This Bud's (Marijuana) for you Bronx

This Bud's for you

#Medical Marijuana opening in former strip joint

100 PERCENT

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK (BRONX NEWS)- Was it just a mistake, or was it intentional that the apartment number of Mr. John Perez was left off all correspondence that was sent to him? Mr. Perez was the contact person for 4 petitions that he submitted on July 9^th to the Board of Elections. 

The petitions were for Judicial Delegates in the 78^th, 79, and 85^th Assembly Districts. Any notification by the Board of Elections and any challenger had to be sent to the address on the first petition that was clocked in, and that was petition BX 1500668 for the 78^th A.D. You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to see photos of the 4 envelopes that were sent by the contact person Election Lawyer Stanley K. Schlein for the three challengers of Mr. Perez's petitions. 

On all 4 envelopes Mr. Schlein the sender, made a fatal mistake by leaving off the apartment number Mr. Perez who lives in an the 150-unit building where there also lives at least 3 other families with the name Perez. Since the U.S. Mail system was used to send these envelopes, I was told by a postal supervisor that if the apartment number was intentionally left off so the envelopes could not be delivered it could be taken as a case of Mail Fraud. I know what an excellent election lawyer Mr. Schlein is so I can not believe that he would make such an amateurish mistake, but I also can not believe that he would set himself up to be charged with Mail Fraud. I was unable to get a comment from Mr. Schlein before this column was set. 

Four Bronx residents have now died from Legionaries Disease in the South Bronx. The number of cases has risen from 57 to 71 as of the end of last week. The city explains the rise in cases reported due to the 10-day incubation period of the disease, and said that the five cooling towers where it was found have all been cleaned and decontaminated. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is very concerned about this, and you can check my blog July archive on the lower left for the posting of his complete remarks. 

Also on my blog are the latest Bronx unemployment numbers, which have fallen once again to 7.8 percent for June 2015. This is down from the 9.7 percent unemployment rate for June 2014, and way down from the high in June 2010 of 13,9 percent. Bronx BP Diaz Jr. says, however, while this is good news for the Bronx, there is still more work to be done to continue to decrease the Bronx unemployment rate even lower.

Possible future Bronx District Attorney Parkchester Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda is talking tough on crime and congratulating the police for the latest arrests of a violent gang in his assembly district. In his press release that you can find on my blog, Assemblyman Sepulveda talks of his constant leadership in Albany on Criminal Justice issues, and of how his constituents complain about the gangs in his district that covers Parkchester, West Farms, Van Nest, Unionport, and Stratton Park. Since it looks like Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson has no plans to retire since he is in a non term limited position as Bronx DA, and very close to mandatory retirement age for judges, I think that Assemblyman Sepulveda would make a great replacement for current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. whenever Diaz Jr. decides to run for higher office.

Lastly, it looks like Medical Marijuana will be coming to the South Bronx very soon. A company called PharmaCannis that will be growing legal Medical Marijuana in the town of Hamptonburg (in upstate Orange County) has agreed to open a dispensary in Hunts Point, at 1280 Oak Point Avenue in a building that once housed various strip clubs. There is mixed emotions from the community ranging from 'this will bring more drugs, prostitution, and crime to the area, to others who say that it will clean up the neighborhood with all the added security that will be in and around the building. Medical Marijuana will only be available in a non smokeable form. There are federal laws that prohibit the transportation of any form of Marijuana across state lines, and that is the reason that any Medical Marijuana must be grown in New York. 

If you have any political information that you want to share or have checked out, any comments about this column, or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.