NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Legal marijuana is producing jobs, revenue
SALEM (AP) — The
states that have legalized
recreational marijuana — a
multi-billion-dollar
busi-
ness — don’t want to hear
the federal government talk
about a crackdown. Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown says she
wants Oregonians left alone
to “grow these jobs.”
In Oregon alone, that’s
roughly 12,500 jobs, said
economist Beau Whitney
of Portland, adding that he
is making a conservative
estimate. Oregon’s attorney
general said she would be
duty-bound to fight to protect
the state’s marijuana industry.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff
Sessions has said his depart-
ment is reviewing a Justice
Department memo that gives
states flexibility in passing
marijuana laws and noted “it
does remain a violation of
federal law to distribute mari-
juana throughout any place
in the United States, whether
a state legalizes it or not.”
White House spokesman
Sean Spicer predicted stepped
up enforcement.
Underscoring how the
marijuana industry is pushing
job growth in Oregon, the
Oregon Liquor Control
Commission, which regulates
and licenses the state’s recre-
ational marijuana industry,
says it has over 12,640 appli-
AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, file
“We now have a nascent,
somewhat
successful
industry,” Brown said in an
interview Tuesday with The
Associated Press and a free-
lance journalist. “These are
good paying jobs. It’s a pretty
diverse business community.”
In January alone, recre-
ational marijuana sales
in Oregon were over $20
million, with medical mari-
juana generating about $2.8
million more, the OLCC said.
In Oregon, Washington
state and Colorado, marijuana
RICHLAND, Wash.
(AP) — Efforts to prevent
uranium from leaching
into the Columbia River
along the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation are being
expanded after a test
showed good results.
Wells are being drilled
to inject a solution into the
ground to bind the uranium
to the soil and prevent it
from migrating into the
groundwater and then into
the river.
The Tri-City Herald
says much of the soil
contaminated with uranium
at the Hanford 300 Area has
been dug up down to 15
feet, removing the majority
of the contamination.
The uranium is left
over from decades of work
making plutonium for
nuclear weapons during
World War II and the Cold
War. As a byproduct of
the process, 60 tons of
dissolved uranium was
dumped into the ground.
Oregon boasts
lowest jobless rate
in 40 years
SALEM — Oregon’s
jobless rate dropped to 4.3
percent in January, marking
the lowest such figure since
the state began tracking
employment data in 1976.
State officials say
it’s also lower than the
nationwide rate of 4.8
percent.
The last time Oregon’s
jobless rate dipped below
5 percent was during the
dot-com boom in the
mid-1990s.
Oregon businesses added
2,600 nonfarm employees
to their payrolls in January,
which was a quarter-percent
drop from the recent
monthly averages.
The construction
industry added the most
jobs for the month, while
the biggest cuts occurred in
Lawmakers back away from farm property tax bill
out in full force at a March 1
hearing to argue that creating
a “sunset” for these provisions
would financially destabilize
farming, ranching and forestry.
By the end of the hearing,
the overwhelmingly negative
testimony against HB 2859
seemed to have the desired
effect on members of the
House Revenue Committee.
“I’m pretty convinced
putting a sunset on these things
that are very long-term assets
doesn’t make any sense,” said
Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eu-
gene, the committee’s chair.
At the beginning of the
hearing, Barnhart said the bill
was drafted in response to an
audit from Oregon’s Secretary
of State’s Office, which called
for periodic review of existing
property tax exemptions and
tax credits.
In light of the objections
to HB 2859, though, Barnhart
said he thought the sunset
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
SALEM
—
Intense
opposition by Oregon’s
farmers, ranchers and forest-
land owners has apparently
convinced lawmakers to back
away from altering key prop-
erty tax provisions affecting
agriculture and forestry.
Machinery used for agri-
culture and forestry is exempt
from property tax assessments
while property dedicated to
producing crops, livestock
and timber is less heavily
taxed than other real estate.
Under
the
original
language of House Bill 2859,
the property tax exemption
for equipment and the farm
use assessment for land would
expire in 2024 unless renewed
by lawmakers.
The proposal evoked alarm
in Oregon’s natural resource
community, which turned
provisions related to natural
resources should be elimi-
nated from the bill.
The suggestion drew
no objections from other
committee members, so
Barnhart said they would
only consider the remaining
provisions of HB 2859 related
to economic development and
other issues.
“I think you should
consider all of what I just
said means that you win,”
Barnhart told the audience, to
enthusiastic applause.
Farmers, ranchers and
forestland owners at the
hearing emphasized that
natural resource industries
were already highly uncertain
due to the weather and volatile
markets.
Landowners said they
shouldn’t also have to
contend with the possibility
their property taxes may rise
dramatically every six years,
which is the period of sunset
review established under HB
2859.
Marsha Carr, a forestland
owner near Monroe, Ore.,
said her annual property taxes
would rise from about $1,000
to more than $25,000 under
HB 2859.
Carr said her family
harvests timber in small
patches of five to seven acres,
which preserves habitat for
wildlife and songbirds.
“That would have to
change to pay the taxes,” she
said. “We would have to cut
larger areas.”
Farmers rely on special-
ized equipment but they often
operate it for only a month
or less per year, unlike other
industries where machinery
creates revenues year-round,
said Roger Beyer, a lobbyist
for the Western Equipment
Dealers Association and
several crop organizations.
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Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group
TODAY
FRIDAY
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
An afternoon
shower
45° 33°
50° 33°
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Mainly cloudy with
a bit of rain
Mostly cloudy with
a bit of snow
MONDAY
Cloudy and chilly
with a shower
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
45° 32°
45° 29°
47° 36°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 32°
48° 34°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
50°
51°
74° (1925)
32°
32°
1° (1993)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.03"
3.92"
2.61"
2.54"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
56°
53°
69° (1959)
37°
31°
10° (1993)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.04"
3.46"
1.60"
2.28"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
Mar 5
Mar 12
6:32 a.m.
5:43 p.m.
8:56 a.m.
10:48 p.m.
Last
New
Mar 20
47° 31°
51° 36°
Seattle
49/44
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
47° 35°
Mar 27
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
41/33
42/30
Tacoma
Moses
49/42
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 44/34
42/35
49/44
47/42
48/30
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
47/45
51/39 Lewiston
50/34
Astoria
51/36
50/43
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
50/43
Pendleton 40/25
The Dalles 48/34
45/33
50/35
La Grande
Salem
44/31
51/43
Albany
Corvallis 51/40
51/42
John Day
41/28
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
47/26
51/40
49/26
Caldwell
Burns
48/30
39/16
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
50
42
49
50
39
40
51
43
48
41
48
44
41
55
48
52
47
51
45
50
52
51
41
41
50
51
48
Lo
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26
26
39
16
25
40
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34
28
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31
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44
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c
c
pc
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c
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c
pc
c
c
sh
c
sh
c
c
sh
c
c
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
31
60
46
42
48
32
41
45
25
68
44
W
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s
pc
c
pc
sh
pc
pc
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33
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31
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Fri.
Hi
58
69
54
51
71
38
61
62
49
78
56
Lo
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63
44
44
48
31
44
48
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68
42
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WINDS
Medford
55/33
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
48/25
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Cloudy today; occasional
rain and drizzle across the north.
Eastern Washington: Mostly cloudy today.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mainly cloudy
and cold today. Mostly cloudy tonight; a
shower in spots across the north.
Western Washington: Occasional rain and
drizzle today; however, a couple of showers
across the south.
Cascades: Mostly cloudy today; a bit of
morning snow, then a little rain across the
north.
Northern California: Partly sunny today.
Mainly clear tonight. Intervals of clouds and
sun tomorrow.
Today
Friday
WSW 4-8
SW 3-6
SSW 3-6
S 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
2
2
2
0
SALEM (AP) — The
city of Salem has set
a record for rainfall in
February, with 13.29 inches
of precipitation.
The Statesman Journal
reports Wednesday that that
number blew past the record
of 13.01 inches of rain set
in 1996. It’s way above the
normal total of 4.56 inches.
It was the second month
this season that Salem set
a record. October’s 11.25
inches was also the most
rain during that month in
recorded history. Recorded
totals go back to 1892.
Salem residents hoping
for some dry weather are
out of luck. The forecast
calls for wet weather for the
next eight to 14 days.
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
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Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
58
73
56
50
76
39
54
60
43
78
50
Salem sets rainfall
record for Feb.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Fri.
Hi
50
43
49
50
44
39
53
45
50
43
48
44
45
54
50
53
49
56
50
51
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53
MEDFORD (AP) —
State wildlife officials say a
gray wolf has spent the last
several months in Jackson
County, where it attacked
and killed a 3-day-old calf
on a private ranch.
The Mail Tribune reports
the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife says
the GPS collar on OR-25
showed it was at the ranch
in Prospect on Saturday
around the time a person
working on the property
found the dead calif.
Wildlife biologists say
the 3-year-old male wolf
known to frequent Klamath
County has remained
almost exclusively in
Jackson County for the past
two months.
They suspect OR-25 is
trying to lure away a female
wolf from the Rogue Pack.
Records show Saturday’s
attack was the second time
OR-25 has been involved in
livestock predation.
Corrections
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
Gray wolf blamed
for death of calf
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and
sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in
the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
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541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Services: Laura Jensen
541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com
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Subscriber services:
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sectors such as government
and health care.
Statewide employment
growth over the last 12
months totaled 43,200 new
jobs.
Efforts expand
to stop uranium
from entering
Columbia River
tax revenues totaled at least
$335 million in either the last
calendar year or the last fiscal
year.
Whitney, who has been
involved in several marijuana
businesses and has advised
state government, estimates
that workers in the marijuana
industry in Oregon earn a
total of $315 million per
year. That’s based on workers
earning an average of $12
per hour. He noted that the
wage scales vary widely,
with harvesters earning less
than processors and chemists.
Their wages are pumped back
into the local economies.
If the Trump administra-
tion moves against legalized
recreational marijuana, it
would be going against its
own objectives, Oregon’s
governor said.
Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum indicated
she would go to court to
protect those jobs. Currently,
the Cole Memorandum,
which provides guidance for
federal marijuana enforce-
ment, restricts it to a few areas,
including preventing distribu-
tion to minors and preventing
marijuana from being trans-
ported from pot-legal states to
other states. Under the Cole
Memorandum, states where
marijuana is legal have been
largely been left alone.
In this Sept. 2016 file photo, different strains of
marijuana are displayed in West Salem Cannabis, a
marijuana shop in Salem. In Oregon, at least 12,500
jobs are attributed to legal recreational marijuana and
in Oregon, Washington state and Colorado, marijuana
tax revenues totaled $335 million in 2016.
cations for marijuana worker
permits. It has also received
2,174 marijuana license
applications, with over half
coming from would-be
producers and the rest mostly
from those seeking to set
up as retailers, processors,
wholesalers and laboratories.
It had activated 943 licenses
by Tuesday.
Marijuana shops are
prevalent in many Oregon
cities. In the countryside,
marijuana greenhouses are
not uncommon.
BRIEFLY
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Showers and thunderstorms will linger in the southeastern corner
of the nation today. Some snow will fall on parts of the Midwest and interior Northeast.
Western Washington can expect a wet day.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 89° in Zapata, Texas
Low -13° in Farson, Wyo.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
57
59
50
51
41
60
48
48
63
48
37
38
66
50
38
68
-1
19
80
68
44
68
52
67
62
80
Lo
31
40
31
29
29
36
31
26
40
28
20
24
42
25
22
41
-21
7
69
45
24
41
25
46
35
52
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Fri.
Hi
61
58
43
44
50
59
50
38
67
39
36
31
70
62
33
65
0
32
82
71
39
70
56
70
60
80
Lo
37
33
22
21
35
32
39
15
36
21
26
20
48
32
19
45
-11
25
70
51
26
41
42
48
38
52
Today
W
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Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
52
61
83
35
30
56
64
48
64
44
50
77
45
49
60
39
52
65
55
48
76
62
49
77
53
60
Lo
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Fri.
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44
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80
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68
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52
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59
53
55
64
50
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43
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
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