HILL CITY, Minn. — A 58-year-old man with dementia living in a northern Minnesota care center died from bleeding in the brain several weeks after he was repeatedly punched in the face by one staff member while another staff member held him down in his wheelchair, a state investigation shows. The Star Tribune reported Saturday that investigators accuse managers at…
(Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)MADISON, Wis. -Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency because of snow and impending dangerously cold temperatures. Evers signed the order Monday that directs all state agencies to assist if any emergency response and recovery efforts are needed because of the snowstorm and cold that has hit Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and other…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Lawmakers have unveiled legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota, hoping to start what they acknowledge is likely to be a long and contentious discussion. The bills were introduced in the Senate on Monday by Edina Democrat Melisa Franzen and in the House by Golden Valley Democrat Mike Freiberg. They said at a news conference…
MARQUETTE, Mich. – Authorities say searchers have found the body of a Northern Michigan University student who went missing on a hike to photograph waterfalls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The search for 25-year-old Guiancarlo Estupigan began Friday in Marquette County’s Ishpeming Township and continued over the weekend. Sheriff Greg Zyburt says Estupigan was found dead Sunday afternoon. WLUC-TV reports his…
MADISON, Wis. – A Madison suburb is suing in connection with a deadly natural gas explosion this past summer. A VC Tech worker installing fiber-optic cable ruptured a natural gas line in downtown Sun Prairie in July. An ensuing explosion destroyed half a city block and killed firefighter Corey Barr . The Wisconsin State Journal reports the city filed a…
DETROIT (AP) – Two Midwest-based banks plan to merge to create a bank with $45 billion in assets that will be based in Detroit. Detroit-based Chemical Financial Corp. and Wayzata, Minnesota-based TCF Financial Corp. announced Monday the signing of an agreement under which the companies will combine in what they described as an all-stock “merger of equals.” Plans call for…
DENVER – A Minnesota man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal stalking charges. Federal prosecutors in Colorado say Eric Ronald Bolduan also must register as a sex offender following his release. Bolduan pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking and three counts of interstate communications in September. Prosecutors say he created…
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Wis. – In a recent release, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office says they do not anticipate filing a criminal complaint against Jake Patterson in the immediate future. Douglas County District Attorney Mark Fruehauf states: “A prosecutor’s decision whether to file criminal charges involves the consideration of multiple factors, including the existence of other charges and victim-related concerns….
(Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – With temperatures expected to reach 20 to 30 degrees below zero next week, Governor Tim Walz says he is exploring the possibility of closing Minnesota schools if temperatures remain extremely low. “I really trust local officials and superintendents and folks to make these decisions,” Walz said. “We’ll certainly see when it’s the proper…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a woman found under a car that had crashed into a wall at a hospital parking ramp. Deputies responded to the parking structure at Froedtert Hospital shortly before 4 a.m. where they found the unconscious woman under the vehicle with a head wound. Officials say the woman…
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota is pushing the speed limit to 60 mph on most two-lane state highways. The Star Tribune reports that state traffic officials say more than two-thirds of rural highways slated for the increase have already posted the new limit and that the rest should be completed this year. Many rural residents pushed for the change, but some national…
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating a tuberculosis outbreak among people associated with Minnesota State University, Mankato. Health officials believe the bacteria originated with an international student and spread to at least seven others. The majority are MSU students or former students. About 700 people who may have interacted with them, such as roommates and…
WASHINGTON -White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the arrest of former Donald Trump campaign adviser Roget Stone in the special counsel’s Russia probe has nothing to do with the president. Sanders’ comments came hours after Stone was arrested Friday during a pre-dawn raid at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. Stone was charged in a seven-count indictment that includes…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Donald Trump will not accept a short-term deal to reopen the government unless it includes “a large down payment” for his promised border wall. The statement from White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday came as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were meeting to try…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A group of scientists is urging Gov. Tim Walz to join them in opposing Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline project. Walz has said he’ll look at the science before he decides whether to continue a lawsuit filed by the state Commerce Department under the Dayton administration to overturn the Public Utilities Commission’s approval of the…
WABASSO, Minn. – A school district in southwestern Minnesota has canceled classes for the rest of the week because of a flu outbreak. The Wabasso School District called off all classes, activities and practices for Thursday and Friday. More than 20 percent of the district’s student body is ill with the flu. The Star Tribune reports 74 students and nine…
MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul is rejecting Gov. Tony Evers directive that he withdraw Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit seeking repeal of the federal health care law. Kaul tells the fellow Democrat Evers in a letter Thursday that he can’t do that without approval of Republican lawmakers. The news is a setback for Evers a day after he…
SEBRING, Fla. (AP) — An Indiana man accused of fatally shooting five people inside a Florida bank branch has long been fascinated with the idea of killing, but people who could have done something about it didn’t take his threats seriously, a woman who identified herself as his former girlfriend told a television station. Zephen Xaver, 21, “for some reason…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – General Mills is voluntarily recalling some bags of its Gold Medal Unbleached Flour because of salmonella concerns. The 5-pound bags have a “better if used by” date of April 20, 2020 and the UPC code 000-16000-19610-0. Customers should discard the product. The company says it discovered salmonella during sampling of the product, but it has not received…
DULUTH, Minn. – Two Duluth men have been convicted in federal court of trafficking a 15-year-old girl for sex. A jury in Duluth found 44-year-old Amos Kiprop Koech guilty Tuesday of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking of a minor. Koech’s alleged co-conspirator, 33-year-old Andre Mathis Jr., pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor…
(AP) – For the first time since 1901, the run-up to Valentine’s Day won’t include store shelves stocked with the classic Sweethearts candy. New England Confectionery Company (Necco), the Massachusetts-based candy manufacturer behind a slew of iconic brands dating to the 19th century, shut down after filing for bankruptcy in July. The good news for patient fans is that Clark…
PHOENIX (AP) — A nurse who was looking after an incapacitated woman at long-term health care facility has been charged with raping her, weeks after she stunned her caregivers and family who didn’t know she was pregnant by giving birth to a baby boy, Phoenix police said Wednesday. Investigators arrested 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse, on suspicion of…
(courtesy: Fox 9)ZIMMERMAN, Minn. — A St. Bernard who ran away from a foster home in Minnesota has been found alive after surviving 17 days in freezing temperatures. Ruff Start Rescue director Azure Davis says she wasn’t sure the 10-year-old dog named Old Lady was alive after so much time had passed. Old Lady bolted from her foster home Jan….
(AP) – Democrats Stu Lourey and Michelle Lee are vying in a primary for an open state Senate seat. The District 11 seat opened when Lourey’s father, Tony Lourey, was named state Human Services commissioner earlier this month. Tuesday’s winner will face Rep. Jason Rarick, a Republican from Pine City, and Legal Marijuana Now candidate John Birrenbach of Pine City…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A bill to require motorists to use hands-free devices when talking on the phone while driving has passed its first committee stop in the Minnesota Legislature. A House transportation committee approved the bill on a unanimous voice vote Monday after hearing emotional testimony from several people who lost loved ones in crashes caused by drivers who…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Environmental groups are appealing air and water permits approved for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. The groups argue the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ignored evidence that PolyMet intends to process more ore daily than called for in its air permit. And they argue the company’s water permit improperly allows pollutants to be discharged…
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)MILWAUKEE – The home of the Milwaukee Brewers will be renamed when MillerCoors’ naming rights expire following the 2020 season. MillerCoors said in a statement Tuesday the rights to Miller Park will go to American Family Insurance beginning in 2021. MillerCoors said American Family proactively pitched the Brewers “an incredibly rich offer” for future naming rights to the…
MINNEAPOLIS – Air travelers in Minnesota are enduring some of the longest screening waits in the nation, and it’s caught the attention of Rep. Ilhan Omar. The Minneapolis Democrat is highlighting those wait times as the federal government shutdown moves into its second month. She plans a news conference Tuesday from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where the average wait…
BRAINERD, Minn. — A second person who died from injuries sustained in an avalanche at a northern New Mexico ski resort is a Minnesota native. The deceased skier has been identified by family as 22-year-old Corey Borg-Massanari, who was raised in Brainerd. Borg-Massanari moved to Vail, Colorado from Minnesota to attend Colorado Mountain College. He worked for an outdoor equipment…
(AP Photo/Andy Manis)MADISON, Wis. – New Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is set to deliver his first State of the State speech to the Republican-controlled Legislature. Evers, a Democrat, is slated to speak in the state Assembly chambers at 7 p.m. It will be the first time in eight years someone other than former Republican Gov. Scott Walker has delivered the…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to go ahead with its plan to restrict military service by transgender people while court challenges continue. The high court on Tuesday reversed lower-court orders preventing the Pentagon from implementing its plans. But the high court for now declined to take up cases about the plan. The…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – One man is dead after two all-terrain vehicles broke through the ice on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County. Authorities say a 55-year-old man was traveling in a group of ATV riders near the Fond du Lac River Monday about 9:30 p.m. when his vehicle broke through the ice. Another ATV carrying a 23-year-old…
(courtesy: Fox 9)ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — A 12-year-old girl has died after a snow fort collapsed while she was playing outside a church in suburban Chicago. Arlington Heights police are calling the death a “tragic accident.” Police say the girl, Esther Jung, was playing with a 9-year-old girl in the snow outside Rothem Church on Sunday. Their families began…
(AP) – Netflix is continuing its string of re-boots by bringing back “Unsolved Mysteries.” Netflix says the true-crime and paranormal activity show will follow the original format, but only focus on a single case. The first season will start with 12 episodes. The executive producer of “Stanger Things” will oversee the production. Netflix has not announced when the new “Unsolved…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The board of managers of the Minnesota State Fair has approved nearly $20 million in improvements and maintenance projects for the fairgrounds. Of that amount, $16 million is earmarked for a major new exhibit complex on the North End of the fairgrounds and $3.4 million for maintenance projects. The North End development is under construction. The…
MADISON, Wis. – A federal judge says top Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature violated the First Amendment when they blocked a liberal advocacy group from seeing their Twitter feeds. U.S. District Judge William Conley sided with the group One Wisconsin Now on Friday. The judge ruled the legislators acted in their official government capacity when they created their Twitter accounts,…
MINNEAPOLIS – Officials at a Minnesota high school wrote to parents after two students were pictured in a social media post doing a Nazi salute and holding a sign with references to Adolf Hitler. Jeff Erikson, principal at suburban Minnetonka High School, called the post “deeply offensive” in his note to parents. The Star Tribune reported the photo on a…
BALSAM LAKE, Wis. – Sheriff’s officials say one person has died after an SUV broke through the ice on a western Wisconsin lake. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says authorities received a 911 call shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday about a vehicle that had gone through the ice on Balsam Lake, about 50 miles northeast of the Twin Cities. About…
GRAND MARAIS, Minn. – A company tied to a man who led a polygamous sect’s South Dakota compound has purchased about 40 acres of land in northern Minnesota. Seth Jeffs is listed as registered agent for the company that acquired land west of the Lake Superior town of Grand Marais. Cook County officials said Friday the property was transferred in…
MADISON, Wis. – The state Supreme Court says the Department of Natural Resources lacked the authority to force a couple to modify their massive Madeline Island pier. The DNR granted Terrie and Philip Myers a permit in 2001 to build a 70-foot pier. The agency received complaints in 2012 and 2013 that the pier was contributing to shoreline erosion. The…
MANKATO, Minn. – Prosecutors in Minnesota have charged a woman whose 2-year-old child tumbled from the back seat of a moving vehicle while still strapped in a car seat. Forty-year-old Maimuna Hassan of Mankato was charged Thursday with child endangerment, failing to properly secure a child passenger restraint and a misdemeanor driver’s license violation. Dashcam video captured the moment the…
MADISON, Wis. – Gov. Tony Evers has picked the Wisconsin State Patrol’s next leader. Evers named patrol Maj. Anthony Burrell as superintendent on Friday. He will take over on Sunday. Burrell has served as a state trooper since 1990. He was promoted to sergeant in 2006, lieutenant in 2012 and captain of the patrol’s 11-county Northeast Region in 2015. He…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – An influential Democratic congresswoman wants to know why the Environmental Protection Agency opted against filing formal comments with state regulators when they considered whether to issue a key permit for the PolyMet copper-nickel mine in Minnesota. Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, a critic of the project who chairs a House subcommittee that oversees the EPA, says it’s…
MADISON, Wis. – A federal judge has struck down early-voting restrictions enacted by Wisconsin Republicans in a lame-duck legislative session last year. U.S. District Judge James Peterson ruled Thursday that the restrictions violate injunctions he issued in 2016 invalidating similar early-voting limits. He says the lame-duck limits are clearly inconsistent with the earlier injunctions. In the November election, the overwhelmingly…
TWIN LAKES, Wis. – A 14-year-old Kenosha County girl is accused of stabbing her father in the face after they argued about her online relationship. Police were called to an apartment in Twin Lakes Sunday where they found the wounded father. Investigators say they learned the 38-year-old man and his daughter were arguing about the online relationship before she attacked…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota’s state-run health insurance exchange has achieved a record number of sign-ups in its sixth open enrollment period. MNsure says 123,732 Minnesotans signed up for private health coverage before open enrollment ended Sunday. That’s nearly 400 more than the record set in the previous open enrollment period. MNsure CEO Nate Clark contrasted that Wednesday with the…
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says he will likely include a “first step” toward legalizing medical marijuana in his first state budget proposal. Wispolitics.com reported Wednesday that Evers made the comment in response to a question after meeting with board members of the Wisconsin Technology Council on Tuesday. Evers was asked about his views on marijuana and said…
BARRON, Wis. -Attorneys for a man accused of kidnapping a Wisconsin teenager and killing her parents are acknowledging his confession could present a problem in his defense. According to a criminal complaint, Jake Thomas Patterson told investigators he broke into 13-year-old Jayme Closs’ home near Barron in October, gunned down her parents and abducted her. He said he took her…
MINNEAPOLIS – Scientists say Minnesota is one of the fastest warming states in the country, as its famously bitter winters grow milder. The Star Tribune reports that University of Minnesota scientists met with state lawmakers Tuesday to discuss how climate change is affecting the state. Professor Tracy Twine says Minnesota’s winters are warming 13 times faster than its summers. Researchers…
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Shopko has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy according to a Wednesday morning press release. According to the release, “The Company is seeking to facilitate the restructuring as a result of excess debt and ongoing competitive pressures.” In addition to the filing Shopko also announced it will be closing an additional 38 stores and is relocating over…
