SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Public Safety Committee today gave unanimous, bipartisan support to a bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D – North Coast) to crack down on offenders who pollute the environment and endanger the public by growing or manufacturing illegal drugs on forest lands.

“This bill is not about the legal production or use of medical marijuana under California law,” Chesbro told the Committee. “This bill is about pollution and illegal diversion of waterways, and the increasing violence that is occurring in our forests. AB 2284 is the direct outgrowth of two hearings I held this year as Chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. At the hearings, fisheries experts, the Department of Fish and Game and environmental groups described the increasing threat that illegal drug production represents, especially to endangered species such as the Coho salmon.

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Eureka group gets $3.3 million Prop 84 grant for Jefferson Community Center

SACRAMENTO – Calling it “a victory for the community,” Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D – North Coast) today announced that the Westside Community Improvement Association has won a $3,305,560 state grant to build a community center and park at the former Jefferson School site on Eureka’s West Side.

“This grant will directly benefit all of Eureka, not just the West Side,” Chesbro said. “The community owes a huge ‘thanks’ to Heidi Benzonelli, president of the West Side Community Improvement Association, and the Redwood Community Action Agency, who worked so hard to complete a successful grant application on a short deadline.”

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