At Issue: Sept. 24 — Interview with Secretary of State Steve Simon, state cannabis director quits

In this week’s edition of “At Issue,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon joined us to discuss changes to early voting as well as the petition aiming to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot.

A newly appointed leader to the state’s freshly formed Office of Cannabis Management met her end the day after she was selected. Erin DuPree, a business owner in Apple Valley, revealed that her store may have sold products that were not in compliance with state law.

Gov. Tim Walz said that Charlene Briner will serve as the interim cannabis management office director in the meantime.

State health officials and the governor are both urging Minnesotans to get their updated flu and COVID vaccine shots as the fall season arrives.

However, the new COVID vaccine has yet to become widely available in the state, with the FDA just approving it in mid-September. Experts say September and October are the best times to get vaccinated.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison released another response to a law that is prompting many police forces to pull school resource officers out of local districts.

In his legal opinion issued on Wednesday, Ellison said the law categorically bans the outlined restraints and still allows for “reasonable force” to prevent injury or death. That includes using physical contact when it appears a student could harm themselves or someone else.

Political analysis was joined by Annette Meeks of the Freedom Foundation and former DFL State Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge.