(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at a newspaper office in Annapolis on Thursday, killing five people and gravely wounding a number of others before being taken into custody in what appeared to be one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history, police and witnesses said. Police gave no immediate details on the…
(Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP File)ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota regulators have approved Enbridge Energy’s proposal for replacing its deteriorating Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, but they haven’t yet settled on the route. The Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to grant a certificate of need for Enbridge. The Calgary, Alberta-based company says the pipeline needs…
(WJLA via AP)ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Multiple people were shot Thursday at a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, with a witness saying a single gunman fired into the newsroom. A reporter at The Capital tweeted that a single individual shot multiple people. Phil Davis, who covers business and politics for the newspaper, tweeted that the gunman shot through the glass door…
(Garret Ellison | MLive)ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota regulators have begun deliberations on whether to approve or reject Enbridge Energy’s proposal for replacing its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. The Public Utilities Commission entered a fifth day of hearings on the project Thursday. Commissioners began deliberations after they finished questioning representatives on both sides of the…
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – The hepatitis A outbreak in Louisville and other parts of Kentucky is now the worst in the country. The Courier Journal reports state health officials confirmed Wednesday at least 969 people have contracted the liver disease. State Public Health department Commissioner Dr. Jeff Howard says the outbreak is the worst on record across the nation and…
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)SEATTLE (AP) — Your Amazon packages, which usually show up in a UPS truck, an unmarked vehicle or in the hands of a mail carrier, may soon be delivered from an Amazon van. The online retailer has been looking for a while to find a way to have more control over how its packages are delivered. With…
SMYRNA, Ga. (AP) — Police in suburban Atlanta say a body found inside of a walk-in beer cooler at the major league home of the Atlanta Braves belongs to a Minnesota man who was doing contract work at the stadium. Cobb County police on Wednesday identified him as 48-year-old Todd Keeling of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Authorities say Keeling had…
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement Wednesday, giving President Donald Trump the chance to cement conservative control of the high court. The 81-year-old Kennedy said in a statement he is stepping down after more than 30 years on the court. A Republican appointee, he has held the key vote on…
NEW HOPE, Minn. (AP) – A standoff that started with a domestic dispute in New Hope has ended peacefully 18 hours later. New Hope Police Capt. Scott Slawson says a man who was allegedly holding two children in a town house surrendered Tuesday afternoon. Slawson says the man was taken to a hospital for an evaluation. The two children were…
NEW YORK (AP) – The 28-year-old political newcomer who upset U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s Democrat primary says she brings an “urgency” to the fight for working families. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Bernie Sanders, spoke Wednesday on the MSNBC “Morning Joe” show. Ocasio-Cortez says her father died when she was a teenager and her mother cleaned…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that government workers can’t be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining, dealing a serious financial blow to organized labor. The justices are scrapping a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require that public employees pay some fees to unions that represent…
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) – An agitated passenger was escorted off a Spirit Airlines flight that landed in Rochester, Minnesota, for a medical emergency. Rochester Police Lt. Mike Sadauskis says the 38-year-old woman from Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, was asked to leave the flight after it landed Monday morning. The incident started when the flight from Houston to Minneapolis was diverted to…
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) – A former Mendota Heights high school teacher has been sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a student. Thirty-two-year-old Christine Lee Funk faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for three counts of criminal sexual contact with the 17-year-old boy. Instead, Funk pleaded guilty to one count and the two others…
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)FISHERS, Ind. (AP) — Police say a child fired a shot from a loaded handgun after finding it in a sofa at an Ikea store in suburban Indianapolis. Fishers police say no one was injured from the gunshot about 2 p.m. Monday at the furniture store along Interstate 69 just northeast of Indianapolis. Police Sgt. Tom Weger…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – State investigators have released the names of two Minneapolis officers who shot and killed a black man who authorities say had a gun. Thurman Blevins Jr. was fatally shot Saturday by Officer Ryan Kelly and Officer Justin Schmidt after a foot chase through a north Minneapolis alley. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says Kelly has been…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) SEATTLE (AP) — Seventeen states, including Washington, New York and California, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. The states, all of which are led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C., in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court…
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say two people killed a man on a Minnesota farmstead before burning the body and burying the remains in two separate sites. Thirty-nine-year-old Jason Jensen and 34-year-old Kayla Westcott are charged with aiding and abetting murder with intent, but without premeditation. They face 40 years in prison if convicted. Jensen and Westcott were arrested during…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries, rejecting a challenge that it discriminated against Muslims or exceeded his authority. The 5-4 decision Tuesday is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by his…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Authorities say a speeding driver has died in a crash on Milwaukee’s south side after police ended their pursuit of the motorist. The crash happened about 3:30 a.m. Monday. Police say a suburban Greenfield officer tried to pull over the man for a traffic violation, but he sped away. Greenfield police began a pursuit, but then canceled…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Wisconsin’s top Republican leaders are not criticizing President Donald Trump’s trade policy or Harley-Davidson’s decision to shift the production of motorcycles headed for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas. The Milwaukee-based company said Monday it’s making the move because of a spike in European Union tariffs on its motorcycles exported from the U.S. A spokeswoman for…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Minnesota county sheriff who resigned unexpectedly last month is accused of threatening a female employee in the sheriff’s office. The Star Tribune reports that an investigation ordered by the Chisago County Attorney’s Office shows that Rick Duncan wrote threatening letters last fall directing the employee to go with him to a training session in Bemidji and…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Minnesota says students who can’t get into its selective Twin Cities flagship will be steered to the four other campuses as the system looks to grow by 3,000 over the next six years. The Pioneer Press reports that the Twin Cities campus accounts for 71 percent of the system’s more than 44,500 undergraduates. However,…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says officials have recovered a black and silver handgun from the scene of a Minneapolis police shooting that left a man dead. The bureau, which is investigating the shooting, said Sunday that the man ran from officers while holding a gun. Authorities say Minneapolis police officers pursued and then shot the…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Some Wisconsin schools will be using gunshot-detection sensors when classes resume this fall to try to get police to respond more quickly to a mass shooting. The sensors are among various security upgrades schools are rolling out with grant money state lawmakers approved this year after the shootings in Parkland, Florida. The Kenosha Unified School District plans…
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says it will accelerate its store closings in the U.S. next year as it tries to boost sluggish sales. The Seattle-based company announced Tuesday that it will close 150 under-performing stores in heavily penetrated markets, up from the usual rate of 50 closings a year. The company also said it expects 1 percent growth in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Activists are encouraging people to use test strips on drugs as the number of fentanyl overdose deaths rises in Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio reports that the strips offer a simple way for people to tell whether there’s potentially dangerous fentanyl in the drugs they’re about to take. Fentanyl is considered more powerful than heroin. The…
(Andy Morrison/The Blade via AP, File) SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The words blasted to cellphones around Oregon’s capital city were ominous: “Civil emergency . prepare for action.” Within half an hour, a second official alert clarified the subject wasn’t impending violence but toxins from an algae bloom, detected in Salem’s water supply. Across the U.S., reservoirs that supply drinking water…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Swarms of mosquitoes will soon be buzzing in Minnesota after recent bouts of rain. Mosquitoes typically emerge in the early summer when their eggs become submerged in water, causing them to start hatching. The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District says it expects mosquitoes will be swarming in the coming days as the larvae transform into adults….
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) – A Kasson police officer is being held on unconditional bond of $1 million for criminal sexual conduct charges in Olmsted County. Fifty-one-year-old Julio Baez was arrested earlier this week at a Winona motel. A complaint against Baez says he sexually abused two girls, one for 11 years, from the time she was 5 until she was…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A man with three drunken driving convictions is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in the death of a pedestrian who was struck and killed in Milwaukee earlier this week. A criminal complaint says 35-year-old Christopher Anderson was drunk when he hit and killed 64-year-old Bruce Williams Monday. Authorities say Anderson had his 8-day-old…
(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)LOS ANGELES (AP) – ABC, which canceled its “Roseanne” revival over its star’s racist tweet, says it will air a Conner family sitcom minus Roseanne Barr this fall. ABC ordered 10 episodes of the spinoff after Barr agreed to forgo any creative or financial participation in it. In a statement issued by the show’s producer, Barr said…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says police generally need a search warrant if they want to track criminal suspects’ movements by collecting information about where they’ve used their cellphones. The justices’ 5-4 decision Friday is a victory for privacy in the digital age. That’s a big change from the old days when authorities could go to the phone company…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A man accused of posing as an Internal Revenue Service representative and tricking people into buying Target gift cards to pay of phony tax debts is facing federal charges in Minnesota. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul accuses 27-year-old Yu Zhang of visiting at least 10 Target stores a day…
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s busiest airport will be the first in the nation to require a face scan of passengers on all arriving and departing international flights, officials said Thursday, a move that pleases airport executives but worries privacy advocates. Officials at Orlando International Airport said the expansion of face scans would speed up the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has sentenced a former University of Wisconsin-Madison student who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three female students and choking or stalking two others to three years behind bars. WKOW-TV reports Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke sentenced 22-year-old Alec Cook of Edina, Minnesota, on Thursday to three years in prison and five years of…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Heavy rains are causing roads to flood in southeastern South Dakota. The South Dakota Highway Patrol says Highway 11 in southeastern Sioux Falls is closed from 57th Street to 271st Street for water over the road. The National Weather Service reports more than 5 inches of rain fell in that area. In Minnesota, part of…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – The small Duluth diner is getting an earful from commenters and callers for hosting Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” morning show a day after President Donald Trump visited the city. Uncle Loui’s Cafe, a local favorite in the city, drew both criticism and support after the conservative morning show announced plans for the broadcast. Owner Debra…
photo: andygronik.comMADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik is ending his campaign for governor. Gronik announced Thursday he was dropping out of the race. That leaves nine Democrats in the field looking to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Gronik got into the race nearly a year ago, in July 2017. A political newcomer, he was not able…
WASHINGTON (AP) – A provocative new study says viruses that sneak into the brain just might play a role in Alzheimer’s. Some scientists have long suspected viruses or bacteria somehow set the stage for Alzheimer’s. Now, the main theory is that sticky brain-clogging plaques are the culprit. Thursday’s findings don’t prove viruses cause the mind-robbing disease but they promise to…
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Nine Minnesota businesses that rely on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area have sued the Interior Department, challenging its decision to reinstate the federal mineral rights leases for the planned Twin Metals copper-nickel mine near Ely. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on Thursday says the department’s decision was unlawful…
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s Instagram service is loosening its restraints on video in an attempt to lure younger viewers away from YouTube when they’re looking for something to watch on their smartphones. The expansion announced Wednesday, dubbed IGTV, will increase Instagram’s video time limit from one minute to 10 minutes for most users. Accounts with large audiences…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee is on the short list to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020. Wisconsin’s largest city was among four cities to make the cut Wednesday by the DNC site selection committee. But the Denver Post is reporting that city, which also made the cut, is planning to withdraw its application. The two other cities are Houston…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. The 5-4 ruling Thursday is a win for states, who said they were losing out on billions of dollars annually under two decades-old Supreme Court decisions that impacted online sales tax collection. The high court ruled Thursday to overturn those decisions. They had resulted…
REMER, Minn. (AP) – Authorities have recovered the body of a 76-year-old man who drowned while swimming in a northern Minnesota lake. Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch says his office was notified Monday night of a drowning on Upper Menton Lake near Remer. Deputies and first responders arrived and recovered the man’s body from the lake. Deputies learned the man…
WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, has died. The Gorilla Foundation says the 46-year-old western lowland gorilla died in her sleep at the foundation’s preserve in California’s Santa Cruz mountains on Tuesday. Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo, and Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities allege a teenager set fire to a 118-year-old church in central Minnesota in March 2016, causing several millions of dollars in damage. Prosecutors in Stearns County charged the teen with first-degree arson for allegedly setting fire to the Church of St. Mary in Melrose. The suspect was 13 at the time. Sheriff’s investigators interviewed…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – As the summer campfire season picks up Minnesota Poison Control has a warning about a product used to generate colored flames. KARE-TV reports the chemical, sold in a small foil packet, has sickened several young children in Minnesota, including one that was sent to the hospital. The Minnesota Poison Control center has handled four poisoning cases involving…
(AP) WASHINGTON (AP) – Ambassador Nikki Haley says the United States is withdrawing from the U.N. Human Rights Council, calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name.” Haley is President Donald Trump’s envoy to the United Nations. She says a year ago she made clear the U.S. would stay in the council only if “essential reforms were…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has joined with 20 other Democratic attorneys general nationwide in demanding that the Trump administration end a “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The state prosecutors say in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security…
(Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) – Michigan’s governor has issued disaster declarations for two counties in the state’s Upper Peninsula that suffered flooding damage due to heavy rains. Gov. Rick Snyder’s office says the Monday orders will allow the National Guard to deploy to Houghton and Menominee counties to help with road repairs. The declaration also allows…
