DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Ice coverage on Lake Superior has increased by nearly 25% over the past week thanks to the long stretch of subfreezing temperatures. The lake was experiencing historically low percentages of ice in January. But that changed Monday when nearly 32% of the lake had ice, a rapid increase from 7% just a week ago, according to…
(AP Photo) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers plans to call on the Republican-controlled Legislature to join him in passing a two-year budget he is presenting as a “bounce back” plan to help the state recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Evers released excerpts from his speech before he was to deliver it in a pre-recorded message to the Legislature…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota is closing in on the milestone of administering 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines. According to an update from the Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday, the state’s health care providers had administered a total of 927,384 vaccine doses as of Sunday. That figure covers 686,210 people who’d had at least their first doses as of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is extending a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30 to help homeowners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium on foreclosures of federally guaranteed mortgages had been set to expire on March 31. On his first day in office, Biden had extended the moratorium from Jan. 31. Census Bureau figures show that almost…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Canadian officials are enforcing tighter restrictions on nonessential travel across its border, which many northern Minnesota business owners view as a move in the wrong direction. Canada has kept its border closed to nonessential visitors for nearly 11 months because of the coronavirus. New measures to require COVID-19 tests when entering the country are meant to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. Pelosi says the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex and relating to…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A moment of silence will be held on Tuesday to mark one week since a Minnesota man walked into a health clinic northwest of Minneapolis and opened fire, killing one staff member and injuring four others. Gregory Ulrich is charged with murder and other counts in connection with the Feb. 9 attack. Allina Health says it…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Board has voted unanimously to conduct a wolf hunt beginning next week with up to 200 animals to be harvested. The vote came even as the state was asking an appeals court to stop the hunt by putting last week’s court order on hold. The state Department of Natural Resources…
MINNEAPOLIS — The National Weather Service says several cities are experiencing record lows amid a winter storm that’s dropping snow and ice in a huge swath of the U.S. The weather station in Hibbing/Chisholm, Minnesota, saw a record low of minus 38 degrees, while Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hit minus 26 degrees. La Crosse, Wisconsin, reached a record low of…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A moment of silence will be held on Tuesday to mark one week since a Minnesota man walked into a health clinic northwest of Minneapolis and opened fire, killing one staff member and injuring four others. Gregory Ulrich is charged with murder and other counts in connection with the Feb. 9 attack. Allina Health says it…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers will propose more than $329 million in new economic development initiatives as part of his state budget proposal on Tuesday, including a new $100 million venture capital fund to help startups and $200 million to assist small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Evers released details…
(AP) – The nation’s top public health agency says in-person schooling can be done safely with mask use, social distancing, and other strategies, but vaccination of teachers, while important, is not a prerequisite for reopening. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its long-awaited roadmap for getting students back to classrooms in the middle of a pandemic….
MADISON, Wis. — A staffing shortage at Wisconsin prisons is pushing corrections officers to work long hours, costing taxpayers at least $60 million in overtime pay. Data from the state Department of Corrections shows roughly 15% of corrections officers positions are unfilled at Wisconsin’s prisons. The problem is currently most severe at Waupun Correctional Institution where 40% of jobs are…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to crack down on rising catalytic converter thefts, which can cost car owners thousands of dollars to fix. The bill by Democratic Sen. John Marty, of Roseville, seeks to disrupt the black market by preventing anyone but licensed scrap metal dealers from buying used catalytic converters. Scrap dealers would be…
(courtesy: Kenosha County Court via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge is refusing prosecutors’ request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois who’s accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a Wisconsin police brutality protest last summer. Prosecutors in Kenosha County asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to issue a new warrant for Kyle…
JEFFERSON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge has ordered the state Department of Natural Resources to start a wolf hunt this month rather than wait until November. The Trump administration removed wolves from the federal endangered species list in January, returning management to the states. Wisconsin law mandates the DNR run a wolf season from November through February. The department…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nearly 200 Walgreens pharmacies across Wisconsin are expecting to receive coronavirus vaccines directly from the federal government starting this week. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Thursday announced the beginning of the program that targets underserved areas. The state health department says the vaccinations will be provided for free under the state and federal partnership….
CABLE, Wis. (AP) – The American Birkebeiner Ski Race in northern Wisconsin will look different this year because of coronavirus safety protocols. Organizers of the event, promoted as North America’s largest and longest cross-country ski race, have stretched it from a single day to five days from Feb. 24-28. Last year about 11,000 skiers participated in the race, which can…
(Antioch Police Department via AP) KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) – An Illinois 18-year-old charged with killing two people during street protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer faces a judge Thursday with prosecutors asking that he be re-arrested. Prosecutors say Kyle Rittenhouse violated conditions of his $2 million bond by failing to inform the court of his current address. They’ve asked a…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was prepared to plead guilty to third-degree murder in George Floyd’s death before then-Attorney General William Barr personally blocked the plea deal last year. Two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the talks say the deal would have averted any potential federal charges, including a civil rights offense, as part of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who shot five staff members at a Minnesota health clinic this week shot two of them in the reception area before heading back to where patients are treated and shooting three others, including a medical assistant and mother of two who died of her wounds, authorities say in the criminal charges filed Thursday. Gregory Paul…
WINONA, Minn. (AP) — The Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota says it has reached a $21.5 million settlement with 145 individuals who were sexually abused by its clergy members. It’s the last Catholic diocese in the state to settle its abuse claims, filed in response to a 2013 law that temporarily extended the statute of limitations on abuse cases. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court says regulators can apply strict drinking water standards to limit groundwater pollution from North America’s top-producing iron mine. The high court says the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency properly concluded that pollution seeping into groundwater from the Minntac mine has harmed waters covered by federal standards meant to protect drinking water. Reports…
MADISON, Wis. — A northwestern Wisconsin prosecutor has been charged with secretly recording sexual encounters he had with two women after allegedly persuading them he could help them with their criminal cases. Burnett County Assistant District Attorney Daniel Steffen was charged Friday with three felony counts of representations depicting nudity. The criminal complaint says investigators learned early last year from…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A bipartisan task force that examined a looming retirement savings crisis in Wisconsin is recommending a series of steps to improve the outlook, including the creation of first-of-its-kind savings accounts for every child in the state. The retirement task force released its recommendations Wednesday. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski chaired the group and says bills to implement…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities, and government agencies. The foreign-made knockoffs are becoming increasingly difficult to spot and could put health care workers at grave risk for the coronavirus. A federal official says these masks are…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new legal challenge to Gov. Tony Evers’ latest mask mandate is before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The challenge was filed less than a week after the Legislature struck down a previous order and the Democratic governor quickly issued a new one. Prominent Republican donor Jere Fabick asked the court late Tuesday to issue a temporary…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say one person is dead and four others are wounded in a shooting at a Minnesota health clinic. A 67-year-old local man said to have been angry with the care he received was arrested. The five people were taken to hospitals after Tuesday’s attack at the Allina clinic in Buffalo, a community of about 15,000…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Opening arguments are set to begin in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. An emotional first day ended Tuesday with the Senate voting to hear the case for convicting the former president of inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, House Democrats prosecuting the case, and the former president’s attorneys will lay out their opposing arguments before…
(AP) – The U.S. has entered a tricky phase of the COVID-19 vaccination effort as providers try to ramp up the number of people getting first shots while also ensuring a growing number of others get second doses. The shift is happening just when millions more Americans are becoming eligible to receive vaccines. The need to give each person two…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) –Authorities say five people were shot and wounded in an attack at a Minnesota health clinic and that they arrested a 67-year-old local man. The five people were taken to hospitals after Tuesday’s attack at the Allina clinic in Buffalo, a community of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Kelly Spratt, the president of…
(Ozaukee County Sheriff via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former Wisconsin pharmacist has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he tried to spoil dozens of vials of the COVID-19 vaccine. Prosecutors in January charged 46-year-old Steven Brandenburg, of Grafton, with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products. Brandenburg pleaded guilty to both counts in a…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP)-Authorities say someone was taken into custody following a shooting at a Minnesota clinic in which multiple people were shot, police said. Kelly Prestidge, an office manager for the Buffalo Police Department, told The Associated Press that the shooting happened Tuesday at the Allina clinic in Buffalo, a city of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles northwest of…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has rejected another attempt by opponents to shut down construction on Enbridge Energy’s replacement for its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly says tribal and environmental groups failed to prove any permanent harm would result from allowing the work to proceed or…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The second case of a new, more contagious form of the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Wisconsin, less than a month after it was first seen. The variant was first detected on Jan. 12 and was identified again on Sunday by lab partners of the state Department of Health Services. Wisconsin chief medical officer Dr….
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A driver survived when his pickup truck plunged about 70 feet off a slippery interchange exit ramp in Wisconsin. A Wisconsin Department of Transportation camera captured the Milwaukee-area crash. The video shows the pickup hitting snow on the right shoulder before flipping over the barrier wall and plummeting to Interstate 94 below as cars pass by. When…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will visit Wisconsin next week for his first official trip as president beyond his home state of Delaware. Biden is set to visit Milwaukee next Tuesday, according to the White House. While the Biden administration did not share further details of the trip, the president has been focused heavily on addressing the coronavirus pandemic…
(AP) – Evidence is mounting that having COVID-19 may not protect a person against getting infected again with some of the new variants emerging around the world. New research also suggests that people can get second infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus if they mounted a weak defense the first time. How long immunity lasts from natural infection is…
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who ran onto the field during the Super Bowl has been charged with trespassing. With the world watching, authorities say Yuri Andrade, 31, scampered onto the field Sunday night in the fourth quarter of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Andrade was wearing shorts and a pink leotard or…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers’ administration is partnering with an international health care organization to set up community sites for COVID-19 vaccinations. Evers announced Monday that his administration will work with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to establish six to 10 community vaccination sites. The first site is slated to open on Feb. 16 in Rock County and will be…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota House Republicans laid out a roadmap Monday for lifting the state’s coronavirus restrictions on businesses with a goal of letting them return to full operations by May 1. Rep. Dave Baker, of Willmar, said at a news conference that businesses such as restaurants, hotels, event centers, and gyms need to be able to make reopening plans…
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A Paddock Lake man is facing charges after he was accused of punching a security guard who reminded him to wear a mask at a Kenosha grocery store. Police recommend the man in his 50s be charged with battery and disorderly conduct. The incident happened Saturday night at Woodman’s Food Market. “Somebody from the store approached…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial is opening this week with a sense of urgency. Democrats want to hold the former president accountable for the violent U.S. Capitol siege. And Republicans want it over as fast as possible. It’s scheduled to begin Tuesday, just over a month since the deadly Jan. 6 riot. Senate leaders are still…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed the first bill passed by the Legislature to address the coronavirus pandemic in 10 months, a Republican-backed measure that Democrats say would do nothing to combat the virus or help reopen the state. Evers vetoed the bill shortly after the Senate voted along party lines Friday sending it to him. Evers…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s food shelves saw a big jump in need in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic instability. Hunger Solutions Minnesota collects data from 350 food shelves across the state. Its annual report says they saw a record 3.8 million visits in 2020, up 7% from the year before, led by a 31% jump in…
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (AP) — A teen wanted in connection with the fatal shooting at a mall in eastern Wisconsin has been arrested in Iowa. The Grand Chute Police Department announced U.S. Marshals arrested 17-year-old Dezman Ellis on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Ellis’ arrest comes days after authorities say he fatally shot 19-year-old Jovanni Frausto, of Neenah, and wounded…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S employers added just 49,000 jobs in January, a sign that that the viral pandemic retains a tight grip on the economy nearly a year after it triggered a painful recession. The drop follows a decline of 227,000 jobs in December, the first loss since April. The unemployment rate for January fell sharply to 6.3%, the Labor…
(Senate TV via AP) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved a measure that would let Democrats push through President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan without Republican support. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the chair to cast the tie-breaking vote, her first. Democrats in the chamber applauded after Harris announced the 51-50 vote at around 5:30 a.m….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has issued a new statewide mask order an hour after the Republican-controlled Legislature voted to repeal his previous mandate. The Democrat Evers said in a video message Thursday that his priority is keeping people safe and that wearing a mask was the most basic way to do that. “If the Legislature keeps…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has approved a divorce settlement between the former Minneapolis police officer who placed his knee on George Floyd’s neck and his wife. The divorce of Derek Chauvin and Kellie Chauvin was finalized Tuesday and redacted documents were made public Thursday. The approval comes months after Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman rejected a prior…
