Acuity employees reeling at plant closure
WINONA, Minn. — Members of the Electrical Workers union at Acuity’s Winona lighting factory feel betrayed. The company’s top management, far away in Georgia, has sent down word that the plant will close soon. Employees learned of the decision at a surprise assembly. Afterward the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 953, Brady Weiss , accused the company of “misplaced priorities,” particularly with its ongoing revenue gains:
“For decades, our members working at this facility have contributed not only to the success of Acuity Brands but added value to this community through good-paying family-supporting jobs. We are disappointed that the company’s misplaced priorities, despite their $563 million profit, have led them to the decision to close this facility following many years of committed partnership. “
Weiss said the unions committed to ensuring that its members are afforded “every protection available” under their collective bargaining agreement and the law.
Steamboat Days reveler crashes car into tree
WYATTVILLE, Minn. — A northern Arizona man, seemingly after too much fun at Steamboat Days in Winona, crashed his car into a tree 24 miles away on County Road 12. A sheriff’s deputy who came across the wreck said Joshua Ray Leach, age 37, was unhurt but drunk He was wearing a beer-tent access bracelet from Steamboat Days. A roadside breath test put his blood at 0.12% alcohol, four points more than law allows. The crash was at the 90-degree corner where County Road 12 forks into County 25. This was about 3:45 a.m.
“Fight?” What fight?” Nobody talking to cops
WINONA, Minn. –— Police responded to a call about a street fight in an East Side residential neighborhood. Although officers found people milling around, the fight was over. Police said no one would talk about what happened. Officers handed out forms and encouraged people in the remaining crowd to submit written statements in the morning when they sobered up. All appeared to be adults, officers said. This was about 1:25 a.m. on East Sanborn Street between Kansas and Liberty streets.
Lighting manufacturer Acuity closes Winona factory
Turning off the lights. The sprawling Goodview manfacturing campus , at 3760 West Fourth Street, is quiet at the end of a workday. Will become more so after the summer when shutdown completed. Operations moving to Indiana. Image: Steve Lunde
Bye: Pink slips to 86 union workers
ATLANTA, Ga. – The global lighting manufacturer Acuity is closing its suburban Winona factory in Goodview and laying off 86 employees. The announcement came as a surprise locallyin Winpna. Atlanta-based Acuity has had a Winona presence since 2010 when it acquired the longtime local employer Winona Lighting. Acuity called its new decision part of “ongoing efforts to align our manufacturing network to best support our customers and long-term business needs.” Manufacturing currently at the Winna plant is being shifted immediately to an Acuity plant in Indiana — a process expected to be compelted in August. The company made no mention of labor costs as an issue. Indiana has lax labor laws. Workers at Goodview have the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as their collective bargaining agent.
Acuity profile
Acuity is the largest lighting company in North America. Headquartered iin Atlanta, Georgia. Globally it has 12,000 employees at scattered sites in North America, Europe and Asia. Its annual sales are $3.8 billion. These days the company operates as Acuity Brands. Its stock s traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange as AYI. The president and chief executive, Neil Ashe, earns $12.5 million a year. His compensation package includes $1 million in salary, $8.6 million in stock, $1.5 million in performance incentives, and $1.4 million in miscellany.
Bonfire in street, bullets popping: Why? Why? Why?
WINONA, Minn. – Police continued trying to trace the recent history of a handgun retrieved from a small fire in the street in front of a home near Center and Howard streets five days ago. The home-owner, who called firefighters to the fire, said he was inside and heard popping, and saw the fire out in the street. In the debris from the fire, police found casings from eight shells that exploded, apparently from the heat. No one was injured. Eighteen unexploded live projectiles were with the gun. Plastic components of the 9-millimeter Luger, had melted. Police said there was no reason to believe anyone was being targeted. Unanswered questions: Whose gun was it? Who set the fire? Why? And why on Howard Street?
9mm Luger. The weapon was an 1898 design by Austrian gunsmith Georg Luger. It’s still standard police and military issue sidearm in many countries. The total manufactured: 3 million.The cut-away illustrates bullets in a rack inside the weapon and waiting to be fired. The Luger itself is semiautomatic: Toggle-triggered and, recoil-operated.
$50,000 Fastenal gift to Winona tech training
Touring Fastenal. Principals in the Winona Schools’ initiative Forging a Future on a tour inside the major Fastenal plant on Theurer Boulevard on the Far West End. The project is a partnership for workforce development.
School-industry partnership in third year
WINONA, Minn. — The Winona Public Schools fund-raising arm has reached a $326,000 threshold in a project to advance student pathways toward careers in industrial technology. The three-year-old project is continuing toward its $540,000 goal. At an event marking the milestone for the project, schools Superintendent Brad Berzinski singled out Fastenal, the Winona-based global manufacturer and supplier of industrial products, for committing $50,000 to the project, including $25,000 in matching funds. “This partnership is about much more than a donation,” Berzinski added. “Fastenal is helping us create meaningful experiences and opportunities for students while helping ensure our programs remain connected to the needs of today’s workforce.” Fastenal is Winona’s largest employer with a local payroll of 1,800.
$80,000 swindle seen as crypto crime
DAKOTA, Minn. — A vulnerable adult reportedly was swindled out of $80,000 over several months by someone posing as an FBI agent. Details were hazy until Winona County sheriff’s investors dig deeper. It was believed that the money was sent in cryptocurrency, which investigators said makes tracing almost impossible. Investigators were called to the victim’s address up Valley View Road out of Dakota about 9 a.m. Many cash withdrawal machines these days have have an option to convert cash to crypto.
Honky-tonk and punk in air at Steamboat Days
Early evening midway arrivals Downtown’s Second Street is blocked off for the centerpiece Gold Star carnival off the Levee Park entrance. The 79th annual festival continues through Sunday. For the mood is Tyler Carter’s 2014 “Ain’t It Fun.” Midway opens Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m.. On Sunday after church at 2 p.m. Image: Steve Lunde
Festival schedule: Steamboat Days
Notable journalism
Allison Murray (WXOW, June 15, 2026): “Warrens Woman Charged after Kids Found Wandering Campsite; Home Deemed Uninhabitable”
Olivia Prondzinski (KTTC, June 12, 2026): “Investigation Notes Reveal Details sof Stewartville High School Shooting”
Chris Rogers (Winona Post, June 12, 2026): “Refugees Rebuild in Winona”
Political season sprouts among us
Harbinger of yard-sign mania. A household on a rural road flaunts support for House 26-A candidate Dan Wilson. In the works, we’re told, are yard signs for incumbent Aaron Repinski of Winona. Images: Andy Frank
First campaign button around. Perhaps not the ring of “I Like Ike” in 1952, But close.
News summary at mid-week: June 17, 2026
POLITICS: Aspiring lawmaker trio kick off door-knocking
POLITICS: Poll: Minnesota leans Blue for U.S. Senate
POLITICS: Klobuchar fund-raising leads Minnesota governor pack
POLITICS: Poll: Klobuchar leads GOP rivals for governor
ENVIRONMENT: Mayor quits as hyper-scale Google project looms
ENVIRONMENT: MiEnergy: No hanky-panky on our data center
ENVIRONMENT: State eyes eradication of invasive moth
CRIME: Fuller detail on Stewartville wrestling attack
CRIME: Odd theft led to disturbance led to arrest
CRIME: Bail at $2,500 in wayward mom case
CRIME: Arrest ends wild incident in bar zone
OUTDOORS: Bluff-top buzz is bees, birds and friends
OUTDOORS: Alighting briefly from the woodlands
OUTDOORS: Unexpected slithering in backyard
GOVERNANCE: No Winona splashin’ yet: Pool still closed
ACCIDENT: Driver dies in another I-90 Marion crash
Finale ahead: Kwik Trip cigarette,booze shops
LACROSSE, Wis. — The Kwik Trip convenience store chain is closing its 13 Kwik Spirits and Tobacco outlets. It’s a business decision, not a morals decision. A spokesperson for the LaCrosse-based chain, Ben Leibl, said that alcohol and tobacco sales nationwide are slipping. Employees are being offered jobs at other Kwik Trip locations. The expansion-minded chain has 880 locations in seven states and soon also in Nebraska. These other outlets carry cigarettes and vaping products and most also carry wine, beer and alcohol.
Dahl Auto expands car-dealing to Rochester
LACROSSE, Wis. — An expanding juggernaut in automobile retailing, Dahl Auto, has purchased two dealerships 65 miles away in Rochester. Dahl, based in LaCrosse, announced the purchase of Happy Auto outlets for Hyundai and Chrysler brands. Sale price: $23 million. Dahl is a family business dating to 1911 when it began selling Ford Model T’s. Happy Hyundai and Happy Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram are side-by-side in Rochester at 4700 and 4800 Highway 52 North. Dahl’s first Minnesota dealership was in Winona in 2016.
Pizza Hut chain sold to investor groups
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Restaurant operator Yum Foods has unloaded its troubled Pizza Hut brand. The Louisville-based company announced its U.S. operations will go to the private-equity firm LongRange Capital of Connecticut for $1.5 billion and its China operations to Yum China Holdings of Shanghai, for $1.2 billion. Pizza Hut’s sales fell 2% last year. The company will keep its profitable KFC and Taco Bell locations.
Earlier: No pizza anymore — nor cannabis either
Earlier: Times change, tastes change: Bye to Pizza Hut
Earlier: Troubled Pizza Hut closing 250 shops
Car-truck crash at Mabel injurers driver
MABEL, Minn. — An ambulance took a Preston woman 42 miles to a Rochester hospital after her car and a truck collided at edge of town. Fillmore County deputies described the injuries to Vickie Jo Lynch, 76, as non-life threatening. The accident was about 1:30 p.m. on State Highway 44 and County Road 28. Lynch was driving a 2015 Ford Fusion. She was belted, deputies said. The other driver, Jeremy Dean Wolf, 45, of Nashua, Iowa, was in a 2013 Kenworth semi-tractor.
Emergency, fire crews make 55 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 35 emergency medical calls plus 20 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, Mune 16: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Monday, June 15: 7 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Sunday, June 14: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, June 13: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, June 12: 7 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Thursday, June 11: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire calls.
> Wednesday, June 10: 3 medical calls plus 7 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 43 calls
No Winona splashin’ yet: Pool still closed
WINONA, Minn. — The contractor for repairs and upgrades at the Bob Welch swimming pool is more behind than expected. The city Parks Department said it can’t promiise an opening date, which was supposed to be Wednesday. What’s the problem? The Parks explanation
“This project includes the largest mechanical equipment replacement effort since the Aquatic Center first opened in 1990. Upgrades include new heaters, chemical controllers, and a modern high‑efficiency water filtration system. Although construction crews have made substantial progress, the contractor must complete final installation work, conduct system testing, finalize safety checks and inspections prior to opening.”
Meanwhile, one local alternative, the Levee Park water feature, is closed through Sunday for Steamboat Days.
Mayor quits as hyper-scale Google project looms
PINE ISLAND, Minn. — Mayor David Friese resigned abruptly amid swelling controversy over a hyper-scale AI data center that Google wants to build outside town. Friese, mayor since 2020, did not link his decision explicitly to Googe’s Project Skyway. Unmistakable, however, is that the multi-million dollar project has torn Pine Island apart and come judicial scrutiny. This was the mayor’s message announcing his resignation effective immediately:
“As my position at work continues to grow, the needed attention and service to the city is impacted. With so much good taking place in Pine Island, the residents need a leader that will continue to give attention to moving this city forward.”
Friese, age 42, did not show up for a 6 p.m. City Council meeting. The Council, whose five members normally include mayor, named Council member Vernon Pahl as acting mayor. On the agenda were new rules for citizen participation at meetings — a response to the previous meeting that degenerated into shouting and mayhem. It was impossible to gavel the havoc back to order. The Council members walked out. The new participation rules require citizens to identify themselves before addressing the Council and to limit themselves to two minutes each.
Friese. In third two-year term. Had been up for re-election this coming November.
Community profile
Pine Island, population 4,300, is 16 miles north of Rochester on the U.S. Highway 52 corridor to St. Paul. The city straddles the Goodhue-Olmsted county line but mostly in Goodhue Couny. Historically the city has an agricultural base but is becoming more a commuter bedroom community for Rochester. Median household income is $47,500, median family income $59,800. Population 91% white.
Project Skyway site. Along U.S. Highway 52 north of Pine Island.Where Google wants farmland rezoned for a hyper-scale transfer site for AI data.
Klobuchar fund-raising leads Minnesota governor pack
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Amy Klobchar campaign for governor is doing well financially. The campaign has raised $7 million-plus so far this year, 97% of which came from individual contributions. From political committee was $97,000, from lobbyists $67,000. These data are from periodic reports that candidates are required to file by law. Klobuchar, who has been a U.S. senator since2007, is the endorsed Democratic candidate for governor and has no significant opposition in the party’s August primary election. Competing with each other on the Republican side in the primary:
> Mike Lindell, of MyPillow fame: $650,000 raised this year.
> Kendall Qualls, the party-endorsed Republican candidate: $360,000.
> Lisa Demuth, Minnesota House speaker: $210,000.
Earlier: Poll: Klobuchar leads GOP rivals for governor
Earlier: Klobuchar leads gubernatorial fund-raising
Name released from fatal Centerville crash
CENTERVILLE, Wis. —Belatedly the Trempealeau County sheriff confirmed the woman who died in a collision near Centerville four days ago was Amber Shovald of Eau Claire. She was 42. Sheriff Erica Koxlien didn’t explain why she withheld the name. Shovald was a passenger in one of the vehicles in the collision. The drivers, Maidao Yang, 38, and Aleck Lehnartz, 24, were injured and helicoptered for emergency medical attention.
Charge: Anger explodes over probation status
WINONA, Minn.— Police arrested a Winona man after a woman reported a death threat in an angry outburst at her place about snitching on a probation violation. Michael Wehner, age 27, was arrested in the 350 block of West Sanborn Street about 11:10 a.m. The woman, age 58, accused Wehner of entering her place yelling and screaming. She said he broke household items in the tirade.
I-90 crash: Car crunched between trucks
EYOTA, Minn — An Owatonna woman was injured when her mid-weight 2024 Kia Carnival was caught in a collision of two Peterbilt trucks. This was about 9:30 a.m. just east of the Intestate 90 exit into Eyota. Jenna Lee Fernandez, age 41, was taken 12 miles to a Rochester hospital. Her injuries appeared sustainable, according to Olmsted County deputies. The collision was in the westbound lanes toward Rochester. Unhurt were:
> Bruce David Jacobs, age 50, of Huntington, Indiana, in a 2013 Peterbilt.
> David Bradley Marks, age 69, of Wabash, Indiana, in a 2022 Peterbilt.
Driver dies in another I-90 Marion crash
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A woman from St. James in south-central Minnesota was killed in a three-vehicle accident near Interstate 90’s Marion exit into Rochester and to Chatfield. The victim was Evelyn Marie Brye, 72. She was driving a 2023 Toyota Rav 4, which was stuck by a 2013 Nissan Altima, which had sideswiped with a 2005 International truck. This was about 9 a.m. on wet pavement. Brye, who was belted, was alone in her car. Unhurt:
> Alex Blake Whiteis. 46, of Austin, driver of the Nissan.
> Reese Jessica Whiteis, 18, of Austin, a passenger.
> Louis Antone Plaskey, 43, the trucker, of Loyal, Wisconsin, which is 140 miles away near Marshfield.
Poll: Minnesota leans Blue for U.S. Senate
MINNEAPOLIS — Asked how they’re inclined to vote in November to replace Tina Smith in the U.S. Senate, Minnesotans favor Democrats, according a new poll. The poll found:
> 49% favored the Democrats, whichever candidate prevails in the August primary.
> 41% favored the Republican, whichever one prevails in August
> 9% were undecided.
The poll was June 8 to June 10 with 800 telephone interviews statewide. The statistical margin of error was slim and made the poll a useful snapshot for analysts.
Fields in flux
The leading Democrats, both with aggressive television advertising campaigns going into the August primary election that decides who represents the party on the November ballot.
> Angie Craig, currently in the U.S. House from MN-2.
> Peggy Flanagan, the party’s endorsed candidate and currently lieutenant governor.
The leading Republicans going into the August primary:
> Michelle Tafoya, a network television sports interviewer.
> Adam Schwarze, the party’s endorsed candidate and who has federal experience in foreign affairs.
State eyes eradication of invasive moth
Spongy moth caterpillers. Incredibly voracious creatures in 360-degree chow-down around a birch trunk. At risk: Minnesota forest, farm and tourist industries.
Tool is waxy substance to suppress mating
WINONA, Minn. — The state Agriculture Department is going airborne for to battle the spread of an invasive moth that threatens Minnesota forests. The target: Spongy moths. The battleground includes 19 sites in southeast Minnesota’s Fillmore, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties and cities including Austin, Goodview, Rochester, Stewartville and Winona. Crop-dusting planes will spray 112,000 acres. The weapon will be non-toxic substance that messes with the mating instincts of male spongy moths. Next year, according to the the plan, will be largely devoid of caterillars that would morph into the spongy moths. The Agriculture Department says the substance is benign to humans, animals, birds and other insects.
Yellow bird in shallow swoops. Under contract are pilots of small yellow crop-dusters with wing tanks loaded with spray. Weather permitting, the eight-day aerial campaign begins June 24. Repeated tree-top swoops begin daily at 6. a.m.
Up North toward Minnesota’s Arrowhead. A second theater of the state’s war on spongy moths. Lighter colors are infested but less so. Individually the moths appear harmless enough Typical length is 1 to 1-1/2 inches.
WELCOME
The worthiest goal of journalism is to promote intelligent citizen involvement. Such is our goal with Winona Journal. We focus on local issues so you can go about your daily activities with confidence that you can be a genuine and valued part of informed public dialogue on the kind of community we’re building.
Although Winona-centric, we are attentive also to regional issues. Our community doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
You will find opinion here. We quote and paraphrase with attribution so you know the source and can assess ideas and thoughts. Sometimes you will find our commentary but always clearly labeled.
As journalists we are committed to accuracy but not perfect. Please let us know if you spot an error, whether substantive or even just a dumb typo. We’ll get errors squared away promptly.
We’re glad you’re with us.