MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The battleground state of Minnesota began voting in the presidential election on Friday as polling stations opened in every county and local elections officials began mailing out absentee ballots. Dozens of voters lined up early in the morning outside the early voting center in Minneapolis, where officials said 44 people had voted in the first half-hour after…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A team of health workers conducting random COVID-19 testing was recently confronted by armed residents in a Minnesota community. State officials have not said when or where the incident occurred. Minnesota Department of Health spokeswoman Julie Bartkey said the team did the right thing by leaving the situation. Health officials are doing random testing of households in…
AP – The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will saddle the apps with technical restrictions that could seriously limit their functionality in the U.S. The order, which cited national security and data privacy concerns, follows weeks of dealmaking over the video-sharing service TikTok. President Donald Trump…
GREY CLOUD ISLAND TOWNSHIP, Minn. (AP) — The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has identified two of the three people who died when their single-engine plane crashed into a water-filled quarry last weekend. The bodies of 60-year-old Larry Schlichting, of Eagan, and 24-year-old Lucas Knight, of North Mankato, have been recovered from the quarry on Grey Cloud Island near Cottage Grove….
CHICAGO (AP) — Jerry Harris, the star of the Netflix documentary series “Cheer,” was arrested Thursday with producing child pornography, three days after twin boys filed a lawsuit alleging he sent them sexually explicit photos of himself and cornered one of them in a bathroom and begged for oral sex. According to the complaint, Harris admitted during an interview after…
SEATTLE (AP) — A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide. The judge called them “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, said he was issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction sought by 14 states that sued the Trump administration…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Forty-two players and staff with the Wisconsin football team have tested positive for COVID-19 as the Big Ten makes plans to get the season started. Public Health Madison & Dane County says the 42 people tested positive since June when athletes and staff returned to campus. Twenty-nine of the positive tests were from Sept. 1 through…
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence returns to the upper Midwest next week following visits this week by President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, the Trump campaign announced Thursday. Pence will start a bus tour next Thursday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he will speak at the building materials company Midwest Manufacturing Inc. before traveling…
(AP) – Firefighters battling the West Coast wildfires say this year’s blazes are some of the worst they have ever seen. They say the fires are taxing the human, mechanical and financial resources of the nation’s wildfire fighting forces to an extraordinary degree. And half of the fire season is yet to come. Heat, drought, and a strategic decision to…
(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced an iconic Wisconsin Dells-area water ski show to shut down forever. Tom Diehl, president, and co-owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show in Lake Delton, said Wednesday that the show can’t recover from the loss of revenue this summer. The show was preparing for its 70th season when…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A woman who accused former Badgers football player Quintez Cephus of sexual assault in 2018 is suing the University of Wisconsin-Madison over its decision to reverse Cephus’ expulsion and allow him back on the football team. While a university investigation concluded Cephus “more likely than not” sexually assaulted the woman, he…
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Sally has lumbered ashore near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, with top winds of 105 mph. The coast is being pummeled with sideways rain and beach-covering storm surges. Sally’s northern eyewall raked the Gulf Coast for hours before the center finally made landfall, delivering punishing wind and rain from Pensacola Beach, Florida,…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is outlining a sweeping plan to make COVID-19 vaccines available for free to all Americans. But polls show a strong undercurrent of skepticism across the country. In a report Wednesday to Congress and an accompanying “playbook” for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department are sketching out complex plans for a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Election clerks in Wisconsin are rushing to mail absentee ballots less than 24 hours after the state Supreme Court lifted its temporary freeze on sending them while it considered a legal challenge. The Town of Greenville clerk who also serves as president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association says clerks across the state are “busy.” More…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — One person has died and four others have been injured in a crash involving an ambulance in Fond du Lac. The Wisconsin State Patrol says a car ran a red light about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and struck the ambulance. A passenger in the car was thrown from the vehicle and died. The driver of…
EDINA, Minn. (AP) — A suburban Twin Cities hospital was locked down as police searched for the person who shot a man in its parking ramp. Police were called to M Health Fairview Southdale hospital in Edina about 9 p.m. Monday. Investigators say the shooting was the result of an attempted robbery. M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital, 6401 France Ave….
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The city of Louisville will pay several million dollars to the mother of Breonna Taylor and install police reforms as part of a settlement of a lawsuit from Taylor’s family, The Associated Press has learned. The settlement would be the largest sum paid by the city for a police misconduct case, according to a person who…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — With the smell of California wildfires in the air, President Donald Trump on Monday ignored the scientific consensus that climate change is playing a central role. He reiterated his unfounded claim that poor forest management is to blame for the fires roaring up-and-down the West Coast. The fires are threatening to become another front in Trump’s…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Storm-weary residents of the U.S. Gulf Coast are preparing for a new weather onslaught as Hurricane Sally churns toward them. Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center in Miami say Sally is expected to reach the shore by early Tuesday, bringing flooding and other dangerous weather conditions to a region stretching from the western Florida Panhandle to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is emphasizing President Donald Trump’s commitment to “law and order” during a campaign stop in swing-state Wisconsin on Monday. Pence spoke Monday at a hotel in Janesville, about 70 miles from Kenosha where sometimes violent protests erupted following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Pence credited Trump with stopping the violence in…
(Rolf Peterson/Michigan Technological University via AP) TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Scientists say gray wolves that were taken to Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park to rebuild its nearly extinct population are forming social groups, staking out territory, and apparently mating. They’re also reducing the overgrown moose herd. Michigan Technological University researchers released their annual report from the Lake Superior park…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is thinking about eliminating spring break next semester to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The university’s Faculty Senate is expected to vote on revising the 2021 spring calendar at a meeting Monday. Officials say dropping spring break would discourage students and staff from traveling long distances and bringing COVID-19 back to…
GREY CLOUD ISLAND TOWNSHIP, Minn. (AP) — Crews are searching the Mississippi River in Washington County for a plane that’s overdue at a South St. Paul airport. The search Sunday night was focused near Grey Cloud Island, which is southwest of St. Paul Park and Cottage Grove. Dakota County and Washington County personnel were involved in the search, KARE-TV reported. The plane…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to halt the mailing of absentee ballots raised concerns about creating delays and confusion in the presidential battleground state. The court’s decision came Thursday, just 54 days before the Nov. 3 election. The halt is only temporary but it’s unclear when it will make a final ruling that will restart the…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors in the case of four former Minneapolis officers charged in the death of George Floyd say the men should face trial together because the evidence and charges against them are similar. But defense attorneys have argued for separate trials, saying they are likely to offer “antagonistic” defenses. The former officers…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three family members who run a northern Minnesota resort are accused of illegally catching and selling a prized baitfish which generated thousands of dollars in profits over the years. Robert LaTourell Jr., 50, Melinda LaTourell, and Melissa LaTourell, both 45, are charged with violating the Lacey Act, a law that bans illegal trafficking in wildlife. The U.S….
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are commemorating 9/11 as a new national crisis in the form of the coronavirus pandemic reconfigures and divides anniversary ceremonies and a presidential campaign carves a path through the observances. In New York, victims’ relatives gathered Friday morning for split-screen remembrances at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another nearby…
(from left, Derek Chauvin, Tuo Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) –Attorneys for four former Minneapolis officers charged in the death of George Floyd say that each client should get his own trial, as the officers try to diminish their roles in the Black man’s arrest by pointing fingers at one another. A hearing is scheduled for…
(William Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — State and local inspections of dozens of bars and restaurants for compliance to coronavirus requirements found about half were following the rules in Minnesota. Inspections were done at 167 establishments outside the Twin Cities metro. During a recent visit to Minnesota, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said rural…
SHAVER LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Wildfires are raging unchecked across parts of the Western United States, and authorities say gusty winds could drive flames with new ferocity. Diablo winds in northern California and Santa Ana winds in the south are forecast in areas where blazes already have grown explosively. More than 14,000 firefighters are battling California’s fires from the Sierra…
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota health care provider has suspended its successful recruitment of participants in a coronavirus vaccine trial while its maker investigates whether a recipient’s “potentially unexplained” illness is a side effect of the shot. The trial led by AstraZeneca and Oxford University was suspended while a review is underway of a participant in the United Kingdom…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Winona State University quarantined itself for two weeks starting Tuesday amid the increasing spread of the coronavirus on the southeastern Minnesota campus. “The university is not currently aware of any serious illness related to COVID-19 within the WSU community,” the school’s president, Scott R. Olson, said in a statement. “However, we are seeing an increase in asymptomatic…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A priest recently tapped by Pope Francis to become a bishop for a northern Minnesota diocese has resigned after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor surfaced before he could take up his post. The Vatican announced without details on Monday that Francis had accepted the resignation of Bishop-elect Michel Mulloy, who was named by…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is ordering undergraduate students to limit their movements for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s order comes as cases among students have been rising. From now through Sept. 21, all student gyms and recreational facilities will be closed, dining halls…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Coronavirus tests touted by President Donald Trump and his top officials to help reopen the economy are widely available, but predictions for their usefulness haven’t panned out. The tests check the blood for antibodies that help fight off infections. But scientists still haven’t determined whether those antibodies shield someone from getting infected again. And medical experts warn…
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gun dealers in Minnesota attribute a surge in firearms sales to anxiety over the coronavirus, civil unrest, and the uncertainties involving the presidential race. The National Shooting Sports Foundation says there were about 21,900 background checks for gun purchases in Minnesota in August of 2019. This year, there were nearly 35,000 in the…
VATICAN CITY (AP) — A priest recently tapped by Pope Francis to be made a bishop for a Minnesota diocese has resigned after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor surfaced before he could take up his post. The Vatican announced without giving details on Monday that Francis had accepted the resignation of the Bishop-elect Michel Mulloy, who was…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris is scheduled to make her first campaign appearance in battleground Wisconsin on Labor Day in Milwaukee, while Vice President Mike Pence was headed to western Wisconsin. The dual appearances by Pence and Harris come just days after President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were in Kenosha two days…
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Rapper Kanye West’s lawsuit demanding election officials place him on Wisconsin’s presidential ballot in November will remain in state court. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach decided late Thursday to keep the matter in state court, rejecting the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s attempt to move it to federal court. Griesbach said the case should remain in state…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge ruled the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency did not deviate from most of its procedures when it issued a key water quality permit for the proposed PolyMet mine project. The ruling is a victory for supporters of the state’s first copper-nickel mine and the agency, which mine opponents accused of “procedural irregularities” in…
(courtesy: Redwood County Sheriff’s Office via AP) REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A man has been rescued after he was pinned under a tree for more than four days while working on his land in southern Minnesota, officials said. Jonathan Ceplecha, 59, was cutting down oak trees Aug. 27 near Redwood Falls when one of them fell and landed on…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — There’s a new tip line in Wisconsin for anyone who wants to report a school safety concern. The “Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center” created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice is available around the clock to serve as a resource for helping to prevent school violence. Attorney General Josh Kaul said Thursday that the new…
(courtesy: UW System) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has been placed on paid leave while a complaint against him is investigated. A statement from UW System President Tommy Thompson did not disclose the nature of the complaint against Dwight Watson. Thompson said university officials will have no further comment on the personnel matter right…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of laid-off Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to roughly 880,000 last week, a sign of possible improvement but the evidence that the viral pandemic keeps forcing many businesses to slash jobs. The latest figures, released Thursday by the Labor Department, suggest that nearly six months after the eruption of the coronavirus, the economy is…
(AP) – Like all cool cats and kittens, Carole Baskin is going to “Dancing With the Stars.” The reality TV star who became a pop culture sensation with Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King” is joining the new crop of celebrity dancers that includes TV and film actress Anne Heche, former NBA star Charles Oakley and Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean. The…
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden’s core pitch for the presidency faces its most intense test yet when he travels to Kenosha, Wisconsin. It’s a city wrenched by police and protest the violence that makes it a microcosm of the nation’s election-year reckoning with systemic racism. Biden believes he can use his trip Thursday as an opportunity for community leaders…
(Amy Harris/Invision/AP) SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Minnesota man who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month has died from COVID-19, Minnesota health officials reported on Wednesday. The death is the first reported from the biker rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people. Infections linked to the event have been reported among people in states…
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is traveling to Wisconsin on Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump, as the key swing state becomes the focal point for political debate over violence at protests. First, Biden is hammering Trump on Wednesday on pandemic school safety, trying to keep the election spotlight on the president’s handling of the outbreak and the…
(John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP,Pool) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Ramsey County judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders during the coronavirus pandemic. Thirteen Republican legislators and a group of businesses contended the Democratic governor abused his power and interfered with the legislative process when he limited closed schools, issued a mask mandate, and limited…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a Minnesota law that required wineries in the state to use mostly Minnesota-grown grapes, in a ruling that could have implications for other states. U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright ruled Monday that the law posed an unconstitutional barrier to interstate commerce that favored Minnesota’s economic interests over those of other states….
