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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2019)
NATION Saturday, June 22, 2019 East Oregonian A9 California to illegal pot shops: We’re coming for you By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File In this April 15, 2019, fi le photo, Secretary of the Army Mark Esper speaks to soldiers and family members in Ft. Bragg, N.C. A perilous time to have temps running the Pentagon By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON — It’s a perilous time to have temps running the Pentagon. President Donald Trump’s brinkmanship with Iran is on the boil, spilling beyond diplomacy to a planned air attack on Iran that Trump said he ordered, then pulled back at least for now. This, as the U.S. undertakes an unusual troop deployment to the Mexican border, tends its nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan and grapples with stalled talks with North Korea over its nuclear weap- ons program. Through it all, the U.S. has no defense secretary, but rather an acting one who is taking over from another acting one, who suddenly quit. And the latest one, Army Secretary Mark Esper, who takes over Sunday, might only be able to serve as act- ing Pentagon chief for less than two months under the rules, requiring yet another short-term boss before it’s all sorted out. On Fri- day night, Trump offi cially announced he intended to nominate Esper for the per- manent job. Temporary leadership is a hallmark of Trump’s admin- istration. “It gives me more fl exibility,” Trump has said of the many people in acting leadership jobs, not always by his choice. The practice lets Trump quickly, if temporarily, install allies in important positions while circumvent- ing the Senate confi rmation process, which can be risky with Republicans running the chamber by a slim 53-47 margin. But the Senate Dem- ocratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, says it’s out of hand. “With everything going on in Iran and all the prov- ocations and counteractions, and to have no secretary of defense at this time is appall- ing,” he said. “It shows the chaos in this administration. They have so many empty positions, revolving doors, in the most sensitive of secu- rity positions.” Tensions with Iran quickly escalated this week after an attack on freighters at sea that the U.S. blamed on Iran. Tehran announced it was breaking from com- mitments it made under the accord that restrains its nuclear ambitions — a deal Trump withdrew from last year. Iran then downed a U.S. drone, prompting Trump to order a retaliatory strike that he said he shelved 10 minutes before Iran was to be hit. As the situation grew more dangerous this week, the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, stepped down, saying he wanted to spare his family a pub- lic airing of domestic prob- lems linked to his messy divorce nearly a decade ago. Trump said months ago he would nominate Shanahan for the defense job and seek his Senate confi rmation but he never did. Offi cials said repeatedly that the vetting of Shanahan was dragging on. Trump immediately named Esper as the new act- ing secretary, but because of limitations laid out in court decisions and legis- lation governing how top vacancies are fi lled, he may only be able to serve for six weeks. Inside the Pentagon, lawyers are debating how to get Esper through what would be a diffi cult legal and congressional confi r- mation process. Defense offi cials said Thursday they had yet to fi nd a clear way forward. For the moment both Shanahan and Esper have been attending White House and other meetings and tak- ing part in debates over how to respond to Iran’s destruc- tion of the drone. Esper is slated to take over as acting defense sec- retary at midnight Sunday, then head out Tuesday to a meeting of NATO defense ministers. There it will be critical for Esper to con- vince allies that he is now in charge, and that the U.S. national security leadership is stable and able to make decisions in crises. While lawmakers have expressed initial support for Esper, who is well known on the Hill and previously served on committees as legislative staff, there is no guarantee he’ll get quick approval. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Fri- day threw out the murder con- viction and death sentence for a black man in Missis- sippi because of a prosecutor’s efforts to keep African Amer- icans off the jury. The defen- dant already has been tried six times and now could face a seventh trial. The removal of black pro- spective jurors deprived inmate Curtis Flowers of a fair trial, the court said in a 7-2 decision written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The long record of Flow- ers’ trials stretching back more than 20 years shows Dis- trict Attorney Doug Evans’ “relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individ- uals,” with the goal of an all- white jury, Kavanaugh wrote. In Flowers’ sixth trial, the jury was made up of 11 whites and one African American. Prosecutor Evans struck fi ve 1055 S. Hwy 395, Suite 313 Hermiston, OR 97838 541-289-5454 • Fax: 541-289-5456 www.hermistoncornerstone.com met the state’s safety stan- dards,” Ajax said in an ear- lier statement. The ads are also intended to telegraph a warning to illicit shops and underground growers: Get licensed to operate in the legal market, or shut down. The need for tougher enforcement came up repeatedly at the forum, which was organized by the United Cannabis Business Association, a trade group. State Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, called the problem the “biggest failure right now in the system.” “Regulations are merely suggestions without an enforcement arm,” he said, adding that the state and local governments are fail- ing to work together. Nicole Elliott, senior adviser on cannabis to Gov. Gavin Newsom, said state funds for enforcement would nearly double in the fi scal year than begins July 1, to $113 million. California kicked off broad legal sales Jan. 1, 2018. But the illegal market has continued a bustling business, in part because consumers can avoid steep tax rates by buying in unli- censed dispensaries. But there’s a trade-off for saving a buck. Illegal products have not met strict state testing standards and could be tainted by mold, pesticides, heavy metals — even human waste. “Do you know what’s hiding in your counterfeit edibles?” one ad asks. Agency spokesman Alex Traverso said the ads are part of a three-pronged campaign intended to even- tually corral illegal sales — the others are enforce- ment, including shutting down illegal shops and farms, and quickly licens- ing businesses that want to enter the legal economy. The state is spending an initial $1.7 million on the campaign and hopes to “get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible,” Tra- verso said. No one is predicting the campaign will bring illicit sales to a halt. But it’s being seen as another step to aid legal businesses as the state transitions from what was once a largely illegal economy into a mul- tibillion-dollar, regulated marketplace. PENDLETON LINEBACKER’S CLUB HALL OF FAME WEEKEND SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Friday, June 28th Pendleton Convention Center black prospective jurors. portraying him as a radical, the one-time judge is laying out the argument that state voters are tired of Washing- ton interference. That may be. But some die-hard Republicans aren’t happy with Moore running again after questions about his relationships with young girls decades ago translated into a narrow 2017 victory for longshot Democrat Doug Jones. “You can paint a leopard any color you want but he still has spots, and that’s what Moore has. Moore still has his spots,” 66-year-old retiree and faithful Republican Richard Clayton said Friday. Roy Moore in uphill battle to woo skeptical voters MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — In a state that has long been reliably Repub- lican, Roy Moore faces an uphill battle in winning over skeptical voters to take back the Alabama Senate seat he lost two years ago amid alle- gations of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls. With GOP leaders includ- ing President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell aligned against him and Democrats 5:00 - 6:45 p.m. • Cocktails Dinner & Auction (Dinner $30) 6:45 p.m. • Introduction of Hall of Fame Inductees 9:30 p.m. • Close Saturday, June 29th 29th Annual Don Requa Memorial Golf Tournament Wildhorse Golf Resort 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. • Registration 8:00 a.m. • Shotgun Start 1:00 p.m. • Awards 1:00 p.m. • Lunch (Golf $65 per player) Sunday, June 30th Harrison Family Medicine Welcomes Buckaroo Football Hall of Fame Breakfast Andrea Carrasco, M.D. Prepared by the Veterans of Foreign Wars 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. • Stillman Park (Breakfast $8) Pendleton Linebackers Hall of Fame 2019 Inductees • Accepting patients • Accepting all insurances • Schedule an appointment today! Starting July 1, 2019 CORNERSTONE AP Photo/Richard Vogel Christy Banda, a representative for the Jack Herer canna- bis company, displays their latest marijuana fl ower during the networking expo WeedCon West 2019 in Los Angeles on Thursday. Hall of Fame Reception BRIEFLY Court tosses black man’s conviction over racial bias LOS ANGELES — Cal- ifornia is planning to inten- sify its enforcement against the state’s thriving illegal marijuana market, includ- ing launching an ad cam- paign Friday that urges con- sumers to seek out licensed shops with safe products. The state has been under pressure by the legal indus- try to do more to stop the illicit pot economy, which in Los Angeles and other cities often operates in plain sight. According to some estimates, up to 80 percent of sales in the state remain under the table, snatching profi ts from legal storefronts. “We are going to start having a more aggres- sive enforcement stance to come after the illegal mar- ket,” Lori Ajax, the state’s top cannabis regulator, said at an industry forum. The state announced it was kicking off a pub- lic information campaign — Get #weedwise — that encourages consumers to verify that their purchases are tested and legal. Ads will be hitting social media sites and billboards promoting a state website where shoppers can quickly check if a shop is licensed — CApotcheck.com. The campaign makes a simple argument: You don’t know what you’re getting if you buy illegal products. One ad says, “What’s in your weed shouldn’t be a mystery. Shop licensed cannabis retailers only.” The campaign “will directly impact consumer safety by clarifying that only cannabis purchased from licensed retailers has • Casey Hunt • Jon Peterson • Sarah Keeler • Mike Hodgen • Sara Jane Rosenberg • Bill McCrae • Michael Corey • John Fossatti • Drew Larson • Mike Rickman • Leon Ransom • Chuck Jenson • Sue Johnston The 1963-1964 Buckaroo Football Team Harrison Family Medicine 1100 Southgate, Suite 2 Pendleton, OR 97801 Phone: 541-215-1564 Fax: 541-215-1567 Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM 2019 Scholarship Recipients Kirk Liscom & Aiden Patterson
