That Really Could Be Weed Growing Near Arvin, Lawsuit Says
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2019 • BAKERSFIELD.COM AGRICULTURAL TRENDS That really could be weed growing near ALEX HORVATH / THE CALIFORNIAN Farmer Andy Stenderup shares how his hemp crop is progressing. The leaves have an oily texture, making it ideal for harvest. His plants, off Edison Road, are more than 10 feet tall and will be harvested in the next couple of weeks. Arvin, lawsuit says BY JOHN COX [email protected] emember the headline on the cover of The Californian’s Rick Kreiser and his dog, June 2 edition? Placed beside Ubu, enjoy the view. a picture of what was thought ALEX HORVATH / THE CALIFORNIAN R to be harmless industrial hemp, it read, “Relax. This is not actually weed growing near Arvin.” Well, some of it might really be weed after all. A recent lawsuit claims private testing found samples from hemp planted in the Arvin area “signifi- cantly exceeded” the federal limit for THC, the high-inducing chemi- cal in marijuana. Not that there’s anything wrong with that legally, thanks to a federal hemp exemption many consider a loophole. Under the 2014 Farm Bill, busi- nesses registered as research insti- tutions — in this case, a Colorado company operating locally under the name Apothio LLC — are per- mitted to grow and possess hemp that’s “hot,” defined as having a THC concentration greater than 0.3 percent. WHAT THEN? Registered researchers like Apothio, unlike commercial hemp producers, aren’t required to test their crop, let alone destroy it, as long as the intent is to eventually develop a crop whose THC levels is within legal limits. For Apothio, the question then Rio Bravo becomes, what if the hemp really does test hot? This region in Bakersfi eld’s extreme northeast Lawyers who specialize in hemp law say there’s no clear answer. didn’t win the university, but it kept the character “It is a gray area,” said San Fran- cisco hemp attorney Patrick Gog- gin, co-founder of the California afael Avenue just might Hemp Council. have the best view in He sympathizes with farmers all of Bakersfield and, who say it’s wasteful to destroy hot by extension, the entire crops, as commercial, nonresearch San Joaquin Valley. hemp growers would be obligated Don’t take my word to do. Maybe it could be mixed in for it. Ask Rick Kreiser, businessman, with concrete to make cinder blocks Rconcert promoter and resident of stronger, they say, or used for ani- Tuscany, the 15- to 20-year-old de- mal bedding — even animal feed. velopment that occupies some of the highest ground in BILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION easternmost Ba- What may not be done with hot kersfield’s pictur- hemp, they emphasize, is allow it to esque Rio Bravo valley. Please see LAWSUIT | A4 From their backyard- slash-ridgetop, Kreiser, wife Lorie ROBERT PRICE and black Lab THE CALIFORNIAN mix Ubu can look out upon the western face of the Sierra Nevada and Carol Kurtis stands next to the 1954 Kurtis 500 M sedan parked in the garage down onto Kern Canyon, Lake Ming, of her Via Sorrento Avenue home, located at Rio Bravo Country Club. the Kern River and almost all the way around a mountainous outcropping rivals of Nickel’s famous great-grand- T to Hart Park. father, Henry Miller. Three of the eight There’s no telling “Best views, easy,” says Kreiser, were eventually elevated to finalist what the city of well known around Bakersfield for status: one put forward by Standard his popular Guitar Masters concert Oil of California (precursor of Chevron Bakersfi eld might have series. “The north and northwest face Corp.); the Kern of Rafael, from top to bottom, has the County Land Co.’s looked like if CSUB had best views in Bakersfield.” Stockdale proposal, been built in Rio Bravo, But in the entire San Joaquin Valley? as it was known; For that, we rely on an admittedly and Nickel’s Rio but it certainly would biased but knowledgeable expert, the Bravo plan. In Nick- late George W. Nickel Jr., the grower, el’s mind, it came have been different. down to Rio Bravo developer and water baron. Nickel’s Another in Robert Price’s That Kern County Land vision and, perhaps ironically, his sin- ongoingAnother series in on vs. Stockdale. theRobert enclaves, Price’s districts gle most disappointing defeat made and neighborhoods We all know how Co. acreage might QUALITY thatongoing make up theseries fabric the Rio Bravo valley what it is today. of Kern County. Miller-Nickel vs. And his take? “It is the most beauti- on the enclaves, Kern County Land still be a carrot fi eld, is in the name at ful agricultural area in the San Joaquin districts and Co., the sequel, Valley,” Nickel told family friend Jamy neighborhoods turned out. Today, Bakersfi eld’s inevitable east Bakersfi eld Faulhaber in an October 2000 oral his- that make up Cal State Bakers- sprawl might have the fabric of refi nishing shop tory interview for the Bancroft Library field’s presence is tilted toward Edison at UC Berkeley. Nickel died in August Kern County. the single biggest HERB BENHAM | E1 2004. reason west Bakers- In 1965, Nickel offered the trustees field has grown and thrived as it has and Lamont, and the of the California State University sys- — and Rio Bravo, despite its attractive treacherous road tem 300 acres along the Kern River for vistas and more temperate climate, the establishment of “Kern State Col- has largely remained a rural basin of through the canyon to lege.” Unfortunately for Nickel, so did scattered settlements. seven other groups, most notably the But Nickel’s (and, one might argue, Lake Isabella might have U.S. CENSUS Kern County Land Co., whose found- Bakersfield’s) loss is Rick Kreiser’s gain. demanded ambitious Bureau’s new approach ers, James Ben Ali Haggin and Lloyd Tevis, had been persistent business Please see RIO BRAVO | A3 improvement. to privacy is questioned by researchers NATION & WORLD | B1 CONTACT US OUTSIDE TODAY INSIDE YOUR CALIFORNIAN Subscriber services: YOUR COMPLETE FORECAST | B6 Advice ............................E3 Lottery numbers ......... 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A5 Sports.............................D1 A2 The Bakersfield Californian Sunday, September 29, 2019 LOCAL TODAY IN HISTORY 1789: The U.S. War Department established a regu- Walking (and dashing) like MADD lar army with a strength of several hundred men. 1829: London’s reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty. 1918: Allied forces began a decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line during World War I. 1938: British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was CONTACT US aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi I Address: 3700 Pegasus annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308 1943: U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian I Phone: 661-395-7500 Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice aboard HMS Nelson, a British warship, off Malta. NEWSROOM 1975: Baseball manager Casey Stengel died in Glendale at age 85. I Phone: 661-395-7384 or 1977: The Billy Joel album “The Stranger” was 800-540-0646 released by Columbia Records. I Email: local@bakersfield. 1978: Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vati- com can apartment just over a month after becoming CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING head of the Roman Catholic Church. 1982: Extra-strength Tylenol capsules laced with I Phone: 661-322-SELL deadly cyanide claimed the first of seven victims I Online: bakersfield.com/ in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains marketplace unsolved.) DISPLAY ADVERTISING 1989: Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of bat- ALEX HORVATH / THE CALIFORNIAN tery for slapping Beverly Hills police officer Paul I Phone: 661-395-7622 Runners take off at the start of Bakersfield’s sixth annual Walk Like MADD & MADD Kramer after he’d pulled over her Rolls-Royce for I Online: mediakit.bakersfield Dash on Saturday at The Park at River Walk. The event is aimed to raise awareness expired license plates. (As part of her sentence, .com of the DUI problem in our local community, raise funds for MADD Kern County’s Gabor ended up serving three days in jail.) educational programs, and provide support to local victims and survivors of drunken 2000: Israeli riot police stormed a major Jerusa- SUBSCRIBER SERVICES and drugged driving crashes. See more photos online at Bakersfield.com. lem shrine and opened fire on stone-throwing I Phone: 661-392-5777 or Muslim worshippers, killing four Palestinians and 800-953-5353 wounding 175. I Email: customercare@ 2001: President George W. Bush condemned bakersfield.com Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers for harboring Osama I Online: bakersfield.com/ bin Laden and his followers as the U.S. pressed its subscriber-services military and diplomatic campaign against terror. Home delivery: All plans are 2005: John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the automatic renewal, with debit nation’s 17th chief justice after winning Senate options every month, six confirmation. months or 12 months; credit 2014: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in as card or bank draft accepted Afghanistan’s new president, replacing Hamid Daily and Sunday Karzai in the country’s first democratic transfer I Easy-pay plan: $24.99/month of power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion top- I 6 months: $179.94 pled the Taliban.