(AP) – The U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 stands on the verge of a major new phase: Government advisers on Thursday recommended booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for millions of Americans. This, despite concern among some experts that the extra shots will do little to slow the pandemic. The advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended…
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A shooting at a Tennessee grocery store east of Memphis left one person dead and injured 12 others Thursday afternoon, and the shooter was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said the shooting broke out at a Kroger store in that suburban community about 30 miles east…
NEW YORK (AP) – Target will hire fewer seasonal workers this year and will instead offer more hours to current employees. The move, announced Thursday, is in response to its permanent workers wanting more hours, the company said. About 100,000 seasonal workers will be hired nationwide, the company said Thursday, about 30,000 less than last year. Many of those workers…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin health officials say the latest surge of COVID-19 infections due to the highly contagious delta variant has not yet peaked in the state. The seven-day average of new cases as of Tuesday was 2,857, nearly double what it was two weeks ago and at a level not seen since early January before the vaccine was…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Assembly plans to vote next week on a Republican bill that would prohibit public schools from teaching students and training employees about concepts such as systemic racism and implicit bias. A Republican-controlled Assembly committee on Wednesday approved the bill on a party-line vote. It is slated to be taken up by the full Assembly…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) – A 26-year-old Fond du Lac police officer has died of COVID-19 complications. Police department officials say the death of Officer Joseph Kurer on Wednesday came a day after his second child was born. Kurer joined the Fond du Lac Police Department in August 2018 and was a member of the Tactical Field Force Team,…
(AP) – The U.S. has moved a step closer to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to seniors and others at high risk from the virus. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday signed off on such shots as a way to shore up protection in those groups. This is not a done deal yet: The Centers for Disease…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Fully vaccinated people make up a minority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and an even lower number of people needing intensive care and ventilators, current data from two large hospital systems in the Upper Midwest shows. Minneapolis-based Allina Health reported 176 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 this week and that 22% are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Sanford Health, based…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden plans to meet with Democrats from the House and Senate as Congress works to bridge party divisions over his big $3.5 trillion “build back better” agenda. The afternoon meeting Wednesday comes ahead of crucial voting deadlines. The House is to vote soon on the first part of Biden’s plan – a…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – An Arizona man who allegedly told his father he “snapped and shot a couple of people” was charged Tuesday with murder, about a week after four bodies were found in an abandoned SUV in western Wisconsin. Antoine Suggs, 38, of Scottsdale, Arizona, faces four counts of second-degree intentional murder, without premeditation. Suggs is jailed in…
(Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File) LOS ANGELES (AP) – Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch on TV’s “Sex and the City” and its movie sequels, has died at the age of 57. His son, Nathen Garson, announced his death on Tuesday but didn’t provide details. Garson portrayed Blatch, a talent agent and the best male friend to Sarah Jessica Parker’s…
NORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) – The FBI says a county coroner has confirmed that human remains found in remote northern Wyoming along the border of Grand Teton National Park are those of 22-year-old Gabby Petito. Her body was discovered at a Wyoming national park over the weekend, months after the pair set out on a cross-country road trip. Officials said…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Police say three teenagers from Minnesota were beaten with a gun at a bar in Sioux Falls, which caused severe head injuries to one of the victims, police said. Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens says the assaults took place Sunday at about 1 a.m. at an unnamed bar where two boys and a girl…
(AP) – Six Native American tribes are suing Wisconsin to try to stop its planned wolf hunt in November. They assert that the hunt violates their treaty rights and endangers an animal they consider sacred. The Chippewa tribes say treaties give them rights to half of the wolf quota in territory they ceded to the United States in the mid-1800s….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Minnesota man with a history of pretending to be a police officer is accused in federal court of falsely claiming to be a federal agent. Authorities said in a complaint filed Friday that 52-year-old Reyel Devon Simmons, of Dodge Center, used the fake name “Rey Reeves” and regularly held himself out as a federal agent on…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin officials say student vaccination rates for COVID-19 vary widely among the system’s campuses. At the Madison campus, 91% of students are fully vaccinated, the highest number among the system’s universities. The lowest number of vaccinated students are at UW-Parkside where 38% have been inoculated. Other campuses range from 75% at La Crosse to…
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Police officers swarmed the home of a young man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito. At least a dozen police officers converged Monday on the North Port, Florida, home Brian Laundrie shared with his parents. That comes a day after authorities announced the discovery of a body believed to be…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Joe Biden will ease foreign travel restrictions into the U.S. beginning in November and allow foreign nationals into the country if they have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. The new rules replace a hodgepodge of restrictions that had barred non-citizens who had been in certain countries in the prior…
(Associated Press) – Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11. The vaccine maker said Monday it plans to seek authorization for this age group soon in the U.S., Britain, and Europe. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12 and older. But many parents are anxiously awaiting…
MOOSE, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities say a body discovered Sunday in Wyoming is believed to be Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito. The FBI said the body was found by law enforcement agents who had spent the past two days searching campgrounds on the east boundary of the park. Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, left in July on a cross-country trek in…
WASHINGTON (AP) – An influential federal advisory panel has rejected a plan to offer Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans. The vote Friday, 16-2, was a blow to the Biden administration’s plan to shore up people’s protection against the virus amid the highly contagious delta variant. Over several hours of discussion, members of the Food and Drug Administration…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge is set to decide on several motions ahead of the trial for a man accused of killing two men and wounding a third during a protest over police brutality in Wisconsin last summer. Kyle Rittenhouse’s case became a rallying cry for conservatives frustrated at protests against police killings. The judge’s decisions from Friday’s hearing…
MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) — Police have arrested one suspect and are seeking another in connection with the fatal shootings of four people found in an abandoned SUV in western Wisconsin, sheriff’s officials said Thursday. Darren Lee McWright, 56, from St. Paul, Minnesota, who also uses the alias last name of Osborne, was arrested on a warrant from Dunn County and…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits moved up last week to 332,000 from a pandemic low, a sign that worsening COVID-19 infections may have slightly increased layoffs. Applications for jobless aid rose from 312,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. Jobless claims, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily for two…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday for allegedly violating a teenager’s civil rights in a separate case that involved a restraint similar to the one used on Floyd. Derek Chauvin was convicted this year on state charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s 2020 death….
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – The Biden administration says federal protections may need to be restored for gray wolves in the western U.S. after Republican-led states made it much easier to kill the predators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that the region’s wolves face new potential perils after a decades-long restoration was capped by their return to state…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Attorneys are asking a judge to dismiss a new manslaughter charge against the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright. Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter says she mistakenly drew her gun instead of her stun gun as Wright was trying to drive away from officers. Prosecutors charged her with second-degree manslaughter. The…
MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) – Investigators are reviewing bridge and highway cameras as they try to figure out who killed four Minnesota residents whose bodies were found in an SUV abandoned in Wisconsin. Family members say the two men and two women had been together at a St. Paul, Minnesota, bar on Saturday night. A farmer discovered the bodies in the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minnesota judge has rejected a request by concerned parents to force a statewide mask mandate in all schools. Judge Thomas Gilligan said the court was “gravely concerned” about COVID-19 risks for children, but that the court lacks the legal authority to order Gov. Tim Walz to issue the directive that the parents sought. Minnesota Public…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota House Democrats have voted to expel Rep. John Thompson from their caucus following allegations of domestic violence and questions about his residency. House leaders Tuesday night issued a statement saying that “Thompson’s actions, credible reports of abuse and misconduct, and his failure to take responsibility remain unacceptable for a member of…
MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) — Four people found slain in an abandoned SUV in a western Wisconsin cornfield had been shot and were all from Minnesota, authorities said Tuesday. Preliminary results of autopsies performed Monday by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office showed the two men and two women all died of gunshot wounds, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said. The…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers’ administration issued an order Tuesday requiring all executive branch workers who haven’t submitted their COVID-19 vaccination status to their supervisors or aren’t fully vaccinated to undergo weekly testing. The mandate will go into effect on Oct. 18 and apply to all executive branch employees, interns, and contractors. Nearly 70% of the executive branch’s…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights have pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against them. A federal grand jury indicted Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao in May for allegedly depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority. Tuesday’s…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A judge has suspended Minnesota’s new stricter standards on when police can use deadly force, halting a change in state law that followed the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police. The new standards, passed by the Legislature in 2020, raised the bar on officers to justify in specific terms how their…
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is asking a federal court to allow him to intervene in a lawsuit filed by fellow Democrats that seeks to have federal courts draw new boundary lines if the governor and Republican-controlled Legislature can’t reach an agreement. The court has already allowed the Legislature to intervene. Republicans…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A judge has promised to rule as soon as possible on whether to strike a revised version of a ballot question on the future of policing in Minneapolis in the wake of the death of George Floyd. The City Council updated the language last Tuesday after Judge Jamie Anderson found that the old language was too vague….
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the Taliban government’s new higher education minister said Sunday. The announcement came as a Taliban official said Qatar’s foreign minister arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul — the highest level visitor since…
(Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin woman who admitted to helping stab a classmate to please the horror character Slender Man will be freed Monday from a mental health institution. A judge ruled Friday that 19-year-old Anissa Weier will be released after spending almost four years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Weier and…
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge is set to review a release plan for a Wisconsin woman who has spent four years in a mental health facility after she admitted to taking part in the 2014 stabbing of a Wisconsin classmate to please the fictional horror character Slender Man. Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren ruled…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Regulators told a Minnesota-based utility that they need more information before signing off on a permit transfer necessary for the sale of a financially troubled coal-fired power plant in North Dakota. Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission voted 4-1 on Thursday to defer a decision on a permit for a power line that would be part of the planned…
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is announcing sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant that is killing thousands each week and jeopardizing the nation’s economic recovery. The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to…
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Justice Department is suing Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.” The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, “to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal health officials have delayed a high-stakes decision on whether to permit bestselling vaping brand Juul to stay on the market. At the same time, the agency banned thousands of lesser-known electronic cigarettes and related products from store shelves. Parents, politicians, and anti-tobacco advocates have pressured the Food and Drug Administration for years to ban Juul’s high-nicotine…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota schools are seeing increases in weekly coronavirus cases as students return to classrooms across the state. More than 100 facilities from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade reported infections last week. That’s according to a weekly COVID-19 report released by the Minnesota Department of Health on Thursday. The figure is up from previous weeks but remains a fraction…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan has issued updated guidance to help schools and local health departments navigate whether asymptomatic students exposed to a coronavirus-infected student should quarantine at home or stay in school. Unvaccinated but masked students who were less than 3 feet from a COVID-positive student now can remain in school but only if they are tested daily for…
(courtesy: Twitter/Rebecca Kleefisch) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican Rebecca Kleefisch, who spent eight years as lieutenant governor under Scott Walker, has launched her campaign for governor. Kleefisch contrasts herself with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in her campaign launch video, casting him as weak and her as ready to back police and fight special interests. The 46-year-old Kleefisch becomes the best-known…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 310,000, a pandemic low and a sign that the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant has yet to lead to widespread layoffs. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims dropped from a revised total of 345,000 the week before….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Thursday that she has been treated for breast cancer that was found in February and the treatment “went well.” Klobuchar, 61, tweeted that the cancer was detected during a routine mammogram, and eventually she had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer. She said she completed radiation treatment in May, and a checkup…
(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, file) NEW YORK (AP) – The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to New York City’s streets this year with COVID-19 protocols including a vaccination requirement for parade volunteers. Macy’s says the Nov. 25 parade will be broadcast on NBC and will feature the traditional giant balloons, celebrity performers, clowns, and marching bands. Macy’s presented a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new report suggests people are buying dramatically more alcohol as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on. Revenue from state excise taxes on alcohol during the fiscal year that ended June 30 totaled $73.8 million, up almost 17% from $63.3 million the previous year, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Revenue cited in the…
