It seems as though your hard-earned tax dollars are providing Mr. Jakes with a hobby.
Ken Jakes record requests always seem to benefit the people of Nashville only in the last issue of the farmers market does he have any personal interest. Sounds to me like the person writing the article has personal interest as well or the hostility in the article wouldn't be so obvious. That said, what harm is it doing the people of our city to have someone keeping an eye on our tax dollars and government? It is our responsibility as Americans to question our leaders...that is exactly what Ken Jakes is doing. Look at what he uncovered at NES... that would've been under the radar if it was not for Ken Jakes. . . As a DAVIDSON COUNTY TAXPAYER I appreciate what he does... Way to go Hurricane Jakes your a watchdog FOR THE PEOPLE!
We need people like Ken Jakes to hold the government's feet to the fire. I appreciated all the work he does.
Marilyn is a lively person who doesn't deserve prison. C'mon Tennessee...this is such a terrible situation.
Here's the back story of Marilyn Greene-Campbell and husband Gerry saved from the now defunct Cannon Wire.
"The Price of Pain"
http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2009/09/price-of-pain-real-million-dollar-bust.html
You try to make him out to be nothing, but ask Nashville Electric, he wouldn't be doing this unless there were a problem. He found multiple problems in NES and some could have been considered criminal
Thank God for Ken Jakes! We need a whole lot more like to him to expose government wastes! They are playing games with hard earned money from tax payers like me. One look at the appalling lack of ethics at NES made me want to puke!
Marijuana should be legal and if your fight is for so called "medical" marijuana, you're on the wrong side of the issue. Nobody should need a prescription or other permission to grow for their own use and the last thing we need to do while trying to change the laws is to create a new boon for Big Pharma. Further, you really don't want to be at the mercy of silly lawmakers with zip for medical education deciding which maladies/conditions warrant an RX for pot. Medical marijuana is a fight not worth having, in the end, no matter the illusion. It's really only marginally better than what we have and puts in place the mechanism to perpetuate more arrests.
Just so you know: The "three large, white trash bags ... with large amounts of marijuana in them," was stems and leaf, which legally, counts the same as buds. They couldn't just take it to the city dump with their other trash for obvious reasons. As to the number of plants, they were in various stages of growth. You need to stagger your crop in order to have a steady supply. Unfortunately, a two inch plant and a fully grown plant count the same legally. I wish the laws were different. Marijuana should be legal.
the prosecutors are taking it too far. the lady is right, everyone around here has guns. i personally know a cop with over 30 guns. why does he need that many? i dunno, don't really care either, but there should be consistency on that type of thing. you can't be a hunter who enjoys a spliff once in awhile? insanity. can they prove they were going sell and distribute the 273 plants? i seriously doubt it. yeah, the lady sold some weed to a friend, that's what friends do, they help each other out. lame situation, i feel sorry for these people losing their home and having to serve time for such a goofball law. non-violent folks getting beat down like that over weed.
the prosecutors are taking it too far. the lady is right, everyone around here has guns. i personally know a cop with over 30 guns. why does he need that many? i dunno, don't really care either, but there should be consistency on that type of thing. you can't be a hunter who enjoys a spliff once in awhile? insanity. can they prove they were going sell and distribute the 273 plants? i seriously doubt it. yeah, the lady sold some weed to a friend, that's what friends do, they help each other out. lame situation, i feel sorry for these people losing their home and having to serve time for such a goofball law. non-violent folks getting beat down like that over weed.
Hey, being an old hippie myself I'm all for medical marijuana and also for legalization to the healthy public. But... 273 plants in a hidden hydro-grow basement, 3 bags of processed weed in the freezer, and a quarter pound in the car, is just a tad much for personal consumption.
Medical marijuana needs to be legalized everywhere. My spouse suffers from a major back injury and could benefit from it greatly but that isn't an option here in Tennessee. Instead she has to take more legally prescribed pain meds than most could imagine. We know that she could benefit from medical marijuana because she tried it for a week or so last year and was able to cut her prescription med intake in half. Unfortunately marijuana showing up on a random drug test at the Dr would knock her out of getting her commercial medication refilled so she hasn't used that source of relief since then.
Asphalt black top is used for 99.9 % of all Farmers Markets in every state in the United States and Washington D.C. See the pictures on UTube of these markets.
The West Nashville Farmers Market run by Sean Siple has used for four years the roots of Historic Trees for a parking lot and road. The Park Board gave him instructions in 2010 to move the vehicles out of the park. See the UTube video " Save Historic Richland Park" that will show how he has allowed both vendor and customer mutilate these trees from the roots up. Come June of 2013 they will be back to this sight again.
There is no reasoning with Sean Siple. He had rather kill trees with no remorse.
I think one fact is misconstrued in this article, Good Food Good People did help Hip Donelson Farmers Market get started, but GFGP are the ones who chose to leave when the market was moved from a grassy area to an asphalt black top. Siple walked away, and in that the HDFM was forced to go on without them for over two months of their season last year. Siple does throw the podium over when he doesn't get his way, and people who work with him see that. An apology is a start, but actions speak louder than words. I hear HDFM has joined with Delvin & CFA this year for their Friday night market, and I think it's a win/win for the Donelson/Hermitage community.
I think this whole mess is really unfortunate. It serves to show some serious weeknesses in the local food "movement" here in Nashville. I rarely bought from Delvin in the past - I prefer to support smaller growers and producers. And now that someone has challenged Delvin's dominance of the "local foods scene", they've reacted like a 20 ton gorilla. There's a difference between finding an alternate CSA pick up location and starting a full fledged market in direct competition. Sean Siple isn't without blame obviously - but everyone is losing in this situation.
The local food movement would be nothing without the Delvins and the other small farmers who work so hard to provide local food for the people of Nashville. Yes, there are absolutely issues of cost and accessibility of fresh food to low income people, but the truth is also that small farmers make very little income and struggle to pay their monthly bills as well. Sean Siple is instigating the fighting by insinuating that farmers charge too much for their produce, when in fact most are just trying to make a livable wage. He is not a farmer advocate, as he claims to be, but instead has used farmers and farmer's markets for his own egocentric needs. Good Food as an organization I am sure has had a positive impact on many in the community, but Sean himself continues to burn bridges with his power hungry ways. The public might not know this yet, but farmers, producers, and employees who have worked with Sean have all experienced this before and this is nothing new. It is obvious who has true community loyalty in this scenario - just look at the vendors and customers who fled the West Nashville Market as soon as they could to join the Delvins at the new market.
I LOVED Delvin Farm's CSA and would still be a member except that I grow my own veggies now. They really escalated the whole CSA/local produce movement. And I always found them to be honest, gracious people. A shame about this really...
It's interesting that both use "sayings" to explain themselves.
I think Siple did the right thing by offering an apology to Delvin and inviting them back, even if it was too little too late. I love the local food movement in and around Nashville, and it should be based on cooperation, not competition. A win-win solution can be found.
Re: “A government watchdog's records-request bombardment of Metro agencies raises eyebrows at Nashville Farmers Market”
What a great hobby. Catching public officials who abuse their positions!