ST. PAUL, Minn.-The Minnesota House has approved a pair of gun control proposals over Republican objections. One provision would expand criminal background check requirements for all gun transfers, while the other would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from people deemed an imminent threat to themselves or others. House Democrats wrapped the proposals into a public safety bill that…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is scheduled to sign a bill into law for the first time, enacting a proposal barring the term “mental retardation” from state agency rules and regulations. Even though the bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support, the Democratic Evers and Republicans who control the Legislature still bickered over the issue. That’s because Evers…
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The tradition of releasing balloons at weddings, birthdays and memorials may soon get deflated by lawmakers in more than half a dozen states. Environmental groups want to put the kibosh on the tradition that has the unintended consequence of hurting the environment and threatening wildlife. Helium-filled balloons can travel for hundreds of miles before returning to…
(Cedric Hohnstadt via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The jury that will deliberate the fate of a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who had called 911 has been instructed to consider the case without the benefit of hindsight. Mohamed Noor is on trial for murder and manslaughter in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Republicans open to a compromise with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Medicaid expansion are looking at ways to accept the federal funding without appearing to cave on the issue. Talks are ongoing even as Republican legislative leaders remain opposed to full expansion. Evers is also publicly refusing to bend from his full expansion proposal, despite…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the U.S. has decided to withdraw its support for a treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade. Trump said Friday that he has decided to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons, including small arms, battle tanks, combat…
(courtesy: Office of Gov. Tim Walz)DULUTH, Minn. – The Star Tribune reports they obtained a letter of reprimand Thursday that Gov. Tim Walz sent to the commissioner of the IRRRB following controversy over the hiring of former state legislator Joe Radinovich. According to the tribune, the letter to Mark Phillips reads in part, “I expect you to model openness, transparency,…
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota National Guard says it’s received 90 reports of sexual assault in the past five years, including cases that ranged from inappropriate touching to rape. Guard leaders shared the information with more than 400 soldiers, airmen and civilians who gathered at the Arden Hills armory Thursday to discuss sexual assaults and providing a safe…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature’s budget committee say Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to legalize medical marijuana and small amounts of recreational pot will be snuffed out. Sen. Alberta Darling on Thursday called Evers’ marijuana legalization proposal “off the wall scary.” Evers proposed it as part of the two-year state budget. Under his plan, medical…
(courtesy: Fox News) FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A blood-sucking bug that can spread disease and is nicknamed for biting people around their mouths has been sighted in Colorado. The Coloradoan reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the “kissing bug,” or Triatoma sanguisuga, has been making its way into the U.S. from South and Central America. The…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis’ police union is partnering with a national group to offer “warrior-style” training to officers despite the mayor’s ban on the training that he says is rooted in fear. The Star Tribune reports that Law Officer announced this week it will provide free online training to members of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. The law enforcement…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – An amendment brought by Minnesota House Republicans to reform the hiring practices at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board failed to pass earlier this week with a vote of 60-70. The amendment “required the IRRRB commissioner to ensure that all hiring for management positions at the IRRRB is done through a fair and open process…
WASHINGTON-Joe Biden has formally entered the 2020 race for president. The vice president under President Barack Obama made the announcement in a video released Thursday morning. The move marks what will likely be the 76-year-old’s final opportunity to seek a job he has eyed for more than a generation. He struggled in two previous campaigns. One of the most recognizable…
DULUTH, Minn. – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released a letter Tuesday asking the EPA to review its current study on Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) and the “viability of utilizing inherently safer alkylation technologies in petroleum refineries.” CSB Interim Executive Kristen Kulinowski said, “In the last 4 years, the CSB has investigated two refinery incidents where an explosion elevated the threat…
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. measles cases in 2019 have climbed to their highest level in 25 years in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines. New York City health officials on Wednesday reported 61 new cases since late last week, pushing this year’s nationwide tally past the 667 cases reported…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Republicans who control the Minnesota Senate have unveiled a tax bill they say will benefit all Minnesota taxpayers and provide tax cuts to half of them. The bill presented Wednesday contrasts with proposals from Gov. Tim Walz and the House Democratic majority that would raise gasoline and other taxes and preserve an expiring tax on…
(AP) – Walgreens has decided to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales several weeks after a top federal official chastised the drugstore chain for violating laws restricting access to cigarettes and other products. Walgreens said Tuesday that it will require customers to be at least 21 years old to purchase tobacco in any of its more than 9,500 stores…
(courtesy: odmp.org)PINE CITY, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of a conservation officer on a Pine County lake last weekend. Officer Eugene Wynn and a Pine County sheriff’s deputy were responding to a call on Cross Lake near Pine City last Friday. Both were thrown from their boat minutes after leaving shore….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The family of a 5-year-old boy thrown off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America earlier this month says he remains in intensive care but that the public’s “prayers are working.” A short statement Tuesday said the boy remains under sedation. The family, which has asked for privacy, says the child “has an important week ahead…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new federal lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that Wisconsin’s voter ID requirements for college students are unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Common Cause in Wisconsin and a 20-year-old Milwaukee School of Engineering student. It argues that Wisconsin’s student ID requirements are a pointless barrier to voting in the state. The 2011 law created a…
MADISON, Wis. – A 24-year-old suburban Milwaukee man says he screamed for about 5 or 10 minutes after realizing he won a $768 million Powerball jackpot – the third largest in U.S. lottery history. Manuel Franco, of West Allis, came forward at a news conference Tuesday in Madison, where Wisconsin’s lottery is headquartered. Franco said his heart started racing when…
DETROIT (AP) – U.S. auto safety regulators have expanded an investigation into malfunctioning air bag controls to include 12.3 million vehicles because the bags may not inflate in a crash. As many as five deaths are blamed on the problem. The probe covers parts made by made by ZF-TRW that were installed in Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Fiat…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The winner of Powerball lottery ticket worth an estimated $768 million will soon be revealed. Lottery officials scheduled a news conference Tuesday in Wisconsin where the ticket was sold last month. Wisconsin lottery officials said a person coming forward to claim the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history will attend the news conference. They didn’t indicate…
(courtesy: Fox 6)MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Catholic school employee in Milwaukee could face charges after a gun accidentally fired and injured a student. The gunshot at St. Josaphat Parish school grazed a 10-year-old student more than two weeks ago. Milwaukee police say they weren’t notified by the school until last week. Parents of students at the school received a…
(courtesy: odmp.org)PINE CITY, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer died after being thrown from a boat while responding to a call about a possible body in a lake near Pine City. Minnesota Public Radio News reports the officer has been identified as Eugene Wynn. He’d been a conservation officer since 2001. Wynn was…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A Wisconsin mother of seven has agreed to plead guilty to trying to plan terrorist attacks on behalf of the Islamic State by distributing information on making explosives and biological weapons. Federal prosecutors said they’ll hold a news conference Monday to discuss the case of Waheba Issa Dais. She initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of…
AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) – Police in Minnesota are investigating who fired at least a dozen shots into a crowded garage where a family was playing dominoes and having a barbecue in Austin. Austin police say a 32-year-old woman and a 37-year-old woman suffered injuries on their legs, but their relatives say they are recovering. The Post-Bulletin reported that no one…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The financial condition of the government’s bedrock retirement programs for middle- and working-class Americans remains shaky, with Medicare pointed toward insolvency by 2026, according to a report Monday by the government’s overseers of Medicare and Social Security. It paints a sobering picture of the programs, though it’s relatively unchanged from last year’s update. Social Security would become…
COLOMBO (AP) – Terror continues in Sri Lanka Monday after a van explodes outside the same church targeted in yesterday’s deadly Easter attacks. A Sri Lankan television crew captured the moments the minivan exploded outside Saint Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo. Monday’s explosion came after police found more bombs in the van and tried to de-fuse them. No one was injured…
(Courtesy: WLUK via Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Authorities are investigating a series of animal poisonings in northern Wisconsin that have killed three family dogs and several wild animals since December. State officials say the dog deaths happened in Bayfield, Marinette and Florence counties and investigators are conducting lab tests to determine the type of poison used….
LE SUEUR, Minn. (AP) – Two more police departments in southern Minnesota are getting officers to wear body cameras. The Le Sueur City Council already has approved purchasing them and on Monday will hear public comment about how the cameras will be used. The Mankato Free Press reports the city’s police department hopes to begin using the cameras by year’s…
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) – An Eden Prairie man accused of locking his teenage daughter in a bedroom and whipping her with a tree branch and a belt has pleaded guilty. The Star Tribune reports that 38-year-old Craig Underwood II pleaded guilty to malicious punishment of a child for his November attack on the girl after she came home from…
SEYMOUR, Wis. (AP) – A man and two young children have been found dead in a home in the northeastern Wisconsin community of Seymour. Police were called to the home for a domestic disturbance about 11:30 p.m. Thursday. When they were unable to make contact with anyone inside, the SWAT team was called to the scene. Neighbors were evacuated. WLUK-TV…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to announce he’s running for president next week. That’s according to three people with knowledge of Biden’s plans. Biden will enter the race as a Democratic front-runner, although the 76-year-old faces questions about his age and whether his more moderate record fits with a party that has become more liberal….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a virus appears to be the cause of a polio-like illness that caused paralyzing symptoms in some Minnesota children last fall, including one girl who remains hospitalized after losing all motor function. The researchers say they found Enterovirus-D68 in the spinal…
DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 300,000 vehicles in North America because a transmission problem could cause them to roll away unexpectedly. The recall covers Dodge Dart compact cars from 2013 through 2016 with six-speed automatic transmissions. The company says a bushing can fail, causing the shifter cable to come loose from the transmission. That means when…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says he’ll tighten hiring rules after a prominent Iron Range Democrat was hired for a civil service job without going through the normal hiring process. The Star Tribune reports that Walz’s move comes after Joe Radinovich, a former state legislator, was fast-tracked for a job at the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board….
(Courtesy: Fox 9/Cedric Hohnstadt) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The partner of a former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman says he was startled by a thump on the officers’ squad car and feared a possible ambush. Officer Matthew Harrity is a key witness at the trial of Mohamed Noor. Noor killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond with a single…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A central Minnesota farm where deer were found infected with a fatal brain disease has closed under an agreement that paid the owner to euthanize his herd. The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced Wednesday that captive deer were killed on a Crow Wing County farm to try to prevent…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Marijuana advocates have high hopes that a proposal to legalize pot in Wisconsin has a better chance of success than ever given growing public support. Democratic state Rep. Melissa Sargent and other supporters on Thursday unveiled the latest proposal to fully legalize marijuana in Wisconsin. It comes after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called for legalizing medical…
UPDATE: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report includes President Donald Trump’s written responses submitted in the Russia probe. Trump’s responses are being released by Attorney General William Barr without redactions and comprise 12 pages. Trump told Mueller he had no recollection of several key events in Mueller’s probe, including a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between top aides and a Russian…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson says he is working on legislation to help stem the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson wants to toughen the initial standard for asylum seekers to “more than a probable chance” they’ll experience violence or persecution in their home countries. Right now, if people can demonstrate “credible fear,” they’re…
(Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office via AP) UPDATE: (AP) – Authorities say the young Florida woman who was allegedly obsessed with the Columbine shooting is dead. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader told reporters Wednesday that the FBI found Sol Pais dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI had said that Sol Pais, flew to Colorado on Monday night and…
(courtesy: Fox 9)ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Classes at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul have been canceled after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of students, staff and even babies who were rolled out of an on-campus day care center in their cribs. The university alerted students, faculty and staff to evacuate McNeely Hall and surround buildings…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – A Brainerd man is accused of attacking a woman with a machete in St. Cloud before using the weapon on himself. Police say the man went to the woman’s apartment building to meet her Monday afternoon, pulled out a machete in the lobby and cut her in the shoulder and wrist. Authorities say the woman…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A bipartisan proposal designed to protect patients and make it easier for them to get needed prescription drugs was up for a public hearing in the Wisconsin Legislature. The measure has broad support from health care providers and people with chronic diseases. It’s modeled after laws in 18 other states setting protocols for so-called step therapy….
BARRON, Wis.-Authorities say a Wisconsin man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents is refusing to cooperate in his presentence investigation. The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that a probation and parole agent filed a one-paragraph letter Monday telling a Barron County Circuit Court judge that Jake Patterson stated he was advised by his lawyer not…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is joining with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in support of a bill that would create uniform procedure for the processing and collection of sexual assault kits. Kaul and lawmakers on Tuesday announced the bill that’s designed to prevent a future testing backlog. The bill establishes requirements and timelines for…
(Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Testimony in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman has raised questions about whether officers were trying to protect one of their own. The incident commander turned her body camera off when talking to Mohamed Noor after the July 2017 shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond….
(DNR) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Department of Natural Resources Secretary Preston Cole says he doesn’t understand why baiting and feeding deer is still allowed in Wisconsin given the spread of chronic wasting disease. State law bans baiting and feeding in infected counties for 36 months and for 24 months in neighboring counties. If another deer tests positive during that span,…
