Minnesota briefs: White Earth Nation voters legalize medical marijuana

White Earth Nation voters approved a measure last week to legalize the production, regulation and distribution of medical marijuana within the northwestern Minnesota reservation.

The measure allows the Tribal Council to create its own rules governing medical cannabis on the reservation that wouldn't be subject to Minnesota's medical marijuana laws, which are considered among the most restrictive in the nation.

In May, the Red Lake Nation became the first reservation in the state to allow cannabis cultivation and production for medical use.

The White Earth Reservation is Minnesota's largest. The vote was 994-150 in favor.

Brooks Johnson

Remains found in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in April 2019 have been identified as belonging to Jordan M. Grider, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Department said Friday.

Grider, a 29-year-old New Mexico man who planned to spend the winter at a campsite near the Sioux-Hustler Trail, was last seen in October 2018.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents found "large amounts of blood" at the campsite on April 5, 2019, and a later search revealed several bones scattered around the area, the department said.

The cause of death remains unknown, authorities said. Foul play is not suspected.

Brooks Johnson

After four months of construction, the state is close to wrapping up work on the Lake Avenue bridge, which connects downtown Duluth with tourist-friendly Canal Park over Interstate 35.

As of Friday, one northbound lane and one southbound lane were open to traffic, allowing vehicles to cross the bridge for the first time since April.

The $2.1 million project resurfaced concrete, replaced traffic signals and cameras, added a bike lane and made sidewalks safer and more accessible.

The bridge will also have a new left turn lane onto Superior Street, though that won't open until construction on the main downtown road is finished. That $31.5 million city project, a three-phase endeavor that's stretched over as many summers, should be complete by late fall.

Katie Galioto