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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2016
Lawmakers in Congress
push for more hops research
LaMear details Astoria’s
sanctuary city stance
Council also
recognizes
Warr, honors
attorney Snow
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Peppered by residents for
an explanation about why
Astoria will not become
a sanctuary city, Mayor
Arline LaMear said Monday
night that the decision was
supported by leaders in the
Hispanic community.
LaMear had said earlier
this month after a briefing by
Police Chief Brad Johnston
that the city would likely not
pursue sanctuary city status.
Oregon law already pro-
hibits police from enforc-
ing federal immigration law
unless immigration status is
relevant to another crime.
The Astoria Police Depart-
ment’s policy is not to par-
ticipate in routine immigra-
tion investigations.
Debate over sanctu-
ary cities intensified with
Donald Trump’s election
as president. The Republi-
can real estate magnate has
vowed to withhold federal
money from cities, such as
Portland, Seattle and San
Francisco, that do not coop-
erate with the federal gov-
ernment on immigration
laws.
LaMear said she had
spoken with Jorge Guti-
errez, the executive direc-
tor of the Lower Columbia
Hispanic Council, about the
issue. The mayor said it was
Gutierrez’s feeling that “the
designation can be more
polarizing than helpful in a
community like Astoria.”
“The police chief has
assured me that the Astoria
Police Department does not
ask about immigration sta-
tus unless it is related to a
crime that they are investi-
gating,” LaMear said. “The
Astoria City Council, the
police chief and city staff
will remain attentive to the
concerns and civil rights of
our immigrant community,
a community we value as
a part of our larger Astoria
community.”
In other business Mon-
day night, the City Council:
• Approved $12,665 for
a supplemental inspection
of trestles near the Asto-
ria Riverwalk so the Asto-
ria Riverfront Trolley can
operate in March. The trol-
ley association will split the
cost with the city.
The city cautioned that
the inspection does not
guarantee the trolley will be
able to operate.
A larger maintenance
project is planned for April
and is likely to cost more
than the $319,500 the city
initially anticipated.
• Recognized City Coun-
cilor Russ Warr at his last
regular council meeting
after 12 years representing
the east side. Warr chose not
to run for a fourth term this
year.
“These past 12 years
have been very, very spe-
cial to me and it’s going to
be very hard to leave it,”
Warr said. “I know it’s time,
but it’s still going to be very
hard to leave.”
LaMear presented Warr
with a framed pewter plate
with the city seal.
“Russ, I think that your
voice represents many Asto-
rians, and I think that you
have been part of the deci-
sion-making that has led to
some of Astoria’s proudest
achievements,” said City
Councilor Zetty Nemlow-
ill, who gave Warr a loaf of
bread and peanut butter and
jelly to symbolize all the
dinners he missed over the
years for council meetings.
Bruce Jones, a former
U.S. Coast Guard com-
mander, was elected in
November and will replace
Warr in January.
• Held a moment of
silence to honor Harold
“Hal” Snow, the former city
attorney who died Thursday
at 75.
Looking for
pest-resistant
and climate
tolerant varieties
By DAN WHEAT
EO Media Group
More than 100 members of
Congress are asking the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to
increase hop-related research
to two full-time positions so
that new pest-resistant and
climate-tolerant hop varieties
may be developed faster.
U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse,
R-Wash.; Peter DeFazio,
D-Ore.;
Erik
Paulsen,
R-Minn.; and Chellie Pingree,
D-Maine, led 100 other mem-
bers in a December letter to
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack
and Undersecretary Cathie
Woteki asking for the change.
It would be a reallocation
of $200,000 to $300,000 in
research funding and could be
done administratively, New-
house’s office said.
The Agricultural Research
Service within USDA cur-
rently has one research scien-
tist for hops pathology in Cor-
vallis, and 0.7 of a position for
genetic research on hops in
the lower Yakima Valley. The
request is to make it a full-
time position.
“This is something we
started working on a little
while ago and it’s a process to
get it done. It’s nice to have so
many members of Congress
supporting this,” said Jaki
Brophy, spokeswoman for
Hop Growers of America and
Washington Hop Commission
in Moxee, Washington.
The increase is import-
ant because would it mean
a research scientist will be
devoted full time to hops
rather than sharing the time
with another crop, Brophy
said.
“There’s huge demand for
new varieties and you can’t
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Hops are harvested at Roy Farms near Moxee, Wash., in 2013. Members of Congress are
asking the USDA to fund more research on hops.
really bring out new varieties
unless you have all the tech-
nical profile, like chemical
levels, ready that brewers are
looking for,” she said.
While several private hop
breeding programs exist, the
two largest-volume hop vari-
eties, Cascade and Centen-
nial, were developed in public
programs.
With growth of the craft
brewing industry, consum-
ers continue to demand new
aroma and flavors so develop-
ing new aroma hop varieties
is important, the members of
Congress wrote in their letter.
The brewing industry gen-
erated more than $250 bil-
lion in economic activity in
2014, directly and indirectly
employing more than 1.75
million Americans, the letter
states.
“This activity is only sus-
tained through a healthy, sta-
ble hop market,” the lawmak-
ers wrote. Hop growers face a
variety of challenges, includ-
ing mites, mildew, blights and
other pests and development
of new varieties that are pest
resistant and climate tolerant
would help increase yields and
Production of hops climbs
as craft beer booms
Associated Press
MOXEE, Wash. — As
craft beers continue to soar
in popularity, the produc-
tion of hops continues to
grow.
Most of the nation’s
hops are grown in the
Yakima Valley.
Hops Growers of Amer-
reduce pesticides, they said.
In 2015, Washington state
produced 75 percent of the
U.S. hop crop, followed by
Oregon and Idaho. The three
states produce about one-third
of the world supply. Michigan
and other states are also begin-
ning to grow hops.
ica reported Monday that
the 2016 harvest of 87.1
million pounds of hops
was an increase of 8.3 mil-
lion pounds from the year
before.
Production rose in
Washington state, Oregon
and Idaho, which are the
three major hops produc-
ing states.
“Developing new cli-
mate-tolerant varieties could
help expand commercial pro-
duction putting growers closer
to their customers and reduc-
ing the threat that a disaster in
the Pacific Northwest would
affect U.S. and global sup-
plies,” the lawmakers wrote.
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