ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nonessential business have inundated Gov. Tim Walz’s administration with requests to open their doors again as a stay-at-home order continues because of the coronavirus pandemic. Walz recently extended that order until at least May 4 but said he and his administration would look at exemptions for more businesses over the coming weeks. State officials would…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has canceled this year’s egg-taking for walleye, northern pike, muskies, and steelhead because of concerns over the spreading the coronavirus. The agency says the work cannot be done safely under social distancing guidelines. According to the DNR, collecting eggs and sperm from spawning fish in the wild is labor-intensive and requires teams…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The economic effects of the coronavirus appear to be pushing more Wisconsin farmers into bankruptcy. Court records show that 36 farmers have filed by Chapter 12 bankruptcy since the first of the year. In 2019, there were 57 similar filings for the entire year, the Journal Sentinel reported. Dairy farmers were already dealing with depressed milk prices…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers prepared Tuesday to pass a COVID-19 relief bill on a day when health officials reported nine more deaths due to the coronavirus. The Minnesota Department of Health reported that the nine new deaths raised the state’s total to 79. The department also reported 45 new confirmed cases to increase Minnesota’s total to 1,695. As of…
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Some massive meat processing plants have closed at least temporarily because their workers were sickened by the new coronavirus, raising concerns that there could soon be shortages of beef, pork and poultry in supermarkets. The meat supply chain is especially vulnerable since processing is increasingly done at massive plants that butcher tens of thousands of animals…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Joe Biden has defeated Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin’s presidential primary, which was held last week during the coronavirus pandemic. Biden’s victory became academic after Sanders dropped out last week, one day after Wisconsin held in-person voting despite widespread concern over the health risks. Republican legislative leaders refused to delay the election, and the party won a…
(Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Municipal clerks across Wisconsin on Monday were set to start tallying votes from last week’s chaotic presidential primary, a count that was delayed for several days by the legal struggle over whether to postpone the election due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of voters congregated for hours in long lines on Tuesday,…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Twenty-nine more Minnesotans have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the state’s total of confirmed cases to 1,650, the Minnesota Department of Health reported Monday. But the department reported no new deaths Monday, so the state’s coronavirus-related death toll stood at 70. It’s the first time since March 25 that the state has recorded no new deaths. As…
Nicolas Galindo/The News-Star via AP) JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Severe weather has swept across the South, killing at least 19 people and damaging hundreds of homes from Louisiana into the Appalachian Mountains. Many people spent part of the night early Monday sheltering in basements, closets and bathroom tubs as sirens wailed to warn of possible tornadoes. Eleven people were killed…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Strong storms pounded the Deep South on Sunday, killing at least six people in south Mississippi and damaging up to 300 homes and other buildings in northern Louisiana. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency director Greg Michel said one person killed was in Walthall County, two were killed in Lawrence County and three were killed in Jefferson Davis…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – More than half of Wisconsin’s 133 hospitals reported on Friday that they have less than a one week supply of goggles and gowns that are worn when treating coronavirus patients. More than a third of hospitals are also reporting they have less than a week’s worth of face shields, N95 masks, and paper medical masks, according…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell says the release of some state prisoners because of the coronavirus could happen as early as next week. Civil rights advocates have called on state officials to release some medically at-risk and nonviolent inmates to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. Schnell said on Minnesota Public Radio that releasing…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Additional funds provided by Congress for Great Lakes environmental improvements will be used to hasten cleanups of highly toxic sites and step up work on other longstanding forms of pollution, federal officials said Thursday. Lawmakers last fall put $320 million into the 2020 budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a multiyear program that focuses on…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson, in rare bipartisan unity, are calling on the U.S. Postal Service to investigate what happened to missing absentee ballots in Wisconsin. In a letter to the Inspector General, the senators cite numerous accounts from the state that the Postal Service failed to fulfill its critical mission of getting all those…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday ordered the closure of 40 Wisconsin’s state parks, forests and recreational areas primarily in southern and southeastern Wisconsin to help reduce overcrowding and vandalism and to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Evers’ warned that the order could be followed by more closures if…
NEW YORK (AP) — A staggering 16.8 million Americans have been thrown onto the unemployment rolls in just three weeks, underscoring the speed with which the coronavirus outbreak has brought world economies to a near standstill. Meanwhile, world leaders and health officials are fervently warning that hard-won gains in the fight against the scourge must not be jeopardized by relaxing…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — There’s been a sharp increase in the number of traffic fatalities in Minnesota in recent weeks, even as a stay-at-home order is in place because of the coronavirus. The state Office of Traffic Safety notes there have been 24 fatal crashes since March 16 when Gov. Tim Walz ordered bars and restaurants to close to…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Enbridge Inc. applied Wednesday for state and federal authorization to construct an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Michigan waterway that connects two of the Great Lakes. The Canadian company wants to build a roughly 4-mile-long tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. It would replace the underwater segment of Line 5, a…
(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, Pool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is preparing to announce an extension to his stay-at-home order, which is aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The governor told reporters Tuesday the extension would likely include some refinements, reflecting new data and modeling on how the outbreak is likely to develop but didn’t give…
DULUTH, Minn. – According to the Minnesota Department of Health, St. Louis County now has 28 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from 17 cases the day before. As of Wednesday morning, the MDH website reported 1,154 total cases in the state and 39 deaths. The total number of cases includes 632 recoveries. (courtesy: Minnesota Department of Health) Of those confirmed…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once-strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the party’s establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, an acknowledgment that the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up. The Vermont senator’s announcement makes Biden…
(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz has activated the Minnesota National Guard to help communities deal with spring flooding. Walz said COVID-19 is not the only emergency for which first responders are preparing. Guard members will support municipalities that are dealing with safety and public infrastructure challenges due to flooding, he said. “While…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — University of Minnesota administrators are bracing for a loss of as much as $315 million in expected revenue from a $3.8 billion budget because of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the most severe forecast presented Tuesday to the Board of Regents. The virus forced the university to close the campus and switch indefinitely to online instruction, a…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general tapped to chair a special oversight board for the $2.2 trillion economic relief package on the coronavirus, the latest in a series of steps Trump has taken to confront government watchdogs tasked with oversight of the executive branch. In the past four days, Trump has fired one inspector general tied…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota’s coronavirus infection count surpassed 1,000 Tuesday, as lawmakers moved closer to passing legislation to ensure first responders and health care workers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 qualify for workers compensation, even if they can’t prove they caught the virus at work. A surreal scene played out on the House floor as representatives…
(Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP) MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported Tuesday morning that it had received no reports of polling places being unable to open as planned. There had already been plans to consolidate polling places, especially in larger cities, due to poll workers refusing to show up due to fears of the coronavirus. Milwaukee reduced…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is asking hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a stay-at-home order in the midst of a pandemic to participate in Tuesday’s presidential primary election, becoming a test case for dozens of states struggling to balance public health concerns with a core pillar of democracy. The National Guard is helping to run voting sites across the state…
(AP Photo) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could not postpone the state’s presidential primary, striking down his order to move the election to June over coronavirus outbreak fears. The court ruled 4-2 that Evers lacked the authority to move the election on his own — meaning the election will…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota has one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in the country but the state must not get complacent, Gov. Walz said Monday, as he prepared to extend a stay-at-home order that he imposed nearly two weeks ago. “Minnesota is 17 per 100,000 right now,” Walz told reporters of the state’s infection rate. “It puts us best…
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota has announced that summer classes will be online only because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. University President Joan Gabel made the announcement in a system-wide email Monday. “While we manage through the immediate concerns and challenges presented by COVID-19, my leadership team and I are also considering plans for the intermediate and long-term future,”…
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital late Sunday, 10 days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. “Over the course…
(Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin moved forward Monday with plans to hold in-person voting for its presidential primary on Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic with help from National Guard members staffing the polls, even as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether to intervene. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who had originally pushed for the election to…
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks jumped in markets around the world Monday after some of the hardest-hit areas offered sparks of hope that the worst of the coronavirus outbreak may be on the horizon. U.S. stocks climbed more than 4% in the first few minutes of trading, following up on similar gains in Europe and Asia. In another sign that…
MOOSE LAKE, Minn. (AP) — An inmate has collapsed and died while showering at the Moose Lake prison, Minnesota corrections officials said Sunday. Officials responded immediately after the 48-year-old man collapsed around 9:45 a.m. Sunday and found him in full arrest. Despite life-saving efforts, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said the man had complained of heartburn…
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment. A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies largely waited…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Republicans say they’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block extended absentee voting in Tuesday’s primary. Wisconsin is moving ahead with in-person voting despite concerns about the public health risks of the coronavirus crisis. A federal judge rejected lawsuits seeking to postpone the election but extended absentee voting by six days. The GOP says that…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -Wisconsin Republicans Say Election Should be Held as Planned Tuesday Despite Governor’s Request to Delay Gov. Tony Evers is calling on the Legislature to meet in special session to approve moving Wisconsin’s presidential primary to an all-mail footing. Voting advocacy groups and Evers’ fellow Democrats have been pushing him and Republican legislative leaders to postpone Tuesday’s election…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota state government rolled out a new COVID-19 dashboard Friday as a one-stop-shop for residents to see the latest data on the state’s response to the pandemic as well as information on how to protect themselves. The website, which will be updated daily, includes data on available ventilators, intensive care beds, personal protective equipment and tests as…
Manufacturing giant 3M pushed back Friday against criticism from President Donald Trump overproduction of face masks that are badly needed by American health care workers. 3M said the administration asked it to stop exporting medical-grade masks to Canada and Latin America, which the company said raises “significant humanitarian implications” and will backfire by causing other countries to retaliate against the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz delivers a video address to update Minnesotans on the state’s fight against COVID-19. The governor’s spokesman said Walz plans to talk about the latest numbers and the challenges ahead. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the state’s death toll from the pandemic is 22 as of Friday. The state’s confirmed case count rose…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday declined to postpone Wisconsin’s presidential primary over the health threat from the new coronavirus, but he ordered that people be given an extra six days beyond Tuesday’s election for absentee voting. U.S. District Judge William Conley had signaled in a court hearing earlier this week that he was uncomfortable overruling the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government expects to begin making payments to millions of Americans under the new stimulus law in mid-April, but some people without direct deposit information may not get checks until mid-August or later, according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The document from the House Ways and Means Committee says the IRS will…
(AP) – Democrats announced Thursday that they were postponing their presidential nominating convention until August, an unprecedented move that shows how the coronavirus is reshaping the battle for the White House. The party had hoped that a mid-July convention would give them more time to rally behind a nominee and unify against President Donald Trump. But concerns that large crowds will spread the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota farmers struggled to make a profit in 2019 as bad weather and trade wars combined to keep a lid on incomes for yet another year, according to a report released Thursday. Median net farm income was up slightly from 2018 but still low at $36,211. according to the annual report from University of Minnesota…
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — More than 1.5 million Michigan students will not return to K-12 school buildings the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic and instead will learn remotely, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered Thursday. All public and private schools are more than halfway through a four-week shutdown ordered by Whitmer to combat the outbreak. She said…
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus. The stunning report Thursday from the Labor Department showed that job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the United States and abroad…
(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz has announced that he’ll deliver his postponed State of the State address on Sunday evening at 7 p.m., and he says he’s looking forward to speaking directly to Minnesotans during this uncertain time. The governor said Wednesday that he’ll deliver the speech alone with a remote camera…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz says the 2020 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener has been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus outbreak. This year’s 73rd annual event was set to be held next month in Otter Tail County. But now the Governor’s Fishing Opener is rescheduled for May 6-9, 2021. It still will be held in…
MADISON, Wis. – The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin crossed 1,500 on Wednesday, with 24 deaths. Douglas County is now reporting its seventh case. The latest figures from state and local health departments show the coronavirus continues to spread across the state. Of the positive cases, about 26% were hospitalized at some point. The data does not say…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Health said Wednesday five more people have died of coronavirus complications, bringing the state’s death toll to 17. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to climb as expected with 70 additional cases announced Wednesday for a total of 689. The MDH reports that as of Wednesday morning St. Louis County…
