Star Tribune
Business owners fret as Richfield passes tobacco license limits, flavored tobacco ban
For Mark Olson, retirement hinges on being able to sell the Minnoco gas station he owns on Penn Avenue in Richfield. But he’s been worried he won’t be able to find a buyer, now that the city has an ordinance that may make it impossible to transfer his tobacco license to the next owner.
In an effort to curb smoking and vaping — especially among younger people — the Richfield City Council passed new rules this week that will make tobacco licenses nontransferable, limit the city’s number of tobacco licenses to four, and impose a ban on all flavored tobacco products, from menthol cigarettes to fruity vapes. The ordinance will take effect in 2024.
Public health advocates have been outspoken in favor of the changes, which they hope will curb smoking.
“Ending the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products will have an immediate impact on Richfield residents,” according to a statement from Bukata Hayes, vice president of racial health equity and chief equity officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “It will save lives.”
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, several people spoke in favor of the ban on flavored tobacco and a limit on tobacco licenses. They voiced concerns about smoking’s health impacts and the way flavored tobacco products have been marketed to young adults and Black people.
But some business groups and local business owners say the changes could have unintended consequences, especially the measure that would limit their ability to transfer tobacco licenses.
Tobacco sales account for almost a fifth of the revenue at Olson’s Minnoco station, he told the City Council on Tuesday. When he is ready to retire and sell the gas station, he said, the new owner would want that revenue and the tobacco license it requires. If he isn’t able to sell, he said, he may not be able to retire.
He added that had he known his tobacco license would be nontransferable when he bought the station, “I probably wouldn’t have bought it.”
Jaime Rojas, of the Twin Cities-based National Association of Tobacco Outlets, raised a similar concern for owners of stand-alone tobacco stores who want to sell. “Many of our retailers in the city are recent immigrants who believe in the American dream,” he said.
The association has also opposed flavored tobacco bans in other states.
The National Hookah Community Association, a trade group, sent a letter warning the council that a flavored tobacco ban would also prohibit hookahs. Rima Khoury, an attorney with the association, said the group sees bans on all flavored tobaccos as too broad and says bans don’t really get at the problem of teen vaping.
“They are banning this 1,000-year cultural tradition that literally has nothing to do with vapes,” Khoury said.
The association has advocated for flavored tobacco bans with carve-outs for hookah smoking, like California’s ban, or exemptions for hookah lounges such as in Massachusetts.
Correction:
A previous version of this story should have said that the tobacco ordinance under consideration passed this week.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will auction off state lands in popular northern counties next month.
The public land — in Aitkin, Cook, Itasca, and St. Louis counties — will go up for sale during the Department of Natural Resource’s annual online public land sale from Nov. 7 to 21.
“These rural and lakeshore properties may appeal to adjacent landowners or offer recreational opportunities such as space for a small cabin or camping,” the DNR said in a statement.
Properties will be available for bidding Nov. 7 through Nov. 21.
This all can trim for print: The properties include:
40 acres in Aitkin County, with a minimum bid of $85,000
44 acres in Cook County, minimum bid $138,000
1.9 acres in Itasca County, minimum bid $114,000
Minneapolis city officials say razor wire, concrete barriers and fencing will be removed from around the former Third Precinct police station – which was set ablaze by protesters after George Floyd’s police killing – in the next three weeks. The burned-out vestibule will be removed within three months with construction fencing to be erected closer to the building.
This week, Minneapolis City Council members have expressed frustration that four years after the protests culminated in a fire at the police station, the charred building still stands and has become a “prop” some conservatives use to rail against city leadership. Most recently, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a stop outside the building and criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the 2020 riots.
On Thursday, the council voted 8-3 to approve a resolution calling for “immediate cleanup, remediation, and beautification of the 3000 Minnehaha site including but not limited to the removal of fencing, jersey barriers, barbed wire, and all other exterior blight.”
Council Member Robin Wonsley said the city needs to acknowledge that many police officers stationed in the Third Precinct “waged racist and violent actions” against residents for decades.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the council wants the building cleaned up and beautified “immediately.”
“We cannot allow for this corner to be a backdrop for those who wish to manipulate the trauma of our city for political gain,” Chowdhury said.
Council Member Katie Cashman said the council shouldn’t be divided by “right-wing figures posing in front of the Third Precinct and pandering to conservative interests.”
“It’s really important for us to stay united in our goal, to achieve rehabilitation of this site in a way that advances racial healing and acknowledgement of the past trauma in this community, and to not let those figures divide us here,” she said.
It’s MEA weekend — the four-day stretch in mid-October when educators traditionally flock to St. Paul RiverCentre for a conference organized by the statewide teachers union as students and their families take an extended break.
Some orchards offer visitors the opportunity to pick their own fruit, while others operate sprawling general stores that sell a variety of apple-themed goodies.
Tiger cub twins Amaliya (female), left, and Andrei (male), right, who were born in May, hang out with their mother, Amur tiger Sundari, after making their debut in their new public habitat at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minn. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. ] LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.com (Leila Navidi)
October is usually a happenin’ month at the Minnesota Zoo. The annual Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is chock-full of meticulously decorated gourds, and this year’s event runs until Nov. 2. Tickets start at $18 for adults and $14 for children (kids younger than 2 get in free but must still register for tickets). The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular begins at 6 p.m.
But there’s another new attraction at the zoo these days: the pair of Amur tiger cubs born to 7-year-old mom Bernadette just a couple of months ago. This week, zoo officials named the young felines Marisa and Maks. The zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.
Patrons enjoy drinks and dinner on the patio Thursday evening, July 18, 2024 at Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia. Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia features a large back deck/patio area with views of Lake Waconia. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
With so many people out of town, there’s no better time to visit some of the Twin Cities’ most popular eateries.
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