Angelini goes loud against protest crowd
ONALASKA, Wis. — Besieged restaurant owner Tony Angelini tried for an upper hand against street protesters who were objecting to his sexist hiring practices. Angelini took a microphone to outshout the protesters, who were across the street. He called them “hillbillies” and “looneys.” “You guys all lost,’ he shouted. He already had amped the volume of Trump campaign theme music —Village People’s 1978 “YMCA” and Lee Greenwodo’s 1984 “God Bless the U.S.A.” At his side Angelini had five women. In the background his building was obscured by red, white and blue bunting and flags and Trump posters — and also his budddies who are his restaurant’s managers and a few other men. At Angelini’s feet was a 14-foot banner proclaiming “America 1776-226.” It too was replete with U.S. flags. The protesters, numbering about 30, chanted. A few motorists on busy U.S. Highway 35 honked upport and gave high-fives and thumbs-up High-fiving for Angelini’ and his maller crowd were occasional oter drivers Desoite provocative from both sides of the street, police saw no cause to intervene. Nor was there a calk for pre-pre-arranged police .backup from nearby Holmen nnd LaCrrosse. As the confrrontation wonnd down, Angelini switched ears. He thanked the protesters for comjng. It was a weird moment.

Protesters chose signs. Angelini chose a megaphone amdnmusic at deafening volume. The protesters numbered three dozen at most. They stayed across the street from Angelini’s Italian estishment. From his parking lot Angeoinin hiuled insults insults and unflattering epithets.

Angelini. No restraint with insults at protesters, then, oddly, thanked thanked them.

Angelini’s logo. Towers over intereection of U.S. Highway 35, Riders Club Road and Sunset Vista Drive.
Earlier: Restaurateur defiant on “women need not apply”
Earlier: Earlier: Protest targets ristorante’s sexist attitudes
Earlier: Earlier: Readers riled by ristorante’s sexist talk
Bluff-top buzz is bees, birds and friends

A pollinator’s dream. This patch of daisies, clover add milkweed is on Camp Drive into the Winona Y’s East Burns Valley youth summer camp. Image: Andy Frank
Restaurateur defiant on “women need not apply”

Digs heels in deeper. Restaurant owner Tony Angelini goes all-out to link President Trump to his cause. Unclear: Does Angelini feel misogynist connection. Or is he asserting merely that Trump would endorse his right to proclaim whatever he wants. Images: Steve Lunde
Trump décor overwhelms Italian fare signage
ONALASKA, Wis. — In what can be described only as a bizarre business decision, Tony Angelini bedecked his ristorante with Trump posters, some as vulgar as his sexist insults to women in a podcast that went viral. The posters were there at dawn — ahead of a street protest being organized against the podcast insults. The protest was planned for 4 p.m. The link between Angelini’s policy against women servers and Trump was unstated, although Trump has a history of misogyny. One photo-shopped poster showed a defiant Trump with a two-fisted middle-finger message. Other carried the date of 2028, as if Trump could run for an illegal third term. Inexplicably a couple posters expressed support for the neurodevelopmental condition of autism.

Under the eaves. But impossible to miss. Hardly a welcoming invitation to diners.
Business savvy
Data bespeak the questionable wisdom of a business that explicitly espouses dubious moral and the also goes overboard for the est popular U.S. president in history. Census, voting and polling data:
> Gender: 51.06% women, 48.94% men in LaCrosse County, in which Onalaska is a major suburb.
> 2024 election: Trump lost LaCrosse Couny by 9.3 points (Harris, 39,000; Trum, 32,200).
> 2020 election: Trump lost by 13.5% (Biden 37,800; Trump, 32,200).
> 2016 election: Trump lost by 9.5 points (Clinton 2,400; Trump, 28,600).
> Current polls: Trump approval status nationally averages 38%
Exception
Sources say Angelini has one female sevrer on-call as a part-time staffing back-up. She has full-time employment elsewhere.
Earlier: Protest targets ristorante’s sexist attitudes
Earlier: Earlier: Readers riled by ristorante’s sexist talk
Minnesota prep
Baseball: St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders 3, Winona Cotter Ramblers 2
Baseball: Windom Eagles 9, Winona Cotter Ramblers 7
Baseball: Minnehaha Redhawks 13, Cannon Falls Bombers 12
Mayfly hatch due soon; snowplows on standby

Dead mayfly goo. From a previous hatch the morning-after on State Highway 43 bridge linking Winona and Wisconsin on a previous hatch. Vulnerable spans at 30-mile intervals are the ways to cross the Mississippi.
A one-day wonder: Hatch, breed, die
WINONA, Minn. — Snowplow drivers are bracing for the cyclical hatch of mayflies in the Mississippi River mud. The mayflies die by the millions after a brief lifespan, only a day. Their carcasses can pile so deep that riverside roads become a traffic hazard. It takes snowplows to clear the way. In the past there have been accidents, some with fatalities, as drivers lose control on mounds of slippery mayfly carcasses. Especially vulnerable are bridges with illuminated traffic lanes that attract mayflies. Until the hatch occurs — nobody is sure exactly when it’ll be —the state Transportation Department is turning off lights on Mississippi River bridges at Red Wing, Wabasha and Winona. An exception is the complex Intestate 90 bridge at Dresbach whose spaghetti ramps and crossovers would be additionally treacherous without lighting. Another exception is the red and green navigation lamps on the underside of bridge decks. These lamps help riverboat captains keep their barge arrays in the navigation channel between abutment piers.
Both drivers killed in Chatfield collision
CHATFIELD, Minn. —Two drivers were killed — one from nearby Preston, one from Chicago — when they collided late Wednesday night just north of Chatfield. Belatedly the State Patol released their names:
> Samuel A Hernandez, age 62, in a 2015 Jeep Cherokee., who died apparently on impact.
: Devon Peri Williams, age 40, in a 2013 Ford Explorer, who died later 24 miles away at a Rochester hospital.
Troopers suspected alcohol was a factor.
Johnson campaign visiting every MN-1 county
ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Democrat-endorsed candidate for the southeast Minnesota seat in Congress, Jake Johnson, laid out a summer townhall tour to meet voters in all 21 MN-1 counties. The schedule contrasts with Republican incumbent Brad Finstad, who has refused invitations to eyeball-to-eyeball townhalls and not scheduled any on his own. Said Johnson in a KTTC interview:
“People want an opportunity to speak with their representative, their elected representative. It’s something that they just do not feel like they’re getting with Congressman Finstad.”
Johnson’s schedule includes Winona County, July 14; Wabasha County, July 21; Mower County, July 23; Fillmore County, July 27; Olmsted County, August 15; Goodhue County, August 16; Houston County; August 25; and Dodge County, August 31. “I have full faith in the people of southern Minnesota are gonna come out and make their viewpoints known and actually try to solve some problems and do it in a locally focused way,” Johnson said.

On stump. With his take-everywhere red and white campaign poster. Who’s missing? Johnson’s point is that incumbent BradvFinstad hasn’t participated in any townhalls in months.
Candidate profile
Johnson is a math teacher at Mayo High School in Rochester. Active in teachers union as government relations coordinator. New to seeking public office.
Protest targets ristorante’s sexist attitudes
ONALASKA, Wis. — Online outrage at a podcast from the Onalaska restaurant Angelina’s has been feeding on itself for a week and growing. A protest is being organized for Saturday at 4 p.m. outside Angelini’s. It’s at 4 that Angelini’s opens. Nobody knows the scale the protest will take, but the male sexism of Angelini managers in the podcast has gone viral. It’s drawn 58,000 views so far. Restaurant owner Tony Angelini hasn’t returned news media inquiries about how he’s dealing with the escalating anger or whether he’s asked police to control the situation if it becomes unruly. Angelini suggested in the podcast that he realized he was hitting nerve:
“I don’t give a fuck if you want to call me sexist. I don’t give a fuck if I’m prejudiced. What I give a fuck about is making sure that my customers get great service.”
The video runs 10 minutes with Angelini in a sit-down roundtable chat with his three managers. One manager, Matt Johnsn, professed not being sexist: “It’s not like a sexist thing. It’s just something you prefer.” Uhh? The podcast was the 23rd in a series that generally focuses on menu fare and cocktails. The new episode contentiously roamed afield. The title: “At Angelini’s They Prefer Male Server”
Earlier: Readers riled by ristorante’s sexist talk
Minnesota prep
Baseball: Winona Cotter Ramblers 15 St. Cannon Falls Bombers 5
Deputy: Overwhelming alcohol odor a tip
LEWISTON, Minn. — A deputy sheriff responded to a complaint about a driver all over the road and stopped the vehicle and found the driver drunk. Arrested was Erick James Madison, age 39, of Rochester. The deputy reported an overwhelming odor of alcohol and said Madison had a balance issue when he swiveled out of the vehicle. His speech was slurred, the deputy said. This was about 6:15 p.m. on U.S. Highway 14 in Lewiston near the new fire station. A breath test put Madison’s blood-alcohol ratio at 0.22%, almost triple what’s allowed. Charges included giving a false name.
Assault case in Winona-Onalaska boomerang
WINONA, Minn. — Deputies arrested a Pleasant Valley man whose girlfriend reported he choked her to a point she couldn’t breathe. Arrested at his home off County Road 17 near the Bridges Golf Course was 27-year-old Nicholas Robert Quinlan. The girlfriend, who is 28, said an ongoing argument escalated at his house. She said he choked her with both hands and also slapped and struck her. When she tried getting away, she said, he blocked her. She did break out, however, and drove 30 miles to her place in Onalaska. Quinlan then showed up at the Onalaska address and caused a disturbance, she said. She called Onalaska police. By then he was gone. Winona County deputies were advised and went to his Pleasant Valley address and made the arrest. This was about 5:10 p.m. Quinlan was booked on charges of strangulation, causing harm, and false imprisonment.
Open booze, drugs found in I-94 stop
OSSEO, Wis. — A Kenosha driver was stopped for an unsafe lane change, which led to a bevy of charges including drunk driving. He failed roadside sobriety testing, which was a real problem. The State Patrol trooper who made the stop discovered it was the sixth DWI for 59-year-old Phillipp Schiavior. That wasn’t his only problem: In the vehicle the trooper found:
> An open intoxicant.
> Psilocybin, an illicit drug derived from mushrooms.
> An inoperable court-ordered ignition interlock device to stop impaired driving.
The stop was on Interstate 94 in northern Trempealeau County. For Schiavi this was 26o miles from home. The stop was about 2 p.m. He was headed west toward St. Paul.
News summary at mid-week: June 10, 2026
RIVER: CHS shifts grain-shipping infrastructure
POLITICS: Beset Minnesota legislator cancels out
POLITICS: Walz ridicules Trump claim he’s soft on fraud
POLITICS: Veep Vance urges new Minesota criminal probe
CUISINE: Readers riled by ristorante’s sexist talk
CRIME: Assassin’s plea deal: Prison forever
CRIME: Bail at $75,000 in Lewiston sex case
WEATHER: Storms pre-empt Winona bandshell concert
OUTDOORS: Exhausted hikers rescued in Bluffs Park
OUTDOORS: Dazed man carted out of spillway danger zone
OUTDOORS: Why did the turtle cross road?
Storms pre-empt Winona bandshell concert
WINONA, Minn. — Anticipating severe weather, the Winona Municipal Band cancelled its premier evening concert of the season at the Lake Park bandshell. Cancelling was a good idea: A large tree fell and blocked a nearby street at Lake Lodge. Trees around Windom Park were knocked down. One tree fell into a house. There were no injuries. Severe rounds of thunderstorms left much of Winona County water-logged — and so too a broad swath across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some locations reported four inches of rain. A few areas had hail. In Wisconsin the National Weather Service issued a shelter-in-a-safe-place alert for Arcadia and central Trempealeau County townships.
Fatal collision on wet highway near Chatfield
CHATFIELD, Minn. —The State Patol confirmed a fatality in a two-vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 52 outside Chatfield in southern Olmsted County. Until family are notified, the names were not released. The collision occurred on wet pavement about 11:45 p.m. This was near the County Road 7 intersection.
> A Preston man, age 40, driving a 2013 Ford Explorer, was northbound ward Rochester.
> A Chicago man, age 62, driving a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, was southbound into Chatfield.
Driver, rider, dog survive Garvin roll-over
WINONA, Minn. — A driver, unfamiliar with the steep and dangerous crooks on Garvin Heightts Road, lost control near the base. Desperate to regain control, the driver pressed his emergency brake, which compounded the problem. The vehicle slid sideways through a grove of trees, rolled twice, and stopped finally on its roof in the U.S. Highway 61 ditch at Huff Street. Both occupants were taken to the Winona hospital. Police described their injuries as non-life threatening. A dog in the vehicle survived.This was about 12:45 p.m.
Summer’s here: Electricity usage peaking
RUSHFORD, Minn. — The MiEnergy Cooperative asked customers dial down their electricity consumption during an anticipated peak demand period through 6 p.m. MiEnergy’s wholesale supplier, Dairyland Power, has upcharges for high-usage periods, which MiEnergy passes on to customers. The co-op has19,000 customers in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa.
Assassin’s plea deal: Prison forever
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man Vance Boelter has admitted he assassinated Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband last June and tried also to kill State Senator John Hoffman and his wife and their daughter. In all, he pleaded guilty in federal court to murder, stalking, and firearms offenses. The plea was part of a deal negotiated by his attorney and which U.S. Judge John Tunheim accepted. The agreement calls for Boelter to serve two consecutive life sentences in prison plus 40 years. In court Boelter admitted to planning the attacks for years, using people-finder websites to find the home addresses of the lawmakers, and disguising himself as a police officer to get the victims to open the door. Besides federal charges, Boelter faces state charges of first-degree premeditated murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.
Bail at $75,000 in Lewiston sex case
WINONA, Minn. — A Lewiston man posted $75,000 bail and was released on condition that he not contact the teen-age girl with whom he’s accused having carnal relations. Jack Edward Schott, age 42, was advised at his bail hearing about details in the criminal complaint.
Emergency, fire crews make 43 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 25 emergency medical calls plus 18 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, June 9: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire call.
> Monday, June 8: 2 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Sunday, June 7: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Saturday, une 6: 3 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, June 5: 2 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Thursday, June 4: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Wednesday, June 3: 2 medical calls plus 6 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 49 calls
Walz ridicules Trump claim he’s soft on fraud
ST.PAUL, Minn. — Through a spokesperson, Governor Tim Walz called a Congressional committee report that called for him to be investigated for complicity with fraud was “nothing more than a joke.” The 100-page report, released over the weekend by a Trump-controlled committee, was seriously flawed, said Teddy Tschann, the Walz spokesperson:
“This committee has proven time and time again to be nothing more than a joke. They continue to rehash CoVid-era fraud to distract from endless wars, gas prices, ICE, and the president’s insider trading.”
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, glommed on the report to encourage that Walz be investigated, along with Keith Ellison. Minnesota’s attorney general. Said Tschann:
“Governor Walz is glad to see fraudsters are going to prison. If the committee is concerned about corruption, they should investigate why President Trump continues to let fraudsters out of prison.”

Swearing allegiance to truth. Walz and Ellison, both Democrats, were summoned before the Republican-controlled U.S. House Oversight Committee about fake claims for federal reimbursements from private entities in Minnesota. The hearing was in March. Now, 3-1/2 months later, the committee issued its recommendations.
Walz repeatedly has noted that several changes have been made over the last few years to address fraud. These changes include a new state Office of Inspector General, which has independent power to investigate fraud.
Earlier: Ellison on Vance charges: “A political stunt”
No 101 degrees: Wild storms nonetheless loom
WINONA, Minn. — The forecasting model that predicted a 101-degree afternoon Tuesday was wrong. Temperatures didn’t get much into the 80s. Consider it a quiet interlude: We’re not out of Harm’s Way. Atmospheric unrest that brewed in South Dakota and Nebraska was heading across southern Minnesota with possible tornadic activity. The first storms were expected Winona County in the late morning or early afternoon. Unknown was how quickly the atmosphere will recover. Muggy air with high dew points could create powerful updrafts that favor rotating supercells. A complicating factor could be an encroaching cold front.
He said she went at him with punch, nails
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.
Dazed man carted out of spillway danger zone
WINONA, Minn. — A rescue team carried a drunk and unconscious man 80 yards to safety through wooded area near the Mississippi River spillway on Prairie Island. The man was taken six miles to the Winona hospital for possible injuries and his inebriated state. This was about 10:20 p.m. A caller had said only that the man was “behind the spillway.” He was located 50 yards through woods. The rescuers, from the Fire Department, called the station house to drive out with a basket stretcher. Although the man was only 50 yards frm the nearest vehicle access, the rescuers carried rhe stretcher 80 yards out and back to avoid the hazards of negotiating the spillway’s large rip rap in the dark.
Evening fog rising from spring-fed creek

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