NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Idaho State police find 7,000 pounds of pot on truck
ton and several other states but
illegal in Idaho.
The trooper detected a strong
odor of marijuana during the
inspection, and so opened one of
the bags and performed a field
test, Marsano said. The field test
showed the plant to be a marijuana
plant, and a subsequent team of
drug-detection dogs that arrived
also indicated that marijuana was
present, he said.
Marsano could not say how low
of a THC content will generate a
positive result by the field tests or
whether the dogs were trained to
differentiate between marijuana
or hemp, however. Still, he said
shipment — said the trailer was
carrying 31 bags of hemp.
Hemp and marijuana plants
look and smell very similar to one
another, but hemp plants typically
contain less than 0.3 percent of
THC — the psychoactive chem-
ical in marijuana — while mar-
ijuana plants generally contain
anywhere from 15 percent to 40
percent THC.
The plants also have different
uses: Hemp can be used to pro-
duce a variety of products includ-
ing food, industrial oil, paper, flour
and clothing. Marijuana plants are
often grown for their THC content,
and are legal in Oregon, Washing-
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho State
Police officials say troopers made
the biggest marijuana bust in the
agency’s known history after a
semi-truck allegedly filled with
nearly 7,000 pounds of marijuana
plants was stopped between Boise
and Mountain Home.
ISP spokesman Tim Marsano
said Tuesday the truck from Port-
land was stopped on Jan. 24 as
part of a routine, random commer-
cial vehicle safety inspection. The
driver’s bill of lading — a docu-
ment that details the cargo in the
transporting anything containing
THC is a chargeable offense in
Idaho.
“Between the field test and the
K9 indication, Idaho State Police
feel strongly that the load was
actually marijuana and not hemp,”
Marsano said. “However, we have
sent a sample of the load to an
independent laboratory for further
analysis.”
The driver, 36-year-old Dennis
V. Palamarchuk of Portland, Ore-
gon, has been charged with felony
drug trafficking, Marsano said. It
was not immediately known if he
has obtained an attorney.
“This is the largest seizure
of marijuana by the Idaho State
Police in anyone’s memory,” Mar-
sano said.
In total, the plants seized from
the truck weighed 6,701 pounds,
he said. If the plants do test posi-
tive as marijuana, the seizure will
dwarf totals seized by the ISP for
each of the past five years. For
instance, in 2014, the state police
seized roughly 319 pounds of mar-
ijuana. Total seizures remained
below 1,000 pounds for the next
two years, reaching a total of 2,131
pounds in 2018, Marsano said.
Marsano said he did not know
when the independent lab would
complete testing on the plants.
Umatilla National Forest ‘assessing priorities’ after shutdown
nity leaders, reconnecting
with the public, and resum-
ing operations in a safe and
coordinated way.”
U.S. Forest Service Chief
Vicki Christiansen issued
a message to employees
reflecting on the shutdown
and unveiling the strategy
for getting back to work.
“These past five weeks
have been like nothing
we’ve experienced before,”
Christiansen said. “It has
been a trying time for our
personal and professional
lives, our families, and our
livelihood. Further, the
Darcy Weseman with the
local national forest.
The Umatilla National
Forest has 148 permanent
employees, she said, and
the majority were on fur-
lough during the 35-day
day partial government
shutdown.
“As we resume oper-
ations this week we are
assessing the status of our
projects and programs,
using that information to
adjust work priorities for
the remainder of the year,”
Weseman said, “connecting
with partners and commu-
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Federal workers on fur-
lough resumed their posts
Monday in the wake of the
record-long shutdown of the
government. The U.S. For-
est Service is rolling with a
multi-week plan to get back
on track, including at the
Umatilla National Forest.
“Our top priority for
this first week is assisting
our employees in coming
back to work and getting
operations running again,”
according to spokesperson
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Mostly cloudy
Mostly cloudy
A little afternoon
rain
Mostly cloudy
Rather cloudy with
a bit of rain
40° 30°
46° 35°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
45° 34°
46° 36°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
41° 29°
44° 33°
44° 37°
49° 37°
47° 39°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
53/36
39/31
39/24
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
40/31
Lewiston
53/34
39/29
Astoria
54/36
Pullman
Yakima 38/27
52/32
43/30
Portland
Hermiston
52/34
The Dalles 41/29
Salem
Corvallis
51/30
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
43/29
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
50/33
53/30
49/31
Ontario
43/24
Caldwell
Burns
37°
33°
44°
29°
61° (2004) -23° (1957)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
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Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
53/33
0.00"
1.53"
1.20"
1.53"
1.10"
1.20"
WINDS (in mph)
44/24
41/20
0.00"
2.07"
1.31"
2.07"
1.59"
1.31"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 41/26
52/33
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
40/30
45/32
32°
30°
43°
28°
65° (2018) -17° (1950)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
50/30
Aberdeen
32/25
35/26
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
52/37
Today
Medford
56/37
Thu.
NE 4-8
N 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
ENE 3-6
NE 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
50/28
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
7:19 a.m.
4:58 p.m.
3:17 a.m.
12:52 p.m.
First
Full
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
Feb 4
Feb 12
sites. And timber sale and
stewardship contracts “can
resume operations within
contract requirements.”
Christiansen also told
employees she will host
all-employee calls this week.
The focus shifts in weeks
two and three to “resetting
programs of work.”
“If we take this one day,
hour and minute at a time,”
Christiansen said, “I am
confident we will work
together and reset so we can
soon continue our strong
tradition of caring for the
land and serving people.”
PORTLAND (AP) —
Two ranchers who were
convicted in 2012 of inten-
tionally setting fires on pub-
lic land in Oregon have had
their grazing rights restored.
The
Oregonian/Ore-
gonLive reports that for-
mer Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke, in one of his
last actions before resign-
ing, ordered the renewal of
a 10-year grazing permit
for Hammond Ranches Inc.,
run by Dwight Hammond
Jr. and his son Steven Ham-
mond. The decision was
dated Jan. 2, but it wasn’t
sent out until this week.
Zinke ordered the U.S.
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment to renew the grazing
permit through 2024.
Last year President Don-
ald Trump pardoned the
Hammonds, whose case had
prompted the armed occu-
pation of Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge in Oregon
in 2016, led by two sons
of Nevada rancher Cliven
Bundy.
In February 2014, the
federal government had
Les Zaitz/The Oregonian, File
In this Jan. 2, 2016, file photo, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr.
greets protesters outside his home in Burns.
rejected the Hammonds’
renewal application, cit-
ing their criminal convic-
tions for setting fire to pub-
lic land.
“I find the pardons con-
stitute unique and import-
ant changed circumstances
since the BLM made its
decision,” Zinke wrote in
the decision.
The Hammonds had
been convicted in 2012 of
arson on land where they
had grazing rights for their
cattle. They were ordered
back to prison in early 2016
to serve out five-year sen-
tences in a case that incited
right-wing militias and
inspired the 41-day armed
occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge,
which abuts the Hammond
family ranch.
But on July 10, 2018,
Trump pardoned the father
and son.
Last
NATIONAL EXTREMES
High 78° in Yuma, Ariz. Low -31° in Bottineau, N.D.
cancellation of time off.
“We will send instruc-
tions in the coming days
detailing how and when
to begin submitting your
requests for restoration,”
according to the checklist.
The 14-page start-up
guide
covers
general
instructions for resuming
work, including for man-
aging national forests and
grasslands. Those sites are
to resume issuing permits
for outfitters, recreation
and more “as soon as prac-
ticable,” along with reopen-
ing applicable recreation
Ranchers whose case sparked
standoff get grazing rights back
Forecast for Pendleton Area
45° 37°
shutdown and ensuing nar-
row focus on only a few
aspects of our mission went
against the core values of
our agency. It will take some
time to regroup in our lives
and work.”
The first step on that path
for work, she stated, is fol-
lowing a “Resuming Opera-
tions Checklist and Guide.”
The three-page check-
list covers technical aspects,
such as resetting passwords
and temporary procedures
for accessing computer sys-
tems. Employees also found
out the shutdown led to the
Feb 19
Feb 26
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Oregon Health Authority says
$42M in overpayments recovered
SALEM (AP) — Ore-
gon Health Authority offi-
cials said Tuesday they have
recovered about $42 mil-
lion the agency overpaid to
organizations that coordi-
nate Medicaid benefits for
as many as 1 million Ore-
gon residents.
Officials repaid the
money owed to the federal
government, Health Author-
ity spokesman Robb Cowie
said, the Salem Statesman
Journal reported Tuesday.
This comes after a Sen-
ate Republican from the city
of Keizer revealed a pro-
posal Monday for the state
to demand the money back.
State Sen. Kim Thatcher’s
proposal would require the
Health Authority to recover
all overpayments to coor-
dinated care organizations
within 60 days of the bill’s
passage.
Thatcher’s spokesman,
Jonathan Lockwood, said
Tuesday they want more
answers from OHA regard-
ing when and whether the
bills were paid back before
deciding whether to proceed
with Thatcher’s legislative
concept.
The issue dates back
to late 2017, when an Ore-
gon Secretary of State audit
found the Health Authority
could have avoided spend-
ing an estimated $76 million
on patients who were mem-
bers of coordinated care
organizations but may have
been ineligible for coverage
under the Oregon Health
Plan, also known as the
state’s Medicaid program.
The estimate included about
$17 million in state money.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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