Yet Another Billboard Has Yakima ‘Fuming’ Mad, Maybe They Can Weed It All Out

It's happening, folks! I'm calling it #TokemonGate: Yet ANOTHER billboard has some Yakima residents fuming mad with a super bowl of outrage!

After last week's disastrous billboard dramz, here comes Sweet Relief marijuana dispensary (1009 E Yakima Ave) with an advertisement that took some residents' breath away with its daft sense of humor.

The Yakima Herald reports that Sweet Relief owners purchases a billboard that read "Sweet Relief...Located in the Palm Springs of Washington". (Just a bit of background for Yakima newbies, the phrase "The Palm Springs of Washington" is equally loved and hated by current and past residents.) In an ode to that famous billboard sign one sees upon entering Yakima, located off the freeway of I-82, the Sweet Relief borrowed the phrase in jest.

The creator of that phrase, Gary Lukehart, was not amused. He asked the cannibus retailer, which purports to "believe in clean, fresh flower and pure cannabis concentrates", to remove the sign because it comes within a hair split of infringement on his trademark.

The billboard sign will come down soon, but it has stirred up the pot of those who are adamantly opposed to Yakima being compared to Palm Springs, CA, in the first place.

I hope they never take down the "Welcome to Yakima, The Palm Springs of Washington" sign, because it was the first thing I saw when I moved into town, and I get a hearty chuckle every time I pass it! It gives our city some character and marks itself as a place that should never take itself too seriously!

Besides, I love referring to Palm Springs as the Yakima of California, just for spite!