Star Tribune
Minnesota House poised to vote on legalizing marijuana
Minnesota is on the cusp of joining nearly two dozen other states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.
The DFL-controlled House began debating the marijuana bill late Monday night, though a House spokesman said a vote might not happen until Tuesday. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the measure Friday.
“This is a historic day for Minnesotans who have been waiting for cannabis legalization for many, many years. We’re going to get the job done,” said state Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, the House bill’s sponsor.
If approved, the House and Senate bills contain differences that will have to be reconciled in a conference committee. The final compromise bill would then need one last vote before heading to DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who supports legalizing marijuana.
State lawmakers face a May 22 deadline to finish their work.
House Democrats previously passed a marijuana legalization bill in 2021, but Republicans who controlled the Senate at the time refused to act on the measure.
Republicans in the House expressed reservations about the marijuana bill during a news conference Monday morning, but some members said they would vote for it.
“I myself will be supporting the bill on the floor,” said Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, adding that Democrats have adopted his recommendations to lower possession limits and give law enforcement more funding for drug recognition experts who can spot impaired drivers.
Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, said she would vote against the bill. She’s concerned that high-potency marijuana products could negatively affect young people’s health, and that allowing Minnesotans to grow their own marijuana at home could encourage black-market activity.
“We need to take our time,” Robbins said. “Minnesota is not ready for this.”
Both the House and Senate bills would allow Minnesotans 21 and older to buy up to two ounces of cannabis flower, eight grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams worth of edible products at one time. Adults could also grow up to eight cannabis plants at home.
The amount of consumable marijuana that could be possessed at home is still under debate, as is the rate at which cannabis products would be taxed. The House bill imposes a private possession limit of 1½ pounds, while the Senate caps it at 2 pounds.
House Democrats have proposed an 8% gross receipts tax on cannabis products over the next four years, while Senate Democrats recently increased their proposed tax to 10%.
“We’re going to have a good discussion about that in conference,” Stephenson said, adding that House Democrats prefer a lower tax rate.
A new state agency would be established to oversee the licensing of recreational and medical marijuana businesses.
Stephenson estimates it would take up to a year, or more, to set up the regulatory structure before commercial sales would begin. But he said marijuana use would no longer be illegal starting this summer, and home growing would also be allowed then.
“It will be a while before Minnesotans can expect to see a dispensary open up,” Stephenson said.
West offered an amendment during the House debate Monday evening to grandfather in existing hemp businesses, initially exempting them from new regulations that would be imposed under the marijuana bill.
Many hemp businesses began selling hemp-derived THC edibles and beverages after the Legislature legalized those products last year. But that law included few regulations and little enforcement for the hemp-derived THC edible industry.
West said it’s unfair for the state to change the rules on hemp products “five minutes later.”
“These hemp businesses … we passed a law and they assumed that’d be the law for more than five minutes,” West said. “It puts onerous regulations on them.”
Stephenson countered that the industry needs some guard rails. The House rejected West’s amendment.
“We all want them to continue to prosper and grow,” Stephenson said of the hemp businesses.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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