TIMOTHY WALZ

Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill Tuesday that legalizes recreational marijuana for people over the age of 21.

Gov. Tim Walz has vetoed a bill that would have mandated higher pay and job security for Lyft and Uber drivers in Minnesota.

The late pop superstar Prince will be honored with a renamed stretch of highway that runs past his Paisley Park museum and recording studios.

The Minnesota Senate has honored the late pop superstar Prince by voting to dedicate to him the highway that runs past his Paisley Park museum and studios.

The Minnesota Senate has voted legalize recreational marijuana for adults.

Democratic governors in Washington state and Minnesota on Thursday enacted legal protections for people who travel to those states seeking reproductive and gender-affirming procedures and treatment.

The Minnesota Senate has waded into the culture wars.

Minnesota is moving to strengthen the state’s protections for children and their families who come for gender-affirming care by making itself a “trans refuge state,” bucking a national backlash against transgender rights.

Gov. Tim Walz has signed an executive order protecting the rights of LGBTQ people from Minnesota and other states to seek and receive gender affirming health care.

Restoring the voting rights of felons is one of the few election-related changes that has strong bipartisan support.

Gov. Tim Walz has enshrined the right to abortion and other reproductive health care into Minnesota statutes.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s “Clean Car Rule,” which ties the state’s vehicle emission standards to California regulations.

Democrats took full control of state government as the Minnesota Legislature convened for its 2023 session Tuesday.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is pledging to make the largest investments in public education in Minnesota history as he begins his second term.

Police say five people have been arrested in a fatal shooting at Minnesota's Mall of America that sent the sprawling commercial center into lockdown on one of the final days of the holiday shopping season.

This week’s ballot had an unspoken candidate — American democracy.

Democrats have bucked historic trends in the midterm elections to win full control of four new state capitols.

Control of state government hangs in the balance in Minnesota, one of the few Midwest states where Democrats have had the upper hand in recent years.

George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020 sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of his arrest.

Jury selection is getting underway in the trial of two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.

Republican challenger Scott Jensen launched sharp attacks against Gov. Tim Walz over his handling of the violent unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan could lift crushing debt burdens from millions of borrowers.

Seventeen states that tie their vehicle emission standards to rules established in California must decide whether to follow that state’s strict new rules.

Businessman Tim Michels has won Wisconsin's Republican nomination to take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Republican challenger Scott Jensen scored easy victories Tuesday in their primaries to set the stage for their fall matchup in Minnesota’s top race this fall.

The Republican matchup in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race in Tuesday's primary elections features competing candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump and his estranged vice president, Mike Pence.

When the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a right to abortion, it sparked legal changes and court challenges in states nationwide.

A day after the Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling overturning Roe v. Wade ended the constitutional right to abortion, emotional protests and prayer vigils are turning to resolve as several states enact bans and both supporters and foes of abortion rights map out their next moves.

Dr. Scott Jensen, a skeptic of the government’s response to COVID-19, has won the Minnesota GOP’s endorsement to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in the November election.

The Supreme Court’s apparent intention to abolish a nationwide right to abortion, spelled out in a draft opinion leaked this week, will not be the final chapter in the nation’s most pitched culture battle.

President Joe Biden has saluted his “friend of five decades” Walter Mondale, traveling to the University of Minnesota to remember the former vice president and Democratic Party elder whose memorial service was delayed for a year due to the pandemic.

President Joe Biden plans to speak at a memorial service in Minnesota on Sunday for former Vice President Walter Mondale, who died last April at age 93.

A spike in violence during the COVID-19 pandemic has Democrats eager to show they’re tough on crime ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

An external review of Minnesota’s response to days of civil unrest following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd found several problems, including a lack of clear leadership early on as businesses were being destroyed and set ablaze.

Governors and state lawmakers throughout the U.S. are floating proposals to send checks to help residents cope with soaring inflation at a time when state budgets are bursting with cash.

U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a conservative Republican from southern Minnesota who followed his father’s footsteps into Congress, has died after a battle with kidney cancer.

The death of a Black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police SWAT team is shining new light on how police carry out no-knock warrants.

George Floyd’s death after his arrest by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the event.

A surge in COVID-19 cases in the Upper Midwest has some Michigan schools keeping students at home ahead of Thanksgiving.

Minneapolis voters have rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety — an idea that arose from the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has launched his campaign for a second term in an increasingly divided state, saying he made the tough calls necessary to beat back the COVID-19 pandemic and revive the economy.

A judge has suspended Minnesota’s new stricter standards on when police can use deadly force, halting a change in state law that followed the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police.

President Joe Biden is sounding the alarm about the need for more resources to fight a series of wildfires in Western states.

Gov. Tim Walz has signed an executive order aimed at banning so-called conversion therapy.

President Joe Biden is relaunching the council of governors.

The Minnesota Senate has joined the state House in approving a modest set of police accountability measures as part of a broader public safety budget bill.

The Minnesota House has approved a modest set of police accountability measures as part of a broader public safety budget bill, as a deadline looms for the divided Legislature to avert a partial state government shutdown.

George Floyd's death after his arrest by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the event.

Congress and President Joe Biden acted with unusual swiftness this week in approving Juneteenth as a national holiday.

Environmental and tribal groups opposed to Enbridge Energy’s ongoing effort to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline are planning large protests in northern Minnesota as the Canadian-based company gears up for a final construction push.

Hundreds of protesters vowing to do whatever it takes to stop a Canadian-based company’s push to replace an aging pipeline blocked a pump station Monday in northern Minnesota.

Arizona’s state-run COVID-19 vaccination sites, which were touted as a national model, will be shutting down later this month.

June will be a critical month for Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline as the company resumes construction and opponents mobilize for large-scale protests and civil disobedience.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison resisted calls for weeks to take over the prosecution of the white suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot Black motorist Daunte Wright.

A family-friendly street festival, musical performances and a moment of silence were held Tuesday to honor George Floyd and mark the year since he died at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Members of George Floyd’s family, and others who lost loved ones to police encounters, joined activists and citizens for a march as part of events marking the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.

President Joe Biden is highlighting new programs from ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft to provide free rides to and from vaccination sites as the pace of vaccination shots nationally declines.

George Floyd’s killing last year and the protests that followed led to a wave of police reforms in dozens of states.

Crowds nationwide are reacting with jubilation but also with deep awareness of the progress left to be made after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the killing of George Floyd.

More than 3,000 National Guard soldiers, along with police officers, sheriffs deputies and other law enforcement personnel have flooded Minneapolis in the wake of a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murder in the death last year of George Floyd.

George Floyd's death after his arrest by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the event.

A white former police officer is being charged with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, just three days after the Black man was shot during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb.

President Biden faces an uphill battle as he tries to push for more state laws that would allow authorities to temporarily disarm people who are considered a danger to themselves or others.

The police chief in a Minneapolis suburb where a Black man was fatally shot during a traffic stop says he believes the officer who fired intended to use a Taser, not a handgun.

Jurors in the trial of a Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death are hearing from investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Viewers watching the trial of a former Minneapolis officer charged in George Floyd’s death may be struck by the array of prosecutors presenting their case.

As the trial approaches for Chauvin, who is charged with murder in Floyd's death, prosecutors are putting the time Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck at about nine minutes. Officer Derek Chauvin uses his knee to pin Floyd's neck for about nine minutes while bystanders shout at him to stop. AdMay 31 — Walz says Attorney General Keith Ellison will lead prosecutions in Floyd's death. AdFeb. 12 — City leaders say George Floyd Square, the intersection blocked by barricades since Floyd's death, will reopen to traffic after Chauvin's trial. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

It’s an apparent mismatch that results from the state’s takeover of the prosecution, but defense attorney Eric Nelson is getting some help. Days later, amid massive protests over Floyd's death, Minnesota Gov. AdPeters said the MPPOA works with a group of 12 defense attorneys who take turns handling cases as they come up. He's enough of an expert on driving while intoxicated that he frequently lectures on the topic and often contributes to a DWI sourcebook for Minnesota attorneys, his biography says. “I saw a couple of reports of, ‘The MPPOA selected a DWI lawyer to represent Chauvin,'" Peters said.

Kansas head coach Bill Self watches player introductions before an NCAA college basketball game against Oklahoma in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 men's tournament in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, March 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Kansas withdrew from the Big 12 Tournament on Friday after a positive COVID-19 test within the men’s basketball program, sending No. Kansas had gone the entire season without an outbreak that caused it to cancel or postpone a game. Ad___The Minnesota Twins are the latest Major League Baseball team to receive government approval for fans to return to their games this season. Only a limited amount of family members of players and staff have been able to attend those games this season.

As the trial approaches for Chauvin, who is charged with murder in Floyd's death, prosecutors are putting the time Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck at about nine minutes. Officer Derek Chauvin uses his knee to pin Floyd's neck for about nine minutes while bystanders shout at him to stop. AdMay 31 — Walz says Attorney General Keith Ellison will lead prosecutions in Floyd's death and the nationwide protests continue. Feb. 12 — City leaders say George Floyd Square, the intersection blocked by barricades since Floyd's death, will reopen to traffic after Chauvin's trial. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

Concertina wire sits between fenced barriers outside the Hennepin County Government Center, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in Minneapolis, as part of security in preparation for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with murder the death of George Floyd during an arrest last May in Minneapolis. Anything less than a murder conviction for Derek Chauvin is likely to test them — and the city — once again. Chauvin faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges; three other fired officers go on trial in August. But the security going up around the Hennepin County courthouse, City Hall and the jail — all in the heart of downtown — is extraordinary.

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. AdDemocratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, acknowledged at a news conference that House Democrats, who hold just a 70-64 majority, weren’t united. She said they needed “a few Republican votes" to pass the bill but were told they weren’t getting any. Republican Sen. Bill Weber, of Luverne, also cited the city's $8 million cut to its police budget. Hortman told reporters she is already in discussions with Gazelka and House Republican leaders about what comes next.

“Actions to defund the police have consequences.”House Republicans echoed Gazelka's statement at a news conference of their own, saying the proposed fund does not address what they see as the increasing demonization of law enforcement. The governor was criticized by Republicans last summer for not sending in the National Guard sooner to quell unrest that turned violent in Minneapolis and St. Paul after Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests. AdPublic Safety Commissioner John Harrington said the state is coordinating with the FBI and the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, in addition to more than 200 chief law enforcement officers across the state, to prepare for next month's trial. Harrington said the proposed fund would help reimburse law enforcement agencies from other parts of Minnesota, which he said are willing to send personnel but concerned about the extra costs. The House public safety committee approved the proposal Tuesday, with an additional provision requiring law enforcement agencies to follow a model policy created by the state's police licensing board for responding to protests.

But the Trump true believer says he has something from Trump that softens that blow: the promise of an endorsement. The president has told him before that he would back his bid for governor of Minnesota, Lindell told The Associated Press. “Mike, if you did it, I would get behind you,” Lindell said Trump told him. Then, after the election, Lindell shared Trump's refusal to accept Biden as the winner. The guy was the best president in history," Lindell said, praising Trump's response to the pandemic and his economic policies.

Though details remain murky, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)NEW YORK – While monitoring online chatter about protests at state capitols in advance of next week's presidential inauguration, the Seattle Times came across a chilling description for journalists: soft targets. Radnovich will cover demonstrations at Oregon's statehouse, bringing a significant advantage to the job. In many war zones, journalists make sure they are clearly identified as press so they are not mistaken for enemy combatants. “We will revisit that if things go south.”A six-foot fence has been installed around the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan.

Since the middle of November, the entire region has returned to levels similar to those seen in October. Governors have used the declining numbers to justify their divergent approaches to fighting the pandemic, even jousting at times. As the pandemic crept into communities across the Midwest, more people had loved ones, friends or acquaintances fall ill or die. Many health experts warned that the region was ripe for widespread infections, especially as the weather cooled and people gathered inside, making it easier for the coronavirus to spread. Other experts say some pockets of people, such as those who work in meatpacking plants where infections were widespread, had experienced such high rates of infections that the virus has slowed.

Myon Burrell is photographed at his home in Minneapolis, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, two days after his release from prison. … Every step that I took, it was just like bricks, just bricks and bricks and bricks, just being removed from my shoulders,” said Burrell, now 34, in his first interview from home. Burrell now has a job lined up, along with a wife and supportive family ready to help with his transition to freedom. With no idea how to navigate the criminal justice system, he said, many were easily convinced by defense attorneys to sign plea deals even when they weren’t guilty. “We need to make compassion and redemption part of our criminal justice system.”Burrell’s sentence was commuted to 20 years, but he was not pardoned.

Just hours after receiving the news, he walked out the front door of Stillwater prison into below-freezing temperatures. The AP investigation that followed sparked national outrage and gave Burrell’s family and community organizers the ammunition they needed to get Klobuchar’s attention. One had his 16-year prison sentence cut to three. He said the justice system failed his family, and media coverage and support for Burrell’s release overshadowed his sister’s death. Edwards III, Tyesha’s brother, said news of Burrell’s release is especially hard after the death of his mother last year.

The Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Chippewa asked the independent Public Utilities Commission to stay its earlier approval of the project, citing pending litigation before the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Attorneys for the two northern Minnesota tribes argued that allowing construction to continue would cause irreparable harm should the court rule in their favor. “Without a stay, Line 3 would be constructed before the court could determine if the PUC broke the law, making the case moot," LaDuke said in a statement. Line 3 begins in Alberta, Canada, and clips a corner of North Dakota before crossing Minnesota on its way to Enbridge’s terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The replacement segments in Canada, North Dakota and Wisconsin are already complete, leaving only the 337-mile (542-kilometer) stretch in Minnesota.

Faulting inaction in Washington, governors and state lawmakers are racing to get needed pandemic relief to small businesses, the unemployed, renters and others affected by the widening coronavirus outbreak. Funded through the CARES Act, it offered grants to small businesses, bars and restaurants, low-income renters, arts groups, and colleges and universities. “It’s shameful that they have not acted in Congress, especially (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell and the Republican Senate, to throw a lifeline to small businesses,” he said. Republicans have proposed a $300 million aid package to small businesses and nonprofits, but the legislation is stalled. “This isn’t like all the blue states are hurting and all the red states are humming along.

A restaurant worker cleans the tables in the outdoor dining area of a Mexican restaurant in La Mirada, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Many are offering curbside pickup but also trying to hold outdoor dining, even if it means setting up shelters or heaters. But in Los Angeles County, restaurants and bars are prohibited from providing outdoor dining beginning Wednesday. On Tuesday, a judge rejected a request from a restaurant industry group to block the Los Angeles County outdoor dining ban. Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Patty Nieberg in Denver; and Juliet Williams in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

NEW YORK – When nearly a half-million motorcycle enthusiasts gathered in South Dakota this summer, health experts worried the gathering would ignite new outbreaks of coronavirus cases. Minnesota officials counted 86 cases that they said were related to the rally — 51 people who went to Sturgis and 35 who came into contact with those people later. The rally has been a source of contention between the governors of Minnesota and South Dakota. Tim Walz criticized South Dakota Gov. Walz, a Democrat, said the Sturgis rally was “absolutely unnecessary."

In this November 2019 photo provided by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, the Shoepack Lake Pack of wolves stops in front of a remote camera set on a trail in Voyageurs National Park, Minn. Scientists studying gray wolves in the park have traced how wolves preying on beavers affect the ecosystem by impeding the ability of beavers to build and maintain new dams that create wetlands. (Tom Gable/Voyageurs Wolf Project via AP)

A beaver had fallen victim to a wolf, Gable deduced. They also documented when new beaver dams were abandoned nearby. “Once a wolf takes out a beaver," Gable said, “it takes a while for another beaver to return to the site." Wolves preying on beavers profoundly affect northern Minnesota's wetland ecosystems because dams built by individual beavers — those not associated with beaver colonies — quickly fall apart. The new research doesn't show wolves reduced the total beaver population in Voyageurs National Park, but that they influenced where beavers were able to build and maintain dams and ponds.

Cases per day are on the rise in 49 states, and deaths per day are climbing in 39. A month ago, the U.S. was seeing about 730 COVID-19 deaths per day on average; that has now surpassed 970. He said this summer’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota was “absolutely unnecessary” and helped spread the virus beyond that state. — North Carolina reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 3,119 people — 8% of those tested — testing positive for the virus. — Kentucky posted a record daily high for new confirmed cases, at 2,700, as the governor implored people to wear masks to counter the accelerating outbreak.

Gary Herbert speaks as he joins state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn at a press conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, clarifying the state's mask mandate on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. Minnesota’s per-capita new case counts are better than neighboring Wisconsin and the Dakotas, which have some of the country’s highest transmission rates, but have still raised alarm with the state's health officials. In Idaho, where 1 of every 223 residents tested positive for the virus over the last week, Republican Gov. With Trump still not conceding the race, some Republican governors have greeted Biden’s efforts in a more measured way. In Oklahoma, where cases also are on the rise, Republican Gov.

“There is no exaggeration here, the Texas state House is the key to future power in America. Holder's group has given money to 261 state legislative candidates who could influence redistricting in 11 states. Democrats are being countered financially by the Republican State Leadership Committee, which also coordinated the GOP's successful effort a decade ago. But Democrats need to flip just nine seats to take control of the state House for the first time since 2002. “If we flip the Texas House, redistricting is coming up!

WASHINGTON – The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):9:20 p.m.Joe Biden says he has learned from the mistakes that Hillary Clinton's campaign made four years ago in the Midwest. After her stunning loss to Donald Trump in 2016, many Democrats criticized her campaign as overconfident and too complacent. President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are campaigning hard to win both states, where Trump scored narrow victories in 2016. The campaign announced in addition to his Monday trip to the state, Biden will campaign in Philadelphia on Sunday. The Minnesota Department of Health has linked 28 coronavirus cases to other recent Trump campaign events in the state.

Thousands of President Donald Trump's supporters regularly cram together at campaign rallies around the country — masks optional and social distancing frowned upon. Trump rallies are among the nation's biggest events being held in defiance of crowd restrictions designed to stop the virus from spreading. Some states have fined venues that host Trump rallies for violating caps on crowd size. But I’m not canceling, and we’ll find out what happens.”The Trump campaign blamed the dispute on “free speech-stifling dictates" of Democratic Gov. He calls the Trump rallies “super-spreader events” and says he's listening to the warnings of public health experts.

Thousands of President Donald Trump's supporters regularly cram together at campaign rallies around the country — masks optional and social distancing frowned upon. Trump rallies are among the nation's biggest events being held in defiance of crowd restrictions designed to stop the virus from spreading. This at a time when public health experts are advising people to think twice even about inviting many guests for Thanksgiving dinner. Some states have fined venues that host Trump rallies for violating caps on crowd size. He calls the Trump rallies “super-spreader events” and says he's listening to the warnings of public health experts.

MINNEAPOLIS – Citing safety concerns, a Minnesota judge on Friday issued new conditions of release for an ex-Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd that would allow him to live in a neighboring state while he awaits trial. Floyd died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after the handcuffed Black man pleaded for air before his death May 25. Chauvin was later charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Tim Walz mobilized National Guard troops and state law enforcement officers to help keep the peace. Under the new conditions, he “must establish residency somewhere in the State of Minnesota or a contiguous state as soon as possible" and report it to his supervising officer.

LANSING, Mich. – Eleven Democratic governors issued a joint statement on Wednesday defending American democracy, vowing that every valid ballot will be counted in the election after President Donald Trump sowed distrust during the first presidential debate. Trump claimed without evidence Tuesday night that mail voting is ripe for fraud, and he refused to say whether he would accept the results. He also called on his backers to scrutinize voting procedures at the polls, which critics said could cross into voter intimidation. Without mentioning Trump by name, the governors noted his refusal last week to commit to a peaceful transition of power. “Any efforts to throw out ballots or refuse a peaceful transfer of power are nothing less than an assault on democracy,” they wrote.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is running as the “law and order” candidate. But they have largely not tried to block the gatherings of thousands of people, which Trump and his team deem “peaceful protests” protected by the First Amendment. An indoor rally that Trump held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June was blamed for a surge of virus infections there. Trump held an indoor rally at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, on Sunday night. The state restricts gatherings to 50 people — based on White House reopening guidelines —- but thousands of supporters packed into the warehouse space nonetheless.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is running as the “law and order” candidate. But they have largely not tried to block the gatherings of thousands of people, which Trump and his team deem “peaceful protests” protected by the First Amendment. An indoor rally that Trump held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June was blamed for a surge of virus infections there. Trump held an indoor rally at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, on Sunday night. The state restricts gatherings to 50 people — based on White House reopening guidelines —- but thousands of supporters packed into the warehouse space nonetheless.

Minnesota National Guard soldiers stand watch along the famous Nicollet Mall Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in downtown Minneapolis. An emergency curfew expired and downtown Minneapolis was calm Thursday morning after a night of unrest that broke out following what authorities said was misinformation about the suicide of a Black homicide suspect. Floyds death sparked protests worldwide, including several nights of violence in Minneapolis. Demonstrators also gathered in Minneapolis this week to protest after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot multiple times by police in Wisconsin on Sunday, leaving him paralyzed. Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Floyds death has changed the way people respond to police incidents.

Tim Walzs executive orders requiring 6-foot social distancing and the wearing of face masks at worship services. The Thomas More Society, which specializes in litigation on religious issues, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in California Superior Court against Gov. A few churches have been openly defiant, including one in California's Ventura County which held indoor worship services Sunday despite a judges temporary restraining order. Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings in a suit filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, California. In June a federal judge blocked New York state from enforcing restrictions on indoor religious gatherings to 25% capacity when other types of gatherings were limited to 50%.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON Dr. Anthony Fauci dismissed a tweet by Donald Trump claiming the U.S. global lead in coronavirus cases is because of increased testing. The Aragon region in northeastern Spain recorded the highest confirmed infections, with 511, followed by the Madrid region (372). ___TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expressing concern about the recent increase in coronavirus cases. Denny Tamaki issued the regions own emergency declaration, with daily confirmed cases reaching a record 71 people Friday. Reported cases nationwide reached a record 1,463 people, topping the 1,305 cases confirmed by the health ministry on Thursday.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown with Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Anne Neu, R-North Branch Monday, July 20, 2020 in St. Paul, Minn. With him is Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Anne Neu, R-North Branch. (Glenn Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)

(Glenn Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)ST. PAUL, Minn. The Minnesota Legislature passed a package of police accountability measures early Tuesday that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis. Passage of the measures comes after nearly two months of negotiations that followed Floyd's death May 25. The Democratic governor had to call the special session to give lawmakers a chance to rescind the emergency powers hes been using to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The session also gave legislators another chance to pass the policing measures and a bonding bill, which they were unable to agree on during last months special session. The bonding bill fell to the wayside as legislators worked to pass police reform as time expired on the session.

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)MINNEAPOLIS A special session of the Minnesota Legislature ended Saturday without agreement on remaking policing in the state where George Floyd was killed. I'm deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans ended the special session before our job was done," Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent tweeted. Were not walking away from Minnesota here, but I think we could all benefit from a breather, Gazelka said just before adjournment, Minnesota Public Radio News reported. The special session was necessary for Democratic Gov. If Walz seeks to extend his emergency powers an additional 30 days, he's required to call another special session for July 12 to let lawmakers object.