DULUTH, Minn.- For the third year in a row the President proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, which included a 90 percent cut to funding for Great Lakes restoration. But that proposal now seems to be saved by the President himself. Last night at a rally in Michigan, the President declared his support for the Great Lakes. “I support…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says he will close the nation’s southern border, or large sections of it, next week if Mexico does not immediately stop illegal immigration. In a tweet Friday, Trump ramped up his repeated threat to close the border by saying he will do it next week unless Mexico takes action. The president called on…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court won’t stop the Trump administration from enforcing its ban on bump stock devices, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns. The ban took effect Tuesday. Gun rights groups asked the court on Monday to stop the government from enforcing the ban for now. Chief Justice John Roberts declined one request for the…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is facing sharp pushback over a proposal to cut federal funding to the Special Olympics. Celebrities, politicians and activists have taken to social media to rebuke DeVos for her plan to cut funding for the group as part of $7 billion in reductions in 2020. The organization received $17.6 million from…
UPDATE: BARRON, Wis. -A Wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. A count of armed burglary was dropped. The intentional homicide counts carry a sentence of life in prison. Patterson admitted to kidnapping Jayme after…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON – An effort by House Democrats to override President Donald Trump’s first veto has failed. That hands him a victory because his declaration of a national emergency at the Southwest border will remain in effect. The Democratic-controlled chamber has voted 248-181 in favor of overriding Trump’s veto. That fell 38 votes short of the 286 needed…
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that charges alleging he lied to police about a racist and homophobic attack have been dropped. Smollett attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes said in a statement that Smollett’s record “has been wiped clean.” Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that…
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: By ERIC TUCKER WASHINGTON-Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump’s presidency, entangled Trump’s family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president’s closest associates. The report, still confidential, marks the end of Mueller’s probe but…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is recalling more than 69,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips because they may be contaminated with pieces of metal. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday the products were produced on Nov. 30, 2018, and have a best if used by date of Nov. 30, 2019. The products have the establishment number “P-7221” on…
SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook had stored millions of user passwords in plain text for years, the social media company confirmed on Thursday after a security researcher posted about the issue online. Facebook says there is no evidence that employees had abused access to this data. The company says the passwords were stored on internal company servers, no outsiders could access…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A scientific report says the Great Lakes region is warming faster than the rest of the U.S., which likely will bring more flooding and other extreme weather such as heat waves and drought. The warming climate also could mean less overall snowfall even as lake-effect snowstorms get bigger, according to the report released Thursday by a…
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug specifically developed for severe depression after childbirth. The agency on Tuesday approved Sage Therapeutics’ Zulresso, an IV drug given over 2 ½ days. Sage said Zulresso will cost $34,000 without insurance, plus costs for staying in a hospital or infusion center. Whether the treatment gets…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Roundup weed killer was a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer, a jury determined Tuesday in the first phase of a trial that attorneys said could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits. The unanimous verdict by the six-person jury in federal court in San Francisco came in a lawsuit filed against Roundup’s…
DULUTH, Minn. – Shopko has announced they will be closing all of their remaining store locations by June 16. The company says additional store closings include Ely, Moose Lake, Two Harbors, Aitkin, Spooner, and the Duluth location at 801 West Central Entrance. Officials with Shopko say there are approximately 30-40 people employed at the Duluth store. “This is not the…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his presidency on Friday, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. Flanked by law enforcement officials as well as the parents of children killed by people in the country illegally, Trump maintained that he is not through fighting for his signature campaign…
MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee’s police chief says authorities are asking for help “from the entire nation” to find a missing 2-year-old girl after a man was arrested on suspicion of killing her mother. Chief Alfonso Morales says Dariaz Higgins has been providing police with information on the whereabouts of his daughter, Noelani Robinson, but it has “proven to be untrue.” Higgins…
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — At least 49 people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques full of worshippers attending Friday prayers on what the prime minister called “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.” One man was arrested and charged with murder in what appeared to be a carefully planned racist attack. Police also defused explosive devices in a…
WASHINGTON – In a stunning rebuke, the Republican-controlled Senate has voted to terminate President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate voted 59-41 for a resolution to halt Trump’s emergency order. Trump has promised to veto it, and it is unlikely that Congress will have the votes to override him. Yet the vote represents…
AUSTIN, Texas – Former congressman Beto O’Rourke is running for president. The 46-year-old officially announced his 2020 Democratic primary bid Thursday with an online post. After months of teasing a bid, he’s finally, formally hoping to turn buzz from a close loss in Texas’ 2018 Senate race into a White House try. O’Rourke nearly upset Sen. Ted Cruz. Since then,…
BILLINGS, Mont. – U.S. wildlife officials want to strip gray wolves of their remaining federal protections and declare the species recovered following a decades-long restoration effort. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal released Thursday would put wolves under state authority and allow hunting in more areas. The Associated Press reported last week that the proposal was coming. Critics argue…
MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee police have arrested the man wanted for killing the mother of his child, wounding a second woman and for abducting the toddler. But, there is no sign of the 2-year-old girl. Dariaz Higgins was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon on Milwaukee’s northwest side. A second person was arrested for harboring a fugitive. The girl, Noelani Robinson, is…
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the U.S. is issuing an emergency order grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft in the wake of a crash of an Ethiopian Airliner that killed 157 people. Many nations in the world had already barred the Boeing 737 Max 8 from its airspace, but until now, the Federal Aviation Administration…
DULUTH, Minn. – Social media users are reporting outages on both Facebook and Instagram Wednesday morning. According to the website downdetector.com over 4,000 people have reported problems with Facebook and Instagram since 11:00 a.m. There is no word yet on what has caused the outages or when then social media platforms will be back up and running. News sites in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to more than 3 1/2 additional years in prison. That’s on top of the roughly four-year sentence he received in a separate case in Virginia last week. The sentence followed a scathing assessment by the judge and a prosecutor of Manafort’s crimes. Categories: News, News –…
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)BOSTON (AP) — Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and insiders at testing centers to help get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. “These parents are a catalog…
DETROIT (AP) — A type of Takata air bag inflator once thought to be safe has now come under scrutiny after a crash and explosion in Maryland injured the driver of an older Honda minivan. The incident forced Honda on Tuesday to recall about 1.2 million vehicles in North and Central America from the 2001 to 2016 model years that…
(courtesy: Fox 9) ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Family members say a Minnesota man is among the 157 people who died when a jetliner crashed in Ethiopia. Relatives say 31-year-old Mucaad Hussein Abdalla was on his way to Nairobi, Kenya from Morocco when the plane went down on Sunday. His cousin, Mohamed Warfa, says Abdalla graduated from St. Cloud Apollo High…
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – President Donald Trump is trying again to slash federal cleanup funding for major U.S. waterways, including the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. The president’s 2020 budget released Monday calls for spending $30 million on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program intended to remove toxic pollution, fight invasive species and deal with other longstanding environmental problems…
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Democrats selected Milwaukee to host their 2020 national convention Monday, setting up the party’s 2020 standard-bearer to accept the presidential nomination in the heart of the old industrial belt that delivered Donald Trump to the White House. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez chose Milwaukee over Houston and Miami after deliberations lingered longer than party leaders or…
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Olympic track cyclist Kelly Catlin, who helped the U.S. women’s pursuit team win the silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, died Friday at her home in California. She was 23. USA Cycling chief executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement Sunday that “the entire cycling community is mourning this immense loss. We…
MINNESOTA- On Saturday night, the country will be springing ahead one hour for the 100th time! The first daylight savings time happened in 1918 during World War I, to conserve coal. While it gives you some more sunshine, setting your clock ahead one also comes at a cost. A study showed losing that hour of sleep leads to a 25…
CHICAGO — A grand jury in Chicago indicted “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs. The Cook County grand jury indictment filed Thursday says he made a false report about an offense. The Cook County State’s Attorney charged Smollett on…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Pack factory on West Superior Street opened its doors for a tour. A group from Fuse Duluth went on a guided trek through the facility. They watched the process and met the craftspeople who made their very own Duluth Pack products. “You don’t get to be in production facilities like Duluth Pack really anywhere else…
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud. A jury in Alexandria convicted Manafort last year on eight counts of tax and bank fraud related to his overseas work advising politicians in Ukraine. Federal sentencing guidelines called for a term of roughly 20 years, though few observers expected…
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators on Tuesday warned people not to use certain Claire’s makeup products after samples tested positive for asbestos, but the retailer disputed the findings. The Food and Drug Administraiton said it issued the warning because it said Claire’s refused to comply with its request for a recall, and that the agency doesn’t have the power…
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Dollar Tree is closing up to 390 Family Dollar stores this year and rebranding about 200 others under the Dollar Tree name. The company closed 84 Family Dollar stores in the fourth quarter, 37 more than originally planned. The company has said that it will renovate at least 1,000 stores this year. Dollar Tree Inc., based…
BILLINGS, Mont. – U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move certain to re-ignite the legal battle over a predator that’s rebounding in some regions but absent in others. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was expected to announce the proposal during a Wednesday speech before a wildlife conference in Denver. U.S….
DULUTH, Minn. – After 56 days below freezing with several snow storms, roofs around the Northland are dealing with big piles of snow and ice. All this extra weight is potentially dangerous. “A good rule of thumb is if you have let’s say 20 inch of snow per square foot that’s going to be roughly 25–27 pounds something like that,”…
DULUTH, Minn. – Free preventative dental cleanings were offered to Denfeld High School students today. The cleanings are brought to the school multiple times a year by Operation Grace MN. The organization reaches students who might not otherwise have access to dental care. Students participating say they’re grateful for the opportunity. “I like it because of course you don’t have…
SEATTLE (AP) – Researchers say a London man appears to be free of the AIDS virus after a stem cell transplant. It’s the second such success including “Berlin patient” Timothy Ray Brown. Such transplants are dangerous and have failed in other patients. The new findings were published online Monday by the journal Nature. The London patient has not been identified….
WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton says she won’t run for president in 2020, but vows she’s “not going anywhere.” The former secretary of state, senator and first lady ruled out another campaign during an interview posted Monday by New York TV station News12 . Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump, says, “I’m going to keep on working…
DULUTH, Minn.- How does a construction worker get to own his own pizza shop? By being a big fan with big dreams. The owner of lee’s pizza in Lincoln Park is just that. The sound of smacking dough, creaking ovens and ringing phones tell you you’re in one of the busiest pizza joints in Lincoln Park. “Y’know, it’s just a good…
DULUTH, Minn. – Red Cross of Northern Minnesota helping out with recovery efforts in the aftermath of tornadoes and flooding in Mississippi and Alabama. The Red Cross says the experienced the volunteers gain from going to disaster areas often gives them valuable experience to bring back to the Northland. “When our volunteers deploy to a disaster like this they help…
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – K9 Officers of the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office came together over the weekend to raise money for the care of the dogs and to allow the community to see them up close. “This is our second annual fundraiser for the Itasca County sheriff’s office K9. It’s sponsored by Itasca Hometown heroes, it’s just local people in…
DULUTH, Minn.- Sunday was World Wildlife Day, and while Lake Superior Zoo doesn’t normally have elephants, giraffes, and gorillas, they got to have them all, through the unique drawings of one artist. “There’s so many animals that are in trouble, it’s like I’ve got a lot to choose from.” The pictures on display at the Zoo may look like black and white…
DETROIT – Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than a half million vehicles in the U.S. because of new problems that can lead to engine fires. Documents posted Thursday by the government show the Korean automakers are adding three recalls after reports of fires across the country. The largest recall covers nearly 379,000 Kia Soul SUVs from 2012 through 2016…
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — President Donald Trump has departed Vietnam after failing to reach an agreement during his second nuclear summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The U.S. leader said he “walked away” from talks with Kim after it was clear the two sides remained at odds in talks over ending the North’s nuclear program. Trump says the North…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen (all times local): 4:55 p.m. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, says he’s seen the president’s tax returns but hasn’t gone through them. Cohen is testifying Wednesday before the House oversight committee. Trump broke with decades of tradition for presidential candidates by refusing to release…
HAYWARD, Wis. – The 45th Annual 2019 Slumberland American Birkebeiner took place this weekend in Wisconsin. The men’s and women’s winners of the 50K Skate race were Akeo Maifeld-Carucci and Alayna Sonnesyn both from the United States. The men’s race ended in a sprint to the finish between three different men. “The finish was unbelievable today, the crowd was so…
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is pledging a veto if Congress passes a resolution blocking his use of a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he would veto the resolution introduced by House Democrats earlier in the day. Trump said, “Will I veto it? 100…
