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