MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Stocks fell again Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s impending announcement on interest rates. This week’s losses come on worries that high inflation will push the central bank to hit the brakes too hard to slow demand. Something else aimed at easing inflation is heading to the President’s desk, a bipartisan piece of legislation on shipping reform. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, gives the U.S. more power to regulate international shipping. Consumers in St. Louis Park are feeling the pain. “The prices are going up up up through the roof,” Brandon Hole sai ..read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — A new bill establishing a juvenile guardianship process for at-risk youth ages 18-21 was signed into law Monday. The bill signed by Gov. Tim Walz is meant to help ensure that those youth receive resources necessary for their health, safety and education. Before, the state of Minnesota only had a process in place for youth under the age of 18. This created an issue for immigrant youth 18-21 years old attempting to gain immigration protection under Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. (credit: CBS) SIJS is an immigration classification that allows for individuals to appl ..read more

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has reached a deal. It means U.S. gun laws could soon be changing. Esme Murphy has been checking in with Minnesota leaders on what is being called breakthrough legislation. It is the first time in a generation that enough Democrats and Republicans have agreed on any form of gun control legislation. The announcement was made by a bipartisan group of Senators Sunday and it is just as significant for what it does not have in the proposal as what it does have. It does not have universal background checks or universal red flag provisions. It ..read more

Originally published June 12 MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — You don’t have to be told about how bad inflation is — you see it for yourself every day. Take gasoline: it’s $4.75 a gallon in Minnesota and the current national average is $5.01. In an effort to rein in inflation, the Federal Reserve later this week is expected to meet and raise interest rates. But as Esme Murphy tells us in this edition of Talking Points, raising interest rates is a painful remedy for consumers. It’s a gut check at the pump and the grocery store, but even those little luxuries we allow ourselves are also suddenly not so litt ..read more

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — You don’t have to be told about how bad inflation is — you see it for yourself every day. Take gasoline: it’s $4.75 a gallon in Minnesota and the current national average is $5.01. In an effort to rein in inflation, the Federal Reserve later this week is expected to meet and raise interest rates. But as Esme Murphy tells us in this edition of Talking Points, raising interest rates is a painful remedy for consumers. It’s a gut check at the pump and the grocery store, but even those little luxuries we allow ourselves are also suddenly not so little anymore. According to Nerd ..read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — A new federal law named for a Minnesota rape survivor establishes a grant program supporting trauma-informed trainings at police departments to improve law enforcement response to sexual assault cases. The “Abby Honold Act” instructs the Department of Justice to create a program that awards competitive grants to law enforcement agencies that implement trauma-informed, victim-centered techniques when responding to and investigating domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. “To be able to take by far the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life and to be ab ..read more

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin elections officials voted Friday to allow Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate to stay on the Republican primary ballot in the presidential battleground state, pushing aside a Democratic challenge to his nomination papers. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously to allow construction company co-owner Tim Michels to appear on the ballot. Michels entered the race in late April, joining three other candidates vying for the Republican nomination: former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, state Rep. Tim Ramthun and business consultant Kevin Nicholson. Tr ..read more

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Parole Commission Chairman John Tate resigned Friday, a month after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers made a hasty appeal to Tate in the midst of Republican criticism over parole plans for a convicted murderer. Evers, who asked Tate to step down, had come under fire from GOP gubernatorial candidates when Douglas Balsewicz appeared to be on his way to freedom last month after serving less than 25 years of his 80-year sentence for stabbing his wife to death in 1997. Instead, Tate changed his mind after the governor said the family hadn’t gotten a chance to fully respond t ..read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — Advocates and state leaders are celebrating a new law named for a Minnesota rape survivor. It’s designed to improve how law enforcement responds to cases of domestic violence and sexual assault. In Congress, Minnesota leaders pushed it over the finish line, thanks to one woman’s courageous fight to improve the process of reporting for survivors. Abby Honold called 911 after she was raped by another student while attending the University of Minnesota eight years ago. “I was traumatized, I was a teenager,” Honold said. But she says the response that followed intensified ..read more

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government said Friday that it will distribute $60 million among 12 states that have waterways that flow into the Mississippi River to help them control farm runoff and other pollution that contribute to a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The money comes from the infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed in November, the Environmental Protection Agency said. Radhika Fox, EPA assistant administrator for water, made the announcement with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig in Des Moines. “The Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico watershed is an ic ..read more