MADISON, Wis. (AP) — More Wisconsin communities are encouraging residents to keep their lawnmowers in the garage next month to boost the population of bees and other pollinators. Appleton became the first city to adopt the “No Mow May” initiative a couple years ago and others have followed, including Wausau, Oshkosh, Fort Atkinson and Stevens Point. The idea is to…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Researchers plan to study a group of Minnesotans who dunk themselves in icy Lake Harriet every winter day. The Star Tribune reports that researchers from Rockefeller University’s Cohen Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism are studying so-called brown fat that generates heat in cold conditions in humans. They’re currently investigating blood biomarkers of brown fat in young New Yorkers…
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Florida on Monday voided the national mask mandate covering airlines and other public transportation as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The mandate, recently extended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, covered a vast array of transportation, from airplanes and trains…
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) – The La Crosse Common Council has voted to remove a Russian flag from the city’s airport. The La Crosse Tribune reported the council voted Thursday to remove the flag in a show of support for Ukraine, which is fighting to blunt a Russian invasion. The council debated whether the move would amount to an insult…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A deeply divided Minnesota Legislature returns from its Easter-Passover break Tuesday. Lawmakers have just five weeks left to decide what to do with the state’s $9.25 billion budget surplus plus $1 billion in unspent federal pandemic relief. There’s been little meeting of the minds between the House Democratic and Senate Republican majorities. They have yet…
BOSTON (AP) — For many U.S. Christians, this weekend marked the first time since 2019 that they gathered in person on Easter Sunday, a welcome chance to celebrate one of the year’s holiest days side by side with fellow congregants. Notable events included a 6 a.m. sunrise Mass outdoors near the waterfront in South Boston, and a joyous, hug-filled service…
Firefighters work to extinguish multiple fires after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) ADAM SCHRECK and MSTYSLAV CHERNOV (AP) — Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow’s pivot toward mounting a…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police say a 10-year-old boy was fatally shot while he and another juvenile family member were alone in a downtown Minneapolis apartment. The shooting happened late Friday. Police say they were called to the apartment to find the 10-year-old boy with a life-threatening gunshot wound. The child died at a hospital. Police have not released the age…
Associated Press TAOPI, Minn. – Residents of a small farming community in southeastern Minnesota are working to recover from a devastating tornado that destroyed half of the town’s homes, toppled tall trees and left piles of debris in its wake. A tornado with winds of more than 110 mph struck Taopi near the Iowa border late Tuesday night, tearing the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources has restarted efforts to set standards for bacteria in groundwater after conservatives on the agency’s policy board killed the attempt in February. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the board on Wednesday authorized a public hearing and comment period on a new rule-making process to set groundwater standards for E….
NEW YORK (AP) — The man wanted in the shooting of 10 people on a subway in Brooklyn was arrested Wednesday afternoon, a day after the attack on a crowded rush-hour train. Frank R. James, 62, was taken into custody in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, law enforcement officials who weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time…
Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A possible tornado tore up a small Minnesota town and a blizzard forced the closure of the North Dakota Capitol, schools and roads, as spring storms wreaked havoc across the Upper Midwest. The National Weather Service said the unconfirmed tornado took the roofs off houses, destroyed grain bins, snapped power lines and lifted a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – New data shows a sharp increase in Type 2among children in Wisconsin and doctors think COVID-19 could be a factor. Figures from UW Health Kids shows a nearly 200% increase in the number of cases over the last several years. In 2018, 5.8% percent of pediatric patients with new onset diabetes at Madison’s American Family Children’s…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Two Illinois men who helped bomb a Minnesota mosque in 2017 have received prison sentences far below the 35-year mandatory minimum they faced, after victims and prosecutors asked for leniency. Thirty-three-year-old Michael McWhorter was sentenced Tuesday to just under 16 years in prison and 26-year-old Joe Morris got about 14 years. Both testified in…
New York City Police Department personnel gather at the entrance to a subway stop in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Five people were shot Tuesday morning at a subway station in Brooklyn, New York, law enforcement sources said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) NEW YORK (AP) – New York City police have found an unoccupied U-Haul van…
NEW YORK (AP) — 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad. The main reason for the increase in deaths? COVID-19, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on death statistics. The agency this month quietly updated its provisional…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Republican-authored bill to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin will be getting its first public hearing next week, achieving one goal of backers even though the measure will not pass this year. The Legislature has adjourned and won’t be back until 2023. But the April 20 Senate committee hearing on the medical marijuana bill will give…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Prosecutors have revealed that they offered plea deals to three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd, but say the defendants rejected them. Judge Peter Cahill held a Monday evening hearing mostly to consider whether he has the authority to allow live video coverage of the upcoming trial set for…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday took fresh aim at ghost guns, the privately made firearms without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes, as he struggles to break past gun-control opposition to address firearm deaths. Speaking at the White House, Biden highlighted the Justice Department’s work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns,…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed more than 40 Republican authored bills, while he signed a bipartisan measure that provides funding for the construction of a new juvenile prison in Milwaukee. The vetoes spanned a wide expanse of bills passed in this election year, measures that Republicans knew were…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Minnesota plans to start paying its athletes for doing well in the classroom. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle announced the move Friday. The NCAA currently allows schools to give academic bonuses of up to $5,980 annually to athletes as per a federal judge’s mandate two years ago. The…
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A downtown Minneapolis mural honoring pop superstar Prince will be unveiled in June. Officials with the Crown Our Prince project say the painting is scheduled to begin on May 16 on a parking ramp near near First Avenue and 8th Street. The artwork will be carried out by 33-year-old Hiero Veiga, a Black…
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been killed in an auto accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Authorities say Haskins was hit by a dump truck while walking on a highway. The Steelers and Washington Commanders, his former team, released statements extending their condolences. The 24-year-old Haskins was a first-round draft…
(University of Minnesota) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The University of Minnesota plans to start paying its athletes for doing well in the classroom. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle announced the move Friday. The NCAA currently allows schools to give academic bonuses of up to $5,980 annually to athletes as per a federal judge’s mandate two…
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello LOS ANGELES (AP) – The motion picture academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. The move comes after a meeting Friday of the academy’s board of governors to discuss a response to Smith’s actions. The academy in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Legislature has rushed through $1 million in emergency funding to bolster the fight against bird flu. The highly contagious disease has cost the state’s turkey farmers more than 1 million birds so far. Senate Agriculture Chairman Torrey Westrom pointed out before the unanimous votes in both chambers Thursday that the numbers of affected Minnesota…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento police announced an arrest Monday connected with the shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others in the heart of California’s capital city as at least two shooters fired more than 100 rounds and people ran for their lives. Police said they booked Dandre Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on charges of…
SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP) — Six people were killed and 12 injured early Sunday in Sacramento when shots were fired into crowds as bars and nightclubs emptied for the night in the second mass shooting in five weeks in California’s capital city. Police were searching for at least one suspect and had recovered at least one firearm. Investigators said they were…
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – Jurors are hearing closing arguments in the trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A prosecutor says the men were “filled with rage” against government and Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. But a defense lawyer says there was no plot, and that the men were under the influence of…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota animal health officials are imposing a ban on all poultry sales and exhibitions through the month of April after the presence of bird flu was found in the state. The ban, which includes poultry community sales, swaps, fairs, exhibitions, and other events where birds are brought together, is effective Friday and lasts through May…
GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. (AP)–Wildlife experts are searching for the virus that causes COVID-19 in deer, bears, moose and wolves in Minnesota’s north woods. They are among researchers around the world trying to figure out how and where wildlife is spreading the coronavirus at a time when international health agencies are calling for greater tracking of infected animals. Scientists are deeply…
AP — Minnesota is launching a new online program to provide free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests. Beginning Tuesday, Minnesotans can order two test kits per home for a total of four tests via mn.gov/covid19. The state has secured 500,000 of the test kits and will make them available until the supply runs out. Minnesota will use the program as a…
AP-U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older, a step to offer extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to that age group at least four months after their previous booster. Until now, the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday asserted it is “more likely than not” that former President Donald Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, ruling to order the release of more than 100 emails from Trump adviser John Eastman to the committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The ruling by U.S….
ASSOCIATED PRESS — In Milwaukee, one of two cities vying to host the Republican presidential convention in 2024, Democrats were pilloried by the potential visitors after predawn election results delivered Wisconsin for Joe Biden in the 2020 White House race. Rival Nashville, Tennessee, is run by a mayor whose Democratic brother was effectively redistricted out of his congressional seat by Republicans….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The bird flu has been confirmed in two poultry flocks in Minnesota. The state Board of Animal Health says the poultry flocks are in Meeker and Mower counties. Samples collected from both flocks were tested on March 25 and confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture The state Board of Animal Health says it’s the first confirmed…
WARSAW, Poland (AP) – President Joe Biden said Saturday that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” dramatically escalating the rhetoric against the Russian leader after his brutal invasion of Ukraine. The comment at the very end of a speech in Poland’s capital that served as the capstone on a four-day trip to Europe. Even as Biden’s words rocketed around the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out Wisconsin state legislative maps that were preferred by the state’s Democratic governor and selected by Wisconsin’s top court, making it unclear what the boundaries will be for the fall election. But while the justices in an unsigned opinion threw out voting maps the Wisconsin Supreme Court had selected for the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer, her family said Wednesday. She was 84. President Bill Clinton chose Albright as America’s top diplomat in 1996, and she served in that capacity for the last four years of the Clinton administration. At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9/AP) – The damage to public groundwater resources in Minnesota from missteps during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline is more severe than previously known, state environmental regulators said. Enbridge Energy crews ruptured three groundwater aquifers while building the 340-mile (550-kilometer) pipeline across northern Minnesota last year and the company faces…
DULUTH, Minn.- University of Minnesota officials are asking legislators to approve $30 million for scholarships for students who attend regional campuses. The Star Tribune reports the proposed Greater Minnesota Scholarship Program would go give money to Minnesota residents who enroll as freshmen at the university’s Duluth, Rochester, Crookston, and Morris campuses. Each student would get $4,000 to $5,000 in their…
EAST BETHEL, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials say two people have been killed in a single-vehicle crash in Anoka County. Authorities say a man and woman died when their vehicle crashed into a tree Sunday about 8:30 p.m. in East Bethel. First responders arrived to find the vehicle on fire. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene. They have…
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — The heat on the train was as thick as the anxiety. Ukrainian survivors of one of the most brutal sieges in modern history were in the final minutes of their ride to relative safety. Some carried only what they had at hand when they seized the chance to escape the port of Mariupol amid relentless Russian bombardment. Some…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A man was shot Sunday trying to fend off a band of catalytic converter thieves in St. Paul, according to police. WCCO-TV reported the incident occurred about 2:40 a.m. when a man in his 20s confronted multiple people who were allegedly trying to steal a catalytic converter. The man was shot in the arm and in…
KENOSHA, Wis. – School officials in Kenosha, Wisconsin, released surveillance footage that shows an off-duty police officer putting his knee on a 12-year-old girl’s neck to restrain her amid a lunchtime fight. The Kenosha Unified School District released redacted footage of the March 4 fight on Friday. It shows Kenosha officer Shawn Guetschow intervening in the fight and then scuffling…
TORONTO (AP) — Canada will no longer require a pre-arrival COVID-19 test for vaccinated travelers as of April 1.A senior government official confirmed the change Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak publicly ahead of the announcement this week.Last month, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that travelers coming to Canada would be able to present a…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says the city is changing policy for search warrants following the police shooting of a Black man in a downtown apartment so that officers must knock and wait a certain length of time before entering a residence. Police would have to wait 20 seconds before entering a residence while serving a daytime warrant,…
Photo: Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Musher Brent Sass won the arduous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska on Tuesday as his team of 11 dogs dashed off the Bering Sea ice through a crowd of fans in downtown Nome. Sass mushed down Front Street and across the finish line just before 6 a.m….
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Senate has voted unanimously to approve an audit of a more than $2 billion light rail project that’s been marred by delays and cost overruns. The bill allocates $200,000 to the Legislative Auditor’s office to conduct a special review of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project. The project is shaping up as one…
