Courts, Politics, Society

City of Wenatchee, Washington Reverses Course, Votes In Moratorium Banning Retail Marijuana Businesses

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Entreating the GodfatherWe have previously described events happening at city hall in Wenatchee, Washington regarding the city exercising control over the marijuana business legalized in the state.  HERE and HERE The Washington State Liquor Control Board sold the licensing rights to Wenatchee to SMP Retail, LLC.  The city then prohibited the business from opening its doors despite having progressed through the build-out of the business as required by the Liquor Control Board to complete the operating permit.  The city council claimed it did not want to grant business licenses to those that “violated federal laws”.  Despite the assurances proffered by the U.S. Justice Department that the federal government would not prosecute state licensed marijuana businesses, the city held fast and elicited the lawsuit.  SMP Retail sued the City of Wenatchee in Chelan County Superior Court.

City of Wenatchee LogoIt seemed likely in a subsequent council meeting the city would reverse course on its ban as it had previously directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance removing the federal compliance requirement and allow by default the state licensed marijuana businesses to set up shop.  Now it is back to prohibition.

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Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Happy Fourth of July to everyone on our blog. The Turleys will hold our annual Fourth of July celebration with fireworks tonight with a cookout, pies, and of course fireworks. However, this year I am also going to watch my Chicago Cubs play the Nationals as the guest of a friend. I will then return to watch them again on Sunday with one of my sons and a very generous friend and his son. (Yes I am completely scarfing off friends).
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Military, Society

Louis Zamperini, Olympian and War Hero, Dies At 97

a-zamperinia3a6586a9ca20ad8986cdc.L._V196083372_SX200_This Independence Day will be celebrated without one of America’s most remarkably heroes. Louis Zamperini passed away this week at the age of 97. The subject of the upcoming film “Unbroken” (directed by Angelina Jolie), Zamperini had an incredible life as an Olympic track and field star who went on to survive a harrowing two years as a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II.

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Academia, Science, Society

Study: Sherpas Inherited Gene Allowing Them To Thrive At High-Altitudes From Ancient and Now Extinct Human Species

220px-SherpaThis may be one of my favorite science stories in years. Researchers have concluded that the “superathlete” gene that helps Sherpas and other Tibetans thrive at high altitudes is actually traced to an ancient species of human, the Denisovans. The gene, EPAS1, regulates the body’s production of hemoglobin, and was acquired from the Denisovans. Of course, the Denisovans went extinct some 40,000 years ago so for those creationists who insist that the Earth is only a few thousand years old . . . you might want to move on to the next story.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Gallup Poll: Satisfaction With Their Freedoms Has Record Drop Among Americans

220px-Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_StatesWe have long discussed the erosion of civil liberties in the United States, including the attacks on privacy and other rights by the Obama Administration. It appears that we are not alone in those concerns. A new Gallup poll shows a record drop in the satisfaction of Americans over their freedoms. The massive drop is matched in such countries as Egypt, Pakistan, and Venezuela.

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International, Religion, Society

Perfect Aryan Baby Selected By Nazis Was . . . You Guessed It . . . Jewish

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Hessy Taft was a gorgeous baby by any measure in 1935. Her picture was so adorable it was reportedly selected by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as the cover for the Nazi family magazine Sonne ins Hause as the very ideal of an Aryan child. The problem is that Hessy is Jewish, a story that is both hilarious and unnerving. Goebbels’ perfect Gerber baby proved an elegant rebuttal to Nazi fanaticism.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Society

No Joke: Indianapolis Police Stop Minivan With “Unmarked Police Car” Bumper Sticker and Force Mother To Remove The Sticker As Impersonating a Police Officer

article-2678407-1F5783BE00000578-929_634x341Pamela Konchinsky, 56, was headed to work on June 17th in her silver 2004 Toyota minivan when she was pulled over by two police cars — one with its lights going. The officers spotted a joke bumper sticker on the minivan window reading “Unmarked police car” and were not amused. The officers made Konchinsky pull off the bumper sticker. The Indianapolis police department is now being sued for good reason for the abusive stop and treatment. The ACLU has filed the case.

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Bizarre

Unmade Bed Goes For $4.5 Million As Modern Art

220px-Tracey_Emin_1-cropped I happen to like modern art but there are times that the price of such work leaves my head spinning. That was the case with Carl Andre’s stack of 120 firebricks. In 1966, the Tate Museum was criticized for buying the pile of bricks for $3600. That proved a bargain when another version of the pile of brick was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2008 for $1.1 Million. Now, an unmade bed by Tracey Emin has sold for $4.25 million.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

Simi Valley Police Officer Refuses To Take Report From Citizen in Accident Due To His Videotaping Their Conversation

185px-CA_-_Simi_Valley_Policevideo cameraThere is a controversy in Simi Valley, California where a police officer refused to take the statement on a car accident of a man who wanted to videotape their conversation. While the officer in the video below acknowledges the right of the citizen to videotape, Simi Valley police officer Corey Baker states that he is not going to allow the man to effectively portray him as causing some violation by filming him. While the officer cannot refuse to take a statement on this basis, the man in the video (identified as Jeff Knapp) struck me as highly rude in his encounter with both the other driver and the officer.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Religion, Society

New Zealand Board Rules Against Church For False Advertising A Meeting With Faith Healing

1024px-Eustache_Le_Sueur_003There is an interesting complaint that has been filed against a church in New Zealand that touches on an issue that we previously discussed. In the United States, it is common for religious figures to claim to faith heal and recently we have seen some religious business suggest that they have divinely inspired products or services to sell. We have discussed whether such pitches constitute false advertising. Now the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is the subject of a formal complaint for advertising a prayer session to heal health problems including “incurable diseases.”

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International, Politics, Society

Free The Haggis: England Moves To Lift Decades Old Ban

225px-HaggisIf I ever write my own “Mommie Dearest” book, Chapter One will be “The Night She Made Me Eat Haggis.” It was actually both parents but the evening still makes me wake up at night screaming. Given this traumatic childhood encounter, you can understand my alarm with the news story that Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has come to the United States to seek the ban that was imposed on the importation of haggis in 1971. The “Return of the Haggis” could soon come to a restaurant near you. I just fail to understand. We have always been so nice to the Scots and this is how they repay us. Isn’t it enough that we have tried so hard to like soccer this year?

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Animals, Bizarre, Criminal law

Kansas Woman Charged With Burning Home To Kill Spider

220px-ArachnophobiaArachnophobia can come at a cost but rarely do those costs include criminal charges and a torched home. Ginny M. Griffith, 34, of Hutchinson, Kansas is accused of burning her home in an effort to kill a spider. She allegedly used a cigarette lighter to set some towels on fire and destroyed not just her home but half of a duplex.

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Academia, Criminal law, Society

ASU Professor Charged After She Refused To Give Identification And Was Thrown To The Ground By Arresting Officer

ersula-oreThere is a growing controversy in Arizona over the arrest of Arizona State University Professor Ersula Ore who refused to show her identification to a police officer and ended up being thrown to the ground and arrested — a scene captured on the videotape below.

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