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
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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