(Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis Charter Commission on Wednesday rejected sending voters a referendum on eliminating a minimum staffing requirement in the city police department. The 15-member commission voted 8-6 against putting the proposal on the November ballot, with one member absent. The proposal was an alternative to a more aggressive change in the…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Corrections is moving the state’s prisoner intake operations from the St. Cloud prison where the number of coronavirus cases has spiked. The intake function will move to the Lino Lakes prison north of the Twin Cities this week, and will remain there “for the foreseeable future” to allow the St. Cloud…
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago added Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota to the list of states where people who are traveling to the city must quarantine for two weeks as Illinois learned that its own residents must do the same when they travel to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. Chicago officials said that beginning Friday, anyone from those states…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin System has received $2 million from an anonymous donor to beef up online learning this semester as schools struggle to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, system officials said Monday. Interim System President Tommy Thompson told reporters during a video conference that he couldn’t say when the system received the money but most…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors in the cases against four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd said Monday that they do not want audio or visual coverage of the trials, but they did not provide a reason. Derek Chauvin and three other former officers are scheduled to go on trial in March….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings vice president of sports medicine Eric Sugarman, who’s in charge of the organization’s virus prevention plan, has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced Monday. In a statement from the Vikings, Sugarman said he and his family members immediately quarantined themselves and began following the NFL’s appropriate protocols after testing positive over the weekend. Sugarman,…
NEW YORK (AP) — Target is joining Walmart in closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day, ending a decade long tradition of jump-starting Black Friday doorbuster sales. The move, announced Monday, comes as stores are rethinking the Black Friday in-store bargain shopping as they try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen a resurgence in a slew of…
(AP) — The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it’s one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race. The needed proof: Whether more people who get dummy shots become infected than…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin recorded more than 1,000 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases for a third day out of the past four on Friday. The latest figures from the state Department of Health Services continue a spike in cases that began in mid-June and shows few signs of slowing. There were 1,018 newly reported cases on Friday, bringing the state’s total…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal COVID-19 response team provided Minnesota health officials with recommendations for improvements Friday in the state’s pandemic response following a recent rise in cases statewide. The COVID-19 Response Assistance Field Team was sent to Minnesota by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. It arrived earlier this week hoping to slow a rise in new cases….
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has canceled segments of the Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus. Convention events will still be held in North Carolina. “To have a big convention is not the right time,” Trump said of Jacksonville. Trump moved parts of the GOP convention to…
NEW YORK (AP) — The operator of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the latest retailer to do so during the pandemic. Mahwah, New Jersey-based Ascena Retail Group Inc., which operates nearly 3,000 stores mostly at malls, had been dragged down by debt and weak sales for years. As part of its bankruptcy…
(AP) – The NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will go by the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season, giving the organization time to choose a new, full-time name. The club announced the placeholder name Thursday, ahead of the start of training camp next week. “The decision to use ‘Washington Football Team’ for this season allows the franchise…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) NEW YORK (AP) — A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for planning to release a book about Trump before November’s election. Michael Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Racine, Green Bay, and Superior joined Madison and Milwaukee as Wisconsin cities that passed mandates requiring people to wear masks in certain public settings, though Gov. Tony Evers has resisted issuing a statewide order like those in place in many nearby states. More than half of states have statewide mask mandates, including Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign a police accountability bill into law Thursday that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis. The bill, passed by the Legislature earlier this week, also bans chokeholds and so-called warrior-style training, which critics say promotes excessive force….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of tax evasion. Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County with six counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2014 through 2019 and three…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Gov. Tim Walz is requiring Minnesotans to wear face masks to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Walz signed an executive order Wednesday requiring Minnesotans to wear a face-covering in indoor businesses and indoor public settings. The order takes effect Saturday. Walz said in a statement “there’s no better way to demonstrate our Minnesotan values than…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce a statewide face mask mandate on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The governor has scheduled a news conference with health officials and business owners to announce his “next steps in the state’s response to COVID-19.” His spokesman said it will be an announcement…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge on Tuesday lifted a gag order in the criminal case against four former officers charged in death of George Floyd, but said he would take a news media coalition’s request to make body camera footage more widely available under advisement. Even though the gag order was vacated, Hennepin…
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart Inc. said that it will be closing its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the coronavirus. The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by two dozen Wisconsin residents challenging a variety of local stay-at-home orders enacted to curb the spread of the coronavirus. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach on Monday dismissed the challenge, filed in May, saying those bringing it did not properly join all of the defendants into one lawsuit. That mistake requires…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature has passed a package of police accountability measures that include a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis. The sweeping package passed early Tuesday after legislators worked through the night on the bill, which was said to be one of the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota has recorded its first COVID-19-related death in a child, according to health department data released Monday, as Gov. Tim Walz ponders whether students should head back to school for learning in the fall. Few details about the child were released Monday, but the Minnesota Department of Health said the child was between the ages of 0-5…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The top Republican in the Minnesota Senate says legislative leaders have a tentative agreement on the outlines of a police accountability bill. But chances appear dimmer for a $1.9 billion public construction projects package that has yet to win the necessary GOP support in the Democratic-controlled House. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Teachers unions for Wisconsin’s five largest school districts asked Gov. Tony Evers and the state’s top health and education officials on Monday to keep schools closed at the start of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The letter was signed by union leaders for teachers in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine. It was…
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota House Republican leaders said Monday they won’t provide the votes needed to pass a $1.9 billion public construction projects bill, and that they won’t back a package of police accountability measures either. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, of Crown, made the comments at a news conference as lawmakers returned to the Capitol to…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The National Weather Service says five tornadoes toppled trees and tore up lake docks in Minnesota and Wisconsin during the weekend. In Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, the weather service says a tornado touched down a few miles southwest of Osseo early Sunday. The tornado with peak winds of 105 mph brought down trees and damaged outbuildings and crops….
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer, but has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court. The 87-year-old Ginsburg, who has had four earlier bouts with cancer, said her treatment so far has succeeded in reducing lesions on her liver and she will continue chemotherapy sessions every two…
(John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP,Pool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s hospitals have asked Gov. Tim Walz to impose a statewide mask mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In a letter released Friday, the Minnesota Hospital Association urged the governor to act quickly to protect Minnesota from the surge hitting other states. While hospitalizations in Minnesota for COVID-19 have been…
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) — The leading manufacturer of N95 masks in the U.S. says it has investigated 4,000 reports of fraud, counterfeiting, and price gouging in connection with the product and filed 18 lawsuits as a result. 3M, based in Maplewood, is among the largest global producers of the N95 mask, which has been approved by the U.S. National Institute…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S., Canada, and Mexico have agreed to keep their shared borders closed to non-essential traffic until at least late August because of COVID-19. Acting U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said Thursday in announcing the extension that restrictions on cross-border traffic that have been in place since March have helped slow the spread of the…
NEW YORK (AP) — Target has joined a list of the nation’s largest retailers that will require customers to wear masks as cases of COVID-19 spike. The policy will go into effect on Aug. 1. More than 80% of Target’s 1,800 stores already require customers to wear masks due to local and state regulations. Target said Thursday that it will…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits remained stuck at 1.3 million last week, a historically high level that indicates many companies are still cutting jobs as the viral outbreak intensifies. This is the second week in a row that the U.S. Department of Labor has said that about 1.3 million Americans have filed for unemployment…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence planned to speak at Ripon College on Friday before touring a dairy farm near La Crosse. President Donald Trump’s campaign announced the planned visit on Wednesday. Pence was last in Wisconsin in June for a school choice round table and a faith-based event, both in Waukesha County. Ripon touts itself as the birthplace of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for George Floyd’s family have filed a lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the four police officers charged in his death. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota alleges that the officers violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin has broken a record for confirmed new COVID-19 cases for the fourth out of six days. Gov. Tony Evers and state health leaders on Tuesday implored people to wear masks and take precautions to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The state Department of Health Services reported 964 confirmed new cases Tuesday, breaking a previous…
BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the decision as a court hearing was getting underway on a challenge to the rule by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute…
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo added four more states to New York’s quarantine list on Tuesday as he sought to contain the spread of COVID-19 from regions of the country where infection rates are growing. The addition of Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin means that travelers from 22 states will be required to quarantine for…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The body of “Glee” star Naya Rivera was found Monday at a Southern California lake, authorities said. Ventura County Sheriff’s officials confirmed at an afternoon news conference that the body that search crews found floating in the northeast corner of Lake Piru earlier in the day was the 33-year-old Rivera. The discovery came five days after…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Wearing a face covering to prevent the spread of the coronavirus may soon be mandatory in Wisconsin’s largest city. The Milwaukee Common Council votes Monday on an ordinance requiring masks in public spaces. Anyone age 3 and older would have to wear a face-covering in buildings open to the public, as well as any outdoor public space…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota reported 499 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus on Monday, with a dip in the positivity rate, as Gov. Tim Walz continues weighing whether to impose a statewide mask requirement. Monday’s total came after Minnesota reported more than 800 cases on Saturday — its highest case count since May — and 715 on Sunday. Monday’s numbers often…
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) — The United States is grappling with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, as Florida shattered the national record for a state’s largest single-day increase in new confirmed cases with a reported 15,299. Deaths from the virus also have been rising in the U.S., especially in the South and West, although they are still well…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Legislative leaders have agreed on most details of a public construction package and a tax bill, the Minnesota Senate’s top Republican said Monday, while discussions are continuing on whether a compromise is possible on police accountability in response to the death of George Floyd. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said at a news conference that his chamber…
WASHINGTON – The Washington Redskins will officially retire the team’s nickname and logo, according to a statement by the team. The team announced the decision in a Tweet on Monday. pic.twitter.com/wFvTxdUP9s — Washington Redskins (@Redskins) July 13, 2020 The change comes less than two weeks after owner Dan Snyder launched an organizational review amid pressure from sponsors to make a change. Native…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesotans will be allowed to visit family members in senior living centers under new guidance Friday from state health officials that loosen restrictions in place for months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Minnesota Department of Health said long-term care facilities will be able to designate family members or others as essential caregivers for residents of such…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday toughened a requirement to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic, mandating that businesses open to the public deny service or entry to customers who refuse to wear one. The governor also expanded where people must have a face-covering beyond indoor public spaces. Starting immediately, they have to wear one outdoors if…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Face masks will be mandatory inside all University of Wisconsin campus buildings statewide under a policy adopted unanimously by the Board of Regents. Interim UW President Tommy Thompson said at Thursday’s meeting there was no way to open safely amid the coronavirus pandemic without the mandate. Thompson strongly advocated for the mandatory mask policy at his…
(AP PHOTO) UPDATE: WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has issued a mixed verdict on demands for President Donald Trump’s financial records. The decisions will keep his tax returns, banking, and other documents out of the public eye for the time being. The court kept a hold on President Donald Trump’s financial records that Congress has been seeking for more…
DALTON, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say a powerful tornado damaged farms and left one person dead in western Minnesota as severe storms moved across parts of the Midwest. The National Weather Service says the tornado struck at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday near Dalton. Three farmsteads were hit, and one of those farmhouses was flattened. Otter Tail County says two people were…
