(AP) WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s health secretary has resigned, after his travel on costly charter flights triggered investigations and angered his boss. Tom Price’s partial repayment and public regrets couldn’t save his job. The Health and Human Services secretary became the first member of the president’s Cabinet to leave office in a turbulent young administration that has seen…
Downed power lines and debris are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Sept. 26. (AP) WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure to do more for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump on Thursday waived federal restrictions on foreign ships’ transportation of cargo to the island. He tweeted that relief supplies are getting through. “The electric…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing a far-reaching, $5 trillion plan Wednesday that would cut taxes for corporations and potentially for individuals, simplify the tax system and nearly double the standard deduction used by most Americans. The plan is sweeping in scope but omits critical, controversial details that are likely to take months to work…
DULUTH, Minn. – With the city of Duluth facing $2.1 million in cuts for 2018, Mayor Emily Larson is looking at every single dollar that flows in and out of the city. That includes a deeper look into the lucrative revenue stream of tourism tax dollars – a stream that Larson says doesn’t have a clear story to tell –…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – While Duluth is facing cuts to police and fire, it’s the opposite for the city of Superior. Mayor Jim Paine says the police department is getting an additional $28,000 next year to help fund more community policing and provide officers training in crisis intervention, diversity and de-escalation. As for the fire department, an extra $10,000 is being allocated…
DULUTH, Minn. – State lawmakers came to Duluth to visit several sites of proposed state bonding projects. The representatives stopped at UMD to learn about recent improvements made to the campus. The University also presented their bonding requests for this year, including projects to improve the Humanities Building and re-purpose the former Chemistry Building. “We go down to St. Paul…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing assured defeat, Republican leaders decided Tuesday not to even hold a vote on the GOP’s latest attempt to repeal the Obama health care law, surrendering on their last-gasp effort to deliver on the party’s banner campaign promise. Leaving a lunch of Republican senators who’d gathered to discuss their next steps on the issue, Sen. Pat Roberts,…
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth city councilors have fulfilled their state duty to set the maximum operating levy for 2018 to a number higher than Mayor Emily Larson has proposed. In a 7–2 vote Monday night, councilors voted to increase the maximum 2018 levy from Mayor Larson’s 4 percent to 6.43 percent, which councilors say would allow more funding to the…
DULUTH, Minn. – A new plan is emerging from two Duluth city councilors about what do about a $2.1 million budget cut. Last night, councilors Noah Hobbs and Elissa Hansen, made a motion to supply about $180,000 back to the fire and police departments, which were facing some cuts. Under their proposal, a tax levy would be increased by another…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signed the $76 billion state budget into law nearly three months after it was due. Walker on Thursday signed the two-year spending plan at an elementary school in Neenah surrounded by students, teachers, Republican lawmakers, and others. The budget increases state aid for K-12 schools, but also expands the private school…
HERMANTOWN, Minn. – Wood stove manufacturers are struggling to comply with a new EPA requirement. The rule was put in place to reduce particles in the atmosphere, but business leaders say it’s nearly impossible for them to make needed changes to their products fast enough. Manufacturers and retailers from across Minnesota talked with U.S. Representative Rick Nolan (DFL-MN). They discussed…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A report filed by attorneys for the Republican-led Legislature says lawmakers will have to start furloughing employees in December and shut down completely by February unless there’s a resolution to a legal battle with Gov. Mark Dayton over its operating budget. Top Republicans and the DFL governor have been locked in a legal battle for…
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth Mayor Emily Larson is defending her 2018 budget proposal that includes $2.1 million in cuts spread out throughout all city departments. Mayor Larson told FOX 21’s Dan Hanger Monday that nobody wants cuts and cuts are stressful, but she says that doesn’t mean her office should avoid the problem, especially with aging streets and infrastructure –…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Soo Locks at Sault Ste Marie, Michigan connect the Duluth and Superior shipping industry with the rest of the world, but the aging locks haven’t been updated in decades. The locks at Soo Straights connect Lake Superior to the rest of the Great Lakes and beyond. The locks raise and lower ships so they can navigate…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -Republican Gov. Scott Walker is hinting that he’ll officially announce his bid for a third term in November. Walker told WTMJ-AM radio on Monday that an announcement during the first week of November would make sense since that would mark a year until the election and his birthday is that week. He added that it’s no secret…
MADISON, Wis.-Gov. Scott Walker has signed a $3 billion incentive package designed to lure a Foxconn Technology Group flat-screen plant to southeastern Wisconsin. Walker signed the bill Monday afternoon during a packed ceremony at a technical college in Sturtevant in Racine County, the most likely location for the plant. The bill provides nearly $3 billion in cash to Foxconn if…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Senate has begun debating the state budget 11 weeks after the $76 billion spending plan was due. Republicans entered the day one vote short of the 17 they needed to pass the plan. But Republican Sen. Luther Olsen says there are 19 GOP votes for the plan. Democrats are united against it. If the…
SUPERIOR, Wis. Protestors hoping to keep Enbridge workers from getting into their construction site on the line 3 replacement project Thursday morning are now in trouble with the law. In a dramatic scene, several protesters were arrested Thursday in Superior. One has been charged with disorderly conduct during the incident while three others were booked for resisting arrest and trespassing….
DULUTH, Minn. – The clock is ticking. Duluth fire and police departments are facing a $711,800 combined budget cut proposed by Mayor Emily Larson – a cut the unions believe is putting lives at serious risk. It’s been one month since Larson released her 2018 budget proposal with a total of $2.1 million in cuts. And since then, the public…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Assembly has begun debate on the $76 billion state budget, more than two months after their work was supposed to be done. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is defending the plan, saying that there is something for everyone to like in it, including tax cuts and more funding for K-12 public schools. But Democratic…
DULUTH, Minn.-Tonight the citizens of Duluth are deciding on who they want to fill two council seats and one on the school board. Polls opened at 7 a.m. as voters are deciding on a city council at-large seat, a Fourth District council seat, and a school board at-large seat. Regardless of how you vote today, local officials remind the public…
MADISON, Wis. — The race for Wisconsin’s governor just got a little more heated with a new Democratic challenger to Republican Governor, Scott Walker. Tony Evers has announced his candidacy for the gubernatorial race. Evers is the State Superintendent for Wisconsin and is running on a platform to improve the public schools in the state. The Democrat says he’s running…
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand as “Taps” is played during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (AP) ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Leading his first commemoration of the solemn 9/11 anniversary, President Donald Trump said Monday that “the living, breathing soul of America wept with grief” for each of the nearly…
DULUTH, Minn. – Imagine Canal Park is a new initiative with the goal to make that area a spot for residents and not just tourists. In June, Duluth received a grant from the Knight Foundation to look at ways to further engage and create a common public space for residents to increase social interaction and connect with their city. The…
SUPERIOR, Wisc. – Superior’s city budget is in the final stages and getting ready to go to city council. The roughly $29 million budget features in increase in the Neighborhood Improvement Fund, and added funding for public safety, including more training for police. City leaders were able to close the deficit, leave a surplus, all without adding any new tax…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Supreme Court says Gov. Mark Dayton’s veto of the Legislature’s budget was constitutional. The ruling Friday is counter to a lower-court ruling this summer that Dayton had acted unconstitutionally, but is not the last word in the case. The high court ordered the two sides to hire a mediator, by Tuesday, to resolve…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – A Democrat hoping to be Wisconsin’s next governor visited the city Thursday. 25 year-old Bob Harlow was actually the first Democrat in the 2018 Wisconsin Gubernatorial race. His platform includes a state–run healthcare system, a high speed rail network, restoring union rights in the state, plus investment in infrastructure and education. Harlow says he’s also opposed to…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The $76 billion Wisconsin budget is headed to the state Assembly and Senate for approval. The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee passed the two-year spending plan Wednesday night on a party line vote, more than two months after the budget was due. Current spending levels have continued during the impasse. The spending plan sends more aid to…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has passed a $7.9 billion Harvey aid package. Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm even as while an ever, more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida. The 419 to 3 vote Wednesday sent the aid package – likely the first of several – to the Senate in hopes of…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has announced that it will wind down a program protecting young immigrants from deportation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday called the program known as DACA as an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.” He says the trump administration is urging Congress to find an alternate way to protect…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Legislature’s budget committee is pushing to complete its work this week on the two-year-spending plan that’s two months overdue. Votes that could be taken as early as Tuesday include whether to impose a new fee on electric vehicle owners and changes to a $3 billion incentive plan for electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group. The…
The United Nations Security Council meets on North Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017, at U.N. headquarters. (AP) NEW YORK (AP) — North Korea’s leader is “begging for war,” the U.S. ambassador said Monday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as members called for punishing the country with even stronger sanctions for its powerful nuclear test. Ambassador Nikki…
(AP Photo) WASHINGTON (AP) – Confronting Harvey’s fury, President Donald Trump made an all-out push Tuesday to show the federal government’s responsiveness to the massive storm that has lashed the Texas coast and caused catastrophic flooding. Trump is visiting Texas to observe the federal government’s work to help the state recover after Harvey’s devastation. The storm, bringing torrents of rain…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions is calling the epidemic of drug overdose deaths “the top lethal issue” in the U.S. and urged everyone “create and foster a culture that’s hostile to drug use.” Sessions delivered the remarks Tuesday to the National Alliance For Drug Endangered Children, which is hosting its annual conference in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The fate of the legal battle between Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican lawmakers now rests with the Minnesota Supreme Court. The two sides took their disagreement surrounding the Democratic governor’s veto of the Legislature’s $130 million operating budget to the state’s highest court Monday. Dayton line-item vetoed their funding to force top Republicans to rework…
DULUTH, Minn. – The City Council wants to make starting a small business in Duluth easier. Recently, the council approved a resolution creating a new Red Tape Reduction Task Force. The seven person task force will be charged with giving the council information and recommendations designed to streamline the permit process. The group will consist of an architect, developer and…
CARLTON, Minn. – To wrap up his two-day visit to the Northland, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) stopped on the Fond du Lac Reservation Tuesday. Senator Franken serves on both the Senate Energy and Indian Affairs committees, so his visit to the reservation served multiple interests. Minnesota’s junior senator met with Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe officials to talk about…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota state Sen. David Osmek is the latest Republican to announce a run for governor in 2018. Minnesota state Sen. David Osmek is the latest Republican to announce a run for governor in 2018. Osmek launched his campaign Tuesday after months of publicly weighing a bid. He adds to a crowded field on the Republican side…
VIRGINIA, Minn. – Minnesota Senator Al Franken was on the Iron Range today and took a tour of the aging Virginia Fire Hall, a place city leaders hope can be replaced with a new building. The Virginia Fire Hall is 109 years old. “It was originally designed to house horses and horse drawn steam pumpers and in that time, not…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will use a nationally televised address to outline for a war-weary nation the strategy he believes will best position the U.S. to eventually declare victory in Afghanistan after 16 years of combat and lives lost. The speech Monday night will also give Trump a chance for a reset after one of…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – After a two-month break, the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee plans to resume its work on the state’s spending plan next week. Committee co-chairs announced Friday the panel will meet on Thursday to vote on some of the remaining issues in the budget. The agenda does not call for the committee to vote on transportation funding,…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Two Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced legislation to repeal a law that requires mining companies to prove they’ve operated without polluting before they can mine in the state. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Republican Sen. Tom Tiffany of Hazelhurst and Republican Rep. Rob Hutton of Brookfield introduced the bill Thursday. The 1998 law they want to…
WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon is out at the White House, two administration officials told CNN on Friday. The President has privately stewed over Bannon in recent days, including Thursday night from his golf course in New Jersey. He was furious with his chief strategist after he was quoted in an interview with the American…
The Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy meets about the incentive deal for Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, Thursday, Aug. 3, at the state Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. (AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Assembly planned to approve a $3 billion tax break Thursday for Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group to build a massive display panel factory in the state, a…
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth Mayor Emily Larson continued her community listening sessions this evening in West Duluth. Residents and city leaders came together at the Harrison Community Center to learn more about the Larson’s plan for improving Duluth’s streets. Earlier this week, the mayor also announced her proposed city budget for 2018. The plan includes $700,000 in combined cuts to…
(AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The latest from The Associated Press on Wisconsin reaction to President Donald Trump’s comments on white supremacists (all times local): 12:50 p.m. Wisconsin Democrats are seizing on President Donald Trump’s comments about white supremacists to score political points, and call for action, from state Republicans. Democrat Randy Bryce is running against Republican House Speaker Paul…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hard-line conservatives began an uphill fight Friday to force a fresh House vote this fall on erasing much of President Barack Obama’s health care law without an immediate replacement, the latest instance of Republican rifts in what’s been a fractious week for the GOP. The effort by the House Freedom Caucus seemed to have no chance of…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – It’s time to party: The Minnesota Capitol is back open. The Capitol has technically been open since January after a massive renovation to the century-old building kept it closed to the public for several years. But construction crews were putting the finishing touches on the building and its grounds until late last month. The formal…
DULUTH, Minn. – Community members rallied at the Federal Building in Duluth to show their support of the proposed worldwide nuclear weapons ban. Ralliers spoke about the horrors of nuclear war on the anniversary of the 1945 bombing in Nagasaki, Japan. They stood in remembrance of that attack and voiced their support of the recent United Nations treaty calling to outlaw…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The National Governor’s Association (NGA) has appointed Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton as chairman of the NGA’s Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. Dayton will replace Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas. “I am very honored to have been asked to serve as Chairman of the National Governors Association’s Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee,” said Gov. Dayton….
