Clark County extends medical marijuana moratorium
Clark County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to extend last year’s moratorium on collective medical marijuana gardens and adopted a nine-step plan to develop regulations.The moratorium is slated to expire in June 2013 but could be lifted as soon as zoning rules and other conditions are in place.The collective gardens are permissible under state law but illegal under federal law.Also Tuesday, a Clark County judge dismissed a citizen’s criminal complaint — a process by which a citizen can argue to a judge that there’s probable cause to believe a crime has been committed — that was filed against the commissioners and other senior-level county staff members over medical marijuana.Brush Prairie resident James Barber Sr. alleged the officials knowingly made a false or misleading statement to a public official in a Dec. 2, 2011, letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. In the letter, commissioners described state law and sought advice on whether county employees would be immune from liability under the federal Controlled Substance Act if they were asked to zone, permit or inspect facilities used to produce medical marijuana.The letter was referred to the Drug Enforcement Administration.In a response from Joseph T. Rannazzisi, deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Diversion Control, the answer was clear:“Anyone who knowingly carries out the marijuana activities contemplated by Washington state law, as well as anyone who facilitates such activities, or conspires to commit such violations, is subject to criminal prosecution as provided in the CSA. That same conclusion would apply with equal force to the proposed activities of the Board of Clark County Commissioners and Clark County employees.”“Such persons may also be subject to money laundering statutes,” Rannazzisi added.Barber argued Tuesday to District Court Judge John Hagensen that the county’s letter included information they knew was false, based on Barber’s interpretation of state law. Clark County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bernard Veljacic said the officials were simply making an inquiry about an unsettled matter of law.
Portland Fire & Rescue along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives opened a tip and information line for Sunday’s five-alarm fire at the Thunderbird on the River.Anyone with tips, information, videos or photographs of the fire is asked to call 1-800-800-3855.To speak with an agent, select Option 2 at the first voice prompt and then Option 3 at the second prompt. Callers may remain anonymous, but contact info is needed for follow-up calls. “It is important in large-scale fire investigations to enlist the public’s help in providing possible leads,” said Christopher Porreca, spokesman for the ATF. “Fire scenes are extremely complex and even the smallest bit of information could be crucial in identifying and assisting in the determination of the cause of the fire.”The fire sparked early Sunday morning at the vacant hotel at 1401 N. Hayden Island Drive. Firefighters estimate damage to be $5 million, if not more, based on damage to 85 percent of the six-building hotel.Meanwhile, David Austin, communications director for Multnomah County, confirmed on Wednesday that Thunderbird hotel owner Howard Dietrich owes $1.121 million in back taxes since 2008. He bought the hotel along with the Red Lion Hotel on the River-Jantzen Beach, on the east side of Interstate 5, for $28 million in 2005.At one point, Walmart was reportedly eyeing the site.
PORTLAND — Coast Guard officials say it appears that someone intentionally set a loaded grain barge adrift on the Columbia River.An earlier report by The Oregonian said the barge was to be unloaded at a terminal that has locked out longshoremen. However, in an email to The Columbian today, Pat McCormick, spokesman for a group of grain-terminal operators that includes United Grain Corp. at the Port of Vancouver, said Barge 550 “was not scheduled for either United Grain or Columbia Grain.”Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have been locked out at United Grain, as well as Columbia Grain in Portland.Tidewater Barge Lines workers reported the barge missing late Friday night. According to a Coast Guard statement, a worker said ratchets used to hold the barge in place appeared to have been intentionally loosened.The crew of a passing tug came upon the unlighted, 252-foot-long barge floating between Portland and Vancouver and towed it back to the staging area where it had been moored.Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Jones says the loose barge could have endangered people or caused a collision.Longshore union spokeswoman Jennifer Sargent says the union had nothing to do with it. A Tidewater spokeswoman did not return calls for comment Monday.
LONG BEACH — The next round of razor clam digging on the Long Beach Peninsula begins Saturday.The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week that marine toxin tests indicate the clams are safe to eat.Digging at Long Beach will be open Saturday through Monday. Low tides are -0.1 feet at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, -0.3 feet at 5:26 p.m. on Sunday and -0.4 feet at 6:03 p.m. on Monday.Twin Harbors beach to the north also is open Tuesday and Wednesday.The best digging typically is one to two hours before low tides. Diggers can take 15 razor clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 dug. Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable 2013-14 license to harvest razor clams. Licenses range form a three-day razor clam license ($8.60) to an annual combination fishing license ($54.25).
Pedro “Junior” Godinez Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to more than 50 years in prison for the attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping of an Oregon man near Vancouver Lake.Freddie Landstrom, 39, of Beaverton, Ore., was lured to the apartment of Godinez’s then-girlfriend, Joanna Speaks, on Nov. 28, 2012. Godinez abducted Landstrom, someone he’d never met before, at gunpoint, and led Landstrom to believe that he would live — until the point when Landstrom gave Godinez his ATM PIN numbers. Godinez shot Landstrom five times.Wounded, Landstrom escaped by fleeing in the darkness through a swamp and field until he stumbled upon Kadow’s Marina, a cluster of houseboats at 10612 N.W. Lower River Road. He sought help at one of the residences, and a woman inside called 911 because she thought he was an intruder.“One, I’m happy that there’s justice,” Landstrom said Wednesday. “Two, it’s sad because most people don’t understand this person is going to leave. I’m assuming he has some people who love him, and this will impact their lives more than anyone knows.”Clark County Deputy Prosecutor Dan Gasperino asked Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson to sentence Godinez to 50 years in prison. Johnson sentenced him to 50 years and seven months.
Sportsmen in the lower Columbia River are projected to be at 91 percent of their initial spring chinook allocation when angling closes beginning Tuesday.Washington and Oregon biologists have issued a report estimating that 9,230 upper Columbia-origin spring chinook out of an allocation of 10,157 will used through Monday.This week, lower Columbia anglers are predicted to make 45,500 trips with a good catch of 8,400 adult spring chinook. In the week ending Sunday, there were 2,821 kept chinook from 42,330 angler trips.No additional hearings are scheduled, but catches are being tracked and a hearing early next week is possible, if warranted, to extend fishing.Commercial fishermen in the lower Columbia caught 1,746 total chinook on April 1, of which 1,511 were upper Columbia origin. The commercials have used 87 percent of their allowed 1,735 upper Columbia chinook prior to the run forecast update in mid-May.Once the lower Columbia closes, much of the local angling interest will shift to the lower Willamette River, Wind River, Drano Lake and the Columbia upstream of Bonneville Dam.The sport allocation for upstream of Bonneville is 1,354 spring chinook with none caught through Sunday. That season is scheduled to close beginning May 10.Spring chinook angling from a boat in the Bonneville pool is not allowed downstream of the Tower Island power lines near The Dalles.Washington officials sampled two spring chinook caught in Drano Lake last weekend.Catches in the Willamette slowed last weekend due to muddy water. Sampling in Multnomah Channel and the main Willamette downstream of St. Johns Bridge tallied 1,119 boaters with 77 spring chinook kept and eight released.The East Fork of the Lewis River from the mouth to the upper boat ramp at Lewisville Park and the Washougal from the mouth to the Mount Norway Bridge open on Wednesday for hatchery steelhead. Through June 6, selective gear rules are in place and no bait may be used.
VIENNA — Russia has informed the United States that it will boycott the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, diplomats told The Associated Press on Tuesday, potentially stripping the meeting of one of its key participants and hurting efforts initiated by President Barack Obama to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism.Officials already had told the AP on Monday that Moscow was absent from last week’s initial summit planning session in Washington but had left unclear whether Russia planned to attend the summit itself.On Tuesday, two diplomats said the boycott applied to the 2016 meeting as well. They cited as their source a diplomatic note from Moscow to the U.S. and other nations planning to participate. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to discuss confidential information.One of the diplomats said the note expressed opposition to the summit because of its alleged political nature. He cited the note as saying that any meeting on nuclear security should be on a technical level and convened not by a nation but by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.Russia has participated in such summits in the past. But the diplomat, who is familiar with Moscow’s stance, said it already had reservations while attending the last meeting in March at The Hague. He did not specify but added that the “changed political atmosphere” — shorthand for Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine — added to the Kremlin’s decision to stay away.
Around the county, green donation boxes are appearing with the name “Gaia Project.” I believe this organization is dubious and is not a reputable charity. The problem is, these boxes are multiplying in our county, and many highly rated charities are missing out on donations put into Gaia boxes. Plus the kindhearted people who donate might not have any idea to whom they donate.— Anonymously annoyedBoy are you cynical, Anonymously. Didn’t you know that if you paint it green and stick a happy Earth graphic on it, it’s automatically “environmental”?It takes virtually no digging online to turn up a vast amount of, well, let’s call it troubling information and allegations about the organization that has deployed them. Most of this material is years old, so we’re a little uneasy passing it right along.But here it is: Gaia Movement USA, based in Chicago, has been linked to a Danish organization called Tvind, or The Teachers’s Group. It purports to gather and sell used clothes and shoes in order to support environmental charities and train teachers to work in impoverished Africa. But The Chicago Tribune and other media have repeatedly underlined the flimsiness of that claim and the shadiness of the group’s history and leadership, several members of whom have been indicted, but not convicted, on charges related to money laundering, embezzlement and criminal tax evasion schemes in Denmark.Meanwhile, words like “scam” and even “cult” keep coming up, and so do lousy grades for transparency, charity and spending on verifiable environmental projects from organizations including The American Institute of Philanthropy, CharityWatch.org and the Better Business Bureau. According to some former teacher trainees and staffers who speak out in news reports, their mandatory highest priority was always raking in bucks for the organization via those green boxes.
An arctic blast this week will bring Clark County strong winds and its coldest temperatures of the season so far, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.The combination will bring wind-chill values to dangerously low levels, particularly in the Columbia River Gorge, according to the weather service. Wind chills could drop as low as 25 below zero in the Gorge, and even the Vancouver metro area could experience wind chills around zero degrees or slightly above, said Liana Ramirez, a meteorologist with the weather service.“We’ll definitely feel it,” Ramirez said. “The strongest winds will of course be near the Gorge, but the Portland and Vancouver area will still be impacted.”Winds from the east picked up Monday and were expected to continue through Tuesday and into Wednesday. Gusts could measure as strong as 40 to 55 mph in Vancouver, according to the weather service. That could be strong enough to cause power outages, adding to what has already been a busy several weeks for local utility crews. Most recently, a Dec. 11 windstorm left tens of thousands of people without power in Clark County.Meanwhile, local temperatures will struggle to rise above the freezing mark for much of this week. High temperatures will stay in the low 30s at least through Wednesday, according to the weather service, while overnight lows drop into the teens.
Battle Ground police are looking for tips into a rash of vandalism that occurred late Thursday night and early Friday morning.Unknown suspects spray-painted cars and shot out windows with what appears to be a BB gun, according to a police news release.The vandals targted the 100 block of Southeast Grace Avenue, the 800 block of Northwest Second Avenue and the 800 block of Southeast Seventh Court.Police are asking people with home video surveillance in these neighborhoods to check their systems for anything suspicious. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Aaron Kanooth at 360-342-5254.
There are several arguments for employers to do more to support working parents or to at least be understanding of the kind of pressures they face. Back in the day, when flexible-working legislation was first introduced, the idea was that parents needed special treatment and that employers that catered to flexible working were doing so to help their employees, thus, flexible working was a benefit offered by employers for employees.We have moved on since then, and many employers realise that flexibility works both ways. Not only does it allow them to retain and attract experienced workers, but they are likely to be more loyal and more motivated as a result of being able to work in a way that enables them to have a greater work-life balance, or at least see a bit more of their families than they would have done without any flexibility.In a similar way, many of the most progressive employers understand that offering family support, be that childcare support, maternity or paternity counselling, parenting sessions, parenting networks or eldercare support, will benefit them as much as their employees. They see the link between employee wellbeing and productivity, between a happier workforce and a more motivated workforce. They understand that employees are at the centre of their business and how they treat them will, ultimately, impact their bottom line.Given that parents make up a significant percentage of employees, it makes sense then on every level for employers to try and understand what might make their lives a little easier. By understanding what the stress points are and making changes that remove at least some of that anxiety, employers can enable their employees to focus more on the job in hand and to work better. That must surely be in everyone’s interests.Mandy Garner is editor at Workingmums.co.uk
Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. MIAMI (WSVN) – Police are searching for a man who allegedly tried to abduct a 12-year-old girl, Wednesday morning, in Miami.Miami Police said the girl was walking on Northwest 67th Street towards Seventh Avenue, at around 7 a.m., when the man pulled up in his car, made a U-turn, showed the girl money and asked if she wanted it.The girl remembered that her mother had given her a cellphone and grabbed it from her backpack. She told the man she was calling 911, and the man then sped away, according to police.Police have spoken to the girl and released the following sketch of the man.The man was driving a black vehicle with dark windows, according to police.The girl is safe. 
MIAMI (WSVN) – Two weeks after a tragic boating accident took the life of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez and two of his friends, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told 7News they have received Fernandez’s toxicology report from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s office, Monday.According to the FWC, they expect the report o provide valuable information for its investigation.However, the commission does not plan to release any of its findings until the investigation is complete.Related: Family, friends attend emotional funeral mass for Jose FernandezTwenty-four-year-old Fernandez and two friends, 27-year-old Emilio Macias and 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero, were killed in a boating accident off Miami Beach that left his boat overturned on a jetty, near Government Cut and South Pointe Park, early Sept. 25.The news shook not only the Major League Baseball community but the South Florida community, as well.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) – Police have arrested a man accused of setting a fire that destroyed 28 condos.According to police, Nathan Counts confessed to pouring gasoline in various areas of his Coral Springs condominium and setting the place on fire.Twenty-eight units were damaged, causing nearly $4 million in damage.No residents were hurt, but three cats died in the fire and from smoke inhalation.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (WSVN) — A family in Colorado is furious after two men were only sentenced to probation for their involvement in the brutal gang rape of their 13-year-old granddaughter.Clarence Williams, 19, and Tommy Williams, 20, each were sentenced to a minimum of 10 years of sex offender supervised probation, with a maximum of life on probation, KKTV reported.They are two of six suspects accused of the December 2016 sexual assault inside a Colorado Springs apartment complex.“There was six of them and they gang-raped my granddaughter,” the victim’s grandfather said following the sentencing.The group of men, identified as Jacolby Williams, Tyron Williams, James Williams and a juvenile who has not been named, were with Clarence and Tommy on the night of Dec. 19. Some of the men are reportedly related as cousins or brothers, The Gazette reported.The victim told officers she knew one of the men, who invited her into the apartment to play video games. But when the 13-year-old went to the bathroom, two of the men pulled her out and forced her into a bedroom where the other four suspects were waiting, arrest records said.At a sentencing hearing in February, the victim’s grandmother said her granddaughter was passed around “like a hand on a clock” during the attack. She said the victim may never be able to have children, according to Fox News. Tyron Williams also received a sentence of 10 years to life of sex offender intense supervised probation in January 2017. KKTV reports he apologized to the victim and reportedly said, “If I knew she was underage, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”James Williams received a sentence of five years probation, while the unidentified juvenile has an upcoming court date.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A U.S. flag was carried in a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale to honor a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy who died in a fatal crash.Special arrangements were made with the airline to fly the honor flag for BSO Deputy Benjamin Nimtz, who will be laid to rest on Thursday.The 30-year-old was killed in a car crash in Deerfield Beach while responding to a domestic dispute on July 21.Nimtz was just three shifts away from moving to Indiana with his family.He is survived by his wife and two children.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To contact City Hall call 262-9107, or visit the City’s official website at www.Soldotna.org for a full list of City departments and contact information. The caller may identify themselves as a City employee, but then proceeds to ask the person for private or confidential information. These calls are likely part of a scam, intended to gain personal information from unknowing victims. When in doubt, hang up and call the City back using an official number. Soldotna City Manager Stephanie Queen: “We received a couple of phone calls from people who were concerned thinking they had been contacted from someone in the city, and it looked like the phone number had come from the city. The person contacting them was asking for very personal information.” Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享The City of Soldotna is warning the public of a possible Caller-ID ‘spoofing’ scam that is circulating the local area.
The original contract amount of $125,000 was agreed upon in 2013, and per the contract it automatically increases annually. In FYl9, the amount was $132,779. For FY20, the contract would be $136,762. The Soldotna City Council will look at the resolution to extend the agreement an additional three years until 2022 at their meeting on Wednesday, April 10. Per the agreement, the Chamber agrees to perform various services, including: providing staff for and managing the visitor information center; responding to visitor inquiries; and developing an annual marketing plan to attract both in-state and out-of state visitors to Soldotna. In a letter from Soldotna Mayor Nels Anderson, the City Administration works closely with the Chamber staff, both in administering the terms and conditions of the visitor center contract, and during numerous events and activities throughout the year. I believe the existing agreement is serving the City well,and recommend it be extended for an additional three-year term, according to the same terms and conditions as previously agreed upon.
Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享The Soldotna City Council will look at a resolution at their meeting on Wednesday to extend the facilities management agreement between the City of Soldotna and the Soldotna Chamber. The current facilities management agreement between the City of Soldotna and the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce was entered into in 2013, for an initial three year term. It has been extended one additional three-year term, from July 1st 2016 through June 30th 2019, by mutual consent of both parties (Council Resolution 2016-014).
Roughly $12.8 million of the savings would have come from a plan to send 500 inmates to prisons outside of Alaska. The other savings would come from closing the sentenced facilities of Wildwood Correctional Complex. Micciche has continually challenged the plan to close parts of Wildwood: “It’s not about the fact that it’s in my district. It’s about the fact that it’s the lowest cost and most successful facility in the system.” Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享More than 46 Correctional Officers and staff at Wildwood have been sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the final word on whether or not major portions of the Correctional Complex will or won’t remain open. Governor Mike Dunleavy’s plan to close a major portion of Wildwood Correctional Complex could have had a major economic impact on the Kenai Peninsula.
The Department of Corrections made the announcement to employees at Wildwood via email shortly after Governor Dunleavy unveiled his upcoming budget plan back in February, leaving most officers in limbo over the past couple months. Senator Peter Micciche said those officers can finally breathe a sigh of relief: “In my opinion, and by the looks of the budget that we have revised, the employees of Wildwood and the folks of the Kenai Peninsula should rest assured that Wildwood is not closing.” 