Cupcake racism; cop's drink not drugged; plumber bias tosses murder case
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Odd and interesting news from around the West.
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MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) β Authorities say wolves killed two calves and wounded a third last week in western Klamath County.
The Mail Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2e2ae3C ) the area where the animals were killed is known to be frequented by the Rogue Pack. But authorities haven't confirmed whether the pack is to blame.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports say wolves killed an 800-pound calf Oct. 2, and three wolves were observed feeding on the carcass the next day. A 600-pound calf was killed Oct. 4 and a third calf suffered wolf bites the following night.
John Stephenson with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it's now a higher priority to have a Rogue Pack member collared to keep track of the animals.
He says the pack could be as large as nine wolves.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
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PHOENIX (AP) β A couple has been arrested for allegedly leaving the woman's young son inside a car while they gambled at a Scottsdale casino.
Scottsdale police say 23-year-old Brad Porter Jr. and 25-year-old Jessica Lopez were arrested around 3:30 a.m. Sunday outside Casino Arizona.
Court documents state that Lopez's 5-year-old son was left alone inside the couple's vehicle and police found marijuana and three bottles of beer inside the car.
Police say Porter and Lopez are facing child abuse, endangerment, drug possession and drug paraphernalia charges.
It was unclear Monday if either Porter or Lopez has an attorney yet.
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) β A New Mexico court ruling says a driver isn't violating a local law against obstructing traffic merely by waiting 5 to 15 seconds before proceeding after a light turns green.
The Court of Appeals ruling overturns the conviction of a man who was stopped by an officer in downtown Albuquerque early in the morning.
The ruling says the officer had pulled up behind Terence Goodman at a red light and then stopped Goodman after Goodman waited 5 to 15 seconds after the light turned green.
The court said the Albuquerque ordinance provided no standard to judge a permissible delay and that there was no evidence that the officer was inconvenienced or even forced to wait another full light cycle.
The ruling vacated Goodman's conviction.
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YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) β Yakama tribal members are helping build tiny houses for those who have been living at a homeless encampment on the reservation.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports (http://bit.ly/2d92Yg7 ) about 130 people have been living at the encampment since being evicted from tribal housing projects over the summer. They are among about 270 tribal members who were asked to leave the housing projects for failing to comply with lease agreements.
Volunteers were helping to build new tiny houses for the homeless residents Monday.
Jenece Howe, who oversees the encampment, says residents have to follow certain rules in order to move into the new 8-by-10-foot structures. The rules include cleaning up, attending tenant meetings and refraining from alcohol and drugs.
Residents will also have access to substance abuse treatment, GED classes, and banking courses.
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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakimaherald.com
- By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune
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MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) β Motorists do double-takes as they gawk at fields of cannabis plants flowering just outside Ashland.
But what they're looking at are 40,000 medicinal hemp plants covering 30 sloping acres at the foothills of Grizzly Peak on East Nevada Street.
"There's a lot of people wondering what's going on," said Chris Bourne, one of several partners in this unusual cannabis operation. "People have concerns, people have fears and people are stoked that we're doing it."
Instead of growing the more common hemp plants for their fiber, Bourne grows only female hemp plants that barely have any trace of the active ingredient that makes people high.
The cannabis plants look exactly the same as their more intoxicating cousins and are even pushing out purple flowers as they get ready for harvest. They also have a similar odor that annoys some and makes others beam with pleasure.
But smokers would be disappointed at the lack of a buzz.
Typical marijuana plants have tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that produces the high. Bourne's plants are being grown for the cannabidiol, or CBD, that many believe is good for pain relief, seizures, Parkinson's disease and other ailments. In Oregon, hemp plants are limited to a maximum 0.3 percent THC.
"These plants have strong anti-inflammatory properties," Bourne said.
Bourne said his fields have been tested and found in compliance by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which licenses hemp operations.
"We can sell the CBDs nationwide," he said. "There's ways to monetize it nationally."
He said the oils are used by research groups and clinical trials to determine how effective they are at managing ailments.
Ron Pence, operations manager at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said he could confirm that Permaag LLC, the name of the company that runs the hemp farm, has an active license.
Pence said female hemp operations are becoming more common statewide, and 80 to 90 percent of growers have told him they are looking to extract CBDs.
"These are big, bushy plants with lots and lots of flower," he said. "It looks like marijuana, smells like marijuana."
Pence said most hemp farms are interested in growing organic crops.
He said the largest operation he knows of in the state is 75 acres near Salem, but he said the Ashland farm is a pretty good size as well.
Most passersby on the east side of Ashland are content to observe the hemp farm from their vehicles. But the sight of all those plants tempted someone to steal several over the weekend, leaving remnants of some plants lying on the ground. Bourne reported the theft to law enforcement.
"Those plants were going to go to those with Parkinson's disease and other patients," Bourne said. He said additional security steps are being taken to protect the crop.
Because he is growing hemp, his operation falls under a different set of state rules than either recreational or medical marijuana. The largest recreational pot operation can cover only slightly less than an acre, according to Oregon law.
Other marijuana operations bring in soil for growing. Bourne's hemp plants required a tilling, planting and watering, but no amendments were added to the native clay soil.
The hemp went in the ground late in the season when temperatures hit 100 in July, which resulted in shorter plants, varying from 2 to 4 feet.
Initially, Bourne had 75,000 plants in the ground, but 35,000 of them were males and were pulled out.
"It was a lot of work," he said. "We have 34 miles of rows of plants."
He's also growing without using pesticides or any sprays to combat insects. Bourne said he expects to see more insects next year, but he plans to take steps growing other plants that deter bugs to create biodiversity.
During the winter months, Bourne said he will grow a cover crop to fix the nitrogen in the soil.
When the hemp is harvested and dried in a couple of weeks, the CBD oils will be extracted and processed, Bourne said.
By next year, Bourne and his partners hope to have 500 to 1,000 acres of hemp growing in Southern Oregon, though he's not ready to disclose the location.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) β Major New Mexico State University fans could bring some of the school's history home with them as the university is auctioning off the old gym floor.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/2dIsdc4 ) that the Pan Am Basketball Floor, as it's called on the auction site Public Surplus, went out to bid on Sept. 29 and bidding continues through Thursday night.
Someone has made a bid of $1,000 but NMSU Athletics Director Mario Moccia says the university has a $5,000 asking price.
The portable parquet floor up for auction was named in honor of Lou Henson, the Aggies' National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach and was the court where NMSU won its first Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament title on March 10, 2007.
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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β Utah police say they won't be filing any charges against a sandwich-shop worker accused of drugging a police officer's drink with methamphetamine and THC because they can't confirm the lemonade was actually contaminated.
Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman said Tuesday that initial lab tests showed a foreign substance in the drink from Subway, but those results couldn't be duplicated.
Eighteen-year-old Tanis Ukena was arrested Aug. 8 after a police sergeant reported feeling impaired immediately after getting the drink.
Authorities said the officer, whose name was not released, struggled to find the brake pedal of his patrol car at a red light and couldn't answer questions at the police station.
Ukena's lawyer has said his client is a good kid who had no reason to target a police officer and didn't put anything in the drink.
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) β A Navajo Nation Council panel is opposing a proposed tramway and other tourism development at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers in the Grand Canyon.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports (http://bit.ly/2d5hWZz ) that Law and Order Committee unanimously opposed the Grand Canyon Escalade legislation during a hearing at Twin Arrows Casino Resort in Flagstaff.
The panel's opposition doesn't block the proposal from proceeding further in the legislative process but does show the opposition that has long been against the project. The legislation will go to the full council regardless of whether it gets approved in the committees.
The project has been pitched as a way to create jobs for a largely jobless part of the reservation. It would be along Grand Canyon National Park's eastern edge.
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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) β A Portland bakery is being accused of racism for selling an Oreo cupcake they named "Mr. President."
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (https://is.gd/77FHwe ) that customers have been leaving Yelp reviews criticizing Fat Cupcake for its "Mr. President" pastry. The cupcake is described as an Oreo Cookie baked inside white cake with cookies n' cream buttercream.
Owner Anjelica Hayes says she is black, so the cupcake cannot be racist. She said they originally named the cupcake because it was so good they wanted it to hold public office. She later found out President Obama's favorite cookie was the Oreo.
For now to avoid the controversy Hayes has renamed the cupcake "the Professional." She said the cupcake is still the most popular item at the store despite its name.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
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LOS ANGELES (AP) β A California appeals court has thrown out a murder conviction, ruling that a judge's comments about her poor experiences with plumbers damaged the defendant's chances of a fair trial.
Vincent Tatum, who worked for a plumbing contractor whose testimony was key to his defense, was convicted in 2014 of the shooting death of a man following a dispute in Los Angeles.
In their appeal, defense lawyers cited comments Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter made while addressing potential jurors on the importance of not prejudging witnesses. To prove her point, Hunter recounted what she called "horrible" encounters with plumbers during remodels to her house.
"If I hear somebody is coming in, and I hear he's a plumber, I'm thinking, 'God, he's not going to be telling the truth,'" Hunter told jurors.
The problem, according to the appeals court decision, was that Tatum worked for a plumbing contractor who was his key alibi. The contractor testified that Tatum was at work at the time of the slaying β a statement the prosecutor argued was a lie to protect his friend.
Jurors in the 2014 trial discounted the testimony and convicted Tatum of murder and attempted murder. Tatum was sentenced to 114 years in prison.
A divided three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal tossed Tatum's conviction last week, ruling that Hunter's remarks on plumbers tainted the jury pool and resulted in an unfair trial, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday (http://lat.ms/2dG2tOJ).
"The court's statement that plumbers who came into court were liars validated the prosecutor's argument, irreparably damaging Tatum's chance of receiving a fair trial," two of the three justices on the appellate panel wrote in an Oct. 3 ruling obtained by the Times.
Such comments "interfered with (Tatum's) constitutional right to a jury trial," the judges added.
Hunter could not be reached for comment.
The attorney general's office has a few weeks to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision.
If the high court declines to review the case, prosecutors must decide whether to retry Tatum, now 50. He remains in custody at California State Prison in Lancaster. A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to comment.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β More than four decades after a young girl found her mother stabbed to death in eastern Utah, a 76-year-old Colorado man has pleaded guilty in her death.
Court records show Thomas Edward Egley of Rocky Ford pleaded guilty to a criminal homicide charge Tuesday. Egley was an original suspect in the 1970 death of 23-year-old Loretta Jones in Price, but a judge found there wasn't enough evidence against him and dismissed the case.
The investigation was reopened at the urging of her now-grown daughter, who was determined not to let her mother's death be forgotten. This time, police said Egley acknowledged his role in the slaying.
Egley faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison at a sentencing set for Nov. 22.
His lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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OGDEN, Utah (AP) β Utah school officials say the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating a white teacher's use of a racially charged word in a junior high class.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2e706m7) that Weber School District spokesman Lane Findlay said federal officials contacted the district following a parent complaint about teacher Douglas Barker's use of the N-word before showing the Civil War movie "Glory"
Department of Education spokesman Michael Germano said the agency doesn't comment on open investigations.
Barker has said he was making sure his students understood why the word would be used in the film in April.
But parent Holly Frye, who is black, said her 14-year-old son didn't feel safe at school after the teacher used the word.
NAACP leaders in Ogden have also expressed concern.
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POST FALLS, Idaho (AP) β The family of a Post Falls man who was left permanently disabled after being hit with a stun gun by police in 2012 will receive more than $1 million as part of a settlement.
Kootenai County and Post Falls and Correctional Healthcare Management, which provided medical services to jail inmates in 2012, will both pay the settlement to 66-year-old Marvin Ball, reported the Coeur d'Alene Press (http://bit.ly/2dIAP69).
Ball was involved in an altercation with Post Falls police in 2012 that resulted in him being hit with a stun gun.
He later had a stroke while being held at the Kootenai County jail, and his attorneys argue a lack of medical response caused permanent damage that left him in a wheelchair.
Charges against Ball were dismissed. His son is his primary caregiver.
Ball's attorney Charles Lempesis said he is satisfied that the case has been settled.
"Richard Baughman (fellow attorney) and I have the highest regard for the city of Post Falls and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office," Lempesis said. "They're entitled to make mistakes, but it is our jobs as attorneys to hold people accountable for their actions."
Post Falls Officer Jason DeWitt qualified for immunity for his role in the incident.
"There is not any evidence that Officer DeWitt acted with the intent to cause harm to Ball," U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge wrote in his decision. "Moreover, there is no evidence that the arrest and tazing of Ball caused any harm to Ball as paramedics examined him and he claimed to be fine after the arrest."
Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said what happened to Ball is unfortunate.
"We never want to see what happened to Mr. Ball, but we don't believe the officer was at fault for what happened," Haug said. "The officers have to deal with these difficult situations and life's most challenging moments."
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Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) β A federal appeals court has ruled against Wyoming officials who sought to require the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to round up wild horses from overpopulated herds.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Tuesday upheld a ruling that federal law doesn't mandate roundup of overpopulated wild horses that compete with cattle for forage.
Wild horse advocacy groups, including the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, praised the decision. The groups' attorney, Bill Eubanks, calls it an important new precedent for wild-horse management.
Wild horse numbers exceed federal population goals in several areas across the region. Wyoming sued in 2014, saying allowing too many horses can damage rangelands.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead says he is disappointed and has asked Attorney General Peter Michael to review the state's options.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β California Gov. Jerry Brown's dog "Sutter" has fallen critically ill and is facing a bleak prognosis.
Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said Tuesday that Sutter was rushed to an animal hospital last week and underwent emergency surgery. Veterinarians removed several masses suspected to be cancer from his intestines, lymph nodes and liver.
Westrup says the Browns are awaiting biopsy results but "the prognosis is likely to be very poor."
Sutter is a 13-year-old Pembroke Welsh corgi owned by Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, until she moved out of state following Jerry Brown's election as governor in 2010.
The dog often accompanies Brown to the Capitol and promotes the governor's policies to nearly 10,000 Twitter followers.
Westrup says "the first dog is a fighter and we're all pulling for him."
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DENVER (AP) β The family of a man killed by a Rocky Ford police officer who was convicted of second-degree murder says the tiny department is to blame for hiring him despite his troubled history.
Relatives of 27-year-old Jack Jacquez filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court. It says the department failed to discipline former officer James Ashby for other excessive force cases before he killed Jacquez in October 2014. Ashby was on duty when he followed Jacquez into his mother's home and shot him in the back.
Rocky Ford police did not immediately return a call for comment.
The suit says the department hired Ashby despite well-documented problems at another small police force, where he resigned during an excessive force investigation. It points to a pattern of complaints and violent conflicts involving Ashby.
Ashby is awaiting sentencing.
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GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) β A 37-year-old Gillette man is charged with killing two people, cutting up their bodies with a saw and storing them in his vehicle.
The Gillette News Record reports (http://bit.ly/2dJSbPV ) Michael Montano made his initial appearance in Circuit Court on Tuesday on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 33-year-old Phillip Brewer and 38-year-old Jody Fortuna. Montano also is charged with two counts of mutilation of dead human bodies.
He did not enter a plea. His bail was set at $2.5 million cash. Prosecutors did not indicate a motive.
Campbell County deputies say a woman reported Saturday that she saw Brewer's body in the back of Montano's pickup truck the night before. Another man told investigators that Montano said he cut up the bodies with a saw in his bathtub.
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Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com
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FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) β Police in New Mexico say a woman was intoxicated when she fell while car surfingΒ and died.
Detective Lt. Kyle Lincoln with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office tells The Daily Times of Farmington (http://bit.ly/2dNakcx ) that Wilberta Becenti was standing on top of the car Sunday morning while a driver rode on rough dirt roads.
Lincoln says Becenti was intoxicated at the time. Investigators haven't determined whether the driver was also intoxicated. No charges have been filed.
The Daily Times reports Becenti was 23, but an online obituary lists her age as 21.
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MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) β Authorities say wolves killed two calves and wounded a third last week in western Klamath County.
The Mail Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2e2ae3C ) the area where the animals were killed is known to be frequented by the Rogue Pack. But authorities haven't confirmed whether the pack is to blame.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports say wolves killed an 800-pound calf Oct. 2, and three wolves were observed feeding on the carcass the next day. A 600-pound calf was killed Oct. 4 and a third calf suffered wolf bites the following night.
John Stephenson with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it's now a higher priority to have a Rogue Pack member collared to keep track of the animals.
He says the pack could be as large as nine wolves.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
PHOENIX (AP) β A couple has been arrested for allegedly leaving the woman's young son inside a car while they gambled at a Scottsdale casino.
Scottsdale police say 23-year-old Brad Porter Jr. and 25-year-old Jessica Lopez were arrested around 3:30 a.m. Sunday outside Casino Arizona.
Court documents state that Lopez's 5-year-old son was left alone inside the couple's vehicle and police found marijuana and three bottles of beer inside the car.
Police say Porter and Lopez are facing child abuse, endangerment, drug possession and drug paraphernalia charges.
It was unclear Monday if either Porter or Lopez has an attorney yet.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) β A New Mexico court ruling says a driver isn't violating a local law against obstructing traffic merely by waiting 5 to 15 seconds before proceeding after a light turns green.
The Court of Appeals ruling overturns the conviction of a man who was stopped by an officer in downtown Albuquerque early in the morning.
The ruling says the officer had pulled up behind Terence Goodman at a red light and then stopped Goodman after Goodman waited 5 to 15 seconds after the light turned green.
The court said the Albuquerque ordinance provided no standard to judge a permissible delay and that there was no evidence that the officer was inconvenienced or even forced to wait another full light cycle.
The ruling vacated Goodman's conviction.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) β Yakama tribal members are helping build tiny houses for those who have been living at a homeless encampment on the reservation.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports (http://bit.ly/2d92Yg7 ) about 130 people have been living at the encampment since being evicted from tribal housing projects over the summer. They are among about 270 tribal members who were asked to leave the housing projects for failing to comply with lease agreements.
Volunteers were helping to build new tiny houses for the homeless residents Monday.
Jenece Howe, who oversees the encampment, says residents have to follow certain rules in order to move into the new 8-by-10-foot structures. The rules include cleaning up, attending tenant meetings and refraining from alcohol and drugs.
Residents will also have access to substance abuse treatment, GED classes, and banking courses.
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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakimaherald.com
- By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) β Motorists do double-takes as they gawk at fields of cannabis plants flowering just outside Ashland.
But what they're looking at are 40,000 medicinal hemp plants covering 30 sloping acres at the foothills of Grizzly Peak on East Nevada Street.
"There's a lot of people wondering what's going on," said Chris Bourne, one of several partners in this unusual cannabis operation. "People have concerns, people have fears and people are stoked that we're doing it."
Instead of growing the more common hemp plants for their fiber, Bourne grows only female hemp plants that barely have any trace of the active ingredient that makes people high.
The cannabis plants look exactly the same as their more intoxicating cousins and are even pushing out purple flowers as they get ready for harvest. They also have a similar odor that annoys some and makes others beam with pleasure.
But smokers would be disappointed at the lack of a buzz.
Typical marijuana plants have tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that produces the high. Bourne's plants are being grown for the cannabidiol, or CBD, that many believe is good for pain relief, seizures, Parkinson's disease and other ailments. In Oregon, hemp plants are limited to a maximum 0.3 percent THC.
"These plants have strong anti-inflammatory properties," Bourne said.
Bourne said his fields have been tested and found in compliance by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which licenses hemp operations.
"We can sell the CBDs nationwide," he said. "There's ways to monetize it nationally."
He said the oils are used by research groups and clinical trials to determine how effective they are at managing ailments.
Ron Pence, operations manager at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said he could confirm that Permaag LLC, the name of the company that runs the hemp farm, has an active license.
Pence said female hemp operations are becoming more common statewide, and 80 to 90 percent of growers have told him they are looking to extract CBDs.
"These are big, bushy plants with lots and lots of flower," he said. "It looks like marijuana, smells like marijuana."
Pence said most hemp farms are interested in growing organic crops.
He said the largest operation he knows of in the state is 75 acres near Salem, but he said the Ashland farm is a pretty good size as well.
Most passersby on the east side of Ashland are content to observe the hemp farm from their vehicles. But the sight of all those plants tempted someone to steal several over the weekend, leaving remnants of some plants lying on the ground. Bourne reported the theft to law enforcement.
"Those plants were going to go to those with Parkinson's disease and other patients," Bourne said. He said additional security steps are being taken to protect the crop.
Because he is growing hemp, his operation falls under a different set of state rules than either recreational or medical marijuana. The largest recreational pot operation can cover only slightly less than an acre, according to Oregon law.
Other marijuana operations bring in soil for growing. Bourne's hemp plants required a tilling, planting and watering, but no amendments were added to the native clay soil.
The hemp went in the ground late in the season when temperatures hit 100 in July, which resulted in shorter plants, varying from 2 to 4 feet.
Initially, Bourne had 75,000 plants in the ground, but 35,000 of them were males and were pulled out.
"It was a lot of work," he said. "We have 34 miles of rows of plants."
He's also growing without using pesticides or any sprays to combat insects. Bourne said he expects to see more insects next year, but he plans to take steps growing other plants that deter bugs to create biodiversity.
During the winter months, Bourne said he will grow a cover crop to fix the nitrogen in the soil.
When the hemp is harvested and dried in a couple of weeks, the CBD oils will be extracted and processed, Bourne said.
By next year, Bourne and his partners hope to have 500 to 1,000 acres of hemp growing in Southern Oregon, though he's not ready to disclose the location.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) β Major New Mexico State University fans could bring some of the school's history home with them as the university is auctioning off the old gym floor.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/2dIsdc4 ) that the Pan Am Basketball Floor, as it's called on the auction site Public Surplus, went out to bid on Sept. 29 and bidding continues through Thursday night.
Someone has made a bid of $1,000 but NMSU Athletics Director Mario Moccia says the university has a $5,000 asking price.
The portable parquet floor up for auction was named in honor of Lou Henson, the Aggies' National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach and was the court where NMSU won its first Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament title on March 10, 2007.
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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β Utah police say they won't be filing any charges against a sandwich-shop worker accused of drugging a police officer's drink with methamphetamine and THC because they can't confirm the lemonade was actually contaminated.
Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman said Tuesday that initial lab tests showed a foreign substance in the drink from Subway, but those results couldn't be duplicated.
Eighteen-year-old Tanis Ukena was arrested Aug. 8 after a police sergeant reported feeling impaired immediately after getting the drink.
Authorities said the officer, whose name was not released, struggled to find the brake pedal of his patrol car at a red light and couldn't answer questions at the police station.
Ukena's lawyer has said his client is a good kid who had no reason to target a police officer and didn't put anything in the drink.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) β A Navajo Nation Council panel is opposing a proposed tramway and other tourism development at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers in the Grand Canyon.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports (http://bit.ly/2d5hWZz ) that Law and Order Committee unanimously opposed the Grand Canyon Escalade legislation during a hearing at Twin Arrows Casino Resort in Flagstaff.
The panel's opposition doesn't block the proposal from proceeding further in the legislative process but does show the opposition that has long been against the project. The legislation will go to the full council regardless of whether it gets approved in the committees.
The project has been pitched as a way to create jobs for a largely jobless part of the reservation. It would be along Grand Canyon National Park's eastern edge.
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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) β A Portland bakery is being accused of racism for selling an Oreo cupcake they named "Mr. President."
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (https://is.gd/77FHwe ) that customers have been leaving Yelp reviews criticizing Fat Cupcake for its "Mr. President" pastry. The cupcake is described as an Oreo Cookie baked inside white cake with cookies n' cream buttercream.
Owner Anjelica Hayes says she is black, so the cupcake cannot be racist. She said they originally named the cupcake because it was so good they wanted it to hold public office. She later found out President Obama's favorite cookie was the Oreo.
For now to avoid the controversy Hayes has renamed the cupcake "the Professional." She said the cupcake is still the most popular item at the store despite its name.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) β A California appeals court has thrown out a murder conviction, ruling that a judge's comments about her poor experiences with plumbers damaged the defendant's chances of a fair trial.
Vincent Tatum, who worked for a plumbing contractor whose testimony was key to his defense, was convicted in 2014 of the shooting death of a man following a dispute in Los Angeles.
In their appeal, defense lawyers cited comments Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter made while addressing potential jurors on the importance of not prejudging witnesses. To prove her point, Hunter recounted what she called "horrible" encounters with plumbers during remodels to her house.
"If I hear somebody is coming in, and I hear he's a plumber, I'm thinking, 'God, he's not going to be telling the truth,'" Hunter told jurors.
The problem, according to the appeals court decision, was that Tatum worked for a plumbing contractor who was his key alibi. The contractor testified that Tatum was at work at the time of the slaying β a statement the prosecutor argued was a lie to protect his friend.
Jurors in the 2014 trial discounted the testimony and convicted Tatum of murder and attempted murder. Tatum was sentenced to 114 years in prison.
A divided three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal tossed Tatum's conviction last week, ruling that Hunter's remarks on plumbers tainted the jury pool and resulted in an unfair trial, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday (http://lat.ms/2dG2tOJ).
"The court's statement that plumbers who came into court were liars validated the prosecutor's argument, irreparably damaging Tatum's chance of receiving a fair trial," two of the three justices on the appellate panel wrote in an Oct. 3 ruling obtained by the Times.
Such comments "interfered with (Tatum's) constitutional right to a jury trial," the judges added.
Hunter could not be reached for comment.
The attorney general's office has a few weeks to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision.
If the high court declines to review the case, prosecutors must decide whether to retry Tatum, now 50. He remains in custody at California State Prison in Lancaster. A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to comment.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β More than four decades after a young girl found her mother stabbed to death in eastern Utah, a 76-year-old Colorado man has pleaded guilty in her death.
Court records show Thomas Edward Egley of Rocky Ford pleaded guilty to a criminal homicide charge Tuesday. Egley was an original suspect in the 1970 death of 23-year-old Loretta Jones in Price, but a judge found there wasn't enough evidence against him and dismissed the case.
The investigation was reopened at the urging of her now-grown daughter, who was determined not to let her mother's death be forgotten. This time, police said Egley acknowledged his role in the slaying.
Egley faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison at a sentencing set for Nov. 22.
His lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
OGDEN, Utah (AP) β Utah school officials say the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating a white teacher's use of a racially charged word in a junior high class.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2e706m7) that Weber School District spokesman Lane Findlay said federal officials contacted the district following a parent complaint about teacher Douglas Barker's use of the N-word before showing the Civil War movie "Glory"
Department of Education spokesman Michael Germano said the agency doesn't comment on open investigations.
Barker has said he was making sure his students understood why the word would be used in the film in April.
But parent Holly Frye, who is black, said her 14-year-old son didn't feel safe at school after the teacher used the word.
NAACP leaders in Ogden have also expressed concern.
POST FALLS, Idaho (AP) β The family of a Post Falls man who was left permanently disabled after being hit with a stun gun by police in 2012 will receive more than $1 million as part of a settlement.
Kootenai County and Post Falls and Correctional Healthcare Management, which provided medical services to jail inmates in 2012, will both pay the settlement to 66-year-old Marvin Ball, reported the Coeur d'Alene Press (http://bit.ly/2dIAP69).
Ball was involved in an altercation with Post Falls police in 2012 that resulted in him being hit with a stun gun.
He later had a stroke while being held at the Kootenai County jail, and his attorneys argue a lack of medical response caused permanent damage that left him in a wheelchair.
Charges against Ball were dismissed. His son is his primary caregiver.
Ball's attorney Charles Lempesis said he is satisfied that the case has been settled.
"Richard Baughman (fellow attorney) and I have the highest regard for the city of Post Falls and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office," Lempesis said. "They're entitled to make mistakes, but it is our jobs as attorneys to hold people accountable for their actions."
Post Falls Officer Jason DeWitt qualified for immunity for his role in the incident.
"There is not any evidence that Officer DeWitt acted with the intent to cause harm to Ball," U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge wrote in his decision. "Moreover, there is no evidence that the arrest and tazing of Ball caused any harm to Ball as paramedics examined him and he claimed to be fine after the arrest."
Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said what happened to Ball is unfortunate.
"We never want to see what happened to Mr. Ball, but we don't believe the officer was at fault for what happened," Haug said. "The officers have to deal with these difficult situations and life's most challenging moments."
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Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) β A federal appeals court has ruled against Wyoming officials who sought to require the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to round up wild horses from overpopulated herds.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Tuesday upheld a ruling that federal law doesn't mandate roundup of overpopulated wild horses that compete with cattle for forage.
Wild horse advocacy groups, including the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, praised the decision. The groups' attorney, Bill Eubanks, calls it an important new precedent for wild-horse management.
Wild horse numbers exceed federal population goals in several areas across the region. Wyoming sued in 2014, saying allowing too many horses can damage rangelands.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead says he is disappointed and has asked Attorney General Peter Michael to review the state's options.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β California Gov. Jerry Brown's dog "Sutter" has fallen critically ill and is facing a bleak prognosis.
Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said Tuesday that Sutter was rushed to an animal hospital last week and underwent emergency surgery. Veterinarians removed several masses suspected to be cancer from his intestines, lymph nodes and liver.
Westrup says the Browns are awaiting biopsy results but "the prognosis is likely to be very poor."
Sutter is a 13-year-old Pembroke Welsh corgi owned by Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, until she moved out of state following Jerry Brown's election as governor in 2010.
The dog often accompanies Brown to the Capitol and promotes the governor's policies to nearly 10,000 Twitter followers.
Westrup says "the first dog is a fighter and we're all pulling for him."
DENVER (AP) β The family of a man killed by a Rocky Ford police officer who was convicted of second-degree murder says the tiny department is to blame for hiring him despite his troubled history.
Relatives of 27-year-old Jack Jacquez filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court. It says the department failed to discipline former officer James Ashby for other excessive force cases before he killed Jacquez in October 2014. Ashby was on duty when he followed Jacquez into his mother's home and shot him in the back.
Rocky Ford police did not immediately return a call for comment.
The suit says the department hired Ashby despite well-documented problems at another small police force, where he resigned during an excessive force investigation. It points to a pattern of complaints and violent conflicts involving Ashby.
Ashby is awaiting sentencing.
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) β A 37-year-old Gillette man is charged with killing two people, cutting up their bodies with a saw and storing them in his vehicle.
The Gillette News Record reports (http://bit.ly/2dJSbPV ) Michael Montano made his initial appearance in Circuit Court on Tuesday on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 33-year-old Phillip Brewer and 38-year-old Jody Fortuna. Montano also is charged with two counts of mutilation of dead human bodies.
He did not enter a plea. His bail was set at $2.5 million cash. Prosecutors did not indicate a motive.
Campbell County deputies say a woman reported Saturday that she saw Brewer's body in the back of Montano's pickup truck the night before. Another man told investigators that Montano said he cut up the bodies with a saw in his bathtub.
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Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) β Police in New Mexico say a woman was intoxicated when she fell while car surfingΒ and died.
Detective Lt. Kyle Lincoln with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office tells The Daily Times of Farmington (http://bit.ly/2dNakcx ) that Wilberta Becenti was standing on top of the car Sunday morning while a driver rode on rough dirt roads.
Lincoln says Becenti was intoxicated at the time. Investigators haven't determined whether the driver was also intoxicated. No charges have been filed.
The Daily Times reports Becenti was 23, but an online obituary lists her age as 21.
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