PRESTON, Minn. —The Petersen twin accused of vehicular homicide for crashing into an Amish buggy pleaded guilty. Two Amish children on their way to school died. Samantha Jo Petersen, age 37, who lived in Spring Valley at the time. admitted as part of the plea that she had smoked meth twice in the hours before the crash. She also admitted to speeding and negligence. Sentencing was scheduled by Judge Jeremy Clinefelter for September. The plea agreement includes a recommendation to the judge for a four-year prison sentence. Samantha Jo’s identical twin Sarah Beth earlier pleaded guilty for her part in the cover-up to protect her sister.

Earlier: Twin wins court delay for fatal Amish  buggy crash

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Among 33 new foods on the ever-growing menu at the Minnesota State Fair, which opens August 21:

Afro bean pops. Deep-fried bites of ground black-eyed peas, onions, jalapeños, cilantro and seasonings. Served with spicy red chili sauce atop bed of mixed greens. Vegan. Gluten free. At Afro Deli in the Food Building, east wall.

Athena’s whipped feta. Whipped feta topped with schug – a Middle Eastern green sauce made with jalapeños, garlic, cilantro, parsley and fresh herbs. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkled with crunchy toasted wild rice. Served with deep-fried pita bread tossed with Dino’s signature seasoning. Vegetarian. At Dino’s Gyros, north side of Carned Avenue between Nelson and Underwood streets.

Birthday Cake Cookie Dough On-a-Stick. Cake batter cookie dough covered in crunchy cake confetti shell. Topped with rainbow sprinkles and served on-a-stick. Vegetarian. At Kora and Mila’s Cookie Dough, south side of Dan Patch Avenue between Cooper and Cosgrove streets.

Five miles away is the 53rd annual Catfish Days community celebration in Trempealeau on the Mississippi River. The grand parade:  l pm. on Sunday.  Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. — For the 10th time in 17 months Jerome Rickey Steele III was stopped for driving with a revoked license. An officer recognized Steele at Sarnia and Franklin streets about 2 a.m. and pulled him over. The charge: Habitual violation. The first violation was in 2021 when Steele was 25.

MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities have made what they believe is largest drug bust in Minnesota history —900 pounds of meth worth $1.3 million to $1.8 million on the street. Two men have been arrested:

> Guillermo Mercado Chaparro, age 44.

> Joel Casas-Santiago, 46.

The men are connected with a larger drug organization operating out of Mexico, according to a criminal complaint. The arrests were Tuesday. Here, according to court documents, is how it all came down:

> July 2: An undercover police officer purchased a pound of meth from Chaparro. Authorities then secured a court order to track his pickup truck.

> July 7: Officers observed Chaparro place two large bags into a Jeep parked near his pickup truck. He and Casas-Santiago drove off in separate vehicles.

> Officers located the Jeep near 31st Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. They searched the Jeep and found 251 pounds of meth.

> July 8: With a search warrant for the pickup truck, officers found another 638 pounds of meth, along with a roster of what looked to be dealers.

> July 9: Casas-Santiago and Chaparro were arraigned for first-degree sale of meth. The statutory minimum prison term for conviction: 6-1/2 years.

Hennepin County prosector Mary Moriarty said neither suspect has ties to the Twin Cities. Both, she said, are “associated with larger drug organizations in Mexico.” Law enforcement agencies in the investigation: Minneapolis police, St. Paul police, Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Earlier: If true: Major, major Minnesota meth bust

Under the tarp. This is what 638 pounds of meth looks like. Police seized the plastic-wrapped drugs in one of two related raids that together netted 900 pounds packed for dealers to break down for street sale. Investigators say the drugs were smuggled from Mexico. Image: Minneapolis police

WINONA, Minn. – A homeless man who seems in perpetual trouble with police was caught tampering with a parked car in the 520 block of Wilson Street. A homeowner called police about 6:40 a.m. that his car had been entered overnight but nothing was missing.  Police took notes and left. A little later the homeowner called again: Somebody was out there again going through the car. Police returned and found Bradly Steven Johnson, age 62, who they’ve come to know well. While officers were talking with Johnson, another neighbor came out and said her car too had been rifled overnight and some jewelry taken. The jewelry, police said, was in Johnson’s pocket. Police wrote a ticket that alleged receiving stolen property. Most of Johnson’s tickets have been for returning to shops from which he’ s been ordered not to come back. How many tickets? Nobody’s counting.

WINONA, Minn. ­­— A Winona man was arrested hiding and drunk near his on-again off-again girlfriend’s house, police said. This was after she called police that she had been assaulted and choked. Arrested was Phillip Edward Edmunds, age 36. This was about 3:30 a.m. in the 300 block of East Sanborn Street. The woman said that she was awakened by pounding on her door and that Edmunds forced his way in. An argument led to a broken window and a liquor bottle he was carrying being busted on the floor, she said. Officers observed her scratched neck. She said the assault continued on the front porch. Police followed a trail of blood, apparently from cuts on a hand from the broken window or shards from the liquor bottle. They found Edmunds hiding. He didn’t cooperate with the arrest but didn’t resist, officers said. The tentative charges:

> Strangulation.

> Assault causing fear and harm.

> Property damage.

WINONA, Minn. — The fire that damaged the Core thermoplastic factory Monday started in a piece of manufacturing equipment and spread quickly through  ducts to the roof, according to Fire Chief Joel Corcoran. This is the sequence as reported in fire call logs:

 > At 12:59 a.m. a water-flow alarm went off at the factory at 1700 Wilkie Drive in the Bundy Boulevard industrial park. Two fire units were dispatched.

 > En route, the crews received a 911 update that flames were visible on the roof. All off-duty firefighters were summoned.

> The first unit arrived and established a water supply from a nearby hydrant.

> When the second crew arrived, its aerial apparatus was raised to stream water to the roof.

> A night watchman told firefighters that the fire originated in a piece of manufacturing equipment. An interior sprinkler system extinguished the equipment, but the fire already had climbed into the underside of the roof.

Inside damage assessment. Firefighter looks for hot spots in haze inside thermoplastics factory. Image: Winona Fire Department

> The second fire crew unrolled a 1.75-inch handline to spray inside the building.

> The aerial crew began streaming water from its 100 -foot articulated arm. The interior crew was ordered to evacuate.

> After two minutes the aerial crew shut off its stream . Crews climbed their aerial arm over the roof to assess the situation.

> A 1.75-inch handline was hoisted to the roof to cool vent piping and hot spots.

> After ensuring all hot spots were extinguished and the area adequately cooled, crews began to break down and clean up the scene.

> Crews remained on-site for two additional hours to monitor for potential rekindle.

Earlier: Fire damages Winona thermoplastics plant

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man who police said showed signs of intoxication was arrested and booked for drunken driving. The blood-alcohol level of Lucas Aden Dodson, age 26, tested at 0.15% — almost double what’s acceptable for driving. The stop was about 8:25 p.m. at U.S. Highway 61 and Mankato Avenue for expired license plates. The arresting officer said Dodson admitted to drinking.

WINONA, Minn. — An Illinois couple suffered sustainable injuries in a two-car crash south of Winona on Highway 61. Taken to the nearby Winona hospital were Lally J. Whetstone, 66, the driver of one vehicle, and her passenger, Jeffrey L. Whetstone, 62. Both are from Lake Zurich, Illinois. The accident was about 3:45 p.m. The other driver, Jesse John Schilling. 45, of Winona, was unhurt. The Schilling vehicle, a 2014 Ford Focus, was coming onto Highway 61 from Bundy Boulevard, police said. The Whetstone’s 2020 Subaru Outback was southbound on Highway 61.

With the sun to their backs. With one fan shielding himself with an umbrella at the Winona State University baseball field off Sarnia Street.  Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. — Court proceedings in the Baby Angel murder case are on hold until October. The attorney representing Jennifer Nichole Baechle asked Winona Judge Nancy Buytendorp for an extension, which she granted. The attorney, Kurt Knuesel of Winona, said he needed more time to sort through masses of information and evidence against Baechle. Bachele has been free on bail since April.

Earlier: Prosecutor: Throw book at Baby Angel mom

Earlier: Bail at $200,000 in Baby Angel infanticide

Earlier: Arrest made in 2011 Baby Angel death

Free fly-swatters. Deputies and volunteers staffing the Winona County sheriff’s booth at the county fair have stocked up on fly-swatters. They’re free to fair-goers as long as the supply lasts. The St. Charles fair runs through Sunday.

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 44 emergency medical calls plus 23 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, July 8: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Monday, July 7:  6 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Sunday, July 6: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Saturday, July 5: 7 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Friday, July 4: 7 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Thursday, July 3: 6 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Wednesday, July 2: 8 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.

> Tuesday, July 1: 4 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 43 calls

WASHINGTON —­ Startling photos purportedly related to a giant drug bust n Minnesota were posted online by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Purportedly 900 pounds of meth were confiscated. There were unanswered questions about Bongino’s post, like where in the state the bust occurred and whether there any arrests? The FBI usually allows state-level U.S. attorneys and FBI field offices to handle news releases and claim the credit for important arrests. Also: Bongino has credibility issues going back to his career as a Fox News editorialist and being on the job at the FBI only since March as an appointee of President Donald Trump. Bongino’s announcement, on the non-curated online platform X, was short the detail traditionally associated with FBI news releases, like exact times and dates and specific sites and criminal charges.

Bongino. No prior experience at FBI. Earlier hosted a talk show on Rumble and “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino” on Fox News.  A New York City police officer 1995 to 1999, a U.S. Secret Service agent 1999 to 2011. Unsuccessfully ran for Congress three times as a Republican.

Truckload. Bongino’s photos: Drugs in a criminal transport vehicle? Or in an FBI vehicle to haul to a secure evidence site for safekeeping? Bongino’s slap-dash and sloppy X announcement unclear.

Evidence room? Bongino’s fact-light post on the media platform X doesn’t say.

NOTE: Many newsrooms waited out reporting the Bongino report. His unorthodox platform for the announcement had editors wary about the veracity. There were doubts too about the amateurishness of the announcement, which was oddly uncharacteristic of usually careful and thorough news releases from the bureau. The Winona Journal has opted to report the Bongino announcement but with cautionary notes. If nothing else, the announcement is insightful to inner workings of the FBI under Trump –— newsworthy in and of itself even if overstated , untrue. or not quite true. /jv 

GENOA, Wis — The rescue of seven people whose disabled boat was sucked through a gate at the Mississippi River’s Genoa dam has heroes:

> Travis Zabinsky, the lock master.

> Chris Olson and Dave Sudol, lock workers.

This is how Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson explained what happened:

> A 20-foot Crownline pleasure craft stalled 1-1/2 miles above the dam and began drifting with the current toward the dam.  On board were seven people including a child.

> It was unclear whether the boat operator, Brandon Kumm, age 29, of La Crosse, attempted to drop anchor. If so, the anchor didn’t catch in the river-bottom muck

> At the dam Olson and Sudol spotted the boaters desperately paddling as the current carried the boat into a 600-foot restricted zone above the dam.

> Zabinsky, the lockmaster, closed the dam gates.

> All seven passengers jumped into the water and were swept away.

> A few painfully anxious seconds later, all seven bobbed to the surface.

> Olson and Sudol threw them life preservers.

> Everyone climbed built-in ladders to safety atop the dam or were pulled up.

> Meanwhile, the boat came to rest upright against the dam wall.

> Although wet and shaken, nobody injured.

Earlier: Boaters survive being sucked through Genoa dam

At rest after crisis. The Crownline pleasure boat ended right side up against the wall of a dam gate.  No capsizing. In retrospect, the boaters probably would have been safer to have stayed aboard. Images: Vernon County sheriff

VIROQUA, Wis. — A Middleton man took his own life after being stopped by a State Patrol officer driving west on U.S. Highway 14 just inside the Vernon County line. James D. Pabst, age 25, had been wanted for the shooting death of his parents overnight in the west Madison suburb of Middelton. Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson said the son had made it 80 miles from Middleton when a State Patrol trooper stopped his car. This was about 4:30 p.m. south of Viroqua near Offerdahl Road. The trooper walked to the vehicle but, he said, the driver wouldn’t lower the window. Because the situation was high-risk, the trooper called for back-up. Pabst was ordered several times by megaphone to get out of the car. After an hour of no response, officers approached the vehicle and found Pabst dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Earlier: State Patrol leader, wife shot dead at home

Family tragedy

Informed of his suicide, Pabst’s girlfriend, Sienna Lewis said he suffered mental illness. The couple had a dUgter born in March. Said Sienna Lewis: “I just really want Juliette, our baby, to remember him for who his friends said that he was and those happy times that we did get to have.”

ST, PAUL, Minn. —A Rochester girl was seriously injured in a four-car chain-reaction accident going into St. Paul on U.S Highway 52. Hannah Rashid Mursa, 16, was taken to a nearby hospital. Police were unsure whether her seatbelt was buckled. The accident was during the busy afternoon commute, about 5 p.m, near Plato Boulevard south of the Mississippi River bridge. No one else was seriously hurt:

> Joseph Steven Holl, 46, of Mounds View, driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado

> Najma Farah Hajisalad, 41, of Rochester, driving a 2018 Honda Odyssey, and her passengers: Adey Farah Qoarane, 86, of Rochester; Shaza Rashid Mursal, 19, of Rochester; and Hannah Rashid Mursa, 16, of Rochester,.

> Francisco Niziyimana, 30, of St Paul, driving a 2009 Pontiac Vibe

 > Mary Portesan Thiel, 66, of St. Paul, driving a 2022 Toyota Sienna.

WYATVILLE, Minn. —  A Rochester man was pulled from his car after it crashed through an electrified farm fence with the wires entangled in the undercarriage. Tyler John Swee, age 43, didn’t appear hurt but was so high on drugs that deputies called an ambulance to take him 14 miles to the Winona hospital. Deputies quoted Swee that he had been doing drugs:

> Two bars of the anxiety prescription Xanax, which in bar form has scores to break into single doses.

> Marijuana.

>  Possibly, he wasn’t sure, the psychedelic drug MDMA, commonly called ecstasy.

A blood draw was taken at the hospital. Charges will depend on how the blood samples test at the state crime lab, deputies said. Deputies had been called about 5:15 p.m. by a farmer who said that a car had driven into an electric fence at the end of his long driveway and that the driver appeared unresponsive. Although the fence was electric, no charge entered the entangled 2010 BMW. This was in the 28000 block of Trail’s End Road off Interstate 90’s Wilson frontage road.

Swee. Accident at deadend off the I-90 exit to Wyattville and Lewiston.

On-line announcment. The year-old grassroots organization Winona Indivisible has called for a third Windom Park protest rally for traditional American democracy and  against Trump authoritarianism.

Message: Bring posters, raise voices, be peaceful

WINONA, Minn.— After its “Hands Off” rally with 700 protesters in April and its “No King” rally with 1,400 in June, Winona community organizers are putting together what they see as an encore. Time: 6 p.m., Thursday, July 17, again at central Winona’s premiere Windom Park at the Huff and Broadway crossroads. Again the demonstration is coupled with others that have been announced nationally by 300 similar organizations,  The events are called a “Day of Action” with a theme picked up from a line coined by civil rights hero John Lewis about the virtue and value of  getting into “good trouble.”

Earlier: Crowds for No Kings Day pegged at 4 to 6 million

Earlier: Police: Winona “Hands Off” mega-rally peaceful

Earlier:  Winona Park packed in protest against Trump

Earlier: Police: Winona “Hands Off” mega-rally peaceful

Earlier: Winna anger at Tum: “Hands off our democracy”

Lewis. A 17-term member of Congress from Georgia. Died in 2020. Lived in the peaceful protest tradition of Martin Luther King Jr.