LOS ANGELES (AP) – Several reports say Britney Spears’ father has agreed to step down from the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years. Outlets including celebrity website TMZ and CNN reported that James Spears filed legal documents saying that while there are no grounds for his removal, he will step down. The decision comes after…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – UW Health will participate in a study of the effects of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in young children. The Wisconsin State Journal reports UW Health’s American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison will be one of about 100 sites involved in the study. The project aims to enroll about 12,000 children under age 12. The Madison hospital hopes…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota has reached the milestone of vaccinating 70% of its population age 16 and older with at least one dose against GOVID-19. Gov. Tim Walz credits a recent rise in vaccination rates amid concerns over the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus and the state’s $100 rewards for people who get their first shot…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal Department of Health and Human Services is requiring employees who provide care for patients to get their COVID-19 shots. Thursday’s order from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra will affect more than 25,000 clinicians, researchers, contractors, trainees, and volunteers with the National Institutes of Health, the Indian Health Service, and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps….
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third straight time last week, the latest sign that employers are laying off fewer people as they struggle to fill a record number of open jobs and meet a surge in consumer demand. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell for a third…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-A judge has ordered that the jury in the trial of a former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of Daunte Wright will remain anonymous. Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter, who is white, fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist, in April. She’s scheduled to stand trial in November on a manslaughter charge. Judge Regina Chu…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wildlife officials in Wisconsin are set to consider adopting a 130-animal limit for this fall’s wolf hunt. The Department of Natural Resources’ vote Wednesday in Milwaukee figures to be contentious after conservationists complained hunters killed far too many wolves during a rushed spring season in February. The Trump administration removed wolves from the endangered species list…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota has seen at least 5,599 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 and at least 57 deaths among fully vaccinated people, health officials reported Tuesday. The Minnesota Department of Health said it will begin reporting breakthrough case figures weekly as cases of the highly infectious delta variant surge across the state and country. But the department cautioned…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota regulators now say there have been more releases of drilling fluid along the Line 3 oil pipeline construction route than previously reported. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, there were 28 releases at 12 river crossing locations by Aug. 5. In one of those cases, about 80 gallons of fluid…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A gun owners’ group is suing the Minnesota State Fair and Ramsey County, demanding that permit holders be allowed to carry handguns on the fairgrounds during the Great Minnesota Get-Together. The lawsuit by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus argues that the State Fair’s ban on weapons violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear…
NEW YORK (AP) – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has resigned over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during the darkest days of COVID-19. The third-term Democratic governor is increasingly isolated as state Assembly members move toward impeachment and allies…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed bills passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature that would have imposed new restrictions on absentee ballots in the key battleground state. The Democratic governor had been widely expected to turn back the bills, which his party had derided as voter suppression. Republicans argued…
WASHINGTON (AP) -The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. That deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says in his memo that he will seek the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP)-Gov. Tony Evers is handing Wisconsin hotels $70 million in federal coronavirus aid. The governor announced the move Monday. He says grants of up to $2 million went out Friday to 888 lodging businesses around the state to help offset losses resulting from the pandemic. The money is part of $140 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars…
VICTORIA, Minn. (AP)-A relative has identified three people killed in the fiery crash of a small plane in southeastern Minnesota as a surgeon from Omaha, Nebraska, and two of his family members from Wyoming. Jo Mertes, of Mantador, North Dakota, told the Star Tribune Sunday that her nephew, 42-year-old Jacob Mertes and his 37-year-old wife, Sara Mertes, of Libby, Montana,…
Canada is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians. The reopening Monday is part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans. The border has been closed to nonessential travel since March 2020 to try to slow the spread of…
TOKYO (AP) — It began with a virus and a yearlong pause. It ended with a typhoon blowing through and, still, a virus. In between: just about everything. The Tokyo Olympics, christened with “2020” but held in mid-2021 after being interrupted for a year by the coronavirus, glided to their conclusion in a COVID-emptied stadium Sunday night as an often surreal mixed bag for…
(AP) – The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that was scheduled to expire next month. The Education Department says this will be the final extension. Borrowers will not have to make payments on federal student loans during the moratorium, interest rates will be set at 0% and…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Target says it will not require its downtown Minneapolis headquarters employees to return to the office for the rest of the year, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Target has about 8,500 workers at its headquarters offices, making it the largest downtown employer. In an update sent to employees Friday, Target said it is still planning…
(AP) – United Airlines will require U.S.-based employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by late October, and maybe sooner. United announced the decision Friday. The airline joins a growing number of big corporations that will require vaccinations. This is happening as a mutant variation of COVID-19 drives a surge in new infections. United CEO Scott Kirby says he knows some…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) OGEMA, Minn. (AP) – Opponents of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline that’s being replaced across northern Minnesota are taking a novel legal approach to try to halt construction – they are suing on behalf of wild rice. Wild rice is the lead plaintiff in a complaint filed Wednesday in White Earth Nation Tribal Court. The…
(AP) – Apple is planning to scan U.S. iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens. The tool Apple calls “neuralMatch” will detect known images of child sexual abuse without decrypting people’s messages. If it finds…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A growing number of professors and staff at the University of Minnesota are calling on the school to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations this fall. Many faculty members say they are anxious about returning to the classroom as COVID-19 cases are surging due to the delta variant of the virus. More than 500 people have signed a letter supporting…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hiring surged in July as American employers added 943,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% as the U.S. economy continues to bounce back with surprising vigor from last year’s coronavirus shutdown. The July numbers exceeded economists’ forecast for more than 860,000 new jobs. Hotels and restaurants, reopening and doing brisk business, added 327,000 jobs last month….
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)-Gov. Tim Walz and a top state lawmakers say they will support an emergency financial relief package for farmers in Minnesota, where most of the state is in a severe or extreme drought. Walz says he would support an aid package in a special session next month. The governor got an earful at Farmfest in Redwood County…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration has ordered state workers to wear masks when they’re working indoors, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. The Department of Administration issued the mandate on July 30. It goes into effect on Thursday. Under the order, all state employees, contractors, and interns must wear masks in all indoor spaces in state…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Gov. Tim Walz and top state lawmakers say they will support an emergency financial relief package for farmers in Minnesota, where most of the state is in a severe or extreme drought. Walz says he would support an aid package in a special session next month. The governor got an earful at Farmfest in Redwood County…
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin State Fair has returned after the coronavirus pandemic canceled last year’s event for the first time in 75 years. The fair runs Thursday through Aug. 15 at the 200-acre State Fair Park in West Allis. COVID-19 means some changes for this year’s fair, including cashless admission and parking. Only credit and debit cards…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin wildlife officials are proposing limiting the number of wolves hunters can kill this fall to 130 animals. The state Department of Natural Resources’ recommendation comes after a judge forced the department to launch a season in February. Hunters killed 218 wolves in just four days, blowing past their quota of 119 animals. The next wolf…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Supreme Court has found that a state law requiring individuals to have a permit to carry a handgun in public is constitutional and does not violate the Second Amendment. The ruling comes in the case of a man who was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit in 2018. Nathan Hatch argued that the…
NEW YORK (AP) – Target Corp. is joining a growing list of retailers and restaurant chains offering educational assistance at select online institutions for its front-line workers amid a fiercely competitive labor market. The Minneapolis-based discounter said Wednesday that it plans to spend $200 million over the next four years to offer its workers free undergraduate and associate degree programs…
FOLEY, Minn. (AP) — The top prosecutor in a Minnesota county is facing three felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting a child under 16. Benton County Attorney Philip Miller, of Rice, was charged last week with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim younger than 16 and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim between the ages of…
CRANE, Texas (AP) — Rusted pipes litter the sandy fields of Ashley Williams Watt’s cattle ranch in windswept West Texas. The corroded skeletons are all that remain of hundreds of abandoned oil wells that were drilled long before her family owned the land. The wells, unable to produce any useful amounts of oil or gas, were plugged with cement decades…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights are asking that their federal trials be separated from the trial of Derek Chauvin, who has already been convicted on state murder charges. Attorneys for J. Kueng and Tou Thao said in court filings Tuesday that their clients would be unfairly prejudiced if they went…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration will announce a new 60-day eviction moratorium that would protect areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. That’s according to three people familiar with the plans who insisted on anonymity to discuss the forthcoming announcement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified a legal authority for a new and different moratorium…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Republican-controlled legislative committee has blocked the University of Wisconsin System from taking several steps to fight coronavirus without its approval. The Wisconsin State Journal reports the committee’s move comes as university officials in Madison are weighing a campuswide mask mandate and expanded testing requirements for people who haven’t been vaccinated. It also comes as the…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) UPDATE: WASHINGTON (AP) — An officer died after being stabbed Tuesday during a burst of violence at a transit station outside the Pentagon, law enforcement officials said. A shooting resulted in the Pentagon being locked down for more than an hour. A Pentagon officer who was stabbed later died, according to officials who were not authorized to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Gunshots were fired Tuesday morning near the entrance of the Pentagon, resulting in multiple injuries. The facility, the headquarters of the U.S. military, was placed on lockdown. The Arlington County Fire Department reported “multiple patients,” but it wasn’t immediately clear if they had been shot or the extent of the injuries. The incident occurred on a Metro…
NEW YORK (AP) – An investigation into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found that he sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees. State Attorney General Letitia James announced the findings Tuesday. The investigation, conducted by two outside lawyers, found that the Cuomo administration was a “hostile work environment” and that it was “rife with fear and intimidation.”…
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens,File) NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will soon require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for anyone who wants to dine indoors at a restaurant, see a performance or go to the gym, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, making it the first big city in the U.S. to impose such restrictions. The new requirement, which will be…
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Sen. Lindsey Graham has tested positive for the coronavirus. The South Carolina Republican is the first senator to disclose a breakthrough infection after being vaccinated. Graham said in a statement Monday afternoon that he “started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night” and went to the doctor Monday morning. Graham said he would quarantine for 10 days and…
WADENA, Minn. (AP) — Two people have died and one person has been injured in a house fire in central Minnesota. The fire broke out about 4 a.m. Sunday in Wadena, according to authorities. First responders found a juvenile outside the home with minor injuries. He was treated at Tri-County Healthcare and released a short time later. Firefighters found two…
BOSTON (AP) – Housing courts around the country are ramping up work following the end of the federal eviction moratorium. Housing advocates fear the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium over the weekend will result in millions of people being evicted. But most expect the wave of evictions to build slowly over the coming weeks and…
(AP) – New evidence showing the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox has prompted U.S. health officials to consider changing advice on how the nation fights the coronavirus. Recommending masks for everyone and requiring vaccines for doctors and other health care providers are among measures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering. That’s according to internal documents…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The National Weather Service has confirmed at least four tornadoes caused widespread damage in Wisconsin and contributed to at least one death. Quinn Boehning, 29, was killed after crashing into a fallen tree and power line near the town of Ripon about 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the State Patrol. The severe weather began Wednesday evening in…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Family and friends in Minnesota broke into cheers and screams for Sunisa Lee. She was one of their own, and the 18-year-old gymnast had captured the women’s all-around gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Her triumph delighted all of Minnesota but carried special resonance in the state’s large and close-knit Hmong American community. Dozens of Lee family…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – An air quality alert remained in effect for most of Minnesota as the state deals with smoke from Canadian wildfires that has created some of the highest particulate readings on record. Gov. Tim Walz and several other governors plan to talk virtually with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris about the nation’s growing wildfire crisis…
(Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MILWAUKEE (AP) – Strong thunderstorms caused widespread damage across Wisconsin, left tens of thousands without power, and triggered tornado warnings. The severe weather stretched from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan and began Wednesday evening in northwestern Wisconsin. By 2 a.m. Thursday, the numerous tornado warnings around the state had expired. The National Weather…
BOSTON (AP) – The Biden administration will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday. The end of the moratorium comes as advocates and some lawmakers call for it to be extended in the face of rising coronavirus cases and the sluggish pace of distributing rental assistance. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Positive cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin are twice as high as a week ago and seven times as high as a month ago, fueled by the more contagious delta variant. State health officials on Wednesday again urged everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others. There were 792 new COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday and the…
