by
Dan Mitchell on August 5, 2020
For all the struggles the cannabis industry is facing—slim or nonexistent margins, illicit sales, the enormous costs of running a dispensary—the industry has nevertheless exploded. One can only wonder how huge it would be if the federal government were to legalize weed. There are now more cannabis industry workers than there are…
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Dan Mitchell on June 24, 2020
A few weeks ago, the racial inequities of cannabis (both the illegal and legal kind) blew up amid the protests and riots following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Large groups of looters broke into nearly every dispensary in Oakland. Debby Goldsberry of Magnolia Wellness, a dispensary that was hit…
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by
Dan Mitchell on June 10, 2020
People are finding all kinds of things to do while they’re stuck at home: binge-watching Netflix, playing board games, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new instrument. And many are growing pot, often for the first time. So many, that the companies that supply home-growers are having a hard time keeping up.
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by
Dan Mitchell on June 3, 2020
Over the weekend, one or more large groups of armed men targeted and robbed a long list of Bay Area cannabis dispensaries in what appears to be a long-planned spree. Remarkably, most of the dispensaries in Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland seem to have been hit, reportedly along with some manufacturing and…
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by
Metro Staff on March 4, 2020
Last weekend, LVL Up Respawn became the second arcade bar to open its doors in downtown San Jose. A spinoff of Campbell’s original LVL Up, the new bar and eatery features pinball, cabinet games and ski ball. It’s a reactivation of the former Bo Town Seafood Restaurant, which had been vacant since…
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Metro Staff on December 11, 2019
Would you look at that! In between all the margarita pitchers, bottles of Corona and shots of Patron, we somehow lost track of the time. Tres Gringos Cabo Cantina, one of downtown San Jose’s most reliably turnt bars, is hanging up its sombrero after 16 years on South Second Street. ¡Que lastima!…
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by
Matei Predescu on July 24, 2019
CHRIS PORTER SUMS up his latest standup special by highlighting what it lacks: “No politics, no religion, no racism,” Porter says of A Man From Kansas. Throughout his new special, Porter steers clear of overt partisanship, while still lampooning the tribal rituals that serve as flashpoints in the broader culture wars. “Hipster…
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by
Nick Veronin on February 27, 2019
Pale green clouds have swirled above the heads of Willow Den patrons for close to a decade. But now, as the local bar is planning a remodel and a rebranding—it will become the “Willow Den Public House”—all those Washingtons are coming down. The bills themselves will be donated to a charity, Free…
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by
Gary Singh on November 28, 2018
In 1983, deep in the suburban hinterland of Campbell, the punk rock photographer Murray Bowles attended a backyard party and shot several pictures of The Faction, San Jose’s legendary skate punk band. A software engineer by day, Bowles was just starting a decades-long side job of capturing Bay Area punk.
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by
Andrew Lentz on August 2, 2018
It’s true, Norm Macdonald is yet another in a long line of Saturday Night Live veterans still running around the standup circuit. But he’s also a cult hero. Most die-hard fans know the oddball Canadian as the Weekend Update anchor who ruthlessly skewered everyone from Hillary Clinton to O.J. Simpson. Alas, much…
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