DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge has approved a $40 million settlement between the Diocese of Duluth and dozens of people who say they were abused as children by priests. Judge Robert Kressel signed off on the settlement Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and reached the settlement in May. The agreement also…
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is calling the Republican-controlled Legislature into a special session to take up a pair of gun control measures that GOP leaders have been unwilling to debate. The move Evers announced Monday does not force Republicans to debate or vote on the bills. But it does give Democrats…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Corrections almost doubled the overtime it paid prison staff in the past year because of a chronic staff shortage. The state’s DOC data shows it paid $12.3 million for more than 262,000 hours of overtime during fiscal year 2019. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that’s up from the year before…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources board is poised to move forward on extensive rewrites of Wisconsin’s water pollution regulations that could cost well-users, farmers and wastewater treatment plants millions of dollars. The department has proposed restricting manure in areas prone to pollution; establishing limits for polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking and surface water; and…
UPDATE: CLOQUET, Minn. (AP) – One man was shot and a suspect was arrested after a shooting on a northern Minnesota Indian reservation. Police and tribal officials say the shooting happened around 10 a.m. at a community center gymnasium on the Fond du Lac Band reservation, where a funeral was taking place. Interim Cloquet Police Chief Derek Randall said the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers is setting May 12 as the date of a special election for northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District to replace former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy. The primary will be Feb. 18. Evers opted against setting the general election on April 7, the same day as a state Supreme Court election. Democrats feared holding the…
(photo courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police say a pregnant woman was killed and three others were injured when a speeding vehicle hit a minivan and several other vehicles in Minneapolis. Authorities say police and fire department personnel worked for nearly an hour to extricate the woman, who was eight months pregnant, from the minivan Thursday about 11 p.m….
(NASA via AP) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The world’s first female spacewalking team is making history high above Earth. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir exited the International Space Station on Friday, the first time in a half-century of spacewalking that a woman floated out without a male crewmate. Their job is to fix a broken part of…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – One woman is dead and five others are injured in a head-on crash in St. Paul. Police say two vehicles carrying nine people collided in the Battle Creek neighborhood Thursday evening. An 18-year-old woman who was thrown from a vehicle died at the scene. Authorities say three men suffered critical injuries and two people have…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Juul Labs will stop selling fruit and dessert flavors for its electronic cigarettes. The voluntary step announced Thursday is the company’s latest concession as it tries to weather a political backlash blaming its flavored-nicotine products for hooking a generation of teenagers. The move is unlikely to satisfy the company’s critics. Juul will continue selling its most popular…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Enrollment at the University of Wisconsin dropped 2.6% percent compared to last year. Preliminary enrollment for the 2019 academic year announced by the university Thursday was just over 167,000 students. That is down from nearly 4,500 students from last year. Enrollment on the flagship Madison campus was up 2% or 879 students. UW-Green Bay, La Crosse,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has created a task force to develop strategies to deal with climate change in the state. Evers announced formation of the new group Thursday at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. Evers tasked the group to come up with recommendations to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change by August….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s unemployment rate ticked up for the fourth straight month and is up nearly half a point since May. The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that unemployment in September was 3.2%. That is up from 3.1% the month before and 2.8% in April and May. That tied a record low for the state. The…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she raised $1.1 million for her 2020 presidential campaign in the 24 hours following this week’s Democratic debate. The moderate Democratic Minnesota senator was among the top critics of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday, criticizing Warren’s health care plan as a “pipe dream.” She also ripped President Donald Trump. Campaign manager Justin…
(photo: Cass County Sheriff’s Office) AITKIN, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials say the death of a northeastern Minnesota woman who had been missing for nearly two weeks appears to be a homicide. Authorities had been searching for 35-year-old Michelle Mary Mae, of Outing, since her family reported her missing Oct. 3. Her body was found Tuesday on some rural property…
BALTIMORE (AP) – Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his…
DETROIT (AP) – The United Auto Workers union’s top bargainer with General Motors says a tentative deal with the company will bring “major gains” to workers. Union Vice President Terry Dittes says in a statement that bargainers wanted to get a strong and fair contract for the 49,000 members who have been on strike for a month. Details of the…
SHAWANO, Wis. (AP) – An 8-year-old boy told authorities that a man who lives with him and his mother strapped him to a chair in the basement of their northeastern Wisconsin home, but that he escaped and sought help from strangers. WLUK-TV reports that police arrested 36-year-old Nathan Pogrant Monday on charges including false imprisonment and child abuse. The boy’s…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota health officials are reporting the state’s second and third deaths due to lung illnesses caused by vaping. The Department of Health said Wednesday both deaths involved people over age 50 who died in September after complicated hospitalizations. One of those deaths was reported at Essentia Health in Duluth. One had vaped several products including THC, the…
Credit: MN Sheriff’s Association BECKER, Minn. (AP) – Authorities in Minnesota say a 6-year-old boy who had been missing since getting off the school bus with his siblings has been found safe. The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office said the boy, named Ethan, hadn’t been seen since 4:10 p.m. Tuesday when he got off the bus near Highway 25 in Becker…
CROOKSTON, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say two people were killed when their SUV collided with a semi in Polk County. The sheriff’s office says the crash happened shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday at an intersection on County Road 46. KFGO reports the driver of the SUV, a 36-year-old Fertile man, and his passenger, a 33-year-old woman from Winger, both died…
(AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has canceled his visit to Wisconsin because he’s been dispatched to Turkey to try and reach a ceasefire deal. Pence was scheduled to visit Uline in Pleasant Prairie on Thursday to advocate for passing President Donald Trump’s trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Instead, Pence will lead a delegation to Turkey…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Community organizer John Mason says he’ll challenge U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in a Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th District. Mason, a first-time candidate, said Tuesday he wants to build on President Barack Obama’s accomplishments in health care care, education, gun control and the environment. He said he supports inclusivity and condemns all forms of hate, including “anti-Semitic…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Two St. Louis Park parents are charged with child endangerment and neglect after prosecutors say their 1-year-old son tested positive for fentanyl. The child survived after spending six days in the hospital. A criminal complaint says police were called to the couple’s apartment Oct. 3 because the boy had become unresponsive. The Star Tribune reports police say…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) – A Fond du Lac woman says she was fired from a restaurant for refusing to serve a couple who were making disparaging comments about a transgender woman sitting at the bar. Brittany Spencer worked as a server at Fat Joe’s Bar & Grill in Fond du Lac. Spencer says she went to her manager…
Update: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A white police officer in Fort Worth who authorities say fatally shot a black woman in her home resigned in a one-sentence letter Monday. Aaron Dean’s letter said: “Effective immediately I am tendering my resignation from the Fort Worth Police Department.” The letter was released by the state’s largest police union, the Combined Law…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan says he expects the House to vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump by the end of the calendar year. Pocan said Monday he believes Trump has committed an impeachable offense, but he can’t commit on whether he would vote to impeach until he sees the actual article of…
(Photo: Tricia Zunker campaign) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The president of the Wausau School Board who is also a justice on the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court is running for Congress as a Democrat. Tricia Zunker is launching her campaign Monday. She would become the first Native American member of Congress from Wisconsin should she win. Zunker tells Wisconsin Public Radio…
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Police have responded to a shooting outside a Walmart store in Blaine. KSTP-TV reports a man in his 30s was shot in the ear by someone he knew. The shooting happened about 5 a.m. Monday. The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK. Authorities are searching a suspect who drove away…
BARRON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin sheriff who led the investigation into the kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the slaying of her parents hopes the courage and resilience of the 13-year-old girl is the focus on the one-year anniversary of the crimes. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald will hold a news conference Monday, talk briefly about Jayme and honor his…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota transportation officials are testing new technology to catch carpool lane cheaters. Through September, the State Patrol issued nearly 3,500 citations to drivers who illegally used the lanes reserved for two or more people, buses, motorcycles and solo drivers who pay to use them. That compares with 2,933 citations in all of last year. The Star Tribune…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials say the Trump administration’s proposed rewrite of lead contamination rules isn’t good enough. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced in Green Bay on Thursday that the chances will require water systems to test lead levels at schools and child care facilities, require officials to identify areas with the…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California will become the first state to require public colleges and universities to offer abortion medication at campus health centers. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday he had signed the legislation. It’s a reversal from his predecessor, former Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed the measure last year. The law takes effect in 2023. Democratic lawmakers who…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin System regents have authorized staff to begin drafting formal language implementing a Republican-backed plan to punish students who disrupt others’ free speech rights. The regents in 2017 adopted a Republican-backed policy declaring students who twice disrupt others’ free speech would be suspended for at least a semester. The policy hasn’t taken effect…
1/5 (courtesy: NDDOT) Show Caption Hide Caption 2/5 (courtesy: NDDOT) Show Caption Hide Caption 3/5 (courtesy: NDDOT) Show Caption Hide Caption 4/5 (courtesy: NDDOT) Show Caption Hide Caption 5/5 (courtesy: NDDOT) Show Caption Hide Caption MINOT, N.D. (AP) – Hundreds of miles of major highways in North Dakota have been closed due to what forecasters are calling a crippling fall…
GREEVILLE, S.C. (AP) – Federal authorities say a South Carolina woman kidnapped a girl from Minnesota and sexually assaulted her. Citing an FBI affidavit, news outlets report 23-year-old Katrina Marie Aliff was arrested last month on charges including aggravated child sexual abuse. The affidavit says Aliff met the girl, who’s younger than 12, on the messaging app Amino in March….
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The estate of musical legend Prince is objecting to President Donald Trump’s use of a Prince song before a campaign rally in Minneapolis Thursday night. The Trump campaign played Prince’s “Purple Rain” as the audience at the rally waited for the president to begin speaking. Prince’s estate released a statement after the rally…
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-Anti-Trump protesters are converging on the Minneapolis arena where President Donald Trump is holding his first political rally since the House opened its impeachment inquiry. Protesters are packing streets surrounding the Target Center hours before the Republican president is due to appear at Thursday’s rally at 7 p.m. Many are clutching helium-filled balloons depicting Trump as a baby. Others…
ASHLAND, Wis.-Enbridge Energy has offered the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa at least $24 million to settle a lawsuit the tribe filed to shut down and remove the Line 5 pipeline from its reservation in northern Wisconsin. But tribal leaders say their position against the pipeline remains unchanged. Line 5 carries up to 540,000 barrels of oil and…
MADISON, Wis.-The Wisconsin Assembly is poised to pass a bill that would allow children to legally run lemonade stands. The measure would allow minors to run lemonade stands on private property without a permit and without fear of running afoul of the law, which has happened in some states. The bill would limit sales to $2,000 of lemonade a year,…
MINNEAPOLIS-Police are investigating a Minnesota man who allegedly hid cameras inside dressing rooms at the Mall of America in Bloomington and another Minneapolis area shopping mall. The 41-year-old Elk River man has not been charged. The Star Tribune reports details were contained in a search warrant affidavit. The affidavit alleges the suspect used cameras that could be operated remotely using…
WAUSAU, Wis.-Former Congressman Sean Duffy’s ninth child was born with Down’s syndrome and will require open heart surgery in three to four months. Duffy’s wife Rachel Campos-Duffy posted Monday on Facebook that their daughter, Valentina StellaMaris Duffy, was born with two holes in her heart that will require open-heart surgery as expected. The Wausau Daily Herald Media reports that Campos-Duffy…
MADISON, Wis.-Gov. Tony Evers has declared the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Wisconsin, following similar moves in other states away from recognizing it as Columbus Day. WLUK-TV reports that Evers signed an executive order making the designation on Tuesday at Indian Community School in Franklin. Evers says by signing the executive order the state is recognizing…
MINNEAPOLIS-Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is joining the University of Minnesota as an executive leadership fellow. Dayton has taken the unpaid position at the Center for Integrative Leadership which is housed at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The university says Dayton will participate in classroom discussions and meet with students. The 72-year-old Dayton will also work with a faculty…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign says his Minneapolis rally will go ahead as scheduled Thursday after a brief dispute over security costs. The campaign says the city of Minneapolis presented the operator of Target Center a $530,000 bill for security costs, and the arena operator had sought help from the campaign. The campaign says it was prepared…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Senate has approved a bill that would make bestiality a felony. Having sex with an animal is a misdemeanor under current law. The bill would create a new crime punishable by up to 12 1/2 years in prison. Sentences would vary depending on the circumstances, such as whether the animal dies and whether a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Senate has overwhelmingly approved two bills that would establish protocols for handling sexual assault evidence kits. A backlog of untested kits has been an issue in Wisconsin and across the country for years. The proposals have broad bipartisan support. The measures were developed by lawmakers, victims’ rights advocates, law enforcement representatives and others. Under…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s hemp industry would remain under state control as it enters its second year under a bill up for a vote in the Legislature. The bipartisan measure up for Senate approval Tuesday is designed to help farmers, hemp processors, retailers and consumers as the industry in Wisconsin explodes. It makes a variety of changes to align…
BRAINERD, Minn. (AP) – Wildlife officials in central Minnesota are discovering it’s not easy to get rid of deer carcasses infected with chronic wasting disease. The disease was discovered in a wild deer in Crow Wing County earlier this year, the first confirmed case in the state outside of southeastern Minnesota. Legislators have set aside $50,000 to set up dumpsters…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – President Donald Trump’s campaign has threatened to sue Minneapolis for trying to force it to pay $530,000 in security costs for this week’s rally in the city. Trump’s campaign, in a statement late Monday night, said Mayor Jacob Frey is abusing the power of his office by “conjuring a phony and outlandish bill for security” at Thursday’s…
