Minnesota – News Stories About Minnesota - Page 35

States Act Aggressively
to Fight Foreclosures

Apr 4, 2008 11:17 AM CDT

States Act Aggressively to Fight Foreclosures

Unwilling to wait for the federal wrangling, states make bold moves

(Newser) - State lawmakers aren’t sitting around waiting for Washington to solve the mortgage crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, many are taking aggressive steps to ease borrower pain, sometimes running afoul of lenders in the process. Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota all have bills in the works to impose a...

Minn. Senator Klobuchar
OKs Obama

Mar 31, 2008 2:28 PM CDT

Minn. Senator Klobuchar OKs Obama

Hillary and Barack now tied with support of 14 colleagues apiece

(Newser) - Amy Klobuchar endorsed Barack Obama today, saying her Senate colleague can "dissolve the hard cynical edge that has dominated our politics.” Obama and Hillary Clinton are now tied in upper house support, Talking Points Memo reports, with each Dem boasting 14 Senate backers. The vote among the Senate...

6-Year-Old Injured in Pool Accident Dies

Mar 22, 2008 10:47 AM CDT

6-Year-Old Injured in Pool Accident Dies

Horrific injury led to new safety regs on swimming pool drains

(Newser) - The little girl whose injury from a swimming pool drain spurred new safety laws has lost her fight for life, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Six-year-old Abigail Taylor died Thursday evening after transplant surgery failed to restore the part of her intestinal track that was ripped out by a powerful drain...

Midwest Flood Death Toll at 16

Mar 21, 2008 4:20 PM CDT

Midwest Flood Death Toll at 16

Flood crests expected over weekend; snow blasts Minnesota, Chicago

(Newser) - Storms that caused flooding across the country's midsection have killed 16 people, and bad weather remains a threat, the AP reports. A snowstorm battering Minnesota and Illinois grounded hundreds of flights, and forecasters predicted a 9-inch total. Thousands were forced into shelters as rivers continued to swell; in many states,...

States Weigh Lowering Drinking Age

Mar 21, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

States Weigh Lowering Drinking Age

Battlefield-bar disparity irks during wartime, argue supporters

(Newser) - Several states are considering lowering the drinking age, spurred in part by concerns that teenage service members can fight overseas but can’t drink at home, USA Today reports. Kentucky, Wisconsin, and South Carolina are weighing a military-only change to alcohol laws, while other states may lower the legal age...

In the Works:
Wireless Bill of Rights

Mar 21, 2008 3:33 PM CDT

In the Works: Wireless Bill of Rights

States fight feds over who will regulate

(Newser) - Wireless carriers seem to have angered a few too many consumers with hidden fees and surprise charges. Politicians in 22 states are considering various versions of a wireless consumers’ bill of rights, reports BusinessWeek. But the wireless industry, daunted at facing different regulations in every state, is throwing its weight...

Gambler Sues Casinos for $20M

Mar 9, 2008 5:30 AM CDT

Gambler Sues Casinos for $20M

Gambling 'addict' says dens failed to stop her from blowing $1 million

(Newser) - A former New York attorney is suing seven casinos for $20 million, claiming they helped woo her to the tables, and let her continue to play and lose despite an obvious gambling addiction. Workers at Atlantic City and Las Vegas gambling dens should have stopped her from blowing $1 million...

'Actors' Beat Smoking Ban
in Minn. Bars

Mar 6, 2008 8:21 PM CST

'Actors' Beat Smoking Ban in Minn. Bars

Owners exploit loophole that lets thespians light up

(Newser) - Stage performers are the only exception to the new smoking ban in Minnesota bars, so patrons are turning temporarily thespian and lighting up. The only props required at some of the 30 bars working the loophole are cigarettes and ashtrays—though some get more creative. "They're playing themselves before...

Daughter to Thief: Please Return Mom's Ashes

Feb 28, 2008 4:50 AM CST

Daughter to Thief: Please Return Mom's Ashes

Minnesota burglar grabbed bag of ashes stashed in jewelry box

(Newser) - A Minnesota woman had planned to scatter her late mother's ashes on a vacation this summer—but they've been stolen by a burglar, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. The distraught daughter says the thief can keep the jewelry and electronic equipment he stole but she desperately wants the ashes back. "...

Pumas Prowl Midwest

Feb 22, 2008 7:42 PM CST

Pumas Prowl Midwest

Big cats migrate east in search of prey

(Newser) - Pumas, normally prowlers of the Rocky Mountains, are slowly pushing east, ecologists say, which has led to a rash of sightings throughout the Midwest. Wisconsin just had its first confirmed puma sighting in over a century, and since 1990 the big cats have cropped up in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and...

4 Kids Killed in School Bus Crash

Feb 20, 2008 4:10 AM CST

4 Kids Killed in School Bus Crash

Many injured in horrific scene

(Newser) - Four young students heading home were killed yesterday when their school bus was broadsided by a van on a rural highway in southwestern Minnesota, the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star-Tribune reports. "Some of these kids were so little," said a motorist who helped evacuate children from the rooftop emergency hatch...

McCain VP
Talk Centers
on Minn. Gov

Feb 18, 2008 9:27 AM CST

McCain VP Talk Centers on Minn. Gov

'Conservative, rock-n-roll' Pawlenty has been staunch ally

(Newser) - Maybe John McCain “has not spent one second thinking about a running mate,” as one adviser insists, but when he does, many observers expect his attention to turn to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. “He’s a conservative, rock-n-roll Republican and is counterintuitive to the party stereotype,”...

Illness Linked to Pig Brains

Feb 4, 2008 9:41 AM CST

Illness Linked to Pig Brains

Slaughterhouse workers report burning, numbness, weakness in limbs

(Newser) - A dozen workers at a Minnesota slaughterhouse are showing symptoms of a new illness linked to inhaling bits of pig brains, the Washington Post reports. Symptoms include sensations of burning, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs. All of the afflicted worked at or near the Austin packing house’...

Towns Battle for 'Icebox of US' Status—in Court

Jan 14, 2008 9:00 AM CST

Towns Battle for 'Icebox of US' Status—in Court

Cold war between Colorado, Minnesota towns heads to court

(Newser) - Who's the coldest one of all? A court will have to decide, because the battle is on between International Falls, Minn., and Fraser, Colo. Both claim the right to boast of being the "Icebox of the Nation," the Summit Daily News of Frisco, Colo., reports. Fraser sued International...

31 States Ring In New Laws
for New Year

Jan 2, 2008 3:15 AM CST

31 States Ring In New Laws for New Year

From minimum wage hikes to approval for kangaroo-hide shoes

(Newser) - Anyone planning to import shoes made of kangaroo hide into California can legally begin this year—but they'd better not try to sell any foreign-made US flags in Minnesota. Both states are among 31 that launched a host of new laws beginning New Year's Day, some of them rather unusual,...

Blizzard Death Toll Hits 22

UPDATED

Dec 24, 2007 3:38 PM CST

Blizzard Death Toll Hits 22

Snow and howling winds wreak havoc in nation's heartland

(Newser) - The death toll from a winter storm that pummeled the upper Midwest rose to 22 today, the AP reports. The worst of the storm is over for the region, but it left behind icy highways and downed power lines, especially in Wisconsin, Illinois, and upper Michigan. Remnants of the storm...

No (Funny) Bones About Franken's Run

Dec 5, 2007 5:56 PM CST

No (Funny) Bones About Franken's Run

Comedian says bid for Senate in Minn. is serious business

(Newser) - Comedian Al Franken's campaign for a Minnesota Senate seat is unconventional, the New York Times reports—and it's serious. Best known for his stint on Saturday Night Live and stingingly partisan attacks on the right, Franken is busy proving he can look senatorial. “Minnesotans know what’s a joke...

Trucks Pack on Illegal Pounds

Nov 15, 2007 1:17 PM CST

Trucks Pack on Illegal Pounds

Light penalties, costly gas make cheating attractive; roads and bridges take beating

(Newser) - More American truckers are carrying illegally heavy loads, looking to offset diminished manpower and skyrocketing fuel prices—and light fines encourage cheating, the Christian Science Monitor reports. With road damage at issue following August's Minnesota bridge collapse, 30% of trucks are reportedly overloaded—and each of the 8 million tractor-trailers...

Doggone It,
Will People Like
Sen. Franken?

Nov 5, 2007 8:53 PM CST

Doggone It, Will People Like Sen. Franken?

New York explores his blend of comedy, politics in Senate bid

(Newser) - Al Franken’s thus far successful run for US Senate has seen the comic playing a careful hand, getting serious on the trail but bringing along just enough humor to be himself. Politicians “need to be entertaining. But not too entertaining,” says New York’s Ariel Levy in...

Green Mountain State Is in the Pink

Nov 5, 2007 4:03 PM CST

Green Mountain State Is in the Pink

Preventive medicine helps Vt. wrest 'healthiest state' crown from Minn.

(Newser) - Vermont is the nation's healthiest state, beating out Minnesota, which has topped the list for the past 4 years. The ranking system takes into 20 factors, such as infant mortality, obesity, and even high school graduation rates, USA Today reports. Mississippi was ranked the country's unhealthiest state, one notch below...