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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016 ,QVXI¿FLHQWPDULMXDQDODEVPD\FDXVHERWWOHQHFN No labs are currently licensed by Oregon regulators By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Bureau Oregon has no shortage of people willing to grow and sell marijuana under its regulatory system for the recently-legal- ized crop. However, the state is facing a dearth of labs that can test marijuana products for the psychoactive chemical THC as well as prohibited pesticides and contaminants, as required by law. At this point, 228 growers, 96 retailers, 38 processors, 31 wholesalers and one researcher have applied for marijuana licenses with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which oversees the regulatory tracking system for the crop. The number of laboratories that have applied? Zero. Complications and expenses, rather than a lack of interest, have prevented labo- ZLWKRXWVLJQL¿FDQWFKDQJHVEXW smaller facilities that are already serve marijuana producers may KDYH WR XQGHUWDNH VLJQL¿FDQW upgrades, he said. New equipment needed to comply with testing standards can cost $50,000 and needs to be calibrated for marijuana, Marks said. Labs will also need to train existing employees or hire more personnel to handle the added workload. Medical marijuana dispensa- Potential bottleneck ,QVXI¿FLHQW ODERUDWRULHV ries can currently sell the recre- could prove to be a bottleneck ational crop from “grandfathered” in Oregon’s marijuana regula- grow sites, but retail marijuana tory system, at least initially. The sold to consumers must meet system will be in “good shape” if testing requirements by June. six or seven facilities are licensed, but will face challenges with only Need water rights one or two, he said. Growers who want to “We’re going to have enough produce recreational marijuana eventually, it’s just how quickly for retail sales must demonstrate they can do it,” Marks said. they have water rights to grow Some laboratories that the crop and obtain a statement provide testing for industrial from their city or county govern- companies may be able to enroll ments attesting they meet land ratories from enrolling in the system so far, said Steve Marks, the commission’s executive director. While no existing laborato- ries have yet been licensed for marijuana testing, a handful have expressed interest in obtaining FHUWL¿FDWLRQ IURP WKH 2UHJRQ Health Authority, Marks said. Both agencies must approve labs for the tracking system. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Packages of Fire OG hang on the rack at Hi in Astoria. T he state is facing a dearth of labs that can test marijuana products for the psychoactive chemical THC as well as prohibited pesticides and contaminants, as required by law. use requirements. Producers can grow canopies of marijuana up to 10,000 square feet indoors and 40,000 square feet outdoors, but commer- cial marijuana production is currently prohibited by 76 cities and 19 of Oregon’s 36 counties. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Man arrested with drugs after Dignitaries present local contractor with EPA award pursuit, crash on U.S. Highway 30 gering another Huff and a passenger, Keisha person, second-de- Marie Ann Jones, gree criminal mischief, providing A 36-year-old Long 24, of Long Beach, immedi- false information Beach, Washington, man were WR D SROLFH RI¿FHU was arrested Tuesday ately arrested after and possession of night after eluding police, the crash. Further losing control of his i n v e s t i g a t i o n methamphetamine, vehicle and crashing into revealed Huff had heroin and cocaine. a power pole on U.S. Oregon and Wash- He is being held in Highway 30 in the John ington warrants and custody on $25,000 David was in possession Day area. bail. Ryan Huff David Ryan Huff of cocaine, meth- An arraignment was initially stopped by amphetamine and heroin, hearing is scheduled next Oregon State Police for according to state police. week. Jones was on post-prison having a taillight out at John Day Volunteer Fire milepost 89 on Highway supervision and her probation Department, Astoria Police, 30. He gave a false name RI¿FHULVVXHGDGHWDLQHU Clatsop County Sheriff’s Huff is being charged with 2I¿FH2UHJRQ6WDWH'HSDUW- DQG WKHQ ÀHG IURP WKH attempting to elude police ment of Transportation, stop. A pursuit ensued and with a vehicle, reckless 3DFL¿F 3RZHU DVVLVWHG WKH Huff lost control near driving, recklessly endan- state police at the scene. milepost 93, where a power pole was broken. Highway 30 was closed for about two hours due to power lines coming Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber down and striking three N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A other vehicles. Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian Al Jaques, a local indepen- dent contractor, got a pleasant surprise right in the middle of a motorcycle group’s meeting at the Astoria Moose Lodge last week. A handful of dignitaries crashed the event to present Jaques with a Phoenix Award, the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency’s award honoring individuals and groups who turn blighted or contaminated areas into something socially useful. Jaques served as the manager for the Astoria Sports Complex construction project, a $10 million undertaking that wrapped up in late 2014 and transformed the Astoria 0XQLFLSDO/DQG¿OORQ:LOOLDP- sport Road into a community complex. “I tell ya, Al was the right person to have working on this project,” Astoria City Manager Brett Estes said. “He managed the whole construction project and was having to wear many hats to get the thing built and done.” Since Astoria High School’s Fighting Fishermen use the site for their new home stadium, WKH EURZQ¿HOG UHGHYHORSPHQW freed up the old high school ¿HOG -RKQ :DUUHQ )LHOG IRU Columbia Memorial Hospital’s new cancer treatment center now in the works. At a ceremony held in Chicago in September, the EPA gave the Region 10 Phoenix $ZDUG WR WKH ODQG¿OO SURMHFW Estes; former Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen; Astoria School Board Superinten- dent Craig Hoppes; hospital CEO Erik Thorsen; and Fred Stemmler, general manager of Recology Western Oregon, accepted the trophy. But the consortium felt that Jaques deserved a trophy, too. So they ordered one specially for him. “It was an awesome surprise,” Jaques said. “Appar- ently, many people knew it was Carl Earl/The Daily Astorian Holding his Phoenix Award, Al Jaques, the project manager of the Astoria Sports Complex, listens to state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, congratulate him over the phone held aloft by former Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen. coming, but I was the last one to know.” Joined by Public Works Director Ken Cook; City Engineer Jeff Harrington; Astoria High School Athletic Director Howard Rub; and, via phone, state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, the group stormed the North Coast ABATE motor- cycle meeting to give Jaques his due publicly. “He was just totally blown away,” Jaques’ partner, Linda Long, said. “It only lasted about 20 minutes,” Van Dusen said, “but it was a very memorable 20 minutes.” Van Dusen added that, while Jaques has done many great projects in Astoria, “the one that, in my opinion, is the most important, that’s going to stand out more than the others, is this sports complex and the cancer center. “And all of us involved in that teamwork effort thought that Al was our team captain,” he said. JA N U A R Y O K T O B E R F E ST B R A T S, SO U R K R A U T, G ER M A N PO TA T O SA LA D , A N D B R EA D Friday, Jan. 29th • 4pm ‘til gone 8 $ 6:00pm “K araok e D ave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION 1132 Exchange Street • 325-5771 W A NTED Join Clatsop Cruise Hosts as we cruise Alaska! 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