With the Fresno City Council slated to pass regulations for the cannabis business on Thursday (Dec. 13), Mayor Lee Brand remains against allowing recreational shops in the city. After an initial debate last week, the council will vote to adopt regulations allowing multiple aspects of the marijuana business in the...
Marlboro Maker Places $2.4 Billion Bet on Marijuana
NEW YORK — One of the world's biggest tobacco companies is diving into the cannabis market with a $2.4 billion buy-in. Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. is taking a 45 percent stake in Cronos Group, the Canadian medical and recreational marijuana provider said Friday. Altria will pay another $1.4 billion...
Council Tackles Big Issues: Cannabis, Homeless, and Pay Raises
The Fresno City Council is saving its best for last. Major items such as cannabis regulation, homelessness, and farmland mitigation appear on this week's agenda. Technically, Thursday's (Dec. 6) meeting is the second-to-last for this council alignment, which includes two termed-out representatives. Still, the city’s governing body will have its...
California’s Cannabis Chief Regulator: It ‘Costs Businesses’
Could too many regulations for the burgeoning cannabis industry deter entry into the market? That's the question the state agency in charge of regulating cannabis grapples with. “We’re not pleasing anybody with our regs, whether it’s the industry, the city or the police chiefs, not everybody is happy,” Lori Ajax,...
Face Off for District 5: Luis Chavez and Paula Yang
View the video above to compare the views of Fresno City Council District 5 candidates, incumbent Luis Chavez and challenger Paula Yang.
Harvesting Green or Inviting Danger? The Clash Over Measure A.
To clear up any confusion, let's start with this: Measure A is not an up-or-down vote on allowing the cannabis industry within Fresno’s city limits. Proposition 64, approved by voters statewide in 2016, permitted recreational use and the right to sell. However, that right comes with caveats — such as...
Chavez Makes His Case for Four More Years on City Council
Luis Chavez wants another term on the Fresno City Council. The incumbent southeast Fresno representative won a special election in 2016 to fulfill the remaining two years of Sal Quintero's term after Quintero won a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Chavez formerly represented the area as a...
'Yes' on Measure A Cannabis Business Tax Makes Fresno Safer: Olivier
“Whether you agree with the legalization of marijuana or not, it is already here, so it is crucial that we tax this new industry to ensure compliance and to eradicate the black market.” With that sentence, the supporters of Measure A, the city of Fresno’s cannabis tax, sum up their...
Yang Wants to Take Advocacy From the Streets to City Council
Paula Yang hopes to take her background in advocacy into the District 5 seat on the Fresno City Council, representing southeast neighborhoods. Yang also works as an anchor for a Hmong-language TV network based in Fresno. She is challenging incumbent Luis Chavez. Take 5 In this edition of Take 5,...
Whelan, Esparza Compete to Represent the Heart of Fresno
The ideological balance of the Fresno City Council hangs in the district carved out of the city’s center. Brian Whelan is a Republican. Nelson Esparza is a Democrat. Many of their views are consistent with their party ideology. Both want to succeed termed-out Republican Clint Oliver to become the District...