Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 | 5:06 p.m.
The owner of a defunct Nevada real estate exchange company, Southwest Exchange, was sentened Monday to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay about $97 million to 134 victims.
Donald McGham, 75, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro after he pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud on June 8, said Steven W. Myhre, acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada.
McGhan is a resident of Texas. He must self-report to federal prison by Nov. 4., Myhre said.
Southwest Exchange, Inc., operated to help tax-deferred exchanges of real estate. An individual seller could defer taxes from real property sales if a qualified intermediary such as Southwest Exchange held the proceeds of the sale in trust and bought real property within six months.
McGhan purchased Southwest Exchange on June 28, 2004, intending to use client money held in trust to buy businesses. At that time, Southwest held about $109 million in trust.
Within two weeks of McGhan's purchase of the exchange, he transferred more than $40 million from Southwest's investment account at Smith Barney to McGhan-affiliated entities as loans to enable McGhan to purchase a French breast implant manufacturing company, Myhre said.
McGhan intentionally withheld information from potential Southwest Exchange customers and other entities to buy the implant manufacturer and other companies, investigators said.
From August 2006 to January 2007 McGhan continued to seek new Southwest Exchange customers under the false pretense that the company was financially secure, Myhre said. In that same period, McGhan caused customers to deposit almost $95 million with Southwest Exchange. He also bought two other exchange companies, one in California and the other Idaho.


San José is seeing the most rain in 64 years and could break a century-old record, the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) reported.
By September, some 2,100 millimeters of rain had fallen in San José, already beating the annual average of 1,860 mm, according to IMN.
The rain analysis came last week as displaced residents across Costa Rica began returning home from shelters set up during a weeklong rainstorm that caused flooding, landslides and damage to roads and other infrastructure, killing six people, according to a United Nations humanitarian affairs report Wednesday.
Throughout Central America, torrential downpours and flooding, which continued this week in Honduras, have left at least 40 people dead and forced thousands into shelters.
Early this week, when the continuous storms here had begun to subside, the Costa Rican government declared a national state of emergency that freed up funds to begin the rebuilding effort. The Public Works and Transport Ministry set preliminary damage estimates at more than $5 million.
The emergency covers cantons in the provinces of San José, Puntarenas, Cartago, Alajuela, Limón and Guanacaste.
Unlike the recent tropical storms, the weather seems to have returned to normal October conditions, according to meteorologists.
This weekend looks likely to follow the peak rainy season trend: partly cloudy or sunny days, with afternoon and evening downpours on the Pacific coast, in the Central Valley and interior mountains, while the Caribbean coast could see scattered showers, according to meteorologist Juan Diego Naranjo.


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New Turner Sports reporter Allie LaForce is this week's podcast guest.
On this week’s edition of the Awful Announcing podcast, new Turner Sports reporter Allie LaForce joined host Ben Heisler to talk about a host of topics, including her move to Turner, her prior stint with CBS Sports, and loads more.
Here’s what Allie and Ben discussed on this show.
5:10 – What led her to pursue basketball, both playing it in D1 and covering it professionally?


Flyers rookie forward Tye McGinn threw hands with the Maple Leafs' Mike Brown one week ago today. McGinn didn't win, and he had his orbital bone broken in the scrap. (Also? Brown was traded today from Toronto to Edmonton.) McGinn had surgery this weekend, but it's not known if the above photo was taken before or after that procedure took place. He's expected to be out for another four weeks. Welcome to the NHL!


Paris Art Pop-Up Offers Migrants Community And Creativity Amid Time Of Uncertainty Migrants and asylum seekers in Paris are using a theatrical showcase to create understanding between themselves and their Parisian hosts.
Migrants and asylum seekers in Paris are using a theatrical showcase to create understanding between themselves and their Parisian hosts.
Refugees and asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa don't know what their futures hold once they arrive in Europe. After they reach countries like France, the struggle begins of trying to get asylum or a residence permit. One outlet that allows for creativity, community and even joy during such uncertainty is a pop-up art space in Paris. Jake Cigainero takes us there.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hello. Welcome.
JAKE CIGAINERO, BYLINE: When migrants arrive in Paris after long, dangerous journeys by sea and foot, the first stop for those seeking asylum is La Bulle, a registration center on the northern edge of the city. Just next door is a tent run by a charity called Good Chance. It's alive with art, music and theater all created by migrants. Each week, Parisians crowd in for an afternoon of singing, dancing, laughs and emotional performances.
CIGAINERO: Volunteers run creative workshops to help the migrants put together the week's show.
CIGAINERO: Mohammed Mostafa, a 22-year-old refugee from Sudan, talks of his country's suffering in a poem he wrote in Arabic.
MOSTAFA: They understand me. People speak English. I speak a little bit English. I'm not speaking French.
CIGAINERO: His English isn't very good, but he told me he comes to Good Chance because the people are happy and welcoming there. Abdul Saboor, who teaches dance from his native Afghanistan, said Good Chance saved his life.
ABDUL SABOOR: One day really I was really, really, really, really stressed, and I want to kill myself, like, jump to the train. And then I decide to come here.
CIGAINERO: Many of the migrants are escaping repression, and Saboor says the Good Chance program has given them the opportunity to blossom.
SABOOR: In Afghanistan, I was not dancing, and sometimes I'm dancing. There's many people who's - who can't talk in front of the people, and now they're dancing and they're talking. They say stories.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Singing in foreign language).
CIGAINERO: The Good Chance charity started in the Calais migrant camp known as The Jungle back at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015. It was started by two Englishmen, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson - the Joes as they're known - who went to see the camp with their own eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: And, yeah, I met lots and lots of people all with a need to talk about what they were going through. And for us, that's what theater is. So we decided that a really concrete way of helping there could be to build a theater where people could tell their own stories together.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Life's but a poor player.
CIGAINERO: A play based on the Joes' experiences in The Jungle will open in London's West End this summer. After the Calais camp was dismantled in 2016, Good Chance saw the need for building links between newly arrived migrants and locals, so they moved their program to Paris. Clemence Moriscot is a Parisian student who has attended the show several weeks in a row.
CLEMENCE MORISCOT: I really enjoyed the different stories and different languages that had a chance to be heard, even though maybe not understood. But somehow, something still came through to everyone, which was really beautiful.
CIGAINERO: Twenty-eight-year-old Marie Noor quit her job to volunteer full time with Good Chance.
MARIE NOOR: I just want to make something. It makes sense. And so I took a big decision. I quit my job. It's not about refugees. It's not about migrants. It's really about friends.
CIGAINERO: Noor says she and her boyfriend have gone one step further and have also taken a teenage asylum-seeker into their home. For NPR News, I'm Jake Cigainero in Paris.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Singing in foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Chanting in foreign language).


They were a group of ordinary people who did an extraordinary thing — they joined forces to build their own homes brick by brick and did it in their spare time.
It was one of Ontario’s first family housing co-operatives, located in the northeast corner of Brampton, and it has largely remained overlooked since it was first built in the early 1950s. That is, until now.
There is pressure by some current landowners to subdivide the lots, which are between one and two acres, and build larger homes to replace the original 1,200- to 1,300-square-foot houses located on a rosary-shaped street called Marysfield Dr.
There are only two original-owner families left, and they are fighting to convince Brampton city council to approve a consultant’s recommended restrictions including lot size, house size and setbacks for any new homes to be built, to preserve the historic feel and look of the Marysfield community.
She and her brother Bill Grant have fond memories of growing up in Marysfield — the neighbourly closeness, the children, the feeling of freedom and room to roam.
They want it to remain true to those roots and retain the character of a rural oasis.
“Some people are saying there is no history here, but there is,” her husband Allan says.
It was the early 1950s when 14 families embarked on this unique project.
They were childhood friends who grew up in Toronto.
Their day jobs were varied — clerks, a tool and die maker, bookkeeper, embalmer, air traffic controller, an electrician and a bricklayer. They bought manuals for setting up a co-operative, and a set of plans from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. on how to build a house.
They settled on a multiple-acre site in the hamlet of Wildfield in the area of Mayfield Road and The Gore Road, owned by St. Patrick’s Church.
“They came out here to get out of the city,” says Sean Giblin, who still lives in the house his parents built just down the road from the Richardsons.
Families chipped in $1,000 to buy materials and the land from the Archdiocese of Toronto, in the name of the Family Home Builders Co-operative. The church provided an interest-free loan.
Construction started in the fall of 1954. They built 14 homes simultaneously after work, on weekends and days off, even digging their own wells.
The rosary shape of the street was a nod to their faith.
City council passed an interim control bylaw last year, putting a freeze on development in the area while a consultant conducted a study. The freeze was prompted by a flurry of land severance applications submitted by six current landowners.
A statutory public meeting will be held Feb. 11 to present that consultant’s report on the future of Marysfield. In a preliminary review, SGL Planning and Design Ltd. recommended preserving the historic feel of the area, and suggested the neighbourhood could be designated a cultural heritage landscape.
“The Marysfield Neighbourhood has unique characteristics ... including a unique street and lot pattern of smaller lots than typical estate residential lots, as well as greenery and open space in front yards and between dwellings, contributing to the rural-like setting of the community,” SGL concluded.
A council decision is expected sometime in the spring.
Meanwhile, the six landowners looking for severances have appealed the development freeze to the province’s Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. A hearing has not yet been set for that appeal.
Landowner Vin Mahesan says most of the existing landowners in Marysfield are aligned in wanting to sever lots and build.
He is building an 8,000-square-foot house on one of six previously approved severed lots on one of 14 parcels on the street that were not part of the co-operative. He says he plans to raise his family in Marysfield and wants the same childhood for them that the Richardsons and Giblin said they enjoyed — safe, rural and family-oriented.
“It’s a safe area for our kids to grow up,” he says.
The land is worth more than $1 million, but the existing houses are run down, he says.
He agrees with some of the compromises suggested by the consultant, but one recommendation that a new-build home can only cover seven per cent of the lot is too low.
“Ideally, it should be 15 per cent. That’s the standard,” he says.
Mary Richardson says her own house has an addition and she doesn’t want to stop her neighbours from building new homes on property they have paid more than $1 million for.
Dan O’Reilly, a local historian working to protect the history in the surrounding community of Wildfield, says it’s important to preserve the past.
“This is as historic an area as downtown Brampton. It should be preserved,” O’Reilly says.
“It’s been a real effort preserving the history of Wildfield,” he says.
Correction — February 5, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Ontario’s first housing co-operative is located in the northwest corner of Brampton. In fact, it is located in the northeast corner of Brampton. As well, the article was updated to make clear that Marysfield Dr.was one of the first family housing co-operatives.


COSTA MESA — Healthy dining concept Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop has set its sights on a partially vacant mixed-use office and medical building for the Los Angeles-based eatery's third location, according to a city staff report.
The fast-dining and market business submitted an application to the city for a 1,948-square-foot restaurant, with an outdoor patio and parking lot remediation, at 234 E. 17th Street, according to the report.
"Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop is strongly considering the possibility of opening its first Orange County location, and the partners at Burnham USA have kindly invited us to explore various property options in the Costa Mesa area," said Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop Owner and "Commander-in-Leaf" Jonathan Rollo in a prepared statement.
He continued: "At this time, we would like to be sensitive to the Planning Commission's requests, as well as the Costa Mesa neighborhood, to first communicate our plans with those who we are directly working with. We will be more than happy to share additional information once plans have been officially finalized. We look forward to becoming a part of the wonderful Costa Mesa community in the future, and sharing our fresh, organic menu and commitment to local ingredients with all of our new neighbors."
The item will go before the city Planning Commission for a second reading June 13.
The restaurant was not approved at the May 9 meeting because not enough was known on the traffic and parking impact to the property, said Clair Flynn, city planning administrator.
The site would need 118 parking spaces with the arrival of Greenleaf, according to city staff estimates.
The site has 85 spaces now, but not all are in use, Flynn said.
The restaurant proposed to provide valet parking and increase the number of compact parking spaces, according to the staff report.
To further alleviate parking, bike racks made of discomposed granite and disguised as public art will be installed along Westminster Avenue.


uses his knowledge and craftsmanship of woodworking to build and repair houses for needy people in Brazoria County.
"Just like some people like collecting stamps as a hobby, mine is working with wood," said the 50-year-old Lake Jackson resident. "I liked working with wood when I was young and would make my own kid soap box."
He began to take woodworking seriously in 1992 when he started making minor repairs around the house.
He would repair broken furniture. Later, he ventured into roof and other major home repairs.
Anderson, a chemical engineer, started working for charities and nonprofit organizations that assist the needy.
He has worked with institutions like Faith in Action, United Way and Habitat for Humanity in repairing and building homes for the elderly on fixed incomes.
"I got some friends together to work on the first Neighbor Day seven years ago and in the process met other volunteers," he said.
He said a volunteer from United Way invited him to work on the organization's committee that oversees activities for the annual Neighbor Day.
The committee also worked with other organizations doing similar work, including a youth program of the United Methodist Church called UM Army.
"UM Army was the first such program I participated in and it got me hooked on this type of volunteer work," he said.
The volunteers expect the owners of the houses to pitch in during the repair work. This can be by working on the house themselves, having family or friends help or providing lunch or refreshments.
"I work with other volunteers who are skilled in this work who have all taught me how to do house repairs professionally," he said.
He said that various charity groups contact the volunteers when there is a repair job and they team up to do the repair work.
The volunteers usually repair between five and 10 houses every year, but Anderson said he helped repair and build 20 houses last year.
"There is something beautiful and fulfilling about volunteering, about giving back to the community, that makes me want to do it all the time," he said.
Anderson works at Dow Chemicals, but volunteers his weekends and vacation time.
"My wife and family understand and appreciate the work I do, but I know they would want me to stay at home more often," he said.
If you have a suggestion for a "Faces in the Crowd" profile, contact Richard Zagrzecki at richard.zagrzecki@chron.com or send a fax to 713-220-7552.


Republicans and Democrats on the “Red-Blue Mississippi Panel” at the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob agreed on one major point about the 2016 presidential election cycle: They’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s a totally surreal election,” said longtime Democratic consultant Burns Strider, a Mississippi native and former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
Former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, also former chair of the Republican National Committee, said, “People are mad and they’re scared” as they struggle financially and watch dysfunction in Washington.
Strider wondered aloud whether this election marks a “moral phenomenon” for the country, and said he has felt like he needed a counselor present to talk with his young kids as the family has watched the presidential debates.
Barbour and Strider were joined on the panel by state Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Moak and Republican Party Chairman Joe Nosef. The politicos had a cordial forum on the contentious election before a crowd of about 1,500 at Hobnob. The annual event held by MEC, the state’s chamber of commerce, draws business leaders from across the state to the Mississippi Coliseum to hear speeches from the state’s elected political leaders.
“I think most of the people we know are wanting to keep somebody out of the White House rather than put somebody into the White House,” Moak said.
On this, too, the panel appeared to agree, and all said they wished the campaigns were focused on policy and issues instead of each other.
“I think this year, unfortunately, it’s not that people are undecided between the candidates, but trying to decide whether to vote or not,” Nosef said.
But the panelists disagreed on which candidate can bring the change people obviously want to see in Washington.
“Hillary Clinton being the candidate for change would be like me being the spokesman for Weight Watchers,” Barbour said.
Strider and Moak said that Clinton has tried to run on issues and policy, but that Trump’s campaign has made that nearly impossible.
The panelists agreed that after the election, pulling the country back together is going to be a chore.


When characters with mental illness appear in popular fiction, it is typically because the work itself focuses on the mental illness. However, there is a small contingent of fictional projects that have characters with mental illness that do not make that illness the central plot. These books follow the typical narrative arc and literary conventions of their genre and include conflicts unrelated to mental illness; psychiatric disorder is featured but defines neither the character nor the book.
Authors writing about mental illness, however small or large a part of the plot, can raise public awareness and understanding or can strengthen harmful misconceptions. Two recent romance novels, both of which include a character with bipolar disorder, present strikingly different viewpoints in many respects.
In Promises Under the Peach Tree by Joanne Rock, a Harlequin Super Romance published in September 2014, Mack Finley and his high school sweetheart Nina Spencer are reunited in their hometown of Heartache, Tennessee, after a separation of many years. Nina is fleeing a failed business venture in New York City; Mack has returned because his brother Scott’s marriage is on the rocks. Readers learn that Mack and Nina were driven apart by tragic events surrounding their graduation; however, their relationship faced additional challenges because of Mack’s commitment to avoid fathering children. Growing up with a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder, Mack experienced firsthand the challenges of the disease and is determined not to take the genetic risk with a child. His stance on this issue complicates a reunification with Nina for which both of them long. When Mack’s niece Ally begins exhibiting her own signs of mental disorder, however, Mack is forced to reexamine his feelings.
Mack’s mother, Mrs. Finley, is ultimately (though not initially) portrayed as a sympathetic character who is open about her disorder and its negative effects on familial relationships. She remains optimistic about the evolving effectiveness of psychotropic medications and treatment in general (“The doctors have much better medicines today than they did when I was a girl. More choices, too. And as much as I make fun of all that talk therapy, the truth is, treatment works better if you combine the meds with counseling.”) Mack begins to understand that his mother’s illness is better managed and that his reactions to her illness prevented him from seeing her strengths. He further realizes that it is his fears and not bipolar disorder itself that are limiting his life choices and threatening his relationship. He and Nina vow to work it out in a happy ending (which is typically a requirement for classification as a romance novel).
In the book Saving Steele by Anne Jolin (2016), bipolar disorder and treatment options are presented in an entirely different light. Jackson Steele, the titular character, has a long-standing diagnosis of bipolar disorder with which friends and family have helped him cope. One day a 6 year-old boy arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Jackson’s son. Jackson warms to the challenge of becoming a father, and soon falls in love with his son’s kindergarten teacher Kennedy. Kennedy has problems of her own, including obsessive-compulsive behaviors, parental abandonment, and infertility. Despite these obstacles, love conquers all and a happy ending ensues.
Positioning Jackson’s bipolar disorder as but one piece of his character and presenting conflicts unrelated to mental illness are both commendable aspects of this book from a mental health perspective. However, the portrayal of bipolar disorder itself is sometimes limited and perpetuates negative stereotypes of sufferers as uncontrollable rage machines. Jackson’s eyes change color from green to black and he refers to the onset of a manic episode as “going black.” He even has tattoos portraying his two sides: “green” for his baseline and “black” for his manic personality. Depressive episodes are not mentioned and do not appear to be a part of his pathology. The absence of depressive symptomatology, combined with the florid descriptions of the changes in physical appearance that signal mania, make Jackson feel more like a threat than a person with a disorder.
When his son’s mother reappears to claim the boy, Jackson flies into a wild abandon of “hitting anything within arm’s reach and alternating between sobbing and screaming.” After this stressor, he suffers a six-day episode of uncontrolled mania, during which he abuses substances and sexually mistreats his girlfriend (who accepts this behavior out of what seems to be the belief that it is somehow therapeutic), but inpatient hospitalization is never mentioned as a possibility. Similarly, Jackson is reported in another section of the book to have a counselor whom he sees twice a month and a psychotropic medication regimen with which he is compliant. However, during the crisis, neither his counselor nor his prescribing provider are mentioned. The view of the characters seems to be that the episode must simply be endured, without professional intervention.
Both of these novels communicate an understanding that medication and “talk therapy” are important in managing bipolar disorder. The books portray the disorder as simply one facet of the character’s identity, a facet that does not prevent relationship connection and general fulfillment in life. Despite these similarities, however, these works ultimately present significantly disparate views of the disorder itself, suggesting a continuing need for mental health professionals and advocates to interact with this sort of material.


Khun Tun Oo, 72, is an ethnic Shan politician and leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), one of the largest parties in Shan State. He spent many years in prison for his political activities after the SNLD, known locally as the Tiger Head Party, was one of the major winners in the parliamentary elections in 1990, the results of which were ignored by the military government.
Khun Tun Oo and his party boycotted the flawed 2010 general elections, but on 8 November they will contest in Shan State, Kayah State and Mandalay Region, with the aim of securing 46 Lower House, 14 Upper House and 96 regional legislature seats. The party leader himself decided not to run in the polls.
In a recent interview with Myanmar Now reporter Htet Khaung Linn, Khun Tun Oo talked about the elections, the federalist aspirations of Myanmar’s ethnic groups and the ongoing ceasefire negotiations between ethnic armed groups and the government.
Question: Why did you decide not to run in the elections though your party is contesting many constituencies in Shan State?
Answer: Many of our party representatives will be in parliament. For me, I would like to work in tandem with other political forces that are working outside of parliamentary politics. Constitutional reform is something that all political forces - those working inside and outside the parliament - have to work on by collaborating with each other. Efforts within parliament to strive towards that have recently failed. So, I believe that we have to find a way to work outside the parliamentary framework in cooperation with other political forces to achieve that [reform].
Q: What is your perspective on cooperating with Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party (NLD) in this election and beyond?
A: We used to work together with the NLD. We even joined the Committee Representing the People's Parliament formed by the NLD in 1998 [as the army ignored the 1990 election results]. The cooperation with the NLD benefited us. Some NLD leaders even recently informed me that the party won’t field candidates in areas where we are contesting in light of our comradeship. I was grateful for that as it is inappropriate for the NLD to take it all, since this would generate misunderstanding on the part of the ethnic parties. The NLD might do well to take the UNA [United Nationalities Alliance, a coalition of 12 ethnic parties] into account; my advice for the NLD is to collaborate with the UNA in the future.
Q: But the NLD said it is now contesting in all ethnic constituencies, including those in Shan State. What do you think of that decision?
A: That’s part of being a democracy. If we say ‘you can’t come and compete in our areas because we want no rival,’then that is not genuine democracy. We also need to care about the public’s freedom to choose [a party]. We need to open up choices for the public. There are many [ethnic politicians] who tend to complain about the NLD’s plan to compete in their areas. But nobody is blaming the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in the same way.
I am not defending the NLD. It is imperative that honest and qualified leaders emerge and work for our country. I don’t wish to say who should and should not run in a particular area. Even if our party wins in an area, it wouldn’t do much if the elected legislator representing us is not on a par with the legislators of other parties in terms of qualifications. We need to have genuine competition and respect the public’s choice.
Q: How do you think SNLD will fare in the election compared to your main rival, Shan Nationalities for Democratic Party (SNDP)?
A: The SNDP is our main rival in Shan State, where we we are contesting 50 parliamentary seats. Even though we did not compete in the 2010 and 2012 elections, we’ve started organisational activities three years ago. I don’t wish to criticise other parties but as far as we’ve gauged, we stand very well in the public opinion. Another thing is we’ve never been embroiled in financial scandals and never had a bad reputation. That’s why about 10 active MPs representing the other party (SNDP) left theirs and joined our party - as did ordinary members of that party. Unlike the other party, we don’t require the party candidates to give $4,000 or so in compensation to the party if they were to switch to another party.
Q: Recently, Shwe Mann was purged as USDP chairman by President Thein Sein in a nighttime incident involving armed police forces. What’s your view of this development?
A: I don’t wish to comment on the party’s internal divisions, but I would like to say the procedures undertaken [during the purge] are wrong. [Shwe Mann] is the speaker of the Union Parliament while [his rival] is the president of the country. What is the point of security forces surrounding the party’s headquarters? Were there people inside the party headquarters armed with sticks and swords, or exchanging gunfire, so much so that the police needed to intervene?
The allegation against [Shwe Mann] was that he was forging an alliance with the opposition [NLD] party. It’s quite natural for parties to ally with each other because there are no rules barring that. Everyone one wonders what kind of democracy we are having when you order the speaker of parliament to stay inside his home. After observing this incident, the ethnic armed groups will think twice about signing ceasefire deals with the government as they can consider what might happen to them later.
Q: So far, five armed ethnic groups have declared that they would like to sign a nationwide ceasefire accord with the government, while other groups have been hesitant. What do you think will happen in the ceasefire process?
A: My understanding is that the nationwide ceasefire agreement must be all-inclusive. If the groups signs the deal then all other groups should follow suit. That was the consensus the armed ethnic groups achieved in the Laiza conference [in Kachin State in 2014] and Law Khee Lah base conference in Karen State.
Now it seems that six ethnic armed groups haven’t decided whether to sign it, while fighting still continues between government forces and smaller armed ethnic groups like the Kokang, Arakan Army and Ta’ang (Palaung) and Lahu. If these groups are not signing the ceasefire agreement, then it calls into question how lasting the peace would be. To me, I find no issue at all with all these armed groups coming onboard to sign the ceasefire agreement with the government. We have experienced all the discriminatory tactics [of the government]. So, we need to allow a small armed group, even if it is formed with just 50 people, to sign the ceasefire too.
Q: There are a number of pro-government People’s Militias in Shan State. Would they pose challenges to the political parties, including yours, during the campaign period and on election day?
A: First, our party has no relation with these groups. As far as I know, these groups are not opposed to our policies. During a recent campaign visit in the town of Kalaw in Kayah State, a People’s Militia group there heartily welcomed us into their office and expressed support for our demands for greater equality among all ethnic groups.
Q: Currently, some ethnic armed groups are relying on natural resources in their areas. What is your opinion on sharing revenues of natural resources in the ethnic areas after a ceasefire is signed? How can it be done?
A: The parliamentary proposal on this topic of decentralisation and distribution of natural resources did not win support. Some ethnic MPs called for power decentralisation and a system of sharing [revenues from] natural resources, 75 percent of which would be for local ethnic groups and the remaining 25 percent for the central government. The proposal was a failure.
Forests have been wiped out, leaving nothing for the locals. That has been the case in both Kachin and Shan states. The same happened in the mining sector - gold mines and gems mines [are being depleted]. This will continue to create discontent among the local populations. The focal point is to amend the 2008 constitution [to improve resource sharing], as the ethnic people bear the brunt of [resource exploitation].
Q: If the ruling USDP party managed to form a government after the November elections, what would this mean for the federalist aspirations of the ethnic groups?
A: If that is the outcome, then it would be challenging to hope for a federal union. The idea of forming a federal army would not translate into reality, nor can we achieve a genuine federal system. The federal system we will end up with may be “Burmese-style”federalism - we have already seen what “Burmese-style socialism” and “Burmese-style democracy”looks like. If there won’t be the genuine federal union that the ethnic people have demanded, fighting would resume, undeterred by any sort of ceasefire agreement.
Q: It seems that the incumbent President Thein Sein is hoping for a second term. What do you think of his attempt to stay in power and what would it mean for Myanmar?
A: The military representatives [25 percent of the legislature] might nominate him as a presidential candidate. But the country remains plagued by corruption and the legal system is still fragile. President Thein Sein did not manage to tackle these problems. A host of other issues, like land grabs, political prisoners, detained students and environmental problems, pose great challenges to the country. It’s time for all of us to contemplate how to achieve lasting peace. All these issues weren’t resolved and even worsened during the past five years under the rule of President Thein Sein.


Don’t have time for fantasy football? How about playing for a chance to go to Hawaii just by picking winning NFL teams this season?
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“Anyone that knows me knows that I am fanatical about two things– music and sports. This game is the perfect way for all my friends to join me with my sports obsession,” says Rucker before quickly reminding everyone to bring their A-game!
Think that you can out play Darius? It’s easy! Just register and get started today. No drafts. No rosters. No trades. Simply pick the winners of each game and earn points. You can make the game even more fun by challenging friends to a head-to-head competition, earning trophies for your virtual lock room, and more!
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Below I’ve included links to additional information. Please let your readers know that football season just got even more exciting with the Darius Rucker “End Zone Obsession” Football. Registration is open now at http://endzoneobsession.footballexpertsclub.com.


One sight that you almost never want to see on your monitor is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) or another error screen that warns of a problem which causes your system to crash. From the early days of the PC, these dreaded error messages have come in all shapes and sizes on devices run by all the major operating systems...Apple, Microsoft, Linux, and othere. Plus, they have popped up in all sorts of embarrassing circumstances. You can even make money off them. This gallery take's a look at the history of the BSOD.
With Microsoft's test version of Windows 8 comes the latest version of BSOD - and even includes a frown.
According to Wikipedia, the Blue Screen of Death was named by OS/2 developers for Lattice, Inc. who were actually referring to IBM or Big Blue when encountering a stop screen.
The Blue Screen of Death is best known by its appearance in many different versions of Microsoft Windows - first as random symbols against a blue background in Windows 1 (here).
Here is the BDoD that appeared in Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME.
This shorter version showed up in Windows 2000.
This BSOD could be seen in both Windows XP and VIsta.
Microsoft experimented with a "Red screen of Death" or "Red Screen of Doom" in its early trial versions of Windows Longhorn which later became Windows Vista. A very limited version of RSOD was found in some early test versions of Windows 98. Red Screens of Death were more popular in gaming consoles such as Atari Jaguar, Sony Playstions, and Nintendo DSi.
Windows 7 had its own BSOD.
Fatal errors aren't always in blue and don't always show up on your monitor. Owners of some of the original Xboxes frequently found a critical error display called the "Red Ring of Death." When three of the four LED display light around the ring indicator were red and flashing, it meant a "general hardware error" and most likely your Xbox was soon to be cooked.
Microsoft did own up to the problem and fixed the problem free of charge but not before irritating some of their early customers.
Early 128K Macintosh computers had their own version of a Blue Screen of Death, called the Sad Mac. It indicated a hardware or software problem that prevented a normal startup. The codes underneath the Sad Mac indicated the type of problem.
In Macintosh II, Sad Mac was accompanied by a tune called "Chimes of Death>"
The Atari ST used bombs as a code. The number of bombs indicated what the problem was.
Probably the most (in)famous appearance of the Blue Screen of Death occurred at Comdex in April, 1998 when Bill Gates and Microsoft senior writer Chris Caposella tried to demonstrate (video) some of the highlights of the upcoming operating system, Windows 98.
When Capossela attempted to show off Windows 98's Plug and Play, the computer crashed, a blue screen of death appeared - and technicians quickly faded back to Gates and Capossela.
Gates took it in stride, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet." It didn't kill Capossela's career either, he's now a senior VP at Microsoft.
No show at the Paris in Las Vegas. BSoD hits the big screen.
The big Blue Screen of Death. Advertising.
BSoD in Times Square, New York city.
BSoD's have wreaked havoc with many transportation schedules. Flights are going nowhere according to this airport screen.
Here's the bus schedule as seen at the New York Port Authority.
A pay phone. The list goes on and on.
It's fun with Photoshop or other photo-editing software although there could be some truth to this alleged image of the BP control room during the massive Gulf oil spill. Apparently, the oil rig's safety alarm had been switched off because of repeated middle-of-the-night alarms due to a computer locking up and displaying a blue screen with no data coming through.
This photo of Bill Gates in front of a blue screen appears quite often throughout the Internet but there are no details to suggest that it's real. Anyone know?
As with just about anything, there's money to be made if you're creative enough. Errorware sells a whole line of BSOD and other t-shirts adorned with error messages. And there's a sale.
One of the more amusing extra products created by the BSoD is the Blue Screen of Death screensaver available through, believe it or not, Microsoft and other locations. I used it for a while and there were a number of times when I'd come back from lunch and speak to a worried co-worker who would inform me that my computer was having problems.
Errorware keeps up to date with the latest Vista/Windows 7 bsod t-shirt.
Ads show that there's a market for bsod repairs.
Here's a BSoD belt buckle.
This guy's arm can be seen all over the Internet.
The Blue Screen of Death has been used as part of performances. Nine Inch Nails had the BSoD pop up for a split second near the end of the song The Great Destroyer on their 1998 tour.
Blue Screen of Death appears in video games. Games that have used BSoD include Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Halo 2, Halo 3, Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead, and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.


Anne-Marie Trevelyan addressing the Save Druridge picnic on the bank holiday Monday at the end of May.
Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has added her voice to calls for the Government to intervene in the decision to approve a contentious surface mine on the Northumberland coast.
The Conservative MP has written to the Communities Secretary, Greg Clark MP, asking him to ‘call in’ the decision by Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee to approve Banks Mining’s application for an opencast coal mine at Highthorn, between Widdrington Station and Druridge Bay.
As previously reported, the councillors were 'minded to approve' the scheme as a request had already been made for the Secretary of State to call in the application, which would lead to a public inquiry.
This is a drastic step and the Secretary of State usually only does so if the application in question conflicts with national policy. In this case, Mrs Trevelyan says that the application contravenes the Government’s commitment to phase out coal-based power sources by 2025, as it allows for extraction at the site until at least 2027.
However, the extraction is limited by planning conditions to last no longer than five years and the whole scheme, including restoration, will last seven years, meaning it could be completed prior to 2025 depending on the start date.
Also, the planning officer's report highlights that the Government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should give great weight to the benefits of mineral extraction, including to the economy. It adds that while the Government announced last year that a consultation would be launched in the spring of 2016 on when to close all unabated coal-fired power stations, this has not yet been published.
Mrs Trevelyan said: “Druridge Bay is a beautiful area of our Northumberland coast which would be put at risk by this decision. I am extremely concerned that this application has been approved, even though it is in direct conflict with our national policy on energy production and risks the commitments we have made under the Paris Agreement.
If Mr Clark agrees to call in the application, he will appoint an inspector to carry out an inquiry into the proposal. The inspector is required to take national policy into account and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who makes the final ruling.
Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at The Banks Group, said: "I am disappointed that Mrs Trevelyan has written to the Secretary of State to request a call-in of our Highthorn application which was unanimously approved by a Northumberland County Council planning committee. We also believe that her concerns regarding the duration of coal extraction can be addressed.
"The Highthorn planning application allows for a five-year extraction period, meaning it will be completed well in advance of the Government's 2025 date for phasing out energy generation from unabated coal.
"The Highthorn planning application has been developed and assessed in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework and having had such a strong mandate in favour of the project from both Northumberland County Council's planning officers and the unanimous cross party support of the highly-experienced members of its strategic planning committee, we do not believe any further consideration of it at a national level is merited.
"Throughout the lengthy community discussions we've undertaken around the Highthorn scheme, our experience has always been that, while there are naturally differing opinions, there is clear and considerable support for this project from across the region, as well as a high degree of recognition of the economic, employment, social, environmental and supply chain benefits it will bring to the area.
"Banks Mining will invest around £120million in the North-East economy through the Highthorn project and will create at least 100 jobs on the site. Contracts worth a total of £48million will be put out to tender as part of realising the project, with locally-based suppliers being used wherever possible, and around £3million will also be contributed to the public purse through business rates.
"We agree wholeheartedly that Northumberland is a very special place, which is why the protection and enhancement of Druridge Bay and the surrounding communities has been placed at the heart of our proposals, and we firmly believe that the environmental, ecological, habitat, tourism and recreational enhancements that will form part of the Highthorn scheme through the Discover Druridge initiative will have a positive, transformative effect on the area.
"We fully understand the responsibilities that will come with operating the Highthorn scheme and look forward to being able to deliver all the benefits inherent to its operation in the coming years."
Meanwhile, the decision was raised in the House of Lords on Monday by Baroness Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat Department for Energy and Climate Change spokeswoman. She asked for clarity on the Government's position on calling in the planning application as it seems contrary to their own commitments.
Northumberland Lib Dem Julie Pörksen said: "It is important for local residents and businesses alike that there is clarity on the future of the Druridge Bay plans. If this planning application is to be called in, I hope the Government will consider all points of view and include the impact on the diversity of issues including the environment, road safety, jobs and tourism along the coast from Cresswell to Amble and Warkworth."


DT Research's new DT301S and DT311H tablets offer a wide range of optional equipment and come with detachable, water-resistant keyboards.
The new DT301S features a 10.1-inch Full HD anti-reflective touch-screen display with 1,920 by 1,200 resolution and can be configured with an Intel 6th Generation Core i5 or Core i7 processor and 4GB or 8GB of memory.
The DT301S meets IP65 standards for water and dust resistance and MIL-STD-810G for vibration and shock resistance. The devices are also MIL-STD-461F certified for tolerance against electromagnetic interference and can be used in a wide range of extreme environmental temperatures, from -4 degrees F to 140 degrees F. The DT301S is 7.5 inches tall, 10.7 inches wide and 0.86 inches thick, and weighs about 2.86 pounds.
DT Research's DT311H tablet has a 11.6-inch Full HD anti-reflective touch-screen display with 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, and can be equipped with either an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor and 8GB or 16GB of memory. The DT311H is 8.2 inches tall, 12.3 inches wide and 0.86 inches thick, and weighs about 3.6 pounds.
Both the DT301S and DT311H include built-in security from the Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise operating system, including Device Guard enterprise hardware and software security features that allow the tablet to run only trusted applications with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 and 2.0 support. Also included is proprietary security software from DT Research and "lock-down" features to protect against malicious attacks.
Like its DT301S stablemate, the DT311H is solidly engineered to withstand physical punishment that can be doled out in a wide range of businesses and industries, from logistics to warehousing, manufacturing, the military, emergency first responders, fieldwork specialists, construction companies and others who work in extreme environments. It also meets IP65, MIL-STD-810G and MIL-STD-461F standards. Both models can withstand drops from 4 feet.
The DT301S and DT311H tablets are available immediately and start at $1,665. Both devices feature hot-swappable batteries and support the use of a capacitive-touch stylus or digital pen on their touch-screen displays. An optional rubber rear strap makes it easier for users to hold either machine.
The DT301S and the DT311H tablets can be purchased with an array of options to customize the machines for any uses. Weather-resistant detachable keyboards are available, as well as built-in barcode scanners, a 5-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, an RFID reader, NFC capabilities and integrated 4G mobile broadband.


Does promotional products really helps to expand a business?
- We have cash back actions in supermarkets here. I mainly use them for products I know, and if it's was new product, I don't remember that I ever bought one again.
- My niece told me this week that she got a nice expensive present when joining a lottery. After receiving it she quit immediately.
100%. I invested in some wristbands for a startup mental health campaign I was working with back in 2016 and wanted to help boost the ticket sales of our charity event.
The wristbands were printed with the campaign name and our # and really helped expand the campaign's reach. I used them for a social media giveaway which received over 200 retweets on Twitter and around 500 likes on Facebook and as a result, we managed to sell out the tickets for the event.
I know that the company I work for use merchandise as thank you gifts for clients and as giveaways to spread awareness of our services, which has helped us retain key clients. In my experience, the more practical the product, the more it will be used and seen so people will remember your. Hope this helps?
Link to supplier removed by moderator.
2. Tote jute and nylon bags.
List of Promotional Products to promote any Business.
Pens: so simple, yet infinitely useful. Everybody seems to use one on a daily basis and when you find one that writes nicely, it creates brand loyalty. Investing in high-quality custom pens can have your prospects and customers seeking out your pen to use on a daily basis. This subconscious connection between your company and quality is priceless.
Coolers: Personalized lunch bags and coolers are a great way to get your company.s logo in front of consumers during their downtime. Coolers come out during BBQ.s, at sporting events, on camping trips, and at the beach. Keep your logo modest, so as not to put off a prospective client, and you.ll have brand recognition during those happy moments in people.s lives.
Magnets: Promotional magnets are a simple way to increase your marketing reach. Magnets are typically used to hold either photos or important documents within reach of the user. Your magnet will see a lot of use, and provides a highly visible reminder of your organization.
Flashlights: Literally, brighten your company’s future with a keychain flashlight. These units provide actual real-world value and are a constant reminder that your organization cares for the safety and convenience of its customer base. LED technology has increased performance and reduced costs.
Sports Bottles: Sports bottles will hopefully overtake the plastic water bottle fad someday. With the green movement at full steam ahead, eco-friendly products like a custom sports bottle can tell your customers and prospects that you are a powerful company that supports key initiatives.
Travel Mugs: These movable billboards for your company are a great way to enhance your marketing ability at a low price. Also embracing the green movement, these refillable mugs offer an environmentally conscious way to keep favorite hot or cold beverages within reach, even on the road!
Calendars: A promotional calendar that is in use provides an entire year of daily reminders about your company. Get creative and customize a calendar with information specific to your company or client base. 365 reminders of why your organization is great is priceless.


The energy generated by the project would go to homes and businesses in San Mateo, she said. An office about five miles away in Santa Nella would coincide with the completion of the project about a year from now.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors approved the project on grazing land in March 2015, records show.
The solar array represents an important economic investment in the county, according to Mark Hendrickson, director of community and economic development for Merced County.
“This project which will add hundreds of construction jobs in the community, it will bring in millions of dollars of new tax revenues for community benefit and will greatly enhance the effort to make our state and region more environmentally sustainable,” he said in a statement.
The company also estimates the project could bring in as much as $6 million in tax revenue to the region.
News of the environmentally-friendly project comes days after UN scientists announced the dire circumstances that people around the world would face about a decade from now if nations did not drastically cut their carbon emissions. Supporters of solar energy have touted it as a way to effectively cut greenhouse gases.
Peninsula Clean Energy is one of the state’s 19 community-choice energy programs in which residents can pick a different provider than Pacific Gas and Electric Co. The energy provider says it offers energy at 5 percent cheaper than PG&E, leading to an annual savings of $17 million.
Law prohibits PG&E from marketing against such programs.


What happens when you bring real-time, on-demand analytics to Slack?
What happens to a great open source project when its creators are no longer using the tool themselves?
PANDA, the four-year-old Knight News Challenge-winning newsroom application for storing and analyzing large data sets, still has a respectable community of users, but could now use a new longterm caretaker.
NPR has always recommended books, films, TV shows, and music to its listeners. Earbud.fm is the first time it’s making recommendations in an industry where it’s also one of the biggest content creators.
What is Data.gov doing wrong? And how could it get better?
After jobs at Talking Points Memo, Yahoo, Frontline, and The Atlantic, Andrew Golis, new general manager of The Wire, is ready to share the three pillars of a strong media brand.
Boyer, Brian. "Brian Boyer: Welcome to Hacker Journalism 101, take your seats." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 7 Sep. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2019.
Boyer, Brian. "Brian Boyer: Welcome to Hacker Journalism 101, take your seats." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified September 7, 2012. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.niemanlab.org/2012/09/brian-boyer-welcome-to-hacker-journalism-101-take-your-seats/.


How soon could Denver businesses open the first social marijuana use areas? It’s still not clear.
Owner Jim Norris works behind the coffee counter at Mutiny Information Cafe on December 2, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. Along with co-owner Matt Megyesi, Norris intends to apply for a social marijuana use permit once the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses works out the particulars of how to implement Initiative 300.
For Mutiny Information Cafe on Denver’s South Broadway strip, the city’s recently passed social marijuana use voter initiative could allow for once-a-month Saturday night gatherings that mix vaping, edibles and dancing.
Other businesses are considering the possibilities opened up by the successful ballot measure, ranging from one-off events to allowing pot consumption areas on-site daily. The owner of a yoga and spinning studio on East Colfax is mulling the idea of occasional special events that might couple marijuana with meditation or Thai massage.
But before The Rhythm Revolution’s Jasmine Anderson decides whether to even seek a new marijuana consumption permit, she — like others whose interest is piqued — wants to see more details about how it will work.
That is the biggest question surrounding Initiative 300, which 53.6 percent of Denver voters approved Nov. 8. The city’s Department of Excise and Licenses has only begun sorting through a multitude of issues — from legal to regulatory to pragmatic — that will determine what the first-of-its-kind marijuana social use permit program looks like.
Payton Walsh, 8, looks through a book with her sister, Taylor Walsh, 18, at Mutiny Information Cafe on December 2, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. Mutiny Information Cafe owners Jim Norris and Matt Megyesi intend to apply for a social marijuana use permit once the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses works out the particulars of how to implement Initiative 300.
The city plans to make permit applications available by Jan. 20. That would meet a Jan. 21 deadline required by the initiative, or 60 days after the election’s certification.
But the city faces no other firm deadlines. So it remains up in the air how soon a business might open the city’s first consumption area or host the first open-to-the-public event to make use of a new permit.
Licensing spokesman Dan Rowland said Friday that a “flexible” city timeline called for finalizing the rules and regulations and beginning to accept applications in summer 2017.
The voter-forced change was sold by its backers as a way to provide places to use marijuana for tourists and some residents who can’t smoke or vape at home, as well as people who want to do it socially.
But the catch is that applicants first must obtain backing from a local civic group, which could include a city-registered neighborhood organization or a business improvement district.
Those groups can set operating conditions in exchange for their support.
Already, state rules bar marijuana businesses from allowing consumption on site. And on Nov. 18, state licensing officials further narrowed the scope of eligible businesses by announcing a new rule that prohibits virtually all liquor licensees, including all bars and some restaurants, from allowing pot use on their premises.
Mutiny’s Jim Norris said he and co-owner Matt Megyesi have decided to go for a permit for their combination book store and cafe.
“We’re thinking about doing it once a month, maybe an art gallery kind of thing,” he said, perhaps incorporating a dance party. “It would probably be on a Saturday night,” adapting the invitation-only “Atomic Doobie Saturday Night” events he’s hosted in the past.
Anderson is less certain how she might use a permit, but she has thought about ways marijuana could deepen mediation or massages in special events, perhaps hosted off-site.
Owner Jim Norris (R) and co-owner Matt Megyesi work behind the coffee counter at Mutiny Information Cafe on December 2, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. Norris and Megyesi intend to apply for a social marijuana use permit once the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses works out the particulars of how to implement Initiative 300.
At 3 p.m. Monday, city licensing officials and city attorneys will brief City Council members about the progress they’ve made on figuring out Initiative 300’s implementation.
Rowland said the city likely would form an advisory committee during winter that draws together Initiative 300’s backers and its opponents, community members and business representatives to help shape the permit program and regulations. That mirrors the city’s approach in previous efforts to regulate legal marijuana.
A spring public hearing on proposed regulations also is likely.
Initiative 300’s lead backer, Denver marijuana consultant Kayvan Khalatbari, anticipates a slow rollout involving experimentation by businesses that lead the charge.
For good reason: No American city has done this before.
Amsterdam long has had its coffee shops, where customers are free to light a joint. But the preferred mode of social use in a handful of Colorado cities and towns, including Nederland and Englewood, has been private clubs, though not always without strife.
Other states that were among the first to legalize recreational marijuana, including Washington and Alaska, have made it explicitly illegal to operate a club or use social marijuana in such publicly accessible places. But California, where voters just legalized recreational marijuana last month, will allow some leeway for on-site consumption, at least at licensed marijuana businesses, if local governments decide to authorize it.
Should the licensing department set more specific rules than those in Initiative 300? It already says consumption areas can’t be within 1,000 feet of schools, and those outdoors can’t be visible from public rights of way and places where children congregate.
Should the city spell out standards for the measure’s requirement that applicants train employees to identify and respond to over-intoxicated customers?
And legally, does the city need to set further restrictions on consumption areas to avoid any conflict with state law?
While Colorado’s Amendment 64, which voters passed in 2012 to legalize recreational marijuana, does not explicitly bar public use, the state criminal code still says marijuana can’t be used “openly and publicly.” The state legislature still has not defined what that means, however.
City officials are well aware that as they work on local regulations, the General Assembly will reconvene for its 2017 session in January, giving lawmakers a chance to place new constraints on Denver.
Mayor Michael Hancock has said little about what he thinks about the initiative, including whether he voted for it. His office said he was not available Friday to answer that question.
But his administration says it takes voters’ direction seriously.
Khalatbari and attorney Christian Sederberg, another supporter, view the measure as fully allowed under state law, though city attorneys have voiced concerns.
“What we’re proposing is even more discreet and set back (from public view) than alcohol, which is also something that’s supposed to not be used in public,” Khalatbari said.
The backers say they are optimistic Denver city officials will make a good-faith effort.
They still are considering a challenge early next year of the new Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division rule that will keep bars from participating, Khalatbari said.
Opponents of Initiative 300 also are eager to add their voices to the city’s review.
O’Bryan, who managed the opposition group, said city officials should wade beyond legal issues into liability insurance requirements and health concerns. Those include proper ventilation systems and protecting employees who don’t want exposure to potentially chemical-containing vapors emitted by vaping devices, she said.
City Council members plan to keep tabs on the rollout. Rules for voter initiatives allow the council to tweak any provision after six months, though that requires a public hearing and a two-thirds majority vote.
Owner Jim Norris makes a beverage at Mutiny Information Cafe on December 2, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. Along with co-owner Matt Megyesi, Norris intends to apply for a social marijuana use permit once the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses works out the particulars of how to implement Initiative 300.