Forum News Service
Primary tabs
The Forum Communications News Service is the premier news wire service covering the Upper Midwest, including the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to breaking and enterprise news, we offer a wide variety of sports, features, business, agriculture, outdoors and opinion content. For more information about the services we offer or to discuss content subscriptions, please contact us.
Contact Email
History
- Member for
- 6 years 9 months
Author Content
ST. PAUL—The price tag for treating older Minnesotans for chronic diseases is projected to increase by billions over the next 10 years, according to a study released on Monday. Analyzing the state's data on health insurance claims, the Minnesota Department of Health study concludes treating Minnesotans older than 60 for chronic diseases will cost $16.1 billion by 2023, up 65 percent from the $9.8 billion paid in 2014.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., faces new allegations of sexual assault after two unnamed women have come forward accusing Franken of grabbing their buttocks on separate occasions, the Huffington Post and Star Tribune is reporting.
ST. PAUL — Minnesota's obesity rate among adults crept upwards in 2016, but remains below that of its neighbors, according to a national study released Thursday, Aug. 31. The study, by New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found 27.8 percent of adults in Minnesota were obese in 2016, up 1.7 percent from a year prior. That figure is good for 18th out of the country's 50 states and District of Columbia. South Dakota ranked 24th with 29.6 percent, Wisconsin was 29th (30.7 percent), North Dakota was 36th (31.9 percent) and Iowa was 39th (32 percent).
ST. PAUL -- A post-summer survey shows an upward trend of Minnesota’s tourism business, the state’s tourism promotion office said. Summer revenue was up for 42 percent of survey respondents and occupancy was up 35 percent, according to Explore Minnesota on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents experienced a decrease in revenue and 31 percent said occupancy was down. The hotel and motel sector reported decreased occupancy due to significant growth of new hotel rooms in the Twin Cities area, the tourism office said in its news release.
ST. PAUL -- Fines will increase Aug. 1 in Minnesota for drivers who fail to stop for a school bus with activated lights and the crossing arm fully extended. The fine will jump to $500 from $300. In the past six years, law enforcement across the state wrote nearly 9,000 stop arm violation citations, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said. During the annual School Bus Stop Arm Survey earlier this year, 3,659 bus drivers across the state reported 703 stop arm violations in just one day.
ST. PAUL—Minnesota's unadjusted job count passed the 3 million mark in June for the first time ever, according to figures released last week by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The agency said the state added 4,400 jobs in June on a seasonally adjusted basis and has gained 77,478 jobs over the past year, the biggest over-the-year job gain since May 1998. Job growth in Minnesota is up 2.6 percent over the past year, compared with a national job growth rate of 1.5 percent.
ST. PAUL — innesota Gov. Mark Dayton could not land a motel room for his Saturday, July 9 fishing trip, but he hopes to reel in a bass. And maybe a muskie. "I tried to get a hotel, motel reservation for tomorrow night, and they were booked," Dayton told reporters Thursday. "So, that's a good sign."
DULUTH, Minn.—The first oceangoing vessel to reach Duluth this shipping season was celebrated Monday with the traditional ceremony to mark the milestone. The Lake Ontario took on a load of wheat at Riverland Ag/Duluth Storage on Rice's Point on Monday, after officially passing beneath the Aerial Lift Bridge on Sunday evening. Dignitaries including Duluth Mayor Emily Larson gathered aboard the ship on Monday for the ceremony, presenting the crew with several gifts.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — A woman jumped to her death Sunday afternoon, Feb. 12, from a bridge over Interstate 494 in Inver Grove Heights. The woman, who has not been identified, jumped from the Babcock Trail bridge onto the eastbound lanes of Interstate 494 at about 4 p.m., according to Inver Grove Heights police. The city's police and fire departments went to the scene but were unsuccessful in saving the woman's life. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident temporarily closed eastbound lanes of Interstate 494.
Click here to watch Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton give his State of the State address. The address is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.