Will County News

By Mary Baskerville MANHATTAN--When Peter Ford, Ken Salamone, and Steve Maslak of White Oak Growers sought a license to grow medical marijuana on a 34-acre farm in Wilton Center, the men said their background in energy development on the East Coast gave them experience in understanding how to follow government regulations and confidence that their Illinois application met all the requirements. Earlier this year, the award went to Cresco Labs of Chicago. Cresco also was named to receive the license in two other districts, including Kankakee County. In a suit filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, White Oak Growers is seeking an injunction to prohibit the Illinois Department of Agriculture from issuing the cultivation center license, and is seeking a court review of the scoring. Ford said Wednesday that the injunction will allow the courts to “examine the decision making process.” “There was an expectation that the law—the law of the land would be follo...

A public meeting was held Monday, September 8, 2014 at the Manhattan Village Hall to discuss plans for a possible Medical Cannibus Cultivation Center at Offner and Cedar Roads in Wilton Township.  Since the land sits outside the Village of Manhattan City Limits, the Village has no authority over the site.  The meeting was hosted by White Oak Growers, the business--owned by investors from New York and Connecticut--seeking to operate the cultivation center.  White Oak Growers is seeking one of twenty-one medical cannibus cultivation center permits to be issued by the Illinois Department of Agriculture under the Illinois Compassionate Use of Medical Cannibus Pilate Program Act.  The Act was signed by Governor Quinn on August 1, 2013 and went into effect January 1, 2014. White Oak Growers stated they will pay above the minimum wage and will seek to employ veterans and people with disabilities.  White Oak Growers stated processing the marijuana plants for wholesa...