MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota regulators are accepting public comments on whether the state’s regulation of nonferrous mining would provide sufficient protection against environmental damage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The comment period runs through Dec. 8. The Department of Natural Resources has established a dedicated webpage for its court-ordered review, which stems from a lawsuit that seeks to…
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Some medical professionals are suing a city-owned hospital in southeastern Minnesota after they were terminated for refusing to receive the coronavirus vaccine. The 20 plaintiffs, which include a doctor, registered nurses, and other medical staff, filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday alleging they were fired without just cause. They claim Northfield Hospital and Clinics…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota pollution officials have released the state’s proposed impaired waters list for 2022. Fifteen water bodies in the northeast and central Minnesota were added where fish have been contaminated with a family of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” due to their inability to break down. It’s the first time water bodies outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has…
HOUSTON (AP) – The Houston police and fire departments were deeply involved in safety measures for the music festival where a surging crowd killed eight people. Now the city’s police department is leading the criminal investigation into how the deadly chaos erupted during a performance by rapper Travis Scott. A prominent local official is calling for a separate, independent review…
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – A man who was shot and wounded by Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha during a night of turbulent protests against racial injustice has taken the stand at Rittenhouse’s murder trial. Gaige Grosskreutz had a pistol in his hand when he approached Rittenhouse and was shot in the arm. Rittenhouse had just killed two other…
(courtesy: Twitter/MAKMinnesota) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Transportation crews are installing 12 highway signs in northeastern Minnesota that have significant, historic meaning. The signs, more than a decade in the making, mark the boundaries of a treaty signed in 1854 by the federal government and three Ojibwe tribes — the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Bois Forte Band…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Pfizer says its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections. The company announced Friday it will soon ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and international regulators to authorize its pill, which is taken twice a day for five days. A similar pill from competitor Merck…
WASHINGTON (AP) – America’s employers stepped up their hiring in October, adding a solid 531,000 jobs, the most since July and a sign that the recovery from the pandemic recession may be overcoming a virus-induced slowdown. Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate fell to 4.6% last month, from 4.8% in September. The economy’s emergence…
BACKUS, Minn. (AP) — The State Patrol says three people have died in a highway crash in central Minnesota. Officials say a GMC Yukon SUV was northbound on Highway 371 in Cass County about 11 p.m. Thursday when a Chevy minivan failed to stop at an intersection between Hackensack and Backus and collided with the SUV. The driver and passenger…
DARIEN, Wis. (AP) – Two Wisconsin manufacturers are among those suing to block the Biden administration from instituting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private-sector workers. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Darien-based Tankcraft Corp. and Plasticraft Corp. The lawsuit challenges the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with 100…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will no longer apply the 6% sales tax to tampons and other menstrual products under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The change will take effect in early February. Supporters of the new law said the feminine products are a necessity, not a luxury, and should be exempt from taxation like other medically necessary…
(Mark Hertzberg /Pool Photo via AP) KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A juror in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial was dismissed Thursday after a court security officer reported that the man told a joke about the police shooting of Jacob Blake, which set off protests in the Wisconsin city where Rittenhouse is accused of shooting three people. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a fresh pandemic low last week, another sign the job market is healing after last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims dropped by 14,000 to 269,000 last week. Since topping 900,000 in early January, the weekly applications have fallen more or less steadily ever since and are gradually…
(AP) – Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly. The new government rules were issued Thursday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says companies that fail to comply could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation….
(AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis voters have reelected Mayor Jacob Frey after a bitter race that focused on calls for changes to policing and racial justice. More than a dozen candidates ran to be mayor, including many who took issue with the way the Democratic incumbent has handled changes to the police department since one of its…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday health care providers and others will begin vaccinating 5- to 11-year-old children this week, now that the Pfizer coronavirus shot has received federal approval. The vaccine will arrive in waves this week and that Minnesota providers have ordered as many doses as possible from the federal government, Walz said. More…
(AP) — U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size COVID-19 shot, a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign. The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 — doses just a third of the amount given to teens and adults. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
(courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS – A federal judge says a prominent Minnesota GOP donor charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking must remain in jail as he prepares his defense. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz cited “very troubling” testimony that Anton Lazzaro threatened law enforcement and prosecutors after he was arrested. Lazzaro allegedly told Minneapolis police officer, Brandon Brugger, he…
(AP) – An influential U.S. advisory panel is recommending that all children ages 5 to 11 should get Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine. If the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees with Tuesday’s vote, the U.S. will embark on a major expansion of vaccinations. Pediatricians are getting ready to put kid-size doses into little arms as soon…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people. “This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,” said a blog post on Tuesday from Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence for…
(courtesy: U.S. Navy) WASHINGTON (AP) – As deadlines loom for military and defense civilians to get mandated COVID-19 vaccines, senior leaders must now wrestle with the fate of those who flatly refuse the shots or are seeking exemptions, and how to make sure they are treated fairly and equally. The vast majority of the active-duty force has received at least…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Health care providers and other coronavirus vaccine distributors in Wisconsin say they could have doses that are ready to be administered to younger children by the end of the week. On Tuesday, a special advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet to consider recommendations for administering the Pfizer vaccine to younger…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Voters in Minneapolis are deciding whether to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety. The election comes more than a year after George Floyd’s death launched a movement to defund or abolish police across the country. Mayor Jacob Frey is also in a tough fight for a second term. He faces a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin gun dealers continue to struggle with keeping shelves stocked with ammunition. Supply chain disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic and increased demand for guns and ammunition have left shelves empty in some cases. And when a shipment does arrive at local gun stores, ammunition is quickly snapped up. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates about 8.4…
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has begun with the challenging task of seating jurors who haven’t already made up their minds about the man who shot three people, killing two, during a violent night of protests last summer. Rittenhouse was 17 when he traveled from his home in Illinois, just across the Wisconsin border, during protests…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19, she announced over the weekend. Flanagan says she received the positive test after caring for her 8-year-old daughter Siobhan, who tested positive on Oct. 22. The lieutenant governor received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last spring. Flanagan said she and her husband, Tom, had…
The three-bedroom colonial-style house where Jessica Stephenson has lived in Milwaukee for the last six years bustles with activity on any given weekday, filled with the chattering of children in the day care center she runs out of her home. The U.S. Census Bureau says no one lives there. “They should come and see it for themselves,” Stephenson said. From…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Food and Drug Administration has paved the way for children ages 5 to 11 to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The agency authorized the kid-size doses on Friday. But there’s one more regulatory hurdle. Next week, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will discuss which youngsters should get vaccinated. In the meantime, Pfizer plans…
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has been advised to rest for at least the next two weeks, accepting doctors’ advice to cut back on her busy schedule, Buckingham Palace said Friday. The 95-year-old monarch can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time — including some virtual audiences. But she will be unable to travel to the Festival…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge said a Minnesota man accused of killing three family members with a wrench is mentally incompetent to stand trial, citing testimony from doctors about his schizophrenia intensified by his consumption of energy drinks. David Ekers, 36, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder in last year’s attack in a Minneapolis suburb that killed his…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin System says it will comply with an executive order issued by President Biden that requires federal contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Biden’s order has convinced colleges across the country to institute vaccine requirements, even in some conservative states where governors and legislators oppose mandates. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is traveling to Capitol Hill to pitch House Democrats on a dramatically scaled back domestic policy package. It’s now $1.75 trillion and without a paid family leave program and other priorities. But it’s still a sweeping proposal with new health care, free-prekindergarten, and climate change programs. Later, the president will make remarks at the…
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota judge has denied a defense request to dismiss the most serious charge against a former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she meant to use a Taser instead of a handgun when she fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright. Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter will stand trial in Hennepin County on first- and second-degree…
(Merck & Co. via AP) LONDON (AP) – Pharmaceutical company Merck has agreed to allow other drug makers to make its COVID-19 treatment, the first pill that has been shown to be effective against the disease. The move aims at helping millions of people in poorer countries access the drug. The U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement on…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Twin Metals says it will appeal a federal decision that dealt a serious blow to its proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. Last week, the Biden administration ordered a mineral withdrawal study that could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a popular recreational area in the Superior National…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly is poised to give final approval to a package of anti-abortion bills that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is all but certain to veto. Final approval on Wednesday of the bills designed the reduce the number of abortions in the state comes after the state Senate, also controlled by Republicans, passed the measures…
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. health advisers have endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for younger children. The vote Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration panel moves the U.S. closer to vaccinating children ages 5 to 11. The FDA isn’t bound by the panel’s recommendation and is expected to make its own decision within days. If regulators agree, shots…
(Mark Hertzberg/Pool Photo via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin judge is setting the final ground rules for what evidence will be allowed at Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial next week. The Illinois teen shot three people, killing two of them, during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha in August 2020. He faces multiple charges, including homicide. He has argued…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The judge who oversaw the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin said Monday that he will make the names of the 15 jurors and alternates who sat in the courtroom public next week. Judge Peter Cahill’s order says he will make the list of jurors public on Nov. 1. The written questionnaires of all…
Courtesy: Ashland Daily Press via AP MARENGO, Wis. (AP) – The brother and sister who died when their small plane crashed into a house in a tiny, northern Wisconsin town were known to the homeowners, who escaped injury. The single-engine plane went down Saturday afternoon in the Ashland County community of Marengo, home to about 400 residents located about 80…
LONDON (AP) — Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told British lawmakers Monday that the social media giant stokes online hate and extremism, fails to protect children from harmful content and lacks any incentive to fix the problems, providing momentum for efforts by European governments working on stricter regulation of tech companies. While her testimony echoed much of what she told the U.S. Senate this month,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Contentious disagreements over COVID-19 policies and critical race theory have caused a significant increase in the number of local school board resignations in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota School Boards Association, nearly 70 board members have resigned from their positions this year, triple the number of resignations in a regular year. The association says that equates…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has granted a request from wildlife advocacy groups and blocked Wisconsin’s fall wolf hunt two weeks before hunters were set to take to the woods. Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost issued a temporary injunction Friday halting the season, which was set to begin Nov. 6. The order comes as part of a lawsuit…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court is not immediately blocking the Texas law that bans most abortions, but has agreed to hear arguments in the case on Nov. 1. The justices said Friday they will decide whether the federal government has the right to sue over the law. The court’s action leaves in place for the time being a law…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. budget deficit totaled $2.77 trillion for 2021, the second-highest on record but an improvement from the all-time high of $3.13 trillion in 2020. The deficits in both years reflected trillions of dollars in government spending to counteract the devastating effects of a global pandemic. The Biden administration said Friday that the 2021 deficit, for the…
(courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A prosecutor says a Minneapolis police officer has been charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide in a fatal crash in July that occurred while the officer was pursuing a stolen vehicle. Officer Brian Cummings was driving nearly 80 mph in Minneapolis with his siren and lights activated when his squad car slammed into a…
(AP) – Pfizer says kid-size doses of its COVID-19 vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in elementary school children. Details of the study were posted online Friday as U.S. regulators consider opening vaccinations to youngsters 5 to 11. The shots could begin early next month if regulators give the go-ahead. If the FDA authorizes the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Members of Minnesota’s teacher’s union are calling on on school leaders to do more to protect students and staff after the state Department of Health reported the first student death from COVID-19 this school year. Health officials said the student and two staff members died last week. That increased the total number of school fatalities…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House voted Thursday to hold Steve Bannon, a longtime ally and aide to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Now the U.S. attorney’s office must decide whether to prosecute. The congressional committee has vowed to move swiftly and forcefully to…
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University is investigating allegations that some male students started a competition this fall to see who could have more sexual encounters with female students. The allegations were first reported by The Record, the student newspaper for both colleges, which are Roman Catholic schools. Katie Alvino, a spokeswoman for…
