(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A divisive fight over a crude-oil pipeline across Minnesota is pinning Democratic presidential hopefuls between environmentalists and trade unions in the 2020 battleground state. And that’s testing those candidates’ campaign promises to ease away from fossil fuels. Progressive candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have condemned a Canadian company’s plan to replace and…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Republican state senator is poised to enter the race for Congress in northern Wisconsin to replace Rep. Sean Duffy, who is resigning in two weeks. Sen. Tom Tiffany said Monday he will make a “special announcement” Tuesday about the 7th Congressional District race. Tiffany plans seven stops across the district over two days. Meanwhile, fellow…
DULUTH, Minn. – Fire officials say a blaze has gutted a historic synagogue in downtown Duluth. The fire department says crews responded to a report of a structure fire at 302 East 3rd Street around 2:23 a.m. When fire crews arrived on scene they discovered a storage room on the east side of the synagogue on fire. The synagogue…
COON RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say an adult and a child escaped from their car just before it was hit by a freight train and caught fire in Coon Rapids. Fire officials say the car got stuck on railroad tracks late Saturday. The driver saw the approaching train and made it out of the vehicle with the child. Firefighters…
ISLE ROYALE, Mich. (AP) – The second year of the National Park Service’s wolf relocation project has kicked off with a capture of a wolf on Michigan’s mainland and a flight to Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Mlive reports the 70-pound male that’s believed to be about three years old was captured this week. The wolf that was flown by…
SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has joined environmental groups urging state regulators to reject a plan to build a $700 million natural gas-fired power plant in Superior. The State Journal reports that the Native American tribe is worried that the Nemadji Trail Energy Center would damage local wetlands, contribute to climate change and…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota health officials are reporting the state’s first vaping death amid a national outbreak of serious lung illnesses linked to the practice. The state health department says the victim was more than 65-years-old and had a history of lung disease. State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield says the state began looking at the case after the patient…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Enbridge Energy is looking for permission to conduct land surveys in northern Wisconsin as it considers re-routing a pipeline out of an American Indian reservation. Wisconsin Public Radio reports the company wants to conduct environmental surveys along a 40-mile stretch in Ashland and Iron counties to replace an existing 20-mile segment of…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Foxconn Technology Group says Louis Woo has stepped down as the executive who has represented the Taiwanese company in Wisconsin. Foxconn tells the Journal Times that Woo has “relinquished his project responsibilities to focus on addressing some personal matters.” Foxconn wasn’t specific on the personal matters or say if the change was permanent or temporary. Woo was…
Wisconsin Point Lighthouse DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A historic lighthouse on Lake Superior has been sold to a tech industry executive from San Francisco. Thirty-four-year-old Steven Broudy won the lighthouse at auction last week with a high bid of $159,000. The lighthouse, built in 1913, sits on the tip of Wisconsin Point in Superior, Wisconsin. Broudy bought the 56-foot structure…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Three dozen first responders and 15 ambulances from Minnesota are headed to North Carolina to help with Hurricane Dorian. Gov. Tim Walz authorized the emergency response when North Carolina asked for assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual aid agreement between all 50 states. The first responders are divided into three teams which…
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) – A driver’s education teacher in Appleton has been convicted of child enticement. Seventy-four-year-old Charles Rodgers pleaded no contest to the charge in Outagamie County Circuit Court Thursday. Charges of attempted sexual assault by a school staff member and exposing child to harmful descriptions were dismissed as part of a plea deal. An investigation began when a…
EDINA, Minn. (AP) – The mother of a former student at an Edina elementary school is suing the school district, saying staff members violated district policy when they searched her child. The alleged incident happened at Countryside Elementary School in the 2017-18 school year, when the student was in second grade. According to the Star Tribune , the lawsuit says…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Wildlife managers say late-season snowstorms and heavy spring rains have taken a toll on Minnesota’s pheasant population. The Department of Natural Resources’ annual roadside survey indicates that Minnesota’s pheasant numbers are down 17% from 2018. The index is 11% below the 10-year average and 60% below the long-term average. DNR upland game research scientist Tim…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Supreme Court says parents who defame their children’s public high school coaches don’t have legal protection against their claims. The high court ruled Wednesday the coaches are not public officials so they have a lower bar to prove any defamation case. The Star Tribune says the court’s decision involves former Woodbury High School…
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart says it will discontinue the sale of handgun ammunition and also publicly request that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in stores even where state laws allow it. The announcement comes after a mass shooting claimed seven lives in Odessa, Texas and follows two other back-to-back shootings last month, one of them at a Walmart…
WASHINGTON (AP) – A total of 127 military construction projects are being sidelined by a Pentagon decision to shift $3.6 billion to build part of President Donald Trump’s border wall. Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved the transfer of funds on Tuesday. The Pentagon will cut funding from military projects like schools, target ranges, daycare centers for military families, and maintenance…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers has picked an attorney for an organic farming cooperative to serve as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s new leader. Evers said Thursday that he has appointed Melissa Hughes to replace Mark Hogan as WEDC secretary. Hogan was appointed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker but stayed on the job after GOP lawmakers blocked…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) – Students and staff at Fond du Lac High School are a bit on edge as the search continues for a missing python. The 3-foot long snake escaped from its cage at the high school sometime over the Labor Day weekend. Principal Matt Steinbarth says there’s some evidence the snake entered the ventilation system at…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is opening an office in Duluth in an effort to bring more federal resources to investigate drug crimes in northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The new office was announced Wednesday by city leaders and Richard Salter, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s Omaha division, which oversees DEA operations in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota’s state-run health insurance exchange has announced a seven-week enrollment period for 2020 coverage. MNsure said Wednesday that Minnesotans will have from Nov. 1, 2019, to Dec. 23, 2019, to shop for 2020 health coverage. Minnesota’s enrollment period is eight days longer than the federal open enrollment period that runs from Nov. 1 to Dec….
(courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A 5-year-old boy has returned home nearly five months after he was thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota. The boy’s family said Tuesday on a gofundme.com site that their son has completed inpatient treatment and has returned home. KSTP-TV reports the boy, identified only as Landen, will continue…
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say a Minnesota woman has been killed by a black bear on an island in Canadian waters. Ontario Provincial Police say 62-year-old Catherine Sweatt-Mueller, of Maple Plain, was staying with her parents in a remote cabin on Red Pine Island in Rainy Lake when she was killed. The Star Tribune reports that police Constable…
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota State Fair has wrapped up another year with another attendance record. Fair officials say the 2019 edition of the Great Minnesota Get-Together finished Monday with a 12-day total attendance of more than 2.1 million, thanks to a record Labor Day turnout of 184,740. That beats the previous overall attendance record of more than…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Health officials say nearly 50,000 children in Wisconsin have vaccination waivers as the school year gets underway, leaving them vulnerable to measles at a time when the number of cases has grown exponentially across the country. The Journal Sentinel says figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 1,215 cases of measles this year across…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A former Duluth police officer who was fired after he dragged a handcuffed man through a city skyway system is a step closer to getting his job back. Adam Huot was fired after the May 2017 incident. Video shows the man’s head hit a steel door frame as he was being dragged. The Minnesota Court of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis park officials say contaminated water led to a record number of beach closures in this summer. Half of the city’s 12 beaches were not safe to swim in at various times during the summer. That’s the most since Minneapolis started a water sampling program in 2003, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Park officials say heavy rainfall was…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – St. Paul police say it was a chaotic close to the Minnesota State Fair as a pedestrian was struck by a car and three men were wounded by gunfire. Authorities say an altercation broke out about 10:20 p.m. Monday outside a fair gate and a woman was hit by a vehicle. She’s in critical condition…
ODESSA, Texas (AP) — At least five people were dead after a gunman who hijacked a postal service vehicle in West Texas shot more than 20 people, authorities said Saturday. The gunman was killed and three law enforcement officers were among the injured. The shooting began with a traffic stop where gunfire was exchanged with police, setting off a chaotic…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota House Democrats are hitting the road for a series of town halls on how the state should go about legalizing recreational marijuana. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler says his chamber will pass a legalization bill in the 2020 session, so it’s vitally important that Minnesotans weigh in. The first three of 15 community conversations…
(courtesy: Eden Prairie PD) EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) – Police in a Twin Cities suburb say they’re working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether a cougar is roaming the city. Authorities tweeted a photo Thursday night of what appears to be a cougar taken by a resident in Eden Prairie this week near Purgatory Creek. It’s…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – State officials say traffic deaths in Minnesota increased 6% last year. The Department of Public Safety says 381 people died in crashes in 2018 with speed being the main factor in about a third of the fatalities. The agency’s Office of Traffic Safety says failing to wear seat belts resulted in 96 deaths, while 84…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Preliminary numbers show the freshmen class at the University of Minnesota could be the largest in decades. Vice Provost and Dean Robert McMaster says the 6,200 freshman students this year eclipses the 2017 class as the largest in 50 years. Although, the official enrollment number won’t be published until later this fall. McMaster tells KARE-TV the university…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Student math test scores continue to decline in Minnesota. During the most recent school year, the number of Minnesota students considered proficient in math dropped for the fourth consecutive year. Only 53.9 percent of students met or exceeded state standards for math proficiency in 2019. In 2016, nearly 60 percent of Minnesota students met or…
(photo: Twitter/GallatinNF) BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – An emergency crew has recovered the body of climber who died on Montana’s highest peak. The Billings Gazette reports a helicopter retrieved a man’s body from the south side of Granite Peak Tuesday. Authorities have not yet identified the 65-year-old victim from Minnesota. Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler says the man fell Saturday…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Justice Department has won its first conviction using results from testing thousands of unanalyzed sexual assault kits. The department announced Thursday that a Waupaca County jury convicted Leroy Whittenberger of three counts of second-degree sexual assault on Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint filed in April 2018, Whittenberger assaulted a teenage girl in New…
BEAVER DAM, Wis. (AP) Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says he’s awaiting a recommendation from his legal team about when to call a special election for the congressional district being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Sean Duffy. Evers said Thursday that he doesn’t know if he’ll have the special election correspond with the state’s presidential primary in April, when there’s…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Two Republican legislators are working on a bill that would eliminate Wisconsin’s waiting period before divorcees can get married again. Under current state law, divorcees can’t get married to anyone in Wisconsin during the first six months after their divorce becomes final. Rep. Cindi Duchow and Sen. Alberta Darling’s bill would eliminate the waiting period. They…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Nearly a dozen lawsuits with potentially millions of dollars at stake are in limbo thanks to a dispute between Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul and Republicans who passed a lame-duck law giving themselves the final say over settlements. Kaul and Republican committee members can’t agree on how to discuss the cases. Kaul wants the committee to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The number of Wisconsin students who are fully immunized declined slightly in the last school year. New data from state health officials show 91.9 % of students met immunization requirements, a decrease of 0.4% from the previous school year. Wisconsin Public Radio News reports that for diseases like measles, the immunization rate needs to be closer…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers says Wisconsin has received a federal disaster declaration for 17 counties and two tribes that sustained damage during severe storms in July. Evers made the request to President Donald Trump’s administration last week. The governor also had requested Marinette County be included, but Evers’ office says the Federal Emergency Management Agency is still…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota wildlife officials are taking steps to curb a fatal brain disease among the state’s wild deer. The Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced 2019 deer season regulations aimed at limiting the spread of chronic wasting disease. The agency plans to expand hunting opportunities and bag limits in areas where the disease has been…
ASHLAND, Wis. – A 43-year-old woman suffered suspected serious injuries Monday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle at a construction site. According to the Ashland Police Department, Vickie Williams, of Odanah, was working as a construction zone flagger at a construction site on Highway 112 when a driver passed a line of stopped cars and struck Williams with his…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers wants to set a minimum age for purchasing vaping products and raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco and nicotine. The group led by Republican state Sen. Howard Marklein has introduced a bill that would prohibit the sale of vaping products to anyone under 21. The bill also would move…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Human Services says it must repay the federal government an estimated $48 million that it paid to ineligible chemical dependency treatment providers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ordered the state in May to cease the payments to as many as 100 inpatient providers classified as “institutions for mental diseases.”…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, who represents northern Wisconsin in Congress, is resigning next month. Duffy posted on his Facebook page Monday that he is resigning on Sept. 23 to spend more time with his family. Duffy says that he recently learned that his ninth child due in October has a heart condition and “will need…
PILLAGER, Minn. (AP) – Authorities in northern Minnesota say a freight train struck and killed a man over the weekend. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was notified Saturday morning that the train hit a person who was walking on the tracks west of Pillager. Deputies and first responders arrived and found a 36-year-old man dead at the scene. The train…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A top leader at Minnesota’s largest state agency has resigned for a second time, just weeks after she rescinded her original resignation. Deputy Commissioner Claire Wilson’s last day at the Department of Human Services will be Friday. As first reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Acting Commissioner Pam Wheelock made the announcement in an email to…
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) – A shipping lock that enables cargo vessels to move between Lake Huron and Lake Superior has closed temporarily for repairs. Beverly McCready of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, was closed around 8 a.m. EDT Monday and is expected to reopen at 6:30 p.m. She…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says he’s ordered state agencies to be prepared to legalize recreational marijuana next year if the Legislature approves a bill. But Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says he’ll block the bill in the Republican-controlled chamber. Walz tells Minnesota Public Radio News that he’s relying on supporters to continue pushing for legalization….
