MADISON, Wis. (AP) — After shattering early voting records, Wisconsin voters have a final chance Tuesday to cast ballots in schools, libraries, churches, and community buildings. The last opportunity to vote comes as coronavirus cases surge and political tensions are high in the battleground state. Both sides are closely watching absentee and in-person voting for any irregularities that could make…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A requirement that Minnesota voters wear masks at the polls to help stop the spread of the coronavirus will remain in place on Election Day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to block the mandate while a lawsuit is being appealed. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who handles emergency requests from the federal appeals court that oversees Minnesota,…
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin court commissioner on Monday set bail for an Illinois 17-year-old accused of killing two people during a protest at $2 million, setting aside pleas from one victim’s father to double that amount. Kenosha County prosecutors have charged Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch, Illinois, with fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony…
(Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is bracing for an Election Day unlike any other, with record numbers of votes recorded before polls opened on Tuesday and President Donald Trump planning one last campaign stop as he tries to duplicate his 2016 victory. Voters said Monday they were nervous not only about Election Day but…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Amy Coney Barrett is expected to join her colleagues on the Supreme Court on Monday to hear arguments for the first time. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the high court began hearing cases by phone in May. That means the public won’t see the new justice, who was confirmed last week in a 52-48 virtual party-line…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Minnesota has topped 150,000, according to data released Sunday by the state Department of Health. The update showed an increase of 2,217 positive tests for COVID-19 and 18 deaths in the last day. Health officials have reported a total of 150,672 cases since the start of the pandemic….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Another inmate has died of coronavirus complications at a state prison in Minnesota. A 61-year-old inmate at the Stillwater prison died at the facility Sunday, authorities said. The man had existing medical conditions and tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 20, according to prison officials. The inmate was taken to a hospital on Saturday, evaluated, and released…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials Friday reported a single-day high of 3,165 new coronavirus infections, with 18 deaths. The state also reported 738 hospitalizations, another single-day high, with 176 people in intensive care. States around the country are struggling with rising cases of the coronavirus. Despite the rising hospitalizations, Dr. Rahul Koranne of the Minnesota Hospital Association told the…
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart says it has removed ammunition and firearms from displays at its U.S. stores, citing “civil unrest” in some areas. The nation’s largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, sells firearms in about half of its 4,700 stores. “We have seen some isolated civil unrest and as we have done on several occasions over the last few…
CHICAGO (AP) — The mother of a 17-year-old accused of killing two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is among those slated to testify at a hearing in Illinois to decide if her son should be extradited across the border to stand trial on homicide charges. During Friday’s hearing, Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawyers also planned to call an expert on self-defense and former…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s secretary of state said Thursday it’s too late for voters to mail back their absentee ballots if they want to make sure their votes count after an appeals court ruling indicated that mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day are at risk of being invalidated. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin will open scores of additional COVID-19 testing sites to help deal with the state’s surge in coronavirus cases. Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday that the state’s health department will open 71 more community testing sites and operate them through Dec. 10 using federal coronavirus relief dollars. Wisconsin National Guard troops will staff the sites and…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Health reported 2,872 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the most reported in a single day since the pandemic began. The state’s health department also reported 32 deaths, three shy of the highest reported in a day, and the second time this month single-day deaths climbed over 30. Minnesota’s totals now stand at 142,311…
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — The Trump administration has removed gray wolves in most of the U.S. from the endangered species list. Thursday’s action ends longstanding federal safeguards for the predators in the Lower 48 states, except for a small population of Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest. The announcement just days ahead of the election could allow the hunting of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 751,000, the lowest since March but a figure that remains historically high and indicates the viral pandemic is still forcing many employers to cut jobs. Rising confirmed virus cases in nearly every state, along with a cutoff in federal aid, are threatening to weaken the economy…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The campaigns for President Donald Trump and Republican state legislative candidates are petitioning the Minnesota Supreme Court to separate all mailed ballots received after Election Day in case of legal challenges to their validity. The petition filed Wednesday is the latest challenge to Minnesota’s seven-day extension for absentee ballots. It comes a day after a federal appeals…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump planned to hold a rally in Green Bay on Friday, marking his third stop in a week to Wisconsin as part of a final push from both sides to capture the key swing state. Democrat Joe Biden is also scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin on Friday, but he has not said where. Trump…
(AP) – No. 9 Wisconsin has canceled its game at Nebraska on Saturday and paused all team activities for at least seven days after a dozen people within the program including coach Paul Chryst tested positive for COVID-19. School officials said Wednesday that athletic director Barry Alvarez and Chancellor Rebecca Blank made the decision in consultation with Big Ten officials….
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An environmental group is asking Minnesota utility regulators to investigate Enbridge’s additions to its existing oil pipeline capacity which could make the company’s controversial new $2.6 billion pipeline unnecessary. A filing by the Indigenous organization Honor the Earth with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission says Enbridge made no mention of its…
BARABOO, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin Dells man arrested on suspicion of drunken driving is facing his 12th charge for drunken driving. Walter Decorah, 51, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Sauk County Circuit Court. Judge Patricia Barrett set bail at $15,000 cash, the Baraboo News Republic reported. Authorities say Decorah was arrested for falling asleep behind the steering wheel at…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Minnesota Republican candidate’s bid to delay voting in his congressional race to February after the death of a third-party candidate was rejected Tuesday at the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who handles emergency requests from the federal appeals court that oversees Minnesota, denied the request from Tyler Kistner. Kistner is running against Democrat Angie Craig, the…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers is pleading with Wisconsin residents to voluntarily stay home and limit their interactions amid new statewide daily records for confirmed coronavirus infections and deaths. State health officials reported 5,262 cases on Tuesday. They also reported that the virus was a factor in 64 additional deaths, another…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans who oppose Minnesota’s seven-day extension for counting absentee ballots beyond Election Day say that unless it is blocked, thousands of people whose ballots arrive after Nov. 3 will risk having their votes disqualified. But attorneys for Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon argue that it’s too close to Election Day to make changes. Nearly 2 million…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court is siding with Republicans to prevent Wisconsin from counting mailed ballots that are received after Election Day. In a 5-3 order, the justices on Monday refused to reinstate a lower court order that called for mailed ballots to be counted if they are received up to six days after the election. A federal appeals…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The October snowfall has temporarily stalled Minnesota’s fall harvest. Combines are quiet and corn is in limbo for now as farmers wait for dry, warmer temperatures. University of Minnesota Extension crop scientist Tom Hoverstad says that in his 40 years of work he doesn’t remember a fall like this where farmers are waiting for the snow to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amy Coney Barrett’s first votes on the Supreme Court could include two big topics affecting the man who appointed her. The court is weighing a plea from President Donald Trump to prevent the Manhattan district attorney from acquiring his tax returns as well as appeals from the Trump campaign and Republicans to shorten the deadline for receiving…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Monday by a deeply divided Senate, Republicans overpowering Democrats to install President Donald Trump’s nominee days before the election and secure a likely conservative court majority for years to come. Trump’s choice to fill the vacancy of the late liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg potentially opens a new era of rulings…
HIBBING, Minn. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has met a few hundred supporters on an airport tarmac for a campaign rally in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. Most in the crowd on Monday were not wearing masks or social distancing as the vice president gave his remarks in the freezing weather. The vice president made the campaign stop in Minnesota…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Furloughs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will continue for the first six months of 2021 to offset losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But Chancellor Rebecca Blank offered hope for next year, telling employees on Monday that “we expect to avoid the sort of dramatic cuts that many feared.” Blank told more than 21,000 faculty, staff,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin health officials reported Monday that more than 200,000 people have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March, a disturbing milestone as the virus continues to surge unabated across the state. The Department of Health Services reported 2,883, newly confirmed cases on Monday. While that’s the lowest daily tally since Oct. 11, it still…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The campaign of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis of Minnesota said Monday that his emergency surgery for a severe internal hernia was a success. The campaign had said the condition could have been life-threatening if not treated quickly, But campaign manager Tom Szymanski said in a statement that his surgery was “successful and minimally invasive.” He…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are both scheduled to make separate appearances this week in Wisconsin, just days before the Nov. 3 election. Trump was scheduled to hold a rally in West Salem, just outside of La Crosse, on Tuesday, one week before the Nov. 3 election. That comes after Trump held a…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis has been rushed into emergency surgery for a severe internal hernia. The Lewis campaign said in a statement Monday that the condition is life-threatening if not treated quickly. Campaign manager Tom Szymanski said in the statement that Lewis experienced severe abdominal pain early Monday morning and was taken to an…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence plans to maintain an aggressive campaign schedule this week despite an apparent outbreak of the coronavirus among his senior aides, the White House says. Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, and “a couple of key staff surrounding the vice president” have tested positive for the virus, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An effort to recall Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers over his response to racial injustice protests and the coronavirus has failed, the recall’s organizer told supporters on Monday. Misty Polewczynski, of Burlington, posted on the “Recall Evers Petition” Facebook page on Monday that not enough signatures were collected. She did not say how close the group…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply torn Senate is set to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Republicans are overpowering unified Democratic opposition to vote Monday on President Donald Trump’s nominee a week before Election Day. Democratic leaders want Vice President Mike Pence to stay away after his aides tested positive for COVID-19. Pence’s tie-breaking vote is not expected…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials reported 1,721 new cases of the coronavirus and 13 deaths on Friday as the state is swept along in a surge of cases across the Upper Midwest and Plains. Friday’s tally brought the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 129,863 cases and 2,314 deaths. The updated numbers mark two straight weeks of more…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s air quality has improved over the last 15 years, according to a report state environmental officials released Friday. The Department of Natural Resources study analyzed air pollution data from 2001 to 2019. The study concluded that air quality continues to improve. Concentrations of a host of pollutants, including ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is suing the state, alleging prison officials have not taken adequate precautions to protect inmates from COVID-19. The ACLU-MN filed a petition Thursday asking a court to force the state to keep people in custody safe. The Department of Corrections said it was reviewing the lawsuit. “We acknowledge the health…
In this 1975 photo, Matt Blair (59) goes high to block the kick by Pittsburgh Steelers’ Bobby Walden (39) during the Super Bowl IX in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Matt Blair, one of the great linebackers in Minnesota Vikings history and a six-time Pro Bowler who played in two Super Bowls, has died. He was…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It’s debate night for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. They will square off in Nashville in their final face-to-face confrontation before the election. It’s one of the last high-profile opportunities for the trailing president to change the trajectory of an increasingly contentious campaign. Some Trump advisers are urging him to trade his aggressive…
(Courtesy: Twitter/MN National Guard) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – On Thursday Gov. Tim Walz announced he has activated the Minnesota National Guard to assist local law enforcement in public safety efforts in the Twin Cities area following today’s court rulings in the George Floyd case. “In light of developments in the George Floyd case, we’ve taken the precautionary step of asking the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A truck driver who drove into a large crowd of protesters on a bridge in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd was charged Thursday with two criminal counts. Hennepin County prosecutors charged Bogdan Vechirko, of Otsego, with making threats of violence, a felony, and criminal vehicular operation, a gross misdemeanor, the Star Tribune reported. Prosecutors allege that he…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new legal group has been created just days before the election by Wisconsin attorneys who have represented Democrats and others opposed to Republicans on issues ranging from redistricting to the lame-duck legislative session. Law Forward said Thursday that its focus will be defending Wisconsin’s “progressive traditions” and fighting voter suppression in the election. The group…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate. Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott of the session Thursday to keep confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick on track before Election Day. Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install Trump’s nominee to…
BOSTON (AP) — Iran is responsible for emails meant to intimidate American voters and sow unrest in multiple states, U.S. officials said Wednesday night in calling out both Tehran and Russia for activities meant to interfere in the upcoming presidential election. The announcement at a rare news conference just two weeks before the election underscored the concern within the U.S….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin recorded its highest one-day total of new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday and the first patient was admitted to a field hospital near Milwaukee that opened last week to help hospitals coping with the influx of patients. The surge that began in early September showed no signs of slowing with 48 new deaths reported Wednesday and…
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has become the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions. The comments drew cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue. The remarks came in the documentary “Francesco,” which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. In the documentary, the pope says: “Homosexual people have the…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — When President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden arrive in Nashville for their final debate, they’ll be greeted by a city with rising coronavirus case counts. Tennessee is also embroiled in a debate about mask-wearing. Thursday’s in-person presidential debate is at Belmont University, which also hosted the 2008 debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Salvation Army says 20 of its staff members from Minnesota and North Dakota tested positive for the coronavirus after 62 people attended a recent conference in northern Minnesota. “Despite adherence to the health guidance, we fully acknowledge that COVID-19 is formidable and highly contagious,” Salvation Army spokesman Dan Furry said in a statement Tuesday, the Star Tribune…
