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, MN
Minneapolis preschool teacher recounts hit-and-run crash: “This is not how I’m going to die”
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis woman is recovering in the hospital with several broken bones after a hit-and-run crash.
Julia Klatt Singer, a Minneapolis preschool teacher, poet and painter, said she was crossing Central Avenue at Second Street East on a green light after 4 p.m. last week. A large black SUV approached her as she was halfway through the crosswalk, she said.
“I just remember flying through the air and as I was flying through the air, I was thinking, ‘This was not how I’m going to die.’” said Singer.
Soon after, a crowd gathered around her to help. So too, Singer said, did the driver of that SUV.
“I heard a voice, I didn’t see the person, say, ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you.’” she said.
But not long after, Singer said the driver disappeared.
Singer is now laid up at Hennepin County Medical Center, covered in bandages and medical equipment. Her injuries include a broken heel and knee, and a fractured hip and vertebrae.
She has now been through two surgeries.
“I know he didn’t mean to hit me, but he just wasn’t paying attention,” said Singer.
Singer said she is incredibly lucky to be alive and is grateful to say she will eventually be back walking and biking.
She thinks whoever hit her got overwhelmed, scared and fled.
It’s time now, she said, for that person to take accountability.
“I know it would make it so much easier for my family members because they feel pretty powerless, and they know what a long road of rehab I have, and it would just feel better to have that person come forward and say they had done it,” said Singer.
Minneapolis police said they are still investigating. So far, there have been no arrests.
Minneapolis, MN
Post Malone and Jelly Roll to team up on 2025 stadium tour coming to Minneapolis in May
Two dudes who are a little bit country and a little bit rock ’n’ roll, Post Malone and Jelly Roll are teaming up to create one big concert tour coming to Minneapolis in May.
The tattoo-faced singers will perform together at U.S. Bank Stadium on May 20 as part of their so-called Big Ass Stadium Tour. Minneapolis’ date falls about a third of the way into the 2½-month outing, which is set to kick off April 29 in Salt Lake City. Acclaimed roots-music revivalist Sierra Ferrell will serve as an opening act on the Minnesota date.
Fans can register for access to presale tickets at signup.ticketmaster.com/postmalone. Presale buying options begin Wednesday ahead of the general public sales, which beginning Nov. 26 at noon via Ticketmaster. Tour promoter Live Nation is not listing prices yet in keeping with its “dynamic-pricing” techniques.
The tour announcement follows Post Malone’s crossover into the country music world with his sixth album, “F-1 Trillion,” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts and earned a Grammy nomination for best country album. Hype for the record was generated by the single “I Had Some Help,” a duet with Morgan Wallen that wound up being one of the biggest hits of summer and gave Post (aka Austin Post) another Grammy nomination — along with the tune’s seven credited co-writers — for best country song.
Jelly Roll is also on a roll. His 2024 single in the same self-help mold as Malone’s hit, “I Am Not Okay,” also earned two Grammy nominations after topping the country charts. The Tennessee-reared singer had his big breakthrough just a year earlier with the hits “Son of a Sinner” and “Save Me.”
The May concert will be Jelly Roll’s first stop in Minnesota since he headlined We Fest in past August. Malone skipped our state on his previous tour and has not performed here since selling out Xcel Energy Center in 2022, when the Dallas native’s set lists were still largely infused with his hip-hop-styled hits such as “Rockstar,” “Better Now” and “Psycho.” A lot has changed since then.
Minneapolis business leaders start petition opposing proposed Labor Standards Board
Many business organizations in Minneapolis have started an online petition opposing the City Council’s recent vote to create a 15-person Labor Standards Board to oversee minimum wage laws, employee benefits and training.
Loon Café owner Tim Mahoney told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the plan is get enough signatures to convince Mayor Jacob Frey to veto the recently approved measure.
“If we can get 2,000 signatures, get them to his office, he says he will veto it. Maybe he won’t, maybe he will,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney says the city already has a competitive minimum wage ordinance when held against comparable cities. He fears the newly approved Labor Standards Board could drive small businesses and paying customers out of the city.
“It’s not just about the restaurant industry. It’s about small businesses and businesses as a whole in Minneapolis,” Mahoney said. “By midnight, customers are hitting the road. We used to have to kick people out of here at 2 in the morning. It’s just not that way anymore. And why?”
Michael Rubke supports the Labor Standards Board. He said it is something that’s been promised by Frey and other city leaders.
“It’s really important that we get this passed. This is one of those rare opportunities where the workers, the working class, get an equal voice at the table with the business owners,” Rubke said. “This is about the Labor Standards Board, something he promised. Just make sure he knows that. He promised this.”
In a statement, Mayor Frey’s office said, “Mayor Frey has long been a champion of a balanced, fair, and equitable Labor Standards Board — but the Council’s proposal isn’t that. The mayor is meeting with stakeholders from the business and labor communities to determine next steps.”
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