SVM-SS1_09222015

Page 1

Collards

FREE

The Review

page 4

September 22, 2015 FULTON

Marijuana shop being built The Dispensary seeks staff, patients BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ

FULTON – The Sauk Valley’s sole medical marijuana dispensary is under construction, hiring staff and reaching out to potential patients. The Dispensary, being built at 1801 Fourth Ave., will serve primarily people in Whiteside, Ogle, Lee, and Carroll counties. Work at the site began in earnest this week, but there’s no firm date for the 3,150-square-foot facility to be completed, General Manager Jeff Soenksen said. For now, just the dispensary is being built, he said. If all goes as planned, however, it eventually will become one of three spaces in a new shopping center in the formerly vacant lot where state Routes 84 and 136 meet, City Administrator Ed Cannon said. It’s also in a tax increment financing district. The shop’s opening “will coincide with product being readily avail-

able,” said Soenksen, 27, who moved to Fulton from Colorado, where he had managed a cultivation center. In the meantime, he and his existing team – including former Carroll County Board member Kurt Dreger, formerly of Savanna but now of Fulton, a dispensary manager – want to help educate and assist prospective patients with the process, and get staff hired. To that end, they are having outreach sessions from 2 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday, starting next week, at the Robert Fulton Community Center, 912 Fourth St. Prospective patients and interested community members are encouraged to attend, Soensen said. In addition to answering questions and addressing concerns, he will have patient applications available, and will help to fill them out. Job applications and resumes also will be accepted. The Dispensary will hire associates for patient services, sales, and security, as well as managers. Background

checks will be done. Interested applicants who can’t attend a session may email their résumés to info@thedispensaryfulton.com. How many staff needed will be determined by patient load, Soenksen said. Statewide, nearly a year since the program launched, only about 2,800 patients have been registered to use the drug. The number of applications submitted so far is far below projections, but is expected to increase once the product reaches dispensary shelves, likely by the end of the year, state officials have said. Before a dispensary may open, it must be registered with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and principal officers and employees must be licensed separately. The Dispensary has its conditional approval from the IDFPR; final approval can’t come until after the state inspects the building, Soenksen said. The state’s Compassionate Use of Medical

The Dispensary’s mission statement

Cannabis Pilot Program Act divvied up marijuana cultivation centers by Illinois State Police districts, while the 60 dispensary districts were charted by population size. The Fulton dispensary will be the only one within a 2,613-square-mile area. While it is meant to serve primarily residents in ISP District 1, other nearby patients can use the facility if they choose to, but they must designate it on their application. District 1’s nearest cultivation center will be in Hillcrest, a village of 1,000, in eastern Ogle County, on the north edge of Rochelle. For Bureau County, which is in ISP District 17, the dispensary will be in Ottawa and the cultivation center will be in Oglesby in Lake County. Both Soenksen and Dreger are eager to get up and running. “We’re very, very excited for the Illinois program, and for the patients, especially,” Dreger said. “I believe this program is going to be a great success.”

10 DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO RURAL DIXON FIRE

“To provide high quality cannabis medicine and healing services to people suffering from chronic ailments. We are a compassionate organization. We provide an essential service to the community and offer a safe space for our patients to gather and discuss medical conditions, cannabis specific topics, community discussions, as well as engaging in advo-

Hearing to consider new conditions for medical marijuana CHICAGO (AP) – A public hearing next month will hear evidence for adding eight medical conditions to the list of what can be treated with medical marijuana in Illinois’ pilot program. Anyone who wants to present evidence in favor of adding one of the eight conditions must submit a statement to the Illinois Department of Public Health by email by 5 p.m. Sept. 30 or by mail postmarked by Sept. 28. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has so far rejected recommendations to add new conditions to the list. But an advisory board is still scheduled to have a public hearing on Oct. 7 in Countryside. The conditions being considered were submitted by public petition in July. They are autism, chronic pain due to trauma, chronic pain syndrome, chronic post-operative pain, intractable pain, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoarthritis, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Go to mcpp.illinois.gov to learn more about the program.

• Full Service Optical Lab • Contact Lenses (including bifocal & specialty lensees)

• Comprehensive Eye Health Examss • Diagnosis/Treatment of Eye Diiseassess • Great Selection of Eyeglass Frames

Northwest Eyecare • 815.732.3121

314 W.Washington St. • Oregon, IL www.northwesteycare.com

Alex T. Paschal/

Horses are seen in a field next to a barn fire last Wednesday evening at 1800 Nachusa Road in Dixon. No injuries were reported. “All the horses were good, and all the people were fine,” Dixon Rural Capt. Isaac Dimmig said at 9:30, shortly after an exca-

jeski Motors Majeski TH

Sheaffer’s Town & Country Tractors, Inc. Sales • Rentals • Parts • Service

Anniversary

We can now supply you with these name brand parts!

Sale

320 Palmyra Rd., Dixon • 815-284-3226

MEMORY CARE OPEN HOUSE & TOUR September 27th from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

ach schb n Idol i F Alex merica ing! A orm from e perf b will

Disc o Mo ver the nte ss diff eren ori ce!

OVER 180 QUALITY PRE-OWNED

IN STOCK!!!

OVER 6,000 VEHICLES SOLD!

SEE OUR ENTIRE INVENTORY @ MAJESKIMOTORS.COM AND CHECK OUT OVER 300 “5 STAR” REVIEWS FROM REAL CUSTOMERS.

IT’S EASY TO SEE WHY WE ARE THE SAUK VALLEY’S LLE #1 PREOWNED DEALERSHIP!!! SAVE S ND THOUSAY!!! TODA

2705 Avenue E • Sterling, IL 61081

815-622-2800

SEEFORYOURSELFTODAYHOWWEARE CHANGINGCARBUYING!!! F WE SELL

OR LESS!!!

www.MorningsideofSterling.com Pet Friendly

1707 East 4th St., Sterling

©2015 Five Star Quality Care, Inc.

INDEPENDENT LIVING • ASSISTED LIVING

Greg Majeski

Brent Thomas

Dan Danreiter

Dan Vereide

www.majeskimotors.com w


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.