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Prairie Island Community opens adult-use cannabis dispensary
A grand opening celebration is set for Saturday morning at the tribal dispensary nearest to the Twin Cities.
RED WING, Minn. — Island Pezi, the state’s newest tribal adult-use cannabis company, has seen a steady stream of customers since its soft opening on Monday.
The dispensary is owned and operated by the Prairie Island Indian Community near Red Wing, less than an hour from downtown Minneapolis. It’s far closer to the Twin Cities market than Red Lake and White Earth, the two tribal nations that opened dispensaries in Northern Minnesota.
Blake Johnson, president of Prairie Island CBH Inc., said this store is the culmination of a process that started a year and a half ago, navigating through regulations, business planning, and designs. That included the decision to use the word Pezi – one of the ways of saying “grass” in the Dakota language.
“This name came about through a community effort, so the name and the logo design was all a community-based effort that brought everything together to get the community involvement,” Johnson told KARE.
“As Dakota people anything that comes from Ina Maka which is Mother Earth, is something that’s meant to be here. We see that as a medicine. That is our approach to this.”
Indeed, many of the customers leaving the Island Pezi store told us they use cannabis products for pain management or to help with anxiety and insomnia. None of them wanted to be quoted for this article, or to appear on camera, saying their co-workers and relatives aren’t all on board with legalized weed yet.
For now, Prairie Island is selling cannabis and hemp-derived products made by the White Earth Community, through a tribe-to-tribe agreement.
“We don’t have product available on our reservation for the time being, so being able to partner with White Earth to sell their product here at the start is one of those opportunities to show our sovereignty, to work with tribal-to-tribal government relations.”
The state is still in the process of setting final rules for commercial cannabis operators and putting a licensing system in place for 2025. In the meantime, the state’s sovereign tribal nations can get a head start on retail sales.
For now, it’s a cash-only business at Island Pezi, but debit cards will be added soon. And it’s strictly a to-go proposition — no consumption of cannabis is allowed on property, any public spaces on the reservation, or at neighboring Treasure Island Resort and Casino.
Johnson said the product lines are limited now, mainly because the state’s legal cannabis industry is in its infancy. He expects the store to offer a wider array of products in years to come as Minnesota’s new cannabis producers get up and running.
In the meantime, he says the store will serve as an example of how a well-regulated, licensed dispensary works.
“We’re proud of what we’ve been able to build here,” Johnson said. “Everything that is generated from our businesses goes back into our communities to help build our government services, for education, health insurance, healthcare we need.”
A grand opening celebration is slated for Saturday, June 29, with a green ribbon cutting at 8:30 a.m. That will be followed by food trucks from Trickster Tacos and Misfits Coffee, along with Chez Annalise, BLNCD, White Earth and Slay Beverages, and live music from DJ Austin throughout the day.
Haynes was 16 when convicted of killing Minneapolis flower shop owner Harry Sherer. He was released from prison in 2023 after his conviction was tossed out.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars is asking the state of Minnesota for $2 million to make up for that lost time after his murder conviction was vacated.
Marvin Haynes and his attorneys filed a claim with the Minnesota State Supreme Court on Nov. 7, maintaining he was wrongfully arrested, convicted and incarcerated in 2005 for a murder he did not commit. He was just 16 years old at the time he was convicted.
Haynes was exonerated and released from prison in Dec. 2023, meaning he spent more than 19 years imprisoned for a crime both Haynes and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office say he did not commit. On the day it was announced that Haynes would be released, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty apologized to him, saying his civil rights were violated in the 2005 trial and that securing his freedom would be “a step toward righting this wrong.”
“It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs but it is necessary,” Moriarty said in a news conference. “To Marvin Haynes: You lost the opportunity to graduate from high school, to attend prom, have relationships, attend weddings and funerals and spend time with your family around the holidays. I’m so deeply sorry for that.”
In his claim for damages, Haynes and his legal team note that on Sept. 12, 2024, the Hennepin County District Court issued an order finding that Haynes is eligible for compensation. His attorneys say state statutes dictate that Haynes is entitled to damages “of not less than $50,000 for each year of incarceration” and additional monies based on economic damages, medical expenses, physical or non-physical injuries or sickness resulting from his incarceration plus expenses for education, housing and transportation as he tries to rebuild his life.
“His noneconomic damages include, but are not limited to, nearly 20 years of loss of liberty, past and future severe mental anguish, emotional distress and psychological damage; loss of familial relationships; loss of reputation; physical pain and suffering; humiliation, indignities and embarrassment; permanent loss of natural psychological development; and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of restrictions on all forms of personal freedom including diet, sleep, personal contact, personal fulfillment, sexual activity, family relations, reading, television, movies, travel, enjoyment and expression,” his attorneys asserted in the claim.
Based on those alleged damages, Marvin Haynes is asking the State of Minnesota for $100,000 for each year of his incarceration, a total of nearly $2 million.
Haynes was convicted in Sept. 2005 for the murder of 55-year-old Harry “Randy” Sherer, the owner of a flower shop in north Minneapolis. After a jury found Haynes guilty, he reportedly said out loud in the courtroom, “I didn’t kill that man!”
“Marvin has proclaimed his innocence since day one,” said his sister Marvina Haynes said in Nov. 2023 as the effort to overturn Haynes’ murder conviction reached its conclusion. “There’s nothing linking Marvin to the crime scene. The evidence — they don’t have any.”
The Minneapolis-based Great North Innocence Project led Haynes’ legal challenge for post-conviction relief, arguing in court filings that the original trial relied on “false evidence” from witnesses and “constitutionally defective eyewitness identification evidence.”
Haynes’ attorneys claim that important eyewitness testimony in the case “should have been suppressed because it was the result of highly suggestive identification techniques and was wholly unreliable.” There was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the murder.
Police and prosecutors who worked the case still believe Marvin Haynes was the person who killed Harry Sherer. Former Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Mike Furnstahl, who served as the lead prosecutor during the 2005 trial, said suggestions of Haynes’ innocence are “really a joke.”
“The reason this case is coming back now is not because there’s substantial and compelling evidence that Marvin Haynes is innocent, but rather because political winds are blowing in his favor,” said Furnstahl, who was also the prosecutor in the Myon Burrell case.
“If the judge grants the petition for post-conviction relief, I would make sure the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office files an appeal on it. I wouldn’t let them just stand by and let this guy walk out of prison. Because [Haynes] murdered that man. There was no question in my mind. There was no question in the jurors’ minds.”
A report on the team’s website says current general Manger Derek Falvey will transition to the business side of the Twins’ operation.
MINNEAPOLIS — A tumultuous offseason for the Minnesota Twins is continuing with news the ballclub’s longtime president is stepping down.
Dave St. Peter, Twins President and CEO for 22 years, will leave his position and transition into an advisory role. St. Peter made the announcement to employees throughout the organization Tuesday morning.
St. Peter’s departure will have a domino effect: Current Twins General Manager Derek Falvey will slide from his role supervising the on-field product to the business side of the organization, assuming the job of President-CEO. Assistant GM Jeremy Zoll, who was recently promoted following the departure of Thad Levine, will become General Manager of baseball operations.
All this is happening in the wake of October’s announcement that the Pohlad family is exploring a possible sale of the franchise following a season of payroll cuts and growing fan dissatisfaction.
“Twins fans, players, staff and certainly our family are better for the 35 years that Dave St. Peter has brought his truly one-of-a-kind leadership to our team and community,” said Twins Executive Chairman Joe Pohlad. “I have had the good fortune to work alongside Dave for the past 18 years and experience firsthand how he leads with integrity, compassion and an unmatched dedication to our organization and fans. I will always admire Dave’s commitment to do right by the Twins.”
“Dave St. Peter is a very special person, friend and leader,” added controlling owner Jim Pohlad. “Our family and the Minnesota Twins would not be where we are today without Dave’s skill and lifelong commitment.”
St. Peter started with the Twins as an intern back in 1990 and made his way up the ranks, being named team president in 2002. In a letter to the team’s fanbase, St. Peter said he initiated discussions with the Pohlad family over the past two years to develop a succession plan that would lead the club into a new era.
“While my personal Twins journey has been a dream come true, in recent years I have sensed a calling to explore new professional challenges and a growing desire to spend more time with the people I love the most,” the outgoing St. Peter wrote.
“The Twins have been a central part of my life for longer than I remember, but I find myself at peace with the knowledge I ran the race as best I could. It’s simply time to hand the baton to someone else.”
St. Peter explained in the months to come he will work closely with the Pohlads as they consider a potential sale of the team “and the best possible outcome for this franchise and the fans.”
The Twins are holding an open house event Tuesday at 2 p.m. and will further discuss the team’s leadership transition. KARE 11 will have the latest developments here on the website and broadcast.
Love a yummy meal, but hate having to cook it? This is an option for you.
MINNEAPOLIS — If you love a good Thanksgiving meal but don’t have the time to make it, consider Red Cow for your event this season.
The kit includes roasted turkey breast, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, whipped sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, mac & cheese, assorted artisan rolls, and pumpkin pie. The meal costs $285 and feeds 6-8 people.
You can pick up your feast at Red Cow in Uptown on 2626 Hennepin Ave. Place your order at this link by noon on Nov. 25.
Is your mouth watering yet? If you’d like, you can add on glazed ham, dark turkey meat, cranberries, brussels sprouts, wild rice stuffing, roasted salmon, apple and honey chevre salad, and charcuterie boards. Corporate chef Adam Lerner visited KARE 11 News at Noon to dish on a few of the holiday eats.
