U.S. Hemp Co. faces eviction
A company that opened an office in Spokane Valley to distribute hemp products is facing eviction from the Spokane Business and Industrial Park for not paying several months worth of rent, according to court records.
U.S. Hemp Co., a Santa Cruz, Calif., company, opened an office in the industrial park in January. The company’s owner, Aaron Carvajal, said at the time that he chose the area because of its close proximity to Canada, where hemp production is legal.
Crown West Realty, which owns and runs the industrial park, sent the company a notice in late August stating it had three days to pay $3,547.70 in back rent and fees or face eviction from its 4,000-square-foot space.
According to the filings in Superior Court, U.S. Hemp Co. didn’t pay, and now a judge has ordered Carvajal to explain why before considering removing the company from the property.
A message left for Carvajal wasn’t returned, and the company’s operations manager, Amy Hoppen, declined to comment.
U.S. Hemp Co. was formed in 2004. The Spokane Valley operation is the company’s first outside of Santa Cruz.
Spokane Valley
Valley woman sparks connection
A Spokane Valley woman who has made a career of connecting small, minority-owned businesses with large government contracts recently landed a $2 million contract for a Kennewick electric firm.
“It’s a huge coup for me,” said Carla Wessel, who operates Wessel and Associates out of her home. “It’s a great thing for Spokane. We’re trying to build up business and economic development here in Spokane.”
Wessel’s client, Cheyenne Electric, will replace a fire alarm system and upgrade the automation system at the Bonneville Power Administration building in Portland.
Wessel instigated the collaboration between Cheyenne Electric and the General Services Administration on the contract. It was the second-largest government contract Wessel has landed for a client after two years in business.
The BPA project began in August and is expected to be complete by June 2007, a news release said.
New York
Ex-NYSE chief wants new judge
Former New York Stock Exchange chief Dick Grasso would like a new judge for his pending civil trial against New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to ensure impartiality.
Grasso’s lawyers last week filed a motion to have the case reassigned to a new judge. New York state Judge Charles E. Ramos has been handling the pretrial stage of the case and is set to hear a trial that may start as soon as October.
Spitzer sued Grasso, alleging his $187.5 million pay package was excessive for the head of a New York not-for-profit company, which the NYSE was before it went public in March as NYSE Group Inc.
Lawyers for Grasso filed papers arguing for a new judge on the grounds that Ramos held settlement discussions with the parties in which he made statements that “could reasonably be interpreted as impairing Grasso’s right to have his case resolved in a fair and impartial manner.”
Compiled from staff
and wire reports