MORE ON TRUMP, RUSSIA PROBE NATION | A4 PANAMA CITY LOCAL | B1 P.C. TO CONSIDER BIDS FOR MARINA REPAIRS Monday, April 22, 2019 www.newsherald.com @The_News_Herald facebook.com/panamacitynewsherald 75¢ Forum set on recovery plans Tonight’s discussion supplemental disaster aid Repair work at Tyndall, for What: Forum with focuses on Tyndall, from Congress has been felt instance, is slated to stop as local military leader- LOCAL | B4 NSA PC throughout the region follow- soon as May 1 if a supplemental ship discussing ing the Category 5 storm, but disaster aid bill isn’t passed. On recovery plans WILDFIRE News Herald Staff Report arguably, the area’s two mili- the other hand, the base also has When: 6 p.m. tary installations, Tyndall Air the potential — and key prom- Where: Bay County BURNING PANAMA CITY — Let’s talk Force Base and Naval Support ises — to be rebuilt as the “base Government Center, about the recovery of the area's Activity Panama City (NSA PC) of the future.” 840 W 11th St. BY BURNT military installations after Hur- have the most to gain or lose, as None of this happens in a Cost: Free ricane Michael. they appear the most dependent CREEK The sting of the lack of the on the funding. See FORUM, A6 Scope of prison overhaul riding on talks between House, Senate SPORTS | C1 FINISH FOR PCB’S SEIFFERT DISAPPOINTS Blasts kill over 200 in Sri Lanka By Bharatha Mallawarachi and Krishan Francis The Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — More than 200 people were killed and hundreds For some Florida inmates, pending legislation could bring an opportunity for reduced sentences. [HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE / MIKE LANG] more wounded in nine bombings that rocked churches, luxury hotels By John Kennedy and other sites in Sri [email protected] Lanka on Easter Sunday — the deadliest violence TALLAHASSEE — The next the South Asian island two weeks at the Florida Capi- country has seen since a tol will determine whether bloody civil war ended a state lawmakers enact what decade ago. some have called the boldest Defense Minister criminal justice reform ever Ruwan Wijewardena seen in the state. described the blasts as a But for Jill Trask of Atlanta, terrorist attack by reli- it may also shape whether she gious extremists, and has any chance of celebrating police said 13 suspects a December wedding anniver- were arrested, though sary with her husband, Joel, there was no immediate who has been behind bars in claim of responsibility. Florida the past 11 years. Wijewardena said most “I’ve been serving 11 years of the bombings were with him,” Trask told a Senate believed to have been committee Tuesday, recount- suicide attacks. ing their lost years together. The explosions — most Joel Trask, sentenced to a of them in or around mandatory 20 years in prison Colombo, the capi- for aggravated assault in St. Female inmates sit down to lunch at the Franklin County Jail Facility. [PATTI BLAKE / THE NEWS HERALD] tal — collapsed ceilings Lucie County, could become and blew out windows, eligible for release under legis- Legislature hurtles toward a under tough-on-crime laws prospects for not returning to killing worshippers and lation advancing in the Senate. scheduled May 3 finish. approved in the 1990s. crime when released. hotel guests in one scene Jill Trask said that when her “Everything’s being nego- But Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Florida’s 96,000-inmate after another of smoke, husband was told of the mea- tiated right now,” said Rep. Petersburg, sponsor of the prison system is the third-larg- soot, blood, broken sure, “He wept on the phone, Byron Donalds, R-Naples. Senate overhaul (SB 642) est in the U.S. and commands a glass, screams and wail- because now he has a glimmer While the Senate is push- said the Legislature is shift- $2.4 billion budget. The state’s ing alarms. Victims were of hope.” ing for sweeping changes ing away from two decades crime rate is at a 55-year low, carried out of blood- But those anniversary that could lead to the even- of a lock-’em-up approach, but House leaders say that’s spattered pews. dreams tied to a dramatic tual release of thousands of which has spawned 108 man- a reason to be wary of too “People were being overhaul of Florida’s troubled inmates, the House is offering datory minimum crimes that much change. dragged out,” said Bha- prison system hinge on tough a more modest revision (HB crowd prisons, strain the state Brandes disagrees. nuka Harischandra, of upcoming talks between the 7125) that wouldn’t do much budget and leave inmates with Senate and House, as the for those now serving time scant rehabilitation, training or See PRISONS, A5 See BLASTS, A6 Panama City News Herald Nation & World ..............A4 Diversions ......................B6 TODAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY Want to subscribe? Local ............................. B1 TV Listings .................... B8 Plenty of sun Sunny; nice Partly sunny Call 850-747-5050 Obituaries ...................... B3 Sports ........................... C1 79° / 57° 80° / 61° 78° / 61° * ** A2 Monday, April 22, 2019 | The News Herald GO & DO CELEBRATE COMMUNITY TODAY IN HISTORY Monday, April 22 A BETTER BAY: MILITARY: PICTURE PERFECT Today is Monday, April 22, 6 p.m. Bay County Govern- the 112th day of 2019. There ment Center. The News We want your photos: are 253 days left in the year. Herald is hosting a forum Post your photos to the Today’s Highlight in History: with local military leaders News Herald Facebook On April 22, 2000, in a to answer questions about page with your name, dramatic pre-dawn raid, the rebuild. Free and open city of residence and armed immigration agents to the public. information about the seized Elian Gonzalez, the BAY COUNTY HISTORICAL photo. You can email Cuban boy at the center of SOCIETY PROGRAM: 7 p.m. photos to yourpix@ a custody dispute, from his in the social hall of Grace pcnh.com. relatives’ home in Miami; Presbyterian Church, 1415 Elian was reunited with his Airport Road, Panama City. father at Andrews Air Force Please use the Lisenby Base near Washington. Ave. entrance. A presenta- On this date: tion by Robert Register In 1864, Congress autho- on the ‘Salt Works of the rized the use of the phrase Confederacy on St. Andrew “In God We Trust” on U.S. Bay’. The event is free and coins. open to the public. In 1898, with the United States and Spain on the Tuesday, April 23 verge of war, the U.S. Navy VETERAN/FIRST began blockading Cuban RESPONDER APPRECIA- ports. Congress authorized TION LUNCH: 11:30 a.m. to creation of the 1st U.S. Vol- 1 p.m. at Texas Roadhouse, unteer Cavalry, also known 15660 Panama City Beach as the “Rough Riders.” Parkway with free hot In 1915, the fi rst full-scale lunch, door prizes and AC use of deadly chemicals giveaway to recognize fi rst in warfare took place as responders and veterans; German forces unleashed hosted by A Superior Air chlorine gas against Allied Conditioning Company. troops at the start of the Details: ASuperiorAC.com Second Battle of Ypres in or 850-381-1234 Belgium during World War DAILY DRAWING FOR KIDS: I; thousands of soldiers are 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays, April believed to have died. 23-May 14, at Panama In 1952, an atomic test in City Center for the Arts, Nevada became the fi rst 19 E. Fourth St. Cost: $75 nuclear explosion shown for members; $90 for on live network televi- nonmembers. Ages 10-14 sion as a 31-kiloton bomb taught by Mandy Yourick. was dropped from a B-50 Supplies included. Details Superfortress. and registration at PCCen- In 1970, millions of Ameri- terForTheArts.com or call cans concerned about the 850-640-3670 A reader shared this environment observed the A BETTER BAY: HOUS- picture saying, "a fi rst “Earth Day.” ING: 6 p.m. Bay County male Anhinga, a.k.a. In 1993, the U.S. Holocaust Government Center. The "Snakebird," was drying Memorial Museum was News Herald is hosting a his wings across from dedicated in Washington, forum with local leaders Gator Lake at St. Andrews D.C. to honor victims of Nazi to answer questions about State Park and the camera extermination. how to handle the hous- caught his refl ection in the In 1994, Richard M. Nixon, ing crunch after Hurricane still water." the 37th president of the Michael. Free and open to United States, died at a the public. New York hospital four days after suffering a stroke; he Wednesday, April 24 was 81. WALKING TOUR OF In 2004, Army Ranger Pat HISTORIC ST. ANDREWS: TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS Tillman, who’d traded 1:30-2:30 p.m. Wednes- in a multi-million-dollar days and Fridays. Free Actress Estelle Harris is 91. Actor Ryan Stiles is 60. Base- Country singer Kellie Coffey NFL contract to serve in guided tour leaves from Actor Jack Nicholson is 82. ball manager Terry Francona is 48. Actor Eric Mabius is 48. Afghanistan, was killed by the Publishing Museum, Singer Mel Carter is 80. Author is 60. Comedian Byron Allen Actor Ingo Rademacher is 48. friendly fi re; he was 27. 1134 Beck Ave. Come to Janet Evanovich is 76. Coun- is 58. Actor Chris Makepeace Rock musician Shavo Odad- the museum at 1:30 p.m. or try singer Cleve Francis is 74. is 55. Rock musician Fletcher jian (System of a Down) is 45. call and schedule another Movie director John Waters Dragge is 53. Actor Jeffrey Rock singer-musician Daniel time if you can’t make the is 73.