REGION
Saturday, October 14, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Catherine Creek
FFA
soil
evaluation
team
headed
to
state
wolves kill calf
East Oregonian
UNION — Wolves
from the Catherine pack
in Union County are
responsible for killing
a 600-pound steer calf
on private land near
Little Catherine Creek,
according to the Oregon
Department of Fish &
Wildlife.
The calf was discovered
Monday by a rancher
while flying to locate cattle
for roundup from a large
forested pasture. ODFW
investigated the same
day, finding numerous
wolf tracks, scat and bite
marks consistent with a
wolf attack. GPS collar
data also placed OR-24, of
the Catherine pack, at the
location of the calf near the
time of death.
The latest predation
comes just days after
ODFW authorized the
killing of four more
wolves from the Harl
Butte pack in Wallowa
County following repeated
attacks on cattle. ODFW
confirmed the latest attack
by Harl Butte wolves
on a calf on Wednesday,
making it the tenth depre-
dation by the pack since
July 15, 2016.
The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service is also
seeking information on
the poaching of OR-33
on the Fremont-Winema
National Forest, north-
west of Klamath Falls.
OR-33 had been blamed
for killing two goats, one
sheep and injuring a third
sheep over the course of
three days in June 2016,
east of Ashland.
Wolves are federally
protected in Oregon west
of highways 395, 78 and
95. The predators are
managed by ODFW in
Eastern Oregon, and have
since been removed from
the state’s endangered
species list.
Anyone with infor-
mation about who shot
OR-33 should call the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
at 503-682-6131, or the
Oregon State Police Tip
Line at 800-452-7888.
Callers may remain anony-
mous, and may be eligible
for a $5,000 reward for
information leading to an
arrest and conviction.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Hermiston High School FFA
soil evaluation team is headed to state
competition after taking first place in the
Blue Mountain District contest Monday
at Threemile Canyon Farms.
Leah Smith, Hermiston FFA advisor,
said 137 students from local FFA chap-
ters participated in the advanced and
beginner soil evaluation career devel-
opment events, including Hermiston,
Pendleton, Echo, Stanfield, Heppner,
Irrigon, Riverside, Weston-McEwen and
McLoughlin high schools.
Only the top five members of the
top two advanced teams can qualify for
state, Smith said. For Hermiston, that
includes seniors Dylan Westfall, Deven
Hofbauer and Amanda Barron, junior
Joseph Knight and sophomore Jayda
Hoston.
The state competition will be held
Monday in Elkton, located in Douglas
County. Smith said the students will be
leaving Sunday to make the five and a
half hour trip.
Heppner High School placed second
in advanced district soil evaluation,
though advisor Beth Dickenson said the
team will be unable to attend the state
event. Instead, she said Heppner FFA
will travel the following week to the
National FFA Convention and Expo,
Oct. 25-28 in Indianapolis.
Echo FFA also took first place in the
beginner soil evaluation contest.
Learning about different types of soil
is important for students to understand
Photo courtesy Leah Smith
Amanda Barron, Deven Hofbauer and Pake Schmittle participate
Monday in the 2017 Blue Mountain FFA District Soil Evaluation at Threemile
Canyon Farms.
why and how certain crops grow in
certain areas, Smith said.
“A lot of them don’t know why water-
melons grow so well in Hermiston. It’s
because of the soil type,” she explained.
Though only a few kids will go to
state, Smith said the district competition
provides an important learning expe-
rience for everyone who participates.
Students head to each of four pits,
including one practice pit, where they
examine different layers of soil for
characteristics such as texture, structure,
color and water holding capacity.
“The students saw a lot of soil varia-
tion from pit to pit,” Smith said.
Threemile Canyon Farms not only
provided the venue and dug the pits, but
Smith said employees also took students
on a tour of the massive farm after the
event, including the dairy operation and
potato sheds. Threemile Canyon is one
of the largest dairy farms in the country,
with 26,000 milking cows producing 1.4
million pounds of milk per day.
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
BRIEFLY
Pendleton City Council will consider
banning tobacco use in parks
PENDLETON — A tobacco ban for all public parks
will be considered by the Pendleton City Council at a
meeting Tuesday.
The proposal would amend an ordinance that bans
smoking at Rudy Rada Skatepark and extend it to all 22
parks, including the Pendleton River Walkway.
While supporters, which include the Umatilla
County Health Department and the Pendleton Parks
and Recreation Commission, say the law would mostly
enforce itself, the Pendleton Police Department has
vocalized concerns would be difficult to enforce.
The council voted down a proposal to ban smoking
in parks without an enforcement provision at a
September meeting.
The council will also discuss passing an ordinance
that will add Pendleton Whisky Music Fest and
Pendleton Bike Week vendors to the list of temporary
businesses that must pay for a license.
During Round-Up, vendors with a permanent
location in city limits are required to pay $100 while
vendors without one pay $160.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. at the council
chambers in city hall, 500 S.W. Dorion Ave.
Unclaimed income tax refunds
available in state fund
More than 7,000 Oregon taxpayers have almost $1.7
million worth of tax refund checks that are now expired
— but there is still a way to claim the money.
The window to reissue expired checks closed on
Friday, but the money will be held in reserve in the
Unclaimed Property Program administered by the
Department of State Lands.
Each year Oregonians lose their tax refund checks
or never receive them because their address is not up
to date with the Oregon Department of Revenue. Each
October the department sends expired check amounts to
the Unclaimed Property Program.
The program holds not only expired tax return
checks, but also utility deposits, inheritances, stock
dividends, bill overpayments, insurance payouts and
other unclaimed assets. The money, which passed the
$500 million mark in 2015, is held in the Common
School Fund, generating $35 million to $50 million in
interest for Oregon schools each year.
To search for unclaimed property, visit the oregonup.
us website and search by name for businesses, organi-
zations or individuals. Unclaimed assets located on the
site can be received by following instructions provided
online to prove the identity of the person claiming the
funds.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Potential pot producers seek dismissal of neighbors’ lawsuit
Neighbors fear grape
damage from ‘foul-
smelling particles’
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
EO Media Group
McMINNVILLE
—
Aspiring marijuana growers
in Oregon’s Yamhill County
have asked a judge to dismiss
a lawsuit against their oper-
ation filed by neighboring
landowners over potential
odors.
The complaint was filed
earlier this year against
Steven and Mary Wagner,
as well as their son Richard,
who planned to grow and
process marijuana on their
property near McMinnville.
The Wagners argue that
two of their neighbors,
Harihara and Parvathy
Mahesh, are barred from
filing trespass and nuisance
claims under Oregon’s “right
to farm” statute, which
shields growers from such
complaints.
Claims filed by their other
neighbors — the Momtazi
family, which owns nearby
vineyards — should also
be thrown out because the
Wagners haven’t trespassed
or interfered with their land,
according to defendants.
“You don’t get to file a
lawsuit with no facts, sheer
conjecture, pure speculation
about what will happen,” said
Allison Bizzano, attorney for
the Wagners.
Oral arguments over the
Wagners’ motion to dismiss
were held in McMinnville
on Oct. 11 before Yamhill
County Circuit Court Judge
John Collins.
The damages alleged
by the plaintiffs are not
actionable in court because
they’re based on proposed
activities that haven’t yet
occurred, she said.
“Even if we assume
there is an odor, there’s no
evidence it will travel over
the plaintiffs’ property line,”
Bizzano said.
According to the plain-
tiffs, the Wagners are not
protected by the “right to
farm” law because “foul-
smelling particles” from
marijuana will impermis-
sibly harm wine grapes
already growing on the
Momtazi property and which
have yet to be planted on the
Mahesh property.
“They’re in the zone of
danger in how their grapes
might be affected by the
marijuana operation,” said
Richard Brown, the plain-
tiffs’ attorney.
Oregon’s “right to farm”
statute doesn’t immunize
against complaints over
“damage to commercial
agricultural products” filed
by other farmers, Brown
said.
“It was about suburban
encroachment on farms, and
not about claims against one
farmer by another farmer,”
he said.
The plaintiffs disagree
their lawsuit is based on
speculative injuries, arguing
that judges can issue
injunctions that stop future
unlawful or harmful conduct.
“If the court allows them
to develop the property
first, it’s the equivalent of
letting them pull the trigger,”
Brown said.
At this point, it’s not
necessary for the plaintiffs to
prove what type of particles
may affect grape skins and
how far those particles will
travel, he said.
To survive a motion to
dismiss, it’s enough for
the plaintiffs to show the
Wagners planned to grow
and process marijuana — as
evidenced by site plans
submitted to Yamhill County,
Brown said.
“They have a plan.
They’ve announced they
have a plan. We know they’re
going to do it,” he said.
The Wagners countered
that unknown events — such
as wind direction — don’t
count as evidence that would
justify an injunction against
planting a crop.
“What if they want to
grow lavender? What if they
want to raise horses?” said
Bizzano. “Nobody knows if
it will ever impact the plain-
tiffs. They’re just scared.”
The plaintiffs initially
sought
a
temporary
restraining order against the
Wagners’ marijuana grow
site and processing facility,
but that request was denied
earlier this year.
Even so, the Wagners
failed to get approval for
the processing facility from
the county government, so
it appears that portion of
the project isn’t yet moving
forward.
In the most recent version
of a complaint proposed by
the plaintiffs, their request
for an injunction against the
project seems to have been
scaled back.
The proposed injunction
would prevent the Wagners
from growing marijuana
within 400 feet of either
plaintiff’s property, instead
of prohibiting them from
cultivating it.
Another factor in the
litigation is a road easement
the Wagners have across the
Mahesh property.
The Wagners claim they
haven’t unlawfully used the
easement as claimed by the
plaintiffs, since the ease-
ment terms don’t restrict or
prohibit farming operations.
The plaintiffs argued the
judge could interpret the
terms of the easement, much
like he would a contract.
In this case, the illegality
of marijuana under federal
law also affects the ease-
ment’s permissible uses,
Brown said.
Easement terms can
be evaluated based on
reasonable
expectations
and community standards,
he said. “The court has the
authority to reasonably
construe easements.”
OUT OF THE VAULT:
Historical Vignettes from the East Oregonian
By Renee Struthers
A second look at the first draft of Umatilla County’s history, from stories of crime
and punishment to natural disasters to the odd and absurd.
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE AMAZON KINDLE STORE.
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