DENVER — In LoDo, the Nativ Hotel is set to open. Thursday through Saturday there will be a series of functions to welcome the boutique hotel that allows marijuana use.

“We have something for everyone here at Nativ,” said owner Mike Alexander. “We have door bells on rooms, living plant walls on our outdoor patios where guests can consume marijuana on their stays, the Stereo Lounge in the basement, and original art work throughout the hotel. We even have a coffee bar specializing in CBD infused lattes.”

The marijuana industry has a pesticide problem.

Many commercial cannabis growers use chemicals to control bugs and mold. But because of the plant’s unresolved legal status, Colorado regulators are having a tough time making sure pot buyers don’t ingest those pesticides. The parts of the federal government that regulate agricultural pesticide use want nothing to do with legalized marijuana.

“In the absence of any direction, the subject of pesticide use on the crop has just devolved to just whatever people think is working or whatever they think is appropriate,” says Colorado State University entomologist Whitney Cranshaw.

Less than a year ago, Canary, a mobile marketplace startup, was referred to as the “Uber for marijuana.” The company was founded to cater to medical marijuana patients who were not always in close proximity to a dispensary, or who had trouble getting around due to illness. Canary was also valuable to dispensaries, which benefitted from reaching more customers.

CannaVest Corp. (OTCQB: CANV), a leading manufacturer and distributor of hemp, cannabis derivative, and Cannabidiol (CBD) based products, today announced that it has closed a $6,500,000 financing with an institutional investor, which will provide CannaVest with additional working capital as it continues to rapidly expand its customer base and sales channel. As more particularly set forth in CannaVest's Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 21, 2015, the financing is structured in tranches, where CannaVest will receive four tranches of $500,000 each, and a final two tranches of $2.25 million upon the effectiveness of its registration statement to be filed with the SEC seeking to register the shares issuable under the financing.

In between slurps of soup and sips of coffee, Jindřich Vobořil tells a story of his youth that would sell out a Broadway theater. He lived on and off the streets in his hometown of Brno, Czechoslovakia, running with local gangs. By age 12, he was burning through 30 cigarettes a day and says he moved on to hard drugs by his teenage years. By the mid-’80s, Vobořil was a 17-year-old dropout who played guitar in a rock band and had joined the nation’s preeminent anti-communist organization, Charter 77, before becoming … a Catholic, organizing underground religious activities — back then, religious people were persecuted by the government.

Friends, meet the unlikeliest top-level bureaucrat on planet Earth.

Mitchell Trellis is putting everything on the line for a chance at what could be one of the most lucrative new business opportunities in Maryland: medical marijuana.

Trellis’ company, Maryland Wellness Access LLC, is among those gearing up to compete for one of 15 licenses Maryland will issue to cultivate cannabis and sell it to dispensaries. Trellis thinks the company’s best shot for a strong application — and being able to open for business — is to have the company ready to fire out of the gate, should Maryland give the signal.

“This is a heavy lift,” Trellis said. “This is kind of a difficult situation for an entrepreneur. You have to invest upfront without the promise of winning, then have the resources set up if you do win.”

In trying to understand the needs of what is now the largest generation in the American workforce, millennials, a survey was conducted to determine the status of their views on their working conditions.

The “lack of company support for training and development” is the top most surprising aspect of work in the “real world,” according to a recent survey, Millennial Mindset Study by Mindflash.

However this group isn’t sitting around complaining. In fact 88% are willing to invest personally or sacrifice anything from vacations to coffee habits to train themselves in the skills needed to compete in the workforce today.

How could a company with the capital and resources of Google have miscalculated the demand for Google Glass? Why would a conglomerate the size of Blockbuster not recognize that online movie rentals and sales were quickly outpacing the demand for DVD’s?

The answer is the inability or lack of desire to change.

I’m not referring to the ability to introduce change, but specifically the ability to predict, respond and adapt to changes being thrust upon the business. Consider the three most fundamental areas of business that influence the profitability and viability of any business.

SEATTLE (AP) - With Washington state overhauling its medical marijuana law, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says the city is planning to shutter dozens of dispensaries.

Murray on Tuesday announced plans to require a new special business license for marijuana establishments, akin to those required for taxi operators and pawn shops. Under the mayor's plan, the businesses will be required to obtain the licenses by July 2016.

But just as the state's new medical marijuana law gives priority in licensing to dispensaries that were in operation before Jan. 1, 2013, so does Murray's proposal. Seattle officials say that by their tally, 54 of the city's 99 medical marijuana storefronts opened after that date or have been operating without a city business license.

By Aaron Burke

Patients, activists, lawmakers, and citizens around the country have worked hard to get people who need it and want it, legal access to marijuana. Somewhere between legislators, regulators, and healthcare professionals, every professional marijuana business has a great opportunity and responsibility to fill a big gap by: