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…
(AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department officials told The Associated Press that Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion. OxyContin is the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic. The officials say Purdue will…
(Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — More than 75,000 people cast their ballots in-person on Tuesday, the first day that was available in battleground Wisconsin, the state elections commission reported. Mail-in absentee voting has been available since September and more than 1 million people have already returned their ballots that way. Taken together with the 75,518 who voted…
(Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A record-setting October snowstorm dumped heavy snow in Minnesota and parts of northern Wisconsin and the eastern Dakotas, causing slippery driving conditions. It was the heaviest snow this early in October for many Minnesota locations and some in northwestern Wisconsin. The National Weather Service said Lakeville and some other southern Twin Cities…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The season’s first significant snowstorm of the year was dumping heavy amounts of precipitation in Minnesota and Wisconsin Tuesday and causing slippery driving conditions in the Dakotas. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning until early evening for portions of central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. Snow accumulations of 4 to 6 inches were expected with…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump’s return to the campaign trail will have to wait. Her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, said Tuesday that Mrs. Trump continues to feel better every day following her recent recovery from COVID-19 but has a lingering cough. Grisham says the first lady has decided not to accompany President Donald Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A lawsuit accuses officials in Minneapolis and Hennepin County of violating the civil rights of people in homeless encampments when they conducted sweeps that displaced them and put their health at risk. The federal complaint filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is asking a judge to declare class-action status…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to attend Thursday’s debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden despite rule changes — opposed by his campaign — that are meant to foster more ordered discussions. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien says Trump “is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has restarted its daily COVID-19 update dashboard after a weekend upgrade and reported nearly triple its normal number of negative tests as it caught up. The 42,131 total tests reflected in its Monday update surpassed the previous one-day high of 18,682 results recorded 11 days earlier, WMTV-TV reported. That number…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Google has been abusing its online dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers. The litigation marks the government’s most significant action to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. The suit could be an opening salvo…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Health reported 1,632 new cases of the coronavirus and five deaths on Monday after climbing over 2,000 daily cases on one day last week. The newly-reported numbers raised the statewide totals to 124,439 cases and 2,239 deaths since the pandemic began in March. Minnesota’s death count is the 24th highest in the country…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin judge has reimposed an order from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration limiting the number of people who can gather in bars, restaurants, and other indoor places to 25% of capacity. The capacity limits order was issued Oct. 6 in the face of surging coronavirus cases in Wisconsin. But a judge blocked the order on Oct….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — More people are flocking to Wisconsin state parks amid the coronavirus pandemic. WMTV-TV reports that state parks officials report a 12% increase in both visitation and camping. The Department of Natural Resources said it pulled in more than $15 million from vehicle admission fees and trail passes from January through August. That’s a 21% increase from the…
(AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota sports columnist and radio personality Sid Hartman, an old-school home team booster who once ran the NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers, has died at age 100. Star Tribune sports editor Chris Carr says Hartman died Sunday while surrounded by family. Hartman’s first newspaper column was published in 1945. He kept up his age-defying pace…
(Ben Garvin/Pioneer Press via AP,File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Seven years after his death to cancer at age 18, a Minnesota singer-songwriter has returned to the top of the iTunes chart with his inspirational tune “Clouds.” The Star Tribune reports that “Clouds” by Zach Sobiech took over iTunes’ No. 1 slot from Justin Bieber on Sunday, two days after the Hollywood movie of…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin has broken the record for new positive coronavirus cases for the third time in a week as a surge that began in early September shows no signs of abating. The state also hit record highs for daily deaths and hospitalizations this week. Also on Friday, a third lawsuit was filed arguing that Democratic Gov. Tony…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials have reported nearly 2,300 new coronavirus cases, the first time the state has surpassed the 2,000 mark. The surge comes as Wisconsin and the Dakotas continue to experience some of the worst per-capita transmission rates in the country. Minnesota’s 2,297 new cases as of Friday raised the state’s total to over 119,000. Friday’s case…
(Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, File) GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that prosecutors have provided enough evidence to move toward trial for five Michigan men accused of plotting to kidnap the state’s governor. A two-day preliminary hearing this week featured testimony by one of the FBI agents who ran the investigation, relying on…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Surging coronavirus cases in Minnesota schools have reduced the number of counties where the virus is spreading at low enough rates to allow for full, in-person instruction. State health officials say statewide, more than 500 schools had at least one positive case in the last two weeks, and 24 public and private schools reported outbreaks with at…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has rejected a prosecution request to put a 48-hour hold on filings in the criminal cases of four Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said Thursday that a natural lag in the court filing system gives prosecutors sufficient time to see filings and ask that they be…
GENEVA (AP) — The world’s largest randomized trial of COVID-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases, the U.N. health agency said Friday. The World Health Organization announced the long-awaited results of a six-month trial that endeavored to see if…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin has hit a new daily high for positive coronavirus cases for the second time this week, a surge that the state’s chief health officer is calling a crisis. There were 3,747 new cases reported Thursday, breaking the record of 3,279, set on Tuesday. To date, there have been more than 162,000 positive cases and 1,553…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin education officials said Thursday that enrollment at public schools in the state has dropped 3% this year, adding more misery to funding problems created by the coronavirus. The numbers decline could further hurt districts already in a financial inch because of the extra costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, such as more laptops and internet…
ATLANTA (AP) – The Atlanta Falcons shut their facility Thursday following one new positive test for COVID-19. The team remains scheduled to play at Minnesota on Sunday. Defensive tackle Marlon Davidson was placed on the COVID-19/reserve list this week, and the addition of a second unidentified person caused the Falcons to act out of caution. All team activity will be…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota House has finally passed a $1.37 billion public works construction borrowing package after months of gridlock. Twenty-five Republicans crossed over Wednesday night to give the Democrats the 60% supermajority the legislations needed to pass. The vote was 100-34. The bill now goes to the Republican-led Senate, which was scheduled to reconvene Thursday. The bonding…
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden’s presidential campaign said Thursday that vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus. The campaign said Biden had no exposure, though he and Harris spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on Oct. 8. Harris was scheduled to travel Thursday…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee has set an Oct. 22 vote on recommending approval of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. Republicans are racing to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick and Democrats are acknowledging there is little they can do stop them. Her confirmation would lock the conservative majority on the court for years to come. Thursday’s session…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump says her 14-year-old son, Barron, had tested positive for the coronavirus but has since tested negative. The White House initially said he had tested negative after both of his parents tested positive earlier this month. The first lady said Wednesday that subsequent testing showed Barron had also come down with COVID-19, the disease caused by…
