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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2016)
WEEKEND EDITION 300 DEAD IN HAITI; U.S. SOUTH THREATENED HURRICANE/9A NINJA WARRIOR DREAMS 1C TRUMP, CLINTON SCRAMBLE OVER NEW LEAKS 10A OCTOBER 8-9, 2016 140th Year, No. 256 By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Visit the Pendleton Round-Up Gift Shop for a free keychain r Snake R i ve 7 82 1 2 3 4 5 Colum b i a 6 Hood Kennewick ash. River W 84 Ore. River The Dalles 97 8 9 12 10 Walla Walla Umatilla 11 Pendleton N 395 Wash. Ore. 11 La Grande 12 20 miles 84 Marijuana retailers near Umatilla County ho MARILYN DALE Staff photo by E.J. Harris Residents in the municipalities of Pendleton, Hermiston and Milton-Freewater will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to allow both medicinal and recreational marijuana dispensaries into their communities on the November ballot. Ida Incumbent Sheriff Terry Rowan said in his fi rst term, he has made the sheriff’s offi ce more professional and responsive. Challenger Ryan Lehnert prom- ised to use the offi ce, should he defeat Rowan in the November election, to improve mental health treatment. He also said he would begin working toward agency accred- itation in his fi rst 100 days in offi ce. The two candidates met this week with the East Orego- Rowan nian editorial board, laying out their arguments for the job. Lehnert expressed his passion for helping people with mental heath problems. Most citizens Lehnert who police deal with routinely suffer from some kind of mental heath crisis or addiction, he said, and fi nding ways to help them is the major challenge faced by law enforcement. Local police, emergency services and mental health providers met last week at a conference in Pendleton to help identify and close gaps in service. Lehnert said that was helpful, but large gaps remain. Lehnert said all the suicidal people he has encountered as a See CANDIDATES/12A Ore . S nak ho e R iv e r Candidates lay out arguments for job POT SHOPS UP TO VOTERS Huntington 13 Ontario 14 A person in Pendleton would have to drive either two hours west or east to legally purchase marijuana and bring it back home with them. Retailers in Kennewick and Walla Walla are closer, but bringing the marijuana back across state lines would be a federal crime. Voters in Pendleton, Hermiston and Milton-Freewater will decide whether to legalize marijuana sales in November. Dispensary/location 84 Type 1. Evergreen Hood River — Hood River 2. Gorge Greenery — Hood R. 3. High Winds Cannabis — Hood R. 4. Mountain View Naturals — Hood R. 5. The Gorge Green Cross — Hood R. 6. Columbia River Herbals — The Dalles 7. Green2Go — Kennewick, Wash. 8. Luscious Leaf — Walla Walla, Wash. 9. Walla Walla Weedery — Walla Walla 10. Walla Walla Cannabis Co. — Walla Walla 11. Eagle Cap Dispensary — La Grande 12. HWY 30 Cannabis — La Grande 13. 420ville — Huntington 14. Bunker Boys — Ontario Sources: Oregon Liquor Control Commission; Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board Pendleton, Hermiston, Milton-Freewater to decide on dispensaries in November By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Ida Rowan, Lehnert duel for sheriff OF MILTON-FREEWATER $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Medical/Recreational Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Recreational Med./Rec. Med./Rec. Medical Medical Med./Rec. Medical Antonio Sierra and Alan Kenaga/ EO Media Group Pendleton was within one vote of not seeing the legalization of mari- juana sales on the ballot. After initially siding in October 2015 with the majority to draft an ordinance that would ban marijuana sales outright, Councilor Chuck Wood changed his mind after receiving an outpouring of support to put the issue to voters. Without the necessary fi ve votes to pass an ordinance, the councilors that supported the ban reluctantly changed their vote and unanimously agreed to refer it to the ballot. Despite playing a pivotal role in bringing the issue to Pendleton voters and having no regrets about his decision, Wood remains fi rm in his personal opposition to marijuana sales. He remains unconvinced that the tax money Pendleton would get from marijuana dispensaries would bring signifi cant revenue and said he would need to see more empirical evidence that pot shops would be benefi cial to the community before he could support it. Two years after Umatilla County voters rejected Measure 91 and mari- juana legalization, voters in Pendleton, Hermiston and Milton-Freewater will get now get a chance to have their say on both medical and recreational marijuana sales in their communities. Will the two years between Measure 91 and these local ballot initiatives represent a sea change in public opinion on marijuana, or will voters like Wood remain steadfast in their opposition to retail marijuana? Jim Moore, a political science professor at Pacifi c University, leans toward the latter scenario. “It hasn’t really become a part of the culture in the same way as the local liquor store,” he said. The fact that many local voters still aren’t personally familiar with dispensaries will work against the referendum’s passage, Moore said. According to a study by DHM Research, only 7 percent of people statewide have purchased recreational marijuana at a retail store. Another factor that could work against it is a lack of campaign visi- bility — among the dozens of commu- nities across the state with marijuana ballot issues, Moore said it’s rare to see campaign signs for or against it. That’s certainly true of the three local cities, where signs for the See MARIJUANA/12A Palmer deposition contradicts statements on emails Says office had no policy on how to retain emails By LES ZAITZ The Oregonian JOHN DAY — Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer says he “never reviewed” a state policy that he has cited as justifi cation for destroying government emails. In a recent deposition, Palmer also contradicted his earlier claim that it was practice in his offi ce to print emails, fi le the hard copies and then delete the elec- tronic versions. Under oath, Palmer he said his offi ce has no such policy and he never told his employees to handle emails that way. He also testifi ed that he released cellphone records only after redacting personal calls, including calls to people associated with a militia. Palmer’s disclosures came under questioning by a lawyer for The Oregonian as part of a lawsuit seeking public records. In May, The Oregonian/OregonLive sued Palmer and his offi ce after he ignored or declined several requests for records dating to February. That included police reports, cellphone records, emails, his calendar and records of handgun licenses. Oregon law generally makes such material open to the public. Palmer acknowledged in subsequent court fi lings that he had no electronic versions of emails to turn over because he routinely deleted them from his primary account. He has yet to produce any hard copies of emails. Emails have become a crucial resource for the public and the press to monitor the conduct of public offi cials such as Palmer. They can document how government decisions are made and who is infl u- encing public offi cials. During the deposition in late September, the sheriff asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 51 times when questioned about his email practices. Palmer already is under criminal investigation for an allegation that in 2012 he destroyed an electronic copy of a police report. In the deposition, Palmer said: • He considered calls to or from those associated with the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to be “personal” so they didn’t have to be disclosed to the public. • Records of his govern- ment-issued cellphone show “many” personal phone calls — a potential violation of state ethics law prohibits personal use of government equipment. • He frequently See PALMER/12A
