MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin State Capitol, closed to the public since late March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen on Monday, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced Friday. It will be opened for limited hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and only on weekdays. Before the pandemic, the building stayed open until 6 p.m. during the week…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As activists in Minnesota press for murder charges against the police officer who shot Daunte Wright, the prosecutor is sticking by the manslaughter charge he filed. Wright died April 11 when the 20-year-old Black motorist was shot during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb. The city’s police chief said he believed Kim Potter mixed up her…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Derek Chauvin’s murder trial was the first Minnesota criminal trial to be broadcast live on television. It won’t be the last. Some in the Minnesota legal system were apprehensive about allowing the live broadcast of Chauvin’s trial over the killing of George Floyd, but the video feed had no major problems and bolstered the public’s understanding of…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge has ruled that Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature illegally hired private taxpayer-funded attorneys to represent them in anticipation of lawsuits over redistricting. The lawsuit filed by attorney Lester Pines on behalf of four Madison teachers argued that state law does not allow for legislative leaders to hire attorneys outside the state Department of…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. economy grew at a brisk 6.4% annual rate last quarter — a show of strength fueled by government aid and declining viral cases that could drive further gains as the nation rebounds with unusual speed from the pandemic recession. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its total…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An animal welfare organization is searching for those responsible for shooting to death 15 cats among more than 30 that were abandoned in western Wisconsin. Dunn County Humane Society said Wednesday that 33 cats were abandoned near a pile of cat food in the township of Spring Brook. Fifteen of the cats and kittens were shot and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use his first joint address to Congress to pitch a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families, and education that would transform the role government plays in American life. Biden delivers the Wednesday speech on the eve of his 100th day in office. Biden will make his case before a pared-down gathering of mask-wearing…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Wisconsin State Fair is preparing to return this summer after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the event for the first time in 75 years, organizers said Wednesday. The fair scheduled Aug. 5-15 will have increased sanitation protocols in place, some of which have yet to be determined. Mask requirements, vaccine passports, and rapid testing have been…
NEW YORK (AP) — A law enforcement official tells the Associated Press that federal investigators have executed search warrants at Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan residence and office. The former New York City mayor has been under investigation for several years over his business dealings in Ukraine. Details of the reasons for Wednesday’s searches were not immediately available. The officials who confirmed…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Supreme Court has given a victory to environmentalists in the long-running battle over the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. The court on Wednesday sent the dispute back to the state Department of Natural Resources for further proceedings on whether the mine’s waste pond would effectively keep pollution contained. The Supreme Court also affirmed…
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin health officials say that only 0.03% of people who have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus have tested positive for COVID-19. The Wisconsin State Journal reports Wednesday that the number of so-called breakthrough cases was just 605 out of 1.8 million people who are fully vaccinated. The state’s number of breakthrough cases is higher than the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A juror who cast one of the unanimous votes to convict a white former Minneapolis police officer of killing George Floyd said deliberations were primarily spent trying to convince one person who was uncertain about part of the jury instructions. Brandon Mitchell is the first juror that deliberated in Derek Chauvin’s trial to talk publicly about his…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans will have more time to get the Real ID that they will need to board a flight or enter federal facilities. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday extended the Real ID deadline until May 3, 2023. The deadline had been Oct. 1, 2021, but it was becoming clear that many people wouldn’t make it,…
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And unvaccinated people can drop face coverings in some cases, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the updated guidance Tuesday. Previously the CDC had been advising that people should wear…
MARSHALL, Minn. (AP) – State health officials say a young child from southwestern Minnesota has died of COVID-19 complications. Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Williams says the child, who died Sunday, was a first-grader at Park Side Elementary. Williams says crisis team members will be on hand at the school to support those in need. According to the school district,…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Before the Supreme Court this week is an argument over whether public schools can discipline students over something they say off-campus. Fourteen-year-old Brandi Levy was suspended from cheerleading over a profanity-laced posting on Snapchat. Arguments are on Wednesday before a court on which several justices have school-age children or recently did. The case has its roots in…
(AP) – Minnesota has narrowly avoided losing a seat in Congress even though population growth in the state didn’t keep up with that of some other states. Minnesota’s growth rate of 7.4% was slightly better than the nationwide rate of 7.1%, helping Minnesota keep all eight of the U.S. House seats it has had since the 1960s. Minnesota may have…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is opening a sweeping probe into policing in Louisville, Kentucky over the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police during a raid at her home. The 26-year-old Taylor, an emergency medical technician who had been studying to become a nurse, was roused from sleep by police who came…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. The case will be argued in the fall and marks the court’s first foray into gun rights since Justice Amy Coney Barrett came on…
NEW DELHI (AP) — India has set another record for daily coronavirus infections for the fifth day in a row, at more than 350,000. On Monday, the country reported more than 2,800 deaths, with roughly 117 Indians succumbing to the disease every hour — and experts say even those figures are likely an undercount. The new infections brought India’s total to more…
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — Police are investigating hate messages that were found spray-painted on the outside of a mosque in the Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan area. Officers were dispatched to the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Community Center, which is located in Moorhead, about 5:20 a.m. Sunday. Police said the graffiti was found in several areas on and around…
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A U.S. health panel says it’s time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J’s shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, most younger…
MADISON, Wis.-The supply of COVID-19 vaccine in Wisconsin is nearing the point of exceeding demand for the first time, with more than 50% of the eligible population having received at least one dose and nearly 30% of the total population fully vaccinated. State health leaders said Thursday that while the gap between supply and demand is closing, there is an…
LOS ANGELES-Republican Caitlyn Jenner says she will run for governor of California. Jenner says in statement posted Friday on Twitter that she has filed initial paperwork to run. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a likely recall election this year. Election officials are still reviewing petition signatures required to qualify the recall for the ballot. Several other Republicans have also…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-COVID-19 case rates are rising across Minnesota, and they’re affecting younger Minnesotans, especially middle and high school students. Minnesota health officials said Thursday that the number of school-related COVID-19 cases reported this week among students has now exceeded the peak seen during a surge of cases in November. Still, Minnesota Public Radio reports, officials are not planning to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a public works proposal with a much smaller price tag and a narrower definition of infrastructure than what President Joe Biden has proposed, highlighting the stark differences between the two sides that will be difficult to bridge in the coming months. The price of the Republicans’ two-page outline came in…
MADISON, Wis.-Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a package of Republican-authored bills that would have directed how the state would spend $3.2 billion in federal COVID-19 relief money. Evers on Thursday also announced that up to $420 million in that money coming to the state would go toward a grant program targeting small businesses. One of the bills he vetoed would…
MINNEAPOLIS-An internal Environmental Protection Agency investigation has found that the federal agency mishandled its oversight of permits for what would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. The findings released Wednesday describe a flawed review of two permits issued for the $1 billion mine that PolyMet Mining Corp. wants to build near lakes Babbitt and Hoyt, which are about 200 miles northeast…
MINNEAPOLIS-The family of Daunte Wright is preparing for his funeral Thursday. It comes just days after guilty verdicts were handed down for the former Minneapolis police officer whose killing of George Floyd set off nationwide protests and a reckoning over racism. Wright died April 11 after a white Brooklyn Center police officer shot the 20-year-old Black man during a traffic…
KABUL, Afghanistan-A U.S. defense department official says the U.S. military has begun shipping equipment and winding down contracts with local service providers ahead of the May 1 start of the final phase of its military pullout from Afghanistan. The pullout marks the end of America’s longest war, after a 20-year military engagement. Currently, some 2,500 U.S. soldiers and about 7,000…
(AP) – U.S. regulators say the Baltimore factory contracted to make Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was dirty, didn’t follow proper manufacturing procedures, and had poorly trained staff. The problems resulted in contamination of a batch of material that was going to be put in the shots. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday released a 13-page report detailing findings…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is convening a coalition of the willing, the unwilling, the desperate-for-help, and the avid-for-money for a two-day summit aimed at rallying the world’s worst polluters to do more to slow climate change. Biden’s first task when his virtual summit opens Thursday is to convince the world that the United States is both willing and…
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Burning Man festival organizers are considering requiring attendees to prove they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 if they move forward with plans to hold this year’s counter-culture festival in the Nevada desert. But they backed off an earlier statement indicating they had already decided to make the shots mandatory. The organizers say they won’t decide for sure…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Assembly’s bipartisan racial disparities task force created in the wake of a white Kenosha police officer shooting a Black man is making 18 recommendations. But the group stopped short Wednesday of calling for a total ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants as Gov. Tony Evers wants. Jacob Blake was left paralyzed by the shooting….
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — Paisley Park will welcome back a select 1,400 fans on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of Prince’s death from inside his creative sanctuary in suburban Minneapolis. The sprawling studio’s atrium will be opened to those who rushed for one of the free reservations. Those who can’t go inside are invited to leave flowers and mementos…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce that the Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after the guilty verdict in George Floyd’s death, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The announcement comes a day after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Derek Chauvin was handcuffed and taken into custody Tuesday after being convicted of all three counts against him. Twelve jurors found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, ultimately deciding that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death and that his actions were not that of a reasonable officer. Prosecutors didn’t have to prove Chauvin’s restraint was…
London Williams stood in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., moments before the verdict was read in George Floyd’s murder trial Tuesday, wondering how he would cope if the white police officer who killed the Black man was acquitted. “I feel very nervous. It’s already hard as it is as a Black man in today’s society,” said Williams, standing…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks Tuesday evening after the conviction of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Biden, Harris and first lady Jill Biden called members of the Floyd family moments after the verdict, according to video posted by family attorney Ben Crump. Biden told the family,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers says Wisconsin schools will receive more than $175 million in federal funding to pay for school-based COVID-19 testing for teachers, students, and staff. The money announced Tuesday is coming to Wisconsin as part of $10 billion the U.S. Department of Health Services announced in March it was targeting to help schools reopen across…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he is “praying the verdict is the right verdict” in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin and that he believes the case to be “overwhelming.” Biden told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he was only weighing in on the trial into the death of George Floyd because…
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) — The passenger in a pickup truck that struck and killed three Girl Scouts and a mother who were removing litter along a Chippewa County highway has pleaded no contest to a charge for his role in the 2018 crash. Twenty-four-year-old John Stender, of Eau Claire, entered the plea Monday to aiding a felon-falsifying information. A…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — More than 3,000 National Guard soldiers, along with police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and other law enforcement personnel have flooded Minneapolis with a verdict looming in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murder in the death last year of George Floyd. But in the city that has come to epitomize America’s debate over…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP/Fox9) — The murder case against former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd has gone to the jury. Twelve jurors are beginning deliberations in a city on edge against another round of unrest. During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd by pinning his knee against Floyd’s neck last…
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The man in custody in connection with a shooting at a southeastern Wisconsin tavern that left three men dead and three others injured was expected to appear in court Monday for a bond hearing. Kenosha County sheriff’s officials identified the man being held in the Kenosha County Jail as 24-year-old Rakayo Alandis Vinson. Kenosha County Sheriff’s…
(AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Foxconn Technology Group has reached a new deal with reduced tax breaks for its scaled-back manufacturing facility in southeast Wisconsin. Gov. Tony Evers and the world’s largest electronics manufacturer announced the new deal on Monday. Details of the new agreement were not immediately released. A person with knowledge of the new contract who was not…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd will make their closing arguments Monday. Each side will be seeking to distill three weeks of testimony into a compelling argument that persuades jurors to deliver their view of the right verdict. For prosecutors, it’s that Derek Chauvin recklessly squeezed the life…
(courtesy: YouTube/MN Safety) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two people are dead and a third is hospitalized after a fiery crash in an interstate tunnel near downtown Minneapolis. The State Patrol says the car was traveling at a high rate of speed Sunday night when it struck a concrete median wall, which caused the fuel tank to rupture and the car to…
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities have identified the suspect in a mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana. Two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter provided the identity to The Associated Press on Friday. The officials say investigators are searching a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and have seized evidence, including desktop…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — State health officials say more than 3.4 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in Minnesota and 1.5 million people have been fully vaccinated. The Department of Health says nearly half the vaccine eligible population, age 16 and older, has gotten at least one dose of vaccine. There were 2,736 new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday,…
