By James Egan, M.D. Special to the Herald In Sunday’s Herald, I mined the information in the Benicia Town Hall cannabis survey to reach the conclusion that a large majority of those responding did not favor retail distribution of recreational cannabis outside of the Industrial Park. While on the topic of the survey, it is […]
James Egan: The draft cannabis ordinance and democracy (Part 1)
By James Egan, MD Special to the Herald After lulling critics into complacency, the Benicia City Council has instructed staff to draw up a draft ordinance allowing the licensing of three marijuana distribution centers in the city of Benicia, including a microbusiness. It becomes clearer that the council’s unanimous vote on Dec. 5 to disallow […]
Mike Venable: General aviation critical to safety
By Mike Venable Special to the Herald We are all very much aware of how devastating the wildfires have been this past year. For many Californians tuning into the news, you often see the image of an air tanker or helicopter flying over fires dropping fire retardant to slow or stop the spread of these […]
Jon Riley: Concerns about privately run countywide charter school proposal
By Jon Riley Special to the Herald Today, the Solano County Board of Education will be voting on whether to allow a Countywide Charter application from the Elite Charter School. As the executive director of the Napa Solano Central Labor Council, I have been struggling with the issue of charter schools, both personally and professionally, […]
Steve Young: The rationale for my cannabis vote
A recent guest column by Dennis Lowry referenced the following article that I posted on social media two days after the Dec. 19 meeting at which the City Council voted 4-1 to allow cannabis businesses– exclusive of downtown and the Southhampton Shopping Center. I want to thank Mr. Lowry for his kind words about my […]
Dennis Lowry: Council gives Benicia a lump of coal for Christmas
(Editor’s note: This column was published in two parts in the print edition for spatial reasons. It is being posted here in its entirety.) I was disappointed that all but one member of our City Council voted to allow marijuana to be legally grown, cultivated, processed and commercially sold in our little town beginning sometime […]
Cannabis: Evolving in Benicia
“You bet I did, and I enjoyed it!” said businessman Michael Bloomberg when answering a reporter’s question about cannabis consumption previous to his first run for mayor of New York City, where he went on to serve three terms. I had the same response back in 1965, and went on to enjoy “recreational” cannabis consumption […]
Roger Straw: Councilmembers and city staff, please get the ball rolling on ISO
At its May 23, 2017 meeting, the Benicia City Council agreed on a 4-1 vote to “agendize in the future” a discussion on possible adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO). That was over seven months ago now. More than most, I am aware of the time it often takes for government to move forward […]
Dennis Lund: Predictions? We don’t need no stinkin’ predictions
With apology offered to B. Traven for the above appropriation of his words, I wanted to take a moment, as we approach 2018, to look back on tumultuous 2017 or more specifically, some of the comments made foretelling of coming events. It takes a certain person: cocky, self-assured and thick skinned to make such predictions. […]
Mark Altgelt: Stop an impending global crisis
By Mark Altgelt Special to the Herald (Note: This article has been corrected and expanded from the previous version.) Antarctica, Greenland and Arctic ice is melting because more than 90 percent of the heat from greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed into the oceans and warm currents are rapidly melting exposed ice. Warm currents are […]