MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the conviction in the case of a snowmobiler sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for crashing into an 8-year-old boy on Chisago Lake and killing him. Eric Coleman, of Chisago City, was sentenced in February 2019 for the January 2018 death of second-grader Alan Geisenkoetter Jr. The boy’s…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota cases and hospitalizations driven by coronavirus variants in recent weeks continue to steadily climb, even as officials make progress on the state’s vaccination efforts. Just over 400 patients are hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19 as of Tuesday, including 102 in intensive care — the most since late January, according to the state’s dashboard. While hospitalizations…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, ruling that the Democratic governor exceeded his authority by issuing the order. The 4-3 ruling Wednesday by the conservative-controlled court is the latest legal blow to attempts by Evers to control the coronavirus. It comes after Republicans in the Legislature voted to repeal…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis firefighter who wept as she recounted how a police officer prevented her from helping George Floyd is resuming testimony Wednesday in the trial of the fired police officer charged in Floyd’s death. Genevieve Hansen said Tuesday that she came upon Derek Chauvin restraining Floyd while out on a walk last Memorial Day. Hansen says she…
(Richard Chung via AP) (AP) – Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. The announcement Wednesday marks a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before the next school year. Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer’s…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin will make everyone in the state who is 16 and older eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations starting next week, Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday. Evers, a Democrat, announced the change in a tweet. BREAKING: Wisconsin leads the nation in getting available shots in arms, and today we’re announcing everyone 16 and older will be eligible…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Seven more pharmacy chains are set to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots in Wisconsin, state health officials said Tuesday. The state Department of Health Services announced that seven new chains will receive the vaccine this week as part of the federal retail pharmacy program, including Costco; CVS; Hy-Vee; Good Neighbor and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation; Health Mart; Medicine…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Authorities in Fond du Lac County are searching for two people who are missing after they were thrown from a canoe into the choppy waters of Lake Winnebago. Dispatchers received a 911 call from one of the two individuals at about 8:30 p.m. Monday. The canoers were about one mile north of the Fond du…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who was among onlookers shouting at a Minneapolis police officer to get off George Floyd last May returns to the stand on Tuesday, a day after he described seeing Floyd struggle for air and his eyes rolling back into his head, saying he saw Floyd “slowly fade away … like a fish in a bag.”…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is extending a federal moratorium on evictions of tenants who’ve fallen behind on rent during the coronavirus pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday moved to continue the pandemic-related protection, which had been scheduled to expire on Wednesday. The moratorium is now extended through the end of June. The moratorium initially was…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shocking video footage of George Floyd gasping for breath was front and center Monday as the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into the Black man’s neck went on trial Monday on charges of murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors played the video that shows Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds…
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) — CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is making an impassioned plea to Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19. She warned on Monday of a potential “fourth wave” of the virus. She’s speaking of a “recurring feeling … of impending doom.” During a White House briefing, Walensky grew emotional…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers killed a bill Monday that would have given Republican legislators oversight of Wisconsin’s share of billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds, instead announcing his own plan for distributing the money. Evers, a Democrat, took the unusual step of vetoing the bill during a news conference at a Milwaukee cafe, holding up…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former member of the medical staff at the St. Louis County Jail in Duluth, Minnesota has sued the county over an alleged 2016 incident in which a correctional officer attacked the medical technician and claimed it was an impromptu training exercise. Natalina Slaughter said in a lawsuit she had recently started working at the jail when…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer goes on trial Monday in George Floyd’s death, and jurors may not wait long to see parts of the bystander video that caught Derek Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck. Prosecutors have not said when they will play the video, but legal experts say they expect it to be early as part of…
SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — A canal service provider says that workers have successfully set free a colossal container ship that for nearly a week has been stuck sideways across the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most crucial arteries for trade. Leth Agencies said that the vessel had been refloated on Monday. Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has delivered his third State of the State address from his former high school classroom and said that “brighter days are here” as a substantial portion of the population is being vaccinated against the coronavirus and businesses start to fully reopen. The first-term Democrat gave the speech Sunday from his old social studies…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz delivered his third State of the State address Sunday from his former high school classroom and said brighter days have arrived and “normalcy is on the horizon” as a substantial portion of the population is being vaccinated against the coronavirus and businesses start to fully reopen. The first-term Democrat gave the speech from…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nearly all the wreckage along Lake Street has been hauled away. The fire-swept buildings have been torn down or repaired. The police station is empty, its entryway sealed with stacked concrete blocks like a street corner pharaoh’s tomb. The street, the focus of so much violence when protests raged through Minneapolis after George Floyd died in police…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz has announced a final expansion in vaccine eligibility to all Minnesotans 16 and older starting Tuesday. The expansion comes before an anticipated increase in the state’s weekly allotment in early April that will nearly double the state’s current weekly shipments to more than 300,000 doses. The governor’s office acknowledges that securing an appointment will…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The first Wisconsin case of a potentially more severe COVID-19 variant known that originated in Brazil was confirmed Friday by the state Department of Health Services. The variant known as the P.1 is believed to spread more rapidly and easily than the original strain of COVID-19. Wisconsin health officials also said the variant has unique mutations…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Bars and restaurants in Wisconsin can sell cocktails to go starting on Sunday. Gov. Tony Evers signed the bill into law Friday, just before happy hour, but it won’t take effect until after it’s published on Sunday. The bill won bipartisan approval in the Legislature. It allows for mixed drinks and glasses of wine to be…
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a Republican-supported bill that would have required him to submit a plan within three weeks for returning state employees to work out of their offices during the pandemic. Evers said in his veto message Friday that more state employees are scheduled to return to their offices…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Police who were stumped by the theft of a rare pine tree in November from the University of Wisconsin Arboretum said Friday that they have cracked the case. UW-Madison police said three 19-year-old university students stole the tree as part of a “pledge” activity for the former Chi Phi fraternity, which hasn’t…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company rigged the 2020 election. Friday’s defamation lawsuit is the first filed against a media outlet by the Denver-based company at the center of false claims spread…
TAYLORS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — One man was killed and another was injured in an apparent rock climbing accident in eastern Minnesota, authorities said. The Chisago County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to the lower landing at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls Thursday at about 4 p.m. on a report of a rock-climbing fall with unknown injuries. Deputies…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Black man who was paralyzed after he was shot in the back by a white police officer in southeastern Wisconsin has filed an excessive force civil lawsuit. Jacob Blake Jr. was shot by Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey in August while Blake was about to get into an SUV during a domestic dispute. Blake’s federal complaint against…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan, which not long ago had among the country’s lowest COVID-19 infection rates, is confronting an alarming spike that some public health experts worry could be a harbinger nationally. The resurgence is being fueled by loosened restrictions, a more infectious variant, and pandemic fatigue. While rising vaccination rates provide protection for seniors, the upswing is boosting…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEOs of social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google are giving an accounting to Congress of actions against the use of their platforms to spread falsehoods and incite violence. The stakes have ratcheted ever higher: The Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the rise in COVID vaccine misinformation, and Democrats now in control of Congress…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled the Ford Motor Co. can be sued in the state courts of people who were killed or seriously injured in accidents involving Ford vehicles. The justices on Thursday unanimously rejected the Michigan-based company’s argument that its ties to Minnesota and Montana were too tenuous to allow it to be sued in those…
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Three days after he was led away in handcuffs from a Boulder supermarket were 10 people were fatally shot, the suspect appeared in court for the first time and his defense lawyer asked for a mental health assessment “to address his mental illness.” Kathryn Herold, the lawyer for suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, provided no other…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Health officials report dozens of fully-vaccinated people have contracted COVID-19 in Minnesota, a development that wasn’t unexpected. The state has identified 89 coronavirus infections in people who have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. State infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said the fraction of fully…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign the economy is improving. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell from 781,000 the week before. It is the first time that weekly applications for jobless aid have…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A person who is sexually assaulted while intoxicated does not fit the designation for a more serious charge if he or she consumed the alcohol or drugs voluntarily, the Minnesota Supreme Court said in a ruling released Wednesday. The opinion stems from the case of Francois Momulu Khalil, a Minneapolis man who was convicted of third-degree criminal…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A man charged with carrying out a mass shooting at a Minnesota health clinic last month allegedly called 911 during the attack and told the dispatcher he was the shooter and to send “a lotta ambulances,” records show. Medical assistant Lindsay Overbay was killed and four other staff members were wounded in the Feb. 9 shooting at the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is calling on the state’s business community to “step up” and return workers to offices around the Fourth of July. Vos and Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu also joined together Wednesday in praising Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration for its vaccination efforts. They spoke during a virtual event hosted by…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury has been seated for the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd’s death, with opening statements set for Monday. The final juror was chosen Tuesday, more than two weeks after the process began. Attorneys and the judge worked through more than 100 people, dismissing most because they acknowledged strong views about an…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — It’s been another record for home sales in Wisconsin this past month. The latest figures from the Wisconsin Realtors Association found nearly 4,395 homes were sold in February, up 5.5 percent from the same month last year. Marquette University economist David Clark, who produces the monthly reports in conjunction with the WRA, said extremely low mortgage rates…
CLEAR CREEK, Minn. (AP) — Two women have died in a crash in northeastern Minnesota, according to the State Patrol. The two died Tuesday evening in a single-vehicle crash that shut down a portion of Highway 23 in Carlton County, the patrol said. The victims have been identified as 35-year-old Angela Severson, of Pierre, South Dakota, and 36-year-old Jennifer Bokusky,…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has heard arguments over Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 replacement project in northern Minnesota, which opponents are calling unnecessary due to an eventual decline in the demand for oil. The Minnesota Department of Commerce, along with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Booze-to-go will be easier to purchase in Wisconsin under a pair of bills passed Tuesday by the state Senate. One would allow bars and restaurants to sell mixed drinks and glasses of wine to go with tamper-evident seals. The Senate approved the bill on a 28-2 vote with no debate. The Assembly passed it next week. It…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury has been seated for the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd’s death, with opening statements set for March 29. The final juror was chosen Tuesday, more than two weeks after the process began. Attorneys and the judge worked through more than 100 people, dismissing most because they acknowledged strong views about…
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Police on Tuesday identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect in the killing of 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket. Supermarket employees told investigators that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa shot an elderly man multiple times Monday outside the Boulder grocery store before going inside, according to the documents. Another person was found shot in…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A shooting at a Madison homeless shelter has left one man wounded by a shooter who is on the run, authorities said Tuesday. According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, one officer fired his or her weapon when confronting the armed suspect inside the shelter, but did not hit anyone. Police were dispatched to the temporary…
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Police say 10 people have been killed in a shooting at a Colorado supermarket, including a police officer. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said Monday night that a lone suspect is in custody and is getting medical treatment. Police refuse to speculate on a motive and say the investigation has just begun. Herold identified the slain…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental health exam for a Minnesota man accused of opening fire in a health clinic northwest of Minneapolis, killing one staff member, and injuring four others. The exam, granted Monday at the request of the defense, will help determine if Gregory Ulrich is mentally competent to help with his own defense….
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer who was the first to respond to the scene, authorities said. Police arrested a suspect, but didn’t reveal his name or any details about the shooting at an evening news conference where Boulder police Chief Maris Herold fought back tears. Investigators had…
(AP Photo/Dawn Villella, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Chippewa tribal officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are blasting the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for allowing state-licensed wolf hunters to blow past their quota in just four days last month. Hunters killed 216 wolves, nearly double their quota of 119 animals. The Chippewa view the wolf as sacred and oppose…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The death of an inmate at the Rush City prison is being investigated as a homicide, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Officers were doing regular rounds at the Minnesota Correctional Facility and found James Francis Howard with face and head injuries in his cell about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, correction officials said Monday. Staff…
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health officials reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 for the first time in nearly a year. The Minnesota Department of Health also reported 1,152 new cases, putting the state at 506,376 cases and 6,782 deaths since the start of the pandemic a year ago. The Star Tribune reported that while Mondays tend to feature fewer deaths…
