Minneapolis, MN
Hi Flora! to close in Minneapolis not long after receiving $7,500 fine over alleged violations
MINNEAPOLIS — Hi Flora!, one of the early innovators in Minnesota’s budding cannabis industry, is closing up shop in early December. They opened in Minneapolis about a year and a half ago.
“It has really good energy in here. We’re welcoming and people love to come here, so it’s sad,” owner Heather Klein said.
Hi Flora! serves plant-based food and offered low-dose THC tinctures people could add to their food or drinks or take home. They also sell THC beverages in their store.
Klein, who has been sober since 2017, said she wanted to create a fun non-alcoholic bar. She said the financial struggles started in August 2023, when the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) said a customer experienced a “serious adverse health event” after consuming a product.
“The paramedics said it was a little anxiety. By the time the paramedics got here, she was fine,” she said.
Klein said they try to inform and educate customers about their products before they are consumed, and that the incident in August was rare. The OCM inspected the business following the incident, which led to alleged violations including selling products exceeding the legal amount of THC and allowing on-site consumption without an alcohol license.
Klein said the product they found to be over the legal limit was a concentrated ingredient used to create the lower-dose products.
“It wasn’t being sold, and there was no label on it because it wasn’t being sold,” she said.
Due to a 2017 alcohol charge, Klein said she can’t obtain a permanent liquor license for on-site consumption of low-dose hemp, even though her business is alcohol-free.
“That was my whole concept, so there’s not much we can do,” she said.
Klein said she was fined $7,500 for the violations. After she stopped selling the tinctures, she said sales dropped 50%.
“I had meetings with the head of the health department in here, and they approved everything I was doing,” she said.
But once the OCM took over in August, she said things were too difficult.
“There’s no clear guidelines. They seem to changing weekly, daily sometimes,” she said.
While this chapter is ending, Klein said she’s hoping to reopen in some capacity, in another smaller space.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis is ranked among the American cities with the most people in financial distress nationwide, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.
The personal finance website, which defines financial distress as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments, looked at the country’s 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine metrics, including average credit score, change in bankruptcy filings year-over-year, and share of people with accounts in distress.
Minneapolis came in 44th on the list, between Stockton, California, at 43rd and Fresno, California, at 45th, according to the ranking.
Nationwide, the cities with the most people in financial distress were Chicago at No. 1, Houston at No. 2 and Las Vegas at No. 3, the ranking said.
“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat,” according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.
“You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off. People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control.”
Read more from WalletHub.
Minneapolis, MN
Whitefish council creates proclamation in solidarity with city, citizens of Minneapolis
WHITEFISH, Mont. — The Whitefish City Council in February presented and signed a proclamation expressing solidarity with the city and citizens of Minneapolis.
The proclamation states that Whitefish mourns the loss of life that occurred in Minneapolis and stands in solidarity with its residents.
It reaffirms the city’s commitment to equal treatment under the law and emphasizes that peaceful protest is a fundamental American right.
The proclamation was supported by five of the six council members.
Mayor John Muhlfeld said the action was meant to reaffirm the city’s values.
“A mayoral proclamation that is supported by five of six City Council members supporting solidarity with the city and citizens of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and reaffirming our supportive, just, equal and welcoming community,” Muhlfeld said. “I think this is somewhat overdue. Our town’s been through a lot over the years, This is more importantly to reaffirm our values as a council with our community because we care deeply about you.”
Over the last year, Whitefish has faced criticism amid rising tensions surrounding the Department of Homeland Security.
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View the full proclamation below.
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