WWW . THESKANNER . COM
O CTOBER 10 , 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 1
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
PEE WEE
State
Auditor
Slam
Campaign called
‘most hostile’ of
election season
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Mike Baker
The Associated Press
Rainier Eagle, Cash Jordan, 5, pursues Kent Cobra running back Myking Lee, 6, down the field in a PeeWee football
game Saturday, Oct. 6 at Rainier play field. The Cobras went onto win the game 23 to 6.
Hemp Measures Remain Sketchy
Pot passage would create the familiar clash with federal law
By Gene Johnson and
Kristen Wyatt
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Residents
of Washington, Oregon and Col-
orado won’t just be considering
whether to let adults buy pot at
state-sanctioned shops when
they vote next month on legaliz-
ing and taxing marijuana.
They’ll be voting on whether
to let farmers grow marijuana’s
far less potent cousin — hemp
— for clothing, food, biofuel
and construction materials
among other uses.
But don’t expect farmers to
start growing it, at least not
immediately. The passage of the
measures would create the
familiar clash with federal law,
which prohibits growing the
plant for industrial, recreational
or medicinal purposes.
Farmers who say they have
enough to worry about with
drought and crop diseases don’t
want to also be left wondering
whether federal drug agents will
come knocking.
``Farmers are already engaged
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in a high-risk endeavor,’’ said
Roy Kaufmann, a spokesman
for Oregon’s pot initiative.
``That weariness of potentially
facing federal action is just too
much of a disincentive.’’
The three ballot initiatives to
regulate pot like alcohol have
garnered much attention, in part
for the hundreds of millions of
dollars they could bring into
state coffers and for the show-
down it could set up with the
federal government.
No state has made recreation-
al pot legal, and these measures
would be the first to set up state-
sanctioned pot sales. The Justice
Department could try to block
them in court under the argu-
ment they frustrate federal
antidrug law enforcement
efforts.
Less well known is the effect
the measures would have on
hemp and the possibilities they
create for another fight with the
federal government.
Nine states — Hawaii, Ken-
tucky, Maine, Maryland, Mon-
tana, North Dakota, Oregon,
See HEMP on page 3
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The race for
Washington state auditor has escalated into
the most hostile campaign of the year.
With the departure of longtime auditor
Brian Sonntag, the two candidates seeking
to replace him have focused on whether the
other is fit to serve, not on their goals for the
office.
Republican candidate James Watkins
repeatedly points to allegations faced by
Democrat Troy Kelley in past lawsuits. Kel-
ley, in turn, has questioned whether Watkins
is qualified to do the work needed in the job.
Regarding the issues, Watkins said he’d
like to work closely to align department pri-
orities with the next governor to improve
government efficiency, and with local gov-
ernments to help improve those operations.
He wants more emphasis placed on per-
formance audits that can produce results
more quickly and intends to work with
financial managers to help them look for
signs of potential fraud.
``The overall goal is to make state gov-
ernment more effective, more efficient,
more accountable,’’ Watkins said.
Kelley declined interview requests from
The Associated Press. In a recent debate, he
described how he would look at best prac-
tices from other states and make recommen-
dations to the Legislature on what might be
done to improve large programs, such as
preventing fraud in the food stamps pro-
gram.
He also said performance audits must
examine information security because of
recent cases in which government systems
have been hacked.
``Are our systems safe?’’ he said at the
Association of Washington Business debate.
Kelley has denied allegations in what he
called a nuisance lawsuit that accused him
of misappropriating customer funds, fraudu-
lently transferring funds, tax evasion and
See AUDITOR on page 3
Immigration Program Burdens Schools
Requests for documents in deferral effort stretches thin resources
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The new fed-
eral immigration program that delays action
against young people living in this country
illegally has created a pile of work for the
Yakima School District and other districts
with a large number of immigrant children.
Yakima School District registrar Sheila
Miller estimates she has responded to as
many as 800 requests for transcripts and
other records since the school year began,
mostly because of the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals, The Yakima Herald
reported in Sunday’s newspaper.
Most Yakima valley schools get a handful
of transcript requests each month. Now
dozens are arriving each week.
``We’re having to go through boxes and
boxes,’’ said Rachel Romero, counseling
secretary and registrar for Grandview High
School. She has fielded 265 requests since
August.
Teachers have volunteered to help and
principals are hiring substitutes to pitch in.
In Yakima, the registration office has
spent up to 400 hours filling records
requests, said Roy Knox, director of central
registration. An exact cost wasn’t readily
available. But school officials said that at
See SCHOOLS on page 3