seattle
Pot sales approved for unincorporated areas
King County has lifted its temporary ban on legal marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas.
The Seattle Times reported that the Metropolitan King County Council voted 5-3 Monday to allow licensed pot operations, with some limitations to address the concerns of rural residents. Those include that marijuana grow operations can be located only on parcels of 10 acres or more.
Before the council adopted the moratorium in April, marijuana farms were allowed in all “rural area” zones.
The council also voted to require 1,000-foot buffers between retail stores. That was in response to complaints that pot shops were clustering in Skyway, White Center and other poorer parts of the county.
portland
Man gets life for role in sledgehammer killing
A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for helping kill his cousin’s great-grandmother with a sledgehammer in her suburban Portland home.
Micus Ward was given the sentence Monday without the possibility of parole. He had been found guilty of murder and aggravated murder in the 2013 death of Jacqueline Bell, 71.
Ward’s cousin, Joda Cain, was convicted of manslaughter in the killing and sentenced to 10 years in prison in October.
Prosecutors say Cain, who had been living with Bell, persuaded Ward to come to Oregon from Kansas to help kill the woman.
Ward’s attorney called the life sentence unconstitutional, arguing that his client has an intellectual disability that contributed to his actions the night of the crime.
Ward has an IQ of 59.
pendleton, ore.
Crews get control of E. Oregon wildfire
Crews say they’ve gotten the better of a wildfire that has scorched about 56 square miles and threatened homes in Eastern Oregon.
A spokeswoman for the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center told The East Oregonian that crews expected to have the Scott Canyon fire fully contained by Monday night.
The blaze started Thursday along the banks of the John Day River and spread toward the community of Mikkalo — halfway between Arlington and Condon.
The fire has been determined to be human-caused, but investigators are working to figure out exactly how it started.
Ground crews had battled the flames with help from six single-engine air tankers and three helicopters, which dumped water and retardant around the perimeter.
The structural damage was limited to one unoccupied homestead, which was completely destroyed.
portland
Investigation clears 2 Oregon Lottery officials
An outside investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of two Oregon Lottery commissioners who had been accused of discriminating against an Iranian-American lottery manager.
Former Lottery director Jack Roberts sought the investigation shortly before Gov. Kate Brown fired him in April. He expressed concern that national origin was the reason Liz Carle and Mary Wheat opposed a promotion for the manager.
The outside review found Carle and Wheat’s concern was about performance, and there was no evidence it was based on origin. Their opposition did not stop the manager’s appointment.
