Sex-assault chiropractor; teens' hit list; new-look pot candy
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Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press
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DENVER (AP) — Wondering if that brownie contains pot? Colorado has you covered.
A requirement that edible marijuana products come with a diamond-shaped stamp and the letters T-H-C — not just on the packaging but on the brownies, candies and other edibles themselves — takes effect Saturday.
The rule referencing marijuana's psychoactive ingredient was added after complaints that the treats look too much their non-intoxicating counterparts. It is the first such requirement in any legal weed state.
Colorado's new "universal symbol" for foods that contain marijuana is designed to give the treats a distinct look even after they're out of the packaging. In other words, a pot cookie being passed around a high school cafeteria no longer will look so innocent, giving parents a way to identify marijuana edibles without smelling or tasting them.
The stamping requirement comes in addition to exhaustive labeling and packaging rules that include childproof zippers and lids, along with warnings that the product should be kept away from children and not eaten before driving or while pregnant or nursing.
"We want to ensure that people genuinely know the difference between a Duncan Hines brownie and a marijuana brownie, just by looking at it," said state Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Democrat who sponsored the law requiring stamped edibles.
There are no numbers in Colorado or any marijuana state on how many children or adults accidentally eat pot. But a 2016 study tracing admissions at Children's Hospital Colorado just outside Denver found that more kids were treated for accidental pot ingestion after legalization, from 1.2 per 100,000 population two years prior to legalization to 2.3 per 100,000 population two years after legalization.
Marijuana ingestions remained relatively rare, though, with the hospital reporting 81 children treated for accidental pot ingestion between 2009 and 2015. Authors noted that "poor child supervision or product storage" was present in about a third of those cases.
Still, reported accidental ingestions caught lawmakers' attention. The law was passed more than a year ago but is just now taking effect because of difficulties implementing it. None of the other legal weed states has considered a universal symbol requirement for marijuana products themselves, as opposed to the packaging.
Candies and baked goods may be simple to stamp, but the label requirement gets a lot trickier for bulk items such as granola, or marijuana-infused sodas or powders that can be dissolved in water. The state ultimately settled on new packaging rules for those impossible-to-stamp items, requiring that sodas come in small single-serve bottles, for example.
Colorado also requires that edible packages contain the phrase, "Keep out of reach of children."
At BlueKudu, which makes marijuana-infused chocolates, owners had to buy new molds for a line of candy bars that include flavors like mint chocolate, toffee almond and coffee crunch.
Company founder Andrew Schrot said that when he started his company in 2011 for medical marijuana customers, his pot treats looked like any other chocolate bars. But he said the switch to a recreational market in which new marijuana users were trying his products necessitated change.
"This is not your normal chocolate bar. There's something different about it. You can tell just from looking at it," Schrot said.
Colorado's marijuana industry initially was hesitant about the change, pointing out in regulatory meetings that alcohol makers aren't required to dye their drinks funny colors to make sure parents don't let kids get ahold of the booze.
"Some of the industry expectation was, 'Let's keep it on the parents and the users in keeping it away from children or people who shouldn't use it,'" Schrot said. "But you know, sometimes mistakes happen. You turn your back and a product is left out."
Colorado has no estimate of how many accidental ingestions might be avoided by the stamping. Starting next year, the state also will ban any edible marijuana products in the shape of a fruit, animal or human — in addition to existing bans on the use of cartoon characters on packages or other images deemed attractive to kids.
"It's really a step in enhancing public safety and making sure that marijuana is out of the hands of children," said Ron Kammerzell, head of enforcement for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.
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Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt
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DENVER (AP) — The Denver Police Department is asking the city for more than $125,000 so it can handle the thousands of pounds of marijuana that comes through its doors each year since the drug was legalized for recreational use.
Lt. Cliff Carney, who manages the department's evidence section, tells The Denver Post (https://goo.gl/T7Nz0C ) that instead of officers finding 15 to 20 plants in someone's basement, they're now finding 1,000 to 1,500 plants in a warehouse and all the equipment that goes with it.
In 2013, the year before Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, police seized a little more than 500 pounds of pot. Next year, the department expects to seize 11,265 pounds.
The $125,116 would pay for two additional staff members at the property bureau.
Carney speculates that once marijuana became legal, people thought they could get away with large grows.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a Prescott Valley woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her 3-month-old daughter.
Prescott Valley police say 29-year-old Angela Clark is being held at the Yavapai County Detention Facility on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse.
Police say officers responded to a call on Sept. 17 about an infant who was found unresponsive in a bathtub.
The investigation determined the baby was left unattended for more than 25 minutes in the tub filled with water.
The infant was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital and placed on life support.
Police say the baby died Thursday and Clark was taken into custody.
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ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A former Albuquerque police officer has been accused of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Police say 53-year-old Rodney Locke was taken into custody after Thursday night's crash that killed a pedestrian in a wheelchair.
They say 60-year-old Kay Moss-Freese died in a hospital Friday morning.
Officers ran the pickup truck's license plate number reported by witnesses and found Locke parked outside his home and still in the driver's seat.
They say Locke smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.
Locke refused to take a breathalyzer test so officers got a warrant to draw his blood.
Police say additional charges may be filed against Locke upon the outcome of the blood test.
Locke reportedly was with the Albuquerque Police Department for 30 years before quitting in February.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal inspectors are issuing a warning to the University of Utah after a monkey was burned at a lab and euthanized.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture cites two violations after a hot air blower designed to warm up the monkey was placed dangerously close to the creature in August 2015.
The animal advocacy group Center For Ethical Science called Friday for the university to be fined.
The USDA says the monkey's temperature dropped during an genetic disorder study MRI because an warming blanket meant to keep it warm wasn't plugged in.
The Aug. 2 warning letter faults the lab for failing to check the money's temperature for more than 30 minutes and not making sure all staffers were qualified.
University officials say the injuries were accidental and prompted a review of their policies and procedures.
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CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A high-ranking official with the Wyoming Highway Patrol is under investigation for posing for a photo near a bison at Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating Highway Patrol Major Keith Groeneweg after he posted a photo on Facebook that looks like he is violating park rules that people must stay at least 25 yards from wildlife, The Casper Star-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2djbaNh).
In the photo Groeneweg can be seen near a bison. The caption of the photo reads, "Yellowstone signs everywhere: 'Stay 100 yards from animals. They can be dangerous.' Keith's translation: 'Time to sneak up and hug a buffalo!'#YNP #ILoveWyoming."
Groeneweg says he was observing the rule and that the photo appears closer than he actually was.
Pete Webster, Yellowstone's chief ranger, said a handful of people shared pictures of Groeneweg's Facebook post with park officials.
"I did call and spoke with him," Webster said. "He was apologetic. He said the photo was purposely distorted to appear a lot closer than he was, and he was beyond our prescribed distance of 25 yards."
Wyoming Highway Patrol Col. Kebin Haller said Groeneweg has been forthcoming about the Yellowstone investigation and that he is cooperating with the park. He said law enforcement officers are held to high standards in their personal lives.
"I would have to say as individuals and professionals, we are always accountable for our actions and behaviors," Haller said.
The investigation comes after a busy summer at Yellowstone where park officials have had an increasing number of visitors get too close to wildlife.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com
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PRYOR, Mont. (AP) — The 5,000-square-mile Crow Indian Reservation south of Billings welcomed its newest residents with a cattail to represent the Platte River.
The 18 black-footed ferrets were transported to the Crow Reservation on Wednesday, where biologists and wildlife officials hope the endangered species will eventually establish a breeding population.
Marlin Not Afraid, the director of the Crow Fish and Game Department, placed a cattail next to the first burrow where he released a female ferret to signify to the animal that this was its new home. He also spoke to all the ferrets in his native Crow language to welcome them to his homeland.
"The black-footed ferret, my clan uncle told me, is from the Platte River, Casper area," Not Afraid told The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/2cGw5w1 ). "On each side of the Platte River is cattails. He said that's his homeland."
A convoy of vehicles brought the endangered ferrets into the heart of Crow Country, where they were released near a hillside prairie dog town.
Officials released 29 of the ferrets on the reservation last year, but only a few survived.
There must be 10 back-footed ferret populations with at least 30 breeding adults for the animal to be removed from the endangered species list. The Crow release site is 26th in the nation since 1991 and the sixth tribal location. The ferrets have also been released at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in north-central Montana, the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the U.L. Bend Wilderness.
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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
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RATHDRUM, Idaho (AP) — Two junior high students in Idaho were arrested after police said they brought hit lists to school.
The Rathdrum Police Department says the students were arrested Wednesday after they were each discovered with a list of three names, reported the Spokesman-Review (http://bit.ly/2cGwEpq ).
Investigators believe the students — 13 and 14 years old — were involved in separate incidents and no others were involved.
Becky Meyer, superintendent of Lakeland School District, sent a note to parents Wednesday saying the district is taking every precaution to keep students safe.
She said the police school resource officer will be on campus and all external doors will be locked.
School officials found one list on Tuesday and it contained three generic first names without further identification, Meyer said.
School staff investigated but didn't tell the district office until Wednesday.
A police investigation uncovered the other note that officials said contained one student's full name and two first names.
Police will determine whether the threats were credible. The arrested students could be charged with making a threat of violence at school and could face expulsion.
"We have to take every single threat seriously because of the sad reality of school violence," Meyer said.
In her note to parents, she wrote that she will review protocols and make sure communication between the school and the district office is timely in the future.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
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SANDY, Utah (AP) — Two water mains burst in a Salt Lake City suburb, leaving large sinkholes and slowing traffic.
Sandy spokeswoman Nicole Martin tells the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/2cGs1vB ) that a 10-inch pipe burst early Thursday afternoon, creating a 20-foot-by-40-foot hole at a Sandy intersection. She says the hole was 6 feet deep and filled with water.
The sinkhole temporarily closed the intersection.
Martin says crews found a second water main break shortly after the first. That one created a 15-foot-by-15-foot hole that was 5 feet deep.
She says it will take about 10 days to fix the damaged and sunken roads.
Some residents reported discolored water but the public utilities department says it is safe to drink.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
- By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune
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MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A Gold Hill medical marijuana dispensary that was the first legal store of its kind in Jackson County has become the first licensed recreational marijuana retailer in Oregon.
Breeze Botanicals opened its doors June 14, 2014, in Gold Hill, followed by another store in Ashland in February 2015.
"They will be No. 1 and No. 2," said Danica Hibpshman, director of statewide licensing for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
"We were at a crossroads," said Brie Malarkey, owner of Breeze Botanicals. "Either we could be just medical or go recreational cannabis."
Breeze opened its doors selling only medical marijuana, and then Oregon voters legalized cannabis for anyone 21 or older.
"We had to forfeit our medical marijuana license as part of the OLCC rules," she said.
Under state regulations, Malarkey still can sell cannabis to Oregon Medical Marijuana Program cardholders without charging the 17 percent tax required of recreational cannabis users.
"We will be able to serve all people at this point," she said.
Many local jurisdictions are looking to add a 3 percent tax on retail marijuana and will be asking voters for permission in the Nov. 8 election.
OLCC has approved 21 retail pot licenses so far, and has received the licensing payments from eight of them. The licenses will be issued officially at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Hibpshman said 322 licenses have been applied for statewide. She said Breeze Botanicals was one of the first to apply, submitting its paperwork on June 4.
Medical marijuana stores throughout Oregon can continue to sell recreational marijuana until Jan. 1, 2017, after which it will be allowed only by stores licensed by the OLCC. Oregon lawmakers decided to give medical dispensaries a year in which to sell recreational pot in order to give the OLCC time to formulate its rules and regulations for retailers.
A store licensed for recreational sales will be able to sell a full range of marijuana products, including four immature plants and 10 seeds.
In preparation for the Oct. 1 changeover, Malarkey said she will have a 50-percent-off sale on edibles that have 101 to 600 milligrams of the active ingredient in cannabis. After that point, she will have edibles with just 50 milligrams in a package, but clearly marked with 5-milligram servings, an amount the OLCC settled on after problems arose in Colorado with edible marijuana products. Medical-grade cannabis can have up to 100 milligrams.
"The new rules — some are good, some are crazy," Malarkey said.
The OLCC requires stores to have video surveillance around the clock, and the video files need to be saved for 90 days, which requires a lot of data storage space, Malarkey said. Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, she had to keep videos for 30 days.
Part of the reason for the video requirement is to make sure none of the marijuana is diverted illegally from a store and possibly sent out of state, Malarkey said.
Also, customers will be required to have so-called exit bags for the marijuana products they buy. The bags are designed to make it difficult for children to open them.
Malarkey and her husband, Jon Cunningham, run the two stores, as well as Sunna Ra Acres, where cannabis and other herbs are grown.
They also run Sun God Medicinals in Central Point, which manufactures herbal and cannabis goods.
Malarkey said her companies employ 25, though some of the employees work seasonally.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
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ELKO, Nev. (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management is rounding up wild horses in northern Nevada because there isn't enough water available.
The Elko Daily Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2dj5yTs ) that BLM began the emergency horse gather Thursday and plans to remove up to 60 of the animals from the Goshute Herd Management Area southwest of Wendover.
The agency's Wells Field Office determined that the limited water resources warranted emergency action because the situation is too extreme to address in the normal gather cycle.
BLM says the gather will remove some horses to lessen competition for limited water and prevent declining health, suffering or death of the most vulnerable horses.
The process could last up to one month.
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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
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REDMOND, Ore. (AP) — Two Redmond teenagers have pleaded guilty in connection to their plot to kill one's mother, then burn down her house.
KTVZ-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dj0q1n ) that a 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, while a girl, also 17, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree attempted assault.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says the teens planned to kill one of their mothers, then burn down her house with the body left inside. He says the boy on May 19 sprayed his mother with pepper spray and then struck her with a baseball bat.
The victim was able to wrest the bat away from her son and call 911.
The son has been sentenced to 70 months of incarceration and the girl was sentenced to 20 months.
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Information from: KTVZ-TV, http://www.ktvz.com/
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TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A twin Falls chiropractor has had his license suspended in connection to allegations that he sexually assaulted nine patients.
The Times-News reports (http://bit.ly/2dwNVhM ) that 54-year-old Robert Johnson has been charged with nine misdemeanor counts of sexual exploitation by a medical care provider.
In a Sept. 22 order, the Idaho State Board of Chiropractors has suspended Johnson from practicing until completion of the criminal investigation.
Johnson faces up to nine years in county jail, a fine up to $9,000 and he would have to register as a sex offender if convicted.
According to court documents four women went to police in July and since then five more women have come forward with similar accusations. All nine women say Johnson spent inordinate amounts of time massaging their inner thighs and breasts.
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
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SALINAS, Calif. (AP) — A Monterey woman has pleaded guilty to planning to poison her mother with a rare Southeast Asian plant.
The Salinas Californian reports (http://bit.ly/2cGhmB3 ) that 30-year-old Di Cerulean Stylo on Wednesday pleaded guilty to making a criminal threat to kill her mother and to threatening to place a harmful substance in food or drink.
According to court documents, Stylo told one of her relatives that she was planning to use seeds from the Cerbera odollam, commonly known as the "suicide tree," to kill her mother. Seeds from the tree are fatal when ingested. Stylo had purchased the seeds from an internet site.
The family member called the Monterey Police Department and reported the plot after being told of it.
Sentencing to felony probation is set for Nov. 17
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Information from: The Salinas Californian, http://www.californianonline.com
- By SASHA NELSON Craig Daily Press
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CRAIG, Colo. (AP) — Sex education within the Moffat County schools may not comply with a 2013 Colorado State law.
"The last time the school board discussed this policy — IHAM, family life/sex education — was in April 25, 2013," said Charity Neal, school board secretary, member of the policy review committee and Director of Public Health for Northwest Colorado Health.
That same year Colorado state legislators passed House Bill 1081-13, reported the Craig Daily Press (http://bit.ly/2dupV2X). It was signed into law on May 28 and mandates that, when taught, information about human sexuality must be comprehensive and factual.
The law states that "Colorado youth have a right to receive medically and scientifically accurate information to empower them to make informed decisions that promote their individual physical and mental health and well-being" and then clearly spells out content including "all methods to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections."
What schools are and are not allowed to teach is also "governed by federal law (NCLB and others), Colorado Academic Standards, Colorado State Statute and MCSD corresponding board of education policy govern the choices the district makes regarding sex education," said School Superintendent Dave Ulrich.
The current district policy still includes references to clauses in the 1990 Comprehensive Health Act that were removed by House Bill 1081-13.
High teen pregnancy rates are cause for concern
Last year, 39 of the 436 girls living in Moffat County who were between the ages of 15 and 19 became pregnant, according to information presented by Dr. Eileen Joyce, a women's health provider and OB/GYN with The Memorial Hospital at Craig, at the parents preview night of a new course on reproductive health being offered for area parents and teens.
One of the presenters, Chandra Lopez-Shue, was 16 when she got pregnant. As a high school junior, two weeks before her 17th birthday, she became a single mom.
"I had had a boyfriend for a while, we hadn't really talked about being safe, and I was far too scared to go to my parents, and I didn't know about the resources. I didn't really think it through," she said.
"A pregnancy can result in a live birth, an abortion or a miscarriage," reads the National Campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancies website.
Of the 39 teen pregnancies projected by Joyce in 2015, 13 babies were born, according to data provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
This means, if Joyce's data was correct, 26 teen pregnancies in Moffat County may have ended in miscarriage or abortion.
Joyce was contacted several times by the Craig Daily Press to find out where her data originated, but she did not return calls for comment.
"This is just one indicator of the increased population of at-risk youth and adults in Moffat County," Ulrich said.
In addition to the high rate of teen pregnancies, area providers are also concerned about the level of reproductive knowledge of area teens.
Ken Davis, director of community integration at Northwest Colorado Health, is concerned that Moffat County teens lack a basic understanding of their own anatomy, describing experiences of girls with abdominal pain unaware of the location of their ovaries.
Dr. Elise Sullivan, who has a family medical practice through The Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic, reports that she and other area providers have encountered similar incidents in their practices.
Moffat County School District's approach
Sex education in Moffat County schools has given primary emphasis to abstinence by school-aged children, said district nurse Karie Fisher as reported in the Craig Daily Press.
That approach was mandated in the comprehensive health education act of 1990 but altered by House Bill 1081-13 in 2013, and Moffat County schools do not appear to have kept up. Therefore, the district is not compliant with state law.
Teaching materials used by Craig Middle School include a 2004 video called "Everyone Is Not Doing It," self-produced by Mike Long, a former teacher who is described as one of America's foremost pro-life communicators by Premiere Speakers Bureau, and is a national consultant to Project Reality, an abstinence-education-program provider.
Craig Daily Press staff reviewed the video to learn that Long describes the six pressures that drive teens to have sex, preaches that television companies and musicians are encouraging teens to have sex in order to sell their products and goes so far as to say that these companies are stealing money from teens. He speaks to the risks associated with sex, but information does not go into any depth or detail about pregnancy or STDs.
Despite the social benefits of abstinence-based education, declines in teen pregnancy risk are entirely driven by improved contraceptive use, as the levels of teen sexual activity were essentially unchanged between 2007-2012, according to findings by Laura Lindberg and colleagues in a peer-reviewed scientific study published in June by the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"These policies and mindset are not something that the current board has dealt with," Neal said.
Past school administration and students believe that the approach is not as rigorous now as the program provided to students in earlier decades.
"Once a year, sex ed classes were done for an entire week for eighth graders, usually in mid-April," said Roger Little, who retired as principal for the middle school in 1989. "The science teachers, the school nurse and I were on the team for the unit. It was a very thorough and well done approach."
Shirley Balleck, owner of the Flower Mine in Craig, grew up in Moffat County and remembers the sex education class taught in middle school about 45 years ago.
"We were taught sex education in middle school by Mrs. Gardner. She made it informative and somewhat fun," she said. "It's good to know the facts before they start a relationship. I think the class was very beneficial to me and my classmates."
Teen birth rates in Routt County are generally much lower than in Moffat County and the school district, according to data from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The approach to sex ed by the Steamboat Springs School District differs in that it is mandatory for grades six to eight, and community partners assist.
"We have a health class required by all sixth, seventh and eighth grade students for one quarter every year. A low number of parents opt out, primarily for religious reasons," said Steamboat Springs Middle School Principal Jerry Buelter. "We work with Grand Futures, providers, and Americorps 20-year-olds to target at-risk kids, provide positive role models, and another adult to guide students."
Community response in Moffat County
Sex education should be a partnership between parents, providers and the school system, "it's not just a school problem, but also a community problem that we need to address as a community," Neal said.
Because teens are so healthy, if parents and the schools are not talking with teens about reproductive health choices, providers may have to fill in the gaps only after a child is pregnant or has contracted a disease, Dr. Sullivan said.
By providing free workshops in September to parents and teens, area health care providers aimed to reduce teen pregnancy rates and improve teen health. The partnership between The Memorial Hospital, Northwest Colorado Health, Advocates Crisis Support and the Yampa Valley Pregnancy Center resulted in a series of classes called "Building a Healthy You."
The school board is expecting a presentation from the group behind "Building a Healthy You" at its October meeting.
"We will always review policy at the recommendation of community, board and staff. I would not be surprised if this is a policy that gets a request for review. It will be up to the board as a whole to decide if we would make any changes," Neal said.
Moffat County School District policies are available for public review on the school district website.
"Jennifer Riley and her team will review the information they have been presenting to the community in their 'Building a Healthy You' presentation. They will also share with the board the statistics on teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted illnesses," Ulrich said.
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Information from: Craig Daily Press, http://www.craigdailypress.com
- By KELLY RAGAN The Tribune
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GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Greeley police officer Ryan Oettinger drove his patrol car around, waiting for calls on a slow day after a crazy night, when he noticed a woman sitting on the sidewalk.
"That's a little strange," Oettinger said. "Let's go see how she's doing."
The sidewalk faced a busy street. There was no bench, no bus stop or any place inviting pedestrians to sit for a bit. It felt off to Oettinger. As a police officer trained to recognize situations that could lead to trouble, Oettinger decided to trust his instincts.
He turned the car around and pulled up to the woman.
He rolled down the window and asked how she was. She seemed unsure of the question at first. She'd done nothing wrong.
She said she was OK, but then she took it back. She'd just watched her son walk to the liquor store. He'd been drinking heavily for a little while now and acted strangely when he was drunk. He was of age, but she was worried.
Oettinger asked if she wanted him to speak with her son.
"It might sound different coming from me rather than his mom," Oettinger said. She agreed.
Oettinger gave the woman a lift back to her place and walked with her into her home. There, he saw her son sitting on the couch.
A pin with the letters 'CIT' rests under Oettinger's name tag, reported The Tribune (http://bit.ly/2daLn9D). It's not as big or flashy as the police badge, but Oettinger wears it proudly. It stands for Crisis Intervention Team — it's a subtle way to let people know he can offer extra help.
The training teaches officers to address mental health concerns before a dangerous — even deadly — situation arises.
Police hope getting to unstable people early and connecting them to the right resources will help the community avoid tragedies such as police shootings, suicides and violence. It's part of a ramped up effort to collaborate with mental health agencies in Greeley to address a growing number of people who need mental health treatment in northern Colorado but are unable or unwilling to find it. Greeley police say they're seeing more and more instances where they're called to resolve situations involving mental health issues.
Oettinger asked the son how he was and what he'd been up to. Oettinger asked if he'd been drinking. He said no, but his answer was jumbled and his words were slurred.
"It's not illegal to drink, but your mom is worried about you," Oettinger said.
Then he listened. Oettinger found out the man's roommate recently died, and he'd just lost his job. It was a rough time, just the kind of thing that can affect even those who previously didn't have any kind of a mental condition.
Oettinger took out his business card and wrote down the number for Labor Ready, a temporary staffing agency, and North Range Behavioral Health. Oettinger told the man both those agencies would help him.
Oettinger also gave the man his work cell phone number to call in case he needed someone to talk to.
Oettinger knows some of the top risk factors for suicide are relationship losses and job losses. He knows because he lost his own mom to suicide when he was 19 years old. When he has to, he uses that to relate with people.
"Sometimes when I'm being empathetic, people think I have to be because it's my job," Oettinger said. "When I pull that out, they realize I'm actually connected to this."
Oettinger said he often deals with folks who are depressed during his patrols. He knows they don't want to feel that way.
"We're obviously not psychiatrists, but we have to play that role a lot," Oettinger said.
SUICIDE BY COP
Mental health calls have gone up in the past few years in Greeley, police chief Jerry Garner said. Especially suicide calls.
"I can't tell you why, I don't know why," Garner said. "We're answering attempted suicide or threatened suicide calls literally every day, sometimes more than once a day."
Garner is also worried because he's seen more instances where people want to use officers to help them commit suicide. They call it "suicide by cop," and generally it happens when unstable people force police officers to shoot them. Often, they pull a weapon or pretend like they have one.
Earlier in September, a woman waived a pistol around in the courtyard of an apartment complex on the 1100 block of 7th Street. She yelled that she was going to kill everyone. When officers arrived, she refused to listen to their orders.
She told them they'd have to kill her and went to grab the pistol — which turned out to be a replica Smith and Wesson .40-caliber BB gun — out of her waistband.
They warned her to drop the weapon. When she didn't listen, they Tased her. It could have been worse.
The idea is to prevent situations from getting to that point.
There's no one problem to pinpoint in these situations, Garner said. Sometimes it's a mental health issue, sometimes it's a drug issue and sometimes it's a combination.
Regardless, officers don't want to kill people, and no one wants to lose a family member. Shootings also keep a community unsettled, even angry, making it more difficult for officers to do their jobs in the future.
"We know a number of the mentally ill people we deal with are not dangerous," Garner said. "The problem is we don't know initially which ones are, so we have to exercise extreme caution."
CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM TRAINING
Oettinger remembers speaking to a 24-year-old woman after she lost her husband to suicide. She was devastated by the loss and became depressed herself. The woman's father tried to help her by telling her how good she had it. Her father meant well, but he made it worse.
That's when Oettinger got a call about the 24-year-old, who was suicidal. He talked with her about his mother.
"We ended up going to the hospital," Oettinger said. "She followed up about the suicide support group that I go to. She wanted to join."
Part of knowing how to maneuver through crisis situations is common sense, Oettinger said, but another part is training.
Crisis Intervention Team training consists of an intensive 40-hour course that teaches officers how to deal with calls related to mental health issues, said Jerry Garner, police chief. It's more intensive than the standard eight-hour course at the Police Academy.
Part of the training deals with common manifestations of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar and addiction.
In addition to the classroom, officers train with professional actors, Garner said.
"If you're handling it appropriately the actor deescalates," Garner said. "If you're making it worse, the actor gets worse."
Actors respond to officers' demeanor and tone. If officers are too aggressive or hasty, actors are trained to become increasingly hostile and resistant. To pass, officers have to pacify four out of five situations.
Officers say it's some of the toughest training they've ever been to because it's so real, Garner said. The actors are tough, and they challenge officers to think about how they can influence the situation for better or worse.
Officers are supposed to come out of the training with an understanding of major mental health issues, pacifying techniques and communication skills. Officers are trained to go into mental health crisis situations in as nonthreatening of a way as possible. They are trained to speak softer than the person they're contacting and to use nonthreatening body language.
"As a patrol officer, you certainly solve more problems with your mouth than your handcuffs or belt," said Greeley Police Department training officer Steven Perkins. "Veteran officers are very good at talking to people because that is your best tool."
Perkins said de-escalation is critical because it gives officers time. That time can be the difference between a deadly encounter and a peaceful one.
"I can think of several instances just this year where we've dealt with people who are armed or have come at police wanting them to shoot them," Perkins said. "These techniques have allowed officers to come at them with other options."
The goal now is to get at least one officer with the extra crises training at every call where officers are dealing with someone who's mentally unstable, Garner said.
PARTNERSHIPS
If people aren't getting the mental health care they need, jail is usually the unfortunate alternative.
After all, if someone is belligerent, threatening or violent, people typically call the police, Perkins said. Not all mentally ill people are this way, of course, but when police are called, that's often the case.
North Range now has offices in the jail to help people struggling with a mental illness break the cycle of going to jail, being released and then going to jail again instead of getting help. Before North Range was involved, deputies conducted evaluations to see if people needed a mental health hold. Since deputies don't have the same kind of training a psychiatrist would, it was difficult for them to distinguish between a mental health crisis and other problems, Detention Division Capt. Roger Ainsworth said.
Ainsworth serves on North Range's board of directors. He's working to ensure those who wind up in jail with mental health issues get the care they need once they're released.
"I don't want to be releasing people back onto the street who might hurt themselves or others or commit another crime," Ainsworth said.
North Range and the Greeley Police Department hope to expand their partnership beyond the jail and into the streets. North Range already has a mobile crisis team that, if time allows, goes out with police on mental health calls, said Kimberly Collins, administrative director at North Range. It's still a new program, so it's not yet common practice, but North Range and Greeley police hope to make it that way.
"We typically get a call, and police explain what their concern is with a person," said Gail White, program director of the crisis response team. "We go out and talk to the person and find out what resources they need."
The mobile unit has four vans with security cages. More violent calls might need tougher security cages, so the vans vary. They usually send out one or two clinicians, White said, depending on the needs of the call.
Having a plainclothes person present helps soothe the situation, Collins said.
"A lot of times, individuals have trauma with police officers because they've had bad experiences in the past," Collins said. "If they're wearing the uniform and carrying the gun and badge, it can trigger them."
Long term, White hopes to have a clinician embedded with first responders, she said, so officers won't even need to call when they're facing a tough situation.
PREVENTION
Everyone agrees that seeking help before the police get involved is ideal.
"If you have the kind of relationship with the troubled individual where you can give them advice, where you can talk with them, do so," Garner said.
North Range Behavioral Health offers a number of services for people struggling with their mental health, including counseling for all ages, substance abuse treatment, a walk-in crisis center and a mobile crisis team.
Clear View Behavioral Health, 4770 Larimer Parkway in Johnstown, also offers inpatient and outpatient care for adolescents, adults and seniors.
But if someone needs medical attention or is a danger to themselves or others, calling the police is the best thing to do, Garner said.
Usually there are warning signs before a crisis. Oettinger looks for those signs. He's developed some deeper relationships with the repeat callers he sees. One kid in particular sticks out to him. He doesn't have a stable family. He's been in physical fights with his neighbors. Oettinger recognizes his address when he gets the call.
Even though Oettinger has worked on his case, and there have been consequences for his actions, the kid tells Oettinger he knows he's there for him. It's possible he'll think of Oettinger next time trouble arises — the extra thought could prevent the next tragedy.
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Information from: The Tribune of Greeley, Co, http://greeleytribune.com
- By RICH LANDERS The (Spokane) Statesman-Review
- Updated
WESTPORT, Wash. (AP) — There's nothing canned about the tuna fishing experience on a charter boat out of Westport, Washington.
With a state-average catch rate of eight fish per person, charter boat anglers are almost sure to return with the makings of a saltwater feast. But the ocean serves up a different adventure on every trip.
Anglers lining up at boat docks before sunrise are aware that venturing 25-60 miles offshore leaves no place to hide if the wind fouls the mood of the sea.
If you're game, September is prime time for albacore averaging roughly 20 pounds or more, and October is known as big-fish month. The local derby-leading tuna last week was 43 pounds.
Westport charter boats are up to the challenge, landing 88 percent of Washington's sport albacore catch, the Fish and Wildlife Department says.
Even though schools of these tuna are measured by the acre, they are a speck in the open ocean. Skippers find them in 3,000 feet of water by trolling while scouting the horizon for jumpers and seabirds flocking to feed on bait boiling to the surface as tuna slash and feed below.
Pursuing the albacore and some yellowtail that cruise within striking distance off the coast from mid-June into November is a deliciously blue-collar experience. A certain toughness is required. A cast-iron stomach helps.
Tuna anglers tend to be on whack-and-stackers. There's no catch limit. Skippers warn that customers should be capable of boarding a carnival ride and lifting 50-pound bags repeatedly.
Some anglers bring beer aboard for refreshment. Chardonnay? Probably never.
Choosing a smaller six-angler vessel is the newer, faster alternative for getting lines in the water, fish in the hold and back to the marina before the traditional larger boats and overnight charters.
At the helm of a 29-footer powered by twin 250-hp outboards, Capt. Mark Coleman of All Rivers & Saltwater Charters warns anglers on his website that these are "hardcore 8- to 12-hour fishing trips!"
Anglers must have full rain gear that includes rubber boots, bibs and coat with hood. "And no cheap crap, either," he says.
Rain and saltwater spray can be expected and everyone is hosed down in the bloodbath after a bite. Skippers worth their paycheck immediately bleed and ice every tuna that comes into the boat.
"These are physically demanding, fast-paced trips that require coordinated movements on a busy, moving deck among other anglers while battling a powerful fish," the website says.
"These trips are not appropriate for people with balance, spine, neck, limb, or severe health issues, recent surgery, require canes, crutches or disabled in any manner that would inhibit keeping up during the trip.
"Depending on the ocean conditions, the ride to and from the tuna grounds can be bumpy with occasional harder bumps as you'd expect."
My friend Jim Kujala and I signed up without hesitation.
Costs are a bit more than tuna in a can: $400 per person, plus tips and extra for fish cleaning if desired. But we were smitten by the promise of hooking fish that accelerate like sports cars and feed friends like a gourmet chuckwagon.
While Westport also is known for introducing masses of anglers to Washington's iconic salmon runs, tuna are another animal - one of the bright spots on an otherwise concerning Northwest saltwater scene.
Albacore, which venture into cooler water than most of the 15 tuna species recognized worldwide, are large, sleek predatory fish that spend their lives in the open oceans. That's in contrast to salmon, which hatch in rivers and migrate to live most of their adult lives at sea before returning to natal streams to spawn.
Salmon have orange or pink meat while albacore are pale-fleshed - the advertised "chicken of the sea."
Unlike salmon, which are cold-blooded slaves to their environment, albacore are basically warm-blooded. They can regulate their body temperature. These speedsters come into a boat about 15 degrees warmer internally than the water. This gives them an advantage over their blue-water prey, researchers say.
Albacore don't have swim bladders, so they must be constantly on the move. To fuel this activity they eat around 25 percent of their weight every day, according to some reports.
All of this works to the advantage of the angler. Tuna are a scream to catch.
We were nearly 30 miles offshore when Coleman found the first school of the day. He eased the boat in and shut it down while deck hand Travis Richey grabbed a plastic whiffle ball bat with the end cut off. He stuffed the bat with live anchovies and swung it to spray bait out from the boat as though he were a priest flinging holy water over churchgoers.
The congregation responded.
Hooks baited with live anchovies were flung over the boat side facing the wind and allowed to swim and free-line into the school.
"Virtually no thumbing," Coleman yelled. "Keep the line coming off the reel. To do it right, you're always on the very edge of a major backlash."
Soon, line started peeling off quickly. Count to two, Coleman said, and then shift the lever smoothly from free-spool to let the drag take charge of a tuna that's about to go ape.
"Don't jerk the rod up to set the hook," Coleman had said in his prelaunch briefing. "We have strong gear, but tuna can be stronger."
The anglers had to dance around the boat, lifting rods over one angler's head, under the rod of another and back again as their quarry darted around like aerial fireworks gone haywire.
Some of the tuna made five or six arm-aching runs before coming to the boat. The fish were gaffed - it's faster than netting - and hooks immediately were rebaited and put out until the bite waned.
Six albacore - known as "longfin tuna" because of their unusually lengthy pectoral fins - littered the boat floor after the first siege.
Coleman kicked into gear again, trolling jigs as he searched the horizon for a run and gun. Both methods found schools in a pattern he repeated until shortly after noon, when the four anglers had caught 33 albacore.
With the wind picking up, he gave us an option to call it good, and we did.
Richey filleted the catch on the salt-sprayed deck as the boat rocked and rolled during the rough run back to port. By the time Coleman eased off the throttle at Westport Marina, all the fish were processed and bagged, including a neat kite-shaped tuna belly slab from each fish.
Depending on the weather, bar conditions and tides, the return time to Westport may be slightly early or late in order to be safe. The ocean calls the shots.
But on this September day, we were easily back by 3 p.m. - soon enough to load ice and fish into our vehicle, avoid the traffic gridlock on I-5 and beat the 6:30 blasting closure on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass by three minutes. We called it a day back in Spokane in time for a good night's sleep.
The gourmet part of albacore fishing started the next evening, complemented by a bottle of chardonnay.
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The original story can be found on The Spokesman-Review's website: http://bit.ly/2dwS2uE
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
- By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Wondering if that brownie contains pot? Colorado has you covered.
A requirement that edible marijuana products come with a diamond-shaped stamp and the letters T-H-C — not just on the packaging but on the brownies, candies and other edibles themselves — takes effect Saturday.
The rule referencing marijuana's psychoactive ingredient was added after complaints that the treats look too much their non-intoxicating counterparts. It is the first such requirement in any legal weed state.
Colorado's new "universal symbol" for foods that contain marijuana is designed to give the treats a distinct look even after they're out of the packaging. In other words, a pot cookie being passed around a high school cafeteria no longer will look so innocent, giving parents a way to identify marijuana edibles without smelling or tasting them.
The stamping requirement comes in addition to exhaustive labeling and packaging rules that include childproof zippers and lids, along with warnings that the product should be kept away from children and not eaten before driving or while pregnant or nursing.
"We want to ensure that people genuinely know the difference between a Duncan Hines brownie and a marijuana brownie, just by looking at it," said state Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Democrat who sponsored the law requiring stamped edibles.
There are no numbers in Colorado or any marijuana state on how many children or adults accidentally eat pot. But a 2016 study tracing admissions at Children's Hospital Colorado just outside Denver found that more kids were treated for accidental pot ingestion after legalization, from 1.2 per 100,000 population two years prior to legalization to 2.3 per 100,000 population two years after legalization.
Marijuana ingestions remained relatively rare, though, with the hospital reporting 81 children treated for accidental pot ingestion between 2009 and 2015. Authors noted that "poor child supervision or product storage" was present in about a third of those cases.
Still, reported accidental ingestions caught lawmakers' attention. The law was passed more than a year ago but is just now taking effect because of difficulties implementing it. None of the other legal weed states has considered a universal symbol requirement for marijuana products themselves, as opposed to the packaging.
Candies and baked goods may be simple to stamp, but the label requirement gets a lot trickier for bulk items such as granola, or marijuana-infused sodas or powders that can be dissolved in water. The state ultimately settled on new packaging rules for those impossible-to-stamp items, requiring that sodas come in small single-serve bottles, for example.
Colorado also requires that edible packages contain the phrase, "Keep out of reach of children."
At BlueKudu, which makes marijuana-infused chocolates, owners had to buy new molds for a line of candy bars that include flavors like mint chocolate, toffee almond and coffee crunch.
Company founder Andrew Schrot said that when he started his company in 2011 for medical marijuana customers, his pot treats looked like any other chocolate bars. But he said the switch to a recreational market in which new marijuana users were trying his products necessitated change.
"This is not your normal chocolate bar. There's something different about it. You can tell just from looking at it," Schrot said.
Colorado's marijuana industry initially was hesitant about the change, pointing out in regulatory meetings that alcohol makers aren't required to dye their drinks funny colors to make sure parents don't let kids get ahold of the booze.
"Some of the industry expectation was, 'Let's keep it on the parents and the users in keeping it away from children or people who shouldn't use it,'" Schrot said. "But you know, sometimes mistakes happen. You turn your back and a product is left out."
Colorado has no estimate of how many accidental ingestions might be avoided by the stamping. Starting next year, the state also will ban any edible marijuana products in the shape of a fruit, animal or human — in addition to existing bans on the use of cartoon characters on packages or other images deemed attractive to kids.
"It's really a step in enhancing public safety and making sure that marijuana is out of the hands of children," said Ron Kammerzell, head of enforcement for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.
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Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Police Department is asking the city for more than $125,000 so it can handle the thousands of pounds of marijuana that comes through its doors each year since the drug was legalized for recreational use.
Lt. Cliff Carney, who manages the department's evidence section, tells The Denver Post (https://goo.gl/T7Nz0C ) that instead of officers finding 15 to 20 plants in someone's basement, they're now finding 1,000 to 1,500 plants in a warehouse and all the equipment that goes with it.
In 2013, the year before Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, police seized a little more than 500 pounds of pot. Next year, the department expects to seize 11,265 pounds.
The $125,116 would pay for two additional staff members at the property bureau.
Carney speculates that once marijuana became legal, people thought they could get away with large grows.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a Prescott Valley woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her 3-month-old daughter.
Prescott Valley police say 29-year-old Angela Clark is being held at the Yavapai County Detention Facility on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse.
Police say officers responded to a call on Sept. 17 about an infant who was found unresponsive in a bathtub.
The investigation determined the baby was left unattended for more than 25 minutes in the tub filled with water.
The infant was airlifted to a Phoenix hospital and placed on life support.
Police say the baby died Thursday and Clark was taken into custody.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A former Albuquerque police officer has been accused of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Police say 53-year-old Rodney Locke was taken into custody after Thursday night's crash that killed a pedestrian in a wheelchair.
They say 60-year-old Kay Moss-Freese died in a hospital Friday morning.
Officers ran the pickup truck's license plate number reported by witnesses and found Locke parked outside his home and still in the driver's seat.
They say Locke smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.
Locke refused to take a breathalyzer test so officers got a warrant to draw his blood.
Police say additional charges may be filed against Locke upon the outcome of the blood test.
Locke reportedly was with the Albuquerque Police Department for 30 years before quitting in February.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal inspectors are issuing a warning to the University of Utah after a monkey was burned at a lab and euthanized.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture cites two violations after a hot air blower designed to warm up the monkey was placed dangerously close to the creature in August 2015.
The animal advocacy group Center For Ethical Science called Friday for the university to be fined.
The USDA says the monkey's temperature dropped during an genetic disorder study MRI because an warming blanket meant to keep it warm wasn't plugged in.
The Aug. 2 warning letter faults the lab for failing to check the money's temperature for more than 30 minutes and not making sure all staffers were qualified.
University officials say the injuries were accidental and prompted a review of their policies and procedures.
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A high-ranking official with the Wyoming Highway Patrol is under investigation for posing for a photo near a bison at Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating Highway Patrol Major Keith Groeneweg after he posted a photo on Facebook that looks like he is violating park rules that people must stay at least 25 yards from wildlife, The Casper Star-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2djbaNh).
In the photo Groeneweg can be seen near a bison. The caption of the photo reads, "Yellowstone signs everywhere: 'Stay 100 yards from animals. They can be dangerous.' Keith's translation: 'Time to sneak up and hug a buffalo!'#YNP #ILoveWyoming."
Groeneweg says he was observing the rule and that the photo appears closer than he actually was.
Pete Webster, Yellowstone's chief ranger, said a handful of people shared pictures of Groeneweg's Facebook post with park officials.
"I did call and spoke with him," Webster said. "He was apologetic. He said the photo was purposely distorted to appear a lot closer than he was, and he was beyond our prescribed distance of 25 yards."
Wyoming Highway Patrol Col. Kebin Haller said Groeneweg has been forthcoming about the Yellowstone investigation and that he is cooperating with the park. He said law enforcement officers are held to high standards in their personal lives.
"I would have to say as individuals and professionals, we are always accountable for our actions and behaviors," Haller said.
The investigation comes after a busy summer at Yellowstone where park officials have had an increasing number of visitors get too close to wildlife.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com
PRYOR, Mont. (AP) — The 5,000-square-mile Crow Indian Reservation south of Billings welcomed its newest residents with a cattail to represent the Platte River.
The 18 black-footed ferrets were transported to the Crow Reservation on Wednesday, where biologists and wildlife officials hope the endangered species will eventually establish a breeding population.
Marlin Not Afraid, the director of the Crow Fish and Game Department, placed a cattail next to the first burrow where he released a female ferret to signify to the animal that this was its new home. He also spoke to all the ferrets in his native Crow language to welcome them to his homeland.
"The black-footed ferret, my clan uncle told me, is from the Platte River, Casper area," Not Afraid told The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/2cGw5w1 ). "On each side of the Platte River is cattails. He said that's his homeland."
A convoy of vehicles brought the endangered ferrets into the heart of Crow Country, where they were released near a hillside prairie dog town.
Officials released 29 of the ferrets on the reservation last year, but only a few survived.
There must be 10 back-footed ferret populations with at least 30 breeding adults for the animal to be removed from the endangered species list. The Crow release site is 26th in the nation since 1991 and the sixth tribal location. The ferrets have also been released at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in north-central Montana, the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the U.L. Bend Wilderness.
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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
RATHDRUM, Idaho (AP) — Two junior high students in Idaho were arrested after police said they brought hit lists to school.
The Rathdrum Police Department says the students were arrested Wednesday after they were each discovered with a list of three names, reported the Spokesman-Review (http://bit.ly/2cGwEpq ).
Investigators believe the students — 13 and 14 years old — were involved in separate incidents and no others were involved.
Becky Meyer, superintendent of Lakeland School District, sent a note to parents Wednesday saying the district is taking every precaution to keep students safe.
She said the police school resource officer will be on campus and all external doors will be locked.
School officials found one list on Tuesday and it contained three generic first names without further identification, Meyer said.
School staff investigated but didn't tell the district office until Wednesday.
A police investigation uncovered the other note that officials said contained one student's full name and two first names.
Police will determine whether the threats were credible. The arrested students could be charged with making a threat of violence at school and could face expulsion.
"We have to take every single threat seriously because of the sad reality of school violence," Meyer said.
In her note to parents, she wrote that she will review protocols and make sure communication between the school and the district office is timely in the future.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Two water mains burst in a Salt Lake City suburb, leaving large sinkholes and slowing traffic.
Sandy spokeswoman Nicole Martin tells the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/2cGs1vB ) that a 10-inch pipe burst early Thursday afternoon, creating a 20-foot-by-40-foot hole at a Sandy intersection. She says the hole was 6 feet deep and filled with water.
The sinkhole temporarily closed the intersection.
Martin says crews found a second water main break shortly after the first. That one created a 15-foot-by-15-foot hole that was 5 feet deep.
She says it will take about 10 days to fix the damaged and sunken roads.
Some residents reported discolored water but the public utilities department says it is safe to drink.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
- By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A Gold Hill medical marijuana dispensary that was the first legal store of its kind in Jackson County has become the first licensed recreational marijuana retailer in Oregon.
Breeze Botanicals opened its doors June 14, 2014, in Gold Hill, followed by another store in Ashland in February 2015.
"They will be No. 1 and No. 2," said Danica Hibpshman, director of statewide licensing for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
"We were at a crossroads," said Brie Malarkey, owner of Breeze Botanicals. "Either we could be just medical or go recreational cannabis."
Breeze opened its doors selling only medical marijuana, and then Oregon voters legalized cannabis for anyone 21 or older.
"We had to forfeit our medical marijuana license as part of the OLCC rules," she said.
Under state regulations, Malarkey still can sell cannabis to Oregon Medical Marijuana Program cardholders without charging the 17 percent tax required of recreational cannabis users.
"We will be able to serve all people at this point," she said.
Many local jurisdictions are looking to add a 3 percent tax on retail marijuana and will be asking voters for permission in the Nov. 8 election.
OLCC has approved 21 retail pot licenses so far, and has received the licensing payments from eight of them. The licenses will be issued officially at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Hibpshman said 322 licenses have been applied for statewide. She said Breeze Botanicals was one of the first to apply, submitting its paperwork on June 4.
Medical marijuana stores throughout Oregon can continue to sell recreational marijuana until Jan. 1, 2017, after which it will be allowed only by stores licensed by the OLCC. Oregon lawmakers decided to give medical dispensaries a year in which to sell recreational pot in order to give the OLCC time to formulate its rules and regulations for retailers.
A store licensed for recreational sales will be able to sell a full range of marijuana products, including four immature plants and 10 seeds.
In preparation for the Oct. 1 changeover, Malarkey said she will have a 50-percent-off sale on edibles that have 101 to 600 milligrams of the active ingredient in cannabis. After that point, she will have edibles with just 50 milligrams in a package, but clearly marked with 5-milligram servings, an amount the OLCC settled on after problems arose in Colorado with edible marijuana products. Medical-grade cannabis can have up to 100 milligrams.
"The new rules — some are good, some are crazy," Malarkey said.
The OLCC requires stores to have video surveillance around the clock, and the video files need to be saved for 90 days, which requires a lot of data storage space, Malarkey said. Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, she had to keep videos for 30 days.
Part of the reason for the video requirement is to make sure none of the marijuana is diverted illegally from a store and possibly sent out of state, Malarkey said.
Also, customers will be required to have so-called exit bags for the marijuana products they buy. The bags are designed to make it difficult for children to open them.
Malarkey and her husband, Jon Cunningham, run the two stores, as well as Sunna Ra Acres, where cannabis and other herbs are grown.
They also run Sun God Medicinals in Central Point, which manufactures herbal and cannabis goods.
Malarkey said her companies employ 25, though some of the employees work seasonally.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
ELKO, Nev. (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management is rounding up wild horses in northern Nevada because there isn't enough water available.
The Elko Daily Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2dj5yTs ) that BLM began the emergency horse gather Thursday and plans to remove up to 60 of the animals from the Goshute Herd Management Area southwest of Wendover.
The agency's Wells Field Office determined that the limited water resources warranted emergency action because the situation is too extreme to address in the normal gather cycle.
BLM says the gather will remove some horses to lessen competition for limited water and prevent declining health, suffering or death of the most vulnerable horses.
The process could last up to one month.
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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
REDMOND, Ore. (AP) — Two Redmond teenagers have pleaded guilty in connection to their plot to kill one's mother, then burn down her house.
KTVZ-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2dj0q1n ) that a 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, while a girl, also 17, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree attempted assault.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says the teens planned to kill one of their mothers, then burn down her house with the body left inside. He says the boy on May 19 sprayed his mother with pepper spray and then struck her with a baseball bat.
The victim was able to wrest the bat away from her son and call 911.
The son has been sentenced to 70 months of incarceration and the girl was sentenced to 20 months.
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Information from: KTVZ-TV, http://www.ktvz.com/
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A twin Falls chiropractor has had his license suspended in connection to allegations that he sexually assaulted nine patients.
The Times-News reports (http://bit.ly/2dwNVhM ) that 54-year-old Robert Johnson has been charged with nine misdemeanor counts of sexual exploitation by a medical care provider.
In a Sept. 22 order, the Idaho State Board of Chiropractors has suspended Johnson from practicing until completion of the criminal investigation.
Johnson faces up to nine years in county jail, a fine up to $9,000 and he would have to register as a sex offender if convicted.
According to court documents four women went to police in July and since then five more women have come forward with similar accusations. All nine women say Johnson spent inordinate amounts of time massaging their inner thighs and breasts.
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
SALINAS, Calif. (AP) — A Monterey woman has pleaded guilty to planning to poison her mother with a rare Southeast Asian plant.
The Salinas Californian reports (http://bit.ly/2cGhmB3 ) that 30-year-old Di Cerulean Stylo on Wednesday pleaded guilty to making a criminal threat to kill her mother and to threatening to place a harmful substance in food or drink.
According to court documents, Stylo told one of her relatives that she was planning to use seeds from the Cerbera odollam, commonly known as the "suicide tree," to kill her mother. Seeds from the tree are fatal when ingested. Stylo had purchased the seeds from an internet site.
The family member called the Monterey Police Department and reported the plot after being told of it.
Sentencing to felony probation is set for Nov. 17
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Information from: The Salinas Californian, http://www.californianonline.com
- By SASHA NELSON Craig Daily Press
CRAIG, Colo. (AP) — Sex education within the Moffat County schools may not comply with a 2013 Colorado State law.
"The last time the school board discussed this policy — IHAM, family life/sex education — was in April 25, 2013," said Charity Neal, school board secretary, member of the policy review committee and Director of Public Health for Northwest Colorado Health.
That same year Colorado state legislators passed House Bill 1081-13, reported the Craig Daily Press (http://bit.ly/2dupV2X). It was signed into law on May 28 and mandates that, when taught, information about human sexuality must be comprehensive and factual.
The law states that "Colorado youth have a right to receive medically and scientifically accurate information to empower them to make informed decisions that promote their individual physical and mental health and well-being" and then clearly spells out content including "all methods to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections."
What schools are and are not allowed to teach is also "governed by federal law (NCLB and others), Colorado Academic Standards, Colorado State Statute and MCSD corresponding board of education policy govern the choices the district makes regarding sex education," said School Superintendent Dave Ulrich.
The current district policy still includes references to clauses in the 1990 Comprehensive Health Act that were removed by House Bill 1081-13.
High teen pregnancy rates are cause for concern
Last year, 39 of the 436 girls living in Moffat County who were between the ages of 15 and 19 became pregnant, according to information presented by Dr. Eileen Joyce, a women's health provider and OB/GYN with The Memorial Hospital at Craig, at the parents preview night of a new course on reproductive health being offered for area parents and teens.
One of the presenters, Chandra Lopez-Shue, was 16 when she got pregnant. As a high school junior, two weeks before her 17th birthday, she became a single mom.
"I had had a boyfriend for a while, we hadn't really talked about being safe, and I was far too scared to go to my parents, and I didn't know about the resources. I didn't really think it through," she said.
"A pregnancy can result in a live birth, an abortion or a miscarriage," reads the National Campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancies website.
Of the 39 teen pregnancies projected by Joyce in 2015, 13 babies were born, according to data provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
This means, if Joyce's data was correct, 26 teen pregnancies in Moffat County may have ended in miscarriage or abortion.
Joyce was contacted several times by the Craig Daily Press to find out where her data originated, but she did not return calls for comment.
"This is just one indicator of the increased population of at-risk youth and adults in Moffat County," Ulrich said.
In addition to the high rate of teen pregnancies, area providers are also concerned about the level of reproductive knowledge of area teens.
Ken Davis, director of community integration at Northwest Colorado Health, is concerned that Moffat County teens lack a basic understanding of their own anatomy, describing experiences of girls with abdominal pain unaware of the location of their ovaries.
Dr. Elise Sullivan, who has a family medical practice through The Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic, reports that she and other area providers have encountered similar incidents in their practices.
Moffat County School District's approach
Sex education in Moffat County schools has given primary emphasis to abstinence by school-aged children, said district nurse Karie Fisher as reported in the Craig Daily Press.
That approach was mandated in the comprehensive health education act of 1990 but altered by House Bill 1081-13 in 2013, and Moffat County schools do not appear to have kept up. Therefore, the district is not compliant with state law.
Teaching materials used by Craig Middle School include a 2004 video called "Everyone Is Not Doing It," self-produced by Mike Long, a former teacher who is described as one of America's foremost pro-life communicators by Premiere Speakers Bureau, and is a national consultant to Project Reality, an abstinence-education-program provider.
Craig Daily Press staff reviewed the video to learn that Long describes the six pressures that drive teens to have sex, preaches that television companies and musicians are encouraging teens to have sex in order to sell their products and goes so far as to say that these companies are stealing money from teens. He speaks to the risks associated with sex, but information does not go into any depth or detail about pregnancy or STDs.
Despite the social benefits of abstinence-based education, declines in teen pregnancy risk are entirely driven by improved contraceptive use, as the levels of teen sexual activity were essentially unchanged between 2007-2012, according to findings by Laura Lindberg and colleagues in a peer-reviewed scientific study published in June by the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"These policies and mindset are not something that the current board has dealt with," Neal said.
Past school administration and students believe that the approach is not as rigorous now as the program provided to students in earlier decades.
"Once a year, sex ed classes were done for an entire week for eighth graders, usually in mid-April," said Roger Little, who retired as principal for the middle school in 1989. "The science teachers, the school nurse and I were on the team for the unit. It was a very thorough and well done approach."
Shirley Balleck, owner of the Flower Mine in Craig, grew up in Moffat County and remembers the sex education class taught in middle school about 45 years ago.
"We were taught sex education in middle school by Mrs. Gardner. She made it informative and somewhat fun," she said. "It's good to know the facts before they start a relationship. I think the class was very beneficial to me and my classmates."
Teen birth rates in Routt County are generally much lower than in Moffat County and the school district, according to data from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The approach to sex ed by the Steamboat Springs School District differs in that it is mandatory for grades six to eight, and community partners assist.
"We have a health class required by all sixth, seventh and eighth grade students for one quarter every year. A low number of parents opt out, primarily for religious reasons," said Steamboat Springs Middle School Principal Jerry Buelter. "We work with Grand Futures, providers, and Americorps 20-year-olds to target at-risk kids, provide positive role models, and another adult to guide students."
Community response in Moffat County
Sex education should be a partnership between parents, providers and the school system, "it's not just a school problem, but also a community problem that we need to address as a community," Neal said.
Because teens are so healthy, if parents and the schools are not talking with teens about reproductive health choices, providers may have to fill in the gaps only after a child is pregnant or has contracted a disease, Dr. Sullivan said.
By providing free workshops in September to parents and teens, area health care providers aimed to reduce teen pregnancy rates and improve teen health. The partnership between The Memorial Hospital, Northwest Colorado Health, Advocates Crisis Support and the Yampa Valley Pregnancy Center resulted in a series of classes called "Building a Healthy You."
The school board is expecting a presentation from the group behind "Building a Healthy You" at its October meeting.
"We will always review policy at the recommendation of community, board and staff. I would not be surprised if this is a policy that gets a request for review. It will be up to the board as a whole to decide if we would make any changes," Neal said.
Moffat County School District policies are available for public review on the school district website.
"Jennifer Riley and her team will review the information they have been presenting to the community in their 'Building a Healthy You' presentation. They will also share with the board the statistics on teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted illnesses," Ulrich said.
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Information from: Craig Daily Press, http://www.craigdailypress.com
- By KELLY RAGAN The Tribune
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Greeley police officer Ryan Oettinger drove his patrol car around, waiting for calls on a slow day after a crazy night, when he noticed a woman sitting on the sidewalk.
"That's a little strange," Oettinger said. "Let's go see how she's doing."
The sidewalk faced a busy street. There was no bench, no bus stop or any place inviting pedestrians to sit for a bit. It felt off to Oettinger. As a police officer trained to recognize situations that could lead to trouble, Oettinger decided to trust his instincts.
He turned the car around and pulled up to the woman.
He rolled down the window and asked how she was. She seemed unsure of the question at first. She'd done nothing wrong.
She said she was OK, but then she took it back. She'd just watched her son walk to the liquor store. He'd been drinking heavily for a little while now and acted strangely when he was drunk. He was of age, but she was worried.
Oettinger asked if she wanted him to speak with her son.
"It might sound different coming from me rather than his mom," Oettinger said. She agreed.
Oettinger gave the woman a lift back to her place and walked with her into her home. There, he saw her son sitting on the couch.
A pin with the letters 'CIT' rests under Oettinger's name tag, reported The Tribune (http://bit.ly/2daLn9D). It's not as big or flashy as the police badge, but Oettinger wears it proudly. It stands for Crisis Intervention Team — it's a subtle way to let people know he can offer extra help.
The training teaches officers to address mental health concerns before a dangerous — even deadly — situation arises.
Police hope getting to unstable people early and connecting them to the right resources will help the community avoid tragedies such as police shootings, suicides and violence. It's part of a ramped up effort to collaborate with mental health agencies in Greeley to address a growing number of people who need mental health treatment in northern Colorado but are unable or unwilling to find it. Greeley police say they're seeing more and more instances where they're called to resolve situations involving mental health issues.
Oettinger asked the son how he was and what he'd been up to. Oettinger asked if he'd been drinking. He said no, but his answer was jumbled and his words were slurred.
"It's not illegal to drink, but your mom is worried about you," Oettinger said.
Then he listened. Oettinger found out the man's roommate recently died, and he'd just lost his job. It was a rough time, just the kind of thing that can affect even those who previously didn't have any kind of a mental condition.
Oettinger took out his business card and wrote down the number for Labor Ready, a temporary staffing agency, and North Range Behavioral Health. Oettinger told the man both those agencies would help him.
Oettinger also gave the man his work cell phone number to call in case he needed someone to talk to.
Oettinger knows some of the top risk factors for suicide are relationship losses and job losses. He knows because he lost his own mom to suicide when he was 19 years old. When he has to, he uses that to relate with people.
"Sometimes when I'm being empathetic, people think I have to be because it's my job," Oettinger said. "When I pull that out, they realize I'm actually connected to this."
Oettinger said he often deals with folks who are depressed during his patrols. He knows they don't want to feel that way.
"We're obviously not psychiatrists, but we have to play that role a lot," Oettinger said.
SUICIDE BY COP
Mental health calls have gone up in the past few years in Greeley, police chief Jerry Garner said. Especially suicide calls.
"I can't tell you why, I don't know why," Garner said. "We're answering attempted suicide or threatened suicide calls literally every day, sometimes more than once a day."
Garner is also worried because he's seen more instances where people want to use officers to help them commit suicide. They call it "suicide by cop," and generally it happens when unstable people force police officers to shoot them. Often, they pull a weapon or pretend like they have one.
Earlier in September, a woman waived a pistol around in the courtyard of an apartment complex on the 1100 block of 7th Street. She yelled that she was going to kill everyone. When officers arrived, she refused to listen to their orders.
She told them they'd have to kill her and went to grab the pistol — which turned out to be a replica Smith and Wesson .40-caliber BB gun — out of her waistband.
They warned her to drop the weapon. When she didn't listen, they Tased her. It could have been worse.
The idea is to prevent situations from getting to that point.
There's no one problem to pinpoint in these situations, Garner said. Sometimes it's a mental health issue, sometimes it's a drug issue and sometimes it's a combination.
Regardless, officers don't want to kill people, and no one wants to lose a family member. Shootings also keep a community unsettled, even angry, making it more difficult for officers to do their jobs in the future.
"We know a number of the mentally ill people we deal with are not dangerous," Garner said. "The problem is we don't know initially which ones are, so we have to exercise extreme caution."
CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM TRAINING
Oettinger remembers speaking to a 24-year-old woman after she lost her husband to suicide. She was devastated by the loss and became depressed herself. The woman's father tried to help her by telling her how good she had it. Her father meant well, but he made it worse.
That's when Oettinger got a call about the 24-year-old, who was suicidal. He talked with her about his mother.
"We ended up going to the hospital," Oettinger said. "She followed up about the suicide support group that I go to. She wanted to join."
Part of knowing how to maneuver through crisis situations is common sense, Oettinger said, but another part is training.
Crisis Intervention Team training consists of an intensive 40-hour course that teaches officers how to deal with calls related to mental health issues, said Jerry Garner, police chief. It's more intensive than the standard eight-hour course at the Police Academy.
Part of the training deals with common manifestations of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar and addiction.
In addition to the classroom, officers train with professional actors, Garner said.
"If you're handling it appropriately the actor deescalates," Garner said. "If you're making it worse, the actor gets worse."
Actors respond to officers' demeanor and tone. If officers are too aggressive or hasty, actors are trained to become increasingly hostile and resistant. To pass, officers have to pacify four out of five situations.
Officers say it's some of the toughest training they've ever been to because it's so real, Garner said. The actors are tough, and they challenge officers to think about how they can influence the situation for better or worse.
Officers are supposed to come out of the training with an understanding of major mental health issues, pacifying techniques and communication skills. Officers are trained to go into mental health crisis situations in as nonthreatening of a way as possible. They are trained to speak softer than the person they're contacting and to use nonthreatening body language.
"As a patrol officer, you certainly solve more problems with your mouth than your handcuffs or belt," said Greeley Police Department training officer Steven Perkins. "Veteran officers are very good at talking to people because that is your best tool."
Perkins said de-escalation is critical because it gives officers time. That time can be the difference between a deadly encounter and a peaceful one.
"I can think of several instances just this year where we've dealt with people who are armed or have come at police wanting them to shoot them," Perkins said. "These techniques have allowed officers to come at them with other options."
The goal now is to get at least one officer with the extra crises training at every call where officers are dealing with someone who's mentally unstable, Garner said.
PARTNERSHIPS
If people aren't getting the mental health care they need, jail is usually the unfortunate alternative.
After all, if someone is belligerent, threatening or violent, people typically call the police, Perkins said. Not all mentally ill people are this way, of course, but when police are called, that's often the case.
North Range now has offices in the jail to help people struggling with a mental illness break the cycle of going to jail, being released and then going to jail again instead of getting help. Before North Range was involved, deputies conducted evaluations to see if people needed a mental health hold. Since deputies don't have the same kind of training a psychiatrist would, it was difficult for them to distinguish between a mental health crisis and other problems, Detention Division Capt. Roger Ainsworth said.
Ainsworth serves on North Range's board of directors. He's working to ensure those who wind up in jail with mental health issues get the care they need once they're released.
"I don't want to be releasing people back onto the street who might hurt themselves or others or commit another crime," Ainsworth said.
North Range and the Greeley Police Department hope to expand their partnership beyond the jail and into the streets. North Range already has a mobile crisis team that, if time allows, goes out with police on mental health calls, said Kimberly Collins, administrative director at North Range. It's still a new program, so it's not yet common practice, but North Range and Greeley police hope to make it that way.
"We typically get a call, and police explain what their concern is with a person," said Gail White, program director of the crisis response team. "We go out and talk to the person and find out what resources they need."
The mobile unit has four vans with security cages. More violent calls might need tougher security cages, so the vans vary. They usually send out one or two clinicians, White said, depending on the needs of the call.
Having a plainclothes person present helps soothe the situation, Collins said.
"A lot of times, individuals have trauma with police officers because they've had bad experiences in the past," Collins said. "If they're wearing the uniform and carrying the gun and badge, it can trigger them."
Long term, White hopes to have a clinician embedded with first responders, she said, so officers won't even need to call when they're facing a tough situation.
PREVENTION
Everyone agrees that seeking help before the police get involved is ideal.
"If you have the kind of relationship with the troubled individual where you can give them advice, where you can talk with them, do so," Garner said.
North Range Behavioral Health offers a number of services for people struggling with their mental health, including counseling for all ages, substance abuse treatment, a walk-in crisis center and a mobile crisis team.
Clear View Behavioral Health, 4770 Larimer Parkway in Johnstown, also offers inpatient and outpatient care for adolescents, adults and seniors.
But if someone needs medical attention or is a danger to themselves or others, calling the police is the best thing to do, Garner said.
Usually there are warning signs before a crisis. Oettinger looks for those signs. He's developed some deeper relationships with the repeat callers he sees. One kid in particular sticks out to him. He doesn't have a stable family. He's been in physical fights with his neighbors. Oettinger recognizes his address when he gets the call.
Even though Oettinger has worked on his case, and there have been consequences for his actions, the kid tells Oettinger he knows he's there for him. It's possible he'll think of Oettinger next time trouble arises — the extra thought could prevent the next tragedy.
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Information from: The Tribune of Greeley, Co, http://greeleytribune.com
- By RICH LANDERS The (Spokane) Statesman-Review
WESTPORT, Wash. (AP) — There's nothing canned about the tuna fishing experience on a charter boat out of Westport, Washington.
With a state-average catch rate of eight fish per person, charter boat anglers are almost sure to return with the makings of a saltwater feast. But the ocean serves up a different adventure on every trip.
Anglers lining up at boat docks before sunrise are aware that venturing 25-60 miles offshore leaves no place to hide if the wind fouls the mood of the sea.
If you're game, September is prime time for albacore averaging roughly 20 pounds or more, and October is known as big-fish month. The local derby-leading tuna last week was 43 pounds.
Westport charter boats are up to the challenge, landing 88 percent of Washington's sport albacore catch, the Fish and Wildlife Department says.
Even though schools of these tuna are measured by the acre, they are a speck in the open ocean. Skippers find them in 3,000 feet of water by trolling while scouting the horizon for jumpers and seabirds flocking to feed on bait boiling to the surface as tuna slash and feed below.
Pursuing the albacore and some yellowtail that cruise within striking distance off the coast from mid-June into November is a deliciously blue-collar experience. A certain toughness is required. A cast-iron stomach helps.
Tuna anglers tend to be on whack-and-stackers. There's no catch limit. Skippers warn that customers should be capable of boarding a carnival ride and lifting 50-pound bags repeatedly.
Some anglers bring beer aboard for refreshment. Chardonnay? Probably never.
Choosing a smaller six-angler vessel is the newer, faster alternative for getting lines in the water, fish in the hold and back to the marina before the traditional larger boats and overnight charters.
At the helm of a 29-footer powered by twin 250-hp outboards, Capt. Mark Coleman of All Rivers & Saltwater Charters warns anglers on his website that these are "hardcore 8- to 12-hour fishing trips!"
Anglers must have full rain gear that includes rubber boots, bibs and coat with hood. "And no cheap crap, either," he says.
Rain and saltwater spray can be expected and everyone is hosed down in the bloodbath after a bite. Skippers worth their paycheck immediately bleed and ice every tuna that comes into the boat.
"These are physically demanding, fast-paced trips that require coordinated movements on a busy, moving deck among other anglers while battling a powerful fish," the website says.
"These trips are not appropriate for people with balance, spine, neck, limb, or severe health issues, recent surgery, require canes, crutches or disabled in any manner that would inhibit keeping up during the trip.
"Depending on the ocean conditions, the ride to and from the tuna grounds can be bumpy with occasional harder bumps as you'd expect."
My friend Jim Kujala and I signed up without hesitation.
Costs are a bit more than tuna in a can: $400 per person, plus tips and extra for fish cleaning if desired. But we were smitten by the promise of hooking fish that accelerate like sports cars and feed friends like a gourmet chuckwagon.
While Westport also is known for introducing masses of anglers to Washington's iconic salmon runs, tuna are another animal - one of the bright spots on an otherwise concerning Northwest saltwater scene.
Albacore, which venture into cooler water than most of the 15 tuna species recognized worldwide, are large, sleek predatory fish that spend their lives in the open oceans. That's in contrast to salmon, which hatch in rivers and migrate to live most of their adult lives at sea before returning to natal streams to spawn.
Salmon have orange or pink meat while albacore are pale-fleshed - the advertised "chicken of the sea."
Unlike salmon, which are cold-blooded slaves to their environment, albacore are basically warm-blooded. They can regulate their body temperature. These speedsters come into a boat about 15 degrees warmer internally than the water. This gives them an advantage over their blue-water prey, researchers say.
Albacore don't have swim bladders, so they must be constantly on the move. To fuel this activity they eat around 25 percent of their weight every day, according to some reports.
All of this works to the advantage of the angler. Tuna are a scream to catch.
We were nearly 30 miles offshore when Coleman found the first school of the day. He eased the boat in and shut it down while deck hand Travis Richey grabbed a plastic whiffle ball bat with the end cut off. He stuffed the bat with live anchovies and swung it to spray bait out from the boat as though he were a priest flinging holy water over churchgoers.
The congregation responded.
Hooks baited with live anchovies were flung over the boat side facing the wind and allowed to swim and free-line into the school.
"Virtually no thumbing," Coleman yelled. "Keep the line coming off the reel. To do it right, you're always on the very edge of a major backlash."
Soon, line started peeling off quickly. Count to two, Coleman said, and then shift the lever smoothly from free-spool to let the drag take charge of a tuna that's about to go ape.
"Don't jerk the rod up to set the hook," Coleman had said in his prelaunch briefing. "We have strong gear, but tuna can be stronger."
The anglers had to dance around the boat, lifting rods over one angler's head, under the rod of another and back again as their quarry darted around like aerial fireworks gone haywire.
Some of the tuna made five or six arm-aching runs before coming to the boat. The fish were gaffed - it's faster than netting - and hooks immediately were rebaited and put out until the bite waned.
Six albacore - known as "longfin tuna" because of their unusually lengthy pectoral fins - littered the boat floor after the first siege.
Coleman kicked into gear again, trolling jigs as he searched the horizon for a run and gun. Both methods found schools in a pattern he repeated until shortly after noon, when the four anglers had caught 33 albacore.
With the wind picking up, he gave us an option to call it good, and we did.
Richey filleted the catch on the salt-sprayed deck as the boat rocked and rolled during the rough run back to port. By the time Coleman eased off the throttle at Westport Marina, all the fish were processed and bagged, including a neat kite-shaped tuna belly slab from each fish.
Depending on the weather, bar conditions and tides, the return time to Westport may be slightly early or late in order to be safe. The ocean calls the shots.
But on this September day, we were easily back by 3 p.m. - soon enough to load ice and fish into our vehicle, avoid the traffic gridlock on I-5 and beat the 6:30 blasting closure on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass by three minutes. We called it a day back in Spokane in time for a good night's sleep.
The gourmet part of albacore fishing started the next evening, complemented by a bottle of chardonnay.
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The original story can be found on The Spokesman-Review's website: http://bit.ly/2dwS2uE
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
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