DFL state Sen. Nicole Mitchell was absent from the State Capitol on Wednesday after being charged with first-degree burglary a day earlier.

911 transcript gives more detail of Sen. Mitchell's alleged burglary

A caller now identified as Mitchell's stepmother told a dispatcher she "tripped over" a person who was on the floor next to her bed. That person was later identified as the DFL senator.

New TV ad rails against Minnesota abortion ballot initiative that hasn't passed the Legislature yet

12:39pm
Marchers listed to speakers at the Minnesota State Capitol. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) held a march in front of the Minnesota State
Democrats in control of the Legislature have been negotiating language differences on the measure for months.

Minnesota agencies too lax on grant safeguards, legislative auditor finds

3:50pm
New Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead called key lawmakers personally on Monday to inform them of the new round of costly mista
A new report called for changes in how the Behavioral Health Division and State Arts Board give out taxpayer dollars.
Nation
12 minutes ago

Tennessee lawmakers OK bill criminalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care

Tennessee's GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their final approval to legislation criminalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent, clearing the way for the first-in-the-nation proposal to be sent to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature.
Nation
23 minutes ago

17 states challenge federal rules entitling workers to accommodations for abortion

Republican attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging new federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions, calling the rules an illegal interpretation of a 2022 federal law.
Nation
33 minutes ago

Trump downplays deadly Charlottesville rally by comparing it to campus protests over Gaza war

Donald Trump on Thursday claimed the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was ''nothing'' compared to ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests, the latest instance in which he has downplayed a racist incident that was one of the most criticized moments of his presidency.
Nation
45 minutes ago

Recreational marijuana backers can gather signatures for North Dakota ballot initiative

A North Dakota ballot initiative group can gather signatures to put a proposal legalizing recreational marijuana to a statewide vote in the fall, the state's top election official said Thursday, in the latest legalization effort in the conservative state.
Nation
5:24pm

Key moments from landmark Supreme Court arguments on Trump's immunity claims

There was talk of drone strikes and presidential bribes, of a potential ruling ''for the ages'' and of the Founding Fathers, too. The presidential race went unmentioned but was not far from mind.
Politics
5:08pm

Debates to play a major role in Pennsylvania's 2024 US Senate election

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania on Thursday proposed a series of debates with his Republican challenger David McCormick leading up to the November general election, and McCormick readily accepted.
Nation
5:05pm

Fellow reservists warned of Maine gunman's plan for mass shooting

An Army reservist and friend of the gunman behind Maine's deadliest mass shooting testified Thursday about his friend's mental decline, describing publicly for the first time the warning he issued a month before the tragedy unfolded.
Nation
4:56pm
Former President Donald Trump speaks outside a construction site in Manhattan, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Trump faces a high-pressure day on Thursda

Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump

As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Nation
4:30pm

Kim Kardashian joins VP Harris to discuss criminal justice reform

Kim Kardashian marshaled her celebrity in one administration to spotlight criminal justice reform — and she's doing it again in the next.
Business
4:27pm

Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

The FCC on Thursday restored ''net neutrality'' rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others.
Business
4:22pm

Biden celebrates computer chip factories, pitching voters on American 'comeback'

President Joe Biden on Thursday sought to sell voters on an American ''comeback story'' as he highlighted longterm investments in the economy in upstate New York to celebrate Micron Technology's plans to build a campus of computer chip factories made possible in part with government support.
Nation
4:05pm

The Latest | 3rd day of witness testimony in Trump's hush money trial comes to an end

The third day of witness testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial concluded Thursday after Trump's lawyers got their first chance to question a witness on the stand.
Business
3:55pm
Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, speaks on the Senate floor in the State Capitol where he has sponsored a bill to streamline the permit process fo

Minnesota DFL wants faster clean energy permits, but some are wary of shortcutting public input

Lawmakers promise an effort to cut red tape for clean power won't result in meaningfully less oversight or public involvement.
Nation
3:25pm

Prosecutors want a reversal after a Texas woman's voter fraud conviction was overturned

Prosecutors in Texas asked the state's highest criminal appeals court on Thursday to reverse a ruling that overturned a Fort Worth woman's voter fraud conviction and five-year prison term for casting an illegal provisional ballot.
Nation
2:57pm
FILE - The Supreme Court of the United States is seen in Washington, March 26, 2024.

Supreme Court seems skeptical of Trump's claim of absolute immunity but decision's timing is unclear

The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared likely to reject former President Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity from prosecution over election interference, but several justices signaled reservations about the charges that could cause a lengthy delay, possibly beyond November's election.
Nation
2:09pm

Planned Parenthood announces $10 million voter campaign in North Carolina for 2024 election

Abortion continues to be a key part of Democrats' election playbook in North Carolina, which for 2024 will include what abortion-rights advocates call an unprecedented investment in get-out-the-vote efforts.
Business
1:28pm

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

Catch and kill. Checkbook journalism. Secret deals. Friends helping friends.
Nation
1:09pm
E. Jean Carroll, after she won her defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, and the jury awarded her $85.5M, in New York on Jan. 27, 2024.

Judge reject's Trump's bid for a new trial in $83.3 million E. Jean Carroll defamation case

A federal judge in New York rejected Donald Trump's request for a new trial on Thursday after a jury awarded $83.3 million in damages to a longtime magazine columnist who sued the former president for defamation for calling her claim that he had sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store a lie.
Nation
11:57am

The Latest: Supreme Court arguments conclude in Trump immunity case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday took up Donald Trump's bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Business
10:40am

TikTok has promised to sue over the potential US ban. What's the legal outlook?

Legislation forcing TikTok's parent company to sell the video-sharing platform or face a ban in the U.S. received President Joe Biden's official signoff Wednesday. But the newly minted law could be in for an uphill battle in court.

Minnesota Politics

Latest politics news from the Twin Cities, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Legislature, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.