3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2018
Oregon marijuana
lawsuit is settled
Controversy
likely to continue
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Guests raised their glasses in a toast to Gearhart’s 100th anniversary.
Gearhart celebrates city’s
100th anniversary
Crowd fills
firehouse
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Cries of
“happy birthday” rang out
as hundreds of residents old
and young filled the firehouse
Sunday to mark the 100th
anniversary of Gearhart. The
former town of Clatsop for-
mally incorporated in 1918
after a vote.
Bill Berg, the author of
“Gearhart Remembered: An
Informal History,” published
in 1990, stood by a Victrola
playing fox trots and tangos
as visitors entered the ample
fire hall.
“This is the birthday of the
city of Gearhart,” Berg said.
“This is a birthday for peo-
ple, not historic landmarks. It
marks the moment we gained
control of our own destiny
as a city. … We became an
autonomous entity.”
The 79-year-old Berg cel-
ebrated his first birthday in
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Gearhart historian Bill Berg
greets visitors to the city’s
100-year celebration.
Gearhart as a seasonal resi-
dent before moving here full
time 45 years ago.
Berg told the audience
that of the many contentious
issues that have divided the
city over the years, none was
more bitterly fought than
when Gearhart joined the
Seaside School District in
1959.
Berg shared the micro-
phone with 95-year-old Bob
McEwan. McEwan recalled
days when he worked for
the opulent Gearhart Hotel,
the destination location run
by Portland department store
magnate Myron Frank.
Jon Blissett, at 80, Gear-
hart’s oldest firefighter,
remembered the days he ran
a Chevron station on the cor-
ner of Pacific Way. The sta-
tion closed in 1992.
Nearby, a slideshow spun
images of historic buildings
and scenes.
Visitors sipped prosecco
as volunteers from the Gear-
hart Homeowners’ Associ-
ation did a brisk business in
memberships and sweatshirts.
Mayor Matt Brown was
one of three mayors to attend
the festivities. Former mayors
Kent Smith and Dianne Wid-
dop were also in attendance.
“It means a lot for the
whole community,” Brown
said. “It’s great to see every-
body celebrating, unifying
from the whole community.
It’s really about the people of
the last 100 years who have
made this place special.”
Rural landowners in Ore-
gon have settled a lawsuit
that accused their marijua-
na-growing neighbors of
violating federal anti-rack-
eteering law and reducing
property values.
However, the question of
whether Oregon marijuana
growers can be success-
fully sued under the Racke-
teer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act may still be
answered, as a similar law-
suit was recently filed against
another cannabis operation.
Last year, Rachel and Erin
McCart of Beavercreek filed
a RICO complaint against
more than 40 defendants
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dants pooled their resources
and achieved enterprise effi-
ciency that no one defendant
could have achieved individ-
ually,” the complaint said.
The complaint was filed
on the heels of a ruling by
the 10th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals, which ruled
that RICO claims should be
allowed to proceed against
a
Colorado
marijuana
operation.
With the large number
of defendants in the Oregon
case, initial procedural steps
took several months before
the defendants filed motions
to dismiss the complaint.
U.S. Magistrate Judge
John Acosta in Portland
had planned to take those
requests under advisement,
but then stayed proceedings
in the case when the parties
notified him of a pending
settlement.
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juana production, including
landowners, growers, retail-
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two nearby marijuana opera-
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itors, increased traffic and
generated foul odors, among
other problems.
While medical and rec-
reational marijuana were
legalized by Oregon voters,
the plaintiffs claimed their
neighbors were still subject
to RICO because the sub-
stance is illegal under fed-
eral law.
“Given the strict federal
prohibitions against each of
those purposes, defendants
knew these purposes could
only be accomplished via a
pattern of racketeering. In fur-
therance of that goal, defen-
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