Oakland Marijuana Crackdown: City Officials Slam U.S. Government (PHOTOS)

OAKLAND, Calif., July 12 (Reuters) - Officials in the city of Oakland rebuked federal prosecutors on Thursday for seeking to shut down a medical marijuana dispensary that bills itself as the world's largest in the latest clash over a federal cannabis crackdown in Western U.S. states.

The criticism came a day after federal prosecutors announced lawsuits seeking to seize two properties housing the Harborside Health Center, a California cannabis dispensary that gained attention when it was featured on the reality TV show "Weed Wars."

"I am deeply dismayed that the federal government would seek to deprive Californians of this vital medicine," Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker said in a statement released by her office and read at a news conference held at City Hall by Harborside's owners.

"These actions will force patients into the underground market of street corners and back alleys, undermining public safety and endangering their health and lives," Parker said.

The move against Harborside is the latest to target what federal prosecutors say is a flourishing network of illegal cannabis suppliers operating across California under the cover of the state's medical marijuana law. Pot operations in several other Western states have also been in the federal cross-hairs.

The crackdown comes amid a growing chasm between the way many states and the federal government treat marijuana, which is allowed for medicinal use in 17 states and the District of Columbia even as the federal government continues to class it as an illegal narcotic.

Can the Brooklyn Nets Win Over New York?

 A strange thing happened this week: the Brooklyn Nets found themselves at the center of the basketball world. First, the team traded for Joe Johnson, the investment banker of N.B.A. All-Stars—overpaid, but good at piling up numbers—and re-signed Deron Williams, who could not be overpaid at any price. (Both were feted in a ceremony at Borough Hall this afternoon.) Then, if “sources” are to be believed, the team very nearly completed a trade for the services of Dwight Howard, the only truly dominant center in all of professional basketball today. That deal appears to be dead, for now, but all this served to put the N.B.A., the sports world, the city, and the Dolan family on notice: New York could become a Nets town.

South Carolina funeral home plans to offer Starbucks experience for those needing comfort

Zais: Put failing schools in single district

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/12/2350607/zais-put-failing-schools-in-single.html#storylink=cpy

South Carolina’s education superintendent wants to create a new district specifically designed to deal with the state’s failing schools – a move that if passed by the General Assembly would be a first for the Palmetto State.

In a statement made at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting, Mick Zais said he would ask the General Assembly to create a new statewide school district, separate from the Department of Education.
The purpose of this special “Recovery District,” Zais said, would be to turn around failing schools wherever they may be in South Carolina.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/12/2350607/zais-put-failing-schools-in-single.html#storylink=cpy

“This turnaround district will give parents and students trapped in a failing school the opportunity to transform their school,” he said. “They won’t have to wait for new leadership in their district office or wait for the election of new school board members. They will be empowered to make the changes needed to meet their unique requirements.”

The idea for the new district is modeled after programs in two other states, states that Zais said have used special districts to turn around underperforming schools.

“This model has proven very effective in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana as well as in Tennessee,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/12/2350607/zais-put-failing-schools-in-single.html#storylink=cpy

Richland car tax refunds in mail

Many residents were charged an expired transit fee

More than 600 refunds have been made so far to Richland County taxpayers mistakenly charged a transit fee as part of their July car taxes.

Before it’s over, county Treasurer David Adams said he expects to issue more than 10,000 refund checks.

Richland County Council allowed the fee to expire June 30. It was $5 for private vehicles and $7.50 for commercial vehicles, an amount that continued showing up on bills mailed out by the auditor’s office.

Reminder: TechCrunch Is Coming To Greenville, SC Tonight! (UPDATED LOCATION)

It’s the Southeast Meetup tour ya’ll, and it’s coming to a close tonight. We’ve hit Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, and now we’re headed to Greenville, South Carolina.

 (As a side note, the location has changed. We’ll now be holding the event at The Overlook Grill – 601 South Main Street Greenville, SC 29601.)
 
It’s been a long ride, but a great one. In fact, we’ve invited at least two dozen companies to apply for Disrupt — yep, that’s how cool these companies are.

It’s amazing to look for startups outside of Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley and find an abundance of exactly that. Hopefully, the last spot on this totally successful meetup tour will bring more of the same.

Again, the location has changed, so if you’re coming tonight be sure to familiarize yourself with The Overlook Grill – 601 South Main Street Greenville, SC 29601.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/12/2350604/richland-car-tax-refunds-in-mail.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/12/2350604/richland-car-tax-refunds-in-mail.html#storylink=cpy

Viacom, DirecTV talks over programing fees continue

Photo credit: AP | A DirecTV satellite dish is attached to a roof at a home in Palo Alto, Calif. (May 6, 2010) 

Facebook comes clean about who sees what in groups

Facebook is starting to show its members exactly who has viewed which posts within Facebook groups.

The new read receipts will combat the problem of knowing which members see what and the need for follow-up “did you read my post?” messages.

“Starting today when you visit a group, you can view who’s seen each post. This way you can stay updated on the group’s activity,” said Facebook in a July 11 statement. “For example, in your soccer group you can post the new practice time and then see who got the update.”

The read receipts will show up in both the desktop and mobile versions of Facebook soon after at least one person has visited the group page and read the post. Facebook’s read receipts will also detail the exact time when the person read the post and will be viewable to all members of the group.

Yahoo Voice Hacked, Usernames and Passwords Posted Online

If you’re a Yahoo! Voice user then its time to change your password. 

It appears as though security for the service was compromised early Thursday morning. A list titled “Owned and Exposed” which is “brought to you by the D33Ds Company revealing a number of details for the service including all of the email addresses and passwords for Yahoo Voice’s 450k users.

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U.S. cracks down on "world's largest" medical marijuana dispensary