Minnesota
Walz Was in US, Not Asia, During Tiananmen Protests, Minnesota Radio Reports
Minnesota
Randy Shaver just can't quit
“To be honest, the formula never changed,” he says. “My goal was for high school football to feel like its own ‘SportsCenter.’ Give me the scores, give me the highlights, tell me what it means.”
At the height of Preps Sports Extra, he dispatched eight TV crews every Friday to games around the metro and beyond. He recalled in amazement a playoff game between Stillwater and Moorhead.
Shaver really wanted video footage but sending a crew to Moorhead by car wasn’t a realistic option. The news director offered an idea: Why not rent a plane and fly there?
“This is no lie,” Shaver says, laughing. “We rented a single-engine plane at Flying Cloud, put a photographer in it, flew him to Moorhead to shoot the first half, get back in the plane, fly back to Flying Cloud, our live truck was sitting at Flying Cloud to send us the video and we got it on the show.”
“Can you imagine even thinking of doing that today?” he says.
Minnesota
The future of medical marijuana in Minnesota
NEW HOPE, Minn. — We’re roughly three months away from recreational marijuana becoming legal to sell and purchase in Minnesota, but that big change is sure to lead to other changes when it comes to medical marijuana.
More than 48,000 Minnesotans already purchase cannabis thanks to the state’s medical marijuana program, which began enrolling in 2015. Two licensed retailers, RISE and Green Goods, operate 15 dispensary locations between them across the state.
“I had such a stigma on it and when I gave it a try, I will never go back. I will always be on medical marijuana,” Chelsea Swanson, a patient from St. Francis said. “It has helped with my nausea, with my pain, and it has helped me function. I have gotten off prescription drugs and it is because of marijuana.”
Swanson drives nearly 30 miles to shop at a dispensary in New Hope, but she wouldn’t necessarily have to travel that far or enroll in any regulatory program once recreational dispensaries open in Minnesota, which could happen as soon as next year.
Still, Swanson insisted it is worth the trip.
“What you are getting here is top quality. It is something grown and made in Minnesota,” she explained. “The plant is a plant, except for we know it’s grown here and it’s not under any harmful chemicals or fertilizers or anything else like that.”
If other states’ transitions are any indication though, the medical cannabis industry is likely to take a hit once recreational weed gets the green light in Minnesota. According to data from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, medicinal sales grossed roughly $1.2M in August 2024, while recreational sales topped a whopping $294 million.
State officials at Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management maintain the protocols regulating medical marijuana are the foundation for what will govern general adult use: everything seed to sale happens in Minnesota, not to mention the very cannabis plant and how it’s grown will be subject to the same safety standards.
Where things do differentiate, however, is at the cash register, as medical marijuana will remain tax-free.
“Every dollar counts, especially with this economy,” Swanson said. “With putting taxes on it, that would be a few hundred dollars a year for me.”
The other difference, according to state officials, is that recreational marijuana will still be subject to limits on possession and potency, while medical marijuana will not.
Besides competing with the recreational market, the medicinal market will see other changes come 2025, including dropping the $200 annual enrollment fee for patients. Also next year, patients will need recertification every three years by a physician instead of every year.
Additional changes to the medical program under the new law include allowing patients in programs in other states to buy products in Minnesota under a “visiting patient option” beginning in two years, and the age threshold for registered caregivers to purchase cannabis flower will be lowered from 21 to 18.
Minnesota
Minnesotans sweating in farm country as the Farm Bill dies (again)
Still, producers feel the heat, literally. Last Thursday, at the orchard, farmers and state officials in temperatures resembling the State Fair more than late September stood baking under a midday sun while John Jacobson, the orchard’s owner, spoke about missing those average summer temperatures. Instead, the mercuy bounces up and down during the prime growing months.
“Minnesotans are feeling the impact of climate change from higher temperatures to more extreme storms with more intense flooding,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Regarding the political climate, most say the farm bill’s next best chance for passage is the lame-duck session of Congress.
Repeating a refrain he heard from advocates during a recent barnstorming trip to Washington D.C., Lourey said “next year is not our friend,” suggesting few are willing to wait for a new Congress and president in 2025 to decide the bill’s fate.
-
News1 week ago
Money for cutting-edge climate technology could dry up in a second Trump term
-
News1 week ago
Four killed, dozens injured in Alabama shooting
-
World1 week ago
Scholz’s SPD narrowly ahead of far right in east German state: Projections
-
World1 week ago
Russian airstrike on apartment block in Kharkiv injures 21 people
-
News1 week ago
Cross-Tabs: September 2024 Times/Siena Polls in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina
-
World1 week ago
Czech main opposition party dominates regional elections
-
News1 week ago
Election 2024 Polls: Texas
-
Politics1 week ago
Elon Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC launches website to increase canvassers in battleground states