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Minnesota senators have voted for a stringent set of electronic cigarette standards that would make their use unacceptable in any place regular tobacco is disallowed. The approach endorsed Thursday goes further than a House companion bill, so the two measures must be reconciled for any e-cigarette regulations to become law. A move to pare back the indoor air restrictions in the Senate bill failed on a 35-28 vote.
Supporters of defining electronic cigarettes in the same light as traditional tobacco products won a key round Monday in the Minnesota Legislature. By an 11-8 vote, lawmakers pushing for tough regulations on the fast-spreading devices defeated an effort to pare back their bill.
Gov. Mark Dayton has broken with his Health Department commissioner over the extent of regulation needed on electronic cigarettes. Dayton said that he is uncomfortable with legislative efforts to put e-cigarettes in the same category as conventional cigarettes when it comes to prohibition of use in public spaces.
Minnesota Poison Control System officials say they're seeing a sharp increase in the number of young people being harmed by e-cigarette liquid. In 2012, the poison center received five reports of e-cigarette-related poisonings for people under 20 years old. Last year, that number jumped to 50.
The growing popularity of smokeless electronic cigarettes has Minnesota lawmakers weighing whether they should be regulated in similar fashion to traditional tobacco products.
For years, the University of Minnesota has been doing research on tobacco and tobacco-related products. The dangers of the emerging market of electronic cigarettes is still widely unknown.
Forty attorneys general sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday urging the agency to meet its own deadline and regulate electronic cigarettes in the same way it regulates tobacco products.
More smokers are turning to electronic cigarettes as a less-expensive and less-regulated way to get their nicotine. But they're still so new, governments and businesses are grappling with how to deal with them. E-cigarettes have a battery-powered heating element that produces vapor rather than smoke. They're not restricted under Minnesota's Clean Indoor Air Act, but many businesses – including the Minnesota Twins - are telling customers to put them away.
It's been a month since the state's cigarette sales tax increased by more than a dollar and-a-half a pack. That's brought the total tax on cigarettes to more than $2.80 per pack.
The new year signals the start of new laws taking effect in Minnesota, which will impact Minnesotans' health, wallets and safety.
Sam Darnold connected with a well-covered Justin Jefferson with 3:51 left for his third TD pass of the game, and the Minnesota Vikings outlasted Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks 27-24 to keep pace with Detroit for the top spot in the NFC.
Several Minnesota breweries are stepping up to help another brewery with deep ties to the state.
On St. Paul's Payne Avenue, a street once forgotten by many is making a comeback.
Police in southern Minnesota arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to a deadly shooting on Saturday.
Several Minnesota breweries are stepping up to help another brewery with deep ties to the state.
On St. Paul's Payne Avenue, a street once forgotten by many is making a comeback.
Dan Reed is on a campaign to get more people to become donors. The more people he can register, the higher up he gets on the transplant list.
Not a lot of employers center their workforces around young people, but that's what the Cookie Cart is all about.
Mental health is a topic that some might feel uncomfortable talking about. In St. Louis Park there's one event trying to change that.
Several Minnesota breweries are stepping up to help another brewery with deep ties to the state.
Police in southern Minnesota arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to a deadly shooting on Saturday.
Fraudsters have been posing as deputies reporting an "urgent" civil matter and more.
A Montrose man has pleaded guilty in connection to a deadly multi-vehicle collision involving a stolen truck earlier this year.
A 61-year-old man is dead after the vehicle he was driving collided with two semi-trucks on Interstate 94 during Thursday's winter storm.
The Centers for Disease Control says no person-to-person transmission has been detected and the risk to the general public remains low.
The man was flown to a hospital in Minnesota, but the department gave no word on his condition. No one else was hurt.
Xcel says the project is intended to replace the energy that will be lost when its coal-fueled power plant near Stillwater closes in 2028.
Minnesota and Wisconsin leaders are responding to the school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin.
Roughly 70,000 gallons of oil from a pipeline spilled into the ground in Wisconsin, officials said.
Dan Reed is on a campaign to get more people to become donors. The more people he can register, the higher up he gets on the transplant list.
Army veteran Delphine Littlewolf and her 7-year-old son Curtis have been living in her compact car for six months.
It looks like any other grocery store, but when you check out at Today's Harvest in Maplewood, shoppers aren't spending a dime.
The Buck Hill slopes played host to "Carve for a Cure" on Sunday, a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
As an equestrian with years of experience, Jen Kelly has taken a tumble or two — until a tumble in September 2020 where she broke three vertebrae in her neck and crushed her spinal cord.
The new year signals the start of new laws taking effect in Minnesota, which will impact Minnesotans' health, wallets and safety.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in New York earlier this month, and there has been some celebration on social media of the suspected killer.
Trump's election is a big part of the positive outlook, especially for Republicans.
An F/A-18 fighter jet was "mistakenly fired on" by the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, authorities said.
Minneapolis has softened an ordinance that prohibited obstructing entrances and driveways to abortion clinics after anti-abortion activists sued to challenge it on free-speech grounds.
If the snow can stick around, they could get back on track. But across the industry there is concern about what the Arctic Cat news means for snowmobile dealers.
For generations, it's been an iconic part of the Twin Cities, and now it has its very own song, thanks to one of Minneapolis' own.
It looks like any other grocery store, but when you check out at Today's Harvest in Maplewood, shoppers aren't spending a dime.
Heating your home in the winter can take a toll on your pocketbook, but it doesn't have to with some easy tips to save.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans produce 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.
Police in southern Minnesota arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to a deadly shooting on Saturday.
The suspect drove through the doors of a JCPenny in Killeen, Texas, and continued inside for "several hundred yards," an official said.
Fraudsters have been posing as deputies reporting an "urgent" civil matter and more.
A 29-year-old man has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder after a shooting that stemmed from a claimed theft.
A Montrose man has pleaded guilty in connection to a deadly multi-vehicle collision involving a stolen truck earlier this year.
Mental health is a topic that some might feel uncomfortable talking about. In St. Louis Park there's one event trying to change that.
Minneapolis has softened an ordinance that prohibited obstructing entrances and driveways to abortion clinics after anti-abortion activists sued to challenge it on free-speech grounds.
Under the new law, aerosol dusters will need to be kept behind store counters, and can only sold to people 21 or older starting Jan. 1, 2025.
The Centers for Disease Control says no person-to-person transmission has been detected and the risk to the general public remains low.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Wednesday that it had detected presumptive positive human case of H5N1 in Barron County.
The lawsuit lays out Blake Lively's allegations against Justin Baldoni during their time working on "It Ends with Us."
Holidazzle is a free event with lights, stage performances, Santa, nearly 200 vendors and more. It runs Wednesday through Sunday.
For generations, it's been an iconic part of the Twin Cities, and now it has its very own song, thanks to one of Minneapolis' own.
Among the 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved for future generations are the Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men," "The Social Network," Cheech & Chong's "Up in Smoke," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Thirty years ago on Friday, the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington was demolished.
Watch an unforgettable moment during an Alexandria football game that brought the crowd to tears. Plus, a tough battle in boy’s basketball between Rockford and Zimmerman.
Sam Darnold connected with a well-covered Justin Jefferson with 3:51 left for his third TD pass of the game, and the Minnesota Vikings outlasted Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks 27-24 to keep pace with Detroit for the top spot in the NFC.
Steph Curry scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter and 31 for the night as the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-103.
Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for his NHL-leading fourth shutout of the season and 41st of his career to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-0 victory Saturday night over the Minnesota Wild, who have lost four in a row.
Lindsey Vonn has finished 14th in a super-G to mark her return to World Cup skiing at age 40.
Esme Murphy talks with Congressman Pete Stauber, who hopes to see President Biden’s 20-year moratorium on new mining near the Boundary Waters reversed by President-elect Donald Trump.
President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to reverse President Biden's 20-year moratorium on new mining near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on his first day in office.
In this election, Klobuchar faired much better than all other Senate Democrats — she won by a significantly larger margin.
For Democrats the postmortem continues on why Vice President Kamala Harris and her Running mate Governor Tim Walz performed more poorly with almost every demographic than Joe Biden did in 2020. In Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar did much better than Harris with some of those same groups.
As Election Day nears, experts say voters in Wisconsin and other battleground states will decide the 2024 presidential election winner.
During the first week of December, Little Falls holds Christmas tours around town. It's a chance for historic buildings to deck their halls and spread their cheer.
Duluth is known for its scenic views across the city, but one location stands out from the rest.
One family's creative design in central Minnesota allows guests to sleep under the stars — at any time of year.
"Thomas Dambo, he believes the trolls really help us kind of shine a light on how we can take better care of the environment and be better to each other," said Stearns.
There are a lot of quirky town names in Minnesota: Embarrass, Nowthen, Clontarff, Kiester. But the people of Nimrod believe their name stands out from the rest.
There are a lot of reasons to get distracted this time of year and to procrastinate.
It's a term that's being thrown around a lot these days. Some think it's a social thing, others a medical thing.
Every home has a distinct smell, and chances are your home smells just as strong to other people. Why can't we notice our own home's smell but we can notice everyone else's?
An important deadline is approaching, and we're not talking about Christmas shopping. End of semester exams are coming up for students of all ages.
Jeff Wagner dives into the cold-weather dating trend that has singles looking for love with a time limit.
Regions Hospital and Children's Minnesota share photos of their tiniest patients dressed to the nines for Halloween.
Minnesotans got a great view of the northern lights Thursday night due to the arrival of a severe geomagnetic storm.
Minnesotans got a great view of the northern lights Monday night.
Storms ripped through parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Thursday evening. There were several reports of tornadoes and trees were downed in the metro and beyond, including in Cottage Grove, Anoka, Champlin and Fridley.
A powerful thunderstorm tore through the grounds of the Minnesota State Fair on Monday night, delaying Tuesday's opening.
WCCO meteorologist Katie Steiner says tonight into tomorrow we could see a slight chance of flurries.
In Minnesota, weather can be all over the place. Here at WCCO, we want to give you what you need to prepare for what's happening next.
WCCO meteorologist Riley O'Connor says Sunday will be warmer compared to Saturday.
Saturday was our last cold day for a while, with a warm-up arriving Sunday and lasting through the holiday week.
After a cold day on Saturday, temperatures will rise again on Sunday.
WCCO meteorologist Katie Steiner says tonight into tomorrow we could see a slight chance of flurries.
On St. Paul's Payne Avenue, a street once forgotten by many is making a comeback. Beret Leone and photojournalist Ray Campos takes us to Payne Avenue where businesses and residents are teaming up to create a vibrant, inclusive future this holiday season and beyond.
Several Minnesota breweries are stepping up to help another brewery with deep ties to the state. New Origin Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina was destroyed during Hurricane Helene. The power of the storm dropped a three-hundred-ton train and other debris where the brewery once stood. Our Jason Rantala has the story.
Fire officials in southern Minnesota say a chimney fire is responsible for $100,000 in damage to a home overnight.
Police say an 18-year-old man was arrested after they found a body early Saturday morning.