WASHINGTON — Nearly 1.3 million people went through U.S. airports on Sunday, the highest level of air travel in more than nine months, despite the fear that travel will lead to more cases of COVID-19. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1,284,599 on Sunday, the highest total since March 15. More than 10 million people have traveled by air…
(AP) – “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin has been released from prison after spending two months behind bars for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get her two daughters into college. Loughlin was released Monday from the federal lockup in Dublin, California, where she had been serving her sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scheme….
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Federal authorities identified on Sunday the man they say is responsible for the Christmas Day bombing and said that he died in the explosion. Investigators used DNA to link the man, identified as Anthony Quinn Warner, to the blast. They said they believe no one else was involved. Federal officials now turn to explore the monumental task…
LONDON (AP) – The head of drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be approved by U.K. authorities this week, says researchers believe the shot “should remain effective” against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times that more tests are…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin health officials on Wednesday confirmed hundreds of new COVID-19 cases and deaths connected to the disease. The Department of Health Services reported 2,579 newly confirmed cases. The state has now seen 463,594 cases since the pandemic began in March. The DHS reported the disease was a factor in 69 more deaths, bringing the overall death…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — An off-the-grid area of northern Minnesota will soon host a new tower to bring cell service to the region, though some locals and visitors want the area to remain remote. The Cook County Board voted on Tuesday to allow AT&T to build the tower to bring cellphone service to a remote area that includes the Gunflint…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota nursing home residents began receiving doses of the newly approved Moderna vaccine this week as the state prioritizes the high-risk population in its vaccination rollout plan. Residents and staff at the St. Cloud VA Community Living Center and an assisted living facility in the Prairie Island Indian Community were among the first to receive doses of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 89,000 last week to a still-elevated 803,000, evidence that the job market remains under stress nine months after the coronavirus outbreak sent the U.S. economy into recession and caused millions of layoffs. The latest figure shows that many employers are still cutting jobs as the pandemic tightens…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer and BioNTech will supply the U.S. with an additional 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine under a new agreement. The drugmakers said Wednesday that they expect to deliver all the doses by July 31. Pfizer already has a contract to supply the government with 100 million doses of its vaccine. Pfizer’s vaccine was the first…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new report shows the University of Wisconsin System paid out nearly $70 million in coronavirus-related refunds to students last year. The Legislative Audit Bureau released a report Tuesday that shows the system paid out $68.5 million in housing and food service refunds to students after campuses closed in March as the pandemic was taking hold in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Walmart, alleging the company unlawfully dispensed controlled substances through its pharmacies, helping to fuel the opioid crisis in America. The civil complaint being filed Tuesday points to the role Walmart’s pharmacies may have played in the crisis by filling opioid prescriptions and by unlawfully distributing controlled substances to the pharmacies during the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday that his administration has partnered with a medical testing company to provide free at-home COVID-19 tests. The governor said his administration has struck a deal with Vault Medical Services to provide free at-home COVID-19 saliva tests. Anyone interested in a test can order one through the state Department of Health Services website starting…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers has scheduled a special election this spring to fill outgoing Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald’s seat. Evers issued an executive order Tuesday scheduling the election for April 6 in southeastern Wisconsin’s 13th Senate District. The election will coincide with the state’s spring election. A primary for Fitzgerald’s seat will be held on Feb….
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden will speak Tuesday as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday this week. Biden will deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday afternoon, where he’s expected to speak on the $900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress on Monday. It’s a package he supports…
(Scott Takushi/Pioneer Press via AP, Pool) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz and Department of Health officials are planning to provide an update Tuesday on how COVID-19 vaccinations are being distributed in Minnesota. Minnesota began giving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to healthcare workers last week after it received emergency approval earlier this month. The state’s initial shipment last week…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is promising that students will be able to return to campuses for the spring semester. Regents President Andrew Peterson said Monday that regents expect students will be able to return at the end of January, hoping that more robust COVID-19 testing will help stave off…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Congress has approved a five-year extension of a program designed to deal with long-term environmental injuries to the Great Lakes. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously Sunday to continue the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, as the House did earlier this year. The bill requires President Donald Trump’s signature to take effect. It calls for gradually boosting…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) HILL CITY, Minn. (AP) — A contractor working on the Enbridge Energy Line 3 pipeline project in northern Minnesota has died in a fatal accident. Enbridge Energy spokeswoman Juli Kellner said the accident happened Friday at a construction yard in Hill City. Kellner said work in the area was stopped Friday and safety standards and protocols…
LONDON (AP) — Trucks waiting to get out of Britain are backing up for miles and people are stranded at airports as many countries impose stringent travel restrictions over concerns about a new strain of the coronavirus that authorities say may spread more easily. A growing number of countries are halting air travel from the U.K., while France has banned…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new COVID-19 relief bill shaping up in Congress includes individual payments reaching $600 for most Americans and an extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits. Votes on the bill in the House and Senate are expected Monday. The COVID bill would pump $900 billion into relief efforts. Among those getting help are hard-hit businesses, schools, health…
MADISON, Wis.-Add Wisconsin to the list of states told by the federal government that it will be receiving less COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech than initially expected. Gov. Tony Evers said on Friday that the state was told on Thursday it will be receiving 35,100 doses of the vaccine, less than expected after 49,725 arrived this week. Several states say they…
MINNEAPOLIS-Minnesota public safety officials have issued another liquor license suspension notice as more businesses are defying Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order barring indoor service at restaurants and bars to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Mission Tavern in Merrifield faces a 60-day suspension of its liquor license pending a hearing before a judge, and could have its license revoked for five…
LANSING, Mich.-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration is lifting a prohibition on in-person instruction at Michigan high schools and says entertainment venues such as movie theaters can reopen with capacity restrictions following a decline in coronavirus cases. Universities and colleges can let students return to campus next month, with a voluntary commitment to wait until Jan. 18 to restart face-to-face classes. Indoor…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has received the coronavirus vaccine during a White House event aimed at convincing skeptical Americans that the vaccines are safe. Pence’s wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams also got the vaccine on Friday during the event that was televised. In remarks after his shot, Pence called the speed with which the vaccine…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new mobile app will launch next week in Wisconsin that will let people know if they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Gov. Tony Ever announced the new app on Thursday. The app, which launches Wednesday, is meant to bolster the state’s contact tracing efforts. The app is voluntary…
MADISON, Wis.-The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear the latest challenge to a move made by Gov. Tony Evers’ to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The court on Thursday will hear arguments in a challenge to an order limiting how many people can gather in bars and restaurants. The on-again, off-again order that expired in November is one…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced plans on Wednesday to get children back into elementary schools as well as ease some restrictions on fitness centers and other businesses that were shuttered last month. The governor updated the state’s Safe Learning Plan used by schools across the state on Wednesday to allow all elementary schools to operate in-person starting Jan….
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Gov. Tim Walz plans to keep bars and restaurants in Minnesota closed for indoor service through the holidays. Walz is expected to make a formal announcement Wednesday on extending the restrictions he imposed last month for a four-week “pause” that was due to expire Friday. The governor’s order also closed fitness centers and other places where people gather,…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Brainerd man pleaded guilty Tuesday for his role in helping to set fire to a Minneapolis police station during civil unrest in the days following the death of George Floyd. A federal complaint accuses Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 23, of lighting a Molotov cocktail that another person threw toward the Third Precinct headquarters on May 28. Robinson…
PALISADE, Minn. (AP) — More than 4,000 workers are expected in northern Minnesota over the next couple weeks to build the contentious Line 3 oil pipeline replacement. Opponents of the pipeline have escalated their efforts to block construction, while local law enforcement is focused on keeping the peace. Construction has ramped up quickly on Line 3 since Enbridge Energy received…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A nurse on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center was the first in Minnesota to receive a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday. Thera Witte, who works in a coronavirus unit at the hospital, said she feels honored to be the first and did not hesitate to volunteer. “I’m feeling hopeful that this…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Legislature has voted to pass a package of coronavirus relief measures aimed at businesses and workers who took the biggest hit from a four-week “pause” ordered by Gov. Tim Walz last month. The Senate voted 62-4 to approve the bill and send it to the House, which was passed it 117-13 late Monday night and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is resigning amid lingering tension with the president over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son. Barr went to the White House on Monday, where Trump said he submitted his letter of resignation. Trump has publicly expressed his…
(courtesy: Facebook/Biden) WASHINGTON (AP) – The Electoral College has formally validated Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Biden cleared the 270-vote threshold on Monday after California’s electors cast their votes for the Democrat. When all of the states finish voting, Biden is expected to lead President Donald Trump 306-232. The Electoral College vote is normally a procedural step…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s electors on Monday formally cast the state’s 10 electoral votes for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. It took under 25 minutes for the 10 electors to affirm Biden’s victory in Minnesota and just 40 minutes to complete all the paperwork and adjourn without incident. The 10 electors, all wearing masks, gathered at the Capitol in St. Paul…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential electors are meeting across the United States to formally choose Joe Biden as the nation’s next president. Today is the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. In reality, electors meet in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots. Wisconsin’s electors meet at noon Monday. The results…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota restaurant that continued to host dine-in service in defiance of Gov. Tim Walz’s coronavirus order has temporarily lost its liquor license. State officials suspended the license Sunday for the Boardwalk Bar & Grill in East Grand Forks. The suspension comes just days after a Polk County court closed the bar and restaurant to in-person dining,…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential electors are meeting across the United States to formally choose Joe Biden as the nation’s next president. Monday is the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. In reality, electors meet in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots. The results will be sent to Washington and…
PORTAGE, Mich. (AP) — The first of many COVID-19 vaccine doses are making their way to distribution sites across the United States, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approach the horrifying new milestone of 300,000. The rollout Sunday of the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be approved by the FDA, ushers in the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history — one…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. has given the final go-ahead to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, launching emergency vaccinations in a bid to end the pandemic. Shots will begin in a few days after Friday’s decision by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA called the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech safe and strongly protective. But initial…
(courtesy: CNN) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin Air National Guard unit has grounded its pilots while the fatal crash of an F-16 fighter jet is being investigated, and authorities on Friday identified the pilot who died as a decorated combat veteran who had flown in three tours of duty. The Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing said Air Force Capt. Durwood…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Republican U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer, Pete Stauber, and Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota have signed on to a last-gasp bid to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election. The three are among more than 100 House Republicans who joined an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Emmer’s name…
(AP) – The head of the FDA says his agency has told Pfizer it “will rapidly work” to grant emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine following a positive recommendation by government advisers. Many FDA observers predict action by Saturday ahead of a Sunday meeting by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal officials plan to allocate the first 6.4…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) –A judge in Wisconsin has ruled against President Donald Trump’s lawsuit seeking to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state, another in a string of defeats in the president’s extraordinary attempts to undo his loss. Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek ruled following a virtual hearing on Friday. Trump’s federal lawsuit remains alive. Trump has been urging lower…
(Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A group of parents has sued Gov. Tim Walz, seeking to throw out his order that put high school sports on hold as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But lawmakers agreed Thursday on $216 million in grants for businesses hurt by the four-week “pause” that Walz imposed…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Thursday, putting the country just one step away from launching an epic vaccination campaign against the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans. Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the Food and Drug Administration signs off, as expected, on the expert…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers is hinting that Wisconsin schools should consider re-opening after the winter break. Evers’ administration has left it up to individual school districts to decide whether to hold virtual classes or open for in-person instruction in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. But concerns about the long-term effects of isolation on children and the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two Minnesotans in their 20s are among the 89 new deaths from COVID-19 reported by state health officials Thursday. It’s an unusual development in a pandemic that mostly claims the lives of elderly patients. The Minnesota Department of Health says they included someone 25 to 29 years old in Ramsey County and someone between 20 and 24…
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to decertify Democrat President-elect Joe Biden’s win over Republican President Donald Trump in Arizona. Judge Diane Humetewa said the lawsuit’s allegations “are sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence” and that granting the relief it sought would disenfranchise millions of voters. The challenge alleged the state’s election systems have…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that some companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 716,000 the previous week. Before the coronavirus paralyzed the economy in March, weekly jobless…
