Actually, it's not fair that the communities in West Texas aren't worth commenting on. Marathon and Marfa are doing well in expanding their offerings to tourists, though it's slow coming. When I was here in 2009, Marfa Public Radio had just started operating with a community radio format. It was remarkable because it was an FM signal that actually reached, almost, Big Bend National Park. It was classic community radio: volunteer DJ's and...
I could easily spend another month here, but I'm keeping to a tight schedule to get to Arizona. My first goal is Deming, NM, and even though it will be cold there, I'll rest up for a week after I arrive. I managed to get some birding in, and some beach driving at Boca Chica. The only sign of the new Spacex rocket launch facilities are one of those blue litter pickup signs by the Spacex employees. Not on my list of favorite things in the RGV are...
It's not known what the new government will do about marijuana in legal states, which is problematic. The states continue to operate their marijuana programs under cover from the Cole Memo from the DOJ. Basically, if the states fully regulate the industry according to several basic principles, they'll be allowed to continue their "experiments". Washington and Colorado have fully-compliant systems up and running, and seem satisfied with the...
I was looking at the tax rates for the legal, retail states. Washington: 37% Colorado: 29% Alaska: 25% Oregon: 20% Obviously, Washington could bear going down to 25%. Both Washington and Colorado have enjoyed vastly more tax revenue than they planned. Now from the states that recently passed retail marijuana laws: California: 15% Nevada: 15% Maine: 10% Massachusetts: 3.75% You can bet that the top priority for the government in California is to...
I'm here for at least two weeks, but I'm trying to limit it to that as I tend to get hung up around here. There's lots of birding spots, the beach at South Padre, great BBQ, and excellent Mexican food.
I'm back at Bird Island Basin, the windsurfer place, for a few days, parked as a wind-block to Peter, a prosecutor from Calgary spending a month's vacation camping and boarding. Harlingen is my target, but that can wait until Monday. It was less a hassle to follow the route along the shore, on the ferry, and on island roads than the freeways and bridges through Corpus. It's been rainy, sometimes very much so lately, but much cooler and slow...
The wooded spaces here are a bit too wooded and filled with fire-ants for my taste, so I moved to the water side. The high tides have receded, so I won't be flooded, but the number of storm cells in the forecast means it will be wet while I'm parked here. Nonetheless, it's a great spot to sit on the shore when it's not raining and read a book with the binocs handy while shore birds walk by. I'm signed up for four nights, then I'll go back to...
I'll be monitoring the various marijuana issues on the state ballots more than any of the human races. Here's my opinion on those: Montana. Medical initiative. Montana has had a medical program for several years, but the legislature slashed it off at the knees. By the time it went to court, and a countering initiative was prepared, there was no time to campaign. Quick to pounce was a fervent opponent, a Mormon car dealer, with the only source of...
Another favorite place. Usually I'm up against the water here, but since the high tides will continue, I'm in the wooded portion for a few days. Then I'll move to the bay side. This is next to the Aransas wildlife refuge, winter home of the whooping cranes. Top-notch birding everywhere here, but first I have to go into Corpus to get a refrigerator door.
Ever since the very first sale in WA in 2014, pot sales have increased steadily and predictably every month. September sales and October sales were 140 million, the first leveling since inception. I suspect that this might be the "base" number to use as a comparison. That means 1.7 billion dollars a year in sales, which includes taxes. About 500 million goes to the State in taxes in a year. I suspect the current harvest will be completely over...
The beaches have been closed for several days now, which really screws up the lives of folk around there. The tides are better now, so people can go retrieve their trailers; I might be able to drive on the sand tomorrow morning. Weather is dicey, though. A day might include sun, rain, hail, thunder, maybe repeated several times. One thing that stays the same is heat and humidity. My refrigerator door broke last week. I knew I'd be able to...