At Issue: June 25 — Thompson charged in deadly crash, building the Office of Cannabis Management

Criminal charges were filed this week against a driver accused of speeding at 95 mph before slamming into a car carrying five young women, likely killing them all instantly. Derrick Thompson, the son of former state Rep. John Thompson, faces 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

Thompson’s past criminal record — which includes a 2020 felony hit-and-run conviction in California and fleeing a police officer in Minnesota in 2017 — raised questions about why he was out of prison less than four years into his eight-year California prison sentence.

And with legal cannabis now on the books in Minnesota, the state government now has the task of forming the Office of Cannabis Management. We got a glimpse at how the new agency is coming together.

Plus, the St. Paul City Council will ask voters to approve a 1-cent sales tax hike to support maintenance on city streets and bridges. That’s in addition to the new metro-wide 1-cent sales tax for transit and housing just approved by the Legislature.