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2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018 Oregon may not be able to block pot prosecutions change, state officials say they are exploring legal options. In a press conference Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown stressed what she called a coordinated effort among state, local and federal law enforcement to implement the Cole Memo’s guidance. “The result of all this col- laborative work is that we have now a thriving mari- juana industry,” Brown said. However, the governor did not provide any specifics on what legal recourse might be available to the state in the event that federal prosecu- tors pursue the state’s canna- bis industry. “We’ve been in close com- munication with the state attorney general, Ellen Rosen- blum, and will be pursuing all legal options available to us,” Brown said. On Thursday, Rosenblum said she would do everything in her legal authority to pro- tect Oregon’s regulated pot businesses, though neither she nor Brown proposed a specific strategy to block federal pros- ecutors from enforcing drug laws passed by Congress. “ … We are still monitor- ing any future decisions, and reviewing our legal options,” Kristina Edmunson, a spokes- woman for the state Depart- By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Several legal observers say that there are limited ways for Oregon to defend state-regulated canna- bis businesses in the courts in light of changes to federal guidance on enforcement of the drug. Marijuana has been legal under Oregon law since July 2015, but it remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rescinded an Obama-era pol- icy, referred to as the Cole Memo, that guided federal law enforcement to focus on larger-scale violations of federal law rather than tar- get state-compliant marijuana operations. The action opens even marijuana businesses complying with state regula- tions open to prosecution. Sessions did not mandate such prosecutions, but instead gave federal prosecutors in each state authority to decide where they would focus their enforcement actions. While it doesn’t appear likely that Billy Williams, the U.S. attorney for of Ore- gon, will pivot in light of that Pamplin Media Group Oregon officials say they’ll fight to protect state-regulated cannabis businesses from federal prosecution, but offer no strategies. ment of Justice, wrote in an email Friday. ‘Sanctuary state’ Henry Wykowski, a San Francisco attorney special- izing in cannabis, said Ore- gon could become a “sanc- tuary state” for marijuana, much like Oregon is a sanc- tuary state for undocumented immigrants. A Democratic state assem- blyman in California has pro- FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT TUESDAY WEDNESDAY 48 39 42 Clouds; a shower early, then a little rain THURSDAY 49 44 Mostly cloudy with a little rain FRIDAY 52 42 Cloudy with a bit of rain 50 42 Cloudy with a stray shower Windy with periods of rain posed a law there to do just that. However, the state couldn’t intervene in a criminal case brought by federal authorities, Wykowski said. “What they could do would be to provide testi- mony that the conduct of the defendant is legal and reg- ulated under Oregon law, and it’s approved, and what- ever they’re doing is entirely legal,” Wykowski said. “That ALMANAC Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 42/48 Tillamook 43/48 Newport 43/49 Sunset tonight ........................... 4:48 p.m. Sunrise Tuesday .......................... 7:57 a.m. Moonrise today .................................. none Moonset today ......................... 12:02 p.m. Jan 8 Jan 16 Coos Bay 45/51 Full Jan 24 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 12:41 a.m. 1:52 p.m. Low 1.6 ft. 2.1 ft. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Hi 45 34 37 59 39 37 68 -6 82 38 47 57 66 44 78 41 63 31 53 33 42 44 59 49 38 Klamath Falls 35/45 Hi 43 46 53 45 50 45 47 47 50 52 Today Lo 32 37 46 38 44 35 41 41 43 44 W c r r r c r r pc r r Hi 41 43 53 48 48 45 48 48 49 51 Tues. Lo 24 27 42 36 41 25 34 36 40 41 A provision in federal law prevents the U.S. Depart- ment of Justice from spending money to interfere with the implementation of state med- ical cannabis systems, says Bear Wilner-Nugent, a Port- land attorney. To an extent, Wilner-Nu- gent says, Oregon’s medical and recreational systems have been integrated: medical mar- ijuana patients can buy the product in the same shops that recreational marijuana con- sumers do, although patients are exempt from paying state marijuana taxes. So interfering with the sys- tem as a whole could bolster a state argument that the fed- eral government was interfer- ing with the medical system in a way that’s not lawful. yet continued to sell them. Now, Oregon Attorney Gen- eral Ellen Rosenblum says the company needs to pay. “We’ve spent millions of dollars cleaning up PCBs and we have legal standing to sue to recover the cost. So basi- cally, we’ve spent the money. You guys caused the damage. We want you to pay for it,” she said. PCBs were widely used in flame retardants, paint and electrical insulation until being banned in 1979. The chemicals are toxic to wild- life and humans, and are extremely slow to break down in the environment. They continue to contaminate waterways across the state, including the Columbia and Willamette rivers and Coos Bay. Kevin Parrett of the Ore- gon Department of Environ- mental Quality says the state has been laboriously cleaning up PCB pollution for three decades. It’s often a mechan- ical process that requires the removal or capping of con- taminated sediment. “We’ve estimated that DEQ has spent $100 million that has been unrecovered. So obviously that’s been a major impact on DEQ’s budget,” he said. Yvonne, 79, of Warrenton, died in Warrenton. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. VANDERVELDT, Charles Edward Jr., 56, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay- ton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Jan. 3, 2018 IVANOFF, Willard Asseri, 85, of Astoria, died in Port- land. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay- ton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Lakeview 36/46 Ashland 42/49 DEATHS REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Protections for medical W i r sh r r r r r r r City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 47 42 47 48 49 51 38 49 47 41 Today Lo 39 35 40 44 41 43 32 41 42 35 W c pc c r r c c r c pc Hi 47 43 47 48 50 48 37 48 47 45 Tues. Lo 34 33 37 40 37 40 28 39 37 31 W c r r r r r r r r r Jan. 7, 2018 DAHL, William J., 71, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Jan. 5, 2018 BUCKNER, Lafonda TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Today Lo 37 29 22 36 26 21 43 -17 70 23 28 49 55 38 67 36 52 30 31 29 25 39 53 42 31 Burns 29/44 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Tonight's Sky: The Last Quarter Moon (2:25 p.m.) is halfway between full moon and new moon. High 8.8 ft. 6.7 ft. Ontario 33/41 Roseburg 44/48 Brookings 45/53 Jan 31 Baker 32/41 John Day 40/44 Bend 37/43 Medford 41/48 UNDER THE SKY Time 7:15 a.m. 7:45 p.m. Prineville 37/45 Lebanon 41/49 Eugene 38/48 First La Grande 38/42 Salem 41/50 SUN AND MOON New Pendleton 35/43 The Dalles 37/46 Portland 40/47 Precipitation Sunday ............................................. 0.79" Month to date ................................... 2.33" Normal month to date ....................... 2.44" Year to date ...................................... 2.33" Normal year to date .......................... 2.44" Last Oregon is suing the agro-chemical company Mon- santo to help clean up toxic chemicals in the environment. The suit, filed Thursday in Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court, is seeking at least $100 million to cover decades of cleanup of a now-banned group of chemicals called PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, which the com- pany manufactured. The state alleges Mon- santo knew of the toxic effects of the PCBs in its products, REGIONAL WEATHER case, a state or locality could file a claim saying that the move was detrimental to their ability to collect taxes, as Berkeley did in a federal case brought against the Berke- ley Patients Group, a medical marijuana outlet. Although that claim was rejected in the trial court, the case was dismissed before an appeal on the city’s complaint could be decided, Wykowski said. Oregon sues Monsanto for decades of PCB cleanup costs By JES BURNS Oregon Public Broadcasting Astoria through Sunday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 47°/42° Normal high/low ........................... 49°/38° Record high ............................ 67° in 1986 Record low ............................. 15° in 1974 could be challenged, but that’s the position I would advocate for them to take.” Perry Salzhauer, a Portland attorney and partner in the Green Light Law Group, a law firm specializing in the mari- juana industry, said he wasn’t sure whether testimony of that nature would be deemed rele- vant by a judge because there are no exemptions in the fed- eral Controlled Substances Act for state compliance. However, both attorneys noted that the court of public opinion may serve as a deter- rent to bringing such cases before a jury in the first place. “The best defense we have is the political system,” Salz- hauer said. A similar case in Oakland, California, where the defense was prohibited from using such testimony, caused a “big uproar,” Wykowski said, and prosecutors have since “backed off.” Wykowski said after the fact, when jurors learned the defendant was complying with state law and licensed by Oakland, they sent a letter to the judge saying that if they had known that the defendant was operating legally under state law, they would have voted differently. In a civil asset forfeiture W r sn c pc pc sn pc s pc sn pc c r r sh r r sn s sn c c r c r Hi 52 39 38 66 44 34 72 -5 82 38 47 57 59 50 77 50 60 40 56 41 46 52 57 48 47 Tues. Lo 47 20 33 38 33 23 45 -18 69 33 35 46 48 45 67 43 55 26 42 21 39 38 49 39 28 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W c pc s pc pc pc pc s pc pc pc r r c t c c pc s pc pc r sh c pc PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Ambulance Services Area Advisory Committee, 1 p.m., 800 Exchange St., Suite 430. Youngs River Lewis & Clark Water District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Busi- ness. Cannon Beach Rural Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. TUESDAY Astoria Homelessness Task Force, 10 a.m., Clatsop Commu- nity College, Patriot Hall EMT Classroom, 1651 Lexington Ave. Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., workshop, 10 Pier 1 Suite 209. Clatsop Community College Board, 5:30 p.m., executive session to evaluate president (closed to public), 6:30 p.m., regular meeting, Columbia Hall Room 219, 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria. Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Warrenton City Commission, 5:15 p.m., work session on pavement management, 6 p.m., regular meeting, City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Astoria Planning Commis- sion, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Lewis & Clark Fire Depart- ment Board, 7 p.m., main fire station, 34571 Highway 101 Business. Saturday’s Powerball: 12-29- 30-33-61, Powerball: 26 Estimated jackpot: $40 million Friday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 9-4-8-5 4 p.m.: 6-8-5-9 7 p.m.: 0-5-1-4 10 p.m.: 5-6-6-6 Friday’s Lucky Lines: 03-08- 10-16-18-23-28-32 Estimated jackpot: $12,000 Friday’s Mega Millions: 28- 30-39-59-70, Mega Ball: 10 Estimated jackpot: $40 million Sunday’s Match 4: 09-14- 19-20 Saturday’s Daily Game: 4-7-5 Saturday’s Hit 5: 07-17-21- 26-30 Estimated jackpot: $190,000 Saturday’s Keno: 02-12-17- 24-27-28-30-31-40-42-46-47- 51-53-59-64-67-68-70-80 Saturday’s Lotto: 04-11-13- 23-24-41 Estimated jackpot: $1.5 million Saturday’s Match 4: 05-09- 18-22 Friday’s Daily Game: 1-5-2 Friday’s Keno: 07-08-09-10- 11-17-23-31-33-39-41-45-54- 57-63-64-66-69-70-73 Friday’s Match 4: 06-10-16-21 LOTTERIES Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. Your local janitorial and paper supply...and much more! Aura for Bath and Spa Interior Paints r Great fo and projects ! kids LET US HELP YOU COMPLETE YOUR HOME PROJECTS ! 2240 Commercial Street Astoria, Oregon 503.325.6362 www.WalterENelson.com Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm Pool, Spa & Fountain •Packing Materials • Cleaning Supplies for Ovens, Grills, Carpet & Upholstery • Vehicle Cleaning Products OREGON Sunday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 4-4-7-8 4 p.m.: 9-5-8-9 7 p.m.: 1-3-4-0 10 p.m.: 5-6-7-9 Sunday’s Lucky Lines: 01-06- 11-16-17-22-27-29 Estimated jackpot: $15,000 Saturday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 9-0-1-8 4 p.m.: 3-6-8-5 7 p.m.: 3-7-7-0 10 p.m.: 3-2-8-3 Saturday’s Lucky Lines: 03- 08-10-13-19-21-25-32 Estimated jackpot: $13,000 Saturday’s Megabucks: 6-10- 20-38-43-45 Estimated jackpot: $6.3 million WASHINGTON Sunday’s Daily Game:4-7-3 Sunday’s Keno: 04-07-10-11- 12-18-21-27-28-30-32-38-40- 43-62-71-73-76-77-78 The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. 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