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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2017)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 3. 2017 Ballots are out Lane County residents registered to vote should have received their ballots in the mail for the special May 16 election. Ballots were mailed out last week. If you have not yet recieved your ballot and believe you are registered to vote in Lane County, please contact the Lane County Clerk at (541) 682-4234. Voters will have the chance to weigh-in on school board seats locally as well as the jail levy (for complete story please see page 7). Once residents have completed their ballot, it can be returned to any of the drop boxes throughout the city or mailed in the self-ad- dressed envelop it arrived in. The county is reminding voters to view both sides of their ballot. For further details on the May 16 election, please visit lanecounty.org. 3A NYC musician returns to Axe and Fiddle Danny Fingers is coming to town. The New York resident is the fi rst cmay@cgsentinel.com half of Danny Fingers and the Thumbs, a band that plays “narrative-based art pop” and he’ll be marking his second stop at Axe and Fiddle in nine months, tomorrow. “I really love the Axe and Fiddle and the stage. It seems like a bar that really focuses on its performers,” he said. “It’s an awesome venue. This show won’t be featuring the Thumbs, three other band mem- bers who limit their touring to the east coast. According to the lead vocalist and songwriter, Danny, the other members stick to tours in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New Jersey and other east coast venues. Danny, however, travels between New York City and Bend, Oregon. “I wasn’t trying to be in a band,” he said of his start. “I was a stand-up comedian.” It was while he was procrastinating writing jokes that his room- mate, a producer, suggested they record a song. The result was his fi rst album, “What’s Normal is Weird.” It was also, his big break. “I handed it to Rufus Wainwright outside of the Chelsea Hotel By Caitlyn May and two months later he was talking about it on BBC Radio,” he said. The artist went on to promote Danny and the Thumbs in Can- ada and soon enough, the band found itself on several "top pop group" lists thanks to the CD they shoved into Wainwright's hand outside of a New York City hotel. Since then, Danny’s put out a second album, the band has opened for Wainwright in Portland and Seattle and he continues to tour while working on a third album. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, May 4 at Axe and Fiddle on Main St. Medical users still outspend recreational pot users Despite the increase in recreational sales for April 20 They were calling it “dis- cmay@cgsentinel.com pensary hop- ping;” going from dispensary to dispensary, presumably purchasing marijuana at each location. The new practice went hand-in-hand with a ‘hol- iday’ that has moved from cult-classic sects to the mainstream with the legalization of marijuana in 26 states across the country: 4/20. Apothecaria was one of the stops on the new holiday route through the city. “We had a line of people in the lobby at one point, it was hectic. People didn’t want to bother going into Eugene,” said Shenna Whitlock. As manager of the Apothecaria dispensary, she’s tasked with insuring the facility maintains its compliance with state laws and keeps potential customers at arm’s length until their “21-and-older” status can be verifi ed; hence the lines in the lobby. Diana Lee of Mandy’s Sugar Shack dis- pensary also had a line out the door on April By Caitlyn May Apothecaria employee measures out an order on April 21. Local dispensa- ries have seen an uptick in business, mirroring national statistics. 20 and the receipts to prove it. She took in just over $3,000 for the day but notes she didn’t make a profi t. “4/20 is about the people and I got back what I put in for the day,” she said. A full house on April 20 does not demand a stretch of the imagination but according to a recent report by New Frontier Data, medical marijuana users spent more on the plant than the more publicized recreation- al crowds last year. On average, the recre- ational user spent approximately $50 per transaction while medical users spent $136. “This is helping people,” Whitlock said. “We had a little old lady come in who could barely walk with her walker and was on opiates and medications. Now she comes in and uses marijuana and she’s active again.” Marijuana may be helping medical users but it’s also aiding municipalities’ coffers. In November, Cottage Grove residents passed Ballot Measure 20-245, which established a tax on recreation marijuana sales within the city. Retailers are now required to col- lect a three percent sales tax at the point of sale, added the existing 17 percent state tax on the sale. Forty percent of the state’s cut goes into the common school fund while 20 percent is given to the mental health, alco- holism and drug services account. The state police get 15 percent, local law enforcement on the city and county level receive 10 per- cent each and the Oregon Health Authority sees fi ve percent for alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment services. The state of Oregon has garnered just over $60 mil- lion in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2016. Apothecaria management said it would not release fi nancial records to the press due to the small Cottage Grove market but said it “defi nitely made a profi t.” The city has four dispensaries, two of which were will- ing to go on the record. “It’s hard for people in a small town,” Whitlock said. “I’ve seen people pull up and run from their car to the door. They don’t want anyone seeing them come in here.” Davis Shows N.W. CARNIVAL Bohemia Park • June 1,2,3,4 Open at 4pm Thurs & Fri at 2pm Open at Noon Sat. & Sun. Rides ~ Games ~ Food Single Ride Tickets $3.75 Book of 10 Tickets $32.00 (save $5.50) Ride all day for $25 Brought to you by the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Ride all day for $25