One initiative of the Biden administration that, surprisingly, President Trump didn't kill off and counter immediately was an effort by the Justice Department to finally reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

That effort is ongoing, and Trump has reportedly expressed frustration about it moving too slowly. And now today, under newly promoted Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a new order takes a first step toward federal legalization of cannabis, reclassifying medical marijuana as a Schedule III, rather than a Schedule I drug.

As the Associated Press reports, this represents "a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government."

The new order still does not make medical marijuana legal at the federal level, per se, and it has no bearing on state laws in 24 states that have made recreational marijuana fully legal. However it goes against nearly 90 years of precedent, going back to the Marihuana Act of 1937, which broadly prohibited the drug and led to its classification with the most dangerous narcotics.

Blanche even points to California as a pioneer in a statement today about the reclassification, and sounds downright progressive on the cannabis front saying that regulation has come a "long way" since California adopted its policy in 1996.

"Today the vast majority of States maintain comprehensive licensing frameworks governing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes," Blanche writes. “Taken as a whole, they demonstrate a sustained capacity to achieve the public-interest objectives ... including protecting public health and safety and preventing the diversion of controlled substances into illicit channels."

Blanche said in the official DOJ announcement, "The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information.”

The reclassification means a serious windfall for state-licensed medical marijuana companies, as the AP notes, which will now be able to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes for the first time. And it leaves in limbo those cannabis retailers in two dozen states where recreational use and sales are legal, but who also sell tax-free cannabis to medical-use patients.

Today's move precedes an administrative hearing being held by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on June 29 at which the broad rescheduling of marijuana to Schedule III will be discussed.

"Under the direction of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche, DEA is expeditiously moving forward with the administrative hearing process — bringing consistency and oversight to an area that has lacked both,” says DEA Administrator Terry Cole in a statement.  Cole adds, "Our men and women in law enforcement remain committed to fighting drug cartels, the fentanyl epidemic, and protecting American lives."

While medical cannabis is legal in 40 states, and several others allow for low-THC and CBD oil for medical use, and while a majority of Americans support legalization, political pushback from conservative Republicans continues to this day — making the moves by the Trump administration somewhat surprising.

Trump clearly sees the political winds here more clearly than the 20 Republican senators who continue to oppose marijuana legalization or reclassification.

Related: Cannabis Farm In SoCal Sees Chaotic ICE Raid; Subsequent Protest Met With Tear Gas

A couple of one-time Rohnert Park police officers spent years posing as ATF agents and shaking down legal medical marijuana drivers for their cash and stash, and they got busted, but now their sentencing is delayed.

Before we had recreational marijuana at the beginning of 2018, we had the medical marijuana era, a sort of “wild west” period when, well, laws and regulations were much looser. Weed businesses tested these loosely regulated boundaries, as did criminals, as did cops who were criminals on the side. One notorious case of the latter was two Rohnert Park police officers who would pull over and shake down medical marijuana drivers, while falsely posing as federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) agents, and simply stealing the drivers’ weed and cash for themselves.  

These now-former officers Brendan “Jacy” Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were eventually arrested and indicted, and have turned on each other in a sense, or at least, Huffaker testified against Tatum in exchange for a lighter sentence. That sentence was supposed to have been handed down Wednesday, but Bay Area News Group reports that Huffaker’s sentencing has been delayed until February 4, because he fired his attorney (who still appeared in court Wednesday), which also means a likely delay in Tatum’s sentencing that’s scheduled for February 18.

Oh and as a hilarious aside, KQED reported last year that Tatum was busted for an illegal marijuana grow on his property last February. “I made a mistake, I know,” he reportedly told inspectors who discovered this. “I’m just trying to make some money and get things squared away for my family before I go to prison.”

Regardless, the other cop Huffaker is hoping for a sentence of home confinement and one year of supervised release. Prosecutors scoff and want a five-and-a-half year prison sentence, despite that Huffaker has many supportive letters from his buddies in law enforcement.

“Despite significant familial and community support that many defendants don’t have, as well as a solid job and relative financial security, [Huffaker] engaged in criminal activity based seemingly on greed and a desire to exert power over those within his domain,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo, per the News Group.

Though perhaps we should not feel that bad for former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker. As the Bay Area News Group points out, the City of Rohnert Park had to pay him a $75,000 settlement to get him to quit his job as a cop, despite the lengthy list of federal charges against him.

Related: Oakland PD Officer Placed On Leave After Giant Illegal Marijuana Grow Found in His Antioch Home [SFist]

Image: SAN FRANCISCO - JUNE 22: A Federal law enforcement agent carries a pile of marijuana plants siezed during a raid of a medicinal marijuana club June 22, 2005 in San Franciso, California. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

This week: Trans BIPOC memorabilia through the ages, Oakland Ballet turns 60, Southern BBQ in the East Bay, and a Sonoma coast road trip. Plus, a refuge for Jews on Christmas, the Christmas Bird Count, an inside look at SF’s “Holiday House,” and a “holiday jay” box set.

Holiday jays

A Northern California cannabis collective has put together a holiday gift box aimed squarely at weed connoisseurs. Emerald Triangle Craft’s 12 Jays of X-Mas bundles a dozen one-gram pre-rolls from farms across the region, spanning sativas, indicas, and hybrids, each labeled by grower and strain.

The packaging, illustrated by artist Mabel Alcock, highlights the farmers as much as the product, framing the set as a snapshot of the Emerald Triangle’s small-scale cannabis economy. The box is available at a variety of Bay Area dispensaries. — Broke-Ass Stuart

Leaps through time

Oakland Ballet marks its 60th year in motion, shaped by ambition, collapse, reinvention, and a stubborn commitment to the city it calls home. Founded in 1965, the company weathered national tours, lean years, a mid-2000s shutdown, and a revival under artistic director Graham Lustig, who has expanded the repertoire while keeping the organization afloat.

Recent seasons have included culturally specific works like Luna Mexicana and Dancing Moons Festival, with The Nutcracker remaining both an artistic anchor and a financial lifeline. The Nutcracker runs December 20 and 21 at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. — The Oaklandside

Counting the flyway

Now through January 5, the Audubon Society is inviting the public to take part in its annual Christmas Bird Count, one of the country’s longest-running wildlife surveys, with a couple Bay Area events coming up.

Additionally, photographer Dick Evans and wilderness guide and author Hannah Hindley are celebrating the release of In the Shadow of the Bridge: Birds of the Bay Area, which maps the region as a key stop along the Pacific Flyway. Evans and Hindley will speak at Book Passage in Corte Madera, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, on January 17. — Bay Area News Group

Storybook lights on the hill

With the Castro’s beloved Tom & Jerry house now dark, another longtime standout can be found just up the hill in Corona Heights. The so-called Holiday House at 45 Upper Terrace, also known as the Storybook House, goes all in for Christmas, with a toy train looping above the enclosed front porch and Santa climbing the ladder outside.

The owners, a retired gay couple, are known for decorating their home for every holiday and recently gave a video tour showing off the house’s whimsical details, including an elevator. They bought the home for $800,000 in 1997, and today it’s estimated to be worth between $8 million and $10 million. — San Francisco Bucket List

A Jewish Christmas tradition

For more than three decades, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy has given Jews in San Francisco (and many gentiles, we imagine) somewhere to gather each Christmas: a Chinese restaurant, a full crowd, and a sharp lineup. Created and hosted by Lisa Geduldig, the long-running series has built a sense of continuity and community that’s carried the show through generations.

This year’s headliner is veteran stand-up Elayne Boosler, known for her dry delivery and political bite, joined by Orion Levine, Amanda Marks, and Geduldig. Runs December 24–26, Imperial Palace, 818 Washington Street — The Bay Area Reporter

Lives in full color

The GLBT Historical Society Museum’s current exhibition co-presented with the city of Richmond’s Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live, traces the lives and work of Black, Indigenous, and other trans and gender-nonconforming people of color across a century of Bay Area and national history. Photographs, performance ephemera, activist materials, and personal portraits move between the stage and daily life, from Finocchio’s cabaret performers to community organizers who fought for care and visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Figures like Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and members of the Filipino Task Force on AIDS appear alongside lesser-known artists and organizers, with an emphasis on joy, labor, and persistence. GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th Street, San Francisco’s Castro District. — San Francisco Bay Times

Smoke and memory

On a corner in the East Bay city of Richmond, CJ’s BBQ and Fish has been anchoring the neighborhood for three decades, run by nearly 80-year-old Charles “CJ” Evans, who still works the pits and the prep tables himself. The menu reflects his version of California-Southern barbecue, shaped by family roots in Arkansas, wartime Richmond history, and years of feeding shipyard workers, church folks, and regulars who never stopped coming back.

CJ’s BBQ and Fish now serves hundreds of slabs of ribs a week across its Richmond and Vallejo locations, remaining a steady fixture in a city that’s changed around it. — KQED

North on one

Highway 1 through Sonoma County offers a steady sequence of working ranch land, exposed coastline, and built-in stopping points that reward a slow drive. After Valley Ford, the road runs past Bodega Bay, where Bodega Head provides bluff walks and seasonal whale watching, then hugs the shoreline through state park land with beaches and pullouts at places like Wright’s Beach, Shell Beach, and the Kortum Trail.

Jenner marks a visual shift, with the Russian River spreading out before meeting the Pacific, harbor seals on the sandbar, and viewpoints near River’s End that invite a longer pause. North of town, the highway climbs into high green cliffs toward Fort Ross and Salt Point State Park, then eases into Sea Ranch, where low-profile homes and signed public trails lead to the bluffs before the road crosses into Mendocino County. — Marin Independent Journal

Top Image: Oakland Ballet/Facebook

Previously: Field Notes: Ube, Latkes, Native Plants of the Presidio, and Sarah Winchester’s Architectural Vision

• A man went missing in Big Sur Saturday near the same spot as a father and his seven-year-old daughter were killed last week. Despite warnings of 13- to 18-foot sneaker waves, the victim and two female companions were swept away while climbing rocks along the coastline; the women made it back to shore. [Bay Area News Group]  
• A multi-agency raid in Santa Rosa Wednesday resulted in the discovery of a large illegal cannabis extraction laboratory full of “dangerous and highly volatile chemicals.” Authorities say the 17,000-square-foot lab, which contained several million dollars worth of marijuana concentrates, posed a risk to the lives of its employees and neighbors when it allegedly violated multiple county codes. [KRON4]
• The East Bay city of Antioch is now receiving 30% of its water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as a result of its new $120 million desalination plant, which treats a mix of saltwater and freshwater, referred to as brackish water. [Chronicle]
• Investigators from the California Highway Patrol office in Santa Rosa are seeking information about a bicyclist in Petaluma who was found dead Saturday morning following a suspected hit-and-run during foggy conditions. [KPIX]
• The death of a woman who sustained severe trauma at an Oakland residence on Friday morning is being investigated as a homicide, but no further information has been released pending autopsy results. [Bay Area News Group]
• BART is hosting its third annual SweaterFest on December 13 at Rockridge Station Plaza in Oakland, featuring a slew of activities, including rides on the BARTmobile, and lots of BART swag. [KRON4]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

• Adam Thomas Cordle, 50, was convicted of indecent exposure Wednesday for an incident in July in which he was caught masturbating in the bushes by a local woman walking alone in SF’s Crocker Amazon Park. [KRON4]
• The Trump administration announced Thursday it’s allowing new oil drilling off the coasts of Florida and Southern California for the first time in decades. [Associated Press]

• Students at Sonoma County’s Windsor Middle School found a loaded gun Friday during a field trip to Foothill Regional Park, which police suspect was hidden during an investigation of a nearby car crash in October. [KRON4]
• As part of a recent $2.5 billion settlement over Amazon’s alleged misleading Prime enrollment process, the company has begun sending out automatic refunds to customers who signed up between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025 — and used three or fewer Prime services in any 12-month period, which should hit customers’ PayPal or VenMo accounts by December 24. [CBS News]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Former Cafe Flore owner Terrance Alan started as a member of the “gay weed mafia” that won medical marijuana legalization in 1996, and co-founded the SF Entertainment Commission. And the Flore Dispensary owner has just passed away at age 73.

If there were a Mount Rushmore honoring the four San Franciscans who are most responsible for legal marijuana, Terrance Alan’s face would be on that Mount Rushmore, along with Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary.

In the 1990s, the SFPD described Terrance Alan as part of “Dennis Peron’s gay weed mafia,” and often busted Alan’s parties. But once Peron, Alan, and Brownie Mary worked to legalize medical marijuana in 1996’s Prop 215, Terrance Alan co-founded the nation’s first ever nonprofit cannabis dispensary CHAMP (Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems) right here in San Francisco. Alan has most recently been the owner of the Castro’s Flore Dispensary, and co-founded City Hall’s SF Entertainment Commission in 2009.

But as noted in the above post from SPARC dispensary CEO Erich Pearson, Terrance Alan has died. SFst confirmed the sad news with staff members at the Flore Dispensary. He was 73.

“Terrance always rose to the occasion,” Pearson told SFist on Monday. “Every time I ever talked to Terrance or was around Terrance, there was always some community project he was working on. He was a tireless advocate for the community. He always put the community first.”

Any of us would do well in life to earn the kind of writeup Alan got in this 2009 New York Times profile. As the Times described, “Terrance Alan has worked in construction and owned strip joints, taught handicapped children and peddled low-budget gay pornographic movies, mostly starring Terrance Alan.”

These days Alan is best known as the founder and owner of the Castro’s Flore dispensary, and was also the co-owner of the famed Cafe Flore across the street from 2016 to its then-closure in 2020. (Cafe Flore became Fisch & Flore under new ownership last year, but that too has since closed.) And when he was co-owner of Cafe Flore, Alan tried to start serving infused cannabis drinks, until the law told him he could not do that.

But Terrance Alan did many other things that law said he could not do, because he got the laws changed. “It was Cafe Flore where Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary met and came up with the idea of Prop 215,” Alan told me in 2018.

He then worked to help pass Prop 215, and after its passage helped establish the SF dispensary CHAMP. Once recreational cannabis arrived in late 2016, Alan co-wrote what would be SF’s legal marijuana laws on the San Francisco Cannabis Legalization Task Force and the state-level California State Legalization Task Force.

“When [legal] cannabis came around and there was a void on the cannabis task force, Terrance was the one who stepped up and just put voluminous amounts of work and volunteer hours to building a task force that worked for the cannabis industry,” Pearson tells us.

You may also remember Alan’s work establishing the Love Parade that used to happen in the mid-2000s. Alan also founded the advocacy group SF Late Night Coalition, which became legitimate and turned into the official SF Entertainment Commission that still meets at City Hall today.

“When it was late-night issues in the neighborhoods, and the conflict during the [Mayor Willie] Brown days between entertainment and neighbors, Terrance was the one along with some others were quite the force in City Hall, forming the SF Late Night Coalition, and the SF Entertainment Commission came out of that too,” Pearson says.

Terrance Alan’s cause of death is unclear, though associates tell us he has recently been in an ICU. We may learn more in time for the many, many remembrances and memorials that San Francisco will hold for him in the weeks to come.

Related: Legal Pot Turns 25: The Sticky Road from Medical Marijuana Raids to a $4 Billion Industry [SFist

Image: Terrance Alan via Facebook

• Mayor Lurie’s office bypassed getting approval from the San Francisco Arts Commission when they launched the “Big Art Loop.” The project, which was funded by billionaire Sid Sijbrandij, will alter the city’s landscape — for better or worse, and not enough people are pushing back on it. [KQED]
• An early morning CHP chase in San Leandro Saturday led to the deaths of the driver and one passenger and serious injuries for a second passenger in the fleeing car; two officers also sustained serious, but not life-threatening, injuries. [KRON4]
• California Highway Patrol officers seized 218 pounds of cannabis when they noticed a "strong odor" during a traffic stop on I-80 in Berkeley Monday evening. [KPIX]
• Two suspects were arrested Thursday in Hayward in connection with a series of violent Berkeley home invasions targeting women. [Bay Area News Group]
• May your Saturday be as refreshing as this orangutan’s at the San Francisco Zoo. [KGO]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

• Both houses approved a bill Wednesday that would reverse the new 19% state excise tax rate on cannabis products back to 15%, which took effect in July. The measure was introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney who says the new hike has impacted sales negatively statewide. [KPIX]
• The Associated Press awarded Golden State Valkyries Coach Natalie Nakase “Coach of the Year” Friday, and Vs guard Veronica Burton received “Most Improved Player.” With Nakase’s guidance, the team has “wildly outperformed expectations” and is the first expansion team in history to make it to the playoffs in its first year. [ESPN]
• Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm is pushing shareholders to approve Elon Musk’s nearly $1 trillion pay package, while critics point to Tesla’s falling sales, shrinking profits, and the flopped Cybertruck. [New York Times]
• Legislators have approved a bill that would ban local, out-of-state, and federal law enforcement officers from wearing face masks, which awaits Newsom’s decision. [NBC Bay Area]

• Here’s a reminder that not too long ago a large number of cities in the Bay Area were once considered sundown towns where Black, Latino, and Asian Americans were strictly allowed to enter for work during daytime hours and then escorted out by police at dusk. [Paralegal_ via Bay Area Alert]

National:

• In some strange news, two Cornell students legally hunted a black bear and brought it back to their dorm to skin and butcher, prompting complaints but no charges. Bears have long been part of Cornell tradition, appearing in school imagery and on fan gear, though not as the official mascot. [NBC News]
• A new study suggests that allergy nasal sprays containing the ingredient azelastine may significantly reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, though it’s not FDA-approved for that use. [CNN]
• A federal judge in Arizona has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting dozens of Guatemalan and Honduran children in U.S. shelters and foster care, extending the order until September 26. [Associated Press]

Video of the Day:

The clowns are yucking — and mucking — things up in front of the SF Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery Street every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Join them!

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Cannabis activist Richard Lee, who opened two highly successful (and highly illegal) medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland, founded Oaksterdam University, and bankrolled the recreational cannabis measure, just died at 62.  

If you’ve enjoyed strolling into your local legal cannabis dispensary and buying weed, without the hassle of the old street-level pot dealer runaround, you may not realize how much you have a man named Richard Lee to thank for this privilege. Lee founded a couple of Oakland medical marijuana dispensaries before these were legal (and was raided for doing so), then established the popular Oakland cannabis trade school Oaksterdam, and largely bankrolled the 2010 Prop 19 recreational marijuana ballot initiative with the millions he made selling the sticky-icky.

That 2010 measure was unsuccessful, but it directly led to Washington and Colorado legalization measures two years later, and then the successful 2016 California recreational cannabis ballot measure. For his contributions to paving the path to legalization, Richard Lee was dubbed “the Johnny Appleseed of Pot” by NPR.

But Richard Lee died from cancer complications in a Houston hospital last month, as the New York Times reports. He was 62.

Lee fell into the nascent medical marijuana industry, quite literally. That is, he fell from the scaffolding while setting up gear at an Aerosmith show in New Jersey in 1990 at the age of 28, and was left in a wheelchair for life. He found marijuana helped with his back spasms, and went on to establish Oakland’s Blue Sky Coffeeshop (1999) and Bulldog Coffeeshop (2003), both of which were more cannabis dispensaries than coffee shops.  

Lee then founded the famed Oakland cannabis trade school Oaksterdam University in 2007, and threw about $1.5 million of his own money into Prop 19. This (allegedly) led to the feds raiding Oaksterdam in in 2012, and Lee always felt this was payback for his Prop 19 contributions.

Back in 2012, President Barack Obama, then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and then-state Attorney General all opposed recreational cannabis. Now they all support it, nudged along by activists like Richard Lee.

“Richard’s courage to fight when it wasn’t easy, when it wasn’t safe, and when few others dared, led to a domino effect of global change that we are still witnessing today,” Oaksterdam’s current CEO and executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones said in a statement after his passing. “He didn’t wait for the system to catch up; he worked relentlessly to make it right. His legacy is one of freedom for individuals, freedom for communities, and freedom for families who can now thrive without the shadow of an unjust system hanging over them.”

Oaksterdam University is planning a Richard Lee Celebration of Life and Legacy on Sunday, November 9 from 12 pm to 5 pm at the Chapel of the Flowers in Berkeley. The ceremony will be livestreamed.

Related: Oaksterdam University Allegedly Targeted For Founder's Prop 19 Support [SFist]

Image: OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 12: Medical marijuana activist and Oaksterdam University founder Richard Lee speaks during a news conference to bring attention to California State Proposition 19, a measure to legalize marijuana in California on October 12, 2010 in Oakland, California. In less than three weeks voters will go to the polls to decide on Prop 19, the measure to legalize and tax cannabis in the State of California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A federal jury on Friday convicted former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker on all six counts tied to a yearslong scheme in which he and other officers illegally stopped drivers on Highway 101 and stole their cannabis and cash — prior to the legalization of recreational cannabis.

As KQED reports, charges included conspiracy, extortion, falsifying records, impersonating a federal officer, and filing a false tax return. Prosecutors said Huffaker and his former sergeant, Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, used fake credentials to pose as federal agents, pulled over vehicles, seized marijuana, and created false paperwork to cover it up. As citizen blog, Redheaded Blackbelt, reports, the scheme operated under the guise of Rohnert Park’s now-defunct drug interdiction team, which was disbanded in 2017 after California legalized recreational cannabis.

As the Press Democrat reports, jurors reached a unanimous verdict after just 90 minutes of deliberation. Huffaker faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 15. He remains out of custody.

The case dates back to traffic stops conducted between 2015 and 2018, which Redheaded Blackbelt and KQED have covered extensively, when Huffaker and Tatum unlawfully seized more than two tons of cannabis and trafficked it for profit. Huffaker was tied to a 2017 stop through phone records and testimony from a co-conspirator who said he helped load 100 to 200 pounds of marijuana from the highway and later sold it on the officers’ behalf.

Evidence also showed that Huffaker admitted to the FBI during a proffer interview that he and Tatum conspired to extort marijuana from drivers and expected to profit from the thefts — though he later withdrew from plea negotiations and went to trial.

Tatum, who led the interdiction unit, pleaded guilty in 2021 to related federal charges and testified against Huffaker as part of a cooperation deal. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. He was placed on the Sonoma County District Attorney’s “Brady list” in 2016 for documented dishonesty. In 2024, he was also cited for operating an illegal indoor cannabis grow on his property while awaiting sentencing.

Huffaker was initially terminated by the city but reached a settlement allowing internal affairs records to remain sealed. Rohnert Park has paid more than $1.8 million to settle civil suits filed by victims of the unlawful stops. One of those victims, Mendocino grower Huedell Freeman, said officers took 47 pounds of cannabis for which he had legal documentation. Another, Texas resident Zeke Flatten, was the first to speak out publicly and helped trigger the federal investigation.

Flatten said he was pulled over by men in green uniforms with no name tags who claimed to be ATF agents. He was later able to identify Huffaker but not the second officer, who remains unnamed. Prosecutors dropped Flatten from the case this spring, but the defense added him back as a witness and alleged he had once worked as a paid FBI informant — something Flatten said was unrelated to this case.

Court records also show that Huffaker and Tatum tried to cover up at least one stop by creating a press release with falsified details using Huffaker’s wife’s computer. The document, meant to account for one seizure, mistakenly described a different incident — highlighting the extent to which records were fabricated and reused.

Despite evidence from multiple sources, including internal police communications and FBI interviews, Huffaker's defense argued he was acting under orders and blamed Tatum and other city officials for orchestrating the thefts. Huffaker cycled through at least seven defense attorneys before trial.

Four other officers who participated in the seizures — Matthew Snodgrass, Nicholas Miller, Chris Snyder, and Chris Medina — were initially listed as prosecution witnesses but now appear on the defense’s list. Most continued working in law enforcement in other departments after the scandal.

“This is not a license to rob, to steal, to kill, to hurt people,” said civil rights attorney Izaak Schwaiger, who represented victims in the case. “This verdict shows that badge or not, you're not above the law.”

Huffaker’s conviction marks one of the most serious police corruption verdicts in recent North Bay history.

Image: Inventorchris/Flickr

A chaotic scene on California's Central Coast is making the national news Thursday evening as an ICE raid at a cannabis farm was met with a protest, and federal agents and National Guard troops then began deploying tear gas and rubber bullets.

Two raids occurred around 10 am Thursday at a pair of Central Coast cannabis farms. The Santa Barbara Independent identifies both farms as Glass House Farms locations, one in Carpinteria, in Santa Barbara County, and one in Camarillo, in Ventura County. An alert reportedly went out from the 805 Immigrant Coalition saying that dozens of ICE vehicles and many agents arrived simultaneously at both locations.

As KTLA reports, the scene at the Ventura County farm drew a protest by community members, after an unknown number of farm workers were being detained by ICE agents. Around 12:35 pm, the news station reported seeing tear gas canisters being deployed into the crowd of protesters.

At least 30 people were seen in handcuffs along a wall at the farm, and hundreds were part of the protest. KTLA could not confirm how many people were arrested, or how many of those may have been there to protest — but they said witnesses saw two vans leaving the area with 15 people detainees in each of them.

The LA Times reports that around 500 people had gathered to protest at the Camarillo farm by mid-afternoon.

Paramedics reportedly set up a triage area outside the Camarillo farm to treat people who were exposed to tear gas. Video from the scene showed what appeared to be National Guard troops deploying flash bangs and possibly shooting rubber bullets while protesters screamed "Fuck you!" KTLA reported that the crowd was seen picking up rocks or other items to throw at the troops.

The Santa Barbara Independent reports that protesters arrived at the Carpinteria location as well.

Congressmember Salud Carbajal came to the scene in Carpinteria, where he said "ICE was conducting a raid using disproportionate displays of force against local farm workers and our agricultural community."

Carbajal said that though it was his right as a member of Congress to observe these raids, he was denied entry to the area when he arrived.

"There’s been a troubling lack of transparency from ICE since the Trump Administration started, and I won’t stop asking questions on behalf of my constituents," Carbajal said, per the Independent. "Let me be clear: these militarized ICE raids are not how you keep our communities safe. This kind of chaos only traumatizes families and tears communities apart."

A four-alarm fire broke out Friday evening in a commercial building near the Oakland Coliseum, which housed a suspected cannabis grow operation. About 75 firefighters were called to the scene, and the fire was brought under control after a few hours.

As the Chronicle reports, the fire started around 4:55 p.m. on East 8th Street. Firefighters arrived to find the warehouse fully engulfed in flames, with a rapid spread unusual for a building of its size. Due to the structure’s instability and hazards inside, crews fought the fire from the outside.

Chief Damon Covington and Battalion Chief Jeddi provided an update from the scene of this evenings 4 Alarm fire in the 5200 block of East 8th St in East Oakland. Tremendous job by crews to contain this large fire and prevent significant impact and mass displacement of neighbors. pic.twitter.com/DXrLyXMFwS

— Oakland Fire Department (CA) (@OaklandFireCA) July 5, 2025

The blaze was contained by 8 p.m. with no injuries reported, as noted by Bay City News. A vacant nearby home was damaged by fire, and several vehicles, including RVs, and a utility pole were also affected.

Officials suspect the warehouse was being used as a cannabis grow operation, but the exact cause remains under investigation. Oakland Fire spokesperson Michael Hunt said investigators had preliminary information on the building’s use but couldn’t confirm specifics.

Chief Damon Covington and Battalion Chief Jeddi provided an update from the scene of this evenings 4 Alarm fire in the 5200 block of East 8th St in East Oakland. Tremendous job by crews to contain this large fire and prevent significant impact and mass displacement of neighbors. pic.twitter.com/DXrLyXMFwS

— Oakland Fire Department (CA) (@OaklandFireCA) July 5, 2025

As Bay Area News Group reports, the thick smoke from the fire was visible for miles, alarming local residents and prompting quick action from emergency crews. Mayor Barbara Lee praised the firefighters for containing the blaze without injuries.

Later that evening, a small brush fire ignited near Bishop O’Dowd High School, roughly two miles away. It burned about a quarter-acre and was contained within 25 minutes.

Cleanup and damage assessments are ongoing. Environmental teams were on-site monitoring for hazardous materials. Officials continue to investigate both fires, including whether the warehouse fire started in debris inside the building.

Top photo: Oakland Fire Department

• San Francisco-based GVA Capital has been fined $215 million for managing investments on behalf of sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov through shell companies and proxies. The venture firm used some of the funds to back startups and purchase a former Russian Hill church for a failed “Startup Temple” project. [SF Standard]
• A former Nvidia fraud prevention manager has been charged with submitting 167 fake insurance claims totaling over $100,000 to the company’s health plan. Prosecutors say she altered documents and fabricated services over a three-year period. [NBC Bay Area]
• A Flywheel taxi flipped onto its roof Friday morning near Van Ness and Fell in San Francisco’s Civic Center. The driver and passenger escaped without serious injuries, and police say no drugs or alcohol were involved. [Chronicle]
• Deshaun Mays, 43, has been charged with murdering Sir Jewel Brooks during a May 23 brawl in East Oakland. Mays has prior convictions, and Brooks had previously survived a 2022 shooting on a BART train and was a witness in another East Oakland homicide that same year. [East Bay Times]
• Sunday Streets launches its new season this Sunday in the Tenderloin, transforming Golden Gate Avenue into a car-free community celebration with live music and performances and family friendly activities. [KTVU]

• Once valued at up to $3 million, some California cannabis retail licenses are now being given away for free as market oversaturation, high fees, and competition from illegal sellers render them virtually worthless. [SFGate]

National:

• Four detainees escaped from the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, during a revolt over hunger and poor conditions—a detainee at the facility told his wife a fight broke out because they hadn’t eaten in 20 hours. Legal visits with migrants have been indefinitely suspended at the facility. [BBC]
• Viswashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed over 240 people, says he simply “walked out” after finding a gap in the wreckage near his seat. Though badly injured, Ramesh escaped the burning plane on instinct—while his brother, who was sitting just across the aisle, did not survive. [NPR]
• Anker is recalling over 1.1 million PowerCore 10000 portable chargers due to fire and explosion risks linked to overheating lithium-ion batteries, with reports of injuries and property damage. [CBS News]

Video of the Day:

• YouTubers Sam and Victor recently visited San Francisco and shared some top-notch scenes from their five action-packed days here, including stops at the de Young Museum, Amoeba Records, Transamerica Pyramid, Heath Ceramics, and lots of cafes.

Need Last Minute Plans?

• Check out Last Week, This Week for a couple suggestions, plus there’s the Juneteenth Father’s Day Festival in Bayview on Sunday, the weekend-long SF Jazz Festival, and the tail-end of National Parks Week.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Santa Rita Jail and other prisons across the state are on high alert that a potent synthetic cannabis substitute is being smuggled into their jails, soaked into completely fake legal documents that the prisoners can just shred up and smoke.  

A very interesting report in today’s Chronicle details a new drug-smuggling surge in California jails and prisons involving synthetic marijuana. At Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, staff told the Chronicle said they’re seizing the fake drug in prisoners’ mail up to three times every week. The Chronicle adds that the fake (but potent) synthetic marijuana has been seized “at more than a dozen jails and prisons across the state in recent months.”

These are probably low estimates on how much of the stuff is getting into jails and prisons. Because the smugglers are using a devious new tactic where they’re soaking fake legal documents in an aerosol or liquid version of the drug, and the prisoners can then just roll up or shred the documents, smoke them like joints, and get high in jail.

The new-ish drug is known as K2 or Spice, though has a number of other street names too. It’s not derived from real cannabis, and according to the DEA, these homebrew concoctions are “synthetic designer drugs that are intended to mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.”

And more importantly, the synthetic cannabis is colorless, orderles, and police dogs can’t smell it.

No one has been caught, arrested, or charged in these smugglings, and the prisoners of course have plausible deniability, because they can’t control who’s sending them mail from the outside. Police may not even know who’s sending it, but they’re not saying, because their investigations are ongoing.

The mail comes as labeled as if it were from an attorney’s office, and mimics the appearance of legal documents about the prisoner’s case. And the sender is often using the name of a real attorney. But many attorneys whose names in the return address do not even work in criminal law, and do not represent incarcerated clients.

“It sounds clever and sneaky,” estate planning attorney Joel Harris, whose name was used in the mailing, told the Chronicle. Harris said he was not even aware of this until the Chronicle contacted him. “You’d think the drug suppliers would use the names of criminal defense attorneys” so the mailings appeared more valid.

The sender in most cases is using a Stamps.com account, which allows total anonymity.

And officials suspect most of these drugged-up mailings are originating from the same account. So whenever these investigations crack who’s doing this, we imagine it will be a very interesting story.

That is, if they ever even catch the guys, who are covering their tracks pretty damn well so far.

Related: Woman Arrested at SFO For Allegedly Trying to Board Flight With 151 Pounds of Marijuana [SFist]

Image: Jesstess87 via Wikimedia Commons

A Glendale woman will not be flying high after an arrest at San Francisco International Airport, as she allegedly attempted to board an international flight with 151 pounds of cannabis crammed into her luggage.

Recreational-use cannabis has been legal in California for more than six years now, but there is still a huge illegal marijuana racket across the state. And the underground industry has adjusted to legalization, often shipping and smuggling the weed to other states where cannabis is not legal, because it can fetch a much higher price there. Sometimes people even try to smuggle it on international flights to other countries.

The San Mateo Daily Journal had the news this weekend that a woman was arrested for trying to bring 151 pounds of cannabis onto a flight out of SFO to Frankfurt, Germany. The arrest reportedly happened on Tuesday, May 6.

And the Daily Journal notes that the accused defendant, 34-year-old Diane Bahlawan of Glendale, had “131 separately vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana” that “were allegedly found in the four roller bags she had checked for the flight.”

Does she not know that sometimes SFO baggage handlers steal the marijuna people are trying to smuggle? Because yes that has actually happened.

The SF Chronicle picks up the story today with additional info that security flagged Bahlawan’s luggage because it seemed curiously heavy. Once that baggage was searched, Bahlawan was arrested, with her boarding pass, smartphone, and $960 in cash on her seized.

Bahlawan has been charged with unlawful transport of marijuana and burglary. She’s posted bail, and will appear in court again on June 2.

Related: Two United Airlines Employees Charged With Stealing Copious Amounts of Marijuana From Passenger Baggage [SFist]

Image: close-up dried cannabis flowers (Getty Images)