in Minnesota

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press

House and Senate negotiators wrapped up work Tuesday on the details of a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults in Minnesota, setting the stage for final votes in the closing days of the legislative session.

It will still take staffers a day or two to prepare the final bill language, the Democratic chairs of the cannabis conference committee, Rep. Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, and Sen. Lindsey Port, of Burnsville, said as they closed out their final meeting. The bill can then go to the House and Senate floors, where final approval is expected.

“It has been an incredible journey,” Stephenson said, recalling the more than 30 committee hearings held between the both chambers this year to get the bill into its final shape. “Minnesota will be better because of it.” Conference committees are finishing work on the major budget bills of the 2023 session this week as the adjournment deadline of Monday approaches.

House Democratic leaders hope to finish earlier, but much work lies ahead, and Republicans who feel shut out of the process have expressed their anger by forcing lengthy debates. The tax bill remained under construction Tuesday, and Republicans are still upset that a sales tax exemption for baby products that passed both houses with bipartisan support was dropped in conference committee over the weekend.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz plans to sign the cannabis bill. While marijuana use at home, and home possession and home growing, would become legal Aug 1, retail sales at dispensaries are probably at least a year away.

The final version includes a 10% tax on cannabis products on top of existing sales taxes, and possession limits for cannabis flower of two pounds at home and two ounces in public. Other possession caps include 800 milligrams of THC in gummies and other edibles, and eight grams of cannabis concentrate. Minnesotans who’ve

Raiyon Hunter named CTC Casting Director

Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) named Raiyon Hunter, currently the Associate Casting Director for Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, to CTC’s Casting Director. She will join CTC on May 22. “We are thrilled to welcome Raiyon Hunter to Children’s Theatre Company as our new Casting Director,” said CTC Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius. “Raiyon brings tremendous energy, insight and commitment to this position and is a truly remarkable young leader. She has extensive experience from her time as Associate Casting Director at the Alliance Theatre, and from her casting work at St. Louis Repertory Theatre. We know she will be an incredible asset to this theatre and to our entire community.”

“I am excited to support CTC’s pursuits to open access, and craft opportunities to recruit young artists who are passionate, imaginative contributors to this field,” said Hunter. “I look forward to engagement that will allow me to expand and deepen my work in casting.”

Raiyon Hunter is an actress, director, producer, and arts administrator from New Orleans, Louisiana. She currently works in the Artistic department of the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, GA) as a Spelman Leadership Fellow and has worked on a multitude of shows in varying capacities ranging from Casting Associate to Director on productions such as Do You Love the Dark Darlin Cory Bina’s Six Apples Good Bad People Confederates, and more. The Alliance’s Spelman Leadership Fellowship is a field-leading career development program designed to give participants experience in artistic or executive leadership in the notfor-profit cultural sector and is tailored to support the interests of the recipient. Additionally, she has been in residency at Oregon Shakespeare Festival under Nataki Garrett and The Repertory Theater of St. Louis, where she worked in casting and as an assistant director under Hana Sharif. She is a proud graduate of Spelman College. been convicted of misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor possession will get their records automatically expunged.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension estimates it will take until August of next year to process all the automatic expungements. Those convicted of sales or other more serious but

Chuck Hobbs

Ja Morant is in danger…

So, I was in 4th grade at FAMU High School (K-12) the first time that my mother mentioned that back when she was a 10th grade student at the same institution, that one of her good girlfriends, out on a double date at the segregated drive-in movie theater on Tallahassee’s Southside, accidentally shot herself to death while playing around with a firearm that her date had in his car’s glove compartment for protection.

Five years later, when I was a 9th grader, a friend of mine who attended our rival school, Rickards High, was accidentally shot and killed by his best friend, a then ninth grade student at Lincoln High who would later become one of my good friends when he transferred to FAMU High prior to our 10th grade year.

Backtracking to elementary school, when my family moved to Tallahassee I soon learned that my maternal male relatives in North Florida were all avid hunters, and I was still in the single digits age wise the first time I joined them on the hunt along with my father, an active duty military officer who spent ample time training me on firearms safety and maintenance before allowing me to join the elders while carrying his .22 rifle. I still remember the first time that I saw what those shotguns and rifles could do to animal flesh in the woods and even as a boy, I was alert enough to understand that the same could happen to human flesh upon being shot. Now, while I am not the type of person that you will ever see boasting about what weapons I own or how many deer, rabbits, or squirrels I’ve bagged during my lifetime, suffice it to say that I do believe in the right to bear arms per the Second Amendment of the Constitution. And though I am at odds with some Second Amendment enthusiasts due to my belief that certain weapons, like AR-15’s, should be heavily regulated, I still believe that responsible Americans should be able to protect themselves with firearms.

My thoughts on this matter inform my opinion about NBA superstar Ja Morant, the sublimely talented point guard who can’t seem to help brandishing firearms and on at least one occasion, supposedly pointing his weapon at a 17year old kid following a pickup basketball game dispute at his home. Lest we forget that Morant has faced allegations that he carried his weapon onto