Star Tribune
Minnesota’s medical cannabis director resigns, takes job with city of Minneapolis
Minnesota now must hire top regulators for both its medical and recreational marijuana industries after the state’s medical cannabis director resigned this week.
Chris Tholkes, who’s led the Office of Medical Cannabis within the state Department of Health since 2019, said Monday that she has resigned to take a job as the City of Minneapolis’ director of health operations. Her last day with the state will be Friday, according to a Health Department spokesperson.
“This role has been like nothing else I’ve experienced. I’ve had the great honor to work with dedicated public servants, passionate and invested stakeholders, and creative and committed legislators to expand the medical program and craft an adult use [cannabis] law,” Tholkes said in a statement to the Star Tribune. “Cannabis regulatory work is intense and after 5 years of working under a microscope and at a breakneck pace, the time is right for me to make a change.”
Tholkes’ departure comes as the state’s Health Department manages not just medical cannabis but the state’s low-dose, hemp-derived THC edible and drink market. As of last week, more than 2,800 businesses have registered with the state to manufacture and/or sell hemp-derived cannabis products in Minnesota. That includes liquor stores, hemp shops and breweries.
Since this summer, the Health Department has had authority to inspect products and businesses to ensure they are complying with dosage limits, testing requirements and labeling laws, among other issues.
“All of this is really complicated and difficult and now it just got more difficult for the people left behind at the state, because they don’t have the wisdom and experience of Chris Tholkes anymore,” said Jason Tarasek, a Minnesota cannabis attorney with Vicente LLP, one of the nation’s top cannabis law firms.
Minnesota also still needs to hire a permanent director for its new Office of Cannabis Management, which will oversee the creation and regulation of the state’s recreational marijuana industry. Gov. Tim Walz’s first pick for the job, a cannabis entrepreneur named Erin DuPree, resigned in late September one day after she was appointed amid reports that she sold illegal products at her hemp store.
After the debacle, Walz pledged to hire a seasoned regulator for the job. But he hasn’t interviewed any other candidates since, according to his public schedules.
State government veteran Charlene Briner continues to lead the fledgling Office of Cannabis Management on an interim basis, saying in a recent interview she expects to be there through early 2024.
The Office of Cannabis Management last week added a new implementation chief regulatory officer, Max Zappia, who will help design and launch the agency’s regulatory structure. Zappia has been temporarily reassigned to the cannabis regulatory role from his work as the Department of Commerce’s deputy commissioner of financial institutions.
The state is hoping for retail dispensaries to open by early 2025.
Some in Minnesota’s cannabis industry had hoped for Tholkes to lead the Office of Cannabis Management. Tholkes is one of Minnesota’s most experienced cannabis regulators, contributing to policy discussions about medical cannabis, hemp and the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana. She serves as treasurer of the national Cannabis Regulators Association.
As the City of Minneapolis’ director of Health Operations — a new position approved earlier this year — Tholkes will lead “the development and implementation of City policy, goals, and strategic planning as it relates to the Health Department,” according to the job description.
“I’m looking forward to contributing to the community I live in and helping the people of our city stay safe and healthy,” Tholkes said in a statement provided by the city.
State Health Department spokesman Garry Bowman said internal staff will pick up Tholkes’ duties in the short term.
“MDH expects to post a vacancy for this position soon,” Bowman said.
Staff writers Brooks Johnson and Dave Orrick contributed to this report.
Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.
Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.
Div. I-AA
North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.
South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.
Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Div. III
Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
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