When you were a teenager, selling dime bags of pot to your friends for cash to buy Eight-Track tapes, you were a lowlife, a druggie, a loser. Now that same kind of entrepreneurial spirit can make you a star of the new potconomy! To assist aspiring cannabis industrialists, Sonoma County launches this month an eight-part “Dirt to Dispensary” workshop, with advice on permitting, taxes, and compliance issues for the emerging field. It’s all in advance of the July 1 start date to apply for weed-friendly business permits. Find out more at Sonomacounty.ca.gov/Cannabis… Government-sponsored instruction on a product that was, until quite recently, illegal, crime. Just like that gin-making class the feds gave grandma right after Prohibition… Pot tasting rooms, appellation-designated weed, a degree in marijuana from UC Davis – it’s a new world. And like a stoner waiting for a delivery of Girl Scout cookies, government can’t wait to munch down all those new tax dollars. And where should the County’s cut go? Fixing pot holes, of course.
Matt Metzler points out that Napa Transit is planning to cancel its Sonoma-Napa line, which “some of us Sonomans rely on to get to Napa regularly.” Route 25 is indeed a fast, easy way to get from Sonoma Plaza/Broadway to the Napa JC, major malls and such, but seems to lack riders. Or attention? Share your comments at 800.696.6443.
Starting this week, the Sonoma Valley Library (and all County locations) expands its hours to include Mondays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and an additional hour on Wednesday nights, to 9 p.m. The move was the top priority of County Library Director Brett Lear. “Our library staff have worked tirelessly to open on Mondays as soon as possible,” he said. “We’ve hired new staff to support these hours and have launched new services like Lynda.com and Zinio for libraries. We’re thrilled to be able to offer more hours to our communities!” Also on the to-do list, with funding from the Measure Y one-eighth-cent sales tax: more books and DVDs to check out, more classes and events for children and adults and improved technology.
Here’s a direct way to be part of the immigration solution: tutor a student in citizenship class. The International Institute of the Bay Area and the El Verano Family Resource Center have been offering citizenship classes since 2015. For applicants, the biggest hurdle, instructors say, is usually the fear of the American history/civics exam. That’s where the citizenship classes and the tutoring comes in. There’s a lot to learn for the exam: conversation, English pronunciation, writing from dictation, spelling, and facts. Admits one teacher, “You’d be amazed at the questions applicants for citizenship are supposed to answer where most American-born citizens would fail.” A training workshop for tutors will be held Wednesday, May 10, 6:30 p.m. at El Verano Elementary School. To reserve spot, call Claudia Robbins at 707.939.8959.
— Val Robichaud, Page3@sonomasun.com
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