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Crosscurrents

Daily news roundup for Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Flickr user Susie Plascencia. Used under CC BY. Cropped.
A nursery for medical marijuana

Here's what's happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW News.

Oakland Green Lights Drug War Reparations, Passes Marijuana Equity Program // East Bay Express

“Oaklanders who’ve been jailed for pot in the last two years will go to the front of the line for legal weed permits under a revolutionary new program enacted by the City Council Tuesday night.

“The first-in-the-nation idea promises to make international headlines, and redefine the terms of reparations in post-Drug War America.  

 

“Council voted unanimously to pass the historic “Equity Permit Program,” which bucks national trends in legal pot policy. Normally, convicted drug felons are barred from entering the legal cannabis trade. Instead, Oakland will reward them.”

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Soda Industry Fails to Stop San Francisco Law Targeting Sugar // The Wall Street Journal

“San Francisco is set to become the first U.S. city to require health warnings on advertisements for soda and other sugar-added drinks after the beverage industry failed Tuesday to get a court order to stop it.

“The law goes into effect July 25 and will require that billboards and other public advertisements include the language, ‘WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. This is a message from the City and County of San Francisco.’”

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Police aim more cameras at Bay Area freeways following string of deadly shootings // Los Angeles Times

“Police departments in the East Bay and the California Highway Patrol have teamed up to try and stop a wave of suspected gang shootings on Bay Area freeways that have left four dead and nearly a dozen wounded since November, authorities said.

“The latest shooting occurred Sunday afternoon, when authorities say gunmen in separate cars began firing at each other in Antioch and took the gunfight onto California 4, according to KGO. “No one was reportedly injured, and the suspects were arrested.

“In response to the string of shootings, the Pittsburg City Council on Monday unanimously approved spending $100,000 to install security cameras at street intersections in order to record activity on the highway.”

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Want to Buy a Self-Driving Car? Big-Rig Trucks May Come First // New York Times

"SAN FRANCISCO — Imagine you are driving on a highway late at night when a big-rig truck closes in behind you. You relax because it is keeping a safe distance and seems to be obeying the speed limit. Now imagine that truck is driving itself.
"Despite Silicon Valley’s enthusiasm for self-driving cars, it could be years before there are many of them on the road. But autonomous 18-wheelers? One start-up is betting that is a different matter.
"Otto, led by 15 former Google engineers, including major figures from the search company’s self-driving car and maps projects, is aiming at the long-haul freeway driving that is the bread and butter of the commercial trucking industry."
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Waze launches carpool experiment in the Bay Area (+video) // Christian Science Monitor

“Google's Waze, a mapping app that helps drivers cut traffic and notifies them of police monitoring and accidents, is testing out Waze Carpool in California.

“The new carpool app uses the regular Waze app and the new Waze Rider app, which allows employees of certain San Francisco Bay Area companies to make profiles and start testing out the new carpooling service.”

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Stolen World War I-Era Cannon Returns To California Veterans Hall // Tech Times

“A cannon from the World War I — stolen earlier this month from a veterans hall — has found its way back to its Bay Area, California home.

“The Richmond police was contacted by a Martinez man to return the prized artillery piece weighing a ton, as he saw a news item about it and realized he had bought the stolen item for $1,200 a couple of days ago.

“The 105-mm cannon stood in the Veterans Memorial Hall in Richmond for almost seven decades before it was stolen pre-dawn on May 1.”

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