Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 8

rv Hb From Page One Page 8A Johnson City Press Sunday August 3 2003 Fruition Shift are the Tinker Road Exit which will be Exit 21 and a welcome center In November 1998 state Rep Zane Whitson announced that he and other Unicoi County officials had asked TDOT for the new exit In March 1999 Gov Don Sundquist said that funds for the Tinker Road exit and preliminary engineering for a welcome center would be part of a $14 billion 2000-01 transportation budget Construction of the Tinker Road exit began this spring and is expected to be completed in the fall Final plans for the Tennessee welcome center are still under discussion Property at the Clear Branch area at Exit 9 has been purchased for the center but some local government and business leaders want the state to look at other mentary school There were 300 proponents and opponents at the meeting Debates continued until North Carolina Gov James Hunt announced the state would spend $250 million to connect 1-26 to Interstate 181 in Tennessee Meanwhile the Tennessee road project slowed between late 1992 and March 1993 after a lawsuit was filed and acid rock was discovered In July 1992 portico rock was found in part of the Tennessee construction and was labeled because of its potential to produce acid The rock was contained in a 90000-square-foot hole directly under a section of four-lane highway within the project The groups contended the Tennessee Department of Transportation violated environmental regulations during the construction A $150000 penalty was assessed -by the state Department of Environment and Conservation later that year The North Carolina Department of Transportation awarded its first bid on the project to Taylor and Murphy Construction for a 18-mile section at a cost of $99 million A six-mile section was the largest part of the nine miles to be bid with the final section being the last three miles between Laurel River community in North Carolina and Sams Gap In May 1997 NCDOT added another $35 million to the program The completion date for the North Carolina project was pushed up to 2000 but was then pushed back to 2001 Later and after several updates and additions to the project a 2003 opening date was released Still in the construction and planning stages in Tennessee Continued from Page I A people-we would soon have an interstate-standard highway to the top of Sams Gap and people who drove the highway were going to be dumped off there onto a narrow and winding two-lane road and something needed to be done "We began a letter writing campaign to every legislator in North Carolina explaining the progress Tennessee was making and made a case for North Carolina to get started Brackins said funding for the Unicoi County sections came in 1990 and the Tennessee corridor committee here faded after its completion in 1995 Talks continued about the North Carolina section until July 1992 when a public hearing and debate was held in Mars Hill NC at a little ele Paduch nominated Commissioner Mohon and said he did so because of his longer tenure as a Darden said But the attempt failed and the mayor again failed to gain support when nominating himself Paduch deferred the appointment stating he would later nominate whomever he wanted and could wait indefinitely to make that decision became angry and refused to nominate me and gave no indication that he would support Darden said The law stipulates that a replacement to the board should be appointed by July 1 and not held off indefinitely Mohon said this week he felt he deserved another nomination to the Power Board and comparing it to judicial nominations made by the president felt other commissioners should be required to justify reasons for not voting for him were absolutely no reasons given why I be Mohon said i Continued from Page I A city was clearly McKee said this week of his declaration that the mayor was the CEO did not review the (City) During a review of the City Code section of the charter outlining administration the Press found the city manager is actually listed as the CEO city manager shall be the chief executive officer of the Section 2-60 of the city code reads This could impact meeting of the City Commission as the- leaders work on filling the empty seats on the Power Board During the July meeting Darden first indicated his interest in serving on the JCPB and how he would use the opportunity to enhance economic development in the area Commissioner Ricky Mohon followed statement by saying he too would like to represent the commission on the board Runnion murder case evidence in from search warrants be thrown out including details about fibers found on the body Friday was one of the few times in open court that any prosecutor has discussed evidence in the case which has been withheld from the public since Avila 27 was arrested a Results from the evaluation were made public in April Each of the seven school board members rated McGriff on a scale of 1-5 with one or being the lowest and five or being the highest McGriff met or exceeded the expectations in all but three of 60 category areas as the board awarded her average scores of 40 or greater in 32 categories Her lowest average ratings all of which were 271 were for and accepts constructive criticism of her an effective relationship with city and to build staff morale and loyalty to the The board is scheduled to discuss contract in 5 pm work session at Columbus Powell Center and vote in its regular monthly meeting which begins at 6 pm 8 Top Saudi officials public release of of the report and The Associated Press A timekeeper watches the clock during competition i Heat freaks sweat it out at Sauna World Championships Helsinki by 7 seconds About 3000 spectators cheered wildly as the finalists six women and six men sat in separate wide-windowed hexagonal saunas on the stage of an outdoor theater in this sleepy lakeside town 85 miles northeast of Helsinki Showers inside spurted water every 30 seconds onto the sauna stones intensifying the heat Before the final round competitors included 65 men and 15 women from Kazakhstan the Netherlands Poland Russia Sweden and Ukraine as well as the three Baltic countries Estonia Latvia and Lithuania Regulations are strict Contestants must have a certificate to prove they are fit No rubbing of the skin or slouching is allowed and elbows must be held on knees All forms of medication including being intoxicated are forbidden From The Associated Press HEINOLA Finland Braving 230-degree heat a dozen men and women sweated in wooden cubicles Saturday as long as they could stand it aiming to grab the Sauna World Championship title in southern Finland With a time of 13 minutes Belorussian Natalia Trifanova won the Sauna Queen title under the watch of doctors and judges beating out local favorite Annikki Peltonen pink but beamed Trifanova 36 a music teacher from Minsk displaying blotchy red neck and arms got a lot of satisfaction sitting in there today an extreme sport for Runner-up Peltonen last winner reeled out of the wooden sauna 12 seconds before the champion saved from collapsing to the ground by a team of stewards The winner Timo Kaukonen a Finn from nearby Lahti lasted 16 minutes 15 seconds He beat three-time champion Leo Pusa from the capital are calling for the the still-secret section say it is ridiculous to suggest the royal family would deliberately fund an al-Qaida movement dedicated to its overthrow few days after body was found Orange County prosecutor Jim Mulgrew said in open court that fibers on body were believed to match those from a hotel room allegedly registered to Avila but the district office later dis The discussion also likely will include a report on the Washington County recent decision to pursue consolidation of city and county schools The city school board had been cool to the idea in previous discussions citing in part the expense county taxpayers would have to take on to raise county teacher salaries to city levels I think the County Commission has any legal authority to request (consolidation) but that remains to be McGriff said county commissioners have made statements like save millions and millions of dollars somebody obviously Monday also will mark the start of the 2003-04 school year for students on the traditional 10-month calendar Students at two elementary schools on the year-round calendar Al-Jubeir said Bandar gave charitable donations to Basnan to help cover his medical bills starting in 1998 and that al-Faisal separately gave regular monthly payments to Dweikat who used her maiden name that did not call attention to her marriage to Basnan Al-Jubeir said Saudi investigators traced every payment which totaled more than $100000 and found evidence two or three of the checks to Dweikat were signed over to wife Saudi officials found no evidence that money was transferred to the hijackers or even used by al-Bayoumi when he assisted the hijackers he said He said the money the prince and princess gave was among millions donated to help Saudis living in the United States He added the Saudis family vH Judge OKs SANTA ANA Calif A judge on Friday refused to toss out evidence that led to an arrest in the slaying of the 5-year-old who was abducted from her front yard last summer Lawyers for Alejandro Avila the man charged with the murder of Samantha Runnion had asked that information Contract i Continued from Page I A any way suggest what their wishes and desires might be believe done a good McGriff said believe in a position now to really move forward on some good programs that are going to bring a lot of achievement to our students first two years a tremendous amount of my time and energy had to be devoted to budget to getting us into a position that we could do things We are in that position she said The July discussion also included questions about annual evaluation but Manahan said both this evaluation and initial review in 2002 were above the expectations so he doubted the evaluation would have any bearing on vote Link i Continued from Page I A Nonetheless FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged to lawmakers in a secret session that he had learned from Congress about new evidence am saying the sequence of events here I think the staff probed and as a result of the probing some facts came to light here and to me frankly that had not come to light Mueller told the joint House-Senate intelligence inquiry in one closed hearing last October Top Saudi officials are calling for the public release of the still-secret section of the report and say it is ridiculous to suggest the royal family would deliberately fund an al-Qaida movement dedicated to its overthrow is no there said Adel al-Jubeir a Saudi foreign policy adviser He said his government seen the classified section of the report written by a joint House-Senate committee but based on the own investigation believe the reason the intelligence community insisted on classification of that section is it could not confirm or agree with what the joint inquiry report Suspected terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden a Saudi by birth was excommunicated from his homeland in the mid-1990s for his advocacy of violence against the United States and his threats to overthrow the Saudi royal family for allowing US troops on Saudi soil during the 1991 Gulf War FBI officials are seeking to question anew Saudi businessman Omar al-Bayoumi who during his time in San Diego threw a welcoming party for eventual hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi and who put down money for their deposit and first rent Al-Bayoumi left the United States two months before the suicide hijackings and settled in Britain where Pripce Thrki al-Faisal a member of the royal family was serving as ambassador after a stint as chief of Saudi intelligence according to officials familiar with the report Several 'such connections to Saudi government officials as counted the evidence not saying the fibers matched saying what the police officers believed at the spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder said From The Associated Press started classes in July start marks a departure in the traditional calendar since the board has been phasing in calendar changes over the last two school years much to the chagrin of some parents This schedule includes a fall break moving the start date back to the first full week in August Both McGriff and Manahan discounted rumors of a boycott to protest the earlier start think there will be any Manahan said Manahan also noted that parents would have the opportunity to offer their input about the 2004-05 calendar and he emphasized that rumors the board would start that school year in late July were false has not been discussed at all to my Manahan said would not support that believe al-Bayoumi was repaid by the hijackers for his initial money FBI officials obtained information about Basnan who was charged with visa violations after Sept 11 and eventually sent back to Saudi Arabia indicating that Basnan is an extremist and Bin Laden the congressional report concludes In classified sections of the report congressional investigators also trace his movements after Sept 11 raising the possibility he went to Houston to meet with a Saudi figure with intelligence ties who had come with royal family members when they met with President Bush in Texas Among other connections the report states that an imam who had been on the radar before Sept 11 served as a spiritual adviser for two of the hijackers and his mosques may have facilitated the hijackers on both coasts The congressional report says the FBI dropped pre-September inquiries about the imam which it does not name the contacts with other subjects of counter-terrorism interest and reports concerning the connection to suspect From The Associated Press Since 1980 Archadeck has built over 50000 custom projects In backyards Just like yours When can we transform your backyard Into one of America's Most Popular Backyards? nsultatio crchnifsdt Deck Builder" a Aannn From The Associated Press well as an uneven flow of money to him have led some in Congress to question if al-Bayoumi was a Saudi intelligence agent Al-Jubeir denies any such connection Saudi officials say British and US officials questioned al-Bayoumi immediately after the Sept 11 attacks and released him A lawyer for three central witnesses in the hijacking investigation says the FBI also may have an interest in videotapes al-Bayoumi took of numerous events at an Islamic center in Sari Diego including the party for two hijackers Al-Bayoumi a video camera at that party He and his video camera were inseparable In fact one of my clients even held the camera for a while at that attorney Randall Hamud said in an interview Friday The report also notes al-Bayoumi worked with a Saudi government aviation official whose picture was found on a computer disk along with pictures of many of the 19 hijackers most of whom came from Saudi Arabia FBI officials questioned the son last year Congressional officials question in the report the nature of the work al-Bayoumi did for his Saudi pay and why money to him spiked when he was befriending the hijackers according to officials who have seen it The classified report as well as other sensitive intelligence gathered hy US investigators focuses on a series of financial transactions and movements by Saudi citizens and royalty For instance Prince Bandar the US ambassador to the United States and his wife Princess Haifa al-Faisal wrote tens of thousands of dollars of checks to a Saudi named Osama Basnan and his wife Magda Ibrahim Dweikat who were in San Diego around the time of the hijackers stay 13 on oil in-stock Bedspreads Draperies WOSCIU Comforter Sets UE Top Treatments THUMhj CdlfE Dust Skirts n-50 Piow Shams Framed Art Mirrors Bath Accessories (gotfN Table Lace Window Lace Ufl Lamps Tables Edtflf Plate Racks Plates Window Hardware PRiurr oy Tablecloths Bao rw DUN GIFT ITT Placemats Chairpads 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