MICC
Sports
Chamber honors top citizens of 2025
Perrydale wins girls district basketball title
See A3
See B1
Wednesday February 25, 2026 | Volume 151, Issue 8
www.polkio.com
$2.00
ODFW, partners respond to concerning coyote activity in West Salem
years, they added about five acres of next-generation greenhouses. After that, they added science facilities, equipment and a lot of people. They started with about 7,000 square feet of greenhouse space and they’re at over five acres. To clarify their product, Seth explained that the marijuana industry is solely focused on THC. Their company, Oregon CBD, farm breeds of plants for CBD, CBG, CBDV, CBGB and other minor cannabinoids. “While the marijuana industry is very focused on one target, the thing that gets you high, we’re focused on all of the other constituent chemicals that don’t get you high but provide medical benefits for both people and for animals,” Seth said. “If we’re providing the seed, we don’t actually
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff received a report of a Feb. 11 incident of an adult subject who was bit by a coyote along Orchard Heights Road, just outside the city limits of West Salem. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area to conduct a site investigation and determined that a woman was bitten by a coyote while walking along Orchard Heights Road. The victim suffered minor injuries and was checked out by medical services and released on site. Deputies shared the information with ODFW and posted a notice on social media with ODFW safety tips on how to avoid conflicts with coyotes. Over the last several days, ODFW staff have conducted interviews with involved parties, collected and reviewed evidence, shared information and contacted neighbors and nearby schools about the incident. ODFW is working closely with PCSO, the city of Salem and other local, state and federal government agencies to determine next steps for addressing the human safety situation. Residents in the Orchard Heights area and surrounding neighborhoods are strongly encouraged to monitor young children and pets while outside, scare away coyotes (through yelling, airhorns, banging pots and pans, throwing objects) whenever possible, and immediately remove any attractants. Under no circumstances should
See CBD, page A7
See COYOTE, page A8
PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES
Brothers Eric (left) and Seth Crawford are the brains behind Oregon CBD, the largest industrial hemp seed grower in the U.S.
Brothers’ growing CBD empire
Crawfords sell the seeds that changed an industry By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor
About halfway between Rickreall and Monmouth, brothers Seth and Eric Crawford have carved out an empire supplying the literal seeds other farmers need to grow and harvest industrial hemp products. Their company Oregon CBD just celebrated its 10th anniversary, which grew from a desire to push the science of cannabis growing forward. Today, they ship globally with sales in the billions over the 11 years. Both began humbly in the medical industry. Eric was a medical grower Seth involved on the policy side. He wrote a
PhD dissertation on the political economy of cannabis, right as legalization was starting in Oregon. “I was basically front and center in the legislature for that whole process, kind of helping shape the policies,” Seth said. While teaching a cannabis policy course at Oregon State University, Seth looked at the industrial end of the industry and felt it was something he and Eric should explore. “I looked at it and had a conversation with my brother. I said, ‘Man, we’ve got plants that could actually meet that definition right here. There’s no canopy limit. There’s no plant count limit,’” Seth recalled. “Both of us had wanted to really push the underlying science forward. It was something that we had always been interested in.” They set out by leasing three greenhouses from a local
farmer, Roger Olson, owner of Roger Olson’s grass seed warehouse down off of Subaru Road on Independence Highway. Next they leased a 60-acre field and realized really quickly that they couldn’t make enough seed. “We couldn’t provide enough CBD material, that’s what everyone was growing for, to meet the demand. So we started focusing on seeds and kind of just took off from there,” Seth said. By 2019, they found a location for sale off Highway 99 that fit their expansion needs. “This place had enough power for us at that time to be able to basically pay for it a year, to make enough seed to be able to pay for it,” Seth said. “We had sales set up, and we knew we’d be able to do it. So we jumped at the opportunity and then reshaped this whole place.” Over the next couple of
Video game brings zombies to the stage DHS presents ‘Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom’ By DAVID HAYES I-O Editor
Many a playwright has explored the dangers of man and technology. Dallas High School’s theater program is examining this dichotomy when it comes to video games and teenagers in their latest production, “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom.” The story takes place in a suburban neighborhood with identical houses where parents find their teenagers addicted to an online horror video game.
IN THIS ISSUE
The teens are tasked with escaping a hoard of zombies from an identical neighborhood as their own. But as the line blurs between virtual and reality, both parents and players realize that fear has a life of its own. Director Terry Kitagawa said “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom” has an interesting concept, written by playwright Jennifer Howley in 2008 that is based around the start of
PHOTO BY DAVID HAYES
Cast members rehearse scenes from ‘Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom’.
See ZOMBIES, page A8
Send us a news tip at www.polkio.com/site/forms/news tip/ | Your message could be the first thing our readers see!
Voices Corrections Obituaries Puzzle Solutions Social Public Records Classifieds Puzzles
A4 A4 A4 B2 B2 B6 B4 A6
W
Th
F
Weather Sa
Su
M
Tu
54/31
55/33
57/34
51/32
53/33
58/34
60/36
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy