A group of pro-life advocates and lawmakers accuse Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of only half-heartedly defending the state’s 24-hour abortion waiting period from a court challenge. Republican Representative Steve Drazkowksi from Mazeppa says Ellison didn’t use a key legal motion that’s been effective in other cases and his “transparently political motivations are shining brightly […]

As Senator Amy Klobuchar and Democratic rivals prepare for tonight’s fourth presidential debate, former Congressman Republican Jason Lewis has rolled out his 10-point “Contract with Minnesota” in his bid to unseat Democratic Senator Tina Smith. Among Lewis’s pledges: re-open Minnesota’s Iron Range for business by supporting PolyMet, Twin Metals and Enbridge Line 3. Lewis says […]

A man from South Saint Paul has pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting two police officers in July 2018. Prosecutors say 34-year-old Dustin Bilderback walked away from a group home when officers were talking to his case worker about whether to put him on a 72-hour mental health hold. When […]

The legal battle over a Saint Cloud couple’s refusal to provide wedding video services for same-sex marriages is headed back to federal district court. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero say they’ll defend the state Human Rights Law in district court rather than appealing a recent ruling that revived a […]

An “epidemic” of vaping by Minnesota students — that’s the topic of a statewide conference call that Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker and Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm have with teachers, school nurses and support staff this morning (9am). Ricker says she’s heard concerns almost every time she’s talked with school leaders: “Not only this is […]

A major with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department was demoted and is on leave after his squad S-U-V was found abandoned in a ditch near a bar in northwestern Wisconsin last weekend, reports the Star Tribune. According to the accident report, Robert Staupe called Burnett County dispatch the next morning, saying he was the person […]

Quinn Nystrom, a leading advocate at the State Capitol for a insulin assistance program, has launched a bid for U-S House in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Republican Pete Stauber. Nystrom was leery when state Senate Republicans proposed drug makers provide free insulin to those who can’t afford it. “For them […]

Progress on an assistance program for those who can’t afford insulin remains stalemated at the State Capitol, despite Governor Tim Walz and Democrats making another round of overtures to Senate Republicans. The sticking-point still appears to be whether the pharmaceutical industry will help pay for the program so the state budget doesn’t pick up the […]

Governor Tim Walz says he supports a total ban on flavored e-cigarettes in Minnesota, citing a significant increase in vaping by youth. Walz proposes “banning the flavors all across the board, to include menthol, which has always been a technique of getting at [the youth market] too.” It appears any ban would require approval by […]

One in four Minnesota 11th-graders report they used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days — a 54-percent increase over three years, according to the latest Minnesota Student Survey. And state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says nearly twice as many 8th-graders as in 2016 — 11 percent — report that they’ve vaped. “There is an […]