NEW YORK-Stocks fell 7% on Wall Street and triggered another temporary halt to trading as fears spread that the coronavirus is causing a global recession. The Dow has lost all its gains since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The price of crude oil dropped more than 15% as traders anticipate a sharp pullback in demand for energy. Even prices for longer-term…
(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota saw a sharp jump in applications for unemployment insurance after Gov. Tim Walz ordered restaurants, bars, theaters, fitness clubs and other places of public amusement closed to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Department of Employment and Economic Development took more than 2,000 applications per hour Tuesday, compared with about 40…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers was expected to issue an executive order Wednesday to speed up unemployment benefits for workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as he meets with legislative leaders to discuss a more far-reaching emergency plan to help all of those struggling due to the outbreak. The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered schools, colleges, universities, bars, restaurants…
TORONTO (AP) — The U.S. and Canada have agreed to temporarily close their shared border to nonessential travel, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday as the two nations work to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump made the announcement on Twitter, saying the decision would not affect the flow of trade between the countries. “We will be, by mutual…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a challenge by environmental groups against the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, saying the Interior Department had the authority to reverse itself and renew the project’s federal mineral rights leases. The Obama administration rejected the company’s application to renew its leases, citing the risk of acid mine drainage…
(AP Photo/Andy Manis, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has ordered a statewide ban on all gatherings of more than 10 people as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, and closed all bars and restaurants, except for delivery and pickup orders. He announced the new limits in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Evers also…
(AP) – Tom Brady is poised to leave the New England Patriots. Brady posted on social media “my football journey will take place elsewhere.” LOVE YOU PATS NATION pic.twitter.com/lxSQZmnjPL — Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 17, 2020 The comments by the 42-year-old quarterback were the first to indicate he would leave the franchise he’s led to six Super Bowl titles and…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A growing number of governors across the U.S. are ordering the temporary closure of certain businesses such as dine-in restaurants, fitness centers, and movie theaters because of concerns over the coronavirus. Other governors on Monday were still leaving those decisions to local officials or the businesses themselves. That’s created a patchwork of precautions nationwide in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minneapolis ordered bars and restaurants to close as the number of coronavirus cases in Minnesota spiked to 54 on Monday and the Legislature sharply scaled back its operations. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared a local public health emergency, ordering the closure of or limiting access to bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and coffee shops effective at noon…
(courtesy: WI DHS) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is ordering an indefinite ban on all gatherings of more than 50 people to slow the spread of COVID-19. State health officials said Monday for the first time there was likely community spread of the virus among people who had not traveled to high-risk areas. The number of cases…
NEW YORK (AP) – The Dow industrials took a 2,999-point nosedive on Monday as fears deepen that the coronavirus outbreak will throw the global economy into recession. Even for a market beset by volatility in recent weeks, the losses were staggering. The 12.9% drop in the Dow was its worst since 1987. The losses accelerated in the last hour of…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House on Monday urged all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants as part of sweeping guidelines meant to combat an expected surge of coronavirus cases. President Donald Trump and the coronavirus task force released the guidelines as the U.S. government moved to try to blunt the…
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball has pushed back an opening day until mid-May at the earliest because of the coronavirus. The move came Monday after the federal government recommended restricting events of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement following a conference call with executives of the 30 teams….
TORONTO-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is closing his country’s borders to anyone not a citizen or a permanent resident amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trudeau announced the move Monday outside his residence, where is self isolating after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus. He also asked Canadians to say home as much as possible amid the pandemic….
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The State Public Defender’s Office is pushing for the release of jail inmates across Minnesota to protect them from the spread of the coronavirus. Chief Public Defender Bill Ward sent an email to staffers Sunday asking them to get on board and demand that their clients be released. Ward calls the jails a “petri dish” of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Americans to cease hoarding groceries and other supplies, while one of the nation’s most senior public health officials called on the nation to act with more urgency to safeguard their health as the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread across the United States. Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would like to…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Wisconsin has reached 33, after five new cases were reported in Fond du Lac County. Wisconsin health officials on Sunday reported a total of six new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Fond du Lac County now has the most confirmed cases of any county…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday ordered the temporary shutdown of public schools to allow administrators and teachers to make plans to combat COVID-19 as new cases continue to grow. Schools will be closed to kindergarten through 12th grade students by Wednesday and will remain shut down through March 27. Walz said the number of…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin has jumped to 27. Wisconsin health officials on Saturday reported eight new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that includes four new cases in Milwaukee County. Winnebago County also reported its first case. Two more cases were reported in Waukesha County…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota health officials say the number of cases of the coronavirus has risen to 21 in the state, and now includes a rural county. The Minnesota Department of Health reported Saturday the number of cases rose by seven since Friday. Among the new cases is a person in their 30s in Renville County, in southwestern…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin health officials are warning parents to prepare contingency plans for school closures as the number of coronavirus infections in the state continues to rise. The state Department of Health Services says the number of confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon stood at 19, up from eight on Thursday. DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is preparing to invoke emergency powers as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak. This is according to two people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is still unclear precisely what mechanism Trump would use to free up additional federal resources for testing and treatment as well as…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The St. Paul teachers union and Minnesota’s second-largest school district have reached a tentative contract agreement, ending a strike that began Tuesday and canceled classes for some 36,000 students. The agreement was reached about 3:30 a.m. Friday after more than 19 hours of mediation that began early Thursday. The union represents about…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – One Minnesota school district has canceled classes Friday over concerns about COVID-19, and the Minnesota House has canceled all meetings until Monday. The Robbinsdale Area School District in suburban Minneapolis said it canceled classes and other activities for the day “out of an abundance of caution” after a parent came in contact with someone who…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Disneyland announced that it’s shutting down its California theme parks on Saturday over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park will be closed through the end of the month though there have been no reported cases of the new virus, the company said in a statement Thursday. It’s closing after reviewing…
(AP) – The NCAA has canceled its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments because of the spread of coronavirus. The move puts an abrupt end to the season less than a month before champions were to be crowned. The decision comes a day after the NCAA announced the games that were scheduled to start next week would go on but played…
(Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Tim Walz has proposed banking $1.2 billion of Minnesota’s projected $1.5 billion budget surplus because of the uncertainties over how the new coronavirus will affect the economy. The Democratic governor’s supplemental budget would add only $256 million in new spending on programs to the budget the Legislature approved last…
(AP) – The NHL is following the NBA’s lead and suspending its season amid the coronavirus outbreak. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league is “pausing” its season. The move comes a day after the NBA suspended play following a player’s positive COVID-19 test. The NHL has not said any player has tested positive for the virus. The NHL is…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers has declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus. Evers’ move Thursday helps free up resources to respond to the virus that has been confirmed in five people so far and is expected to spread. Meanwhile, the state’s high school athletics association moved to drastically restrict attendance at remaining winter sports tournaments. That…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – President Donald Trump’s campaign has canceled an event in Wisconsin next week because of the coronavirus. The “Catholics for Trump” event was scheduled on March 19 in Milwaukee. Reelection campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh tweeted the cancellation was made “out of an abundance of caution because of the coronavirus outbreak.” Murtaugh said the event will be rescheduled. After…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress is shutting the Capitol and all House and Senate office buildings to the public until April in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus. The House and Senate sergeants at arms said in a statement that the closure will begin at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday. Lawmakers, aides, journalists, and official visitors will be allowed into the…
NEW YORK (AP) – An early plunge of 7% on Wall Street has triggered a trading halt as a sell-off slamming global markets continued. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 1,600 points or 7%, the S&P 500 fell a similar amount. Trading resumed after 15 minutes, with the major indexes falling further. The rout came after President Trump imposed…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking dramatic action, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is sharply restricting passenger travel from 26 European nations to the U.S. and moving to ease the economic cost of a viral pandemic that is roiling global financial markets and disrupting the daily lives of Americans. Trump, in a rare Oval Office address to the nation, said the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota health officials have confirmed the state’s fourth case of the coronavirus in a person in Olmsted County. That county’s public health department planned a news conference later Wednesday and no additional details were immediately available. The state’s earlier cases involve residents of Anoka, Ramsey and Carver counties. The state earlier this week set aside $21 million…
ROME (AP) – The World Health Organization is declaring that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic. The assessment comes as Italy is weighing even tighter restrictions on daily life and has announced billions in financial relief to cushion economic shocks from the coronavirus. Premier Giuseppe Conte says he will consider requests to toughen an already extraordinary lockdown. The…
DULUTH, Minn. – A U.S. Coast Guard cutter has started ice-breaking activities in the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, an annual ritual that signals the approach of spring. The cutter Alder began clearing the channels Tuesday for the upcoming shipping season. It’s so the 1,000-foot long ships loaded with taconite, coal, limestone and other cargo can maneuver through without…
NEW YORK (AP) – Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. It’s a sight the Hollywood mogul’s multitude of accusers thought they would never see. Weinstein was convicted last month of raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his…
(Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Legislature has voted unanimously to earmark nearly $21 million to reinforce the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz praised lawmakers for “working in a totally nonpartisan manner” shortly before the 64-0 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. The Democratic-controlled House passed the bill soon afterward,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A third person in Wisconsin, and the second in Dane County, has tested positive for the coronavirus. State health officials announced the latest positive case on Tuesday. The news came on the same day that the Osceola School District in western Wisconsin canceled classes so that its facilities could be thoroughly cleaned because someone sickened by…
(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) (AP) – The 500-year-old sport of curling is looking for ways to shorten games and keep fans engaged. The sport’s governing body is considering radical rule changes as it tries to balance centuries of tradition with the modern need to move things along. Among the proposals being tested are putting players on a more demanding…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Teachers at St. Paul Public Schools went on strike after last-minute efforts to reach a contract agreement failed. The school district and the union that represents teachers negotiated for six straight days and talked until 3 a.m. Tuesday in an effort to avert a strike. But the union said there was no…
OSCEOLA, Wis. (AP) – Classes have been canceled at a school district in western Wisconsin Tuesday because someone sickened by the coronavirus attended an event there over the weekend. The Osceola School District is just north of Pierce County where a second Wisconsin case of the coronavirus was confirmed late Monday. The vast majority of people recover from the new…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-The Minnesota Senate voted 64-0 to approve $21 million to reinforce the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. The House is poised to follow suit quickly so that the bill reaches Gov. Tim Walz’s desk this week. The Democratic governor says he’s pleased at how lawmakers are working in a “totally nonpartisan manner.” He spoke to reporters shortly…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Federal and state officials in California are preparing to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus. Fox 9 reported Sunday that 42 Minnesotans are among the passengers on the Grand Princess Cruise ship. Personnel covered…
NEW YORK (AP) – The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,500 points, or 6%, following similar drops in Europe after a fight among major crude-producing countries jolted investors already on edge about the widening fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Indexes in London and Frankfurt dropped more than 8%. The benchmark for Italy, where the industrial and financial…
BEIJING (AP) – China says it has recorded 44 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the last 24 hours, the lowest level since it began publishing nationwide figures on Jan 20. Another 27 deaths were reported in the Sunday morning count, bringing the total to 3,097 since the virus was first detected in December in the city of Wuhan,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin health officials said Friday the risk for contracting the new coronavirus remains low, but they anticipate the number of people to be tested to increase in the coming days as the guidelines for who should be screened broadens. As of Friday, only one person in Dane County had tested positive for COVID-19. They recovered at…
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence is pledging that federal officials will “lean into” the fight against the new coronavirus. The vice president commented from Minnesota, where he visited with a leading maker of masks being used to stem the spread of the virus. He spoke after meeting with 3M CEO Mike Roman and Minnesota Gov. Tom Walz…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – A man has died after police used a stun gun on him during an assault incident in St. Cloud. Police say the incident happened Wednesday afternoon. Officers were initially called to a medical incident in which a man was possibly having a seizure. Then, the female caller said the man became aggressive and started assaulting…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Elizabeth Warren has ended her Democratic presidential bid after a disappointing finish in Super Tuesday states. That’s according to a person familiar with her plans. The Massachusetts senator’s campaign had the markers of success: robust poll numbers, impressive fundraising, a national organization. But she was squeezed out by Bernie Sanders, who had an immovable base of voters…
