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Staff utilize protective wear while working with COVID-19 patients

More than 200,000 pandemic ‘hero pay’ applications in Minnesota face denial

State officials say nearly 18 percent of applications for pandemic “hero” bonuses in Minnesota are facing denial.
A person talks during a press conference

Nurses in Twin Cities, Duluth vote to authorize strike

About 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of going on strike, if negotiations don’t resolve differences with management of several health systems in the Twin Cities and Duluth.
A wildfire smolders along a hillside

Favorable weather helps crews make progress toward containing Isle Royale wildfire

Favorable weather conditions have helped crews make good progress toward containing a wildfire at Isle Royale National Park, and allowed park officials to reopen some trails and campgrounds.
Period products are seen in a Scottish supermarket in 2020, when Scotland's parliament initially approved legislation to make such products available for free.

Scotland becomes the first country to offer tampons and pads for free

Studies have shown that a significant number of people struggle to afford menstrual products, and going without can cause people to miss school or work.
People speak in front of a podium.

Minneapolis mayor proposes more investment in public safety, affordable housing

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey is proposing more than $3 billion in spending over two years in a city budget with increases in public safety and affordable housing funds.
  • 2021Frey highlights public safety, housing in proposed budget
  • MN Supreme Courtsays Frey has 'clear legal duty' to hire more police
  • Read the reportKey takeaways from MN Human Rights investigation of MPD

Trial in nearly 30 year old murder case begins Tuesday

The murder case of Jeanette Childs, 35 went ‘cold’ after years of no solid leads.  But in 2019, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced it had enough evidence to show that Jerry Westrom was the man who stabbed Childs to death in her Minneapolis apartment in 1993.  Westrom’s attorney says that evidence is thin.
Six women in a collage

Wave of young, diverse Minnesota politicians sees path to power after primary wins

“Minnesota is being very clear right now that we are ready for young people and people of color to lead the state,” said Zaynab Mohamed, 25, part of a new generation of young, diverse politicians who won their August primaries and are expected to take power in January.
A group of people gather in a large lecture hall style room.

What's in big Biden bill? Health, climate goals become law

President Joe Biden arrived at the White House promising to “build back” America, and on Tuesday he's signing into law legislation with a slimmer version of that idea.
4moms is recalling more than 2 million MamaRoo and RockaRoo swings and rockers over entanglement and strangulation hazards posed by the straps that hang down.

More than 2 million baby swings and rockers are recalled after an infant's death

4moms is recalling MamaRoos and RockaRoos due to entanglement hazards from straps that hang down from the rockers and swings when not in use. At least one baby has died as a result of asphyxiation.
The aftermath of a wildfire in northern Minnesota

From its start one year ago, Greenwood Fire changed landscape of northeast Minnesota

The Greenwood Fire was first spotted one year ago. By the time it was extinguished months later it had burned thousands of acres and destroyed more than a dozen homes and cabins — part of a fire season that prompted a closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
  • 2021More than 300 firefighters now working to contain Greenwood Fire
  • EarlierReplanting a resilient forest in the ashes of the Greenwood Fire
Students on campus at the University of Michigan.

Colleges ease COVID-19 restrictions as fall semester begins for millions of students

Requirements to test and mask and be vaccinated are becoming less common as colleges shift away from treating COVID-19 as an emergency.
U.S. House candidate former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin greets the crowd during a rally held by former President Donald Trump on July 9 in Anchorage.

Sarah Palin faces Alaska voters again in a special election for Congress

Over a decade after she ran for vice president and then resigned as Alaska governor, Palin is in both a special election for U.S. House on Tuesday and a primary for the full term starting next year.
CHOWCHILLA, CA - MARCH 02: Valley State Prison inmate Will Caldwell cuts the hair of a prison employee during a cosmetology class at Valley State Prison on March 2, 2017 in Chowchilla, California.

What people really make (and spend) behind bars

The Marshall Project asked people in prison to track their earning and spending — and bartering and side hustles — for 30 days. Their accounts reveal a thriving underground economy behind bars.
Registered pharmacist Sapana Patel, loads a syringe with monkeypox vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in West Hollywood, Calif.

How to keep your pets safe from monkeypox — and what to do if they get it

Animal carriers of the virus include various rodents, dogs, primates, hedgehogs and shrews, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A package of Aviane birth control pills. The federal program known as Title X provides birth control, tests for sexually transmitted infections, and offers other reproductive health care for low-income patients.

Title X advocates worry that birth control may go the same way as abortion

A Supreme Court ruling overturned Roe v. Wade. Now there's a big push to increase funding for Title X, a federal program that offers birth control and other reproductive care to low-income patients.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming speaks at a hearing held by the House Jan. 6 committee. Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the committee, is facing a likely defeat in Tuesday's GOP primary in Wyoming.

Liz Cheney is facing a likely primary defeat in Wyoming. Here's why

Cheney, who has spoken out clearly against former President Donald Trump, is down by 20 points in primary polls — and her approval ratings are in the tank among Wyoming Republicans.
Large desktop computer stands on a desk with a computer monitor. The monitor shows a video game with soldiers attacking. There is a keyboard, mouse and headphones on the desk as well. Digitally generated image.

Burnout turned Twitch streamers' dreams of playing games full time into nightmares

Playing video games for a living sounds like a dream job. But toxic fans and demanding schedules can turn that dream into a nightmare.
A COVID-19 vaccination center in London. The United Kingdom has become the first country to approve an omicron-specific booster shot.

The U.K. approved omicron-specific booster shots. They're coming to the U.S. soon

In the U.S., officials have asked vaccine makers to target BA.5, rather than the original omicron strain. That has delayed the boosters' development — but officials hope they will be more effective.
Rural communities with struggling hospitals often turn to outside investors willing to take over their health care centers. Some are willing to sell the hospitals for next to nothing to companies that promise to keep them running.

Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies

Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they're selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.
Sacheen Littlefeather appears at the Academy Awards ceremony to announce that Marlon Brando was declining his Oscar as best actor for his role in The Godfather, on March 27, 1973.

The Academy apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for her treatment at the 1973 Oscars

In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather spoke on behalf of Marlon Brando at the Oscars about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
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