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A police officer stands near a squad car

Twenty years later, Fosston's police force returns

For decades, small towns have been disbanding police departments to save money, or more recently, because they can’t find officers to staff the department. But the northern Minnesota town of Fosston is challenging the trend by rebuilding a police force more than 20 years after it was eliminated.
Butch Thompson

Butch Thompson, jazz pianist with 'A Prairie Home Companion' dies

When Thompson was 12, he saw Louis Armstrong perform in Minneapolis at the Northrop Auditorium, which fueled his early pursuit of jazz.
  • ListenPianist Butch Thompson looks back on 40 years of Prairie Home
  • 2013Butch Thompson, a Minnesota jazz classic for the ages
  • More'Minnesota Sounds and Voices' special
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.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., appears at an Election Day gathering in Jackson, Wyo., to concede defeat in a GOP primary to Harriet Hageman, who was backed by former President Trump. Cheney vows that she will carry on her work to make sure Trump doesn't return to the presidency.

Liz Cheney just lost her House seat, but her fight against Trump continues

Liz Cheney's sustained criticism of former President Trump made her one of his top political targets. She has pledged her chief goal is to make sure he never wins back the White House.
  • Who is Harriet Hageman?The woman who beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming House race
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.
The exterior of a building with the sign "Planned Parenthood"

Planned Parenthood to spend record $50M in midterm elections

The nation's leading abortion rights advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections. It's pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot.
Back to School Inflation

Target's profit sinks after it cut prices to clear inventory

Target has reported solid sales for the fiscal second quarter but its profits plunged nearly 90 percent because it slashed prices to clear inventories of clothing, home goods and other discretionary items. 
Muhammad Masood

Pakistani doctor pleads guilty to terror charge in Minnesota

A Pakistani doctor and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator has pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge, more than two years after he was arrested for telling paid FBI informants that he pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group.
George Floyd Officers Explainer Prison

Ex-cop Lane will report to Colorado prison in Floyd killing

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, who was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, has been ordered to report to a low-security federal prison camp in Colorado in two weeks.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, flashes a thumbs-up to a passing motorist while waving signs, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Murkowski advances in Alaska Senate race, Palin in House

Under a voter-approved elections process being used for the first time in Alaska elections this year, party primaries have been scrapped and ranked choice voting is being used in general elections.
Union Pacific’s Big Boy steam engine sits on the tracks.

White House receives plan on ending railway contract dispute

A railroad strike could devastate businesses that rely on Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX and other major freight railroads to deliver raw materials and ship their products. That's why Congress isn't likely to allow a strike to happen. In past national rail labor disputes, lawmakers have voted to impose terms on the railroads before workers could strike.
A new rule from the Food and Drug Administration could allow some American adults to buy hearing aids without costly doctor's visits as soon as October.

Millions of Americans will soon be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription

A new FDA rule allows adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss to buy hearing aids over the counter. Efforts to make them more affordable and accessible have been in the works for years.
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.
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.
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.
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