ST. PAUL, Minn. – Five colleges on Minnesota’s Iron Range hit by declining enrollment in recent years plan to merge. Minnesota State higher education system trustees endorsed the merger of the Northeast Higher Education District schools Wednesday in a unanimous vote. The colleges, which have a combined enrollment of about 2,900 full-time students, share a president and some services. The…
(AP Photo) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday signed into law a bipartisan bill that increases funding for homeless shelters by $1 million over the next two years. The Legislature passed the bill last week. It is the only one of eight bills in a homelessness package that has cleared both the state Senate and Assembly. The…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Hall of Fame defensive end Chris Doleman, who became one of the NFL’s most feared pass rushers during 15 seasons in the league, has died. The longtime Minnesota Vikings star was 58. The Vikings and the Pro Football Hall of Fame expressed their condolences in statements confirming Doleman’s death on Tuesday night. Last night we lost a…
(courtesy: Twitter/UW-Madison, WeatherTech) MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine will be featured in a Super Bowl commercial that highlights a dog that survived cancer. WeatherTech, which makes pet care products among other things, is paying for Sunday’s $6 million, 30-second ad. The star of the commercial is Scout, a golden retriever whose owner is WeatherTech…
(AP Photo/John Minchillo) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The stepfather of an 11-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet as she studied inside her home now says he questions whether a teenager was wrongfully convicted of the shooting. Leonard Winborn was responding to an Associated Press investigation that uncovered new evidence and numerous inconsistencies in the case that sent Myon…
BELOIT, Wis. (AP) – Police in the City of Beloit say an elementary school student brought a loaded handgun to school Tuesday. A teacher at Todd Elementary School saw the gun in a backpack, confiscated the backpack and took steps to make sure other students in the classroom were safe. Police were called to the school around 8:45 a.m. Because…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence touted alternatives to a public school education during a visit to the state where the private school voucher program began. His stop Tuesday in battleground Wisconsin was part of a celebration of national school choice week. Pence and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were both drowned out briefly by chants of “shame”…
WASECA, Minn. – The southern Minnesota police officer gravely wounded in a shooting has undergone reconstructive surgery for broken bones in his face and skull. A family post on Arik Matson’s CaringBridge web page says the surgery Monday at North Memorial Health Hospital left him dealing with some pain and swelling but otherwise went well. The 32-year-old Waseca officer was…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s legal team is raising a broad-based attack on the impeachment case against him even as it mostly brushes past allegations in a new book that could undercut a key defense argument at the Senate trial. Former national security adviser John Bolton writes in a manuscript that Trump wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats have new fuel in their pursuit of sworn testimony at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. A draft of a book from former national security adviser John Bolton appears to undercut a key defense argument that the president never tied withholding of aid to Ukraine to a demand the country investigate political rival, Joe Biden. Bolton writes…
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (AP) – Authorities in northern Minnesota say a man is dead after a snowmobile crash. Becker County sheriff’s authorities say the rollover was reported around 10:30 a.m. Saturday on a road near the Hubbard-Becker county line. The 50-year-old man who was driving the snowmobile was dead at the scene. His name was not released. The crash is…
CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on a remote, steep hillside in Southern California on Sunday, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball. The chopper went down in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers)…
WASHINGTON (AP) – A Chicago woman has become the second U.S. patient diagnosed with the new pneumonia-like virus from China. Health officials say woman returned from a trip to China on Jan. 13 without showing any signs of illness, but a few days later she called her doctor to report feeling sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota health officials are reporting the first child death of the flu season. According to the Minnesota Department of Health’s weekly influenza and respiratory illness report, a total of 31 people in the state have died of the flu so far this season. The number of people hospitalized due to the flu has topped 1,200 this…
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats prosecuting President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial are heading into the second day of arguments facing a big challenge. They’re trying to win over not just fidgety senators but an American public deeply divided by the Republican president’s actions. Prosecutors are relying on the same loops of videotaped testimony after Trump’s allies in the Republican-controlled Senate…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says regents are planning to ask legislators to increase tuition in the next state budget. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Cross told the state Senate’s universities committee Wednesday that the regent’s biennial budget request will include a tuition increase roughly in keeping with inflation. Republicans have kept tuition…
Tune in right now to Fox 21’s Facebook page to watch the impeachment trial live. WASHINGTON-The U.S. Senate is poised to hear opening arguments in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Democratic House managers are set to make their case that Trump abused power and should be removed from office. Trump himself said on Wednesday he wants top aides to testify, but…
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers home ballpark will have a new name next year after a 20-year deal with Miller comes to an end. American Family Insurance announced Tuesday evening that Miller Park will become American Family Field next Jan. 1. A new logo and other branding elements will be revealed later. The Brewers a year…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – An internal audit has found several violations of laws to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse in a Department of Human Services division responsible for a string of improper payments. The department’s behavioral health division was responsible for $29 million in overpayments to two American Indian bands and $70 million in improper payments to chemical dependency…
SEATTLE (AP) – The U.S. has its first case of a new virus that was found only last month in China, and health officials say they expect to see more around the world in the coming days. A U.S. resident who recently returned from a trip to central China has been diagnosed with the new virus. Health officials said Tuesday…
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have five additions to the NFC Pro Bowl roster, giving them eight players in the all-star game for their highest total in 10 years. The team announced Tuesday that quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive end Everson Griffen, fullback C.J. Ham, linebacker Eric Kendricks, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes were picked as replacements. Running back Dalvin…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Another longtime Democratic Wisconsin state senator says he won’t seek re-election this fall. Mark Miller of Monona announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that he won’t run again this November. Miller is a former fighter pilot who has served in the Senate since 2004. He told his colleagues Tuesday that a winner-take-all culture has come to…
(courtesy: www.biotech.wisc.edu) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate is set to vote on a bill that would allow the University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to request hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover missing Wisconsin soldiers’ remains. The bill would allow the UW-Madison Missing-In-Action Recovery and Identification Project to ask the state to release $360,000 over the next two fiscal…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin voters could legally take selfies with their marked election ballots under a proposal up for approval in the state Senate. Supporters of the measure call the current ban archaic, especially in an era in which voters are increasingly posting pictures of themselves with their marked ballots on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. But…
EAGAN, Minn. – The mayor of Eagan is accused of driving drunk and crashing into a snowbank with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. Mike Maguire was arrested near his home Jan. 11 after police responded to a report of an SUV stuck in a snowbank. A criminal complaint says a responding officer smelled alcohol and noticed…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is set to unfold at the Capitol. On the eve of the trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed a condensed, two-day calendar for each side’s opening arguments. The rules package will be one of the first orders of business when senators convene about midday Tuesday. Trump’s lawyers are seeking swift acquittal….
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota court records show a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Prince’s family members has been quietly dismissed in recent months against all defendants. Though the dismissal of one defendant is being appealed, the rest were dismissed by agreement, which experts say could indicate settlements. Meanwhile, efforts to determine the value of Prince’s estate…
TAYLORS FALLS, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials say a teenager was found unresponsive after falling off a 30-foot cliff at a state park north of the Twin Cities. The Chisago County Sheriff’s Office says deputies navigated the “extreme terrain” to reach 19-year-old Luke Zajac from Marine on St. Croix at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls Sunday afternoon. Deputies used…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A woman who had worked as a probation officer is accused of luring a real estate agent to a Minnesota house before the agent was kidnapped and killed on New Year’s Eve, prosecutors alleged Friday. Elsa Segura, 28, of Fridley, was charged Friday in Hennepin County court with one count of kidnapping. Segura is accused of luring…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Legal challenges to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine enter a new phase this week. A Minnesota judge will open a fact-finding hearing Tuesday into allegations that state regulators improperly tried to suppress serious concerns by federal regulators about the project’s risks. The judge will then prepare findings that the Minnesota Court of Appeals…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – State regulators have approved plans for a $700 million power plant in far northwestern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state Public Service Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to approve a permit for Dairyland Power Cooperative to build the plant in Superior. The Nemadji Trail Energy Center will produce 625 megawatts of power using…
OSHKOSH, Wis. – A Wisconsin teenager shot and wounded during an attack on a school resource officer has been ordered to stand trial. Seventeen-year-old Grant Fuhrman is charged as an adult with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the Dec. 3 attack at Oshkosh West High School. Resource Officer Mike Wissink was stabbed multiple times with a barbecue fork and fired…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota voters became some of the first in the country to cast ballots in the presidential primaries as polls opened for the state’s Super Tuesday contest. Eligible voters can now vote at county courthouses across the state, and early voting stations in some cities and they can also request absentee ballots for the March 3 primary. But…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Chief justice of the United States has arrived at the U.S. Senate to preside over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. He will be swearing in the senators with an oath to ensure “impartial justice” as jurors for only the third such proceeding in U.S. history. Earlier, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, stood…
BEMIDJI, Minn. – The parents of two students are suing the Bemidji school district, alleging it was negligent in allowing a former assistant principal to sexually exploit their children. Brandon Bjerknes, who was arrested in 2017, is serving a federal prison sentence for producing child pornography and coercing minors into sexual contact. A lawsuit by the parents of two of…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – PolyMet Mining Inc. will ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that canceled three permits needed for its proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. PolyMet President and CEO Jon Cherry says Monday’s decision from the Court of Appeals has far-reaching impacts for Minnesota and any future project that depends on state permits. The…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Copper-nickel mining would be permanently banned upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness under a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum. The Minnesota Democrat said at a news conference in Washington that the bill would protect over 234,000 acres within the Superior National Forest outside the Boundary Waters from copper-nickel mining. The land includes the…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has voted to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate. Delivery is set for a dramatic late-afternoon procession across the U.S. Capitol for only the third such trial in American history. Trump complained anew of a “hoax,” even as new details emerged about his political efforts in Ukraine. The move…
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – The U-S Army Corps of Engineers says the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan are now closed to navigation until March 25th. The Corps uses this downtime for critical maintenance of the lock structures. The last vessel through the locks early Wednesday morning was the Burns Harbor, a thousand footer that is on its…
DULUTH, Minn. – A new childcare facility plans to open this spring in downtown Duluth. According to a recent press release, Mesabi Preschool Academy plans to open a second facility in the Wieland Building located at 26 East Superior Street in May. Mesabi Preschool Academy is currently located in Proctor and provides childcare to 70 children ages two through fifth…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has ruled that Wisconsin’s education department is illegally treating private choice schools differently to public schools by not allowing them to count online classes toward instructional time. The ruling on Tuesday from Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren is a win for School Choice Wisconsin Action. The group includes private schools in the state’s…
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the House prosecutors for the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. They include Democrats Adam Schiff of California and Jerrold Nadler of New York, who led the House impeachment probe. Pelosi made the announcement Wednesday morning, hours before the House was expected to vote to send the articles of impeachment…
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities are warning motorists about a phony law enforcement officer who is stopping drivers in northwestern Minnesota. At least two incidents have been reported, in Clay and Becker counties. One driver reported being stopped in Hitterdal by a man who asked to see a driver’s license and then told the driver to slow down. A similar…
(Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court on Tuesday put on hold an order to immediately remove up to 209,000 names from the state’s voter registration rolls. The appeals court sided with the bipartisan state elections commission in putting the brakes on removing any voters while the court fight continues. It also put on…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Some supporters of President Donald Trump lined up starting Monday night to make sure they would have a spot inside the Milwaukee arena where he hosts a rally Tuesday evening. Trump is making his first 2020 appearance in a state that’s a critical battleground in the race. He’s also counter-programming the Democratic presidential hopefuls’ debate in neighboring…
SANDRINGHAM, England (AP) – Queen Elizabeth II has agreed to grant Prince Harry and his wife Meghan their wish for a more independent life, allowing them to move part-time to Canada while remaining firmly in the House of Windsor. The British monarch said in a statement Monday that the summit of senior royals on Monday was “constructive,” and that it…
(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File) HOUSTON (AP) – Houston manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow have been fired after the pair were suspended by Major League Baseball for the team’s sign-stealing during the Astros’ run to the 2017 World Series title and during the 2018 season. Commissioner Rob Manfred strongly hinted that current Boston manager Alex Cora – the…
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Monday ordered the state’s elections commission to immediately begin removing up to 209,000 names from the state’s voter rolls or face hundreds of dollars in fines for each day they don’t do so. Judge Paul Malloy said in his ruling that “time is of the essence in this case” and cannot…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has rejected some of the most important permits for the planned PolyMet copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota in a major victory for environmentalists. The court ruled Monday the state Department of Natural Resources erred when it declined to order a trial-like proceeding known as a “contested…
(courtesy: Fox 9) MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) – Officials say a train derailment in western Wisconsin has closed roads in the area. The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office says the Union Pacific train was traveling east of the village of Knapp when some cars jumped the track Sunday. No one was hurt and no hazardous materials spilled. The Menomonie Fire Department says…
