WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man called police that his girlfriend punched and clawed him during an argument. Arrested was Cayla Marie Schleich, age 28. The arrest was in the 600 block of Main Street at the apartment from which the man, age 32, had called police. This was about 1 a.m. Officers reported fresh scratch marks on one of the man’s arm and a wound inside the mouth. He didn’t require medical attention. Schleich admitted to the punch, police said.

Up Witoka way. Ground fog at sunset near the Big Springs cold headwaters of East Burns Valley Creek. Image: Andy Frank

LEWISTON, Minn. — Deputies arrested a Lewiston man at his residence on a complaint of sexual criminal conduct involving a female juvenile. Investigators said the case had begun over the weekend as a run-away report. Investigators were told the relationship had been had been going on 1-1/2 years. The arrest was without resistance about 6:50 p.m.

WASHINGTON — The man accused of assassinating Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband has escaped capital punishment. The U.S. Justice Department has accepted a federal judge’s opinion that an interstate stalking conviction  would not justify the death penalty. Interstate stalking was among multiple federal charges against Vance Boelte. There do remain state charges that could mean life in prison. Minnesota law does not permit execution.

Earlier: Assassination prosecutors unveil lode of evidence

Earlier: Minnesota assassination suspect indicted anew

Earlier: Boelter attorney: Assassination plea not guilty

Earlier: Assassination suspect’s car found 100 miles away

Earlier: $5 million bail in Minnesota assassinations

Earlier: As expected, Boelter indicted for assassination

Earlier: Key Minnesota legislator, husband assassinated

EYOTA, Minn. — An Ohio man was injured when he lost control of his pickup on Interstate 90 between the Eyota and Rochester-Chatfield exits. Jarvis Lamar Tolliver, age 41, Cincinnati, Ohio, suffered sustainable injuries, said Olmsted County deputies. Tolliver was taken 18 mils to a Rochester hospital. The accident was about 10:20 a.m. in westbound lanes. The pickup, a 2022 Ford Explorer, rolled in the eastbound ditch.

LINO LAKES, Minn. — The crumbling political career of two-term Minesota House member Elliott Engen took another dive. The two-term Lino Lakes representative withdrew his candidacy for re-election. For Engen, age 27, it’s been a bewildering career path from rising visibility in state Republican politics to confused ignominy in recent months. His trajectory:

> November 2020: Engen learned the ropes of campaigning in his first his bid for elected office at age 21. This was in District 38B. He barely lost, 50.1% to 49.8%.

> November 2022: On his second try Engen won the seat from the now-renumbered District 36A with 51%. At the Capitol he impressed fellow Republicans as a likable go-getter.  “A rising star” he was called.

> November 2024: Engen was re-elected from 36A with 54%.

> October 2025: Perhaps a little too eager to advance his political career, Engen declared his candidacy for statewide office — auditor. In this period he had discussions with fellow Republican representative Peggy Bennett of Albert Lea, who was pondering a gubernatorial bid and who was looking for a running mate for lieutenant governor. A deal was struck. For reasons that were never clear, Bennett put off identifying Engen as her choice. At some point — it’s unclear why or exactly when —Engen lost interest in his campaign for state auditor.

> March 2026: Engen was arrested driving drunk late at night after a day of drinking around town with a fellow Republican House member, Walter Hudson, who was carrying a firearm. During the day he played hooky from a House committee meeting, which would very soon come back to haunt him.

> April 2026: As punishment the House Ethics Committee, chaired by Greg Davids, a Preston Republican, stripped Engen and Hudson of their committee assignments.

> June 2026: Engen texted Bennett that he was withdrawing as her running mate.  She quoted him the next day as considering a career change out of state. Engen however, had a different explanation in a news release the next day: That family finances precluded him from continuing in elected office. That same afternoon, however, Engen contradicted himself and filed for re-election from House District 36A, which requires residency not only in Minnesota but also in the district.

> June 2026: Feeling let down and betrayed, Bennett ended her gubernatorial campaign. It was impossible to find a substitute runnng mate in the remaining four hours to the filing deadline.

> June 2026: Engen withdrew as a 36A candidate in a message to state election authorities.

Earlier: Bennett’s secret sidekick: Troubled fellow solon

Earlier: Bennett gubernatorial ticket falls apart

Earlier: Auditor hopeful creates stir with fraud charge

Earlier: House leadership distressed at boozing arrests

Earlier: Legislators, both drinking at late lunch, go AWOL

Earlier: Two legislators caught after night out

NODINE, Minn. — Overcome with fatigue, hikers called for help from a backtrail in Great River Bluffs State Park. A Nodine rescue team reached the hikers in an all-terrain vehicle and ferried them out. There were no injuries. This was about 3:20 p.m. The access was from Kipp Drive on the Nodine side of the 2,200-acre park. Vistors are pretty on their own. No full-time ranger.

Great River Bluffs State Park. Rises 500 feet on ridge connecting King’s Bluff and Queen’s Bluff.

Summer fun postponed. Upgrades and repairs not yet ready. Anybody have a backyard with a garden hose?

Temps coming at sweltering100 degrees

WINONA, Minn. — With the first 100-degree day of summer coming Tuesday, the Bob Welch aquatic park still isn’t open. The Winona Parks Department said the contractor performing major repairs on the 36-year-old facility has fallen behind. The target now is to open a week from Wednesday — 11 days late. When open, the park will have new heaters, chemical controllers, and a high-efficiency filtration system. Alternatives:

> Lake Lodge beach on Lake Winona.

> A small wading and splash pool at Levee Park.

bLaCanne Park beach in Goodview.

> Pubic pools with visitor fees 30 miles away in St. Charles, LaCresent, LaCrosse and Trempealeau.

> Indoor pool at Winona Y with visitor fee.

LANESBORO, Minn.— A Wisconsin woman was hospitalized in critical condition after a motorcycle-car collision outside Lanesboro on Saturday. Her name, Linnea Birgitta Rice, was released belatedly by the State Patrol. The Patrol was waiting for local authorities in her hometown, Galesville, to notify her family. Rice, age 53, was taken to a Rochester hospital, as was the motorcycle driver, who was less seriously injured.

Earlier: Winona biker hurt in Lanesboro crash

LANESBORO, Minn. — A Winona motorcyclist was injured in a collision on U.S. Highway 16 at the road out of Lanesboro to Mabel.  Mathew Christian Barnholtz, age 57, suffered sustainable injuries. He was taken 32 miles to a Rochester hospital. With Barnholtz on his bike was a  woman from Galesville in Wisconsin. Troopers delayed releasing her name until family could bc notified. They were westbound toward Preston. The driver of the second vehicle, Robert Lee, 74, of Rochester, was unhurt. Lee was in a lightweight 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage. Troopers said his airbag deployed. He was unhurt. The Barnholtz bike was a 2005 Harley FLHTCI Cruiser and heading east into Lanesboro. Barnholtz was not wearing a helmet, troopers said. They believed alcohol was a factor.

DAKOTA, Minn. — An out-of-town traveler turned his van too tight into a vacation rental property and hung up on the Canadian Pacific’s mainline tracks. Winona County deputies called the railroad to halt freight trains both directions. A tow truck rushed 24 miles from Goodview and pulled the van off the tracks. Deputies said the van driver was of good mind and not impaired. The four Amtrak passenger trains that use the CP mainline already had passed through Dakota for the day.

Softball: St. Francis Fighting Saints 6, Byron Bears 1

LAMOILLE, Minn. — A father called the sheriff’s office that that his adult daughter’s boyfriend had knocked him to the floor and caused minor injuries. This was up Moner Valley near Twin Bluffs about 8:50 p.m. The father told deputies that the boyfriend was keeping the daughter from leaving for work and that the boyfriend struck him when he intervened. By this time deupties were scenee, however, neither the father nor daughter wanted to pursue charges. Rather than escalate the situation, deputies took notes for the county attorney to assess what charges, if any, should be pursued. The boyfriend, deputies said, has a record io domestic abuse.

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ALTURA, Minn. — A deputy sheriff on patrol stopped to escort a large snapping turtle across State Highway 248. This was about 7:40 p.m. in a 55-mph zone downhill between Altura and Rollingstone. Although snapping turtles not an endangered species, wildlife experts advise motorists not run them down. Their armor is not sufficient to withstand the impact of a vehicle’s weight and speed.  Also: The bump can startle an inattentive driver and cause an accident.

Laying season. May to July. You’ll see more on roads.

Creature profile

Snapping turtles can be combative, especially out of water. They have powerful beak-like jaws and highly mobile head and neck. The Latin name includes the word “serpentina,” which means “snake-like.” Typically they weigh 13 pounds but can be as heavy as 35. The laying season is approaching. Females like to leave their usual water environs, sometimes considerable distances, to lay in a dry area.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Rochester Public Schools will add the Islamic feast day Eid-al-Adha to its 2028 calendar as a holiday. The holiday typically falls in May. The change was recommended by the district’s teachers and principals, who noted that absences on Eid-al-Adh have been high anyway.

DULUTH, Minn.  — The mystery delegate at the Republican state convention, who created an unscheduled tribute to a convicted murderer, has posted an explanation of sorts on You Tube. In the 10-minute video, Christopher Rocco meanders through a confusing nonsequitur retinue that killer-cop Derek Chauvin was railroaded through an unfair trial for murdering George Floyd. Rocco claimed that Chauvin deserves a retrial and a federal pardon. At the convention Rocco had taken a microphone during a preliminary open-mic proceeding and asked for a moment of silence for Chauvin: “I apologize because I know you asked me not to do this. I’d like to suspend the rules for a moment of reflection for Derek Chauvin.” There was a roar of approval from the floor, although nobody at the moment seemed to recall the high-profile 2021 Chauvin trial that attracted national news attention — “Chauvin who?” Convention Chair Danny Nadeau bowed his head. In respectful quietude. So did the crowded auditorium with 2,300 delegates. After that the convention moved on to other matters as if nothing untoward had occurred.

Earlier: Who conned GOP leadership into “Chauvin Moment”

Earlier: How Republicans came to their “Chauvin Moment”

Rocco. Flag-draped for his You Tube post. Where’d this guy come from: Nobody much knows.

Softball: Caledonia Warriors 5, Rockford Rockets 1

Softball: Adams Southland Rebels 3, Barnum Bombers 2

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — President Trump plans a one-day political swing to Chippewa County in northwest Wisconsin. His goal: To shore up his dismal approval ratings, now underwater 20 percentage points nationally. His following also is sagging in rural  areas like Chippewa County because of upward spiraling diesel and fuel costs for farmers due to Trump’s Iran war, and lost farm export markets due to  Trump’s global tariff war. Here’s what to expect in Trump’s Wisconsin visit:

> Eau Claire airport. Trump will arrive at the regional airport in Eau Claire (population 72,000). The airport has two runways. One is 5,000 feet and the other is 8,600. Both are too short for the requirements of the Boeing 747 Air Force One that Trump usually flies. He will be in a smaller plane, a Boeing 757, to land and take off.

> Motorcade. Several routes are available to the event’s host, Custer Farms, which is 10 miles north of Eau Caire in Chippewa County. Trump’s optics-conscious security usually chooses routes that are least likely to be lined with anti-Trump demonstrators.

> Custer Farms. A large dairy spread 12 miles west of Chippewa Falls (population 14,700)., the county seat. Custer Farms is operated by Kenneth D. Custer.

Custer Farms. Equidistant from Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire. Will be an indoor event, inside the dairy barn. Weather forecast: Rains perhaps drenching.

> Venue. A dairy barn has been set up with a long table facing 900 folding chairs for the event. Trump will be center stage at the long table with a cabinet retinue from Washington; Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson; WI-7 Congress member Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor; and WI-3 Congress member Derrick Van Orden.

> Audience: Carefully screened to assure security, to assure a friendly crowd, and to weed out dissidents.

> Political context. Chippewa County is solidly Republican. In 2016 Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 17,900 to 11,900. In 2020 he defeated Joe Biden 21,300 to 13,900. In 2024 he defeated Kamala Harris 23,400 to 14,700.

> Format: The White House used the misleading term “roundtable” for the event. It will not be a normal  “roundtable,” in which voters would have opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas.” Nor will it be a debate.” Trump will pontificate without any possibility for feedback or possibly inconvenient questions. Trump can be expected to invite pre-programmed praise from those at the front table.

> Seating. Trump will be seated for the entire event behind the draped front gavel. This will conceal his swollen legs, and the purple marks from excessive aspirin as a pain-reliever. There are staff concerns whether Trump has the stamina to be upright for extended periods.

 > Music. Trump will enter from a “green room” behind the long table to a recording of “Take Me Home Country Roads” in which the late John Denver expresses disdain for urban life. There is irony here on Trump’s history as an urban New Yorker and in recent years as a Miami Beach billionaire.

In heart solidly Republican farm country. GOP yard signs no strangers in these parts.

Earlier: Trump plans trip to uneasy Wisconsin farm country

WINONA, Minn. – A St. Charles driver was injured, albeit not seriously, in a two-vehicle accident on State Highway 43 heading downhill toward Winona. Scott Vernon Ehlenfeldt, age 40, was taken five miles to the Winona hospital for evaluation. The accident was about 5:30 p.m. near the Gilmore Valley turn-off. The vehicles, a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Ehlenfeldt, and a 2017 Subaru Outback driven by Angela Sue Weber, age 39, of Winona, were on a two-lane section of Highway 43. Weber and two toddlers, girls, ages 3 and 2, were unhurt. They were belted. State troopers said. Ehlenfeldt was not.