On 11-27-2020 at 7:05 AM Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an armed robbery at a reported permitted cannabis farm in the 12000 block of Pratt Ranch Road in Hopland, California. Upon arrival Deputies contacted an adult male who was working as an unarmed security guard at the cannabis farm owned…
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BY ANGELA HART ahart@sacbee.com May 11, 2017 12:01 AM Updated May 12, 2017 10:53 AM The grapevines that line rolling hillsides and sweeping valleys in Northern California’s wine country have become iconic – a symbol of the region’s rustic charm that helped California earn its reputation as a world-class wine and food destination. But winegrapes…
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Recreational marijuana turns five in Colorado The 5-year experiment that is Colorado’s pioneering legalization of recreational marijuana now has enough data for more than conjecture to debate its success. The state’s first dispensaries began legal recreational sales on January 1, 2014. In 2014, combined recreational and medical sales totaled $683.5 million, and are expected to…
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EDITOR: Much of Sonoma County’s poor implementation of its cannabis program stems from questionable legal decisions. The county counsel’s advice to staff is attorney-client privileged, but the results are obvious. The county allows growers to remain in the permit relief program despite multiple failures to meet its explicit requirements. County counsel essentially asserts that the…
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BOARD OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION KEITH GILLESS, CHAIRTHE NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY Wade Crowfoot, SecretarySTATE OF CALIFORNIA Gavin Newsom, GovernorP.O. Box 944246SACRAMENTO, CA 94244-2460(916) 653-8007(916) 653-0989 FAXBOF Website (www.bof.fire.ca.gov)October 23, 2020 Linda SchiltgenDeputy County CounselCounty of SonomaLinda.Schiltgen@sonoma-county.org Re: BOF Certification Questions: Sonoma County Responses Dear Ms. Schiltgen: The Board is in receipt of your letter…
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Contact: Deborah Eppstein 801 556-5004 (deppstein@gmail.com)Craig Harrison 707 573-9990 (craigspencerharrison@gmail.com)Marylee Guinon 925 260-4346 (maryleeguinon@gmail.com) Issue:Amid another extreme fire season, concerned residents wonder why their Board of Supervisors is fervently working to exempt new development on unsafe roads from Cal Fire safety standards. Wide-spread Opposition: Residents as well as the following advocacy groups submitted opposition letters:…
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I live in West County and there are three illegal cannabis grows in close proximity to our family home, and additional illegal and legal grows within a mile. Residents have good reasons to not trust the County to enforce illegal grow operations or illegal building code violations because the county’s horrific track record speaks volumes and these residents live in fear of retribution. Two…
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Neighborhood compatibility: Neighborhood compatibility is not considered when Sonoma County reviews/approves an application for a ministerial cannabis grow. Susan Gorin said; “…neighborhood compatibility was my very highest priority.” There are often 20 or more homes that share the same narrow dead-end roads that access these cannabis grows. The neighbors are subject to a degrading quality…
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Deputies were searching Wednesday for a group of men suspected of punching and pistol whipping two people at a Willits-area marijuana grow, tying them up and then stealing 15 pounds of marijuana bud from the property. The armed robbery took place before dawn Tuesday on String Creek Road off Hearst Willits Road northeast of Willits,…
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Smoke from the Walbridge Fire is seen on Dry Creek Road on Aug. 20. Photo Jan Todd While many Sonoma County residents feel wildland fire fatigue, we should embrace some hard facts about the underlying factors that have contributed to the situation. California, our county, the nature of the wildland-urban interface, climate change and human…
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