(AP) – U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic as the coronavirus curtailed immigration, delayed pregnancies, and killed hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents, according to figures released Tuesday. The United States grew by only 0.1%, with only an additional 392,665 added to the U.S. population, from July…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — State regulators who three years ago issued an air quality permit for a proposed copper-nickel mine in northwestern Minnesota stood by their decision in a report released Monday that said the mine did not provide misleading information on its plans. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report is a blow to several environmental groups and the…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden plans to deliver 500 million free COVID-19 tests to Americans, increase support for hospitals and expand the availability of vaccines to confront a winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant. Biden will stress in a Tuesday speech the importance of getting vaccinated to protect from a wave of infections as…
(Court TV, via AP, Pool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A jury will resume deliberations in the trial of a suburban Minneapolis police officer who says she meant to use her Taser instead of her gun when she shot and killed Daunte Wright. The jury returns Tuesday after meeting for about a half-day Monday following closing arguments. Prosecutors accused Kim Potter of…
NEW YORK (AP) – Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S. Federal health officials said Monday that omicron accounted for an estimated 73% of new infections last week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers show nearly a six-fold increase in the proportion of infections in only…
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) – A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that swept across the north-central U.S. last week has been classified by the National Weather Service as a serial derecho – the first on record December. At least 45 tornadoes have been preliminarily confirmed in the Dec. 15 storms that crossed the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm…
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say preliminary autopsy results show seven people whose bodies were discovered inside a Minnesota home did not die from “any obvious trauma.” Police say all seven victims, including three minors, lived at the residence in south Moorhead. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Paul conducted the autopsies but did not determine a cause…
LONDON (AP) – Britain’s main nurses’ union has warned that exhaustion and surging coronavirus cases among medical staff are pushing them to the breaking point. That is adding to pressure on the government for new restrictions to curb record numbers of infections driven by the omicron variant. The warning Monday throws into stark relief the unpalatable choice Prime Minister Boris…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – An intertribal agency says Wisconsin’s draft environmental review for a reroute of an oil and gas pipeline is incomplete and flawed. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources released its draft environmental impact statement last week for a roughly 40-mile reroute of Enbridge’s Line 5 in Ashland and Iron counties. The pipeline carries up to 23 million gallons…
(Court TV, via AP, Pool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A prosecutor is telling jurors that the suburban Minneapolis police officer who says she meant to use her Taser instead of her gun when she shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright knew what she did was wrong. The jury will get the case against Kim Potter following Monday’s closing arguments. Prosecutor…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota police officer on trial in the shooting death of Daunte Wright was expected to take the stand Friday, hoping to persuade jurors to acquit her of manslaughter charges in what she has said was a gun-Taser mixup. A compressed defense case for Kim Potter appeared likely to wrap up after just two days, with jurors…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s unemployment rate tied a record low of 3% in November, a number last hit exactly three years ago, the state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday. The state rate is below the national unemployment rate of 4.2% for November. The state rate was down from 3.2% in October. Wisconsin gained 12,300 private-sector jobs over the…
(Court TV via AP, Pool File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors on Thursday rested their case against Kim Potter, the suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in the shooting death of Daunte Wright. After a week of hearing from witnesses called by the prosecution, Potter’s attorneys will get their chance to defend the former Brooklyn Center officer, who they said will take…
(Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP) OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A powerful storm system blew through the Great Plains and Midwest, combining with unusually warm temperatures to close highways and prompt numerous tornado warnings. The winds gusting up to 80 mph hit parts of Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. The strong winds whipped up dust that reduced visibility to zero west…
BOSTON (AP) – Housing advocates say evictions are increasing around the country, several months after a federal moratorium was allowed to end. The rise in cases, although below pre-pandemic levels in most states and cities, shows the limits on the tens of billions of dollars in federal assistance and the impact of lax protections in some places. Data collected by…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health care systems say surgery delays are growing as coronavirus patients crowd hospitals. Doctors say hospitals have deferred procedures to free up beds, leaving some patients in prolonged pain. Patient demand over the past month has been the highest in the 21 months of the pandemic, according to health care providers. “I’m not sure the public…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin has pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Chauvin’s plea Wednesday means he will not face a federal trial in January, though he could end up spending more years behind bars. Chauvin, who is white, was convicted this spring of state murder and manslaughter charges…
(AP) – The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has topped 800,000. That is according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The once-unimaginable milestone was hit Tuesday. It’s seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking last spring. The death toll is about equal…
(Oakland County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) – A judge has granted a Michigan prosecutor more time to collect and share additional evidence against the parents of a boy charged with killing four students at Oxford High School. It’s partly because prosecutor Karen McDonald wants to give the Michigan community “time to heal” during the holiday…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The City of Milwaukee has submitted its bid to host the Republican National Convention in 2024. The application, which includes more than 200 pages, highlights the city’s access to Lake Michigan, entertainment venues, festivals, the culinary scene, the Milwaukee Bucks’ championship, the Wisconsin Center expansion, Fiserv Forum, and more. Visit Milwaukee CEO Peggy Williams-Smith said it also…
JOHANNESBURG (AP) – An analysis of data from South Africa shows the omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection against hospitalization. While the findings are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed, they line up with other…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots. The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption….
(AP) – First lady Jill Biden is planning to meet with families of victims and others who were at a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee where six people were killed and dozens were injured after an SUV plowed through the crowd. The White House said Biden will begin her day Wednesday by attending a Forbes 50 Over 50 and Know…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights. A federal docket entry on Monday shows that a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his current not-guilty plea in the case. The court system also sent out instructions for the media…
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky’s governor said that at least 64 people were killed in the state during a devastating cluster of tornadoes. At least 14 people are dead in four other states: Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters Monday that it could take days more to tally a final death toll…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The trial of a Minnesota police officer charged with the shooting death of Daunte Wright has opened its second week of testimony with an assistant medical examiner explaining his autopsy. The 20-year-old Black motorist was slain on April 11 after police pulled him over in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center for having expired license plate tags…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Officials from Minnesota’s natural resources and pollution control agencies detail the ways climate change is diminishing Minnesota winters, with 10 to 14 fewer days of lake ice over the past 50 years. It’s a change they say hurts local economies, the environment, and the Minnesota way of life. Warmer lake waters are leading to more toxic algal…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Crews with Wisconsin manufacturing company Komatsu are working to clean up an oil spill on the Menomonee River in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said in a statement that Komatsu, a company based in Japan, spilled 400 gallons of oil into a storm sewer drain at its facility in Milwaukee last week, the Milwaukee Journal…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The owner of a bar in Albert Lea was found guilty of six criminal misdemeanor charges and sentenced to 90 days in jail for defying Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders to close her business last winter. The jury found Lisa Hanson, 57, guilty after deliberating for an hour, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. Judge Joseph Bueltel gave her…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has ruled that Texas abortion providers can sue over the state’s ban on most abortions, but the justices are allowing the law to remain in effect. The court acted Friday, more than a month after hearing arguments over the law that makes abortion illegal after cardiac activity is detected in an embryo. That’s around…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.8% in November compared with a year earlier as surging costs for food, energy, housing, and other items left Americans enduring their highest annual inflation rate since 1982. The Labor Department also reported Friday that from October to November, prices jumped 0.8%. Inflation has been intensifying pressure on consumers, especially lower-income households…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A federal judge has upheld voter ID requirements for Wisconsin college students. Common Cause in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to block portions of the state’s voter ID law related to what must be on a college ID to be considered valid for voting. The lawsuit didn’t seek to overturn the underlying voter ID…
(AP) – The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters, opening the third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine to people as young as age 16. The U.S. and many other nations already urge adults to get a booster to pump up their immunity months after the initial vaccination. In the U.S., the Pfizer vaccine is the only option for children and teenagers. The…
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – A federal jury in Arkansas has convicted former reality TV star Josh Duggar of downloading and possessing child pornography. Jurors on Thursday found Duggar guilty of the charges, and Duggar was immediately taken into custody. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each of the two counts when…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin System leaders signed off Thursday on tuition increases for out-of-state undergraduates and graduate students at seven campuses. The Board of Regents’ finance committee approved the plan during a meeting at UW-Madison, setting up a final vote before the full board on Friday. The proposal calls for increases at UW-Madison; UW-Eau Claire; UW-Oshkosh; UW-Platteville;…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tribal communities in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota are working together on a project that would reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Minneapolis-based Native Sun Community Power Development plans to collaborate with Standing Rock Renewable Energy Authority and two dozen other partners to create a network of electric vehicle charging stations. The Upper Midwest Inter-Tribal Electric Vehicle…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – With COVID-19 surging in Wisconsin, health care leaders say their hospitals across the state are at or near capacity. The seven-day average for new infections in Wisconsin is more than 3,500, which is the highest it’s been in a year. The CEO of Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Eric Conley, puts it succinctly. “We are full. Period.”…
(AP) – Pfizer says a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appears to offer important protection against the new omicron variant. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech tested how well vaccine-produced antibodies could neutralize omicron in lab dishes. They found significant weakening after the standard two doses. But a booster dose increased antibody levels by 25-fold. The companies said two doses…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Two views of the Minnesota police officer who killed Daunte Wright will collide in opening statements at her manslaughter trial. The defense claims that Kim Potter made an innocent mistake by pulling her handgun instead of her Taser when she shot Wright in April as he sought to pull away from a traffic stop. The prosecution will…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Eleven students from a private Milwaukee school were taken to the hospital after a chlorine buildup in the pool area caused air quality to deteriorate. Fire officials say the children from St. Augustine Preparatory Academy were treated for breathing problems at Children’s Hospital Wisconsin Monday. Battalion Chief Andrew Hargarten says the students were participating in a swimming…
MINNEAPOLIS – The number of people hospitalized in intensive care in Minnesota has reached the highest level yet during the coronavirus pandemic. The state is reporting a 98% occupancy rate in adult ICU beds when COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients are included. Nearly 350 people are receiving intensive care. M Health Fairview doctor, Andrew Olson, is urging people to get vaccinated…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday sent the first three Minnesota National Guard skilled nursing teams to care facilities statewide on Monday as part of an effort to fix staffing woes amid the current wave of COVID-19 infections. Fifty Guard members were to begin providing care Tuesday at facilities in New Hope, Onamia, and Fergus Falls. Walz…
(Court TV, via AP, Pool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys and a judge hammered out jury instructions Monday for the trial of a white Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright, with the judge denying defense requests that would have made the instructions more expansive for the former officer’s benefit. Kim Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced Monday that he won’t accept a third term as chief. It’s a blow to a department that has been reeling since four officers were charged in George Floyd’s death. The 54-year-old Arradondo said it was time for new leadership at the department. He’ll step down in January, with Mayor Jacob Frey…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A strong storm that created blizzard-like conditions in several Upper Midwest states left behind more than a foot of snow in some places, closed interstate and dozens of schools, and contributed to numerous accidents, including one that was fatal. High winds whipped up the snow and reduced visibility on roadways in northern Minnesota where a slick…
(AP) — U.S. health officials say that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading in the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s “State of the Union” scientists need more information before drawing conclusions…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, died Sunday. He was 98. His wife, Elizabeth Dole, said in an announcement posted on social media that he died in his sleep. Dole…
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Michigan authorities say they’re searching for two parents charged with involuntary manslaughter in a high school shooting. Jennifer and James Crumbley are the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who is charged with murder and terrorism in the deaths of four students at Oxford High School on Tuesday. Crumbley’s parents were charged Friday. A prosecutor says they gave…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service plans to reduce the number of entry permits for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness next year, citing damage to natural resources, crowding, and congestion. The Forest Service didn’t say how many permits would be eliminated, nor which entry points into the million-acre wilderness would be impacted. Superior National Forest spokeswoman Joanna…
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) – A prosecutor has filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a 15-year-old accused of killing four students and wounding seven other people at a Michigan high school. James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged Friday with four courts each. Authorities have said Ethan Crumbley opened fire shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday at Oxford High School, roughly…
