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…
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…
