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CultureMagazine.com september 2017
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contents 9.2017
inside
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Editor-In-Chief Jamie Solis associate Editor Ashley Bennett Managing editor Benjamin Adams
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Editorial Contributors Matthew Abel, Sheryll Alexander, Marguerite Arnold, Jake Browne, Jasen T. Davis, Alex Distefano, David Downs, Keira Fae, Natasha Guimond, Addison Herron-Wheeler, Pamela Jayne, M. Jay, Heather Johnson, Kevin Longrie, Emily Manke, Meital Manzuri, Madison Ortiz, Denise Pollicella, R. Scott Rappold, Paul Rogers, Ed Rosenthal, Lanny Swerdlow, Simon Weedn, Laurie Wolf, Zara Zhi Photographers Kristen Angelo, Steve Baker, Kristopher Christensen, John Gilhooley, Joel Meaders, Tonya Perme, JosuĂŠ Rivas, Mike Rosati, Eric Stoner
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Art Director Steven Myrdahl production manager Michelle Aguirre
feature 12
CULTURE
Graphic DesignerS Payden Cobern, Nathan Hernandez sales director Justin Olson
Full Throttle Hanford begins the process of accepting applications for medical cannabis permits.
departments 6 News Nuggets
7 By the Numbers
14 News of the Weird
bakersfield sales manager
Jon Bookatz
Account Executives Alex Brizicky, Molly Clark, Kim Cook, Eric Bulls, Kim Cook, Monte Lee, Beau Odom, Casey Roel, Garry Stalling, Ryan Tripp, Shayne Williams, Vic Zaragoza general Manager Iris Norsworthy digital content manager David Edmundson Intern Sophia Rybicki Distribution Manager Cruz Bobadilla Publisher David Comden 2175 Sampson Ave. | Suite 118 Corona | California | 92879 Phone/Fax 888.694.2046 www.CultureMagazine.com
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CULTUREÂŽ Magazine is printed using post-recycled paper.
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CultureMagazine.com september 2017
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NEWS
nuggetS Taft Begins Developing Cannabis Ordinance
Twelve Apply for Dispensary Licenses in Grover Beach On May 15, the Grover Beach City Council voted to allow medical cannabis businesses in the city including dispensaries, nurseries, manufacturing facilities and lab testing centers. The deadline for dispensary pre-permit applications was July 10. Applicants paid a one-time fee of $8,100, plus $750 for a Live Scan and background check. On August 3, it was announced that 12 applicants have applied for a permit,
but in the end, only two will be chosen. “The adopted ordinance allows a maximum of two medical cannabis dispensaries,” City Manager Matthew Bronson wrote in a staff report. “In anticipation of high demand for the two dispensaries, the Council provided direction for staff to prepare criteria to select eligible applicants to proceed with submitting a Use Permit and Commercial Cannabis Permit applications.” The city posted a handy flowchart on its website to simplify the medical cannabis permit process.
The city of Taft is quickly moving closer toward regulating recreational cannabis. On August 1, an interactive study session on cannabis was provided by Jon Zimmerman, a consultant who was hired by the city to help the city council develop the ordinance. “Councilmember [Randy] Miller . . . mentioned that citizen input is needed on the cannabis issue in order for the Council to make [the] best decisions for the city,” according to the city
Woodlake Will Vote on Cannabis Tax Woodlake City Council voted 4-1 on July 24 to put a cannabis sales tax on the November 7 ballot with Ordinance 610. If passed, the ordinance would impose a $25 per-square-foot tax on cannabis businesses or 10 percent on gross receipts. Unfortunately, not all residents were enthusiastic. “At first I was on the fence, but the more I thought about it, that’s where my drug use started . . . and I was one of the lucky ones to get out of it
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council minutes. Mayor Dave Noerr strongly opposed allowing recreational cannabis, saying it will lead to the loss of “innocent lives.” On August 8, the city posted an 18-page draft of potential rules. The proposed rules mention that other cities are extending Proposition 64’s 600-foot buffer to 1,000 feet and are limiting businesses to industrial and commercial areas, suggesting the direction the city will take. The city held a public meeting on August 22 to hear public opinion.
. . . and I go to the store and see my friends who haven’t,” said Juan Lopez at the meeting. “What are we telling our kids? What kind of example will you be when we tell our kids that you voted for drugs?” The restrictions are steep, which would prohibit signage and require businesses to keep a registry of current employees. Businesses would also be required to install alarms, lighting and other security features. The city council also waived the first and second reading of the ordinance.
The number of people in a Washington State University study on cannabis who selfidentify as a regular cannabis consumer: (Source: The Spokesman-Review)
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The number of San Diego, California-based cannabis businesses that filed a lawsuit against San Diego County, claiming that a vote in March that prohibits cannabis business operations was unconstitutional: (Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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The projected amount of money, in thousands of dollars, that the recently approved Office of Cannabis in San Francisco, California will be given from the city budget to operate: (Source: San Francisco Business Times)
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The amount of cash, in thousands of dollars, that one cannabis cultivator paid for a growing permit in Grants Pass, Oregon using $5 and $10 bills: (Source: The Daily Astorian)
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Kern County Scottish Games & Gathering Kern County Fair
WHEN: Wed, Sept. 20-Sun, Oct. 1 WHERE: Kern County Fairgrounds, 1142 S P St., Bakersfield WEBSITE: kerncountyfair.com The Kern County Fair was first held and originated as an agricultural event over a century ago in the early 1900s— except at that time, volunteers used tents as booths. Decades later in the early 1980s, the fair grew substantially into a much longer 12-day event that featured horse racing. Now, 100 years later, the Kern County Fair is held on an estimated 160-acre property with four huge exhibit halls, a livestock auction with over 3,500 animals, horse stalls and more. The
fair provides valuable leisure time to spend with friends and family to engage in not only history but also excellent entertainment. Once a small and humble fair, now the event features famous musicians and bands such as Smash Mouth, Old Dominion and Ramon Ayala. The Kern County Fair brings together local culture within a friendly environment complete with music, food and drinks, rodeos, races, competitions and so much more. (Sophia Rybicki) CultureMagazine.com september 2017
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CultureMagazine.com september 2017
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Open Season H Hanford begins accepting medical cannabis permit applications By Benjamin M. Adams
anford’s application period for medical cannabis permits officially began August 2, but the process is off to a relatively slow start. The reason for the slow start is the lengthy application process and the cost to open a cannabis business. Medical cannabis businesses could potentially replace other aging and struggling industries in Hanford, such as the cotton industry and increase property values. Ordinance 17-08, which became effective August 18, allows medical cannabis businesses to operate in the Heavy Industrial Zone in the city of Hanford. The Hanford City Council also adopted Resolution 17-43-R, which sets up the official application process. Darlene Mata, the community development director of Hanford, told CULTURE that she hasn’t received any completed cannabis business applications as of early September. “As Community Development Director, I help review applications with the police chief. I think [the reason for the slow start] is because of the extensive application packet of materials that they need to put together and the period doesn’t close until October 2 at 4 p.m.” Another reason is the soaring costs of the application steps, and companies want to make sure no money is wasted in the process. Once applications are collected, city staff will conduct a three-phase review process. The first phase is a preliminary background and criminal history checks. This phase runs at $4,252, plus a $135.55 Live Scan fee and a $300 background review. “During the first step, we conduct background checks and a Live Scan,” Mata confirmed. During the second phase, city staff will rank each submitted application according to location, compatibility, safety, security and business plans. Applicants must score 80 percent or higher on the designated
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scoring scale in order to move forward. The cost of that phase is $1,689. The third phase includes an additional ranking system that considers community benefits, enhanced project safety and environmental impact. The cost of that phase is $2,241. Then the scores of the second and third phase are combined, and the applicants with the best scores will head to City Manager Darrel Pyle. After that step, the city manager will hand them back to the city council for final approval. Per the city’s draft rules, the total number of permits will be 26, but with eight freestanding facility permits and two “cannabis campus” permits, which have eight more individual permits under each campus. One company, Genezen, is in the middle of the application process for a cannabis campus permit. Genezen plans on building a 1.65 million square-foot medical cannabis facility in the existing Calcot Limited warehouse facility, which houses 48 warehouse buildings. It testifies to the unlimited potential that Hanford possesses. Calcot Limited, a cotton company, once was a bedrock business cooperative in Hanford, but the cotton industry is no longer bringing a great deal of revenue to the city. Almost every potential scenario in the application process has been thought out by Hanford city officials. Because of the high costs, applicants will be notified of ineligibility during Phase 1, if they are deemed ineligible, so that they don’t waste thousands of dollars. Companies in general are willing to fork up the money, because they know what kind of profit is possible in the cannabis industry. Hanford’s city government is ready to go “full throttle” and finally allow medical cannabis businesses on a commercial scale, just as Kern County considers doing the same on the county level. c
“As Community Development Director, I help review applications with the police chief. I think [the reason for the slow start] is because of the extensive application packet of materials that they need to put together and the period doesn’t close until October 2 at 4 p.m.”
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News of the
Weird
By the Editors at Andrews McMeel
LEAD STORY—ANIMAL ATTRACTION Good fortune quickly turned to horror for a man in Allyn, Washington, who scored some raccoon roadkill to use as crab-trap bait on June 25. As the unidentified man walked toward home dragging the carcass behind him on a 15-foot rope (so he couldn’t smell it), two different vehicles stopped, and their occupants, mistakenly thinking he was dragging a dead dog, began berating the would-be fisherman. As the dispute heated up, someone produced a gun, shooting the man twice in the leg before he was struck by one of the vehicles as the assailants fled. BRIGHT IDEAS In New Hampshire on June 29, a state police officer stopped the 57-year-old driver of a Honda Odyssey minivan who had piled a Beverly Hillbillies-esque stack of belongings on top of his car. The collection, which was about as tall as the minivan, included a wooden chest, a bike, a floor lamp, a rake, a snow shovel, a moving dolly and a folding ladder, along with blankets and towels and a shopping cart full of items hanging off the back. Police cited the driver for negligent driving, and the car was towed away. SORRY I MISSED IT A Canada Day parade in southern Ontario sparked a flood of typically mild protests over Dave Szusz’s float, which featured a 3-meter-tall blow-up Jesus (holding a baby sheep) and several real sheep. “I thought 14
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it was kind of sad to see sheep out with very loud blasting music, out in the heat in the city,” said animal rights activist Dan MacDonald. Others flooded Szusz with complaints on Facebook. Szusz and MacDonald have since talked it out, although MacDonald still hopes Szusz will discontinue using sheep on his floats. LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS Six suspects in a June 25 Denver mugging counted among their spoils the victim’s brand-new iPhone. After using Ryan Coupens’ credit cards at a nearby Walgreens, the thieves used the phone to post a Snapchat story about their shenanigans to Coupens’ account, where his friends— and police—could clearly see some of their faces. A repeat offender came to the end of his career when he and an accomplice tried to burglarize a home in East Macon, Georgia, on June 19. As James Robert Young, 41, a 35-time resident in the Bibb County jail, and another man zeroed in on her television, the homeowner woke up and heard them. “When she yelled, the men ran out,” said Sheriff David Davis, and that was when the other suspect turned around and fired his weapon, striking Young in the head, killing him. The accomplice is still at large. FAMILY VALUES Flower girls at weddings often steal the show, and Georgiana Arlt of Chaska, Minnesota, was no exception as she walked down the aisle on July 1. The 92-yearold grandmother of the bride, Abby Arlt, told her granddaughter the only other wedding she had been in was her own, when she was 20 years old. Abby had hoped to have her grandfather as the ring bearer, but he passed away last year.
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