Favorite Links Friday Week of June 24, 2016

Juneau's first marijuana testing lab applies for permit, license

When drafting their regulations for the growth and sale of marijuana, the Alaska Marijuana Control Board and the Juneau Assembly split the budding industry into four sectors: cultivation, product manufacturing, testing and retail.

To date, the city’s Planning Commission has heard and approved conditional use permits for cultivation, manufacturing and retail businesses. Now, the last piece of the marijuana supply chain is about to fall into place.

Southeast Alaska Laboratories LLC, Juneau’s first marijuana testing business based in Lemon Creek, has applied for its city conditional use permit and its state marijuana establishment license, and another business is following close behind. Glacier Analytics, a testing lab located in the Mendenhall Valley, should have its state license application and city permitting paperwork turned in by early next week, according to the business’ co-founder Mitch Knottingham.

Knottingham is going into business with his wife, Rochele. He said they have wanted to get into the commercial marijuana industry for a while now, and testing seemed like a good fit, given that Rochele has a background in water-quality testing.

“With Rochele’s background and the lack of labs in Southeast, it made way more sense for us and for the entire community for us to focus on a laboratory,” Mitch Knottingham said.

[POW Needs to start growing! It's not about principles or morals at this point it's going to be about getting additional revenue streams as the Alaska Budget and economy tanks.]

Anchorage woman wins Trans Am bike race; first woman, first American to do so

Lael Wilcox is a woman of many firsts. The 29 year old Anchorage resident and world bicycle traveler just won the 4200 mile Trans Am bike race. She was the first woman and the first American to win the grueling race. Wilcox started the race on June 4th in Astoria, Oregon and won yesterday in Virginia. The Trans Am race is self supported. Wilcox said you have to carry what you need or buy it along the way [A fun interview read it here]

Exercise triggers brain cell growth and improves memory, scientists prove

Exercising may help boost memory because it triggers a protein which boosts brain cell growth, scientists believe.

For several years, researchers have noticed that aerobic exercise, of the kind which gets the heart pumping, also appears to improve memory and learning. But nobody knew how.

Now researchers at the National Institute on Ageing in the US have discovered that when muscles exercise they produce a protein called cathepsin B which travels to the brain and triggers neuron growth.

The researchers first noticed the protein when studying mice which exercised regularly on wheels. The level of protein rose in the blood and muscle tissue the more the mice ran.

When cathepsin B was applied to brain cells in a lab it spurred the production of molecules related to neurogenesis – the growth of neurons. [Source]

[In other words being fit makes you smarter...join the POW Walkers and Runners Club!]

British Independence Day! Britain Exits The E.U.

The citizens of the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union. On Thursday the people of Britain took to the polls to vote to leave the E.U. and embrace British nationalism.

Throughout the evening as the official vote counts were coming in one-by-one, the world markets reacted to the news that Britain was inching closer to the Brexit Exit, causing the British Pound to drop throughout the evening.

The pound dropped to its worst day in more than three decades as the Brexit Exit started to slowly become a reality. Reports of record voter turnouts were set in numerous places throughout the United Kingdom, as the leave campaign performed above all expectations. [Source]

[This signifies the beginning of the end for the European Union. Now that Britain has it's independence France and Italy will follow. Germany once again managed to destroy Europe...this time with millions of forced immigrants which was the main reason Britain exited (this is not an editorial on my part but a fact) if you want an editorial watch for the Texit:]

IS ‘TEXIT’ THE NEW ‘BREXIT’?
Welcome to the Texas Nationalist Movement. Its motto is “Texas First, Texas Forever”, and its ultimate goal is self-government.
Basically, its members want to politically, culturally and economically separate themselves from the rest of America. Recently, they’ve even called the movement ‘Texit’, in honour of the EU referendum.
The group is building a support network, hoping to get enough numbers to eventually make this dream a reality. They claim to have more than 260,000 members, which would make it the largest single group pushing for the Texas independence. The state’s population is about 27 million

Rating agencies warn Alaska: we’re watching you

In his quest to remake Alaska’s finances, Governor Bill Walker has found a set of perhaps unexpected allies.

They don’t live in Alaska – some of them have never been to Alaska – but they have the power to give Alaska lawmakers an ulcer every time they speak.

They are the credit rating agencies.

Like an individual’s credit score, Alaska’s credit rating is our calling card in the world of finance. Want to refinance our pension obligations, or borrow to build a giant natural gas pipeline? Alaska’s credit rating determines whether the state can access that money, and how how much it will cost.

This month, the last of the big three agencies revoked Alaska’s top-notch credit rating, citing the state’s massive budget gap.

Their main conclusion: the state can’t cut or tax its way out of the current budget hole. The only way to close the gap – and retain Alaska’s current credit rating – is something like the governor’s plan to restructure the Permanent Fund and use the earnings to fund state government.

“We can do the math as well as anyone,” Petek said. “If there’s a $4 billion gap, and a $5 billion budget, it’s pretty tough to make all of those adjustments just through spending cuts or through tax increases.” [Full Source]