MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT PARK, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods National Monument Park in California on Christmas Eve. Officials say 28-year-old Subhradeep Dutta of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis firefighters are trying to put out a blaze at an apartment building downtown that displaced more than 200 people and injured three others. The fire department says it responded to the Francis Drake Hotel apartments at about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The severity of the injuries is unknown. The one-time luxury hotel was built in 1926 with…
WOODBURY, Minn. – A Minnesota police officer who cited a 61-year-old widow for trying to steal groceries from a Walmart had a change of heart when he realized she was caring for numerous children and was desperate. After citing the woman for shoplifting a few days before Thanksgiving, Woodbury Officer Bryan Wagner looked further into her story and found her…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota’s law against revenge porn has been declared unconstitutional. The Minnesota Court of Appeals struck down the statute Monday as it reversed the conviction of a man who circulated explicit photos of a former girlfriend. The court ruled that the state law was such a broad violation of First Amendment free-speech rights that it couldn’t be fixed….
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) – For decades, those who have participated in snowball fights in one Wisconsin city have risked getting in trouble with the law. But that may be about to change. A 1962 ban on throwing projectiles in Wausau lumps snowballs into the same category as rocks and other items that can cause serious harm. The City Council president…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has temporarily banned the movement of all farmed white-tailed deer within the state to try to limit the spread of a fatal brain disease. The DNR issued the order in response to the recent discovery of chronic wasting disease in a captive deer at a hobby farm in Douglas County of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ordered state regulators to reconsider whether an environmental review is necessary for a proposed natural gas-fired power plant that would be built by Minnesota and Wisconsin utilities. Minnesota Power and Dairyland Power Cooperative are seeking approval in both states for the proposed $700 million Nemadji Trail Energy Center in Superior, Wisconsin….
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are using the holiday season to call attention to a Trump administration plan to cut hundreds of thousands of Americans from the federal food stamp program. Walz and Flanagan plan to volunteer Monday at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center food shelf in St. Paul. They’ll…
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – Officials say one person has died in an apartment fire in Waukesha. Firefighters and police responded to the 47-unit apartment building about 11 p.m. Sunday. Crews found smoke and fire coming from the first floor of the building. Authorities say they found the victim within five minutes after arriving. The cause of the fire is under…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) (AP) – Boeing’s CEO is resigning as the crisis enveloping the manufacturer related to its marquee aircraft, the Max 737 aircraft, drags on. The board of directors said Monday that Dennis Muilenburg will step down immediately. The board’s current chairman David Calhoun will become president and CEO on January 13. The board said a change in…
(courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two University of Minnesota wrestlers who were arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct in June will not face criminal charges due to “inadequate evidence,” a prosecutor announced Friday. Gable Steveson and Dylan Martinez were arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct after someone reported rape on June 15 and went to a hospital…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says he will not consider a pardon request from a man convicted of rape and murder when he was a teenager whose story was documented in the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” A letter released Friday says the request from Brendan Dassey filed in October does not meet the criteria for…
(AP Photo) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Transparency Project is suing Gov. Tony Evers on behalf of WITI-TV over his reluctance to release emails to the Milwaukee station under the state’s open records law. Evers released a day’s worth of emails after initially denying the station’s request. Evers was criticized by open records advocated for initially rejecting the reporter’s…
MINNEAPOLIS – A former worker at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center is charged with filming 11 people with a hidden camera in a men’s restroom trash can. Forty-five-year-old Mauricio Morales of Eden Prairie was charged Tuesday with 11 counts of interfering with privacy. According to the charges, Morales said he drilled a hole into the trash can, mounted the…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone, File) DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota regulators will hold a forum in Duluth on Thursday for members of the public to comment on additions to the state’s environmental review for Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its Line 3 crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. The update became necessary after a court declared that the previous version was…
MADISON, Wis. – A new report says Wisconsin school districts are fueling the largest annual increase in property taxes in a decade. The Wisconsin Policy Forum analyzed data from the state Department of Revenue and found school districts are levying about $5 billion in property taxes this year. That’s a 4 1/2 percent increase from last year and the largest…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors. The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over the charges that the 45th president abused…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A special bipartisan legislative committee has unanimously approved pay raises for University of Wisconsin and state employees. The Joint Committee on Employment Relations on Wednesday approved 2% pay raises in each of the next two years. The raises are for state workers, University of Wisconsin System employees and workers on the flagship Madison campus. The committee…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities have arrested two suspects after a woman was shot and seriously wounded in St. Cloud. Police say the 42-year-old woman was shot multiple times Wednesday. She was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive. The shooting happened just before 9 a.m. The suspects fled. About an hour later…
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Twin Metals Minnesota has formally submitted a plan to regulators for an underground copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. The filing launches what’s expected to be a lengthy environmental review and permitting process for what would be Minnesota’s second copper-nickel mine. The project has drawn fierce opposition because it would sit just…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – The family of former NHL player Scot Kleinendorst says he has died of injuries suffered in a workplace accident in northern Minnesota. Kleinendorst suffered severe brain trauma and numerous broken bones at UPM Blandin paper plant in Grand Rapids on Dec. 7. He was airlifted to a Duluth hospital. His daughter, Kelby Kleinendorst, wrote on a…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has gaveled in for a historic session to impeach President Donald Trump. He faces charges he abused his power and obstructed Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Democratic lawmakers to gather for what she calls a “solemn” session Wednesday. As soon as it opened, Republicans tried to halt the proceedings with a procedural vote. It was…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ top aide is warning Foxconn Technology Group that it won’t collect any state incentives for its scaled-down factory in Wisconsin if it doesn’t renegotiate the deal. Foxconn had originally promised to build a massive flat-screen factory in Mount Pleasant that would eventually employ 13,000 people. But the company said this spring that…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – State officials are asking deer farmers to not transport the animals to and from their properties for a month while investigators trace a new case of chronic wasting disease on a farm in western Minnesota. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Board of Animal Health last Wednesday asked the state’s 330 deer farms to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin and the Midwest recorded their wettest year ever in 2019 since record-keeping began in 1895, climatologists said. More than 43 inches of rain and snow fell across nine states in the Midwest through November. That breaks the previous record set in 1993 by 2 inches, according to data from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. Climatologist…
MINNEAPOLIS – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota is scrambling to improve its cybersecurity after an internal whistle blower raised concerns that the state’s largest health insurer has neglected thousands of important updates to its computer system. The company’s top cybersecurity executive, Amy Ecklund, says the insurer has been working diligently in recent weeks to reduce its vulnerability for a…
MONTGOMERY, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials say a snowmobiler has died in a collision with a pickup truck in Le Sueur County. Deputies say the crash happened in Montgomery Township Saturday afternoon. The victim is identified as 55-year-old Larry Gene Haynes, of Montgomery. The sheriff’s office says it appears Haynes was unable to stop before crossing a road and collided…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov Tim Walz says his administration will hire outside experts to make recommendations on whether to restructure the state’s troubled Department of Human Services. They’re engaging the company Public Sector Consultants to determine the scope for a third-party outside review of the agency by prospective consultants. That review will include specific recommendations for the future…
MINNEAPOLIS – Flu season in Minnesota is off to an unusual start, with the B strain of influenza causing most of the lab-confirmed cases instead of the usual A strain. The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Department of Health released data Thursday showing that B strains made up about 80% of the positive flu specimens obtained in clinics and…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Wisconsin school district has put a staff member on leave after some students from Madison East High School found recording devices in their hotel rooms during a field trip to Minneapolis. A Madison school district spokesman tells the Wisconsin State Journal the response was a cautionary measure that’s standard during a police investigation. The police chief…
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Judiciary Committee has approved two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The charges now go to the full House for an expected vote next week. The abuse of power charge stems from Trump’s July phone call with the Ukraine president pressuring him to announce an investigation of Democrats as he…
MINNEAPOLIS – Regents at the University of Minnesota has approved a salary of more than a half-million dollars for a new provost. The board voted 8-4 Thursday to approve Rachel Croson’s contract as the university’s next executive vice president and provost. Croson is currently dean of Michigan State University’s College of Social Science. She is the first major hire by…
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. regulators are setting up a new three-digit number to reach a suicide prevention hotline in order to make it easier to seek help and reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Similar to 911 for emergencies, people will just need to dial 988 to seek help – once it’s implemented. Currently, the National Suicide Prevention…
MINNEAPOLIS – Police are investigating after recording devices were found in guest rooms at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Police spokesman John Elder says it’s not immediately known if the devices recorded any guests, but police are still gathering data. When asked how many rooms were involved he said “not many.” Elder says it doesn’t appear that anyone…
OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) – Bail has been set at $1 million for a 16-year-old Wisconsin boy charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing a school resource officer with a barbecue fork. Grant Fuhrman was charged as an adult Wednesday in last week’s attack on Oshkosh West High School Resource Officer Mike Wissink. Wissink shot and wounded Fuhrman during the attack…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The push to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin is growing. Republican lawmakers for the first time introduced a measure Wednesday to legalize medical marijuana in the state. Democrats have tried to legalize medical marijuana for years, with little to no Republican backing. But in recent years, some Republicans have come to support loosening Wisconsin’s marijuana laws….
NEW YORK (AP) – Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has become the youngest person ever to be named Time’s “person of the year.” The U.S. news magazine gave the 16-year-old Thunberg the honor on Wednesday for “sounding the alarm about humanity’s predatory relationship with the only home we have.” Leaving a United Nations climate conference in Madrid, Thunberg told The…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Pay raises for Wisconsin state employees are scheduled to be voted on by a special legislative committee next week. The panel of legislative leaders is scheduled to meet on Dec. 18 to act on pay plans that Gov. Tony Evers’ administration forwarded for approval last month. Democrats had been calling on Republican legislative leaders to set…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota’s legislative auditor says the state is on track to meet the project implementation deadlines for replacing the state’s troubled driver and vehicle registration system known as MNLARS. However, the auditor’s report found some minor risks to completing the project on time and on budget, and says managers should address them soon….
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – Duluth is the latest city to consider banning conversion therapy aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation. City Council member Gary Anderson said at a meeting Monday night that he introduced the measure because of a lack of action by the state legislature. A proposed statewide conversion therapy ban failed in the Legislature earlier this year….
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats have announced two articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The charges announced Tuesday stem from Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to announce investigations of his political rivals as he withheld aid to the country. Earlier Tuesday, Trump tweeted that he did “NOTHING” wrong and that impeaching a president…
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin teenager who was shot by a police officer after he allegedly pointed a pellet gun at another student’s head says he was “tired of being picked on.” Eighteen-year-old Tyrone Smith was charged Monday with several counts, including second-degree recklessly endangering safety and dangerous weapons on school premises. Smith was 17 last week when authorities…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed a decision by state regulators to renew a wastewater permit for U.S. Steel’s Minntac iron mine in northeastern Minnesota. The court sent the dispute back to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for further proceedings. The agency renewed the permit last year amid a protracted dispute over whether Minntac had to…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An updated environmental review released by a state agency Monday found no serious threat to Lake Superior if crude oil ever leaked from a new pipeline to replace Enbridge Energy’s aging Line 3 across northern Minnesota. State regulators ordered the update after the Minnesota Court of Appeals in June declared that an earlier review, issued in February…
RICE LAKE, Wis. (AP) — A toddler who went missing in northwestern Wisconsin has been found dead, according to officials. Rice Lake police say they received a call about 9:30 p.m. Sunday that a 2-year-old girl was missing from her home and that the front door was open. Officers began searching and issued an urgent call for help in finding…
ESKO, Minn. (AP) – Authorities in northeastern Minnesota say a woman and a boy were hurt in a collision between a car and a train. Carlton County dispatchers got a report of the crash at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Thomson Township. A 41-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy from Thomson Township were injured. The two were taken to a hospital…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota National Guard says the three soldiers who were killed when their helicopter crashed near St. Cloud this week were part of a unit that returned last May from a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. The Guard identified the men who were killed in Thursday’s crash as Chief Warrant Officers…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new audit has found that the state of Wisconsin has not properly tracked all residential properties it owns that are leased to state employees like park rangers and University of Wisconsin faculty. The report released Friday by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau says that mismanagement resulted in the undercharging of nearly $63,000 in rent this…
DULUTH, Minn. – Spirit Mountain is bringing forward a resolution on Monday to ask the City of Duluth for financial assistance to offset losses due to the cancellation of the 2019 Snocross Race. The resolution states that Spirit Mountain is asking the city for $235,000 which it says is “necessary to assure the sustainability of operations.” If the resolution is…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Three soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard were killed when the Black Hawk helicopter they were riding in crashed. Gov. Tim Walz confirmed the deaths of the soldiers Thursday, but their names were not released pending notification of family. The crash is being investigated and preliminary information on the cause of the crash is not…
