KELLOGG, Minn. — A Wabasha woman died at the Wabasha hospital of wounds, perhaps from a gun fired at close range, at a Mississippi River boat landing. Deputies said that Melissa Hunt, age 37, despite her wounds, had driven toward Kellogg and pulled into a driveway. The homeowner called for help. This was about 4:45 p.m. An ambulance took Hunt seven miles to the Wabasha hospital, where she died. Deputies said her lower jaw and several teeth were missing. Even so, deputies said Hunt had been able to communicate in the driveway that “Craig” had hit her with a stick but that she was unable to complete his last name. At hospital before she died, deputies said, she identified her assailant as Craig Hameister and that he lived near Chatfield and drove a white pickup truck. She died about 6:20. At the boat landing, seven miles from Kellogg at West Newton, deputies canvassed he area but were unable to locate any stick that looked as if it had been used as the weapon. Nor could deputies find blood or evidence of a struggle. The landing is remote at the upper end of a boating, fishing  and recreational area off Weaver Bottoms. At the landing ii the late afternoon, however, there were no witnesses. Based on Hunt’s dying words, the Wabsha County sheriff’s office issued an alert for Craig Alan Hameister, 44, beieved from Rochester. It was thought to br a former boyfriend.

CHASKA, Minn. – Police arrested a political lobbyist for an e-mail text that threatened “to blow someone’s fucking face off” at the state Capitol. Jonathan Bohn, 41, was taken into custody at his home in suburban Chaska. He was booked at the Carver County jail in Chaska. The threat was reported to authorities by state Representative Jim Nash of Waconia. Nash, who said he was alerted to the message by the recipient — a constituent.  The criminal complaint quoted from the message:  “After January 6 I bought a pistol. Today I bought 500 bullets. I can’t wait to shoot one of you fuckers in the face.” According to the complaint. Bohn also said he was “excited to have his gun at the Capitol and blow someone’s fucking face off.” Bohn is a registered lobbyist for the Inter-Faculty Organization, a union representing professors at Minnesota State colleges including Winona State.

Bohn. Well known in Legislature for 20 years as a lobbyist and advocate for higher education.

But hard to miss this circusy white Big Top. The brief pre-Fourth fireworks season is upon us. This parking lot vendor in Holmen doesn’t want to miss a single sale to holiday-minded motorists passing by. There’s no such garishness in Minnesota, where law bans fireworks.  Image: Steve Lunde

WABASHA, Minn. — Familiar faces in the dispute over the county attorney’s salary repeated their position in court before Wabasha County Judge Christopher Neisen.  The county attorney, Matt Stinson of Lake City, said the County Board wrongfully cut his salary in the middle of his elected term. The cut: From $130,000 to $110,000, although the Board later changed its mind and made it $119,000. Several commissioners testified that they were dissatisfied with Stinson’s job performance and that the county staff had complained about a bad attitude.

Earlier: Wabasha salary brouhaha now in court

Stinson. Elected 2022 to a four-year term.

DENVER, Colo. — A jury found Minnesota-based MyPillow promoter Mike Lindell liable for $440,000 in damages for defamations based on false allegations regarding the 2020 presidential election. The jury also found Lindell’s online television network FrankSpeech liable for $1.8 million. A former executive with Dominion Voting Systems had sought $62.7 million from Lindell for claims that Dominion rigged the 2020 election and cost Donald Trump his re-election bid. Although the federal jury found that Lindell had committed libels, it stopped short of finding recklessness – which is required legally for full-blown guilty verdicts in what’s called “political speech.” The FrankSpeech network, however, was found to have been reckless. The trial lasted two weeks. After the verdict, in interviews on the courthouse steps, Lindell vowed to continue advocating against election fraud.

Earlier: Libel fallout: MyPillow guy casts self as victim

Verbatim

Lindell, in spinning the libel verdict against him: “MyPillow is 100% vindicated, It’s a huge breakthrough for free speech, our First Amendment rights. You would think I’m not going to tell them that they’re blocking our elections from getting secure? But I will keep I will keep up the fight. You know, am I going to say, ‘Let’s melt them voting machines down and turn them into prison bars?’ Yeah, probably.”

Isle Royale National Park. South Lake Desor Campground is off the 40-mile Greenstone Ridge Trail. For most campers it’s a five-day to eight-day hike in and out. Image: National Park Service

Victims identified but names withheld for now

GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. — Rangers ruled out wild animals as responsible for the deaths of two campers at remote South Lake Desot campground on this Lake Superior island. The rangers, from the National Park Service, offered no details. They confirmed that the Federal Breau of Investigation had sent agents at the site. Sources said the victims have been identified. However, the names haven’t been released. Park rangers had hiked to the campground overnight on June 8 after two separate camping ground came out and reported having heard screams. The camp area has been put off limits for the time being.

Earlier: Campers found dead on Isle Royale

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 34 emergency medical calls plus 13 fire calls in recent days:

> Monday, June 16: 9 medical calls plus no fire calls.

> Sunday, June 15: 5 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.

> Saturday, June 14: 10 medical calls plus 1  fire call.

> Friday, June 13: 3 medical call plus 2 fire calls.

> Thursday, June 12: 2 medical calls plus 5 fire call9

> Wednesday, June 11: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls

Like clockwork. Every night shortly after dark a raccoon strolls across a patio deck railing to drink at the birdbath. All the bird feeders are brought inside at dusk to prevent the little bandit from causing any real trouble. After all, raccoons get thirsty too. Image: Andy Frank

DETROIT LAKES, Minn — Jury selection has been postponed for the burglary trial of state Senator Nicole Mitchell. Her attorney asked for the delay because of security concerns after recent shootings involving Minnesota lawmakers. The prosecution concurred: “This is not a good week for this case.” Judge Michael Fritz granted the continuance. Mitchell, a Democrat from the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury, was caught onside her mother-in-law’s Detroit Lakes home in 2024. Mitchell said she was trying to retrieve keepsakes belonging to her late father.

Earlier: Senator’s sentimental explanation for burglary

Earlier: Questions loom at state senator’s burglary arrest

Earlier: Cops: State senator found burglarizing house

WINONA, Minn. — A jailer found cocaine in the sock of a man arrested for drunken driving two days earlier.  Luis Fernando Tapia-Fajarvo, 25, of Winona, now faces an additional charge of introducing contraband to the jail.

Earlier: Driver arrested as too fast, too drunk

Tapia-Fajarvo. In double trouble now.

EYOTA, Minn. –The volunteer-staffed Eyota Food Pantry lost 1,000 pounds of groceries to burglars overnight. Olmsted County deputies were called about 10 a.m. The shop’s meat freezer was emptied. Also: Shelves were cleared out of tuna, chicken, peanut butter, white rice and cases of mustard, ketchup and green beans.

MINNEAPOLIS — Bail was set at $5 million for the man accused in political assassination attacks that killed two persons. The bail for Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was ordered by Judge Juan Hojos in Hennepin County Court. Boelter wasn’t physically in the courtroom because at the same time he was in federal court in another building before a federal judge on federal charges. The $5 million bail was specified in what’s called a bench arrest warrant. The warrant will hold him if and when federal authorities relinquish custody. The final jurisdiction — federal court or state court or both — has yet to be worked out. Federal charges could mean execution with lethal injection. The State of Minnesota, like 22 other states, doesn’t permit the death penalty but allows imprisonment for life without parole. Boelter was captured Sunday night in he woods outside his home near Green Isle in south-central Minnesota. He was booked into the Hennepin County Jail 4-1/2 hours later, just after 1 a.m. The court hearings were at 10 a.m.

Earlier: Minnesota assassin suspect in custody

Earlier: Massive Minnesota manhunt for assassin

Earlier: Key Minnesota legislator, husband assassinated

Boelter. Held by U.S. marshals in Hennepin County jail.

WINONA, Minn. — Winona County deputies made quick contact with local state legislators to alert them over the weekend to the possibility of being targeted for assassination. There had been attacks on two Twin Cities legislators Saturday, and police found a list of 60-some state officials in the assailant’s vehicle. It was not known whether additional Senate and House members were heing targeted. Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude said the local solons were alerted personally:

> Senator Jeremy Miller, a Winona Republican

> Representative Steve Jacob, an Elba Republican.

> Representative Aaron Repinski, a Winona Republican.

The advice: Keep your doors locked and don’t open even for a uniformed officer. Instead call 911 to confirm that the officer at the door is legit. In the Twin Cities a man posing as a policeman talked his way into  state Representative Melissa  Hortman’s home and shot both her and her husband dead. A couple hours earlier, the same ploy was used to be let into Senator John Hoffman’s home. Hoffman and his wife were shot and gravely wounded. An all-clear went out Sunday night after the arrest of a man in Sibley County in south-central Minnesota. Police believe he was a lone wolf and not involved in a conspiracy.

Earlier: Minnesota assassin suspect in custody

Earlier: Massive Minnesota manhunt for assassin

Earlier: Key Minnesota legislator, husband assassinated

GREEN ISLE, Minn. —  The suspect in the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was arrested without resistance at a farm near this southern Minnesota rural community, his hometown. Once in custody, Vance Boelter, age 55, was rushed to a secure facility. This was just after sunset. Details of the arrest were not available immediately, but Jeremy Geiger, a State Patrol lieutenant colonel, said Boelte had been cornered by tactical teams. He  “crawled to us,” Geiger said.

Gliding into Red Wing. The Borealis day train to Chicago picks up riders in Red Wing. The train is running three coaches borrowed from Amtrak’s trans-con fleet at Chicago. The original single-level Borealis coaches were sidetracked suddenly in February when irreparable corrosion was discovered. Image: Steve Lunde

Earlier: Amtrak’s rusting Borealis rolling stock to scrapyard

Earlier: Borealis back on tracks, now odd-looking

GREEN ISLE, Minn. — Police focused the search for a suspected political assassin on a rural area five minutes east of Green Isle, his hometown. A Buick sedan registered to Vance Boelter was found abandoned in deep grass a few yards off State Highway 25. Nearby was a cowboy that was similar to one that Boelter was wearing after eluding police after the shootings int wo suburbs north of Minneapolis. The sedan and cowboy hat were along a tree line. The terrain is mostly flat and heavily wooded, not far frm the Minnesota River 50 mies upstream from Mankato. This was roughly 100 miles from the north Minneapolis suburbs where state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated early Saturday and near where state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot and wounded critically. Although the assailant had abandoned his Ford Explorer at the Hortman house after the assassination and fled on foot, friends told police that Boelter owned three vehicles in all. In the Green Isle area, federal, state and loval police began a search of homes and outbuildings. They encouraged residents to keep their doors locked and their vehicles secured. Boelter was believed armed and dangerous.  Meanwhile the FBI posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Earlier: Massive Minnesota manhunt for assassin

Assassin’s get-way car? Left in tall grass five miles east of Green Isle.