MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Religious colleges that require students to sign a statement of faith cannot be excluded from a popular Minnesota program that lets high school students take college courses for credit, a federal judge has ruled, tossing a state law that she called an unconstitutional violation of religious freedom. The ruling late Friday from…
Shares of UnitedHealth Group are surging before the market open Friday as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it recently purchased shares of the beleaguered insurer. Berkshire Hathaway bought around 5 million shares of UnitedHealth last quarter, according to a regulatory filing. The stake was valued at about $1.57 billion. Buffett plans to retire as…
It was a week before Christmas in 2022, when Saint Paul, Minnesota, police officer Ching Vang and his partner Officer Justina Hser set off on their regular patrol of the city. Natalie Morales | “48 Hours” contributor: The overnight hours, it’s December 16th, 2022. What time do you get that call? Officer Ching Vang: On…
In the early morning hours of Dec. 16, 2022, St. Paul, Minnesota, homicide detectives Abby DeSanto and Jennifer O’Donnell were called to a downtown apartment building to investigate a reported suicide. A 32-year-old woman named Alexandra Pennig had been found dead in her bathroom with a single gunshot wound to the head. For the detectives,…
On Dec. 15, 2022, Matthew Ecker was headed to work when he said he got a frantic call from his former co-worker and friend Alex Pennig. He said Pennig told him she got in a fight with her boyfriend Shane Anderson and was scared of what he might do. So, Ecker took his gun, which…
D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy’s bluffs in 1944 and then garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories to commemorate World War II and his fallen comrades, has died at 102, his family announced Sunday. An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick…
A federal grand jury Tuesday handed down a six-count indictment against Vance Boelter, the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses last month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Boelter, 57, is charged with killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and…
PRAIRIE ISLAND INDIAN COMMUNITY, Minn. (AP) — Some Native Americans traditionally bestow bald eagle feathers at ceremonies to mark achievements, such as graduations, and as a form of reverence for the bird they hold sacred as a messenger to the Creator. This year, many are doing so with elevated pride and hope. The bald eagle…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The second of two defendants from Nevada who were charged in Minnesota with conspiracy to commit voter registration fraud pleaded guilty Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced. Ronnie Williams, 58, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino in St. Paul. Court records don’t say whether there was a formal plea agreement. “Free…
Minnesotans call it “Amara’s Law” — named for Amara Strande. Starting this year, it’s America’s strictest state law policing PFAS, compounds known as “forever chemicals.” They are found in everyday products such as non-stick cookware and cosmetics and linked to childhood cancers and other health issues. “It’s in products. In humans. It’s in animals. It’s…