MILWAUKEE (AP) – Some Wisconsin schools will be using gunshot-detection sensors when classes resume this fall to try to get police to respond more quickly to a mass shooting. The sensors are among various security upgrades schools are rolling out with grant money state lawmakers approved this year after the shootings in Parkland, Florida. The Kenosha Unified School District plans…
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says it will accelerate its store closings in the U.S. next year as it tries to boost sluggish sales. The Seattle-based company announced Tuesday that it will close 150 under-performing stores in heavily penetrated markets, up from the usual rate of 50 closings a year. The company also said it expects 1 percent growth in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Activists are encouraging people to use test strips on drugs as the number of fentanyl overdose deaths rises in Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio reports that the strips offer a simple way for people to tell whether there’s potentially dangerous fentanyl in the drugs they’re about to take. Fentanyl is considered more powerful than heroin. The…
(Andy Morrison/The Blade via AP, File) SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The words blasted to cellphones around Oregon’s capital city were ominous: “Civil emergency . prepare for action.” Within half an hour, a second official alert clarified the subject wasn’t impending violence but toxins from an algae bloom, detected in Salem’s water supply. Across the U.S., reservoirs that supply drinking water…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Swarms of mosquitoes will soon be buzzing in Minnesota after recent bouts of rain. Mosquitoes typically emerge in the early summer when their eggs become submerged in water, causing them to start hatching. The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District says it expects mosquitoes will be swarming in the coming days as the larvae transform into adults….
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) – A Kasson police officer is being held on unconditional bond of $1 million for criminal sexual conduct charges in Olmsted County. Fifty-one-year-old Julio Baez was arrested earlier this week at a Winona motel. A complaint against Baez says he sexually abused two girls, one for 11 years, from the time she was 5 until she was…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A man with three drunken driving convictions is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in the death of a pedestrian who was struck and killed in Milwaukee earlier this week. A criminal complaint says 35-year-old Christopher Anderson was drunk when he hit and killed 64-year-old Bruce Williams Monday. Authorities say Anderson had his 8-day-old…
(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)LOS ANGELES (AP) – ABC, which canceled its “Roseanne” revival over its star’s racist tweet, says it will air a Conner family sitcom minus Roseanne Barr this fall. ABC ordered 10 episodes of the spinoff after Barr agreed to forgo any creative or financial participation in it. In a statement issued by the show’s producer, Barr said…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says police generally need a search warrant if they want to track criminal suspects’ movements by collecting information about where they’ve used their cellphones. The justices’ 5-4 decision Friday is a victory for privacy in the digital age. That’s a big change from the old days when authorities could go to the phone company…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A man accused of posing as an Internal Revenue Service representative and tricking people into buying Target gift cards to pay of phony tax debts is facing federal charges in Minnesota. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul accuses 27-year-old Yu Zhang of visiting at least 10 Target stores a day…
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s busiest airport will be the first in the nation to require a face scan of passengers on all arriving and departing international flights, officials said Thursday, a move that pleases airport executives but worries privacy advocates. Officials at Orlando International Airport said the expansion of face scans would speed up the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has sentenced a former University of Wisconsin-Madison student who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three female students and choking or stalking two others to three years behind bars. WKOW-TV reports Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke sentenced 22-year-old Alec Cook of Edina, Minnesota, on Thursday to three years in prison and five years of…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Heavy rains are causing roads to flood in southeastern South Dakota. The South Dakota Highway Patrol says Highway 11 in southeastern Sioux Falls is closed from 57th Street to 271st Street for water over the road. The National Weather Service reports more than 5 inches of rain fell in that area. In Minnesota, part of…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – The small Duluth diner is getting an earful from commenters and callers for hosting Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” morning show a day after President Donald Trump visited the city. Uncle Loui’s Cafe, a local favorite in the city, drew both criticism and support after the conservative morning show announced plans for the broadcast. Owner Debra…
photo: andygronik.comMADISON, Wis. (AP) – Democratic Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik is ending his campaign for governor. Gronik announced Thursday he was dropping out of the race. That leaves nine Democrats in the field looking to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Gronik got into the race nearly a year ago, in July 2017. A political newcomer, he was not able…
WASHINGTON (AP) – A provocative new study says viruses that sneak into the brain just might play a role in Alzheimer’s. Some scientists have long suspected viruses or bacteria somehow set the stage for Alzheimer’s. Now, the main theory is that sticky brain-clogging plaques are the culprit. Thursday’s findings don’t prove viruses cause the mind-robbing disease but they promise to…
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Nine Minnesota businesses that rely on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area have sued the Interior Department, challenging its decision to reinstate the federal mineral rights leases for the planned Twin Metals copper-nickel mine near Ely. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on Thursday says the department’s decision was unlawful…
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s Instagram service is loosening its restraints on video in an attempt to lure younger viewers away from YouTube when they’re looking for something to watch on their smartphones. The expansion announced Wednesday, dubbed IGTV, will increase Instagram’s video time limit from one minute to 10 minutes for most users. Accounts with large audiences…
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee is on the short list to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020. Wisconsin’s largest city was among four cities to make the cut Wednesday by the DNC site selection committee. But the Denver Post is reporting that city, which also made the cut, is planning to withdraw its application. The two other cities are Houston…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. The 5-4 ruling Thursday is a win for states, who said they were losing out on billions of dollars annually under two decades-old Supreme Court decisions that impacted online sales tax collection. The high court ruled Thursday to overturn those decisions. They had resulted…
REMER, Minn. (AP) – Authorities have recovered the body of a 76-year-old man who drowned while swimming in a northern Minnesota lake. Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch says his office was notified Monday night of a drowning on Upper Menton Lake near Remer. Deputies and first responders arrived and recovered the man’s body from the lake. Deputies learned the man…
WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Koko, the gorilla who mastered sign language, has died. The Gorilla Foundation says the 46-year-old western lowland gorilla died in her sleep at the foundation’s preserve in California’s Santa Cruz mountains on Tuesday. Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo, and Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching the gorilla sign language that became part of a…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Authorities allege a teenager set fire to a 118-year-old church in central Minnesota in March 2016, causing several millions of dollars in damage. Prosecutors in Stearns County charged the teen with first-degree arson for allegedly setting fire to the Church of St. Mary in Melrose. The suspect was 13 at the time. Sheriff’s investigators interviewed…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – As the summer campfire season picks up Minnesota Poison Control has a warning about a product used to generate colored flames. KARE-TV reports the chemical, sold in a small foil packet, has sickened several young children in Minnesota, including one that was sent to the hospital. The Minnesota Poison Control center has handled four poisoning cases involving…
(AP) WASHINGTON (AP) – Ambassador Nikki Haley says the United States is withdrawing from the U.N. Human Rights Council, calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name.” Haley is President Donald Trump’s envoy to the United Nations. She says a year ago she made clear the U.S. would stay in the council only if “essential reforms were…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has joined with 20 other Democratic attorneys general nationwide in demanding that the Trump administration end a “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The state prosecutors say in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security…
(Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) – Michigan’s governor has issued disaster declarations for two counties in the state’s Upper Peninsula that suffered flooding damage due to heavy rains. Gov. Rick Snyder’s office says the Monday orders will allow the National Guard to deploy to Houghton and Menominee counties to help with road repairs. The declaration also allows…
ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) – Authorities have attributed another death in Wisconsin to the storms that caused widespread flooding in the Upper Midwest. The Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office says severe thunderstorms toppled a large oak tree onto a camper on Lake Chetac, killing a man inside and injuring a woman and two young children Sunday. The man is identified as 55-year-old…
ST. JAMES, Minn. (AP) – A southern Minnesota man has been charged in the fatal shootings of his wife and her adult daughter from a previous marriage. The Star Tribune reports that 59-year-old Scott Engelbrecht was charged with two counts of murder and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon Monday in Watonwan County. A criminal complaint says Engelbrecht…
(AP) MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (AP) – American Transmission Co. has purchased land to build a proposed electrical substation for the massive Foxconn Technology Group complex in southeast Wisconsin. The Kenosha News reports that ATC confirmed Monday that it purchased 33 acres of land in Mount Pleasant for $2.4 million. The utility plans to add lines between Kenosha County and Racine…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A bill containing a provision from Sen. Tina Smith to complete a land exchange between PolyMet Mining Corp. and the federal government has cleared the Senate. The Minnesota Democrat’s amendment is part of a big defense bill that passed 85-10 Monday. PolyMet needs the land for its planned copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. The company would get…
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Federal officials say a pathologist fired from an Arkansas veterans hospital for being “impaired on duty” misdiagnosed seven cases and that around 33,000 additional cases are being reviewed. The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks said Monday one error may have led to a death. Spokeswoman Wanda Shull says seven errors were found among…
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — There are over 1 billion firearms in the world today, including 857 million in civilian hands — with American men and women the dominant owners, according to a study released Monday. The Small Arms Survey says 393 million of the civilian-held firearms, 46 percent, are in the United States, which is “more than…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Public safety officials are raising concerns following a deadly weekend on Minnesota roads that saw nearly a dozen fatal crashes, with nearly half involving motorcyclists. The Minnesota State Patrol says the Friday through Sunday stretch is the deadliest on Minnesota roads since 2016, killing 11 people. Five deaths came from motorcycle crashes and one involved…
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is resolving partisan redistricting cases from Wisconsin and Maryland without ruling on the broader issue of whether electoral maps can give an unfair advantage to a political party. The justices unanimously ruled against Wisconsin Democrats who challenged legislative districts that gave Republicans a huge edge in the state legislature….
(Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota regulators open two days of final arguments Monday on whether they should approve Enbridge Energy’s proposal for replacing its deteriorating Line 3 crude oil pipeline from Canada across Minnesota. The plan has aroused intense opposition from tribal and climate-change activists who are encouraging supporters to pack the hearing room. Some opponents…
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. (AP) – A deputy went into a central Minnesota lake to rescue a woman from her sinking car. The Douglas County sheriff’s office says it happened Saturday night in a construction zone on Interstate 94 near Lake Latoka, southwest of Alexandria. The sheriff’s office says 76-year-old Beverly Toso, of Hoffman, couldn’t stop in time before she drove off…
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) DENVER (AP) — A 12-year-old boy told police he saw a driver open fire on his family during a road rage confrontation in Colorado, killing his older brother and critically wounding his mother and younger brother, authorities said Friday. Police arrested Jeremy Webster, 23, hours after the shooting that killed a 13-year-old boy and also wounded a…
photo courtesy: CNNBATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) – The Kellogg Company is voluntarily recalling some of its Honey Smacks cereal after salmonella infected 73 people in 31 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most of the outbreaks were in California, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. The recall affects 15.3-ounce packages with the UPS Code 3800039103 and 23-ounce packages…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota and Wisconsin health officials say a growing number of people are falling ill to infections linked to fresh produce. Both states are investigating an outbreak in infections caused by Cyclospora, a parasite commonly found in developing countries. Officials have confirmed 30 Wisconsin and 20 Minnesota cases linked to Del Monte brand vegetable trays. The Minnesota Department…
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is going to jail. Paul Manafort was ordered into custody Friday after a federal judge revoked his house arrest, citing newly filed obstruction of justice charges. The move by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson came after prosecutors accused Manafort and a longtime associate of witnesses tampering. Prosecutors say…
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say two riders fell 34 feet to the ground when a roller coaster derailed and eight others had to be pulled to safety high above the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. Daytona Beach Fire spokeswoman Sasha Staton says the front car came off the tracks Thursday night, and two of its four passengers suffered traumatic injuries…
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING (AP) — China’s government responded quickly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on Chinese goods by announcing Friday it will immediately impose penalties of “equal strength” on U.S. products. The Commerce Ministry said it also was scrapping deals to buy more American farm goods and other exports as part of efforts to defuse a sprawling dispute…
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Louis County Veterans Service Office in Duluth is moving on June 25. The office is currently located at 405 E Superior St and will be moving to a new spot at the Village Mall Office Building on Burning Tree Road. Due to the move the service center will be closed June 21 and June 22….
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A federal audit says the Minnesota agency responsible for protecting vulnerable adults in the state has failed to provide adequate oversight for 20 adult day care centers. The Star Tribune reports that the Office of Inspector General for the federal Department of Health and Human Services released the report last week. The agency found 200…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department has issued a stinging rebuke to the FBI for its handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The report released Thursday calls former FBI Director James Comey “insubordinate” and says his actions were “extraordinary.” But the report, by the department’s watchdog, does not find evidence that Comey was motivated by political bias or preference…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has struck down a Minnesota law that restricted what voters can wear to polls. The justices ruled Thursday that the law violates the First Amendment. Still, the justices’ 7-2 ruling suggested that some restrictions on what people can wear to vote are permissible. Most states have laws restricting what voters can wear to cast…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A western Minnesota man faces federal charges that he illegally possessed 10 machine guns as well as unregistered pipe bombs and silencers. A federal grand jury indicted 46-year-old Chad Lee Monson of Willmar on numerous firearms violations last week. Monson returns to U.S. District Court for a detention hearing and arraignment Friday. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports…
AP Photo/Evan Vucci/newsfileNEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s foundation served as a personal piggy bank for his businesses, legal bills and presidential campaign, New York’s attorney general said Wednesday as she sued the charity, Trump and three of his children. The Donald J. Trump Foundation “was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses…
WALKER, Minn. (AP) – The body of a missing boater has been recovered from a Cass County lake. Sheriff’s officials say he was thrown from a boat along with another man on Hay Lake near Backus Tuesday afternoon. The other man was rescued and was treated for minor injuries. The other man’s body was recovered late Wednesday afternoon. The Minnesota…
