(AP) – Churches in California and Minnesota are challenging state pandemic restrictions in court, contending that they are violations of religious liberty. They’re the latest in a series of lawsuits, many in California, arguing that houses of worship should be exempt from certain limits on public gatherings. Most have been rebuffed; some have succeeded. In Minnesota, a federal lawsuit challenges…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to fast-track a challenge to absentee ballot rules for the November general election that were liberalized due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump’s campaign, Minnesota Republican Party and other GOP groups are appealing a lower court ruling. Chief Justice Lorie Gildea informed the parties Wednesday that the high court…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank delivered a sobering message Wednesday about the state’s flagship campus as the fall semester looms, saying “we’re in a real financial crisis” due to the coronavirus pandemic. How bad the crisis will depend on several factors, Blank said in an online presentation at the Rotary Club of Madison. Those include…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz named Jim Schowalter as his new commissioner of management and budget Wednesday to replace Myron Frans, who left his administration for a senior post at the University of Minnesota. Schowalter is returning to an agency he led in Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration. He also served as budget director under Gov. Tim Pawlenty….
(Scott Takushi/Pioneer Press via AP) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A massive blaze that destroyed a hotel project under construction in downtown St. Paul was arson, authorities said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives announced that determination Tuesday, along with the St. Paul Fire Department, St. Paul Police Department and Minnesota state fire marshal’s division. Investigators concluded the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin are among the Wisconsin officeholders who will speak during next week’s Democratic National Convention, which will be based out of Milwaukee. The four-day event to formally nominate Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate for president has been scaled back to a nearly all virtual event due to the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Long-term care facilities in Minnesota soon will be allowed to open up more to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic but will have to follow the state’s strict guidance. The Minnesota Department of Health on Monday outlined the new visitation guidelines, which take effect Aug. 29. The guidance includes several factors, such as the latest COVID-19…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted by a U.S. Secret Service agent out of the White House briefing room as he was beginning a coronavirus briefing Monday afternoon. He returned minutes later, saying there was a “shooting” outside the White House that was “under control.” “There was an actual shooting and somebody’s been taken…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters have requested more than 900,000 absentee ballots for Tuesday’s primary, more than seven times what they requested in the August primary in 2018, according to data state elections officials released Monday. The sheer volume of applications is another sign of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact as voters try to avoid infection at the polls. According…
STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) – One of the first Minnesota National Guard units to respond to unrest following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis is headed out on a new mission. The Stillwater-based 34th Military Police Company is deploying on a yearlong mission to provide security at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. A send-off ceremony Sunday at the Stillwater armory was scaled back…
LAKE PARK, Minn. (AP) — Thirty grieving members of a family in a small northwestern Minnesota town have contracted the coronavirus after attending a funeral for a loved one. The family of 78-year-old Francis Perreault gathered at the Catholic church in the Becker County community of Lake Park in mid-July to celebrate his life. Yet despite wearing masks and taking…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money are teetering on the brink of collapse after a marathon meeting in the Capitol generated lots of recriminations but little progress on the top issues confronting negotiators. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says: “There’s a handful of very big issues that we are still very far apart” on. Mnuchin says there…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers divvied out about $32 million in federal aid Thursday to University of Wisconsin System schools to cover coronavirus tests and personal protective equipment when students return to campuses next month. The money will come from the coronavirus relief bill that Congress passed in May. UW-Madison will receive about $8 million. The other 12…
LAKE DELTON, Wis. (AP) — A popular Wisconsin Dells attraction will remain closed for the rest of the season after two employees tested positive for the coronavirus. Noah’s Ark Waterpark announced Wednesday that it has decided to keep the park closed for the rest of the 2020 season. Noah’s Ark says the health of its guests, employees, and the Wisconsin Dells community…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — St. Louis County in northeastern Minnesota this week has added new coronavirus cases faster than any other county in the state, according to health officials. Of the 475 cases in St. Louis County as of Wednesday, more than half were confirmed in July. The virus has been detected throughout the state’s geographically largest county, but about…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired. The Labor Department’s report marked the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people have sought jobless aid. Before the pandemic hit hard…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota, which has seen an uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, is bracing to host hundreds of thousands of bikers for the 80th edition of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. More than 250,000 people are expected to attend the Aug. 7 to Aug. 16 rally in western South Dakota, which could make it the…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A group of voters sued Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials on Tuesday to try to block a requirement that voters wear face masks at the polling place to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Members of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, backed by Republican lawmakers, argue that Walz’s mask mandate conflicts with a 1963 state law making…
(courtesy: WI Dept of Health Services via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers says he has no secret plans to ban in-person instruction for Wisconsin’s K-12 students this fall. Republican lawmakers are worried that Evers is planning to order schools to close their doors and offer online instruction only, as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. But the governor…
(AP Photo/Jim Mone) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is again asking for federal help to rebuild from the unrest that followed George Floyd’s death. Walz said Monday he has requested a U.S. Small Business Administration disaster declaration that would free up low-interest loans to help property owners rebuild. “We remain committed to working with the impacted…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge on Monday extended changes in Minnesota’s absentee ballot rules to the November general election. Ramsey County Judge Sara Grewing approved the agreement allowing Minnesota voters to submit their mail-in or absentee ballots in the Nov. 3 general election without witness signatures, the Star Tribune reported. Election officials also will count ballots that arrive within seven…
(courtesy: WI Dept of Health Services via AP) MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is endorsing Joe Biden for president. The move announced Monday comes after Evers declined to endorse anyone in the primary and just two weeks before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Biden has promised to make the trip to Milwaukee…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota faces a potential $4.7 billion deficit in its next two-year budget due to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The Minnesota Management and Budget office said Friday that the pandemic has made economic conditions “extremely volatile” as a new planning estimate shows a continued deterioration of state finances. Minnesota has received more than $2…
CANTON, Mass. (AP) — Dunkin’ Brands Inc. expects to close up to 800 underperforming U.S. stores this year as it tries to shore up its portfolio in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The company had previously announced the closure of 450 stores within Speedway gas stations. But the company said Thursday it’s targeting an additional 350 stores, most of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota state officials on Thursday unveiled a plan to reopen schools this fall that gives districts some flexibility to toggle between in-person and online learning, but reserves the right for the state to step in if the coronavirus gets out of control. Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged the importance of schools and the value of in-person learning but…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday issued a statewide mask mandate amid a spike in coronavirus cases, setting up a conflict with Republican legislative leaders who oppose such a requirement and successfully sued earlier to kill a “safer at home” order. The Democrat Evers declared a new public health emergency, after his initial one expired in…
ATLANTA (AP) — Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after battling the coronavirus. He was 74. A post on Cain’s Twitter account on Thursday announced the death. Cain had been ill with the virus for several weeks. It’s not clear when or where he was infected, but he was hospitalized less than two weeks after attending President Donald…
(courtesy: Fox 9) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz is set Thursday to announce guidance for school districts to reopen in the fall as the coronavirus has accelerated statewide in recent weeks. State health and education officials last month asked school districts to prepare for three scenarios: in-person learning for all students, distance learning as in the spring, or a…
(Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, File) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis Charter Commission on Wednesday rejected sending voters a referendum on eliminating a minimum staffing requirement in the city police department. The 15-member commission voted 8-6 against putting the proposal on the November ballot, with one member absent. The proposal was an alternative to a more aggressive change in the…
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Corrections is moving the state’s prisoner intake operations from the St. Cloud prison where the number of coronavirus cases has spiked. The intake function will move to the Lino Lakes prison north of the Twin Cities this week, and will remain there “for the foreseeable future” to allow the St. Cloud…
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago added Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota to the list of states where people who are traveling to the city must quarantine for two weeks as Illinois learned that its own residents must do the same when they travel to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. Chicago officials said that beginning Friday, anyone from those states…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin System has received $2 million from an anonymous donor to beef up online learning this semester as schools struggle to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, system officials said Monday. Interim System President Tommy Thompson told reporters during a video conference that he couldn’t say when the system received the money but most…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors in the cases against four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd said Monday that they do not want audio or visual coverage of the trials, but they did not provide a reason. Derek Chauvin and three other former officers are scheduled to go on trial in March….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings vice president of sports medicine Eric Sugarman, who’s in charge of the organization’s virus prevention plan, has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced Monday. In a statement from the Vikings, Sugarman said he and his family members immediately quarantined themselves and began following the NFL’s appropriate protocols after testing positive over the weekend. Sugarman,…
NEW YORK (AP) — Target is joining Walmart in closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day, ending a decade long tradition of jump-starting Black Friday doorbuster sales. The move, announced Monday, comes as stores are rethinking the Black Friday in-store bargain shopping as they try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen a resurgence in a slew of…
(AP) — The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it’s one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race. The needed proof: Whether more people who get dummy shots become infected than…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin recorded more than 1,000 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases for a third day out of the past four on Friday. The latest figures from the state Department of Health Services continue a spike in cases that began in mid-June and shows few signs of slowing. There were 1,018 newly reported cases on Friday, bringing the state’s total…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal COVID-19 response team provided Minnesota health officials with recommendations for improvements Friday in the state’s pandemic response following a recent rise in cases statewide. The COVID-19 Response Assistance Field Team was sent to Minnesota by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. It arrived earlier this week hoping to slow a rise in new cases….
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has canceled segments of the Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus. Convention events will still be held in North Carolina. “To have a big convention is not the right time,” Trump said of Jacksonville. Trump moved parts of the GOP convention to…
NEW YORK (AP) — The operator of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the latest retailer to do so during the pandemic. Mahwah, New Jersey-based Ascena Retail Group Inc., which operates nearly 3,000 stores mostly at malls, had been dragged down by debt and weak sales for years. As part of its bankruptcy…
(AP) – The NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will go by the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season, giving the organization time to choose a new, full-time name. The club announced the placeholder name Thursday, ahead of the start of training camp next week. “The decision to use ‘Washington Football Team’ for this season allows the franchise…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) NEW YORK (AP) — A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for planning to release a book about Trump before November’s election. Michael Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Racine, Green Bay, and Superior joined Madison and Milwaukee as Wisconsin cities that passed mandates requiring people to wear masks in certain public settings, though Gov. Tony Evers has resisted issuing a statewide order like those in place in many nearby states. More than half of states have statewide mask mandates, including Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign a police accountability bill into law Thursday that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis. The bill, passed by the Legislature earlier this week, also bans chokeholds and so-called warrior-style training, which critics say promotes excessive force….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of tax evasion. Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County with six counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2014 through 2019 and three…
ST. PAUL, Minn.-Gov. Tim Walz is requiring Minnesotans to wear face masks to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Walz signed an executive order Wednesday requiring Minnesotans to wear a face-covering in indoor businesses and indoor public settings. The order takes effect Saturday. Walz said in a statement “there’s no better way to demonstrate our Minnesotan values than…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce a statewide face mask mandate on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The governor has scheduled a news conference with health officials and business owners to announce his “next steps in the state’s response to COVID-19.” His spokesman said it will be an announcement…
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge on Tuesday lifted a gag order in the criminal case against four former officers charged in death of George Floyd, but said he would take a news media coalition’s request to make body camera footage more widely available under advisement. Even though the gag order was vacated, Hennepin…
NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart Inc. said that it will be closing its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the coronavirus. The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by two dozen Wisconsin residents challenging a variety of local stay-at-home orders enacted to curb the spread of the coronavirus. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach on Monday dismissed the challenge, filed in May, saying those bringing it did not properly join all of the defendants into one lawsuit. That mistake requires…
