When marijuana growers suggested ordinances Yuba County could use to regulate medical marijuana, and anti-pot Supervisor Andy Vasquez said he appreciated the input on an issue here to stay, it could be taken as a sign of progress in the Yuba-Sutter area’s weed wars. With supervisors holding a workshop Tuesday to discuss a possible medical marijuana ordinance, the prevailing theory among both the board and more than a dozen speakers seemed to be: Mend it, don’t end it. “We want to work with you. We want to get an ordinance drafted,” said Eric Salerno, spokesman [...]
After a rash of complaints from neighbors and multiple attempted robberies, medical marijuana growers could receive greater scrutiny from Yuba County officials. County spokesman Russ Brown said officials are researching possibilities for an ordinance for medical marijuana, though the details are far from being established, Ben van der Meer reports in the Appeal-Democrat. “We’re trying to address this intelligently, and see what’s out there and what’s working,” Brown said. “We just want to present options.” Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor said such an ordinance might be needed to deal with such issues as how many [...]
Bolstered by the most recent court ruling in Orange County regarding medical marijuana, the Wheatland City Council voted Tuesday to extend a temporary ban on dispensaries. The year-long extension of two urgency interim ordinances will continue to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from being located within Wheatland city limits, Nancy Pasternack reports in the Appeal-Democrat. It would also allow the city staff and the council to further evaluate potential future permitting of dispensary operators, “and to continue to monitor and evaluate evolving legal developments concerning this issue,” according to the city’s public hearing notice posted Sept. [...]
Seizures of marijuana planted by drug trafficking organizations in the Yuba County foothills are up by 31 percent this year — and the harvest season is not over, according to the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Scott Rounds, who’s helped eradicate five gardens this year near Bullards Bar Reservoir in the Tahoe and Plumas national forests and on private property, said 19,326 plants have been seized compared to 14,767 all of last year. More pot gardens are being discovered all over Northern California, Rob Young reports in the Appeal-Democrat. But it’s not clear if Mexican [...]
A medical marijuana collective in Olivehurst is open again, weeks after Yuba County shut it down for permit violations. The Garden Shop, at 5040 Olivehurst Ave., reopened Tuesday at noon while an appeal of the permit violation is pending, Ben van der Meer reports in the Appeal-Democrat. Employees at the collective Tuesday would not give their names, but provided a copy of the appeal, which disputes the county’s reasons for revoking the original permit. “The application was for retail use of the premises as a shop. There is no code section that requires a business [...]
Operators of a temporarily closed marijuana dispensary should pay Marysville $68,000 in penalties and be prevented from reopening without a business permit, according to the city. The recent motion filed in Yuba County Superior Court seeks a summary judgment in a lawsuit against NorCal Health and Wellness Collective, which ran a medical marijuana dispensary at 825 9th Street for much of 2010. City Council members and officials met in closed session Tuesday to discuss the suit, which is scheduled to be heard in court Sept. 26, Nancy Pasternack reports in the Appeal-Democrat. At the heart [...]
An illegal marijuana garden in Dobbins where a man allegedly fired a shot at deputies contained thousands of plants, a Yuba County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Tuesday. A search for a man — apparently a caretaker for the garden — was called off late Tuesday morning after about three hours, Rob Young reports in the Appeal-Democrat. The incident in the 10000 block of Marysville Road began about 7:30 a.m. when deputies went to eradicate the plants. When the deputies were about 30 yards away, they saw the man in the garden and tried to detain [...]
One of five suspects in a medical marijuana robbery Jan. 12 in Dobbins has been booked into Yuba County Jail, Sheriff Steve Durfor said today. Reno police arrested Douglas Dale Gilliland, 43, on Jan. 15 after Yuba County investigators asked them to check an old address for Gilliland. Officers found a car matching the description of one used in the robbery of the 65-year-old victim, then spotted Gilliland, said Durfor. Update: Second suspect arrested Reno police booked Gilliland into a hospital for treatment of bites from the victim’s dog, Durfor said. Gilliland’s 24-year-old son, Anthony [...]
Dec 162010
Marysville police raided a medical marijuana dispensary Wednesday afternoon after a previous cease-and-desist order failed to prevent the operators from continuing to do business. No one had been arrested an hour after officers entered the building at 825 Ninth St., across from the Yuba County Government Center. Armed with a search warrant signed by Yuba County Judge Dennis Buckley — the second in three months — officers confiscated what Police Chief Wally Fullerton said was a “large amount of marijuana” from Norcal Health and Wellness Collective. They also took computers that may contain records of [...]
A Yuba County jury today found her guilty of two felony murders — and a pregnant Angelic Louise Rampone sobbed and pressed her face against the shoulder of her attorney. Rampone, 24, drove the getaway car in an abortive attempt in 2005 to take medical marijuana from the back yard of an Olivehurst residence. Two men guarding the marijuana, Christopher Hance and Scott Davis, resisted and they were shot dead by Rampone’s boyfriend, Michael Huggins, during a struggle. Rampone’s attorney, Roberto Marquez, predicted in an interview that Rampone will be sentenced to 50 years to [...]
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