WEEKEND EDITION INSIDE: SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW Dance team honors veterans LIFESTYLES 1C REGION: Milton-Freewater teen killed in car crash 3A ENTERTAINMENT: Treefort draws Oregon musicians 3C MARCH, 21-22, 2015 139th Year, No. 112 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Police prepare for more stoned drivers By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announces a $1.7 million funding package for the Eastern Oregon Regional Air- port on Friday in Pendleton. $1.50 BROWN BUYS IN Governor announces drone range funding, ZDWHUSURMHFWVXSSRUWLQ¿UVWWULSHDVW Marijuana citations dipped in Pendleton and Hermiston from 2013 to 2014, and Measure 91 could create a bigger drop when it goes into effect this summer. But local law enforcement administra- tors see the law creating even more intoxicated drivers. Pendleton police reported issu- ing 126 citations in 2013 for pos- session of less than an ounce of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, and that fell to 105 in 2014. The charge is a violation, akin to a driving ticket. Hermiston police gave 115 citations for unlawful pos- session of marijuana in 2013, and then 54 the next year. Hermiston police also saw total drug charges See POLICE/10A PENDLETON Recreational, medical pot boundaries taking shape By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Although it still has to go through at least two more rounds of deliberation, an ordinance regulat- ing marijuana in Pendleton is start- ing to take shape. At a Thursday open house most- O\ DWWHQGHG E\ FLW\ RI¿FLDOV &LW\ Planner Evan MacKenzie presented a draft ordinance regulating the sale of both recreational and medical marijuana. The draft is based on a similar ordinance created in La Grande, which has one of the few medical marijuana dispensaries east of the Cascade Mountains. MacKenzie’s draft takes the heart of La Grande’s ordinance — a ban of dispensaries or stores with- in 1,000 feet of schools, parks and other marijuana facilities — while making a couple of key changes. See MARIJUANA/10A Oregon National Guard Chief Warrant Offi cer Mark Braeme talks about the RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton. Governor makes it official at the airport certain job creation, promotional and timeline requirements. %RWK %URZQ DQG 5REELQV SUDLVHG FLW\ RI¿ The Pendleton City Council discussed it at cials for their work in getting the range off the length two days earlier, but Gov. Kate Brown ground and said Pendleton would help keep the state competitive in the emerging UAS market. PDGHLWRI¿FLDO)ULGD\ “I’d like to make sure that Oregon gets a little With the Blue Mountains and the Eastern Or- egon Regional Airport as her backdrop, Brown more than their fair share,” Robbins said. Mayor Phillip Houk was the next person to announced a $545,000 state grant to fund han- gars and storage facilities at the Pendleton Un- step to the microphone, brushing off criticism of the range as “checks and balances” before ex- manned Aerial Systems Range. Business Oregon Director Sean Robbins fol- SUHVVLQJFRQ¿GHQFHLQLWVIXWXUH “It’s completely appropriate,” he said. “It’s lowed her announcement with one of his own. 7KURXJK WKH LQIUDVWUXFWXUH ¿QDQFH DXWKRULW\ going to pay off in the long run.” The announcement of the state contributing Business Oregon would add another $1,115,000 million to the pot, bringing the total value of the to the funding the UAS range also came with news of involvement from Umatilla County. The ¿QDQFLDOSDFNDJHWRQHDUO\PLOOLRQ Technically, the package is entirely com- FRXQW\ZLOOJLYHDLQFHQWLYHWRWKH¿UVW prised of loans. But more than $1 million of See AIRPORT/10A those loans are forgivable given the city meets By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Brown keeps water moving East Oregonian The $51.6 million Columbia River water development fund is among Gov. Kate Brown’s top priorities this session, DQGVKHVDLG)ULGD\VKHKRSHVWRVHHWKH budget item approved by the end of April. During a meeting with the East Ore- gonian editorial board, Brown said she is urging the legislature to “move quickly” on a package that would provide funding to expand irrigation in the Columbia Ba- sin. The expenditure was included in for- mer Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proposed budget, which is now being discussed See WATER/10A FDA: Genetically engineered potatoes, apples are safe By MARY CLARE JALONICK AND KEITH RIDLER Associated Press AP Photo/John Miller, File This 2013 fi le photo shows genetically engineered potatoes growing in rows inside a J.R. Simplot greenhouse in southwestern Idaho. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the genetically en- gineered foods as safe. BOISE, Idaho — Potatoes that won’t bruise and apples that won’t brown are a step closer to grocery store aisles, but some food suppliers say they don’t what any part of it and others are staying silent. 7KH )RRG DQG 'UXJ $GPLQLVWUD WLRQ RQ )ULGD\ DSSURYHG WKH JHQHWL cally engineered foods, saying they are “as safe and nutritious as their conventional counterparts.” The approval covers six varieties of potatoes by Boise, Idaho-based J. R. Simplot Co. and two varieties of apples from the Canadian company 2NDQDJDQ6SHFLDOW\)UXLWV,QF *HQHWLFDOO\ PRGL¿HG RUJDQLVPV or GMOs, refers to food grown from seeds that are genetically engineered in a lab. Aware of potential resistance IURP FRQVXPHUV 6LPSORW RI¿FLDOV say Innate potato traits come exclu- sively from genes from domestic po- tato varieties. However, one of the company’s oldest business partners — McDon- ald’s — said it won’t use the potatoes. “McDonald’s USA does not source GMO potatoes nor do we have current plans to change our sourcing practice,” the company said in a state- PHQW)ULGD\ Burger King and Wendy’s de- clined to comment. Okanagan, based in British Co- lumbia, wants to make apples a more See FOOD/10A