ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has unveiled a task force report that makes 14 separate recommendations for lowering prescription drug prices. They range from new legislation to stronger enforcement action. Ellison said at a news conference Wednesday that the pharmaceutical market is “opaque and dysfunctional.” And he says the confusion has been a barrier to fixing the problem….
(courtesy: Bill Keller/FOX 9) BECKER, Minn. – Officials are monitoring the air quality in a small Minnesota community where a fire at a metal recycling plant has burned for more than 24 hours. Firefighters in the Sherburne County community of Becker continued to fight the stubborn blaze Wednesday after working all day and through the night Tuesday at Northern Metal…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A Milwaukee man is charged with trying to kill his girlfriend by dousing her with gasoline while she slept and lighting her on fire. Bond for 28-year-old Javante Jefferson was set at $500,000 during a court appearance Tuesday. The 23-year-old woman suffered life-threatening, third-degree burns to 60% of her body. Jefferson is charged with attempted first-degree intentional…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting what he called a “ridiculous” 14-year prison sentence for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning former New York Police Department commissioner Bernie Kerik, among a long list of others. Others who got a break from Trump include financier Michael Milken, who served two years in prison…
(Associated Press) –The Boy Scouts of America urged victims to come forward Tuesday as the historic, 110-year-old organization filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a huge compensation fund for potentially thousands of men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders. The Scouts resorted to Chapter 11 in hopes of surviving a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Assembly is slated to vote on a bipartisan bill designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The measure that’s up for a vote Tuesday is part of a growing call nationwide to do something about rising prescription drug prices. A lack of transparency has created a system in which drugmakers, middlemen called pharmacy…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The union representing 1,800 HealthPartners workers in Minnesota says it has reached a tentative labor agreement and averted a strike that was scheduled to begin Wednesday. The Service Employees International Union says the agreement was reached early Tuesday after 17 hours of negotiations. Union members will vote on it next week. Members include nurses, physicians assistants, dental…
BEMIDJI, Minn. – Authorities in northern Minnesota are searching for a suspect in a fatal shooting. Beltrami County sheriff’s dispatchers got a call about a man who had been shot outside a residence Monday night. Police officers and sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the body of a 20-year-old man. According to reports, another victim in the shooting, a 17-year-old male,…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Firefighters in St. Cloud battled a blaze at a downtown bar. Several area streets were closed as smoke billowed from a fire at the Press Bar early Monday. St. Cloud Fire Chief Dean Wrobbel says firefighters were pulled out of the building because of structural concerns and have gone into defensive firefighting mode…
BEIJING (AP) — China cracked down on the sale of exotic species after an outbreak of a new virus in 2002 was linked to markets selling live animals. The germ turned out to be a coronavirus that caused SARS. The ban was later lifted, and the animals reappeared. Now another coronavirus is spreading through China, so far killing 1,380 people…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The long-running debate at the Capitol over insulin affordability has shifted to the Minnesota Senate. Patients and parents urged senators Thursday to keep working toward a compromise between competing Senate Republican and House Democratic proposals. Helping diabetics afford insulin is one of the main pieces of unfinished business left over from the 2019 session, when…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that rejected some of the most important permits for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. The agency says the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ decision last month could affect future mining proposals, the state’s existing iron mines and a wide range of…
MANCHESTER, N.H.-Bernie Sanders has won New Hampshire’s presidential primary election, narrowly edging moderate rival Pete Buttigieg and scoring the first clear victory in the Democratic Party’s chaotic 2020 nomination fight. In his Tuesday night win, the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist beat back a strong challenge from the 38-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor. Sanders and Buttigieg represent different generations and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses sharply cut the number of jobs they advertised in December for the second straight month, an unusual sign of weakness in an otherwise healthy job market. The number of available positions dropped 5.4% to 6.4 million, a historically solid number, the Labor Department said Tuesday. There are still more open jobs than there are unemployed people,…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Passing a bonding bill is the top job when the 2020 session of the Minnesota Legislature convenes this week. And it will be an important test in Minnesota’s experiment with divided government of whether both parties can cooperate for a second year in a row. Minnesota has the only Legislature where Democrats controls one house and Republicans control…
MANCHESTER, N.H.-Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she’s plans to keep defying expectations heading into Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Though she’s spent the last year behind the front-runners, Klobuchar has enjoyed a burst of momentum in the last few days thanks to a strong debate performance and infusion of cash. At a rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester on…
PLAINFIELD, Wis.-School district officials in Waushara County say a kindergarten student was killed and her sibling was injured when they were struck by a vehicle just before boarding a bus. The Tri-County Area School District says the children were hit along Highway 73 southeast of Plainfield just after 7 a.m. Monday. WLUK-TV reports district administrator Anthony Marinack says the bus…
PLAINFIELD, Wis. – School district officials in Waushara County say a kindergarten student was killed and her sibling was injured when they were struck by a vehicle just before boarding a bus. The Tri-County Area School District says the children were hit along Highway 73 southeast of Plainfield just after 7 a.m. Monday. WLUK-TV reports district administrator Anthony Marinack says…
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (AP) — A man has been rescued after his snowmobile broke through thin ice on a lake in northern Minnesota. The Becker County Sheriff’s Office says the 36-year-old Milaca man was traveling on Rice Lake Saturday morning when he approached open water where water flows between Rock and Rice Lake. He tried to avoid the open water,…
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A massive firework launched over a Colorado ski resort town has set a record for the world’s largest aerial firework. The 2,800-pound (1,270-kilogram) shell flew 2,200 feet (671 meters) above the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival before it burst, turning the sky bright red and drawing gasps from the crowd, The Steamboat Pilot & Today reported. Tim…
NEW YORK (AP) — A gunman was taken into custody Sunday after he ambushed police officers in the Bronx twice in 12 hours, wounding two in attacks that ignited outrage from officials who blamed the violence on an atmosphere of anti-police rhetoric. The man, whose name was not immediately released, was captured after he walked into a police station in…
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalitkanjanakul NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) – A Cabinet minister in Thailand says at least 20 people have been killed and 31 injured in a mass shooting. The gunman, described by police as a soldier angry over a land dispute, holed up in a popular shopping mall in northeastern Thailand. Police commandos are searching the mall for the shooter,…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) SUPERIOR, Wis. – Enbridge Inc. has launched the permitting process for rerouting its Line 5 pipeline across northern Wisconsin. The company decided to reroute the pipeline after the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued to force the removal of the line from its reservation. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge is seeking…
MINNEAPOLIS – Nurses, physician assistants and other caregivers in the union representing 1,800 HealthPartners workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike if a contract agreement cannot be reached before Feb. 19. Service Employees International Union represents 1,800 members at HealthPartners in Minnesota. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says 95% of members voted to begin a seven-day strike. The union announced the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has approved tuition hikes for nonresident and graduate students at six institutions. Increases will range between 1.5% and 25% at UW-Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls, Stevens Point, and Whitewater starting this fall. The schools say they need more money to cover instruction, raises, recruiting faculty, technology and training…
MANISTEE, Mich. (AP) – High water levels are wreaking havoc in the Great Lakes. The five inland seas are bursting at the seams during the region’s wettest period in more than a century, which scientists say is likely connected to the warming climate. And no relief is in sight. Forecasters expect the lakes to remain high well into 2020. Homes…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Another six people have died from the flu in Minnesota. The Department of Health’s latest Influenza Activity Report says as of February 1, 42 deaths have been associated with the flu this season. That’s up from 36 as of the previous week. Only one of those deaths has been to someone under 18 years old and…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the Democratic National Committee is calling for a “recanvass” of the results of Monday’s Iowa caucus. Technical problems and delays have marred the first contest on the 2020 election calendar. The current results show Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders nearly tied with almost all the votes counted. But the race remained too early to…
(https://results.thecaucuses.org/) WASHINGTON (AP) – New results from the Iowa Democratic caucuses show Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders nearly tied with almost all the votes counted. But the race remained too early to call early Thursday with 97% of precincts reporting. Party officials were scrambling to verify the remaining results three days after Iowans gathered at caucus sites across the state…
NEW YORK (AP) — Epic Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff asked a federal judge Wednesday to grant him a “compassionate release” from his 150-year prison sentence, saying he has terminal kidney failure and less than 18 months to live. Madoff’s attorney filed court papers saying the 81-year-old has end-stage kidney disease and other “chronic, serious medical conditions,” including hypertension and cardiovascular…
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Senate has acquitted President Donald Trump of impeachment, ending only the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country and tested civic norms. The proceedings also are feeding the tumultuous 2020 run for the White House. A majority of senators expressed unease with Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine that resulted in the two…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is on the verge of acquittal by the Senate. An afternoon vote will bring an end to only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. One key Democrat, Alabama Sen. Doug Jones has now announced he will vote to convict. The impeachment vote comes at the start of a tumultuous campaign for the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin legislators are set to take public comments on a new Republican bill designed to prevent a backlog of untested sexual assault kits. The proposal has deepened the rift between Republicans and Democrats. In addition to kit submission protocols, the bill mandates police to notify immigration authorities of anyone in the country illegally arrested for sexual…
COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. (AP) – Prosecutors have charged a Minnesota police officer with sexually touching female students while hugging them at a suburban high school where he was a school resource officer. Forty-year-old Adam Pelton of River Falls, Wisconsin, was charged Monday with three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of fourth-degree sexual conduct. Pelton is accused…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Initial data released by the Iowa Democratic Party shows Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders ahead in the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. The tally of state delegate equivalents released Tuesday shows Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar trailing behind. The party released 62% of results from all 99 counties after a daylong delay sparked by…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A mother who lost her Army husband to a roadside bomb in Iraq. A man whose brother was killed by someone the White House contends should have been deported rather than released from jail. A 2-year-old girl born at 21 weeks. The three individuals are some of the “real people” who will help President Donald Trump highlight…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The two leaders of Milwaukee’s host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention have been placed on leave pending an investigation into allegations that they oversaw a toxic work environment. The Associated Press obtained a letter on Tuesday about the probe into the group’s president, Liz Gilbert, and its chief of staff, Adam Alonso. They didn’t…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Democratic Party says delays in reporting the outcome of Monday’s caucuses were due to a coding issue that has been fixed. The party says it hopes to release results “as soon as possible.” In a statement Tuesday, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price says, “We have every indication that our systems were secure…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A new mobile app is being blamed for the delay in reporting the results of Iowa’s 1,700 caucuses. Glitches with the mobile app caused confusion and left the caucus results unknown early Tuesday. Some caucus organizers were forced to call in results for the state party to record manually, introducing delays and the possibility for…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota utility regulators have approved a revised environmental review for a proposed $2.6 billion pipeline. The state Public Utilities Commission voted 3-1 to approve the environmental impact statement for Enbridge’s Line 3 project in northern Minnesota, saying it adequately addressed the impacts of a potential spill in the Lake Superior watershed. The new pipeline would replace Enbridge’s Line…
ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin man has been sentenced to more than 65 years behind bars for setting his former girlfriend’s bed on fire as she slept in it. Eugene Stumbaugh, 54, of Ashland was sentenced Thursday after a jury convicted him in November of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, arson and bail jumping. Stumbaugh could have faced up…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – More than two years have passed since the first presidential announcement, nearly $1 billion has been spent and numerous candidates have already come and gone. And yet the Democrats’ turbulent 2020 primary season officially begins Monday. By day’s end, tens of thousands of Iowa Democrats will have decided the results of their presidential caucus in…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill designed to prevent a backlog of untested sexual assault kits, scrapping proposals championed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. The Senate overwhelmingly passed bills in October that would create new kit submission and tracking requirements but they’ve stalled in the Assembly. Kaul has blasted Republicans who control that chamber for…
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Senate rejected the idea of summoning witnesses for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial late Friday, all but ensuring his acquittal. But senators considered pushing off final voting on his fate to next week. The vote on allowing new witnesses was defeated 51-49 on a near party-line vote. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah voted…
DULUTH, Minn.-The breathtaking ice caves along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will likely be inaccessible this year, due to low ice coverage on Lake Superior. As of Friday, less than 5% of Lake Superior was covered by ice, much lower than the typical 25% of coverage at the end of January. While ice coverage on Superior typically peaks in February…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota regulators have opened a hearing on whether to approve an updated environmental review for Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across the state. But most of Friday’s testimony strayed well beyond the narrow official scope of the proceedings into the broader questions of whether the project should even be built. Environmental…
Fox 21 is also streaming the impeachment trial on Facebook. WASHINGTON- President Donald Trump appears poised for acquittal in his impeachment trial. Senators are preparing to vote late Friday to reject efforts to call more witnesses and instead start bringing a close to the third such trial in American history. Democrats’ hopes of prolonging the trial dimmed after a late…
BEIJING-Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are suspending all flights between the U.S. and China as an outbreak of a new virus spreads. American Airlines says it’s suspending flights beginning Friday through March 27. The company cited the U.S. State Department’s decision to advise against all travel to China. The decision also comes a day after the pilots’ union at…
GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of a new virus from China a global emergency after the number of infected people spiked more than tenfold in a week. The United Nations health agency made the determination on Thursday as more cases of human-to-human transmission were being reported worldwide. To date, China has reported more than…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin high school teacher has been charged in federal court with seven counts of attempting to create child pornography by secretly recording minors twice in 2019. The charges follow an investigation that was triggered by the discovery of hidden recording devices in the Minneapolis hotel room of students he was chaperoning on a business club…
