NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Walla Walla police add three drones to fleet
Three officers
received FAA
licenses to fly the
unmanned aerial
vehicles
By EMILY THORNTON
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA —
Residents could notice more
buzzing in the air, particu-
larly near crime scenes, as
three drones are among the
Walla Walla Police Depart-
ment’s tools.
Three officers received
their
Federal
Aviation
Administration licenses to
fly the unmanned aerial sys-
tems, which were bought
recently, according to Walla
Walla Police Sgt. Eric Knud-
son. He added officials
have discussed having the
machines for about a year, as
they’ve become increasingly
useful.
“In 2017, it was estimated
that about 347 police depart-
ments, sheriffs’ offices,
and EMS and fire depart-
ments in 43 states were fly-
ing drones,” according to
an April 2019 report on the
USDOJ’s Community Ori-
ented Policing Services
“Community Policing Dis-
patch” website. “And it is
expected that this number
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Photo/Greg Lehman
Walla Walla police Detective Chris Ruchert demonstrates the
department’s new drone recently.
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Photo/Greg Lehman
Three officers received their Federal Aviation Administration licenses to fly unmanned aerial
systems, which were bought recently, according to Walla Walla Police Sgt. Eric Knudson. He
added officials have discussed having the machines for about a year, as they’ve become in-
creasingly useful.
will grow dramatically.”
Benton
and
Frank-
lin counties already have
drones, Walla Walla Detec-
tive Chris Ruchert said, and
have used them for crime
scenes, such as officer-in-
volved shootings.
“I think it’ll be a really
valuable tool for us to have,”
she said.
Officer Logan Morris,
Officer Eric Eastman and
Ruchert attended a pre-
paratory course in March
and successfully tested in
September.
Ruchert said they weren’t
quite ready to use them rou-
tinely for crime scenes, but
likely would use Morris on
the drones in an emergency,
as he has had practice with
his personal machine. She
said more practice would
ensure drones wouldn’t
crash or put people in danger.
“It’s a new program for
us,” she said. “We’re still
getting confident and pro-
ficient. … It’ll be exciting
when we’re fully functional.
There’s always a learning
curve during training.”
Ruchert said she’s flown
the machines a few times
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
Partly sunny
Mostly cloudy, a
fl urry; chilly
39° 26°
35° 25°
39° 28°
37° 28°
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Rather cloudy and
chilly
SATURDAY
Mainly cloudy
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
and it was fun. However,
she knew the additions
weren’t meant for play and
wished the department had
them sooner, such as during
a recent case involving a
barricaded person, a situ-
ation that required SWAT
assistance.
“It would have been help-
ful to have it in the back of
the house without the sus-
pect knowing what we were
doing,” she said, adding the
machines could get a per-
spective of the scene without
putting officers in potential
harm’s way.
Parent company,
Nugget CBD, also
owns locations in
Ontario, Idaho
By SABRINA
THOMPSON
EO Media Group
41° 24°
40° 26°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
37° 24°
40° 28°
41° 26°
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
43/37
39/26
39/28
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
38/25
Lewiston
41/38
40/30
Astoria
45/37
Pullman
Yakima 38/29
42/35
41/29
Portland
Hermiston
42/38
The Dalles 39/28
Salem
Corvallis
41/35
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
38/21
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
43/36
39/24
39/24
Ontario
41/25
Caldwell
Burns
48°
37°
38°
27°
62° (1936) -17° (1983)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
42/37
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
41/34
Trace
0.13"
1.11"
5.08"
7.57"
9.58"
WINDS (in mph)
41/26
35/17
0.13"
0.75"
1.16"
12.33"
9.96"
12.63"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 36/19
42/37
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
39/26
42/32
46°
39°
39°
25°
64° (1950) -19° (1983)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
43/34
Aberdeen
38/27
34/28
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
44/38
Today
Wed.
SW 3-6
NNW 4-8
NNE 3-6
N 4-8
36/25
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:34 a.m.
4:15 p.m.
5:56 a.m.
3:15 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
Dec 25
Jan 2
Jan 10
Jan 17
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 79° in Falfurrias, Texas Low -13° in Antero Reservoir, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
LA GRANDE — A store
specializing in selling CBD
products celebrated its grand
opening on Friday in La
Grande.
Nugget CBD, a company
with locations in Ontario
and in Idaho owned by Jenny
and Justin Long of Baker
City, offers CBD (cannabi-
diol) in various forms at a
new shop next to the Local
Harvest Eatery and Pub on
Island Avenue. Angela Lees,
Jenny Long’s sister-in-law,
manages the store.
“All of our stuff is for
health and wellness, not rec-
reational use,” Lees said.
Products at the store con-
tain less that 0.3% THC (tet-
rahydrocannabinol),
the
main psychoactive com-
pound in marijuana that
gives the feeling of being
high. The low level is a
requirement of federal law.
CBD and THC are two
natural compounds in plants
of the Cannabis genus.
CBD can be extracted from
hemp or from marijuana.
Hemp plants are cannabis
plants that contain less than
0.3% THC, while marijuana
plants are cannabis plants
that contain higher concen-
trations of THC.
CBD products have been
said to relieve pain and anxi-
ety and help with sleep.
“I think the biggest issue
will be getting people to get
past the perception it is mar-
ijuana,” Lees said. “(CBD) is
a health and wellness prod-
uct and not anything to be
ashamed of.”
While other stores in La
Grande sell items contain-
ing CBD, including Nature’s
Pantry and Desires, Nug-
get CBD is the only store
in town selling only these
products.
“I saw a need in the com-
munity with people having
to drive all the way to Pend-
leton to purchase specific
CBD products,” Lees said.
“The more we talked to peo-
ple in the area, the more we
found everyone was taking
it.”
Larry Murphy of La
Grande has used prod-
ucts containing cannabi-
diol in the past to help when
he was fighting cancer. He
attended the grand opening
to see what is now locally
available.
“I had cancer twice, and I
heard there were a lot of ben-
efits to CBD,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the chemo-
therapy made eating diffi-
cult, and after using some of
the CBD candies he was able
to eat again.
Lees uses CBD herself to
help with sleep and said she
has seen products help with
pain.
“I see people come in who
are in so much pain, and it
breaks my heart,” Lees said.
“I want to do what I can to
help them.”
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
-10s
able or are less effective,”
according to a WWPD social
media post. Police won’t use
the UAS for “random sur-
veillance activities, and our
operators will follow the
guidelines established by the
FAA for operation.”
“We’re not going to send
a drone up and spy in peo-
ple’s yards,” Ruchert added.
Scenarios likely involv-
ing drones include search
and rescue, providing visu-
als, documenting crime
scenes, managing disasters,
and in deploying officers in
barricaded and/or hostage
situations. They also may
help police understand the
scope of an incident. Fatal
collisions could be another
opportunity for drones to
document from overhead,
Knudson said.
New CBD store opens in La Grande
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
35° 24°
“Personally, I’d rather
lose a $3,000 drone than an
officer,” she said.
Having the DJI Mavic
2 Enterprise Dual, one of
the WWPD’s drones, also
would’ve helped during a
recent silver alert involv-
ing a missing woman,
Knudson said. Several offi-
cers searched on foot in
the dense woods near Fort
Walla Walla, he said, but
the drone’s thermal imaging
could’ve been used.
The other two drones
bought by the WWPD were
the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise
Zoom and the DJI Spark, for
training.
The $8,502 worth of
drones and equipment will
be used to protect “lives and
property when other means
and resources are not avail-
10s
rain
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ice
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cold front
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BRIEFLY
Oregon truck stop stabbing
investigated as hate crime
towards a racially motivated crime,” police
said in a statement.
ONTARIO — Authorities are investigat-
ing a stabbing in an Eastern Oregon truck stop
as a possible hate crime.
The Ontario Police Department said Ron-
nell Hughes, who is a 48-year-old black man,
was at an Arby’s Restaurant about 9:40 a.m.
Saturday when he was stabbed multiple times
in the neck by Nolan Strauss, 26, of Nebraska.
Strauss, who is a white man, is believed
to be a truck driver and remains in Malheur
County Jail on charges of attempted murder,
assault and intimidation. It’s unclear if he’s
represented by an attorney.
Police said Hughes recently moved to the
area and was inside the Pilot truck stop seek-
ing employment. He was sitting down at the
Arby’s near the Idaho border when he was
attacked with a knife unprovoked.
Hughes was taken to an Idaho hospital in
“stable” condition.
The Arby’s employees who intervened and
subdued Strauss were not hurt.
Police said there’s no indication the two
men knew each other or interacted before the
sudden attack.
“The motive for the attack leans heavily
Oregonians to see increased
cost for car registrations
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