Minnesotans are high on newish hemp-derived products that hit liquor store shelves in 2023.

A report released Wednesday by State Auditor Julie Blaha’s office underscores the boost that a line of THC-infused beverages and gummies are bringing to profits to Minnesota’s liquor stores owned and operated by cities.

Yes, there are still 210 municipal liquor stores in Minnesota.

In 2023, the stores made a net profit of $31.6 million on record sales of $437 million. And the authorization of hemp-derived THC products had a lot to do with it, operators of the stores say.

“Let me tell you, the horse is out of the barn,” said Paul Kaspszak, executive director of the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association. “It’s running down the road. I know about horses running down the road, you can’t see his tail. OK, it’s here to stay.”

This was the first report to account for the legal sales of gummies and beverages containing CBD or THC. Minnesota legalized full-fledged cannabis in 2023, but broad retail sales have yet to begin, with the exception of dispensaries on tribal lands.

“We don’t have enough years to really call trends on this,” Blaha said, deferring to those on the ground to offer their firsthand accounts.

While the report doesn’t break down the types of sales, operators who appeared with Blaha for its release said they have noticed a distinct shift in the direction of alcohol alternatives. They said that wine and beer sales have trended down at the same time.

St. Anthony Village liquor operations director Mike Larson said he began offering the THC products in August of 2023 and has seen strong demand from customers.

“We have seen sales grow dramatically month after month,” he said. “Since the introduction, we have tracked an immediate impact on sales and see that our consumers are interested in learning more about the benefits of using and trying these products.”

Overall, Blaha said municipal liquor stores have experienced net profit growth over the last several decades.

“Here’s the top line: municipal liquor stores show 28 years of consecutive growth, even with an evolving market,” she said. “They’ve evolved into places to meet as a community, as well as a significant resource for public revenue.”

Thirty-one cities reported net losses in 2023, according to the report, most of which were in greater Minnesota.

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A federal judge will temporarily block President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting billions in federal dollars that support COVID-19 initiatives and public health projects throughout the country. The cuts included more than $250 million in Minnesota.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, appointed by Trump in 2019 but first nominated by former President Barack Obama, in Rhode Island said Thursday that she plans to grant the court order sought by Minnesota and 22 other states and the District of Columbia.

“They make a case, a strong case, for the fact that they will succeed on the merits, so I’m going to grant the temporary restraining order,” said McElroy, who plans to issue a written ruling later.

New York Attorney General Letitia James tweeted about the judge’s decision immediately after the hearing, saying: “We’re going to continue our lawsuit and fight to ensure states can provide the medical services Americans need.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Kane objected to the temporary restraining order in court but she said she was limited in the argument she could make against it, adding that her office was unable to thoroughly review the thousands of documents under the time limitation.

The states’ lawsuit, filed Tuesday, sought to immediately stop the $11 billion in cuts. The money was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related initiatives, as well as for mental health and substance use efforts.

The lawsuit said losing the money would devastate U.S. public health infrastructure, putting states “at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease and cutting off vital public health services.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has defended the decision, saying that the money was being wasted since the pandemic is over.

State and local public health departments already have laid off people, including nearly 200 employees at the Minnesota Department of Health.

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“Donald Trump’s contempt for both the rule of law and the people of Minnesota was on full display when he tried to illegally cut $250 million in public health funding to Minnesota,”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a Thursday statement after McElroy’s order.

“The funds Trump tried to pull go towards mental health and substance abuse services, emergency preparedness, disease management, and so many other important purposes that benefit Minnesotans. I am pleased to have halted these devastating cuts, at least for the time being, and I look forward to continuing to litigate this case and protect the health and well-being of Minnesotans.”

Meanwhile, North Carolina says it stands to lose about $230 million, and California officials put their potential losses at $1 billion.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is also part of the lawsuit, said half a billion dollars in public health grants that support long-term care for the elderly and immunizations for children were at stake in his state.

“As a result of taking the Administration to court, these dollars will now start flowing again,” he wrote on X.

The temporary block on chopping health funding is the latest legal setback for the Trump administration, which is facing some 150 lawsuits on issues ranging from immigration to deep financial and job cuts at federal agencies to transgender rights.

Federal judges have issued dozens of orders slowing — at least for now — the president’s ambitious conservative agenda.

The announced crowd of 36,783 fans started rising to its feet and getting loud during Jose Altuve’s ninth-inning at-bat. Already, the Houston Astros’ nine-time All-Star had struck out four times.

Near the end of what turned out to be a 5-2 loss to Houston during the Twins’ home opener at Target Field, Minnesota pitchers were looking to do something never done before to Altuve — strike him out five times in a game.

“First time I haven’t been able to hear the PitchCom out there, so that was kind of new,” Twins reliever Darren McCaughan said. “I think it just kind of locks me in.”

On the seventh pitch of their duel, McCaughan, who pitched the final two innings of Thursday’s game, caught Altuve looking, giving him a rare, undesirable platinum sombrero.

Twins starter Joe Ryan started the job, getting Altuve to chase a pitch out of the zone for the first out of the game. He got him swinging again in the third and once more in the fifth on another pitch out of the zone. Reliever Jorge Alcala was responsible for Altuve’s fourth strikeout of the game, getting him in the seventh inning on a 98.7 mph fastball.

Altuve, for reference, isn’t particularly strikeout prone. He’s now in his 16th season and just once has he fanned more than 100 times in a season, making the Twins’ feat even more impressive.

“I figured the crowd was going crazy for a reason,” McCaughan said. “I saw him strike out a few times. I didn’t know the exact number on it, but yeah, I was seeing him swing and miss when I was sitting down in the bullpen.”

Cruz returns

Rocco Baldelli doesn’t often catch ceremonial first pitches, that job often falling to someone else. But on Thursday, in the minutes before the opener, the manager squatted down behind home plate to receive a pitch from Nelson Cruz.

Cruz, who played for the Twins for parts of three seasons between 2019-21, bounced the ball, after which Baldelli embraced his former player. He retired after the 2023 season and now is a special advisor for baseball pperations for Major League Baseball.

“It was like having an uncle who happened to be one of the five best hitters in the world,” Baldelli said. “There’s a lot to look towards when you look towards Nelson Cruz’s locker. When you’re looking for him, you’re not just looking for the designated hitter — you’re looking for someone that’s going to show you the way, that’s going to do it the right way.”

Briefly

After an off day on Friday, Bailey Ober will take the ball on Saturday, looking to move past a tough start to the season in which he gave up eight runs in less than three innings pitched. He will be opposed by Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti. … The Twins have lost consecutive home openers for the first time since the 2015-16 seasons.

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A Mexican national was given a two-year federal prison term for dealing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine as part of a drug cartel cell that used a South St. Paul residence as a stash house.

Court documents say an investigation began in September 2022 into a local operation that sold drugs on behalf of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, which U.S. prosecutors say “is arguably the most prolific and most violent cartel in Mexico today.”

Mario Alberto Velarde-Carrera (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

As part of the investigation, Mario Alberto Velarde-Carrera sold the three drugs to undercover agents between late 2022 and February 2023, according to court documents.

A Dakota County Drug Task Force agent that had been watching Velarde-Carrera “caught (Velarde-Carrera) in the act of trying to move much of the substances from one of their stash locations” on Feb. 15, 2023, federal prosecutors say.

When Velarde-Carrera left the home in the 200 block of 11th Avenue North, he was pulled over by an officer who “had probable cause to arrest based on prior drug-related criminal activity involving large amounts of controlled substances in Dakota County,” according to a March 2023 criminal complaint filed in state court.

A K-9 dog detected drugs in Velarde-Carrera’s car, which was then searched. In a bag, authorities found more than 3½ pounds of fentanyl powder, 5 pounds of meth and a pound of heroin, the charges say.

Nearly four additional pounds of meth were seized after a search warrant was executed at the house.

In an interview with authorities, Velarde-Carrera admitted to selling drugs and that he was “working with ‘someone’ in Mexico,” federal documents say.

Velarde-Carrera was a part of the first cell of the distribution side of the local operation that was dismantled in February 2023, according to federal prosecutors.

Supporting the cartel

Velarde-Carrera was initially charged in Dakota County District Court with three counts of aggravated controlled substance in the first-degree. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office picked up the case in May 2023, charging him with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin. He pleaded guilty to the charge the following October.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Slaughter Jr. wrote in a presentencing memorandum that Velarde-Carrera traveled from Mexico to “distribute drugs and make money” in Minnesota, where he relocated in November 2022. He previously had relocated to California from Mexico, where his parents, four siblings and wife still live.

The controlled buys by undercover agents “were only snapshots into this conspiracy — just select days of an ongoing process in support of the CJNG cartel,”  Slaughter wrote in the memo. “They are however emblematic of (Velarde-Carrera’s) involvement (albeit brief) in these activities.”

Velarde-Carrera’s sentence, handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis in Minneapolis, includes five years of supervised release following incarceration. Velarde-Carrera was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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Earlier this month, a U.S.-Mexican dual national and co-founder of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion was sentenced in the District of Columbia to life in prison for his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, 34, led the cartel for nearly seven years in Mexico and oversaw the importation of “multi-tonnage quantities” of drugs into the U.S. A judge also ordered him forfeit more than $6 billion of drug trafficking proceeds.

“Gonzalez was one of the first contributors to the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, pledging to ‘do it big’ and build an empire from counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl,” prosecutors said in a March 7 statement.