12.13.18

PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS
BRIEFS
‘VIOLATION OF
INTERNATIONAL NORMS’
FORMER CALTECH PRESIDENT
OUTRAGED BY CHINESE SCIENTIST
EDITING DNA
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
David Baltimore
Nobel Prize-winning bioligist and Caltech President
Emeritus David Baltimore is leading the battle against human embryo DNA editing
on the heels of an announcement by a Chinese scientist that he had engineered the
world’s first gene-edited babies in twin girls who were born in November.
He JianKui, of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen,
China, claims he modified the embryos with Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) to make the twins immune to AIDS, according to a
story in the Washington Post. His claims have not been verified, the Post reported.
Several news agencies are reporting that JianKui has gone missing since the
announcement.
According to the Post, the process was done to stop the children from contracting
the HIV virus from their father.
“I don’t think it has been a transparent process,” Baltimore said. “We’ve only
found out about it after it’s happened and the children are born. I personally don’t
think it was medically necessary.”
Baltimore — who led Caltech from 1997 to 2006 — said the scientist’s claim
could be in “violation of international scientific norms.”
Baltimore has contributed key findings to immunology, virology, cancer
research, biotechnology and DNA research. He has trained many doctoral students
and postdoctoral fellows, several of whom have gone on to notable and distinguished
research careers, according to a press release issued by the institute.
He chaired the organizing committee of the Second International Summit on
Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong, which opened late last month.
“At this summit we heard an unexpected and deeply disturbing claim that
human embryos had been edited and implanted, resulting in a pregnancy and the
birth of twins,” the summit committee members said in a joint statement. “Even
if the modifications are verified, the procedure was irresponsible and failed to
conform with international norms,”
In addition, a group of 122 Chinese scientists issued a statement calling
Jiankui’s actions “crazy” and “a “huge blow to the global reputation and development
of Chinese science.” A Chinese medical ethics board is now investigating
whether his experiments were in violation of Chinese laws and regulations.
Professor Julian Savulescu of Oxford University called it “monstrous reproductive
medicine,” claiming it had “no moral or scientific justification,” because
doctors can already successfully prevent fathers from transmitting HIV without
genetic engineering. n
THE BIG WIN
AMGEN TOUR WILL AGAIN FINISH IN
PASADENA
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
The 14th Amgen Tour of California will once again hold its
finish in Pasadena.
“We are thrilled the Amgen Tour of California overall
finish will occur in Pasadena,” Michael Ross, chief
executive officer of the Pasadena Center Operating Co.,
said in a prepared statement. “This signature event
Michael Ross
attracts top cyclists from around the world and brings international awareness to
our historic and world-class city. It is a tremendous privilege that Pasadena will
once again get to play a part in such a storied sporting event for the sixth time.”
Cyclists will traverse more than 750 miles through 13 host cities from
Sacramento to Pasadena in the elite professional cycling stage race set for May
12-18.
Stage 1 will take place in Sacramento. In stage 2 cyclists will proceed from
Rancho Cordova to South Lake Tahoe, before crossing through Stockton to
Morgan Hill in Stage 3. In Stage 4 cyclists will compete from the WeatherTech
Raceway Laguna Seca to Morro Bay and then from Pismo Beach to Ventura in
Stage 5. The home stretch will take riders from Ontario to Mt. Baldy and finally
from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.
Past overall finishes in Pasadena have been dramatic and exciting, with fans
from across Southern California lining up to cheer on the fast-and-furious sprint
finishes to determine the ultimate champions.
In addition to lining the race course, fans will once again have the opportunity
to experience the race as a VIP from an all-inclusive hospitality tent.
“The Amgen Tour of California continues to serve as an international postcard
for the state, showcasing the beauty and diversity of California — and the 2019
host cities certainly reflect that,” said Kristin Klein, president of the Amgen Tour
of California and executive vice president of AEG Sports. “We look forward to
hosting another truly dynamic and engaging race, which will feature an all-star
peloton, continuing the tradition of delivering one of the most exciting sporting
events in the country.”
For more information, visit amgentourofcalifornia.com. n
GOING GREEN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
also allow four permits for cultivation centers and
four permits for testing labs within the city, for a
total of 14 potential businesses. About 300 people
attended a public meeting the city hosted on Nov.
13 to provide information about the upcoming
application process.
The retail and cultivation locations will be
allowed in commercial and industrial zones and
must also be 600 feet away from K-12 schools,
residential zones, libraries, parks, substance
abuse centers and other cannabis retailers
and cultivators. Smoking, ingesting or other
consumption of cannabis onsite will be prohibited.
Hours of operation will be limited to 7 a.m. to 10
p.m. Monday through Sunday.
The regulations include other conditions,
such as strictly controlled entrances with a
buzz-in system, exterior signage standards and
an advanced ventilation system. The retail space
of any given dispensary will be limited to 15,000
square feet and cultivation space will be limited to
30,000 square feet.
Testing labs will only be allowed in zoning
districts where laboratories are permitted and
must be 500 feet away from cannabis retailers
and cultivators. The labs must also comply with
all state-mandated testing procedures, destroy
any cannabis that does not comply with the state
Bureau of Cannabis Control’s health and safety
standards, and install advanced ventilation
systems.
The Pasadena City Council retains the
authority to make amendments to the ordinance in
the future.
The application period opens Jan. 1 and
closes at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 31. The first-round
nonrefundable application fee per permit type
is $13,654. Once approved, applicants will then
have to apply for a Conditional Use Permit and
get approved by the Planning Commission. That
second round fee is $10,639, for a total of $24,293.
According to Lisa Derderian, the city’s public
information officer, Pasadena’s fees are higher
than some other cities — Long Beach, for instance,
charges up to $8,621—but reflect the amount staff
said it needs to recoup the costs of developing the
regulations, plus cover administrative expenses
associated with running the program going forward.
“We are hoping we will break even,” she said.
“[The city is] not making money off this process.”
After the application period closes, city staff
will screen, review and score applications by
March 31 and notify top applicants by April 15.
Throughout spring 2019, top applicants will
obtain city land use permits. In the summer, top
applicants will obtain their city business licenses
and non-transferable cannabis permits. By the end
of 2019, finalists will obtain their state licenses
and open for business.
The city plans to utilize a “merit-based
THE COUNT
As of Monday, 3,050 days after the war in Afghanistan ended …
2,228
American military
service members
(0 more
than last week)
were reported
killed in Afghanistan
since
the war began in
2001, according to
The Associated Press.
44
percent less terrorism
deaths have
occurred this
year due in large
part to ISIS
diminishing
numbers.
According to the
Washington Examiner,
ISIS peaked in 2014 and has been
in decline ever since.
approach to selecting which applicants will
receive the cannabis permits,” according to city
documents. The review criteria will consider
applicants’ business plan, neighborhood
compatibility and enhancement, security plan
and the qualifications of the owner and operators.
Applicants do not need to have already secured a
physical location in order to apply.
Cracking Down
Meanwhile, the city continues to try to shut
down existing cannabis dispensaries that are
operating illegally. As of June, there were 19
such cannabis dispensaries operating in the
city, officials told the Weekly at the time. In 2017,
the city began shutting off utilities at illegal
dispensaries in an effort to drive them out,
following months of trying to get them to comply
by other means.
“We shut down two [illegal dispensaries] in the
last month,” Derderian said in November. “I know
there are a few more out there. We are working
with our city prosecutor’s office and our Police
Department with the intent to close them all so
that those who want to legally and officially apply
for the permits abide by that process knowing that
there are no illegal ones still in operation. We’ve
been trying for several years to get many of them
to comply and it hasn’t been effective, so we’re
going to have to take legal action and close them
down.”
Under Measure CC and the city’s subsequent
regulations, those who have operated an illegal
dispensary in the city after Nov. 6, 2017, will not be
allowed to apply for a legal permit.
Also in June, more than 75 percent of Pasadena
voters also approved Measure DD, which
allows the city to levy a business license tax on
commercial cannabis businesses of up to $10 per
canopy square foot for cultivation and between
4 to 6 percent of gross receipts for retail sales.
Combined with state taxes, the maximum total
taxing rate would be approximately 30 percent.
According to a presentation on Nov. 13 by Perry
Banner, a contract planner in the city’s Planning
and Community Development Department, the
intent of the cannabis business tax is “to generate
proceeds to offset [administrative] costs, not
balance the [city’s] General Fund budget.”
The money, city documents state, will fund
“general municipal services such as police and
code enforcement services necessary for the
proper administration of the regulations, as well
as promote health education regarding the dangers
of smoking cannabis, particularly to young
people.”
In May, the Pasadena Public Health Department
launched a campaign to inform the public about
the health effects of cannabis use, as well as the
consequences of driving under the influence. n
16
deaths were related
to terrorism this
year in the US,
according to the
Washington
Examiner. Last
year there were
30 terrorismrelated
deaths.
5,000
Fewer deaths from terrorism
were recorded this year
in Iraq, while Syria
recorded 1,000 fewer
terrorism-related
deaths, according
to the US Defense
Department.
— Compiled by
André Coleman
8 PASADENA WEEKLY | 12.13.18