WASHINGTON ( Midnight Tokers - Legal to smoke Marijuana )

The crowd at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle began counting down as midnight approached. It wasn't New Year's Day they were anticipating, but the moment that marijuana would become legal in Washington state.

As midnight hit, smokers hit their pipes and joints to celebrate.

Technically, what they were doing -- smoking marijuana in public -- was still a crime, but police looked the other way.

"It's amazing. I'm not a criminal anymore," one pot smoker said. "I can't go to jail for small amounts of marijuana. I'm free to be free."

But a legal haze still engulfed pot smokers Thursday, when possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults become legal, though growing and selling it remains a crime.

Initiative 502, passed last month by Washington voters, legalized recreational marijuana use starting December 6, but it will take a year before there are rules for growing and selling it.

"It begs the question, if they can't buy it through a medical marijuana shop, which only people with a prescription and medical marijuana license can, how do they get it?" Washington State Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said Wednesday.

TACNA Az ( Man Blows OFF leg with his own BOMB ) Yuma County

Authorities: Arizona man loses leg in explosion

Posted: Dec 6, 2012 8:52 AM by Associated Press
Updated: Dec 6, 2012 8:54 AM

Rating:

Sample picture only (call police if you see anything like this )

 

TACNA, Ariz. (AP) - A southwestern Arizona man remained hospitalized Thursday with leg injuries in what authorities suspect was a pipe bomb explosion.

Yuma County sheriff's Capt. Eben Bratcher says 31-year-old Kobey Coulter was tinkering with explosives inside a shipping container Tuesday. Deputies arrived at his home to find him with severe leg injuries.

Bratcher says the Tacna man lost his left leg below the knee, and doctors were working to save his right leg.

Deputies serving a search warrant at Coulter's home Wednesday say they found items used to make pipe bombs.

It is illegal to manufacture improvised explosive devices. Bratcher says authorities will review the case to determine whether to file charges against Coulter.

TUCSON Az ( Robbery Suspect - Pyramid Federal Credit Union ) See photo

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Tucson Police are asking for help identifying a man who robbed a Pyramid Federal Credit Union this afternoon.

 

 

It happened around 1:30 p.m. at the bank at 2850 North Country Club.

According to police, the suspect showed a handgun to the teller and demanded money. He fled before police arrived and no one was injured during the robbery.

The suspect is described as Hispanic, 25-28 years old, 5'06" to 5' 10", 160-180 pounds, with dark hair and dark eyes.

He was last seen wearing a red and white striped polo-style shirt, jeans, and dark colored shoes.

Anyone with information on who the suspect is or his location call 911 or 88-CRIME.

Copyright 2012 Tucson News Now. All rights reserved.

TEMPE Az ( Student VANISHED - ASU Jack Culolias )

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Family and friends of a missing Arizona State University student are pleading for help in finding the freshman, last seen Friday night at a fraternity event at Cadillac Ranch at Tempe Marketplace.

“It’s been three days, I don’t know what to do,” said Grace Culolias through tears. She and her other son, Jack’s twin brother, drove into Tempe from Orange County, Calif., in search of answers.

“I’m asking for help,” she said.

Friends of Jack Culolias said they began to worry on Saturday when he didn’t return home. They spent Monday passing out fliers around campus.

“We just want to find our friend,” Dakota Bennett said. “It’s so important to us. A lot of people care about him; we miss him a lot.”

“It makes you sick to your stomach that something like this could happen,” said another friend, Nick Marchetti.

Friends believe Culolias may have been escorted out of Cadillac Ranch, sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday. They said his cellphone was later found at the bar, but his friends didn’t see him leave.

“No one saw him get carried out; we would have followed him,” Alec Katric said. “We don’t know where he went after he got taken out.”

Days later, and his friends are worried sick, but no one is more worried than Jack’s family.

“I just want him to come home safe,” said his twin, Alex.

His mother told 3TV Jack was just home for Thanksgiving. She said he’s a good kid, in his first semester at ASU. She said it’s extremely out of character for him to disappear.

“Something has happened,” Grace said. “Something is wrong. He’s out there and no one has seen him. We’re asking for anybody’s help.”

ASU police are investigating this case. Anyone with information is urged to call 480-965-3456.

ROCKER Dave Navarro ( GUEST Star - Sons Of Anarchy )

The rocker will guest star as a gang member in the last two episodes of the season.

Getty Images

Sons of Anarchy is adding another tattooed badass to its family.

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Rocker Dave Navarro will guest star on FX’s hit drama Sons of Anarchy, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
PHOTOS: Emmys 2012: Kurt Sutter and Wife Katey Sagal on the Set of 'Sons of Anarchy'
Navarro’s character will be a Biz Lats gang member who is tied to “companionator” Nero Padilla (Jimmy Smits), as Entertainment Weekly first reported.
Additionally, Navarro’s band, Jane’s Addiction, will do a cover of “Sympathy for the Devil” for the season-five finale.
It’s been a stellar season for guest stars on Sons of Anarchy. Ashley Tisdale appeared as a prostitute for two episodes this season, and Community’s Joel McHale will play a con man in an upcoming arc.
Additionally, as a fun surprise to fans of creator Kurt Sutter’s previous work, The Shield, Walton Goggins appeared as a transvestite escort in last week’s episode, participating in a little S&M and blackmail.

U.S Border Patrol ( A man was killed on the Tohono O'odham Reservation by Border patrol )

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man Sunday in the Baboquivari Mountains on the Tohono O’odham Nation, federal officials confirmed today.
The incident occurred at about mid-day Sunday when an agent encountered a group who had crossed the border illegally, agency spokesman Victor Brabble said via email

A struggle occurred during the incident, leading to the agent shooting one member of the group.
Brabble did not say the nationality of the man who died.
The FBI is investigating, Special Agent in Charge James Turgal said this afternoon.
Sunday’s incident was the third fatal shooting by a Border Patrol agent in the Tucson Sector since Oct. 2. That day, agent Nicholas Ivie was killed in what FBI has determined was a case of friendly fire.
Eight days later, on Oct. 10, an agent in Nogales, Ariz. fired across the border and killed 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez.
The FBI is investigating those cases as well. Mexican authorities are also investigating the killing of Elena Rodríguez.

TUCSON Az ( Queen of the Pacific - Seeks Tucson Lawyer to defend her ) Most powerful women in Cartel wars

TUCSON- A Tucson attorney is representing a woman believed to be a key player in the drug world in Colombia and Mexico. Steve Ralls has been in business three decades and has had numerous high profile clients. Now he can add, Sandra Avila Beltran known as, "La Reina del Pacifico" or the Queen of the Pacific.
There's a book, and even a narco corrido, or drug ballad about her.
Retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Anthony Coulson says, "She was a main connection for the Sinaloan Cartel in terms of establishing and solidifying relationships with the Colombian cocaine suppliers."

She was arrested in Mexico five years ago, and charged with smuggling 10 tons of cocaine. A Mexican judge dropped those charges saying there was insufficient evidence against her.
Then last August she was extradited to the United States, on charges of conspiracy to distribute 220 pounds of cocaine.
She is currently sitting in prison in Miami, Florida. Her attorney says, "We've had relatively good degree of successes representing individuals, beyond that I can't really say why she came to us but she did."
Ralls a former law enforcement officer, including being a DEA agent says he doesn't buy into the hype of "La Reina's" reputation. "Most of what has been generated concerning what the agents are saying is really a repetition of a lot of the gossip that exists," he says.
He says the media has also perpetuated the legend of "La Reina del Pacifico" and her alleged drug connections. "She may know individuals that are involved in drug trafficking its probably very true, that she has participated in that is a whole different story."
Both of Beltran's husbands were former police commanders who became drug traffickers and were assassinated.
Her uncle is in prison for the murder of a DEA agent. Her teenage son was kidnapped and held for a $12-million ransom. It's reported she paid it.
Former DEA agent Coulson says, "Sandra Beltran is a very ruthless person who my information is that never hesitated to give the order to have someone killed."
Her attorney says, "I dispute that she is ruthless and dispute everything else. She is a very decent person."
A jury will make their decision in March on the future of La Reina del Pacifico.