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Issaquah allotted second marijuana retailer BY DANIEL NASH ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Still no McCleary plan at end of 2015 -Page 4-
Eastside Scene
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board released its new cap on marijuana retail licenses Wednesday and Issaquah will be allotted an additional spot for a store. The city currently has one sanctioned store, the Issaquah
Cannabis Company. The increased allotments are the result of work by the Board, the state Department of Health and other agencies to roll existing purveyors of medical marijuana — alternatively called dispensaries, access points or “collective gardens,” as they’re known in state law — into the recreational
retail system as directed by the Cannabis Patient Protection Act signed by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year. “Our goal was clear: To ensure medical patients have access to the products they need,” Board Director Rick Garza said in a press release. Under the Act, the Board is required to issue licenses
PLUCKING OUT A CAROL OR TWO
Eco Fashion Week ‘upcycles’ old clothes -Center Pullout-
BY DANIEL NASH
Daniel Nash, Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter
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Above, Fred Hopkins and Alan Clarke lead songs in the Issaquah Depot Museum. The Downtown Issaquah Association hosted a night of holiday caroling at the museum Dec. 17.
are considered first-priority candidates. Medical marijuana professionals who did not apply for a retail license prior to mid-2014 are prioritized second. All others who applied for new retail licenses are prioritized third. Statewide, the cap on SEE MARIJUANA, 6
Guilty plea in child porn case ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
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Signing day at Eastlake -Page 5-
in accordance with a threetiered system that gives first priority to the owners or employees of collective gardens in operation prior to 2013 who also applied for retail licenses prior to July 2014. The Liquor and Cannabis Board opened the new round of applications Oct. 12 and, so far, 39 of the nearly 1,200 applicants
A 54-year-old Issaquah man faces up to nine years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to child pornography charges in federal court. According to details in a plea agreement, Gregory Mark Molley installed hidden cameras in the bathrooms and bedrooms of his home for the purpose of filming children. Molley is scheduled to be
sentenced in U.S. District Court on March 15, 2016. Molley was arrested after an investigation by the King County Sheriff ’s Office and the United States Secret Service as part of Project Safe Childhood, which is a Department of Justice initiative maintaining resources to investigate and prosecute the sexual exploitation and abuse of children on the Internet. Daniel Nash: 425-654-0383; dnash@issaquahreporter.com
Builder focuses on Vaastu homes for Indian buyers BY MEGAN CAMPBELL ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
A third-generation Eastside builder is planning to specialize in traditional Indian architecture. “My industry is very old and very Anglo,” said Mike Stewart, founder of Auspicious Homes. “It’s an indus-
try that needs to change.” His mission to build Vaastu-inspired homes throughout the Eastside took shape while he worked as a realtor in the Issaquah Highlands area. He realized at least half of the people coming through were tech professionals from India — and they were all asking for
things the current cookiecutter industry does not supply, he said. For example, no one builds a home thinking about where the puja room (a room dedicated to prayer) should be or considers building a spice kitchen, Stewart said. Typically, Eastside build-
ers buy a large plot of land, subdivide it and build tract housing: a one-size-fits-all approach. Stewart’s grandfather began building homes on the Eastside in the 1950s. His father, of Greacon Homes LLC, built about 25 homes in the Sahalee neighborhood and around 80 more
in the Klahanie area in the ‘80s. As a “child of the industry” he said he has the experience to navigate the market and the eagerness to “put a soul back in a home,” he said. “A lot of them are just SEE VAASTU, 6
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