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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2019)
SEE PHOTOS OF CHAMPS HEPPNER AND NIXYAAWII SPORTS, B2-B3 WEEKEND EDITION SPRING FORWARD Daylight saving time starts on Sunday at 2 a.m. when clocks are turned to 3 a.m. MATH TEACHER COMPETES IN SCRABBLE TOURNAMENTS AROUND THE U.S. LIFESTYLES, C1 E O AST 143rd Year, No. 103 REGONIAN MARCH 9-10, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Surplus not gloom and doom of booming marijuana market Chamber sets sights to build on Highway 395 Land will need to be rezoned for development By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Budtender Nick Krensler uses chopsticks to grab a bud of marijuana while helping a customer on Thursday at Kind Leaf mar- ijuana dispensary in Pendleton. As trade stabilizes, problems of excess are being sorted out By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian T he Oregon Liquor Control Com- mission at the end of January issued a study claiming there’s enough marijuana to supply the state’s recreational market for 6.5 years. The “2019 Recreational Mari- juana Supply and Demand Legislative Report” stated the fi nding was in the- ory and stems from over-production. Brandon Krenzler and Erin Pur- chase argued just how theoretical the fi nding is. They own and operate Kind Leaf, one of the three retail marijuana stores in Pendleton, and employ about 30 people. They said the the market is far from collapsing, and much of the surplus is stuff that will not sell. “No one is going to smoke 6-year- old weed,” Krenzler said. “There’s a lot of unwanted product.” See Marijuana, Page A10 Staff photo by E.J. Harris A pound of White Tahoe Cookies from Frontier Farms of Hood River waits to be processed at Kind Leaf marijuana dispensary on Thursday in Pendleton. “NO ONE IS GOING TO SMOKE 6-YEAR-OLD WEED. THERE’S A LOT OF UNWANTED PRODUCT.” Brandon Krenzler, co-owner of Kind Leaf, one of three retail marijuana stores in Pendleton The Hermiston City Council will con- sider actions on Monday that will pave the way for two major projects in Herm- iston — a new water tower and a new chamber of commerce building. During Monday’s city council meet- ing the council will consider rezoning a 2-acre parcel of property on the south- west corner of South Highway 395 and East Evelyn Avenue, across from New Hope Community Church. The chamber was awarded $1 mil- lion by the Oregon Legislature in 2018 to build new offi ces and workforce devel- opment space. According to a memo by city planner Clint Spencer in the coun- cil’s agenda packet, the chamber has requested the Evelyn Avenue property be rezoned from multi-family residential to outlying commercial, and plans to pur- chase the property and build a facility there if the rezone is approved. Monday’s meeting will include a pub- lic hearing on the issue. On Monday, the city will also consider awarding a $3.3 million contract to Pre- mier Excavation of Pasco for construc- tion of a new water tower. The 1 million-gallon steel tank will be located at the intersection of Punkin Center Road and Northeast 10th Street. It will also include 2 miles of new water mains and major improvements to the Alora Heights booster pump station. The project will provide adequate water for housing development to more than 300 acres in the northeast part of Hermiston. According to the city it will also serve the property at the intersection of North- east 10th Street and Theater Lane, where Hermiston School District hopes to one day build an elementary school, saving the district up to $2 million in develop- ment costs. Umatilla County is contributing $2 million to the project using the fi rst four years of payments in lieu of taxes from Lamb Weston’s new expansion in the city of Hermiston’s enterprise zone. The city will also use its half of the payments to cover the rest of the water project’s costs. The council will also hold a public hearing on Monday on a request from the Hermiston School District and Hermis- ton Irrigation District to annex land off Theater Lane — 19 acres held by the school district and 51 acres by the irri- gation district — into the land. The prop- erty is currently undeveloped. The city council meets at 7 p.m. at city hall, 180 N.E. Second St. Visit hermiston. or.us/meetings for the full agenda packet. Taxpayers to pick up legislature’s settlement bill By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE, AUBREY WIEBER and MARK MILLER Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — In the next month, the Legislature will write a check for $1.1 million to fi nish its settlement of sexual harassment claims at the Capitol. But it won’t be legislators or employees accused of the miscon- duct who have to pay. The money comes from taxpayers. The settlement between the Ore- gon Bureau of Labor and Industries and the Legislature was announced Tuesday. Nine victims will receive up to $415,000 each. The Legislature will pay for the settlement using extra money ini- tially budgeted for other purposes, according to Legislative Fiscal Offi - cer Ken Rocco. The Legislative Assembly, which is part of the overall legisla- tive branch of state government, has spent about 70 percent of its $41 mil- lion budget and is 80 percent of the way through its current two-year budget cycle, which ends June 30. The Legislature gets nearly all of its money from the state’s general fund, which is paid by taxpayers, according to state records. The legislative branch has spent less than expected on personnel, Rocco said. When the economy is doing as well as it is now, fewer people want the part-time, limit- ed-duration jobs available during the session. Under the settlement, the Legis- lature will cut the check to the state labor bureau within 30 days. Then the labor bureau will dis- tribute the money to the victims of harassment. The Legislature will pay nearly $1.1 million in non-economic dam- ages to eight victims, about $26,000 in legal fees to a state senator who was harassed, and $200,000 to the labor bureau for attorneys’ fees and out of pocket expenses. The bureau’s investigation, released Jan. 3, focused largely on the actions of former state Sen. Jeff Kruse, who resigned a year ago, although the behavior of three law- makers was called out in the report. But it’s not clear which lawmak- ers’ actions led to settlement money for which victims. A spokesman for the labor bureau declined to disclose that information Wednesday. The settlement caps allegations dating back to October 2017, when Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, pub- licly accused Kruse of inappropriate behavior. Internal investigations by the Leg- islature were followed by the labor bureau’s investigation and resulting complaint in January against legisla- tive leaders. See Settlement, Page A10