Ben Bulmer
After a decade of globetrotting, U.K. native Ben Bulmer ended up settling in Canada in 2009. Calling Vancouver home he headed back to school and studied journalism at Langara College. From there he headed to Ottawa before winding up in a small anglophone village in Quebec, where he worked for three years at a feisty English language newspaper. Ben is always on the hunt for a good story, an interesting tale and to dig up what really matters to the community.
Stores beginning to close in Okanagan’s oversaturated cannabis market
The oversaturated market of cannabis stores in the Okanagan has started to see its first victims as three stores across the valley have recently closed their doors. Eggs Canna in Penticton, along with the AR Cannabis Store in Vernon have…
B.C. ‘compassion club’ owner finally has cannabis trafficking sentence overturned
In a sign of the changing times, a B.C. Court has sided with a cannabis dispensary owner and overturned his sentence for trafficking marijuana. The three-judge panel at the British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed Robert James Woolsey's appeal, quashing…
Three men to be extradited to US in 15-year-old Okanagan marijuana smuggling case
Three men alleged to have been involved in smuggling marijuana in hollowed-out logs from the North Okanagan to California 15 years ago have failed to block their extradition to the United States. Following a lengthy court battle, B.C. Supreme Court…
Okanagan, Kamloops cannabis stores cry foul over exorbitant business licence fees
Owners of cannabis stores in the Okanagan and Kamloops are paying up to 65 times more for their city-issued business licences than other retailers. While licences for most businesses from call centres to contractors cost a couple of hundred dollars…
B.C. cannabis sales doubled in 2020, but Okanagan retail market still tough
Canadians spent more than twice as much cash in legal cannabis stores last year, as licensed retailers across the country rolled up $2.6 billion. In British Columbia, the figure is even higher. Numbers recently released by Statistics Canada show consumers were…
Two more pot stores approved for downtown Vernon
Downtown Vernon is slated to have two more pot shops. In a close vote at today's council meeting, Jan. 25, Vernon councillors' voted to approve two more recreational cannabis stores for the downtown core. Once the two stores open up,…
Peachland cannabis company ‘coerced and intimidated’ staff from unionizing: Labour Board
A Peachland cannabis producer has been ordered to re-hire nine staff members after the B.C. Labour Relations Board ruled the layoffs were due to the company's anti-union sentiment and an effort to coerce and intimidate the remaining staff members from…
Vernon is the cannabis capital of B.C.
The City of Vernon is the pot shop capital of B.C. with more places to buy cannabis than any other mid-sized city in the province. With 13 provincially licenced cannabis stores open, or soon to open, the city boasts the…
Enderby area dubbed ‘Greenderby’ as pot shops bloom
ENDERBY – Dubbed 'Greenderby' by one visiting elder, pockets of Splatsín First Nations land around Enderby are quickly becoming the latest hot spot for cannabis stores. Along with the endless billboards for fast-food restaurants and tourist attractions, just five kilometres…
High times at Okanagan Indian Band’s ‘Green Mile’
NORTH OKANAGAN – Turning off Highway 97 and heading southwest on Westside Road north of Vernon, motorists only need go a matter of metres before they're met with a sign that reads 'Top Hat Cannabis 14K.' The homemade sign is…
Two years after pot legalization, B.C. cops only have 10 roadside detectors
It's been almost two years since marijuana was legalized in Canada but the RCMP in British Columbia still only has 10 roadside cannabis detectors throughout the entire province. The B.C. RCMP did confirm another 30 roadside cannabis detectors were expected…
Vernon city councillor opposes ‘unfair’ B.C. Cannabis Store
A Vernon councillor is criticizing the provincial government for not doing enough for small business on the eve of the province opening its first cannabis store in the city. The government-owned B.C. Cannabis Store is due to open tomorrow, June…
Vernon puts freeze on cannabis stores
VERNON – Vernon has put a stop to any more pot shops opening in the city. The decision to put a moratorium of the number of non-medical cannabis stores was passed unanimously by Vernon city council at yesterday's, July 29,…
From pub to pot shop: Two Vernon businesses venture into a new market
VERNON – Two Vernon pubs are expanding their businesses by branching out into the recreational cannabis world. The Longhorn Pub owner Aftaab Dhillon is set to open the Greenhorn cannabis store next week, while Squires Four Pub has applied for…
Grow-op slated for Vernon’s former Far West clothing building
VERNON – With the goal to produce eight million grams of pot in its first year of operation, a cannabis cultivation company is making a new home in the former Far West clothing building in Vernon. The company intends to…