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Wednesday, January 14, 2015 | 75 cents
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City expected to ban marijuana businesses
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By Ray Still Staff Writer
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Incredible Hawk
Jake Lucas of Bonney Lake kicked off Blue Friday with city staff and his chain saw sculpture of the Seahawk mascot. Lucas, who has been wood carving for 10 years, also made the boy and fish carving on the corner of Veterans Memorial Drive and Locust. Photo Courtesy of Melissa Johnson
As Bonney Lake’s year long moratorium on legal marijuana businesses nears its end, city residents should expect to shop elsewhere for their marijuana. During the Jan. 6 City Council meeting, an unofficial poll showed the majority of council members in favor of an outright ban of all marijuana growers, processors and retail shops from the city. “I don’t think we need to have it. It doesn’t need to be in Bonney Lake,” said Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson. “We have the power to ban it. We should ban it, and leave it at that.” The official vote on
Ordinance D15-08A, which will ban all legal marijuana businesses from the city, will be held on Jan. 13.
Legal concerns
Most of the workshop discussion was dominated by council members concerns toward possible court litigation, the potential for federal government backlash and the physical and physiological health of residents, while discussion about possible profit for the city and the lack of financial incentive from the state government took a back seat. The city’s power to ban marijuana businesses is based on Washington
SEE BAN, PAGE 8
Sumner library explores public laptop options By Ray Still Staff Writer
P
atrons of the Sumner library can now be a part of a new pilot program that allows Pierce County Library members to check out laptops for a day. The program, which started on Jan. 5, gave the library 15 Chromebook laptops for public use. While users can check out the laptops to use within the
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library, the Chromebooks cannot be taken from the building like books and movies. “There’s always been a very clear need for computer access,” said Ben Haines, senior librarian . “The public computers have always been a really important service at the library, and they have always been in demand. It’s been hard to keep up with the need.” While the Sumner library had some of its traffic dis-
Deadline: January 29 @ 5pm, Published: February 11 2015
PLANNING GUIDE
persed to the Fife and Milton libraries, Haines said he has seen libraries with long waiting lists for the public desktops. With the new Chromebooks, though, the library hopes to sharply cut down on that traffic. Haines said the new Chromebooks have several advantages over the traditional desktops in the library. One advantage for library patrons is there is no time limit to check out a laptop, whereas the desktops retain
their two hour time limit each day. Additionally, with an 11 hour battery, patrons could potentially check out and use the laptop for the entire day. Haines also said the compact Chromebooks give users the flexibility to move around the library, and gives the library more flexibility with its space. “Adding more desktop spaces was not a viable option,” Haines said, because the desktops require the
computer monitor, the tower, desk space and a chair, all of which takes up a lot of space. “But these Chromebooks, they’re compact and they’re eco-friendly, and they have the benefit of not having to be sitting for however at a desk staring at a screen. You can find a more comfortable place to sit.” The laptops also cost the library about three quarters less than a desktop, said
SEE LAPTOPS, PAGE 4
Deadline: January 14 @ 5pm, Published: January 21
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