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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2012)
www . THeSKAnneR . CoM J AnuARy 18, 2012 S eATTLe , w ASHinGTon V oLuMe XXXiV, n o . 3 25 CenTS i nside Family Fun page 2 Cuba Gooding Jr. page 3 Classifieds C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow page 4 RevolutionaRy Locked out of wealth Annual Skanner event focuses on start-ups, capital iinvestments By Helen silvis Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY susn fried B Hundreds of people turned out in Seattle at Garfield High School for the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Martin Luther King's Birthday. This years theme ‘Recapturing MLK's Revolutionary Spirit’ brought out hundreds of people to the popular annual event which included workshops, a rally and a march down icy streets to the Federal Building. Can Pot Bail out State Budget? Olympia plans first hearing this wWeek on medical marijuana By Jonathan martin The seattle Times seATTLe (AP) — Chris Cody tries to be a good neighbor in White Center, joining in a Christmas toy drive and local art walks, and keeping the window of his medical-marijuana dis- pensary as discreet as possible. He maintains a low profile in part because his shop, Herban Legends, is a block outside the marijuana-friendly Seattle city limits. Inside Seattle, marijuana dispensaries flourish. Outside Seattle, there is no protective regulation. “It’s definitely tricky, causing for more than a little anxiety,’’ said Cody, a 31-year-old carpen- ter. Eight months after Gov. Chris Gregoire gutted the state med- ical-marijuana law with a partial veto, dispensaries have feasted or starved based on the real- estate axiom: location, location, location. Seattle, Tacoma and a handful of other cities recognize store- front shops as resources for indeX news ........................2,4 Calendar ....................2 opinion .......................3 Bids/Classifieds............3 medical-marijuana patients. Most don’t, though, citing a muddled state law or the federal marijuana prohibition. Legislators, still pained by the veto but pressed by cities to fix the mess, are preparing to try again. A hearing is scheduled Wednesday on SB 6265, a bill proposed by medical marijua- na’s champion in Olympia, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, to legalize nonprofit dispensers and kick regulation to cities. If passed, the plan could clear a legal haze hovering over store- front shops. Although not explicitly allowed under state law, they have operated via legal loopholes, most recently under a broad interpretation of the term “collective garden.’’ And a new law could open the door to a statewide dispensary boom, especially in some larger cities, such as Bellevue, that have refused to allow them. ``I don’t think it’s fair that Seattle and Tacoma have people coming from all over the place to purchase marijuana in their see POT on page 4 lack Americans need and deserve real economic change. And the way forward must be through investment in entrepreneurship and technology. That was part of the powerful message delivered Jan 16, by Mike Green, the Keynote speak- er at The Skanner Foundation’s 26th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. “Dr. King envisioned a time when America would invest in Americans of all races,” Green said. “When all races would be empowered to work together to create a strong nation that is not only economically strong, but also strong in its character, exemplified in the dignity it extended to all its citizens.” In his address, Green announced the for- mation of a new group to explore what can be done in Portland: the Portland Urban Innovation Roundtable. And he called for leaders to take on that challenge. “The Portland UIR needs committed lead- ers across the spectrum of the established economic ecosystem and those from the economically disconnected sectors, to work together and with The America21 Project to create a culture of urban innovation that produces exponential economic impact in disconnected communities across Portland.” About 1000 diverse Port land ers packed into the Oregon Ballroom in the Convention Center to celebrate Dr. King’s life and achievements, and to hear Green speak in his honor about wealth creation. Bobbie Foster, the Skanner’s executive editor was the emcee for the event. Les Femmes, the Urban league’s Young Professionals and many others volunteered to make the event a success. The convention center staff served up crab patties, topped with poached egg in béarnaise sauce and a waffle. Portland Community Media and the North Portland Multimedia Training Center recorded the event live for broadcast on see evenT on page 2 widespread Snowstorm wallops nw Businesses, government shuts down in high winds, snowfall By doug esser The Associated Press seATTLe (AP) — A winter storm blast- ed the Pacific Northwest Wednesday, dump- ing near-record snow in some areas, ham- mering parts of Oregon with winds as high as 110 mph and bringing much of the region to a standstill. From the Washington state capital in Olympia to the Oregon coast, schools were closed, roads were clogged with snow and hundreds of accidents and dozens of flights were cancelled. In an eight-hour period near the capital, there were 95 accidents, mostly spinouts, State Trooper Guy Gill said. “If you get off the beaten path, you’re in deep trouble,” Gill said. “I saw a guy in my rear mirror. I saw headlights and tail lights and headlights and tail lights again as he spun around off the road.” “For the first time in my career, I had to put chains on,” he said. “You stay in the path laid down on the freeway.” Forecasters expect “good old rain back Friday and Saturday,” meteorologist Brad Colman said. But warmer weather could see sTOrm on page 2
