Latest Minnesota Headlines
All the headlines from our Minnesota Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Minnesota Law Requiring Drivers to Use Hands-Free Phones Now in Effect
Aug 2 2019 // A reminder to Minnesota motorists — keep your hands off your cellphone while driving. A new state law took effect Aug. 1 banning drivers from talking on the phone unless they are using a hands-free device. Officials say...
Minnesota City Seeking Study of Toxic Chemical After Refinery Blast
Jul 17 2019 // City leaders in Duluth, Minnesota, are taking steps to ensure that residents will be safe following the upcoming reconstruction of a refinery that exploded in neighboring Superior, Wisconsin. The Husky Energy oil refinery...
Holmes Murphy Welcomes Deibele to Employee Benefits Team in Minnesota
Jul 16 2019 // Holmes Murphy has added Brooks Deibele as regional market Leader for the company’s growing Minneapolis Employee Benefits team. Deibele joins Holmes Murphy from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Minnesota, where he...
Minnesota Construction Workers’ Lawsuit Accuses Employer of Wage Theft
Jul 11 2019 // A group of Rochester, Minnesota-area construction workers are pursuing a wage theft claim, testing a new state law that aims to clamp down on companies that don’t pay for labor. Minnesota Department of Labor and...
Minnesota Safety Officials Building Awareness of New Hands-Free Cellphone Law
Jul 2 2019 // Minnesota safety officials are redoubling their efforts to make drivers aware of a state law that takes effect Aug 1 requiring that motorists use hands-free devices while phoning on the road. Department of Public Safety...
Hailstorm Destroys Thousands of Acres of Crops in Minnesota
Jul 1 2019 // Thousands of acres of corn and soybeans have been destroyed by a hailstorm that moved through southwest Minnesota. And, in some cases it’s too late in the season for farmers to replant. Agronomist Steve Michels at...
How Insys Bankruptcy Case Could Alter Fate of Thousands of Opioid Lawsuits
Jun 28 2019 // The fate of thousands of lawsuits seeking to hold drugmakers responsible for fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic hinges in part on a thorny legal question: Can a company can use a bankruptcy to stop lawsuits from cities and...
Insurance to Pay Most of Minnesota Diocese’s $34M Settlement with Abuse Victims
Jun 27 2019 // The Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota has reached a $34 million settlement in its bankruptcy case with 93 people who say they were sexually abused by priests and others, the diocese and an attorney representing survivors...
Aging Oil Pipelines Operated by Canada’s Enbridge Raise Fears over Great Lakes Spills
Jun 10 2019 // Fears about oil spills into the Great Lakes from two aging U.S. pipelines have flared, raising doubts about their future and creating fresh headaches for operator Enbridge Inc and the Canadian energy sector. Canada has...
Minnesota Supreme Court Malpractice Ruling Has Doctors Concerned
May 29 2019 // A recent ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court saying doctors can be sued for malpractice even if they’re not directly treating a patient is causing angst in the state’s medical and legal communities. The...
Minnesota Clergy Abuse Victims to Sue Vatican, Seek Abusers’ Names
May 15 2019 // Five men who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests when they were minors are planning to sue the Vatican and are demanding the names of thousands of predator priests they claim have been kept secret by...
Arnold Appointed Deputy Insurance Commissioner for Minnesota
Apr 26 2019 // Grace Arnold has been tapped to lead the insurance division at the Minnesota Commerce Department. Arnold was named deputy insurance commissioner by Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley earlier this month. Arnold...
Minnesota AG: For-Profit Health Insurers Could Raid State’s Reserves
Apr 25 2019 // Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has called on lawmakers to reverse a consequence of 2017 law that repealed the state’s ban on for-profit health maintenance organizations, saying for-profit companies could...
Minnesota’s ProHost USA Acquired by Distinguished Programs
Apr 17 2019 // Distinguished Programs, a national insurance program manager headquartered in New York, has acquired Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ProHost USA, a specialty insurance program for restaurants and related risks. Distinguished...
‘Bomb Cyclone’ Adds to Weather Woes in Central US
Apr 12 2019 // A storm system known as a “bomb cyclone” slowly churned through the U.S. interior Thursday for the second time in a month, unleashing a blizzard that struck the Upper Midwest and creating hazardous fire...
Hub International Acquires Assets of Minnesota’s Corey Steinbach Insurance Agency
Apr 5 2019 // Chicago-based global insurance broker, Hub International Limited (Hub), has acquired the assets of Corey Steinbach Insurance Agency LLC (Corey Steinbach Insurance) in Felton, Minnesota. Terms of the transaction were not...
1 Million Acres of Midwest Farmlands Flooded as Corn Planting Deadlines Approach
Apr 1 2019 // At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by...
Minnesota Truck Repair Shop Contests OSHA Fines Tied to Explosion Injuries
Mar 28 2019 // A truck service shop in North Mankato, Minnesota, is contesting federal fines levied after a natural gas explosion last November that injured two workers. The explosion happened Nov. 14 at Allstate Peterbilt when natural...
Report: Farm Income Continues to Drop in Minnesota
Mar 27 2019 // A report finds Minnesota farm income continues to drop and hit a new low last year. University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota State tracked the past 23 years of data and found after adjusting for information,...
U. of Minnesota Worker Charged with Stealing $134K in Computers from School
Mar 26 2019 // A former University of Minnesota employee who admitted to stealing iPads from Target is also accused of the using school funds to purchase 78 computers over 14 months and sell them for personal profit, according to...
