MILWAUKEE (AP) – Some Wisconsinites are getting their first taste of wintry weather with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. The National Weather Service says Neenah has about 4 inches of snow early Tuesday with about 3 1/2 inches in Green Bay and 3 inches near Madison. A winter weather advisory for portions of western, central and northeastern…
BEIRUT-Syrian Kurdish forces say they are beefing up security in prisons and detention facilities where tens of thousands of Islamic State militants and their supporters are held, including foreigners, after the killing of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. An official with the Kurdish-led internal security agency said on Monday the forces were “on high alert” in anticipation of possible riots…
MADISON, Wis.-Former House Speaker Paul Ryan has launched a new nonprofit organization he says will be focused on fighting poverty, increasing economic opportunities and advancing evidence-based public policies. Ryan announced the launch of the American Idea Foundation on Monday. He moved more than $7 million from his congressional account into the nonprofit when he announced its formation earlier this year….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross is retiring. The 71-year-old Cross said Friday he plans to retire once a new president is selected. Cross has served as UW’s president since February 2014. He previously served three years as chancellor of UW Colleges and UW-Extension and has spent more than four decades in higher education, previously…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A University of Minnesota law professor accused of stealing millions of dollars from his father-in-law’s company has pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors. Edward Adams entered the plea Thursday to a misdemeanor charge related to federal income taxes. Prosecutors agreed to drop the more serious charges and recommend probation with no time behind bars….
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – Officials say a bridge project in Minnesota will get a do-over after an American Indian burial site was disturbed. Minnesota Department of Transportation officials spoke at a community meeting Wednesday night about the state road project on the western edge of Duluth. They said the project is being restarted next year. The Star Tribune reports an…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and other Native American leaders will protest outside of U.S. Bank Stadium ahead of Thursday night’s Minnesota Vikings game to urge the visiting Washington team to retire the Redskins team name and mascot. She’ll be joined by state Reps. Mary Kunesh-Podein and Jamie Becker-Finn, who are also Native Americans, U.S. Rep. Betty…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals is maintaining its suspension of two key permits for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. A three-judge panel said in an order Thursday that a stay the court imposed last month on the project’s permit to mine and its dam safety permit should remain in place until it rules on…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – The former owner of a Duluth dental practice in Duluth has pleaded guilty to tax fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Gary Hedin failed to file required tax returns and pay employment taxes for the tax years 2012 through 2017 and owes nearly $160,000 in unpaid taxes to the IRS. The 41-year-old Hedin owned Downtown Dental…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – State officials say more than 5,000 citations have been issued to drivers in Minnesota since a hands-free law took affect in August. The new law makes it illegal to use a cellphone while driving. Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike Hanson tells Minnesota Public Radio News law enforcement officers don’t have to determine what drivers…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals is deciding whether to grant requests by opponents of the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine to cancel two of its most important permits and order further proceedings. Ann Cohen, representing several environmental groups, told a three-judge panel Wednesday that PolyMet’s permit to mine and its dam safety permit lack enforceable terms…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources board has approved new regulations that change how the department measures bacterial contamination in water bodies. Currently the DNR measures the amount of fecal coliform in water bodies to determine the level of contamination. The new regulations require the department to measure the amount of e. coli in the water…
(AP PHOTO) WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says Turkey has informed the U.S. it will make “permanent” a five-day cease-fire in Syria. In response, he says he’s directing the lifting of economic sanctions on Turkey. Claiming success at the U.S.-brokered effort, Trump said Wednesday, “this was an outcome created by us.” The cease-fire required Kurdish forces formerly allied with…
(Bethany Baker/The Billings Gazette via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence is making a pair of stops in the presidential battleground state of Wisconsin to tout a pending trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. The Pence stops Wednesday in Marinette and Pleasant Prairie come after he traveled to Pennsylvania, another battleground state, on Monday. Pence was scheduled…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday on challenges by environmentalists and the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine. The groups want to overturn decisions by the Department of Natural Resources to grant the project a permit to mine, and a dam safety permit, and its…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Test results from the first year of a study indicate that ruffed grouse in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan can survive the West Nile virus. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday reported that samples from grouse shot by hunters last year found antibodies consistent with West Nile in about 13% of the birds sampled…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The National Guard is investigating allegations that Wisconsin commanders are trying to force a sergeant out of the service after he complained about sexual misconduct in his unit. Wisconsin Air National Guard Master Sgt. Jay Ellis’ complaint last year has triggered two federal investigations. Both probes are ongoing. Ellis has since alleged Guard officials have blocked…
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized after a fall at his home in Plains, Georgia. A statement from The Carter Center says Jimmy suffered “a minor pelvic fracture” on Monday, but remains in good spirits and looks forward to recovering at home. Carter Center spokeswoman Deanne Congileo told The Associated Press that she had…
(photo: Minnesota DNR) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says a huge muskie caught on Lake Vermilion is a new catch-and-release record. The DNR said Monday the 57 inch muskie weighed about 47 pounds and was caught by Corey Kitzmann in August. The prior muskellunge record was just shy of 57 pounds and was caught…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge has approved a $40 million settlement between the Diocese of Duluth and dozens of people who say they were abused as children by priests. Judge Robert Kressel signed off on the settlement Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and reached the settlement in May. The agreement also…
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is calling the Republican-controlled Legislature into a special session to take up a pair of gun control measures that GOP leaders have been unwilling to debate. The move Evers announced Monday does not force Republicans to debate or vote on the bills. But it does give Democrats…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Corrections almost doubled the overtime it paid prison staff in the past year because of a chronic staff shortage. The state’s DOC data shows it paid $12.3 million for more than 262,000 hours of overtime during fiscal year 2019. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that’s up from the year before…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources board is poised to move forward on extensive rewrites of Wisconsin’s water pollution regulations that could cost well-users, farmers and wastewater treatment plants millions of dollars. The department has proposed restricting manure in areas prone to pollution; establishing limits for polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking and surface water; and…
UPDATE: CLOQUET, Minn. (AP) – One man was shot and a suspect was arrested after a shooting on a northern Minnesota Indian reservation. Police and tribal officials say the shooting happened around 10 a.m. at a community center gymnasium on the Fond du Lac Band reservation, where a funeral was taking place. Interim Cloquet Police Chief Derek Randall said the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Tony Evers is setting May 12 as the date of a special election for northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District to replace former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy. The primary will be Feb. 18. Evers opted against setting the general election on April 7, the same day as a state Supreme Court election. Democrats feared holding the…
(photo courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police say a pregnant woman was killed and three others were injured when a speeding vehicle hit a minivan and several other vehicles in Minneapolis. Authorities say police and fire department personnel worked for nearly an hour to extricate the woman, who was eight months pregnant, from the minivan Thursday about 11 p.m….
(NASA via AP) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The world’s first female spacewalking team is making history high above Earth. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir exited the International Space Station on Friday, the first time in a half-century of spacewalking that a woman floated out without a male crewmate. Their job is to fix a broken part of…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – One woman is dead and five others are injured in a head-on crash in St. Paul. Police say two vehicles carrying nine people collided in the Battle Creek neighborhood Thursday evening. An 18-year-old woman who was thrown from a vehicle died at the scene. Authorities say three men suffered critical injuries and two people have…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Juul Labs will stop selling fruit and dessert flavors for its electronic cigarettes. The voluntary step announced Thursday is the company’s latest concession as it tries to weather a political backlash blaming its flavored-nicotine products for hooking a generation of teenagers. The move is unlikely to satisfy the company’s critics. Juul will continue selling its most popular…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Enrollment at the University of Wisconsin dropped 2.6% percent compared to last year. Preliminary enrollment for the 2019 academic year announced by the university Thursday was just over 167,000 students. That is down from nearly 4,500 students from last year. Enrollment on the flagship Madison campus was up 2% or 879 students. UW-Green Bay, La Crosse,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has created a task force to develop strategies to deal with climate change in the state. Evers announced formation of the new group Thursday at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. Evers tasked the group to come up with recommendations to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change by August….
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s unemployment rate ticked up for the fourth straight month and is up nearly half a point since May. The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that unemployment in September was 3.2%. That is up from 3.1% the month before and 2.8% in April and May. That tied a record low for the state. The…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she raised $1.1 million for her 2020 presidential campaign in the 24 hours following this week’s Democratic debate. The moderate Democratic Minnesota senator was among the top critics of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday, criticizing Warren’s health care plan as a “pipe dream.” She also ripped President Donald Trump. Campaign manager Justin…
(photo: Cass County Sheriff’s Office) AITKIN, Minn. (AP) – Sheriff’s officials say the death of a northeastern Minnesota woman who had been missing for nearly two weeks appears to be a homicide. Authorities had been searching for 35-year-old Michelle Mary Mae, of Outing, since her family reported her missing Oct. 3. Her body was found Tuesday on some rural property…
BALTIMORE (AP) – Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his…
DETROIT (AP) – The United Auto Workers union’s top bargainer with General Motors says a tentative deal with the company will bring “major gains” to workers. Union Vice President Terry Dittes says in a statement that bargainers wanted to get a strong and fair contract for the 49,000 members who have been on strike for a month. Details of the…
SHAWANO, Wis. (AP) – An 8-year-old boy told authorities that a man who lives with him and his mother strapped him to a chair in the basement of their northeastern Wisconsin home, but that he escaped and sought help from strangers. WLUK-TV reports that police arrested 36-year-old Nathan Pogrant Monday on charges including false imprisonment and child abuse. The boy’s…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota health officials are reporting the state’s second and third deaths due to lung illnesses caused by vaping. The Department of Health said Wednesday both deaths involved people over age 50 who died in September after complicated hospitalizations. One of those deaths was reported at Essentia Health in Duluth. One had vaped several products including THC, the…
Credit: MN Sheriff’s Association BECKER, Minn. (AP) – Authorities in Minnesota say a 6-year-old boy who had been missing since getting off the school bus with his siblings has been found safe. The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office said the boy, named Ethan, hadn’t been seen since 4:10 p.m. Tuesday when he got off the bus near Highway 25 in Becker…
CROOKSTON, Minn. (AP) – Authorities say two people were killed when their SUV collided with a semi in Polk County. The sheriff’s office says the crash happened shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday at an intersection on County Road 46. KFGO reports the driver of the SUV, a 36-year-old Fertile man, and his passenger, a 33-year-old woman from Winger, both died…
(AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has canceled his visit to Wisconsin because he’s been dispatched to Turkey to try and reach a ceasefire deal. Pence was scheduled to visit Uline in Pleasant Prairie on Thursday to advocate for passing President Donald Trump’s trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Instead, Pence will lead a delegation to Turkey…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Community organizer John Mason says he’ll challenge U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in a Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th District. Mason, a first-time candidate, said Tuesday he wants to build on President Barack Obama’s accomplishments in health care care, education, gun control and the environment. He said he supports inclusivity and condemns all forms of hate, including “anti-Semitic…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Two St. Louis Park parents are charged with child endangerment and neglect after prosecutors say their 1-year-old son tested positive for fentanyl. The child survived after spending six days in the hospital. A criminal complaint says police were called to the couple’s apartment Oct. 3 because the boy had become unresponsive. The Star Tribune reports police say…
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) – A Fond du Lac woman says she was fired from a restaurant for refusing to serve a couple who were making disparaging comments about a transgender woman sitting at the bar. Brittany Spencer worked as a server at Fat Joe’s Bar & Grill in Fond du Lac. Spencer says she went to her manager…
Update: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A white police officer in Fort Worth who authorities say fatally shot a black woman in her home resigned in a one-sentence letter Monday. Aaron Dean’s letter said: “Effective immediately I am tendering my resignation from the Fort Worth Police Department.” The letter was released by the state’s largest police union, the Combined Law…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan says he expects the House to vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump by the end of the calendar year. Pocan said Monday he believes Trump has committed an impeachable offense, but he can’t commit on whether he would vote to impeach until he sees the actual article of…
(Photo: Tricia Zunker campaign) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The president of the Wausau School Board who is also a justice on the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court is running for Congress as a Democrat. Tricia Zunker is launching her campaign Monday. She would become the first Native American member of Congress from Wisconsin should she win. Zunker tells Wisconsin Public Radio…
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Police have responded to a shooting outside a Walmart store in Blaine. KSTP-TV reports a man in his 30s was shot in the ear by someone he knew. The shooting happened about 5 a.m. Monday. The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK. Authorities are searching a suspect who drove away…
BARRON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin sheriff who led the investigation into the kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the slaying of her parents hopes the courage and resilience of the 13-year-old girl is the focus on the one-year anniversary of the crimes. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald will hold a news conference Monday, talk briefly about Jayme and honor his…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota transportation officials are testing new technology to catch carpool lane cheaters. Through September, the State Patrol issued nearly 3,500 citations to drivers who illegally used the lanes reserved for two or more people, buses, motorcycles and solo drivers who pay to use them. That compares with 2,933 citations in all of last year. The Star Tribune…
