A state Superior court judge is allowing a Matanuska-Susitna Borough marijuana vote to go forward. Earlier Monday Judge David Zwink in Palmer issued an order allowing the October 4 ballot initiative on a Borough ban against commercial marijuana to stay on the ballot.
Two lawsuits filed against the Borough this month asked the courts to force the Borough to take Proposition B-1 off the Borough ballot.
In Monday’s action, Zwink also combined both lawsuits in which the plaintiffs allege that the Borough acted illegally in placing the initiative before voters.
Mat-Su Borough attorney Nicholas Spiropoulos has made the judge’s order public, although he says he is offering no comment at this time.
In his order, Judge Zwink said it would be disruptive to the election process to remove Proposition B-1 from the ballot, because absentee ballots have already been sent out, and Borough election brochures have been published.
The judge’s order allows the Mat-Su vote to proceed, while it places a hold on action on the combined cases until after Borough election results are in.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
