Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 22, 2010 by DANIEL CHACON
Sales of medical marijuana and marijuana-laced products in Colorado Springs – which topped $1.6 million in April alone – are generating tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for the city.
From January 2009 through April, Colorado Springs has seen a tenfold increase in monthly sales-tax revenue from medical marijuana, from $4,000 to $40,000.
Last year, the city collected $111,000 total from the sale of marijuana and marijuana-infused products such as brownies, lotions and teas.
In the first four months of this year, the city has collected $123,000 – more than all last year, when the industry started to take off.
Although sales-tax revenue from medical marijuana is growing – faster than any sector of business in 2010 – it’s still less than 1 percent of all sales taxes collected by the city, which budgeted nearly $106 million in sales-tax revenue for 2010.
Some city officials and industry supporters say medical marijuana is having a ripple effect on the economy, indirectly putting even more money in city coffers.
“The medical marijuana industry may be accounting for more sales- tax revenue increases than is simply reflected in the amount of sales tax collected on the sale of marijuana,” said Councilman Tom Gallagher on Monday. “There’s a lot of electricians and carpenters and plumbers that are being employed.”
For Mike Miller, new dispensaries mean business.
Miller, who owns Colorado Sign Management, installs temporary signs and paints logos on business windows. In the past six months, he said he’s installed signs for more than a half-dozen dispensaries.
Jack Roth, owner of Alternative Medicine of Colorado Springs, has poured tens of thousands of dollars into renovating his dispensaries. He spent about $25,000 on materials and security alarms and in construction costs to renovate his Old Colorado City location and plans to spend $55,000 on another dispensary he hopes to open soon.
But the boom in business may be short-lived.
A group of residents is proposing a November ballot initiative to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado Springs, which is home to more than 100 – up from a handful last year.
Steve Wind, who is gathering signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, said he believes most city voters don’t want dispensaries.
“We are going to let the voters of Colorado Springs determine whether they want to have tax revenue or if they want to ban marijuana dispensaries,” he said.
Mayor Lionel Rivera said he’s taking a wait-and-see approach on whether the medical marijuana industry is good for Colorado Springs. He said it will take time to determine what kind of demand the industry will place on police and fire services and the City Clerk’s Office, which oversees the registration and licensing of dispensaries.
“Am I on one side or another? I’m one who is willing to the let the industry move forward and let us put the framework in to control it and manage it from the municipal standpoint,” he said.
Rivera said he suspects the increase in sales-tax revenue is coming from regulating the industry.
“I don’t think that, all of a sudden, we increased the usage by tenfold,” he said. “I just think it went from the back-alley, drug- dealing transactions to the dispensaries.”
Joanne Goodner, co-owner of Westside Wellness Center, said dispensaries are legitimate businesses that have helped the city’s economy.
“This is revenue,” she said, referring to the taxes dispensaries are paying
exotic teas
She could not stand up and she didn’t have a phone.
Thanks to Julie’s prompt action Annie was taken to hospital where she received treatment for her injuries.
Sometimes people ask me what lengths they should go to, to look after their customers. If everyone were to leave their place of work to go and check on the customer then surely the business is going to suffer.
My answer to this is that you have to do what you believe is right. Sometimes customer service goes beyond all the normal business boundaries. After all, we are only human.
Derek Williams is creator of The WOW! Awards? and Chief Executive for the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Europe.
For more information about Derek Williams visit http://www.MrWow.co.uk
For The WOW! Awards (including access to a FREE customer service newsletter) visit http://www.TheWowAwards.com.
jobs in call center analyst
I have had soap buyers spend weeks to track me down, just to get a bar of my soap that another crafter was selling at a fair. These customers are committed to buying products from local crafters because it helps local communities and supports local economies. These are the types of customers that the crafter should be targeting.
There are several outlets on the internet that target craft buyers. Some of these charge very nominal fees and are a great place to get your feet wet in craft marketing. You can list several items and let the market tell which products are likely to get the best response. One of the best sites is Etsy. If you haven?t tried them, you should. They have a very loyal following and their overall business is growing every month.
lladro figurines
We would cut brush for maybe 15 minutes, and then the saws would start to freeze up and stall. So we would thaw out the saws beside the fire again, for a few minutes until they would run again. This went on the rest of the day until the sun went down early, and the light started to dim. Day time is quite short in January. It starts to get dusk by 4 p.m.
My hands were not strong enough, to both wear gloves and hold the bar of the chainsaw. So I would not wear a glove on one hand. Because it was so cold and my hands became so cold, it may have affected the joints.
The brush clearing project continued until early spring. At that time we started cutting bush and small trees, clearing out the ditches on both sides of winding Forest Service roads. This project gave me a little more small tree felling experience.
microdermabrasion machine
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Oct 24, 2003
Byline: By Maxine Ashford
It takes a brave person to take the rise out of Skoda these days as the company seems to be going from strength to strength, and with my latest test drive, “impressive” really sums things up.
Gone are the days when Skoda was a standing joke and motorists were embarrassed to say they had driven one let alone owned one.
Nowadays under the careful guidance of VW and Audi this manufacturer has proved it has made the grade and is here to stay.
To be honest, if it’s good enough for the majority of cabbies driving around in Cardiff, it’s good enough for anyone.
Taxi drivers choose it because it is reliable, economical to run, reasonably priced for servicing and handles well. Add to that outstanding performance and you have summed up the virtues of the model supplied for my test drive – the Octavia vRS – the fastest road-going Skoda yet.
This model would be perfect as a family car with acres of space – five adults can be transported in true comfort with enough luggage space for a couple of suitcases – each.
The model tested – the estate version – can race from a standing start to 62mph in eight seconds and boasts some mouth-watering features that will appeal to the more fashion-conscious of drivers, so long as they can get past that name.
There is a large rear spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels, a stainless steel exhaust, brake callipers painted in Skoda’s famous rally green, leather and mesh seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake.
In fact, it’s clear that this model has evolved because of the company’s involvement in the rallying scene.
The car boasts top-of-the-range safety and security features as well as excellent fuel economy, despite having a top speed of 143mph.
And with all the creature comforts – CD player, climate control, central locking – it’s clear to see why Skoda is really making an impact on the market.
Facts and figures
Make: Skoda
Model: Octavia vRS Estate 1.8T
Price: pounds 16,030
Mechanical: 180bhp, 1,781cc 4 cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-speed manual transmission
Max speed: 143mph
0-62mph: 8seconds
Combined mpg: 35.3
Insurance group: 16
CO2 emissions: 192g/km
BiK rating: 22%
Warranty: 3 years/ unlimited miles; 10 years anti-rust; 3 years paint
And after 9-11 the blame game and bureaucracy changes did not allow them to stop this stuff. Today things are much better, but then well we did not feel so protected.
Of course in the media the authorities said they were doing all this great stuff and tried to reassure the citizens that everything was just safe and wonderful, it was all smoke and mirrors really, it was all BS.
I advised the think tank that it would not take more than a few hundred hours with in-depth maps of water lines, oil pipelines, natural gas lines, freeways, rail, harbors, communication stations, tunnels to figure out a hell of a plan.
turbo yeast
If its from Aunt Jane, it?ll be a north pole replica paperweight.? Or ?Mrs. Dunst will give me another box of her fruit cake. That has been her gift giving trademark for as long as I can remember.? Hey, there are lots of Christmas gift ideas you can up with! Be creative, resourceful and imaginative! Don?t you want people to remember you for the nicest and most unique Christmas gift ideas you send them every year?
Here are some new and exciting Christmas gift ideas to help you out:
1. Chef Santa on the run!
Cooking is not only a mommy?s craft. This Christmas gift idea is a fun learning activity for the whole family. While all the ingredients are available in the grocery down town, it is also a perfect time to teach your kids or friends some cooking and baking lessons.
sympathy gifts
This is where passion for your work comes in! Not a “secret”!
“Secret” #6 – Commitment
Expanding on the hard work “secret”, you will need to make a commitment to success. You must be willing to make sacrifices and work long hours. This will not happen overnight….it could take years. Are you prepared for years of frustration, hard work, ups and downs, dealing with people (good and bad), rejections, and everything else that comes along with building a business? Not a “secret”!
“Secret” #7 – Pride
Take pride in your work. Your work and your business will be a reflection of you. Build your reputation for a solid foundation of success. Be true to yourself and your business. Not a “secret”!
“Secret” #8 – Goals
Be aware of what you want and how you want to get it. Do not go blindly into business without some planning of your goals and accomplishments.
college classes
Unfortunately, public schools, even in the “best” neighborhoods, can harm our kids in many ways. Here’s a list of 15 ways public schools can hurt children (and parents):
1. Public schools cripple millions of children’s ability to read by using the “whole-language” instruction method (now called “balanced reading instruction” by many public schools).
2. Many public schools spend almost 50 percent of the school day on non-academic subjects that waste children’s precious time. The rest of their time is spent on classes such as sex-education, personal safety, consumer affairs, AIDS education, save-the-environment, family life, study halls, multiculturalism, homeroom, electives, counseling, or sports activities.
3. Public schools teach “new” or “fuzzy” math (sometimes called by different names).
payment protection insurance claim
Bogus workers stole wallet [Edition 3]
0 Comments | Tamworth Herald, The, Dec 17, 2009
POLICE are urging householders in Coleshill to be on their guard after a number of reports of bogus callers.
Last Thursday (December 10) police began receiving reports of incidents involving men claiming to be checking the guttering or offering to maintain driveways.
“These people are out to con you and steal from you even though they can appear very friendly and may have very plausible excuses to come into your home,” said a police spokesperson.
In the first incident in nearby Grendon two men called at the home of an elderly man at around 10.30am on Thursday, saying they had come to clear the guttering.
One of the men asked him to come outside and see some damaged guttering.
While the pensioner was outside it is believed the second man entered the property and stole a wallet containing Pounds 50.
Second incident In a second incident on Friday morning, a 30- year-old smartly dressed white man, described as tall and of slim build with dark hair, called at the home of an elderly woman in Water Orton.
The man said he was there to do work on the driveway.
However, when he realised that the elderly woman had a visitor, he drove off in an unmarked white van.
Also in Water Orton a stranger called at the home of an elderly woman at around 10.40am on Friday saying he was from the council and was there to check the guttering.
He was tall and thin with a blue coloured anorak jacket.
The quick-thinking resident phoned NWBC and the man left when he realised that she was checking up on him.
At 10.50am a white male called at the home of an elderly man in Shustoke.
By chance the pensioner’s daughter was visiting and he was not allowed into the house.
Anyone with information about these incidents can call Warwickshire Police on 01926 415000.
