Oregon state lawmakers allotted $6 million to neighborhood teams this yr to assist with what they’ve known as a humanitarian disaster for staff within the state’s hashish business.
Within the basement of a Medford church, a bunch of migrant farm staff collect, all of them coming from totally different components of Mexico in the hunt for higher paying jobs.
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For the previous few years, Jesus discovered work seasonally on marijuana farms. (He selected to not share his final title due to his immigration standing).
However Jesus says he and lots of different staff stopped working at these farms after dropping out on the wages they had been promised final yr.
“There was just a bit little bit of marijuana left and so they had been about to deliver out the fee however then the bosses, the heads arrived,” he says. “They’d just a little assembly and all of the proprietor’s stuff disappeared that day. I noticed after that they didn’t give us nothing, nothing.”
Jesus says he misplaced $18,000 final yr, all wages by no means paid by the individuals who employed him.
He’s not the one one. Many different migrant staff misplaced out on 1000’s of {dollars} in wages final yr alone.
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“The sort of abuses that we’ve seen within the hashish business have been very widespread and likewise very intense,” says Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, government director of the Northwest Staff Justice Undertaking.
Staff JPR talked with described 12-hour work days in scorching greenhouses, no entry to water and publicity to poisonous chemical substances. Most by no means noticed a single dime for his or her work.
Hashish farms are regulated below Oregon OSHA guidelines concerning agriculture, however in keeping with regulation enforcement officers in Southern Oregon, the worst working situations usually happen at unlawful operations.
Some staff left earlier than the season was over, after discovering out they weren’t going to receives a commission.
Jesus says most of the staff he labored with shortly discovered work harvesting different crops like grapes, or doing yard upkeep to make up for the misplaced wages they counted on to handle their households.
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Kathy Keesee is likely one of the co-founders of Unete, a farm employee advocacy group in Southern Oregon.
“We normally would have like 70 wage claims a yr,” says Keesee. “Final yr, simply within the final quarter of 2021, there have been like 200 wage claims. All of them had been from the hashish business.”
Wage claims are complaints filed with Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries The company is charged with investigating claims, settling disputes, and if it involves it, suing or submitting legal costs in opposition to employers. Unete is a significant supplier of help for farm staff dealing with misplaced or stolen wages in Southern Oregon.
Unete’s different co-founder, Dagoberto Morales, says they had been those that got here up with the thought for this $6 million grant, working with state lawmakers to get it permitted earlier this yr.
“They requested us as a result of we’re the one group that has direct connections with the employees,” he says. “And we’re at all times struggling to get what they want.”
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Keesee says after regulation enforcement busts an unlawful hashish operation, it’s organizations like Unete that come to assist present emergency housing, clothes and different providers for farm staff.
The grant is statewide, however the bulk of Oregon’s hashish farms are within the southern a part of the state.
“The sort of abuses that we’ve seen within the hashish business have been very widespread and likewise very intense”
Funding is being distributed by the Unlawful Marijuana Market Enforcement Grant, run by the Oregon Felony Justice Fee. That program fund was created in 2018 to help native regulation enforcement and district legal professional’s workplaces in addressing the unlawful hashish market.
Through the grant’s July 2020-July 2021 cycle, regulation enforcement businesses seized nearly $3.5 million in money, 156 firearms, over 500,000 hashish vegetation and 15,000 kilos of processed marijuana.
Keesee says Unete works carefully with regulation enforcement throughout these raids to make sure that farm staff caught within the center get the assistance they want.
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She provides they’ve tapped a number of authorized teams to assist with this new grant funding, together with the Northwest Staff Justice Undertaking. Spencer-Scheurich says wage claims can differ from individual to individual and that most of the staff don’t even know if the hashish farms they’re engaged on are authorized or not.
“If it’s an employer who is working illegally who could also be concerned in some form of legal exercise that’s extra widespread, there will not be protected or accessible cures for our purchasers,” she says.
Spencer-Scheurich says when farms are authorized, it’s simpler to file a lawsuit. However with unlawful operations, the farm homeowners usually present false names and burner cellphone numbers, leaving staff with no solution to discover them as soon as they’re left with no paycheck. Keesee says a number of the wage claims can take over a yr to resolve.
It’s not simply unlawful operations which might be discovered stealing cash from farm staff. Keesee says homeowners of licensed marijuana farms typically contract work out to different managers, and people contractors could refuse to pay staff.
“The one manner we will be sure that which one it’s [legal or illegal], is that if they open the doorways and do inspections,” says Morales, complaining in regards to the lack of supervision of hashish farms within the state.
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The Oregon Liquor and Hashish Fee solely is aware of the places of licensed growers, and Keesee says typically the inspection course of takes so lengthy that growers have time to cover something unlawful.
“They [OLCC] go and so they see that the vegetation are huge. After which after they return to truly take a look at, the vegetation are infants so the THC ranges are very low,” Keesee says.
Morales want to see the OLCC be extra aggressive in inspecting hashish grows, like conducting extra shock inspections to forestall growers from hiding something illicit.
Many of those farm staff are afraid of the threats of violence or authorized repercussions they may face in the event that they search assist, making it more durable for teams like Unete.
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Keesee says they’ve solely been profitable up to now due to how lengthy they’ve spent embedded within the farmworker neighborhood.
“We’ve been right here for 25 years,” says Keesee. “Folks know that if they arrive right here it is a protected place for them.”
Spencer-Scheurich provides that further protections can be found for undocumented staff who come ahead and speak to police, together with methods to get authorized standing.
Keesee plans on leveraging the belief they’ve constructed with Unete to refer these staff to different authorized assist teams concerned within the grant. She hopes the cash will assist them attain extra folks.
“However the largest piece is gonna be the training piece,” she says. “Simply to let folks know what their rights are, who to contact for wage claims, issues like that.”
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As extra farm staff perceive their rights and the assets accessible to them, organizers hope the much less doubtless their employers might be to withhold wages in future seasons.
The state funding is beneficiant in its timeline. These organizations have by 2025 to spend all of it, giving them time to construct out extra programming, training, and outreach to assist farm staff get well.
The programming from this funding is anticipated to be totally up and working by fall, 2022. Spencer-Scheurich says Northwest Staff Justice Undertaking is presently hiring a paralegal to journey to Southern Oregon to assist with this inflow of wage claims. They’re hoping to assist as many individuals as potential who work in hashish cultivation.
“Operations are biking by quite a lot of staff. As a result of in the event that they’re not paying, finally staff are inclined to discover a solution to escape or go away in the event that they’re not getting paid,” Spencer-Scheurich says. “We imagine it to be a a lot larger downside than we will presently see.”
On Saturday morning at the Navy All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, three-star prospect T’Andre Waverly announced his commitment to Oregon State over Washington and Notre Dame.
The product of Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Washington, is ranked as the nation’s No. 96 athlete and No. 18 player in the state in the 2025 class by 247Sports. Once he arrives in Corvallis, he’s expected to play tight end.
“I believe in [offensive coordinator Ryan] Gunderson for the future,” Waverly told 247Sports’ Brandon Huffman. “And I’m excited to get to know the new tight ends coach [Will Heck].”
“[Head coach Trent] Bray seems like a real get to business guy and I like that. I don’t want a coach who will pamper me. I want someone who will tell me what I need to do and what to do.”
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Despite seeing the in-state prospect going elsewhere, tight ends coach Jordan Paopao has pulled in a promising batch at the position after signing four-star Baron Naone and three-star Austin Simmons in December.
For an athlete, a loss can shake even the strongest mental foundation. For Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, those feelings bubbled up after losing to the Oregon Ducks 32-31 at Autzen Stadium in early October.
While interviewing with ESPN before Ohio State’s semifinal game against the Texas Longhorns for the College Football Playoffs, the quarterback reflected on that feeling of loss.
“It’s been a rollercoaster. Some of the ups and downs that we did go through are why we’re sitting here today in the semifinals and probably playing our best ball right now,” Howard said. “There have been some tough moments. I’d say that Oregon loss early on in the season was rough.”
Oct 12, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) walks off the field after losing 32-31 to Oregon Ducks during the NCAA football game at Autzen Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Howard, who went 28-35 passing for 326 yards and two touchdowns, remembers what he did after that fateful quarterback keeper turned slide that sealed the fate of the Buckeyes during that regular season encounter with the Ducks.
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“Coming out of it I felt like I played a good game but it was really just the ending. I sat there and stewed over just how could I have done that differently. But when we got back here I think it was about six in the morning. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was kind of at a loss. I went into the indoor and I just laid there for about an hour – hour and a half. I was in a dark place. I just wanted another crack at them so bad. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the next chance I could get,” Howard said.
It wasn’t too long before Howard got his second chance with Oregon. After winning the Big Ten Championship, the No. 1 ranked Ducks were seeded for the Rose Bowl. With the Buckeyes easily beating Tennessee at home the previous week, Ohio State faced the Ducks once more.
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) motions at the line of scrimmage during the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025. Ohio State won 41-21. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“Before every game, I listen to two voicemails that my late grandmother sent me and I’ve been doing that every game for the last three years now,” Howard said. “I listened to the voicemail and it just brought this immense peace over me. This year for the playoffs it actually probably got me going even more. It really helped.”
Those voicemails helped Howard correct his headspace before facing Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Howard went 17-26 in passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. The Buckeyes completely shut out Oregon in the first quarter, with the Ducks only responding at the end of the second quarter with a touchdown and two point conversion. Howard reflected on the point in the game where the Buckeyes were up 34-0 against the No. 1 team in the nation.
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Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) holds a rose following the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025. Ohio State won 41-21. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“Ecstatic. I mean, at that point it felt like it was almost not real. It was like ‘Man, are we really up on the No. 1 team in the country right now that we were in a dog fight with at their place?’” Howard said.
The Buckeyes won against Oregon 41-21, advancing to the Cotton Bowl Classic against the Texas Longhorns, where Howard and the Buckeyes are knocking on the door of a National Championship.
“You take a big National Championship ring and hoisting the trophy up. It takes a lot of the hardships and bad things that happened this year and kind of go out the window,” Howard said.
Some private universities in Oregon are offering extra assistance — from crisis counseling to emergency financial aid — to students who call Southern California home.
This comes amid the devastating wildfires currently burning in Los Angeles.
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Lewis & Clark College, University of Portland and Reed College sent out messages of support to students with home addresses in Southern California this week.
Administrators at Lewis & Clark contacted around 250 undergraduate students in the region affected by the blazes. These students represent close to 12% of the college’s current undergraduate students.
The school, which begins its next term on Jan. 21, is opening up its dorms early for Southern California students at no extra cost.
“We will keep communicating with students in the weeks and months ahead to know how this impacts their next semester and beyond,” said Benjamin Meoz, Lewis & Clark’s senior associate dean of students. “That will mean a range of wraparound academic and counseling support.”
Lewis & Clark also pushed back its application deadline for prospective students from the Los Angeles area to Feb. 1.
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Oregon crews arrive in Southern California to aid wildfire response
Reed College began reaching out to about 300 students who live in Southern California on Wednesday. In an email, the college urged students and faculty impacted by the fires to take advantage of the school’s mental health and financial aid resources.
Reed will also support students who need to return to campus earlier than expected. Classes at Reed do not begin until Jan. 27.
Students at University of Portland will be moving back in this weekend as its next term begins on Monday, Jan. 13. But UP did offer early move-in to students living in the Los Angeles area earlier this week. A spokesperson with UP said four students changed travel plans to arrive on campus early.
Students are already back on campus at the majority of Oregon’s other colleges and universities, with many schools beginning their terms earlier this week.