Our City Council appears poised to allow the zoning of cannabis retail outlets in Benicia. The thinking appears to be—really, what is the difference if someone wants to have a smoke rather than a beer? And, of course, why not embrace cannabis and garner those tax dollars? My concerns about the sale of cannabis are […]
Letter: Anticipating Nov. 7
Anticipating Nov. 7 Why Nov. 7? Because that is when the cannabis vote will go before the City Council. There seems to be a movement by the residents that are not in favor of cannabis dispensaries in Benicia. That movement has support from the anti-cannabis residents. Can it change the minds of three or four […]
BUSD highlights successes, areas for improvement in state test results
Benicia Unified School District outlined positive highlights and areas for improvement when data from the most recent Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) was presented at Thursday’s Governing Board meeting. The SBAC was initiated in 2015 and replaced the previous California Standards Test following the state’s shift to Common Core practices. The statewide assessment is given […]
BUSD to tackle state test data at Thursday’s school board meeting
The school board will hear a report and discussion on the data from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) at Thursday’s meeting. The SBAC is a statewide assessment administered to all third through eighth-graders and 11th-graders in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. The SBAC replaced the California Standards Test following the […]
Cannabis: Compassionate conservatives
The national cannabis landscape is quickly advancing towards re-scheduling or de-scheduling cannabis to expedite research that has been stalled due to the DEA’s tight grip on cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug with NO medicinal value. To this end, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) has introduced legislation, with bipartisan sponsors, to collapse the federal bureaucracy […]
Letters: Cannabis vote and contacting Rep. Thompson’s office
Contacting my office In response to her recent letter to the editor, I want to thank Ms. Dorothy Story for bringing her matter to my attention. I did receive Ms. Story’s inquiry and I sent her a letter in response this week. I wish I could have responded sooner, but with the volume of mail, […]
Letters: Citizen engagement edition
Building to engage Benicians “Partisan politics are great, but to put non-partisan politics in the same boat is wrong” was the last line of a recent Forum article, penned by Benicia resident and serial letter writer Bob Livesay. The sentence concluded an 850-plus word essay on the dangers of Benicia residents gathering to discuss politics […]
Council reschedules historic demolition permit hearing
The Benicia City Council made a decision on the request by Amports to reschedule a rehearing of the Yuba demolition mediation at Tuesday night’s meeting. The vote was part of a continuing debate over two buildings– collectively known as the Foundry and Office buildings– on East H Street which were once the site of Yuba […]
Letter: Reconsider dispensary location
Reconsider dispensary location I am not one that writes letters to the editor often, but I felt compelled to do so after watching the most recent Benicia City Council meeting. As a teacher in the Benicia Unified School District, I was disheartened when watching the council take action on whether or not to allow cannabis […]
Yuba demolion permit, cannabis ordinance on council agenda tonight
The Benicia City Council will discuss the Yuba demolition permit and update the mediation and the request for a rehearing on the issue. In October 2016, Automobile import company Amports filed for an emergency demolition permit for the Foundry and Office buildings on East H Street. The buildings were constructed in the 1850s and, under […]