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AG Ellison reveals details from historic Juul, Altria settlement
In a press conference, Ellison laid out the four major provisions of the settlement, including a $60.5 million payout — the largest settlement per capita in the U.S.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison gathered with Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and other officials at the Capitol Wednesday to reveal details from the historic settlement between the state and two e-cigarette companies, Juul and Altria, in April.
The announcement comes just 30 days after the settlement was reached.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Ellison announced that the state will receive $60.5 million in the settlement. More than $17.5 million of will be used to pay legal fees for the case, but the decision to take the case to court still paid off. Ellison said that the remaining $43 million still represents the largest Juul settlement, per capita, in the United States.
“The amount of our settlement is larger than all of the money Juul made in Minnesota between 2015 and 2021,” Ellison said. “If they got paid by selling deceptive and harmful products to our kids, we got all our money back. In other words, we have disgorged and extracted all the money they never should have earned in the first place.”
Ellison said the payment will occur over seven years, the first installment of which — about $20 million — will be available to the state within the next 30 days. Ellison said two-thirds will be paid out by the tobacco companies within the year, which will be dedicated to tobacco mitigation and prevention, now and in the future.
The second major provision calls for more transparency in data surrounding tobacco use. Ellison said not only will Minnesota release millions of documents, but also Altria will disclose its internal documents as well. According to Ellison, Altria dumped upward of $12 billion into Juul’s business and marketing with the intention to up its sales throughout Minnesota and the rest of the country.
“We believe in putting the sunshine on this — and that’s what we’re doing right now,” he said.
In its third major provision, the agreement requires Juul to accurately disclose the nicotine content in its tobacco products and prohibits the company from intentionally marketing and selling products to children and young adults.
“This is a notice to all companies looking to addict kids,” Ellison said. “If you try to do this in Minnesota, not only will we sue you, we’ll take you to court and hold you accountable and make you pay.”
Money for Tobacco and Vaping Prevention and Education
Bipartisan legislation working currently pending at the Capitol would direct the remaining $43 million in settlement money to the Minnesota Department of Health with a targeted focus on tobacco use and vaping.
“We are close to wrapping up that bill and it is specifically dedicated to education and prevention,” said Representative Kaohly Vang Her, DFL- “And as we’ve been working with advocates, this is just the first step.”
“It’s got to be passed by the legislature or it’s not going to go to prevention,” said Jeanne Weigum, President of the Minnesota Association of Non-Smokers. “We saw that in 1998.”
Weigum is referencing Minnesota’s whopping $6.5 billion settlement with big tobacco in 1998.
“If you ask most legislators, ‘Was the settlement money from the original tobacco settlement, 25 years ago did that go to prevention?’ Most of them will say, ‘Yes, it did,'” Weigum said. “It didn’t and it doesn’t, even though every year more money comes in. Every year we still get over $100M in tobacco settlement payments that go straight to the general fund.”
More than $200 million of that 1998 settlement did fund the work of Clearway Minnesota, but that ended in 2021 and Weigum says other promises gave way to politics.
“The promise was that it was going to be an endowment that would put about $20M a year into tobacco prevention,” she said. “But the first time there was a budget shortfall, the money in the endowment was taken to fill the budget shortfall.”
Minnesota is currently spending more than $11 million a year on tobacco prevention, according to the non-profit TobaccoFreeKids.org. But that’s about half the amount the state spent just six years ago.
“We’re way, way below what CDC guidelines are for prevention spending,” Weigum said. “And we’re way, way below what comes into this state from tobacco.”
But she is hopeful, and confident that the new legislation will direct the new money to the right place.
“Nobody opposed (the legislation),” Weigum said. “This is something that everybody said makes sense, and that’s what it takes. It can’t just be people with good intentions. This has to be a law.”
The lawsuit, which was settled one day before the state was scheduled to deliver its closing arguments at trial, accused Juul and Altria of marketing their vaping products in a way that made them attractive to Minnesota teens, developing sleek devices and flavors that were appealing to youth.
After the settlement was reached, Juul released a statement, saying:
“Resolution of issues from the company’s past and its historical legal challenges has remained a critical priority to secure certainty for our future,” reads the statement from JUUL. “While we appreciate the court and jury’s time, attention, and professionalism throughout the trial, we are pleased to have reached a settlement with the state and will work to finalize this agreement over the coming weeks. We have now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs.”
Speaking from the capitol Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan reflected on that work being done, using her self-described “Momma Bear” energy.
“To put it simply, our children and our young people deserve better,” she said. “As adults, we have a responsibility to keep our children safe. Allowing deceptive and harmful marketing to target young children is unacceptable and we are not going to allow it in Minnesota.”
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CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Predicted weather conditions have triggered a Red Flag Warning for virtually the entire state of Minnesota Thursday, indicating an extreme danger for wildfires.
The National Weather Service (NWS) says the forecast – extremely low humidity and dewpoints and wind gusts in the neighborhood of 40 mph – will exacerbate already tinder-dry conditions, increasing the likelihood that a wildfire could spark and quickly spread.
Here are the counties impacted, and when Red Flag Warnings will be in effect.
8:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Northwest Minnesota: Becker, Beltrami, Clay, Clearwater, Grant, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake Of The Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau, Wadena and Wilkin.
11:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Central and southern Minnesota: Anoka, Benton, Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Chisago, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Isanti, Jackson, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Pope, Ramsey, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Rock, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Traverse, Wabasha, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan, Winona, Wright and Yellow Medicine.
12:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Northeast Minnesota: Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Koochiching, Pine, and St. Louis.
Additionally a Special Weather Statement has been issued for Cook and Lake counties in northeast Minnesota where wind and relative humidity are predicted to produce near-critical fire weather conditions. Outdoor burning is not advised.
Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is telling residents to refrain from burning in counties where a Red Flag Warning is in effect, and to check any recent burning to ensure the fire is completely out. The DNR will not issue or activate open burning permits for large vegetative debris burning during a Red Flag Warning, and campfires are strongly discouraged.
“When fire risk is this high it’s important to be careful with anything could spark a wildfire,” said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
Justin Ekelman’s business, Shrimply the Best, has a fan following.
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — There are things you expect to see along a desert highway and then there are Justin Ekelman’s hand-painted signs.
Drivers on State Route 347 between Phoenix and Maricopa usually pass them before they see the old, white cargo van Ekelman parks in a dirt lot off Riggs Road.
He is a man, with a van, who sells seafood.
“I do this year-round, I sweat it out and then when the winter comes, the snowbirds come back and it’s amazing,” Ekelman said. “You can’t bring enough; you can’t fill this thing enough.”
He is also not oblivious to what some people think when they see his Pike Place Market on four wheels: Seafood from a van in the desert? It seems a little sketchy. And a little dangerous.
But if you stop, Ekelman will proudly show you his frozen food vendor permit and other licenses one needs to sell shrimp and scallops on the side of the road.
Ekelman’s business, Shrimply the Best, has a fan following. In fact, one-third of voters in a recent InMaricopa poll named his seafood van their favorite food source.
Shrimp from Rocky Point are his bestsellers but Ekelman keeps his chest freezer stocked with Caribbean lobster tails, mussels and a variety of fish, too. An extension cord plugged into a gas-powered generator keeps everything frozen even when it’s 115 degrees outside.
“If it was sitting in a cooler in ice, it may be a little weird,” Ekelman said.
Selling seafood out of a van has provided Ekelman, a single father of two teenage boys, with enough to pay his bills and keep a roof over their heads. He feels more blessed than he did 15 years ago during the Great Recession.
Ekelman bought his first home in 2008, then lost his job as a carpet and air duct cleaner.
“Long story short, I ended up having to short sell my home, lived with my parents for a year and a half. My dad said come do this,” Ekelman said.
His father, a former door-to-door meat salesman, ventured into the roadside seafood business 40 years ago. Ekelman said his dad used wet rags to keep himself cool during the summer months.
“I did it one year like that. Why would you do that when you could buy a $130 air conditioner? I made a stand, put it in my window, now I have a little cold room,” Ekelman said, pointing to the curtains at the front of his van.
His father retired more than a decade ago and Ekelman retained many loyal customers. The business has not changed much since then, including the rudimentary hand-painted signs along the highway. Those are informative – and nostalgic.
“Ahead: Rocky Point Shrimp,” one of them reads.
“I go to Home Depot, get the wood, get them cut and paint them up, that’s how my dad always did it,” Ekelman said. “I have people stopping all the time saying ‘I can make you professional signs’ and I‘m like, ‘Bro, this is what people see. It’s a lot cheaper.’”
Ekelman also gets his seafood from the same source: His dad’s friend who owns a distributing company and gets seafood shipped to the Valley from across the globe. The company supplies seafood to restaurants, cruise liners and small fry (we couldn’t resist) like Ekelman.
“A lot of people assume I am getting it all from Mexico, it’s not,” Ekelman said. “A lot of the shrimp do but I just had salmon from Alaska, my lobster tails right now are out of the Bahamas, I have got orange roughy from New Zealand, the catfish is from here in the U.S., all sorts of different places but it is wild caught.”
Ekelman said he gets a good deal buying wholesale but the COVID pandemic forced him to raise his prices.
“My lobster tails, I was paying $5 a tail cheaper near 2019, COVID hit and everything went up,” Ekelman said. “I have tried to keep it pretty reasonable but my profit margins have gone down.”
Shrimply the Best accepts cash and credit cards.
A pound of raw, frozen shrimp ranges from $9 to $12 per pound depending on the size and type. Ekelman sells a 5-pound bag of extra jumbo, U-15 size tiger shrimp for $60 a bag. Chilean black mussel meat is $10 per pound. Wild-caught U.S. catfish sells for $6 per pound and orange roughy, a deep-sea perch caught in the waters off New Zealand goes for $12 per pound.
When Ekelman has no customers, he sits in the cab of the van with his makeshift air conditioning unit and reads his Bible.
He’s especially proud of his lobster tails, which are nearly as big as his forearm. An 18–20-ounce tail goes for $36 or two for $68.
“Mother’s Day is crazy; I could fill this thing with lobster and it’s just gone,” Ekelman said. “Father’s Day? Well, we don’t get treated as well as the ladies do sometimes.”
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The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
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