Next: Good Humor Trucks Selling THC On a Stick.

By WW Editorial Staff
  1. State lawmakers are in the weeds (sorry) over how to fine tune the state’s voter-approved laws on legalized marijuana. One debate seems to be ending: Oregon will have “dry” cities and counties that outlaw any weed sales—recreational or medical. (Already, 146 cities and 26 counties have barred medical sales.) “Don’t think this will keep your citizens from being able to get their medicine,” Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene), a longtime supporter of legal weed, warned city and county lobbyists at a May 11 legislative hearing. Prozanski wants to deal with pot deserts by authorizing marijuana delivery services to reach patients in any areas off-limits to dispensaries and retail stores. Leaders of the House-Senate committee on marijuana like the idea. Says co-chairwoman Rep. Ann Lininger (D-Lake Oswego): “It’s like Meals on Wheels for marijuana.”
  1. Food Front, the 43-year-old grocery co-op, faces a major challenge at its flagship store at Northwest 23rd Place and Thurman Street. A New Seasons Market is opening five blocks away. The Northwest Examiner reports Food Front has lost money in each of the past six years. This week, employees announced they hope to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. “With hours being cut, we’re all worried about being marginalized,” Food Front employee Parker Lemus said in a statement. “By unionizing, we can build an organization that provides stable jobs, and gives staff an equal voice in making staffing decisions, without fear of repercussions.” Food Front didn’t respond to a request for comment.
  1. An Ainsworth Elementary parent is taking Portland Public Schools to court over its troubled system for handling complaints. On May 11, Kim Sordyl asked the Multnomah County Circuit Court to force PPS to follow a new complaint procedure for parents that the district established under orders from the Oregon Department of Education. In March, the ODE told several PPS parents, including Sordyl, that it wouldn’t make PPS adhere to the new rules. “I want someone to hold Portland Public Schools accountable for following the law,” Sordyl says. PPS officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.
  1. School board campaigns rarely capture the public imagination, but there’s much at stake in the May 19 election. As WW reported, voters can overturn the Portland Public Schools board majority that has repeatedly supported Superintendent Carole Smith (“Bad Boy,” WW, April 8, 2015). WW on April 29 published its endorsements in contested PPS races and other school board campaigns. Here’s the summary: PPS, Zone 1: Julie Esparza Brown; Zone 2: Paul Anthony; Zone 3: Bobbie Regan. Portland Community College, Zone 3: Courtney Wilton. Multnomah Education Service District, Position 6: Stephen Marc Beaudoin; Position 7: Siobhan Burke. Parkrose School District, Position 3: Dave Carter.

WWeek 2015

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