The Penultimate Week

In seven days, Donald J. Trump is due to be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America. What happens next ? As Inauguration Day approaches, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee gears up to investigate the Russian hacking scandal, and more information regarding the FBI's investigation and the reaction of Democratic lawmakers comes to light .

Continue reading The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays a ” January 11, 2017

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‘These things happen’: Rex Tillerson refuses to blame…

Sen. Marco Rubio asked Rex Tillerson point-blank whether Vladimir Putin was a war criminal - and Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state blinked. "I would not use that term," said Tillerson, the longtime chief executive of Exxon Mobil who was awarded the Kremlin's Order of Friendship in 2013 .

Rex Tillerson Is Big Oil Personified. The Damage He Can Do Is Immense

In one of the futile demonstrations that marked the run-up to the Iraq war, I saw a woman with a sign that read "How Did Our Oil End Up Under Their Sand?" In nine words she managed to sum up a great deal of American foreign policy, back at least as far as the 1953 coup that overthrew Mossadegh in Iran and helped toss the Middle East into its still-boiling cauldron. If the Senate approves Rex Tillerson after his testimony on Wednesday, they'll be continuing in that inglorious tradition - in fact, they'll be taking it to a new height, and cutting out the diplomats who have traditionally played the middleman role.

Here are all the Trump Cabinet confirmations hearings scheduled for Wednesday

After the first full day of grilling for President-elect Donald Trump's choices for Cabinet positions, Congress has more hearings scheduled Wednesday. Trump's secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations committee at 9 am.

Evan Vucci/AP Rex Tillerson likely to face pointed questions from both sides

Friend of Russia and foe of sanctions in his corporate life, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is an unorthodox choice for a Republican White House. He may feel perfectly at home in Trump's iconoclastic administration.

Obama presses Trump not to back away from clean energy

WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama cast the adoption of clean energy in the U.S. as “irreversible,” putting pressure Monday on President-elect Donald Trump not to back away from a core strategy to fight climate change. Obama, penning an opinion article in the journal Science, sought to frame the argument in a way that might appeal to the president-elect: in economic terms.

Federal bill could prevent wind projects near military bases

Congress is reviewing a bill that aims to prohibit federal tax relief for wind energy projects located within 40 miles of an active military air base. The Protection of Military Airfields from Wind Turbine Encroachment Act would, if signed into law, incorporate revisions to the Internal Revenue Code that will prevent wind energy developers from pursuing renewable electricity production credit and energy credits, both of which provide tax relief, for projects within tens of miles from military airfields.

Wind turbine a source of energy and education

A wind turbine owned and operated by Omaha-based Bluestem Energy Solutions was recently erected just southwest of the CCC - Hastings campus as part of a public-private partnership between Bluestem , the college and Hastings Utilities . The project includes one $4 million, 1.7-megawatt General Electric turbine, which rises 432 feet above the ground from the tip of a blade.

Donald Solem had few peers as political organizer, adviser

Donald Solem, the political organizer and campaign quarterback who ran successful drives on behalf of countless civic issues from school bonds to parking garages, seemed to make friends with everyone who shook his sizable hand. He was a large man with a broad smile, a cheery manner and keen insight into getting voters to see things his way.

Tillerson Leaving Exxon With $180 Million Retirement Package

Rex Tillerson will get a $180 million retirement package from Exxon Mobil Corp. if he is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state. Tillerson will give up more than 2 million Exxon shares he would have received over the next 10 years.

Tillerson might help Alaska’s gas project despite brittle relations with governor

Alaska could benefit if Congress confirms ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson as the next secretary of state despite Tillerson's tense relations with Gov. Bill Walker over Alaska's gas line project, some Alaskans believe. That's because the Alaskans hope that Tillerson, regarded as a no-nonsense deal-maker, will shift his focus away from the interests of ExxonMobil's shareholders to national needs that include energy security, presenting an opportunity for hydrocarbon-rich Alaska.