ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty has chosen the state’s newly sworn-in lieutenant governor as his running mate. Pawlenty announced Thursday that Republican Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach would join the campaign. Fischbach resigned her Senate seat last week and was sworn in as Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton’s lieutenant governor after resisting the job for months. Fischbach confirmed…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will pardon conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud. Trump tweeted Thursday: “Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” D’Souza was sentenced in 2014 to five years of probation after he pleaded guilty to violating federal election…
NEW YORK (AP) – Sears is closing another 72 stores after reporting a first-quarter losses and plunging sales. The struggling retailer said Thursday that it has identified about 100 stores that are no longer turning profits, and 72 of those locations will be shuttered soon. The list of store closings is due to be announced mid-day Thursday. Sears Holdings Corp.,…
(AP Photo/Francois Mori)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is announcing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. The move is sure to raise worries of a trade war with American allies. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says there will be a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum….
ONAMIA, Minn. (AP) – Tribal authorities are investigating an abandoned gillnet found on Mille Lacs Lake that contained 67 dead walleyes. Last week’s find has revived the controversy over tribal fishing on Mille Lacs, where the walleye population has been on a long-term decline. Mille Lacs is co-managed between the state and eight Ojibwe bands that have court-affirmed treaty rights…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed a bill that he says would have unlawfully undermined Minnesota’s water quality standard for protecting wild rice. Dayton, who vetoed a similar bill earlier, says the revised version represented “some progress,” but not enough to overcome its shortcomings. He says the bill would have given a work group authority to…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is suing an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company alleging that it illegally marketed a painkiller made from the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses drugmaker Insys Therapeutics of encouraging physicians to prescribe the painkiller Subsys at higher doses than recommended. The drug is used to manage pain for cancer patients,…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former Minneapolis police officer has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman when he was off duty. Forty-nine-year-old Thomas Tichich was convicted in April of two counts of third-degree sexual assault. He was fired hours after the verdict. The incident happened in December 2016. Tichich was accused of forcing oral sex…
WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) – An employee of a Menards store in Watertown has been arrested for trying to abduct a young child. Police say the attempted abduction of the 4-year-old child happened at the store Sunday afternoon. Assistant Police Chief Tim Toomey says the 35-year-old Canby, Minnesota man grabbed the child and quickly walked away from the boy’s family. KSFY-TV…
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is offering its employees a new perk: affordable access to a college degree. America’s largest private employer, which in the past has helped its workers get their high school or equivalency degrees, hopes the new benefit will help it recruit and retain higher quality entry-level employees in a tight U.S. labor market. The company is…
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein declined Wednesday to testify before the New York grand jury that is weighing whether to indict him on rape and other sex charges, with his lawyers saying there wasn’t enough time to prepare and “political pressure” made an indictment unavoidable. A statement issued through a Weinstein spokesman said the former movie mogul…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Mark Dayton has signed most of a bill authorizing almost $1.5 billion in public construction across Minnesota. Dayton signed the so-called bonding bill Wednesday but used his line-item veto pen on just one project. Dayton said $1 million for additional reviews of state water regulations would have added needless bureaucracy. His signature on the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – St. Paul Public Schools officials have sent 2,000 water bottles and several hundred fans to help students cope with the heat in a district where two-thirds of schools don’t have air conditioning. The Pioneer Press reports that the district doesn’t deem air conditioning a necessity at most facilities because they’re closed during the hottest months…
(AP Photo/Alexander Baroshin) MOSCOW (AP) — Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko turned up at a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday less than 24 hours after police reported he had been shot and killed at his Kiev apartment building. The country’s security services said Babchenko’s death was faked to foil a plot to take his life. Ukrainian police said Tuesday…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – One of the most powerful state lawmakers in Minnesota is leaving the Legislature. Republican House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin announced Wednesday she would retire to take a private sector job. Peppin is a seven-term lawmaker from Rogers who had served as House Majority Leader since 2015. Peppin says she never considered the Legislature a full-time…
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) – A Bloomington woman is jailed in the fatal beating of her husband. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office says the 53-year-old man suffered blows to the head Sunday and died at Hennepin County Medical Center several hours later. Police say the 51-year-old woman had called authorities about a domestic dispute. Officers found her husband unconscious. Authorities…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. is announcing that it will impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods containing “industrially significant technology.” The White House said Tuesday that the tariff will cover goods related to the “Made in China 2025” program. The full list of imports that will be covered will be…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan workers would receive mandatory sick days under a newly filed initiative that could appear on the November ballot. The group Michigan Time to Care turned in 382,239 signatures Tuesday for a petition to create an “Earned Sick Time Act” that would guarantee employees at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Republican state Rep. Jeff Howe of Rockville is the first candidate to enter the race for the Minnesota Senate seat being vacated by Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville. Howe entered a race Tuesday that will determine control of the state Senate. Republicans lost their one-seat majority last week when Fischbach stepped down. As Senate president, she…
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)(AP) – Starbucks is closing more than 8,000 U.S. stores for a few hours Tuesday to conduct anti-bias training in the company’s latest effort to deal with the fallout over the arrest of two black men at one of its shops in Philadelphia. After the incident last month, the coffee chain’s leaders apologized and met with the men…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel says the state Department of Justice has finished sending untested sexual assault evidence kits to private laboratories for analysis. Schimel made the announcement Tuesday, countering criticism that DOJ is moving too slowly to finish testing. The attorney general began a project in 2016 to test thousands of sexual assault kits sitting…
Photo Credit: Minnesota Super Bowl Host CommitteeST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Frigid Super Bowl LII brought $370 million in net new spending to the “Bold North” Twin Cities area, according to a report released Tuesday by Gov. Mark Dayton’s office and the local host committee. The final tally by Rockport Analytics came in $50 million over the consulting company’s pre-Super…
WOLVERTON, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say a semi carrying a load of wheat was destroyed when it was struck by a freight train in western Minnesota. The driver of the semi escaped serious injury in the collision in Wilkin County Tuesday morning. KFGO says the BNSF Railway freight train hit the semi east of Highway 75 near Wolverton. Wilkin County…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say there’s an alarming amount of sex trafficking at illicit massage businesses in central Minnesota. A St. Cloud Times investigation found that a Waite Park business police raided this month is one of a half-dozen in the area regularly advertising on websites known for selling sex. Riverwood Massage and Body Works owner Yanhang Lin…
(AP PHOTO)WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Donald Trump “continues to actively prepare” for the president’s “expected summit” with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House on June 7. She says Kim Yong Chol, North Korea’s…
WELCH, Minn. (AP) – Goodhue County sheriff’s officials say a fisherman has died after falling into the Cannon River. Authorities say the 40-year-old St. Paul man was fishing with his family on Memorial Day and was standing on a steep bank when he fell into the fast-moving river. Deputies and Department of Natural Resources conservation officers launched a water search…
NISSWA, Minn. (AP) – Lawmakers left St. Paul without resolving a long-running dispute over the stocking of Minnesota lakes with muskies. Opponents of introducing the big predator fish to more lakes weren’t able to pass legislation this session to limit the practice. Minnesota Public Radio reports that anti-stocking legislation is expected to return next year. Muskies – properly known as…
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) – Voyageurs National Park and the U.S. Mint will hold festivities next month to mark the release of a commemorative quarter honoring the park on Minnesota’s northern border. The Voyageurs quarter is part of a series of 56 commemoratives highlighting America’s national parks. It shows a loon with a rock cliff in the background. The Mint…
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) – Authorities say the body of a southwestern Michigan man reported missing earlier this month has been found by a boater in Lake Michigan. The boater called 911 after spotting the body near Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph on Monday. Police in Berrien County’s Benton Township say the body was identified as that of 48-year-old Michael…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – Authorities are warning boaters and swimmers to be aware of changing weather conditions, after authorities rescued two young Duluth women who drifted into Lake Superior on an inflatable raft. The Star Tribune reports that fire department and Coast Guard personnel were called to the scene Friday afternoon after the raft was carried into Lake Superior about…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A Wisconsin woman is being charged with swindling her 97-year-old mother-in-law in Minnesota and using the money at casinos. The Pioneer Press reports that 68-year-old Deborah Ann Steele was charged in Ramsey County District Court with 10 counts relating to taking $345,000 from a vulnerable adult. Court records say Steele married the St. Paul woman’s…
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Twin Metals says its updated plan for an underground copper-nickel mine near Ely includes a 100-acre ore processing facility on the banks of Birch Lake, which puts it closer to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness than earlier planned. Environmental groups blasted Thursday’s announcement, saying it increases the threat to the wilderness…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)WASHINGTON (AP) – Newly released emails show senior Environmental Protection Agency officials collaborating with a conservative group that dismisses climate change to rally like-minded people for public hearings on science and global warming, counter negative news coverage and tout Administrator Scott Pruitt’s stewardship of the agency. The emails were obtained by the Environmental Defense Fund and the…
SAWYER COUNTY, Wis. – According to the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office they received a report of a missing 88-year-old man from a cabin on Schmidt Road in the Township of Winter on Thursday evening. Deputies responded to the scene located on the Flambeau River where the missing man was found at approximately 11:59 p.m. deceased in the river. Authorities state…
photo: twitterNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Authorities say a recently adopted 1-year-old girl has died after her father left her in a hot truck. News outlets cite a release from Metro Nashville police saying the adoptive father “reportedly forgot” about the child after dropping off her sibling at day care between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. Wednesday. The girl’s adoptive mother…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Two Minnesota colleges plan to offer scholarships that let international students know they are welcome on U.S. campuses. The University of Minnesota and Concordia College in Moorhead will start offering the scholarships in fall of 2019. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the two Minnesota schools are among nine U.S. colleges offering #YouAreWelcomeHere scholarships to…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A teenager charged with critically injuring a Minneapolis school staff member has been released from jail without posting bail. Eighteen-year-old Corey David Burfield is charged with two counts of assault following attack on Mohammed Dukuly, a paraprofessional who was beaten unconscious at Harrison Education Center earlier this week. Dukuly’s condition has improved from critical to serious at…
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)DETROIT (AP) – Fiat Chrysler is recalling 4.8 million vehicles in the U.S. because in rare circumstances, drivers may not be able to turn off the cruise control. The company is warning owners not to use cruise control until the cars, SUVs and trucks can be fixed with a software update. The recall includes 15 Jeep, Dodge,…
(Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman via AP)OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A gunman opened fire inside an Oklahoma City restaurant during the dinner rush, wounding a woman and two girls before two armed citizens shot him dead outside, police said Friday. The suspected gunman, 28-year-old Alexander Tilghman, was armed with a pistol when he entered Louie’s On The Lake around 6:30 p.m. on…
(Doug Ives/The Canadian Press via AP)TORONTO (AP) – Canadian police say an explosion set off deliberately in a restaurant has wounded at least 15 people, some of them critically. Peel region police said the explosion was caused by an “improvised explosive device” that was set off by two people who then fled the scene in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The U.S. Senate has confirmed a Minnesota judge as the state’s next U.S. Attorney. Erica MacDonald was confirmed as the state’s top federal prosecutor on Thursday. MacDonald has been a judge in Dakota County since 2010, and was a federal prosecutor before that – focusing on cases dealing with violent crimes, drugs, human trafficking and child pornography….
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Sen. Michelle Fischbach is set to take an oath of office as lieutenant governor after months of resisting the role. Gov. Mark Dayton’s office says Fischbach will be sworn in Friday morning to serve as the Democratic governor’s No. 2. It’s an apparent change of heart for Fischbach, a Republican who was automatically elevated to…
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)NEW YORK (AP) – A lawyer representing one of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged victims called his arraignment on criminal charges “an emotional moment.” Attorney Carrie Goldberg represents former actress Lucia Evans, who says Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in his office in 2004. Weinstein was charged Friday with attacking Evans and raping another, unidentified woman at a…
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) – Authorities have detained someone in what they described as an “active shooter” situation at a suburban Indianapolis middle school. The Noblesville Fire Department tweeted Friday morning that it was on an “active shooter” scene at Noblesville West Middle School and that a suspect was in custody. It didn’t say whether anyone had been shot or provide…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Officials in Wisconsin are testing the environmental and health impacts following a frack sand sludge spill that has now reached the Mississippi River. A contactor’s bulldozer slid into a pond earlier this week, leading to an hours-long rescue at the Hi-Crush mine in the western Wisconsin town of Whitehall. Rescuers emptied the pond to free the man,…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Environmental and conservation groups urge Gov. Mark Dayton to use his line-item veto power to cancel $98 million in projects funded by what they consider an improper raid on a trust fund that depends on state lottery proceeds. The wastewater infrastructure and other projects are part of a $1.5 billion public works borrowing bill, but the money…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Minnesota Law School is seeking more funding to help it recover from a large dip in enrollment. Minnesota Public Radio reports that the university’s law school applications fell by more than 50 percent between 2010 and 2017. Law School Dean Garry Jenkins says the school decided not to lower admissions standards. He says tuition…
(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman apologized on Thursday to anyone who may have felt “uncomfortable or disrespected” by his behavior, after CNN reported that multiple women have accused the A-list actor of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior on movie sets and in other professional settings. “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the U.S. military is “ready if necessary” to respond to “foolish or reckless acts” by North Korea. Trump also says he’s been in touch with South Korea and Japan and that both allies are willing to bear much of the financial burden “if such an unfortunate situation is forced upon us.” Trump on…
CRYSTAL, Minn. (AP) – A police shooting in a suburban Minneapolis neighborhood has sent one person to the hospital with nonlethal injuries. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the shooting happened at a home in Crystal Wednesday night. The agency says the person is being treated at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and is expected to live. The…
