MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota House passed a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana use after hours of debate Thursday night in a historic vote that marked the first time either chamber has voted on legalization. The legislation passed on a 72-61 vote after nearly five hours of debate on the House floor. The legislation made its way through a dozen…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge has rejected a second attempt by opponents of the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota to invalidate the mineral rights leases needed for the project. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said Thursday that new arguments and evidence raised by the opponents in the 2020 lawsuit would not have changed the outcome of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota House will vote on a proposal to legalize marijuana use for adults and expunge minor marijuana convictions on Thursday — the first time either chamber has ever voted on legalization. The legislation, authored by Democratic House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, of Golden Valley, made its way through a dozen committees stops this legislative session before…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is easing indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places. That’s according to a person briefed on the announcement, expected later Thursday at the White House. The new guidance will still call for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like…
(AP) — McDonald’s is raising pay at 650 company-owned stores in the U.S. as part of its push to hire thousands of new workers in a tight labor market. The fast-food giant followed Chipotle, which also announced pay hikes this week. Wages and benefits for U.S. workers have been growing quickly as vaccinations increase and employers try to meet growing…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Coronavirus vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds will begin Thursday in Wisconsin after an advisory committee for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the inoculations for younger children. “The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announces that children 12-15 years old are now eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and vaccinations…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, a new pandemic low and the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as consumers ramp up spending and more businesses reopen. Applications declined 34,000 from a revised 507,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims — a rough measure of the…
(Klobuchar Press Office via Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jim Klobuchar, longtime Minnesota newspaper reporter and columnist and father of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Klobuchar died Wednesday at the Emerald Crest care facility in Burnsville, a Twin Cities suburb, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He was 93. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota…
NEW YORK — Federal health advisers are meeting to issue recommendations on how to vaccinate kids as young as 12 with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This week, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the expanded use of Pfizer’s shots, citing evidence the shots worked as well in those 12 to 15 years old as those 16 and older. Kids in…
NEW YORK (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is calling time on her longtime-running talk show. Reports say the daytime host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that her upcoming season will be the last. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” started airing in 2003 and has a mix of dancing, games and giveaways along…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has found aggravating factors in the death of George Floyd. The ruling made public Wednesday paves the way for a longer sentence for former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin. He was convicted in April on murder and manslaughter counts. He’s scheduled to be sentenced June 25. Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, he would have faced a…
(Garret Ellison | MLive) LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to go after Enbridge’s profits from a Great Lakes oil pipeline if it isn’t shut down. The Democratic governor issued the warning Tuesday in a letter to Enbridge, a Canadian oil transport company. Whitmer ordered the company last November to close the line by May 12….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge on Tuesday denied media requests to allow cameras at an upcoming hearing for a suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s death. Kim Potter, 48, is charged with manslaughter in Wright’s death during a traffic stop April 11 in Brooklyn Center. The city’s police chief at the time said he believed Potter, who is white, mixed…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin will receive $700 million less than initially expected in federal coronavirus relief money and it will arrive in two payments a year apart. Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin on Tuesday called that news problematic. The state was informed Monday of the split in payments, and that it will receive $2.5 billion in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Police in a St. Paul suburb are investigating the theft of coronavirus vaccines after a man recorded and posted videos on social media of him walking away with vials of what he said was “poison” and that he had plans to have the vaccines tested at a lab. Allina Health told police the man, who…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The national anthem would have to be played before all sporting events held at Wisconsin venues that received any public funding under a bill up for a vote Tuesday in the state Assembly. The sweeping proposal received bipartisan support in committee, even as a group representing parks and recreation areas across the state questioned whether it…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s state government will get about $200 million more than it was expecting under President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package, and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz expressed hope Monday that new guidelines over how states can spend the aid might help speed up the slow pace of negotiations over the state’s next budget. The legislative session is due to adjourn next Monday,…
(AP) – COVID-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded the use of Pfizer’s shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin lawmakers are poised to take their first votes on police reform measures since George Floyd died last year. The state Senate is set to vote Tuesday on five bipartisan bills. More divisive proposals, such as a ban on the use of chokeholds, remain in the works. One bill up Tuesday would require Milwaukee and Madison’s…
(AP) – This year’s graduating class of college seniors is poised for better prospects than were the 2020 graduates, who had the misfortune to graduate in the depths of the disastrous coronavirus recession. Though the competition will be stiff — this year’s graduates will have to compete, in many cases, with 2020 graduates who are still seeking their first full-time…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says the government will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. That reverses a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday that LGBTQ people should have the same access to health…
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs, police said. Officers arrived at a trailer to find six dead adults and a man with serious injuries…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Vaccine-eligible Minnesotans can walk in for a COVID-19 shot without an appointment at the state’s Community Vaccination Program locations effective immediately, the governor’s office announced Friday. “We want Minnesotans to pile in the car, walk into a state site and get the whole family vaccinated,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement. Walk-ins for Minnesotans…
(Stearns County Sheriff’s Office via AP) ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Charges are expected to be filed against a man accused of holding five employees hostage during a standoff at a St. Cloud, Minnesota, bank that lasted more than eight hours. The Star Tribune reports that Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall said a criminal complaint against the 35-year-old suspect was…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Big winners in the Minnesota Lottery will be able to keep their names confidential under a bill signed by Gov. Tim Walz this week. The new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, makes the names of winners of cash prizes bigger than $10,000 private data unless they give written consent to the Minnesota Lottery to…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As the Minnesota Legislature enters the last full week of its 2021 session, lawmakers face tough negotiations for a balanced budget by next Monday’s mandatory adjournment date. And given the Legislature’s partisan split, the final package is expected to make only incremental changes instead of sweeping overhauls. There are deep disagreements over what should be in the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added just 266,000 jobs last month, sharply lower than in March and a sign that some businesses are struggling to find enough workers as the economic recovery strengthens. With viral cases declining and states and localities easing restrictions, businesses have added jobs for four straight months. Still, the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1% from…
(from left, Derek Chauvin, Tuo Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air. Indictments unsealed Friday name Derek…
RACINE (AP) – A Wisconsin man accused of sex crimes ranging from assault to possession of child pornography has pleaded not guilty to 84 charges. Forty-six-year-old Shane Stanger, of Burlington, faces 10 counts of second-degree sexual assault with an unconscious person, 66 counts relating to images or videos that rise to the level of a sex crime, six counts of…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) –Wisconsin health officials have ordered only a fraction of their allotted COVID-19 vaccine doses for next week in another sign of plateauing interest in the vaccine. President Joe Biden’s administration announced earlier this week that it would shift doses from states with lower demand to states with more interest. Wisconsin has been allocated 86,580 Pfizer doses and…
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Authorities say a shooting at an eastern Idaho middle school has injured two students and a custodian, and a student suspected of being the shooter has been taken into custody. The Jefferson County sheriff says the victims’ injuries aren’t believed to be life-threatening. Police were called to the school around 9:15 a.m. Thursday, and multiple law…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Hundreds of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ priorities, including legalizing marijuana, raising $1 billion in taxes, and expanding collective bargaining rights, have been killed by the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee. Lawmakers are taking their first votes Thursday in writing the next state budget. Republicans essentially scrapped the Democratic governor’s entire two-year proposal. They instead are building off…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday announced a three-step timeline for lifting nearly all the state’s COVID-19 restrictions by May 28 and dropping the statewide masking requirement no later than July 1, or once 70% of Minnesotans age 16 and older get their first dose of vaccine. “Our nation-leading vaccination effort has put us in a strong position…
NEW YORK (AP) — Peloton is recalling about 125,000 of its treadmills. The move comes less than a month after the company denied the machines were dangerous and said it would not pull them from the market, even though they were linked to the death of a child and injuries of 29 others. Peloton said Wednesday that it will now…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 498,000, the lowest point since the viral pandemic struck 14 months ago and a sign of the job market’s growing strength as businesses reopen and consumers step up spending. Applications declined 92,000 from a revised 590,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims —…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic caused a 30% decline in direct spending by tourists in Wisconsin in 2020, but officials are optimistic the industry will rebound this year. According to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, spending dropped about $4 billion last year to $9.8 billion. All of Wisconsin’s 72 counties experienced a decline in tourism activity last year…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan late Tuesday lifted an outdoor mask requirement except in gatherings of at least 100 people and in organized contact sports and said teen athletes no longer must undergo regular COVID-19 testing if they are fully vaccinated. Under a revised pandemic order that takes effect Thursday, the state also eased caps on outdoor event sizes and said vaccinated…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Amazon plans to open a distribution center in St. Cloud this year and create hundreds of new jobs. St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis says Amazon has purchased a vacant building and land near Interstate 94 and expects to be hiring later this year. Kleis says he doesn’t know exactly how many jobs will be available,…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump won’t return to Facebook — for now. The social network’s quasi-independent Oversight Board voted to uphold his ban from the platform after his account was suspended four months ago for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. While upholding the suspension, the board faulted Facebook in a statement…
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The death toll from the collapse of an overpass on the Mexico City metro rose to 24 Tuesday as crews untangled train carriages from the steel and concrete wreckage that fell onto a roadway. Monday night’s accident was one of the deadliest in the history of the subway, and questions quickly arose about the structural integrity…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Health officials say Minnesota saw a 27% increase in drug overdose deaths last year, with the first largest increase coinciding with the outbreak of COVID-19. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 1,008 people died of drug overdoses in 2020. Drug-related deaths increased 64% in March 2020 compared with the previous year, then peaked at more than…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden is setting a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose to 70% of adult Americans by July 4. This comes as the administration pushes to make it easier for people to get shots and to bring the country closer to normalcy. The new goal, which also includes fully…
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) MILWAUKEE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris planned to tour clean energy laboratories on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus during her first visit to Wisconsin on Tuesday since taking office. Harris was also scheduled to participate in a round table discussion about investments in research and development proposed in President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure jobs…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin Army National Guard member and his friend have been charged with entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack. Abram Markofski and Brandon Nelson are charged with four counts including entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Markofski joined the National Guard…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15 by next week, setting up shots for many before the beginning of the next school year. That’s according to a federal official and a person familiar with the process. The FDA action would be followed by a meeting…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Negotiators in Minnesota’s divided Legislature have kicked off what’s sure to be a contentious debate over whether further police accountability legislation is needed in the state where George Floyd was killed. The Democratic-controlled House included several policing provisions in its public safety budget bill for the 2020 session. It’s hoping to build on a package that the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Authorities say a man who shot and killed two people and wounded a third at a Wisconsin casino restaurant before police killed him had been fired from the eatery and banned from the property. Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain said Monday that the 62-year-old Bruce Pofahl walked into the Duck Creek Kitchen and Bar on Saturday…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is extending the requirement that travelers wear face masks on planes, trains, and buses. The rule was set to expire May 11, but the Transportation Security Administration said Friday that it will extend the requirement through Sept. 13. Children under 2 and people with certain disabilities are exempted. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration says…
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A packed boat being used in a suspected human smuggling operation capsized and broke apart in powerful surf along the rocky San Diego coast. Three people were killed and more than two dozen were hurt. Lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other agencies responded around 10:30 a.m. Sunday following reports of an overturned vessel near the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A business owner in southern Minnesota who missed a court date as she faces criminal charges for defying pandemic-related restrictions was arrested Thursday in Iowa. Lisa Hanson, who owns a wine and coffee bar in Albert Lea, was arrested by police in Clear Lake, Iowa near a rental property where she had been staying, the Star Tribune reported. She…
