Across the Great Divide

Colorado Marijuana Rx Law Causing Pain as Well as Relieving it.

Last week I wrote about local difficulties with enforcing Colorado's medical marijuana law.

Here's a pretty good article that gives an overview of the economic and law enforcement issues related to the law as more people in the valley get into the business.

[The legislator sponsoring a new regulatory bill] knows folks in law enforcement and those selling medical marijuana equally are unhappy with how his bill is shaping up. Dispensaries are afraid the cost of staying in business will be too high; law enforcement is angry they’ll be in business at all.

The city of Grand Junction alone could collect $445,500 in annual sales taxes on medical marijuana sold through the dispensaries.

Story About Beautiful House is "Sensitive."

A brief feature about an Orono home designed by Ralph Rapson merits comment monitoring in today's Star Tribune. The home was designed in 1960 for the widow of Minnesota lumberman Edward Brooks. 

It's part of the Homegazing series of house porn typically featuring million-dollar-plus residences on the market. Essentially a free promotion for the agent listing a unique property, it helps draw eyes to the paper's paid real estate advertising.

The Strib does not monitor comments on overtly controversial stories like the contentious political climate in Greenfield. Or this one, about Gov. Pawlenty diverting funds from the sale of "Support Our Troops" license plates to partially subsidize the salary of a political appointee, the governor's adviser on faith and community services.

What makes the home story more sensitive?

Is it because the current owner is a member of the prominent Dayton family? Or more generally, is it because  features about expensive homes attract derisive comments about the wealthy who are not necessarily public figures?

I couldn't dredge up too many other stories to check how the series handled past comments, but I did find this was the second home built by a Brooks family widow to be featured. (The other was a Mount Curve mansion built in 1905. It had no comment monitoring in place.)

Another Rapson treasure in the same area, built for the Pillsbury family in 1963, was razed by banker and GOP money man Bill Cooper so he could build a mansion that was more his "cup of tea."

Let's hope this house has a better fate, or my comments will need monitoring.

Medical Weed Operation Leads to Exposing Patient Information.

Colorado is getting its feet wet with medical marijuana, creating some new twists on how drug laws are enforced.

This week in my hometown, authorities were called to an office building near the Census offices where someone observed an unusual smell. More than a thousand marijuana plants were found under grow lights.

But with cultivation being legal based upon the number of patients being supplied by a dispensary, the cops couldn't just confiscate the weed.

They did, however, check to see whether the large number of plants was justified.

Here's where it starts to get sticky.

A search warrant executed Tuesday authorized the seizure of photocopies of patients’ marijuana registry cards, as well as doctors’ recommendations and personal contact information for patients [...]

The judge who signed the warrant did what he had to, I guess, if there was suspicion that the legal growing operation was producing extra weed on the side. But in order to confirm the proportions being grown were legitimate, patient records were opened up to scrutiny.

This is the sort of thing that makes some people afraid of government getting deeper into the health care business, of course, so even if the grower (Sid Squirrel!) is totally on the up and up, this sort of investigation could have repercussions beyond the drug business.

[Disclosure: My brother is a local police commander and the judge is a former classmate. I have not discussed the case with either of them.]

The Shelter Report: Reading the Wall Street Journal at the Day Center.

Out here in Grand Junction you can get home delivery of the Wall Street Journal if you don't mind receiving yesterday's paper. This day and age, that's like getting two-day-old news, but it's still hard to beat the print Journal for a close reading of the capitalist mindset.

My sister recently subscribed, to use up some expiring airline miles. Since she is out of town, I picked up her papers on the way in to the Day Center where I volunteer on Wednesdays.

My main assignment was orchestrating use of the shower facilities, which is not taxing most of the time. In between signing in guests and then finding them when a shower's available, I sit out in the main room and shoot the bull, stare into space, or read — just like everyone else.

Today was the first time I'd brought my own reading material — and it may have been the first time on record that the Wall Street Journal has ever been inside this service center for the homeless.

As I switched between reading stories and talking to the guests, it was hard to escape the contrasts.

For example, the Carlyle Group has hired a former Morgan Stanley executive to head its new debt-investment and capital-markets businesses. Mitch Petrick was a one-time global head of Morgan Stanley's distressed investing.

About the same time I read that item, I was hearing about Victor's long-lasting run-in with a car dealer who sold him a motor home that broke down after five days. Victor, a laid-off truck driver, filed a suit against the dealer under the state's lemon law. In retaliation, the dealer apparently has been coming by and stripping parts from the vehicle, since he still has a set of keys. 

I also learned that LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has revamped its exclusive Ce´line retail operation with the recruitment of fashion designer Phoebe Philo.

Meanwhile Annie had come out of the shower wearing a basketball jersey with the name Hilfiger on the back. "Do I look okay?" she asked Bret, before heading out for the day.

Another woman was already blowing up at the volunteer behind the mail desk because her pick-up notice left here by the post office had expired. She didn't seem interested in reading the article about Intermittent Explosive Disorder therapy.

A couple guys were discussing possible job openings at BJ Services, a well-drilling outfit I worked for 40 years ago. The Journal had an ad for Head of Anti-Money Laundering at the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority.

NYSE traders will benefit from a remodeling this year that gives them "individual broker stations, with curved glass walls, brighter lighting and, most important, chairs." Bob said he woke up in a pool of water this morning. His tent by the river was pitched in a low spot and the overnight rains collected in his sleeping bag.

[All names of the homeless have been changed.]

The New Conquistadors.

An overheard Greek: "You don't have to send your Messerschmitts. You don't have to send your armies. Just send your big corporations."

Let's Not Take Bike Sharing Too Far.

The Minneapolis bike share system scheduled to debut in June hopes to avoid some of the pitfalls other programs around the world have faced, including thefts, vandalism and malfunctioning rental kiosks.

The Minneapolis bikes have theft-resistant nuts and bolts, which respond only to specialized wrenches, and all break [sic] cables will be encased in the metal frame of the bike. A special computer chip will be able to track bikes taken improperly from a kiosk, meaning in the rare instance of a theft, the bike can be found and returned, instead of totally replaced.

“We get to buy a tested system,” Dossett added. “It’s true that in the first three to four weeks [Montreal] had some serious problems.” He said that the main flaw was the locking system, which previously involved a plastic cassette that would fasten a bike to a kiosk. Vandals could break the plastic cassette, so BIXI engineers decided to replace the plastic with metal.

The story mentions a few design features that could deter theft, but overlooks one of the most important — the distinctive look of the bike used in the Bixi system. A would-be thief can pretty much forget reselling a bike that screams stolen goods, even without the tracking chip.

It may also help that the program is being positioned less like a commercial or government service and more like an organization. (The nonprofit Nice Ride Minnesota will run it.) When people perceive themselves to be part of a community instead of just consumers of a service, they are more likely to look out for each other and the good condition of the shared infrastructure. That tends to be true in dog parks, disc golf facilities or bike and ski trails.

Bikes and bike parts will always be comparatively easy to steal, so another step toward prevention  (besides actually locking them) is making more people aware of the signs. For example, people securing their own bike focus on the bike; thieves are mainly scanning around themselves as they fiddle with releases or locks.

The Angel in Sen. Clark.

According to the Associated Press, State Sen. Tarryl Clark of St. Cloud is sponsoring a bill that

could prohibit spending public dollars at in-state hotels or meeting facilities that provide their customers with pornographic materials that link sex with violence. Nonviolent adult movies would be OK.

Reader Hal Davis sees a similarity between this bill and a Minneapolis anti-pornography civil rights ordinance drafted in 1983, passed by the city council and twice vetoed by the mayor. A similar ordinance was later found unconstitutional.

Clark is aiming for Rep. Michele Bachmann's seat this fall. If she hopes to differentiate herself from Bachmann, this isn't the way to do it.

Government employees traveling on public business get discounted hotel rates. If hotels have to pick between them and other travelers, it's likely they'll go with tourists and business travelers paying  more.

This measure is a pretty ineffective stick for beating on pornography, however you look at it. If Clark doesn't want state money spent on porno movies, restrict hotel expenses to the published government rates and lower  per diems so travelers have to choose between food and a night at the movies. And if she is truly serious about eradicating violent films, good luck.

Worse, this is a poor time for political-posturing legislation that would require new enforcement efforts without saving the state any money.

I say this as someone who likes Clark, who hates to hand MDE one of those "liberal blogger" freebies, and who has managed to stay out of strip clubs and porn shops for 61 years without government encouragement.

Disclaimer: When I was an arts reviewer, with another arts reporter, I did see part of "The Devil in Miss Jones" when it first came out, under the misguided assumption it might represent some sort of advance in film making. We quickly discovered we were wrong and walked out.

I hope Sen. Clark gains a similar moment of clarity.

Everglades Deal Shows Limits of Government Rescue.

A state-funded effort to save the Everglades exhibits just about every peril and pitfall in the spongy ground of politics and Florida real estate.

The public deal to buy scattered parcels of overpriced land from United States Sugar is looking more likely to rescue the company. And it may be a sink hole under Gov. Charlie Crist's political future, too, if the purchase turns out to be as flawed as portrayed in the New York Times article.

[T]he governor said that critics of the deal would come up with “all kinds of reasons not to do something.”

“But what are they doing to try and preserve the Everglades, other than complain about it?” he said. “What are they doing in a productive way to move forward and preserve this national treasure that exists nowhere else on the face of the earth? Nothing but complain. I rest my case.”

However, the story spells out many problems that can happen once the forward motion starts.

• The real estate market changes but the appraisal doesn't.
• Cronies are involved in the deal and some interested parties are cut out.
• The big project doesn't take fully into account the other financial obligations of the water districts that have to contribute to the solution.
• Internal reviews and safeguards are ignored or worked around.
• Proponents who fear doing nothing is worse than a half-assed response keep their mouths shut.

Crist is right that big problems require big efforts, but this wasn't it. But the industry that helped create the problem in the Everglades was more interested in rent seeking than in being part of a market-based solution.

As one company official said, a government buyout was preferred because, “It wasn’t another company coming in and bottom-fishing you. They knew it would be for fair-market appraisals.”

Said another former executive: “I won’t lie to you — it’s a damn good price for that land. But it’s not as good a deal for the Everglades. If the district doesn’t have any money after this purchase, then they won’t be able to do any restoration projects. It could be a disaster in the making.”

Local Color Finds its Way.

I'm in low-blogging mode, but it's hard not to pass on one connection I feel with my old home place as I work on a novel based in this valley.

Wait... a bobcat just walked past my door.

No, that wasn't it.

It's the names. Writers like to stretch names to the limits they can, nudging them toward the realm of improbability. But here in western Colorado, I grew up with great names all around me — fiction-worthy names like Janet Toogood, Verna Tibbetts, Mira Doss and Floyd Smallwood.

I thought of this especially today as I read the newspaper.

Summer Chastity Honesty Hazel, 31, 2956 Parkway Drive, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass and theft of less than $500.

Puck Stair of Salt Lake City practices kiting with her paraglider just off North Avenue this morning while she waited for a trailer hitch to be installed on her vehicle. 

Melva Yost, 86, Grand Junction, died March 5, 2010, at Hospice Care Center. Survivors include her husband, Drexel...

“We came out ready to go from the get-go and it’s something we’ve emphasized with the kids, being ready to go first pitch to last pitch,” Montrose coach Landon Wareham said. “They did that today.”

I don't need to make things up when it comes to names.

And the bobcat is real, too.