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Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian 2 NYC women arrested on terror charges NEW YORK (AP) — Two women were arrested Thursday on charges they plotted to wage violent jihad by building a homemade bomb and using it for a Bos- ton Marathon-type attack. One of the women, No- elle Velentzas, had been “ob- sessed with pressure cookers since the Boston Marathon attacks in 2013” and made jokes alluding to explosives after receiving one as a gift, according to a criminal com- plaint. And it says in a conver- sation with an undercover in- vestigator about the women’s ZLOOLQJQHVVWR¿JKWVKHSXOOHG a knife and asked, “Why can’t we be bad b-----s?” The complaint unsealed in federal court in Brook- lyn names Velentzas and her former roommate, Asia Siddiqui, as the targets of an undercover investigation into the thwarted homegrown ter- ror plot. The women, both from Queens, were held without bail after a brief court appear- ance where they spoke only to say they understood the charges against them. “My client will enter a plea of not guilty, if and when there is an indictment. I know it’s a serious case, but we’re JRLQJWR¿JKWLWRXWLQFRXUW´ said Siddiqui’s lawyer, Thom- as Dunn. Velentzas’ attorney had no comment. The women repeatedly expressed support for violent jihad during conversations with the undercover, who se- cretly recorded them, accord- ing to the complaint. In 2009, Siddiqui, 31, wrote a poem in a magazine published by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula that de- clared there is “no excuse to sit back and wait — for the skies rain martyrdom,” inves- tigators wrote in court papers. Velentzas, 28, called Osama bin Laden one of her heroes and said she and Siddiqui were “citizens of the Islamic State,” they said. Since 2014, the pair plotted to build an explosive device to use in a terrorist attack on American soil, the complaint says. They “researched and acquired some of the compo- nents of a car bomb, like the one used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; a fer- tilizer bomb, like the one used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City; and a pressure cooker bomb, like the one used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing,” authorities wrote. UNEMPLOYMENT: Non-farm employment rose by 270 jobs in 2014 Continued from 1A ger be reporting major job losses year after year. “We don’t have to worry about that particular situation anymore,” he said. The Port of Morrow, meanwhile, continues to add jobs, which boosts em- ployment in both counties. Multi-million-dollar expan- sions at ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston and Tillamook Cheese added 140 direct jobs alone in 2014. “They’ve been a job en- gine for a decade,” Fridley said of the port. “The reces- sion hasn’t even hit them.” Non-farm employment rose by 270 jobs over the year in Umatilla County, with man- ufacturing leading the way. Over-the-year job growth was even more impressive in Morrow County, surging up 520 jobs thanks primarily to a construction boom at the port. Morrow County also ERDVWV WKH ¿IWKKLJKHVW DY- erage annual wages in the state, at $41,354. That is helped in part by the Colum- bia River Enterprise Zone in Boardman, which provides businesses a break on their property taxes in return for a number of concessions — one of which is to offer em- ployees a minimum average salary of $59,106 per year. Fridley said the area’s job ¿JXUHVVKRXOGUHPDLQVWHDG\ One source of concern is Sykes Enterprises, he said, which announced last year it would close its call center in Milton-Freewater while offering more than 200 em- ployees the option to work from home. Two months later, Sykes said it would not only keep the call center open but add another 50 jobs. Overall, the employment rates are good news for the economy, though Fridley said Umatilla County still has a ways to go. “Stable is the more likely direction for now,” he said. “It all depends on the growth rates.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4547. Friday, April 3, 2015 PLANNING: Stores cannot be within 1,000 feet of a school MaySon’s Old Fashioned General Store, said he dations include: would prefer if marijuana • Marijuana facilities stores and dispensaries were must be located in a service located by the airport, which commercial or central mixed would keep them away from use zone. the main part of the city and • Stores or dispensaries close to the Pendleton Police cannot be located within Department. 1,000 feet of a public or pri- Commissioner Ryan De- vate elementary, middle, or Grofft also liked the idea high school or another mari- of opening up the airport juana facility. industrial park to marijuana • A marijuana facility retailers. won’t be permitted in the “They would be up by “historic city center,” which the airport or by Graybeal WKH FRPPLVVLRQ GH¿QHG DV Distributing or something being between southeast out of the way,” he said. Third Street, southwest Commission Chairman Third Street, the Umatilla Scott Fairley said those River and the railroad tracks. opinions ran counter to • All commercial mari- what he was hearing from juana facilities and grows community members, who will have to be conditional- preferred keeping marijuana ly approved by the planning stores in a more central loca- commission before they can tion, even within the down- open. town area. • A marijuana growing May said he would close operation cannot share the his shop and put his Pend- same address with a mari- leton house up for sale if a juana retail store. marijuana store ever moved • Commercial marijuana to the city’s downtown. grows are only permitted in Shortly thereafter, Com- light industrial and exclu- missioner Maureen Mc- sive farm use zones. Cormmach proposed pro- Keith May, former city hibiting marijuana facilities councilman and owner of from the downtown area, Continued from 1A which eventually made it into the draft ordinance. May made some pro- posals of his own, suggest- ing the commission also include a 1,000 foot buffer zone around the Round- Up Grounds and the Olney Cemetery, arguing minors frequented the grounds and some people used the cem- etery as a park. City Planner Evan MacKenzie said classifying the Round-Up Grounds as a facility frequented by mi- nors was a slippery slope because places like grocery stores would also fall under that broad criteria. David Moore, a Pend- leton resident and medical marijuana card holder, said he wasn’t in favor of adding further regulations like the Olney buffer. He said the Tutuilla Road area would be an ideal area for a marijuana store, grant- ed it wasn’t too close to Sunridge Middle School or Grecian Heights Park. Eventually, the commis- sion found the park buffer too restrictive and removed it from the draft ordinance. In addition to his thoughts on the buffer zones, Moore also shared his experiences at medical marijuana dispen- saries and the lengths he has WRJRWKURXJKWR¿QGWKHP “I’m a medical patient. I have to drive three hours to get my medicine,” he said, referring to Portland. MacKenzie said one of the key differences between marijuana and liquor is that marijuana isn’t allowed to be consumed on site under state law, meaning most cus- tomers will be in-and-out. “It’ll be our version of a package store,” he said. McCormmach said in her travels to California, she found medical marijuana dispensaries unobtrusive. She also added that she owns a house in Washington state, where voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012. “It absolutely changed nothing whatsoever,” she said. City council is scheduled to consider the ordinance April 7. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. FARMERS: Oregon marijuana demand in 2014 was 150,628 pounds clamoring to jump into the market. And for now, seed- cover Canada, too,” Craw- ing the back 40 with Sativa ford said. isn’t legal. He said Oregon now The Oregon Liquor grows the best pot in the Control Commission, country at reasonable which will regulate whole- prices, and quality would sale commercial production decline if large growers under Measure 91, has yet jumped into the business. WRGUDIWVSHFL¿FUXOHV Existing growers have re- The law, which was ap- ¿QHG WKHLU WHFKQLTXHV RYHU proved by voters in the No- 20, 30 or 40 years, in some vember 2014 election and cases, he said. takes effect July 1, allows “There’s a difference individuals to possess up between large-scale ag- to eight ounces of pot and ricultural producers and grow up to four plants per these marijuana produc- household for personal use. ers,” he said. “They’re still As pot prohibition laws small scale compared to a begin to recede nationally, 10,000-acre wheat ranch. however, the prospect of The way the Oregon mar- bigger markets and indus- ket evolved was thousands trial-sized grow operations of small growers produc- occasionally comes up in ing high quality products casual, just-wondering type and unique products. You of conversations, some couldn’t do it on an indus- producers say. What if Or- trial scale.” egon’s grass seed growers There don’t appear to be decided to grow the other any conventional farmers kind of grass? What if the Continued from 1A state’s nursery operators turned their greenhouse expertise to marijuana pro- duction? Crawford said they shouldn’t bother, because supply already outstrips de- mand. Crawford said cannabis ² XQRI¿FLDOO\ ² LV 2UH- gon’s most valuable crop, with an estimated annual value approaching $1 bil- lion. Based on his surveys of legal and illegal growers, the state’s “internal mari- juana demand” in 2014 was about 150,628 pounds. At $150 an ounce, that’s $361 million. Medical marijuana growers grew and exported 391,694 pounds above the Oregon demand, worth an- other $587 million, Craw- ford said. That makes the farm gate value of Oregon’s pot exports alone greater than the combined value of hazelnuts, pears, wine grapes, Christmas trees and blueberries, according to Crawford’s estimates. &UDZIRUG VDLG KLV ¿J- ures are based on self-re- ported data from growers he reached through a “chain referral” survey technique, LQ ZKLFK WKH ¿UVW UHVSRQ- dents invite others in their social network to take part, and the sample size grows in a snowball fashion. Still, the underground nature of WKH LQGXVWU\ PDNHV LW GLI¿- cult to get precise informa- tion, Crawford acknowl- edged. Bruce Pokarney, spokes- man for the Oregon De- partment of Agriculture, said the department has no way to assess the state’s cannabis crop value. “But, assuming the OSU num- bers are correct, marijuana would likely be at the top of the list of commodities in terms of production value,” he said in an email. 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