Soccer (men): Illinois Tech 2, Saint Mary’s 1

Soccer (women): Saint Mary’s 15, UM-Morris 0

Volleyball (women): Saint Mary’s 3, UW-Superior 2

Volleyball (women): Saint Mary’s 3, Ripon 0

Football: DuPage of Illinois 60, Rochester Community 14

Factory worker backdrop. Vance at microphone with a backdrop of 70 Mid-City Steel employees in the company’s North Side warehouse on Buchner Place. The audience: About 250.

Address larded with overstated claims, half-truths

LACOSSE, Wis. — Vice President JD Vance, in a staged address at a LaCrosse factory, promoted Trump economic reforms as triumphs for American industry and working people Vance spoke about 40 minutes but took no questions and flew back immediately to Washington. His talking points were Trump familiar refrains:

> Tariffs. Vance said Trump tariffs would create U.S. jobs by discouraging U.S. companies from importing foreign products: “If you build crap overseas and try to undercut the wages of American workers, you’re going to pay a big fat tariff.”  Although the Vance’s point was made with a straight face and uttered with unbounded confidence, it was a half-truth at best. The tariffs have disrupted U.S. economic growth with the specter of skyrocketing consumer prices and hyper-initiation. Investors see no upside to Trump’s tariffs have backed off putting capital into domestic production.

> Taxes. Vance overstated the claim that Trump tax cuts on overtime pay and tips will be an advantage for working people. He failed to mention that the cuts expire in 2028. Trump’s $117 billion in tax cuts for wealthy Americans are permanent.

> Troops in the streets. Vance made a dubius claim that Trump’s deployment of 10,300 armed soldiers to the streets of Los Angeles and Washington have reduced crime. He failed to mention that Trump also has targeted Milwaukee for military occupation, among other cities with large minority populations and black mayors.

Verbatim

Vance: “For years American leaders would ask you to work overtime, would ask you to spend even more time away from your family. And every hour that you spend on the job, they would reach further and further in your pocket. We believe that if you spend an extra hour of work, the government ought to keep its hands the hell out of your pocket.”

Earlier: Wrong-way Vance tactic outsmarts protesters

Signs along Copeland. In anticipation that Vice President Vance would take the most direct route to his political event, protesters lined Copeland Avenue. It wasn’t to be. Vance’s security detail switched to Rose Street a block away and proceeded against the posted one-way signs. Both streets had been blocked off as a back-up security measure.

Democrats: News coverage got their message out

LACROSSE, Wis. — About 300 poster-waving protesters lined Copeland Avenue to catch the eye of Vice President JD Vance on his way to a political event. But the Vance motorcade, instead of following the usual direct route on Copeland Avenue from the airport, switched to another street a block away and proceeded, albeit going the wrong way on a one-way street, to avoid the demonstrators. Realizing they had been outwitted, the protesters scrambled across the grassy boulevard between Copeland and Rose Street as the motorcade continued to the scheduled event a mile away. At the event, at Mid-City Steel’s factory warehouse, Vance offered no acknowledgment of even seeing the protesters.  But it didn’t matter, said William Garcia, the Democrat who organized the protest. Garcia noted that video of protesters racing across the grass after realizing the route trickery went viral. The protesters’ messages, he said, won more news coverage than Vance himself. Garcia also noted that protesters numbered 300 — twice as many as he expected and more than the 250 at Vance’s invitation-only address.

Video: Vance protest

Among gamut of grievances. These protesters waved U.S. and Ukranian flag to make their point. Most signs, however, targeted Trump on economic issues and healthcare cuts.

MADISON, Wis — Bishop Donald Hying backtracked on his statement that a priest accused of sexual misconduct last week had an absolutely clean record. The bishop said in a new statement that a parent complained about Showers in 2021. The parent “expressed concern” about pastoral questions that were asked of a male middle-school child during confession. The bishop further explained:

Hying. Bishop of 11-county Madison Catholic Diocese since 2019. Earlier bishop in Gary, Indiana. From 2011 to 2015 an auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee.

MOOSE LAKE, Minn. — A man convicted 30 years ago for beating his great-grandmother to death with a crowbar, has been denied parole. David Engle was 17 when convicted in Fillmore County and sent to prison for life. After 30 years, however, Engle was eligible for release. The state Parole Board said no. The Board noted that hasn’t apologized directly to the family. Nor, said the Board, has he shown a sense of how deeply the community was affected. He can apply for parole again in 2028. Then he’ll be 52 years old. Until then, the Board told Engle to work with a prison psychologist on a more convincing rehabilitation plan. The 1996 murder was in the Iowa birder hamlet of Granger. He actually lived in nearby Cresco, Iowa. Among people objecting to Engle’s release were Cresco citizens who said they didn’t want him anywhere near or around. At the Moose Lake prison, he’s out of sight and out of mind and 3-1/2 hours away. Told about the Cresco sentiment, Engle said he hadn’t thought about his release re-victimizing the community but said: “Me returning to that community, that might not be a good idea,” Probably better he said, would be resettling in the Twin Cities.

Crime profile

After a night of drinking, Engle, who was 17, went to the home of Gertie Bestor, age 86, his great grandmother to ask for money. She had loaned him money before. This time she said no. He killed and sexually assaulted her. He fled. Unbeknown to him, Bestor’s medical alert brought help. Also, a family member had seen Engle leaving the home. He was later found near his home in Cresco. He was extradited to Minnesota because the crime was north of the state line. The charges:

>Three counts for first-degree murder.

> Two for second-degree murder.

> Four for burglary.

> Three for criminal sexual conduct.

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man already facing three drunken-driving charges was arrested for a fourth. Domnick Elvin Hester, 26, was stopped near downtown about 11:40 p.m. by a police officer who recognized him as under a court order to have an ignition interlock to prevent him from driving. At jail his blood tested for 0.08% alcohol, the legal threshold for impairment. The arrest was near Second and Walnut streets. The officers reported smelling alcohol and that Hester’s speech was slurred. Also he failed to signal a turn.

Hester. Refused at scene to complete standard field sobriety exercises, police said.

Football: UM-Duluth 35, Winona State  7

Football: Ellsworth Panthers 23, LaCrosse Central RiverHawks 21

SPRING VALEY, Minn.  — The drivers of two vehicles were injured when they collided from opposite directions on U.S. Highway 63 halfway to the Iowa border. Both were taken 35 miles to a Rochester hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Gregory Lee Anderson, 64, of Cambridge, in a 2025 Chevrolet Traverse, was northbound into Spring Valley. Carter Lloyd Star, 18, of Ostrander, was in a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta. The crash occurred about 7 p.m.

Annunciation Church sanctuary. Where children were assembling for prayer before classes in the adjoining parish school. As trained in drills in case of a mass shooting, they dropped to the floor and took refuge under the oak pews.

Police found 116 shells at shooter’s perch outside

MINNEAPOLIS — Two school children killed in a mass shooting at a Catholic Church have been identified by their families:

> Harper Moyski, age 10.

> Fletcher Merkel, age 8.

In all, the shooter hit 14 children. She fired through a stained-glass window as the children gathered in pews for a Mass to celebrate the new school year. The wounds ranged from minor to critical. Also: Three adults were in the sanctuary and wounded. Police said the shooter fired 116 rounds from three weapons before taking her own life.

Earlier: Mayor: “Let’s not lose our sense of humanity”

Earlier: Church school shooter ID’d as 23 years old

Earlier: Two school children shot dead at worship service

LAMOILLE, Minn. — Greenkeepers at the Cedar Valley golf course called for help about a rattlesnake. The Winona police dispatcher asked a trained snake wrangler to check it it out. The rattler, a protected species, was relocated where no golfers go. This was the second rattlesnake report at the course in two years.

WESTBY, Wis. — The only creamery still producing cottage cheese in Wisconsin, the Westby Co-op in Vernon County, announced a $14 million plan to increase production. Said J.D. Greenwall, president: “The business is growing. The business is booming. We can’t make enough cottage cheese in our plant or nationwide.” Plans include new refrigeration, 10,000-gallon cream tanks, and a 30,000-gallon milk silo. Greenwall said the upgrades also will cut production time. The co-op also produces sour cream and yogurt.

Booming demand. Analysts  see $38.8 billion global growth through 2028 due to more cheese in trendy cuisines.

Roadside shopping. A truckload from Kellogg’s famous sandy soil. On U.S. Highway 14 through St. Charles. More melons are on the vine for picking in the run-up to Kellogg’s annual Watermelon Festival the weekend after Labor Day. Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn — A criminal complaint alleging sexual misconduct against a Rushford school bus driver eight years ago identifies the victim as a high school junior who was 17 at the time. The complaint notes that victim, a girl, suffered autism and Asperger’s syndrome. The complaint alleges too that the driver, Timothy Thomas Wilkemeyer, age 53, was aware of the girl’s vulnerabilities or should have been. The alleged behavior was reported to authorities only three weeks ago when the mother of the girl, now 24, contacted authorities. The criminal complaint quotes Wilkemeyer with different details of what happened. He told investigators that the girl asked to see his genitals, which he did, and that she fondled them. He acknowledged ongoing discussion of sexual topics with the girl but denied touching her breasts or genitalia. He also told investigators that he believed the girl’s 18th birthday had passed. Eighteen is Minnesota’s legally recognized age of consent. According to the complaint, Wilkemeyer had been the girl’s school bus driver since she was 5 years old. The trips were 21 miles back and forth from her family’s home in Winona County to school in Rushford

Earlier: Rushford driver accused of school bus sex

What’s at stake

Wilkemeyer is charged with a single count of criminal sexual conduct, a felony, in the driveway of her family’s home in Winona County. Conviction could mean 15 years prison and a $30,000 fine. Wilkemeyer no longer drives school buses. Also: Fillmore County social workers have suspended his license to provide child-care services from his Rushford home because of “imminent risk of harm to persons served.”

MADISON, Wis. — A Madison priest arrested in a police sting, Andrew Showers, has been quarantined from ministerial duties pending a police investigation, his superiors announced. Showers, age 37, whose ministry assignment was in Madison, was arrested 130 miles away in Waupaca County, allegedly for arranging a sexual rendezvous with an under-age girl. A statement released by Bishop Donald Hying said that Showers “will be completely restricted from all exercise of public ministry while the investigation is ongoing.” The bishop said there never had been allegations of misconduct connected to Showers before. Meanwhile,Showers has been released from the Waupcaa jail by posting$10,000 bail pending further court proceedings.

Earlier: Police sting: Madison priest snared at rendezvous

Volleyball (girls): Farmington Tigers 3, Rochester Mayo Spartans 1

Swimmjng and diving (girls): Rochester Mayo Spartans, Albert Lea Tigers 20

Tennis (girls): Rochester Century Panthers 7, Albert Lea Tigers 0

WINONA, Minn. — Two teen-age boys were found monkeying around inside the Lourdes Hall demolition site in the middle of the Cotter Schools campus. Apparently they were looking for items to decorate their bedroom walls. The boys, age 14 and 13, were ticketed for trespass. Police called their parents to pick them up. The 14-year-old was charged also with underage possession of alcohol. He was carrying a can of Michelob Ultra. This was just after dark about 7:50 p.m.

Earlier: Pulverizing Lourdes Hall, CST’s pride, to dust

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man didn’t do well on a roadside sobriety test after being stopped by police on the East Side. The arresting office said Ryan Joseph Loesel, 49, admitted to marijuana an hour prior. A blood sample was taken at jail and sent to an outside lab for testing. For now there’s a pending charge of impaired driving. The stop was about 7:25 p.m, at Wabasha and Hamilton streets. Loesel was driving with a revoked license and had bad taillights, police said.