time that they became interested in Quarter Horses and bought a ranch in Lassen Co., in 1976 where they begin to breed racing Quarter Horses. She will be best remem- bered as a horse breeder for the World Champion race horse Tolltac. After Bob's death in 2000 she sold the ranch and moved to Tehama Co. She was predeceased by her parents and three siblings. She is survived by daughters Barbara Kelly of Corning and Jean Richardson of Lake. She is also survived by niece Diana Campbell of Colfax, grandson Ray Taylor of Virginia, granddaughter, Marcia Smith of Fair Oaks, and two great-grandchildren. There will be no service at her request. Obituaries R ed Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service NowOffering Eco-Friendly urns at economy friendly prices. 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 527-1732 FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 7 A