WASHINGTON-New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is taking another step toward launching a Democratic bid for president. Bloomberg on Thursday filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to formally create a presidential campaign committee. The move legally allows him to begin raising and spending money on a 2020 campaign. Bloomberg’s team says the former New York City mayor has yet to…
UPDATE: Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch reports that the victim has been identified as Brandon Morgan Jr, age 19, of Cass Lake. Pursuant to the ongoing investigation, a 15-year-old male has been taken into custody and formal charges are pending. The cause of death has been ruled homicide and the investigation is ongoing. ___________________ CASS LAKE, Minn.-Authorities in northern Minnesota…
MADISON, Wis.-Gov. Tony Evers’ approval rating has dropped below 50% as the first-term Democrat continues to butt heads with the Republican-controlled Legislature. The latest Marquette University Law School poll out Wednesday also shows the Legislature’s approval rating has dipped. Evers’ approval rating was at 47% this month, compared with 52% in October. The Legislature had a similar drop from 52%…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Minnesota researchers have created a new database that seeks to help understand circumstances that contribute to mass shootings in the United States. Minnesota Public Radio News reports that the nonpartisan Violence Project’s database went online Tuesday. The project’s researchers chronicled traits related to 171 people who committed mass shootings. Violence Project co-founder James Densley says researchers looked at…
WASHINGTON-A Foreign Service officer says he overheard a phone call between President Donald Trump and a U.S. ambassador in which they discussed investigations requested of Ukraine. David Holmes is testifying Thursday in a House impeachment inquiry into whether Trump wrongly held up military aid to Ukraine until the president committed to investigating Trump’s Democratic political rival. Holmes says he was…
BRAINERD, Minn.-Sheriff’s officials in central Minnesota are investigating the death of an infant at a home day care. Emergency responders found the baby boy unresponsive after they were called to the home Nov. 12. The infant died a short time later at Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd. State regulators have temporarily suspended the license of the day care…
MADISON, Wis.-The state Department of Natural Resources says it’s sold roughly the same number of licenses allowing hunters to kill deer as this time last year. The DNR released data Tuesday that shows the department had sold 538,643 licenses as of Sunday. That compares with 539,137 licenses as of the same date in 2018, a difference of 494 licenses. The…
MINNEAPOLIS-A judge has ordered a forensic search of computers used by three former top officials at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as part of an investigation into whether they sought to suppress concerns by federal regulators about pollution risks from the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. The order filed Tuesday by Ramsey County District Judge John Guthmann sets a date of…
WASHINGTON, D.C.-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has opened Wednesday’s impeachment hearing with a warning for President Donald Trump’s administration. Schiff said the House has “not received a single document” from the administration as it has investigated Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. He said Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have made “a concerted and across the board effort” to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer season starts Saturday. The season begins just before dawn and will run until just after sunset on Sunday, December 1. Hunters will be allowed to kill does in every county for the first time in a decade, a sign that the herd is robust across the state. The state Department of Natural…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Tim Walz is urging Minnesota lawmakers to hold public hearings to try to break an impasse over legislation to make insulin more affordable. Lawmakers have made little apparent progress in closed-door talks over the past month toward reconciling the differences between competing House Democratic and Senate Republican plans. Their last meeting was Friday. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Tim Walz is urging Minnesota lawmakers to hold public hearings to try to break an impasse over legislation to make insulin more affordable. Lawmakers have made little apparent progress in closed-door talks over the past month toward reconciling the differences between competing House Democratic and Senate Republican plans. Their last meeting was Friday. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota wildlife officials say three ruffed grouse in Itasca County have tested positive for a mosquito-borne virus. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Monday it is the first time the virus called eastern equine encephalitis has been confirmed to cause illness in a Minnesota wild animal. The hunters who harvested the grouse brought them…
DUNCAN, Oklahoma (AP) – 11:10 a.m.: Police have confirmed that two men and a woman have been fatally shot at a Walmart in Oklahoma. Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford says two of the people killed were in a vehicle outside the store and the third person killed was in the parking lot of the store in Duncan. Ford says police…
(Larry Valenzuela/The Fresno Be via AP) FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – As police search for suspects and a motive in the killing of four people at a backyard party in Fresno, California, neighbors say they are scared because there have been other shootings in the same neighborhood recently. Choua Vang tells the Fresno Bee in a story published Monday that his…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – Duluth police are searching for a suspect in an overnight shooting in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Authorities say a 35-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his arm sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday. The man told officers he was shot at an apartment building that had been declared uninhabitable on the 1900 block of West Third…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota’s House speaker says Rep. Diane Loeffler has died after battling cancer. Speaker Melissa Hortman says Loeffler died Saturday at age 66. Hortman calls Loeffler a “powerhouse” whose absence will be a huge loss for the Legislature. Loeffler is a DFLer who was first elected to the House in 2004. She was a lifelong resident…
LA CROSSE, Wis.-Prosecutors have accused a Minnesota man of using a Porsche as a battering ram to get his Nissan Altima out of an Onalaska impound lot. The La Crosse Tribune reports that Benjamin Gjere of Lanesboro was charged Thursday with operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, property damage, theft and bail jumping. According to investigators, Gjere’s 2019…
MADISON, Wis.-Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is up for a fifth straight month and half a percentage point since a record low in May. The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that unemployment in October was 3.3%. That is up from 3.2% the month before and 2.8% in April and May. That tied a record low for the state. The October…
MILWAUKEE-A 61-year-old man accused of throwing acid on a Latino man’s face during a racist attack will undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he can assist in his criminal defense. Clifton Blackwell’s lawyer asked for the evaluation during a Friday hearing in Milwaukee. The doctor’s report is due Nov. 15. Blackwell, who is white, is charged with first-degree reckless…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, has been found guilty at his trial in federal court in Washington. Stone was convicted Friday. He was charged in a seven-count indictment that alleged he lied to lawmakers about WikiLeaks, tampered with witnesses and obstructed a House intelligence committee probe. His trial highlighted how Trump…
WASHINGTON (AP) 10:20 a.m. – Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch says she was told last April by a State Department official to return to the United States “on the next plane” because of concerns “up the street” – a phrase she understood to mean the White House. Yovanovitch said she received the call at 1 a.m. from an…
FLORENCE, Wis. (AP) – A county in rural northeastern Wisconsin has declared itself a Second Amendment sanctuary, a move commissioners say is designed to send a “keep your hands off our guns” message to politicians. The Journal Sentinel says the nonbinding measure gives the sheriff the ability to “exercise sound discretion to not enforce against any citizen an unconstitutional firearms…
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) 9:40 a.m. – Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells KNX radio the suspect in the Saugus High School shooting is in custody. The sheriff says the suspect is a student and was one of several people taken to a hospital after the Thursday morning shooting and is alive. Reports on the number of people injured…
BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials in northern Minnesota say more than 11 people have been rescued from an ice floe on Upper Red Lake prompting a warning for anglers to stay off the ice this early in the season. The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office contacted Red Lake area resort owners this week asking for help in keeping people off…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence is planning to visit Wisconsin and his home state of Indiana next week. Pence’s office announced Wednesday that he was scheduled to tour and deliver remarks at shipbuilder Marinette Marine in northeast Wisconsin on Nov. 20. Later that day the former Indiana governor was then to give a speech at the Strada…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A new report shows that taxes paid by Wisconsin residents as a share of personal income have fallen by more than two percentage points over the past 20 years. The Wisconsin Policy Forum report released Thursday shows that the drop in Wisconsin is one of the largest in the country. However, the state still ranks 19th…
WASHINGTON (AP) 3 p.m. – The two veteran diplomats testifying in the House impeachment hearing are denying President Donald Trump’s accusation that they adamantly oppose him. Shortly before Wednesday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing began, Trump tweeted, “NEVER TRUMPERS!” He mentioned no evidence. California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell asked both men if Trump’s claim was true. State Department official George Kent…
SHOREWOOD, Wis. (AP) – All public schools in a Milwaukee suburb are closed after officials say a high school student wrote a hit list and was found in possession of a loaded magazine of ammunition. Shorewood School District officials said because of “ongoing safety concerns,” classes and activities are canceled Wednesday. In a message to parents, Superintendent Bryan Davis said…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – More than half of Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and streams don’t meet state pollution standards. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has added 581 waterways to its list of impaired waters in its biennial report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released Wednesday. The 3,416 waterways represent 56% of the state’s waters. They have a range of problems, including…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Sean Duffy has taken a job for a Washington lobbying firm after resigning from Congress two months ago, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and newborn who has a heart defect and Down syndrome. BGR Group announced Tuesday that the Republican Duffy would be working for the firm as a senior counsel…
ATLANTA (AP) – Jimmy Carter’s spokeswoman says the former president is recovering at Emory University Hospital following surgery to relieve pressure from bleeding on his brain. Deanna Congileo says there were no complications from the surgery. She says Carter will remain in the hospital for observation, and she doesn’t anticipate making more announcements until he’s released. Her Tuesday statement also…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Record-breaking cold temperatures are freezing Minnesota lakes weeks earlier than normal. Monday was the coldest high temperature in three decades in the Twin Cities. The temperature reached 18 degrees at midnight, tying the coldest high record set in 1986. The National Weather Service said Tuesday and Wednesday may see record cold from the southern Plains to the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin agriculture secretary fired by the Republican-controlled state Senate has a new job, still within Gov. Tony Evers’ administration. Brad Pfaff has been hired as the director of business and rural development for the state Department of Administration. The announcement Monday comes less than a week after his confirmation as agriculture secretary was rejected. Republicans…
(courtesy: Fox News) NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (AP) – Authorities suspect animal welfare activists are behind the vandalism of several deer stands in western Wisconsin. The damaged stands have been seen in Dunn, Barron and St. Croix counties. Scott McDermott in New Richmond says the stilts of his stand were cut in half. The words “The hunters will be hunted” were…
(AP Photo/Andy Manis, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has issued eight more pardons. Evers issued the pardons Sunday, a month after issuing Wisconsin’s first pardons in nine years. The Democratic governor says pardons “play a very important role in our criminal justice system and society by giving deserving folks a second chance.” Evers re-started the pardons…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers has gone back to calling the state Capitol Christmas tree a holiday tree, reigniting an old fight over what to call the evergreen. Wisconsin politicians began referring to the tree as a holiday tree in 1985. Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker declared the tree a Christmas tree in 2011, drawing the ire of…
AITKIN, Minn. (AP) – An Aitkin County man is charged with murder after authorities say they found a missing woman’s body buried in a crawl space under the home where he lived. The family of 35-year-old Michelle Mae, of Outing, reported her missing Oct. 3. Sheriff’s officials say her Jeep was found near the defendant’s residence a day later. WDIO-TV…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin National Guard sergeant says he’s being discharged in retaliation for complaining about sexual misconduct in his unit. Wisconsin Air National Guard Master Sgt. Jay Ellis’ complaint last year has triggered two federal investigations. Ellis has alleged that Guard officials have launched a review of his medical history to set up a medical discharge and…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to declare a disaster for 12 counties of northwestern Minnesota where farmers are having a difficult harvest season. In his request Thursday, the governor said the unrelenting bad weather this season has come on top of challenges farmers were already facing from low commodity…
(photo: DATCP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers has promoted the deputy agriculture secretary after the Wisconsin Senate fired the head of the agency earlier this week. Evers’ spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff on Thursday said that Randy Romanski will take over as interim secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Romanski has worked for a variety of…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Assembly is expected to pass a bill opposed by anti-abortion groups that would broaden birth control access. The bill up for vote Thursday would allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptive patches and birth control pills to anyone 18 or older. Under current law, only doctors can prescribe them. Anti-abortion groups oppose the measure, arguing…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Assembly plans to attempt the first veto overrides in 11 years, targeting three partial budget vetoes by Gov. Tony Evers. The Republican-controlled Assembly plans to vote on the veto overrides on Thursday. Republicans don’t have enough votes to pass them without Democratic support. Democratic Minority Leader Gordon Hintz says no Democrats will support the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Public records show that the Minnesota Department of Human Services violated state law more than 200 times over the past year as it awarded $52 million in contracts and grant commitments without proper documentation. The records obtained by the Star Tribune show that employees sometimes allowed vendors and grantees to perform work without finalized contracts, while in…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Senate has voted to fire the state agriculture secretary, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Evers watched the vote Tuesday from the floor of the Senate, a highly unusual appearance by the governor during legislative debate. The move to oust Brad Pfaff is the latest skirmish in a series of battles between…
BLOOMIINGTON, Minn. (AP) – Bloomington police say one girl stabbed another during a fight at Jefferson High School. Police Chief Jeff Potts says the stabbing happened around noon Tuesday in the front hallway of the suburban Minneapolis school. Potts says the two girls are students at Jefferson. He says one girl suffered “multiple” stab wounds and was taken to a…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Krispy Kreme has reached an agreement with a Minnesota college student who drove to Iowa every weekend to buy hundreds of doughnuts to resell them in the Twin Cities area. The company said in a statement Monday that Jayson Gonzalez of Champlin can now work with Krispy Kreme as an independent operator. The deal also…
EDINA, Minn. (AP) – Police in a Minneapolis suburb have arrested a suspect after a swastika and other offensive graffiti was found at an elementary school. In an e-mail to Edina School District families, Superintendent John Schultz wrote that “when an act of hatred occurs anywhere in Edina, it affects our entire community.” Police say the arrest occurred Monday after…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – A new forecast says Great Lakes levels are likely to remain unusually high and may set additional records. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Detroit on Monday released its outlook for the next six months. Hydrologist Keith Kompoltowicz says a wet October interrupted the usual fall drop-off of water levels. Storms over Lakes…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin wildlife officials say hunters killed slightly fewer bears in 2019 than last year. The Department of Natural Resources said Monday that preliminary data shows hunters took 3,648 bears. That’s down slightly from 3,680 in 2018. Kills increased by 36% across the southern two-thirds of the state over 2018. Harvest in the north-central region was up…
