NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11
Hemp takes center stage at Farm Fair
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO MEDIA GROUP
For years, the Hermiston
Farm Fair has been a desti-
nation for potato, grain and
vegetable farmers in the
Columbia Basin to learn
about new research and
technology.
Add industrial hemp to
the list of crops featured at
this year’s 46th annual semi-
nars and trade show.
As hemp continues to
gain ground across Ore-
gon, scientists and regula-
tors presented their latest
fi ndings about the versatile
plant during a half-day sem-
inar Dec. 4, covering every-
thing from federal regula-
tions to managing pests and
diseases.
Gary McAnich, program
manager for the Oregon
Department of Agriculture,
discussed the state’s role in
overseeing hemp production
and complying with interim
rules recently issued by the
USDA.
“We try to treat hemp
just like any other crop,”
McAnich said, though he
added there are caveats due
to its close relationship to
marijuana.
The 2018 Farm Bill offi -
cially classifi ed hemp as
Capital Press File
Hemp grows in an Oregon fi eld.
an agricultural commodity,
removing it from the list of
Schedule I drugs. ODA has
issued hemp grower licenses
under a pilot program since
2015 under the previous
Farm Bill.
Since then, the state has
gone from 13 registered
growers and 105 acres to
1,957 growers and 63,684
acres as of Nov. 7. That
includes 112 registered
growers in Eastern Ore-
gon, including Umatilla,
Morrow, Union, Wallowa,
Grant, Baker, Malheur and
Harney counties.
“We saw a big explosion
in 2019 as a result of the
2018 Farm Bill being put
into place, McAnich said.
ODA already complies
with several major provi-
sions of the interim USDA
rules, McAnich said, such
as tracking acreage and test-
ing plants for levels of tet-
rahydrocannabinol, or THC.
By defi nition, industrial
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Some law enforcement agencies are changing how offi cers
conduct traffi c stops following an Oregon Supreme Court
ruling that changes what questions an offi cer can ask after
pulling someone over.
questions leading up to the
search were irrelevant to the
traffi c stop and lacked con-
stitutional justifi cation.
The Oregon Court of
Appeals rejected the argu-
ment set forth by Arreo-
la-Botello’s attorney, but
this ruling overturned that
decision.
Various studies that show
people of color are more
likely to have their vehicles
searched during traffi c stops.
“Our conclusion today
— that all questioning must
be reasonably related to the
purpose for the traffi c stop
— will ensure that an offi -
cer’s questions are not based
on such biases,” the ruling
states.
Days after the ruling was
issued, the Oregon Criminal
Justice Commission released
traffi c stop data from 12
of the state’s largest law
enforcement agencies. The
report showed that people in
minority groups are slightly
more likely to be cited during
a traffi c stop than white peo-
ple. The Portland Police
Bureau was twice as likely
to search black people than
white, according to the data.
Data on medium and
smaller agencies will come
out in the next two years,
according to the commission.
Edmiston said he felt the
Hermiston Police Depart-
ment drives away from bias.
“We’re really proud of the
fact that we have a force that
is proportional to the com-
munity,” Edmiston said.
According to 2018 Cen-
sus Bureau estimates, Herm-
iston’s Hispanic or Latino
population is at 36.7%.
He said that almost 26%
of offi cers with the depart-
ment are bilingual.
Kara Davis, assistant
director of Intermountain
Defenders Inc. in Pendle-
ton, said the ruling could
reduce discrimination. She
said sometimes it’s some-
thing related to another cul-
ture or a lower class that can
draw an offi cer’s attention.
“They’re not going to ask a
random lawyer if they have
weapons on them,” she said,
adding that when she took on
possession cases, about half
of them started with traffi c
stops.
T he ruling doesn’t affect
an offi cer who requests a
search based on reason-
able suspicion — the smell
of alcohol on someone’s
breath, or the sight of pack-
aged drugs on the passenger
seat, for instance.
“I wish the public knew
they had the right to say
no to anything the offi cer
requests voluntarily,” she
said. “People get nervous
around police offi cers. That
if they say no, they’ll look
guilty.”
MEDICAL DIRECTORY
To advertise in the Medical Directory, please call:
Jeanne at 541-564-4531 or Audra at 541-564-4538
Parents at the Umatilla
School District are well
aware — fl u season has
arrived.
In a letter to parents
last week, Superintendent
Heidi Sipe said McNary
Heights
Elementary
School was seeing “unusu-
ally high rates of illness,”
and some children had
confi rmed cases of infl u-
enza — the fl u.
“This is a fi rst. We’ve
defi nitely had trends with
illness,” she said. “But
we’ve never had this level
of absences due to illness
before.”
On Dec. 3, Sipe said,
24% of students were
absent from the elemen-
tary school. She added that
during the long Thanksgiv-
ing weekend, custodial staff
at the school sanitized desks
and surfaces hoping to stop
the spreading sickness in its
tracks. But when students
returned that Monday, more
than 25% of students were
nowhere to be seen.
On Thursday morning,
about 19% of students were
still missing from classes.
Kids returning to school
after illness absences are
getting their temperatures
checked.
“Now, it’s much better
than it was,” Sipe said on
Wednesday afternoon. “But
those are still really high
absentee numbers.”
The school is asking
parents to keep children
with minor symptoms like
congestion and coughing
home. On its website, the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention lists fever
(but not always), cough-
ing, sore throat, runny or
stuffy nose, muscle aches
and headaches, fatigue and
occasionally vomiting or
diarrhea as possible symp-
toms of infl uenza.
Unlike a cold, the symp-
toms of infl uenza are often
sudden. The fl u can be
in and urge a closure.
At
the
Hermis-
ton School District last
Wednesday,
absences
ranged from 9% at High-
land Hills Elementary
Fiumara
Sipe
School to 15% at the high
school.
Superintendent
Tri-
deadly for seniors, children
under 5 and people with cia Mooney said it can
chronic medical conditions be hard to say, with the
like diabetes. The CDC recent Thanksgiving holi-
estimates up to 26,000 chil- day, what exactly is caus-
dren under 5 are hospital- ing absences.
“We do know the fl u
ized in the U.S. each year
is going around. We put
for infl uenza.
Sipe said the high school information out to par-
and middle school saw up ents and staff about what
to 16% of their student bod- to look for. Our custodial
staff is taking extra care,”
ies absent on Wednesday.
she said.
The dis-
On Mon-
trict
con-
“IT’S NEVER day night,
tacted
the
Scott Depew,
Umatilla
TOO LATE
directory of
C o u n t y
secondary
H e a l t h
TO GET
education for
Department
YOUR FLU
HSD, gave
last week.
Hermiston
“Any-
SHOT.”
city council-
time there’s
Joe Fiumara, director
ors an update,
a larger than
at the Umatilla County
noting that
expected
Health Department
the
school
absence, and
district was
there are stu-
still seeing a
dents (with)
a lot of matching symp- lot of kids sick, but staff
toms, then schools will were being diligent in san-
reach out to us,” said Joe itizing everything.
Fiumara noted fl u sea-
Fiumara, director at the
son usually takes off at the
health department.
He said the county end of December and early
didn’t have precise data January across Oregon. He
about whether all of the said he noticed it tends to
ill students at McNary hit the eastern part of the
Heights were battling state earlier.
“Across the state, hos-
infl uenza, but when the
vast population has simi- pital visits regarding infl u-
lar symptoms, the health enza are beginning to
department can make an increase. It’s that time of
educated guess that the fl u year, it looks like it’s peak-
ing a little sooner than last
is spreading.
He said the health year,” he said. “It’s never
department can provide too late to get your fl u shot.”
Fiumara said this year,
the schools with guidance
and next steps about clean- Infl uenza B seems to
ing and notifying parents. be coming up as a pre-
In most cases, he added, dominant strain and it is
it’s up to the district on included in this year’s fl u
whether they’ll close the vaccine.
“We don’t really have
school because of high ill-
data yet on how good of a
ness numbers.
When absentee num- match (the vaccine) is, but
bers are really striking, the it looks like it could be a
health department will step good match,” he said.
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“We saw a whole lot of root
rot, and things like that.”
Frost said the region did
see some gray mold later in
the season — though not as
bad as the Willamette Valley
and Southern Oregon, where
rainy conditions threatened
to ruin whole fi elds.
The clinic focused pri-
marily on soil-borne fungal
diseases like fusarium root
and crown rot, which causes
poor root development,
stunting and wilting of hemp
plants, as well as curly top
virus, a disease carried by
an insect known as the beet
leafhopper.
Curly top virus can cause
hemp leaves to become
brittle and distorted, while
reducing yield.
To manage the disease,
Frost said growers should
closely monitor insect
and weed populations and
remove affected plants if
possible. They can also
use rotation crops or adjust
planting dates to improve
soil health and avoid fungal
infections.
“I think most people are
still learning about this on
the fl y,” Frost said. “We
hope to accumulate more
knowledge and provide
that back to growers in the
future.”
Umatilla School District sees
unprecedented absences due to illness
Umatilla County prepares
for change in traffi c stops
Lawyers and law enforce-
ment agencies alike are still
processing a recent Oregon
Supreme Court ruling that
changes how police conduct
traffi c stops.
The ruling, issued Nov.
15, affects what types of
questions that law enforce-
ment offi cers can ask during
the “unavoidable lull” that
occurs during a regular traf-
fi c stop within the handful
of minutes it might take for
someone to track down their
proof of insurance and reg-
istration in a crowded glove
box.
The Hermiston Police
Department is prepared to
comply, according to Herm-
iston Police Chief Jason
Edmiston.
“This is going to further
hinder the ability to stop
potential criminal activity in
motion,” He said. “So much
contraband is in motion all
the time in vehicles.”
He said the ruling could
eventually cause a decline in
DUII enforcement.
The ruling follows a crim-
inal case involving the Bea-
verton Police Department.
An offi cer lawfully pulled
over defendant Mario Arre-
ola-Botello for failing to
signal during both a lane
change and turn. While Arre-
ola-Botello was searching
for paperwork, the offi cer
asked about the presence of
weapons and drugs in the
vehicle, and if he would con-
sent to a search.
Arreola-Botello — who
primarily spoke Spanish,
according to the ruling —
agreed to the search. The
offi cer found a baggie of
methamphetamine, and an
arrest ensued. Arreola-Bo-
tello was charged with pos-
session of meth, despite his
attorney motioning to sup-
press the evidence obtained
during the search and later
appealing the conviction —
the argument being that the
hemp cannot exceed 0.3%
THC.
However, the agency has
only been testing for delta-9
THC — the main psychoac-
tive component in cannabis
that gets users high. Under
the USDA proposal, it calls
for testing “total THC,” tak-
ing into account other com-
pounds that can convert to
delta-9 THC when heat is
applied.
McAnich said the agency
will switch to testing for
total THC beginning in
2020. But hemp harvested
in 2019 will not be re-tested
under the more stringent
standard, meaning growers
will not have to worry about
potentially losing some or
all of this year’s crop.
The USDA regulations
also call for testing hemp
within 15 days of harvest,
as opposed to 28 days under
the Oregon rules, compress-
ing the timeline for growers.
McAnich said his phone
has been ringing off the
hook with concerns about
differences between the
state and federal plans.
“This is the time right
now to provide comments
(to the USDA),” he said.
Meanwhile, the 2019
growing season was the fi rst
opportunity for researchers
at Oregon State Universi-
ty’s Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Extension
Center to take a closer look
at studying the hemp grow-
ing around the region.
Ken Frost, a plant pathol-
ogist at the station, gave a
presentation about diseases
they observed in hemp based
on samples brought into the
plant clinic at HAREC.
“Early on, we had some
cooler temperatures. Things
were a little wet,” Frost said.
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