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

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

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 V alley turn-off. The vehicles, a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Ehlenfeldt, and a 2017 Subaru Outback driven Angela Sue Weber, age 39, of Winona, were on a two-lane section of section of Highway 43. Weber and two toddlers, girls, ages 3 and 2, were unhurt. They were belted. State troopers said. Ehlenfeldt was not.

WINONA, Minn. — A judge accepted a plea deal for a Winona man who shot up houses in Rollingstone late at night a year ago. Kimari Jordan, age 22, received five years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Jordan and a companion drove along residential Speltz Drive in Rollingstone, 15 miles from Winona. Bullets hit two homes and an outbuilding  No one was hurt. The second man, Damein Lamont Smith Jr., age 30, of Winona, also has negotiated a plea deal. His sentencing is scheduled for July.

Earlier: No more Rollingstone drive-by arrests seen

Earlier: Winona man jailed for mystery Rollingstone drive-bys

Earlier: Probe continuing in Rollingstone shootings

Earlier: Drive-by attacks: Bullets hit three Rollingstone homes

MARINETTE, Wis. — A northeast Wisconsin company, Tyco Fire Products, agreed to pay $10 million for contaminating well water with a fire-fighting foam. The foam contained cancer-causing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” because they never ever break down chemically. The State of Wisconsin sued Tyco in 2022, alleging that the company had been contaminating acres around a firefighting training center in this Green By  community since the 1960s. In Madison the settlement was hailed by Governor Tony Evers as “a key step toward making su e polluters are held accountable, take responsibility for their actions, and ensure Wisconsinites don’t have to foot the bill for cleaning up the messes that others made.” Tyco is a corporate unit of Irish-owned Johnson Controls.

MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. — Officers on policing patrols were alerted to watch for a man for an assault reported up Hidden Valley. The assault was called to the sheriff’s office about 11:15 p.m. Deputies said the victim, a woman, showed them red marks on her neck. The assailant had left, she said.

LAKE CITY, Minn. — A Frontenac motorcyclist was injured when he ran into a deer on two-lane U.S. Highway 61 at Maple Springs south of Lake City. David Cadet Kumferman, 74, was taken to the Lake City hospital. His injuries appeared non-life threatening. The accident was about 9:10 a.m. Kumferman was northbound into Lake City on a 2008 Harley Davidson FLHTCUI Touring. He was without helmet, said Wabasha Countv deputies.

LEWISTON, Minn. — A driver escaped injury when he missed a curve, entered the ditch, launched back across the road, took out a couple signs, and continued through the ditch. This was about 5:40 a.m. south of Lewiston on County Road 29 in the Rush Creek dip above Enterprise. The driver told Winona County deputies he fell asleep.

WINONA, Minn. — Police say Aiden Michael Wilson’s first mistake was hopping on a motorcycle outside the Kwik Trip at Huff and Sarnia. A police officer saw Wilson and knew that his driving license was revoked. After the ensuing traffic stop, Wilson, age 19, of Dakota was in jail. The charges:

> Underage drinking and driving.

> Carrying a pistol without a permit.

> Carrying a pistol while under the influence

> Driving after revocation.

The arresting officer gave this account: At the stop , about 12:30 a.m. a few blocks away, the officer immediately detected an overwhelming odor of alcohol. Wilson’s eyes were bloodshot and watery. Wison’s backpack was leaking. Wilson initially denied consuming alcohol but later admitted that he had beer in his backpack and had consumed three to four drinks. Wilson also admitted that he did not have insurance and that he had no driver’s license. It had been revoked after a drunk-diving arrest three weeks earlier. Asked whether he had weapons, Wilson first denied having any but later admitted to handgun in his backpack. Officers searched the backpack and located nine cans of Busch Light Apple, a 4.1% alcohol product.  One was uncorked and leaking. Also in the backpack: Several marijuana-related items, including loose marijuana, rolling papers, and a marijuana pipe. Wilson admitted to smoking marijuana earlier in the day. The revolver was a .357 Taurus. A breath test showed his blood was 0.07% alcohol — a legally tolerable level, but at 19 he legally ineligible to imbibe at all. Then there was the bike. It had been stolen. The owner discovered the theft after noticing fraudulent charges on a card that had been inside a wallet on the bike.

Baseball: Winona Cotter Ramblers 11, Rochester Lourdes Eagles 5

Softball: Olyvia Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian Warriors 4, Adams Soutlhand Rebels 1

Softball: Mendota Heights Visitation Blazes 4, Caledonia Warriors 2

Softball: Byron Bears, Inver Grove Heights Simley Spartans 0

Tennis (boys): Winona Cotter Ramblers 4, Pine City Panthers 3

Tennis (boys): Rochester Mayo Spartans 7, Becker Bulldogs 0

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn — The governing board of the Minnesota State High School League approved girls wrestling provisionally as an interscholastic sport. The decision gives organizing schools as many as five years to demonstrate stability prospects and logistics. Meanwhile the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association is continuing on its own with schools that include Chatfield. On the issue of girls flag football, the State High School League delayed action until organizers, which include the Minnesota Vikings, develop rules and a system of scheduling games.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Rochester judge set bail at $1000,00 in hope of deterring Phiktor Ajol Makuei of skipping town again, as he did between court hearings on a rape charge in 2023. Makuei, 1ge 37, had been on the loose almost 3-1/2 years.

Earlier: Man back in Rochester jail on 2023 rape  charge

DULUTH, Minn. — The man who embarrassed Minnesota Republicans by calling for a tribute to killer-cop Derek Chauvin at the GOP state convention has been identified by a news reporter for the Minnesota Reformer. He was Christopher Rocco, who said he preferred to be known merely as “Rocco” or “Mr. Rocco.” He did not identify from where in the state he had been elected as a delegate to the convention. He was among 2,300 delegates. In the hub-bub of the opening session Rocco grabbed a microphone and called for a moment of silence for Chauvin. And it was so ordered, unwittingly, by party leadership on the podium. Heads were bowed reflexively. For several days now the state GOP apparatchik has repeated disavowals of Rocco’s action as not representative of the party’s values.

Earlier: How Republicans came to their “Chauvin Moment”

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis painter Leon Hushcha’ and his assistant Carley Novak opened their North Loop gallery and studio in the morning to discover they’d been robbed. Missing were 18 paintings and about 50 prints. The thieves, police said, knew what they were doing. They entered the studio through a fire escape door, probably with a key, and turned around security cameras. One camera, however, caught the thieves — two men — rolling a cart laden with art across a parking lot. This was between 6:45 and 7:15 a.m. Hushka said the loss at $80,000.

Caught in act. After dawn but before gallery opened.

Pushka. Minneapolis painter of Ukranian lineage. Recent exhibit: “Year of the Horse.”

Hushcha profile

Hushcha, now 80,  was born in a displaced persons camp in Austria after his parents fled Ukraine following World War II. They immigrated to the United States and Hushcha grew up in Minneapolis. He studied at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the University of Minnesota. Only a week ago he had opened the exhibition “The Year of the Horse” at his studio. The exhibition depicted horses and women, celebrating the Chinese Year of the Horse.

Minneapolis art heists

Art heists are unusual in Minneapolis. In 2000 a $30,000 watercolor by French impressionist painter Marie Laurencin disappeared from the long-running Doug Flanders gallery. Police found the painting weeks later inide  a  false ceiling a downtown men’s toilet.

LACROSSE, Wis. — In making a drunk-driving arrest, police discovered that it wasn’t the first —but the fourth — for Scott Jacobson. The 46-year-old LaCrosse man had three earlier DWI convictions in LaCrosse and Trempealeau counties, albeit over a 22-year period. This time he had been reported weaving between lanes and hitting curbs near Main Street and West Avenue in La Crosse. Police found him parked on Ninth Street. He also was charged with five criminal counts, including two felonies.

Jacobson. Felonies among multiple charges.