Meeting in Okanogan this evening on allegations against Labor Department inspectors
Washington Ag Today August 11, 2009 The Okanogan County Farm Bureau called a community meeting that is being held this evening in Okanogan because of allegations made against U.S. Department of Labor inspectors. The Farm Bureau says the purpose of this meeting is to provide timely, workable solutions for consideration by U.S. Department of Labor staff and other key policymakers going forward. Among the allegations are that department inspectors entered private property without first obtaining permission or presenting a valid search warrant, in apparent violation of the U.S. and Washington state constitutions, used coercion to gain access to private property and covered areas where the U.S. Department of Labor does not have jurisdiction. A regional spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Labor was trying to get a comment for us on the allegations but was unable to do so by our deadline. The meeting this evening is in the Okanogan County Commissioner’s Meeting Room in Okanogan at six p.m. The Washington State Department of Agriculture says West Nile virus has been confirmed in two more horses in Washington bringing this year’s total to five in the state. The latest cases were in Othello where the horse has made a slight recovery and in Kennewick where the animal was euthanized due to the virus. Department of Ag spokesman Mike Louisell says this is the time of year when most cases of West Nile are reported. Louisell: “In 2008 the cases were reported between August 1st to just after Thanksgiving. So from August to November they were reported.” I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network. ?
