CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A NASA spacecraft has landed on Mars to explore the planet’s interior. Flight controllers announced that the spacecraft InSight touched down Monday, after a perilous supersonic descent through the red Martian skies. Confirmation came via radio signals that took more than eight minutes to cross the nearly 100 million miles between Mars and Earth. There was…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota corrections officials say they’re looking for a convicted killer who is on supervised release. The Department of Corrections says 40-year-old Joshua Hendrickson was released from the St. Cloud prison last year after serving about 18 years for fatally stabbing Christopher Nelson and injuring a second man. The stabbings happened at a house party in Halma. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Police say a motorist accused of crashing his SUV through the front gate of the Minnesota governor’s residence in St. Paul has been jailed. State Patrol Lt. Gordon Shank says nobody was injured in the incident around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Shank says the vehicle, driven by a 59-year-old Clinton Fouquette, of Center City, came to a…
DETROIT – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will spend $32.4 million in the coming year for a channel deepening project that will be an important step toward construction of a new Great Lakes shipping lock. The funds will be used to finish design and begin construction work on the upstream approach channel of the Soo Locks complex…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota wildlife officials and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar are pressing Congress for more funding to monitor chronic wasting disease in the deer herd. Minnesota Public Radio News reports they’re also urging the federal Department of Agriculture to develop a national tracking system for the deer disease as well as standards for transporting deer across state lines….
(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP, File)DETROIT – General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles. The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Gov. Mark Dayton is back home in St. Paul after an unexpectedly long hospitalization following back surgeries. Dayton returned to the governor’s residence Wednesday. In a statement, the 71-year-old said he was looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with family. Dayton said he would continue therapy at the residence. He said earlier that he suffered some lung…
MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin investigators looking for a 13-year-old girl missing since her parents’ slayings remain haunted by her disappearance more than a month after the search for her began. Detectives have pursued more than 2,300 tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos and spent countless hours searching for Jayme Closs, but their efforts haven’t yielded any suspects. Investigators believe Jayme was…
DULUTH, Minn. – According to the Duluth Police Department officers were dispatched to the 100 Block of 56th Avenue West for a medical emergency on Saturday. When officers arrived on scene they located a 2-year-old male not breathing. Officers immediately began life saving efforts on the child, but their efforts failed to revive the boy. He was pronounced dead at…
MINNEAPOLIS – Few activities are as Minnesotan as ice fishing, and some anglers are already venturing out onto the ice. If that sounds dangerous, it is, especially with a Thanksgiving warmup in the forecast. Authorities already have had to rescue some anglers. And conversation officers are still urging “extreme caution” on many lakes. The Department of Natural Resources likes to…
RICE LAKE, Wis. – Authorities in western Wisconsin say the driver of a car has died after crashing into a school bus carrying the Amery girls’ basketball team. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the crash happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 48 just west of Rice Lake. An initial investigation finds a car driven by 55-year-old Joy Tew…
MADISON, Wis.- A legislator is ripping the state Department of Natural Resources for allegedly forcing firefighters to rescue a deer stranded on a frozen lake. Republican Rep. Adam Jarchow tweeted Tuesday that a DNR warden “harassed” firefighters into rescuing a deer that had wandered out onto Balsam Lake. He said he would fire the warden for “being complicit in putting…
STILLWATER, Minn. – A man is dead after a confrontation with police in Stillwater. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says officers from Stillwater, Bayport and Oak Park Heights responded to a call about 1 a.m. Wednesday involving a suicidal man armed with a knife. Authorities say one officer fired a gun and another officer discharged a stun gun. They did…
MADISON, Wis. – Incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will need to find about $1.1 billion to give state agencies all they requested to pay for schools, prisons, Medicaid and other government operations over the next two years. That’s according to a new report from Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration. The report released Tuesday analyzes state agency budget requests and revises…
DETROIT – A federal judge in Detroit says regulating female genital mutilation is up to states and that Congress had no authority to pass the 1996 law banning it. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman dismissed mutilation and conspiracy charges Tuesday against two doctors and others involved in the procedure on nine girls at a suburban Detroit clinic. Jumana Nagarwala says…
NEW YORK – U.S. health officials are telling people to avoid eating romaine lettuce because of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 32 people in 11 states. The Food and Drug Administration says it’s working with officials in Canada, where people are also being warned to stay away from romaine lettuce. The strain identified is different than the one…
MADISON, Wis. – Outgoing Gov. Scott Walker is giving outgoing Attorney General Brad Schimel a job as a judge. Walker announced Tuesday that he appointed Schimel as a Waukesha County circuit judge. Walker said Schimel has shown a commitment to the rule of law and will faithfully serve the state as a judge. Schimel is a former Waukesha County district…
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton says he expects to be home before Thanksgiving after complications from back surgery required more than a month of hospitalization. The 71-year-old Democrat tells Minnesota Public Radio News that his two back surgeries at Mayo Clinic were successful and he feels much better thanks to physical therapy. Dayton said last week that post-surgery complications…
CHICAGO – Police say the suspected gunman is dead and four people are in critical condition following a shooting at a Chicago hospital. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says a police officer and at least one hospital employee are among those hospitalized in critical condition following the Monday afternoon shooting at Mercy Hospital. Guglielmi says the gunman was killed, but…
?????????????????????????????????????????DENVER – Prosecutors say a Colorado man strangled his pregnant wife and smothered their two young daughters. Christopher Watts received three consecutive life sentences without a chance at parole on Monday, nearly two weeks after pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke’s comments on how Watts killed his family are the first time authorities…
WINONA, Minn. – The Diocese of Winona-Rochester plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following allegations of child sexual abuse against former priests. The southern Minnesota diocese distributed a letter from Bishop John Quinn to parishioners over the weekend. A public announcement is planned Tuesday. A spokesman for the diocese told the Winona Daily News that Quinn believes “this…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Monday morning to deny a petition by opponents of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. The Commission reaffirmed its decision to approve the replacement of the deteriorating pipeline granting the certificate of need for the $2.6 billion plan. The commissioners agreed that Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge has met several additional conditions…
MADISON, Wis. – Hunters purchased slightly fewer deer licenses heading into opening day of Wisconsin traditional nine-day gun season. The nine-day season began Saturday. Department of Natural Resources data shows hunters had purchased 774,332 deer licenses as of midnight Friday, down 2.5 percent from 2017. The licenses include bow licenses, mentored hunt licenses and conservation patron licenses, a combination sports…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Opponents of Enbridge Energy’s proposed Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement shouted their objections as Minnesota regulators opened a hearing on the project. Several protesters chanted that the pipeline would be a climate change disaster . That prompted Public Utilities Commission Chairwoman Nancy Lange to call for order shortly after the hearing began Monday. Dozens of…
Photo: courtesy University of St. ThomasST. PAUL, Minn. – The Ramsey County medical examiner’s office says a University of St. Thomas student found dead in her dorm room last month died of respiratory distress. An autopsy found that 19-year-old sophomore Katie Mullen of Andover, Minnesota, had asthma. A roommate found Mullen unresponsive in her bed in Morrison Hall the morning…
MADISON, Wis. – Republican Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has conceded to Democrat Josh Kaul. Schimel announced Monday that he would not seek a recount, even though state law allowed it because the margin of his defeat was less than 1 percentage point. Canvassed vote totals show Schimel lost to Kaul by just over 17,000 votes. The win for Kaul…
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A Minnesota couple has pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges after Montana authorities said they found 960 pounds of marijuana in the couple’s recreational vehicle. Steven and Vicki Robinson of Milaca, Minnesota, face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison after pleading guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan Watters on Thursday. Prosecutors say the couple…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota foresters have cut down the official state Christmas tree in the Nemadji State Forest. Department of Natural Resources forester Jean Mouelle selected this year’s tree for the governor’s residence in St. Paul. Mouelle says the tree is more than 60 years old and is “an impressive example of a balsam fir.” Each year, DNR staff…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A St. Paul kindergarten teacher has been suspended after one of her 5-year-old students was found wandering nearly a mile from the elementary school. The Pioneer Press reports that Como Elementary teacher Angela Birchland told investigators that the boy may have walked out of school on May 7 while students were preparing to go home. Birchland…
MINNEAPOLIS – Sign-ups on Minnesota’s state-run health insurance exchange are lagging behind last year’s pace, and state officials think the unusually busy open enrollment period for Medicare health plans is to blame. MNsure reports just under 2,400 new enrollees through the first two weeks of November. The Star Tribune reports that’s roughly half the 4,700 new sign-ups during the comparable…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota’s governor says he suffered lung damage while recovering from back surgery, keeping him at Mayo Clinic for more than a month. Gov. Mark Dayton underwent two spinal fusion surgeries last month to improve his leg strength and had been expected to be released within days. He hasn’t been seen publicly since his first surgery Oct….
WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House has passed a bill to drop legal protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, reopening a lengthy battle over the predator species. Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the U.S. by the mid-20th century. Since securing protection in the 1970s, wolves…
(Hormel Foods Corporation via AP)NEW YORK – Jennie-O Turkey recalled packages of ground turkey in a salmonella outbreak, and regulators say additional products from other companies could be named as their investigation continues. The recall was the first — not counting pet food — tied to a widespread and ongoing outbreak that has resulted in one death and 164 reported…
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to immediately return the White House press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, announced his decision following a hearing in Washington. The judge said Acosta’s credentials would be returned immediately and reactivated to allow him access to…
BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office says one person has been arrested after a 10-year-old boy shot himself. Authorities say the boy found an unsecured handgun in his family’s home shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday and suffered a gunshot wound. He was taken to Sanford Hospital in Bemidji. His condition was not released. Sheriff’s officials say an arrest…
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. – A feel-good tale of a homeless man using his last $20 to help a stranded New Jersey woman buy gas was actually a complete lie, manufactured to get strangers to donate more than $400,000 to help the down-and-out good Samaritan, a prosecutor said Thursday. Burlington County prosecutor Scott Coffina announced criminal charges against the couple who…
MADISON, Wis. – A new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum says the number of deer hunting licenses sold in Wisconsin has dropped, raising concerns about funding for the state’s conservation efforts. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that data from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources show that the state sold about 824,500 deer licenses in 2017, about 50,400 fewer than…
NEW YORK – A top U.S. health official is pledging to try to ban menthol from regular cigarettes, outlaw flavors in all cigars and tighten rules regarding the sale of most flavored versions of e-cigarettes. Scott Gottlieb of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration disclosed the plans on Thursday. The move represents a major step to further push down U.S….
BARRON, Wis. – The Wisconsin sheriff leading the investigation into the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl and the fatal shootings of her parents is asking hunters for help. The state’s nine-day gun deer hunt begins early Saturday and runs through Nov. 25. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald asked deer hunters Wednesday to report anything suspicious, such as clothing or weapons…
MADSISON, Wis. – The day Wisconsin hunters have been waiting for all year is finally here. The state’s nine-day gun deer hunt begins a half-hour before sunrise Saturday. The season runs through Nov. 25. State Department of Natural Resources officials say Wisconsin experienced a colder and snowier winter in 2017-2018 as well as a late April snowstorm but an excellent…
FOREST CITY, Iowa – A Minnesota woman who authorities say sent 696 text messages to a northern Iowa man in April has taken a plea deal. Winnebago County District Court records say 34-year-old Katie Christian, of Emmons, Minnesota, filed a written guilty plea Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of stalking. Prosecutors agreed to recommend suspended jail time and two years…
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Gov. Mark Dayton remains hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester after having back surgery more than a month ago. Dayton had an initial surgery on Oct. 12 and underwent a second procedure several days later. A spokesman for the governor said he was expected to stay in the hospital for several days. Minnesota Public Radio News…
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – A food distributor with deep roots in Minnesota has been sold to South Korea’s largest food company. The Schwan’s Co. is well known for home deliveries made by its gold trucks. The companies released a statement Thursday saying CJ CheilJedang will pay $1.8 billion for an 80 percent stake in Schwan’s and gain control of its businesses…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The U.S. Senate has approved a new policy on ships that dump ballast water in coastal ports and the Great Lakes, a practice blamed for spreading invasive species that damage the environment and the economy. The ballast plan is contained in a $10.6 billion Coast Guard budget authorization bill passed Wednesday. It now goes to the…
(photo courtesy: Fox 9)NORTH MANKATO, Minn. – A natural gas explosion has injured two workers at a truck service shop in North Mankato. The explosion happened just before noon Wednesday at Allstate Peterbilt. North Mankato Police Chief Ross Gullickson says employees were working on a garbage truck when the vehicle began leaking compressed natural gas into the shop. Employees were…
photo courtesy: CNNMINNEAPOLIS – Food safety officials are stressing the importance of proper handling and cooking practices amid a nationwide outbreak of drug-resistant Salmonella found in raw turkey, with Thanksgiving approaching. The Centers for Disease Control last week said the number of reported illnesses has nearly doubled since July to 164. Minnesota has the most cases at 16. There’s been…
MINNEAPOLIS – An environmental group has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to preserve federal protections for gray wolves and force the agency to develop a national recovery plan for the species. The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, a day after the service denied the group’s petition for a nationwide…
HORTONVILLE, Wis. – A Wisconsin company is giving employees revolvers for Christmas in what it says is an effort to promote personal safety and team building. Ben Wolfgram is co-owner of Hortonville-based BenShot. The company makes novelty glassware embedded with a bullet to make it look like it’s been shot. Wolfgram has 16 full-time employees, some of whom have never…
MILWAUKEE – The FBI is examining additional surveillance video taken from an expanded area around the Wisconsin home where a couple was shot and killed and their daughter was apparently abducted. Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs disappeared early on Oct. 15, when sheriff’s deputies responding to a 911 call found the door to her family’s home near Barron kicked in and her…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A gray wolf relocated this fall from the Minnesota mainland to Isle Royale National Park has died. The male wolf was among four taken to the Lake Superior island park from the Grand Portage Chippewa reservation. It’s part of a multi-year effort to rebuild the Isle Royale wolf population, which has fallen sharply in recent years….
