Driver hurt in I-90 crash near LaCrescent exit
DRESBACH, Minn –- A Dakota driver was injured in a two-vehicle collision in the Interstate 90 spaghetti interchange near the Mississippi River bridge. Chelsea Lillian Flaherty. 39, was taken six miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Her injuries were non-life threatening, the State Patrol said. Troopers said Flaherty’s 2013 Kia collided with a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Orie James Sexton, 47, of Northfield. He was unhurt. Both vehicles were headed west. This was about 2:35 p.m.
Feedlot spill poisons Iowa drainage
DECORAH, Iowa – Thousands of fish have died belly-up in a six-mile stretch of Dry Run Creek upstream from Decorah. Game wardens blame a manure release from a feedlot. The spill was discovered Tuesday. The stream turned murky below an unnamed tributary to Dry Run Creek. The creek itself empties into the Upper Iowa River in Decorah, which pretty much follows the Minnesota border to the Mississippi at New Albin. “Don’t drink the water,” the Iowa Natural Resources Department advised. Brett Meyers, a state environmental specialist, said the Decorah Fish Hatchery was working to complete an estimate of dead fish. Meanwhile, work was in progress to stem the release of more ammonia-laden contaminants from the feedlot. Meyers said that snow melt and rain may weakened earth barriers at manure ponds at the feedlot. Fines could be $20,000.
White and bloated. Dead fish along Dry Run Creek. The Upper Iowa is a fishing, tubing and recreational haven in season. Image: Iowa Natural Resources Department
Why beer costing more: Thank Trump
BOULDER, Colo. – Beer drinkers will be among bearers of the brunt of skyrocketing aluminum prices being triggered by the Trump tariff wars. The Colorado-based Brewers Association, which represents 9,000 independent U.S. craft beweries, said 10% of all U.S. cans are made from Canadian aluminum. In Minnesota, Austin Jevne of Forager Brewery of Rochester, put it colorfully in a KTTC interview: “We’re being crunched kind of like an aluminum can.” Any effect onTrump? He doesn’t imbibe, Never has.
Trump yanks school food aid, also related projects
ST. PAUL, Minn. – People who run school meal and childcare programs, as well as food banks, are reeling from federal cuts in food assistance. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced the elimination of programs that provide $13.2 million for Minnesota schools and childcare centers, and $4.7 million for food banks. The cuts had been expected as part of the Trump plan to offset revenue losses from the $880 billion tax reductions he has promised rich people and corporations. Nationwide the food programs sent $1 billion a year to purchases from local armers within 400 miles. The economic impact on local agricultural economies has yet to be calculated.
State reaction
The deputy Minnesota agriculture commissioner, Andrea Vaubel said the programs had been “beautiful” in addressing critical nutritional needs. “We are bummed,” Vaubel told the Minnesota Star Tribune. The actual flow of federal funds will cease in May.
Trump’s spin
The U.S. Agriculture Department notification avoided any mention of how the food cuts relate to the Trump tax plan. The explanation said only that the cuts will shrink federal spending. The cuts mark “a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.,” said an agency spokesperson. The programs in their current form were created to help ease the CoVid pandemic of 2020. “The CoVid era is over,” the agency spokesperson said. “USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” The spokesperson claimed that 16 “robust nutrition programs remain” in place: “USDA remains focused on its core mission: strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious food.”
Third stray bullet in planted in Tomah school
TOMAH Wis. – A bullet was found in a restroom of the Tomah Middle School — the third such jncident in Tomah schools in 1-1/2 month. The latest bullet was in a boy’s bathroom. It was fiund around 9 a.m. Classes placed on a hold while police interviewed everyone who had been seen on surveillance video entering the restroom. This was to no avail. An all-clear was issued about 10:30.
Yours? Police ask people, especially school parents, to check whether any bullets missing around home. Image: Tomah police
It must be spring
Warmer weather. Has awakened the ladybugs, indoors and out. Image: Andy Frank
What Trump school cuts mean locally
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A survey of southeast Minnesota schools by Rochester television station KTTC found that schools rely on federal dollars for as much as 15% of their budgets. The survey was triggered by concern over the impact of President Trump to shut down the U.S. Education Department. KTTC queried superintendents of 39 school districts in 10 counties reached by its signal. Twelve responded.
> Caledonia (enrollment 870). $652,000 in federal funds account for 6% of budget.
> Cannon Falls (1,050). $500,000 (Excluding federal special education funds), about 3.2%.
> Chatfield (920). $150,000, about 2.5%.
> Dover-Eyota (1,060). $379,000.
> Harmony Fillmore Central (590). $935,000, about 9%.
> Lanesboro (440). About 6%.
> Mabel-Canton (280). $645,000, about 15%.
> Owatonna (4,500). $2.7, about 3%.
> Plainview-Elgin-Millville (1,460). $200,000.
> Red Wing (2,230). $2.3 million, about 5%.
> Rochester (17,500). $18.5 million, about 4%.
> Stewartville (1,920). $1.4 million, about 6%.
Because of vagaries in budget set-ups, the data that came back were not precisely comparable. For the same reason there was some information that not returned. Even so, it was apparent that the schools lean heavily on federal moneys.
Non-respondents
Among superintendents not responding: Houston, LaCrescent, Lewiston-Altura, St. Chales, Wabasha-Kellogg, Winona.
Trump budget slashes
Last week Trump fired half the U.S. Education Department staff, 1,300 people, and said the rest will be gone soon. The U.S. Labor Department and the U.S. Consumer Protection agency also has been targeted for elimination. The cuts are designed to free funds to support $880 billion in tax cuts that Trump has promised too-tier taxpayers — the already wealthiest people in he country.
Verbatim
Among notes from superintendents:
Erick Enger, Plainview-Elgin-Millville: “If President Trump is successful in dismantling the Department of Education, he has not offered details on how the agency’s core functions of sending federal money to local districts would be handled”. Enger noted that some federal support comes not from other federal agencies like the Agriculture Department for school meals.
Kent Pekel, Rochester: “A significant portion, nearly $3.2 million is in the form of Title I dollars. These federal funds go to schools with high percentages of low-income students to help raise achievement rates.
Another $3.2 million provide special education services for children and people with disabilities, through the Individuals with Disabilities Act.
Craig Ihrke, Caledonia: “A loss of funding anywhere is debilitating and would result in cuts in programming, staff, and services to students to offset the lost revenue.”
Jeffrey Elstad, Owatonna: Any reduction would impact special education services.
Belinda Selfors, Stewartville: “Most federally-funded programs support the students who have the most significant needs.”
College scores
Baseball: Winona State and Park-Gilbert, cancelled
Baseball: Luther of Iowa 6, Saint Mary’s 2
Baseball: Saint Mary’s and Luther of Iowa (doubleheader)
Tennis (women): Winona State and Byant
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Caledonia Warriors 63, Lake City Tigers 42
Basketball (boys): Goodhue Wildcats 84, Rushford-Peterson Trojans 79
Basketball (boys): De LaSalle Islanders 70, Stewartville Tigers 60
Basketball (girls): Caledonia Warriors 76, Barnesville Trojans 64
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 61, Marshfield Columbus Dons 50
Basketball (boys): West Salem Panthers 77, Onalaska Hilltoppers 73
Basketball (boys): LaCross Aquinas Blugolds 67, Onalaska Luther Knights 49
Basketball (girls): Neenah St. Mary Zephyrs 58, Durand-Arkansaw Panthers 45
Woman describes week of beatings, sex assaults
WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Winona man at a Mankato Avenue drug house after his live-in girlfriend reported a week of beatings and sexual assaults at an apartment at another address. Arrested without resistance was Aaron Patrick Devorak, 46. The girlfriend had told police that Devorak had been in “meth psychosis” for days. She showed bruises to officers, some fresh and some healing. She said he was off and on enraged and would yell and scream at her and push her into walls and throw her to the floor. She called police about 2 p.m. from the apartment in the 450 block of East Sarnia Street. Devorak was located about 6a;45 p.m. at a flop house in the 400 blook of Mankato Avenue.
Earlier: Drug charge depends: Is it fentanyl?
Earlier: Arches drug raid arrests total four
Earlier: Cops: Driver had lots of problems
Devorak. Jailed on two counts of domestic assault.
Bye to alternate-side parking hassle
WINONA, Minn. – With winter’s snow apparently behind us, Winona police have suspended enforcing the city’s alternate-side parking ordinance. Officially, however, the enforcement period doesn’t expire until Saturday. But with no snow, well, why worry. The forecast: Sunny skies and highs in the 60s through Friday. On Friday evening there could be large hail and damaging wind but no snow. It’s been a mild winter: There was no need to activate the tag-and-tow provision of the winter parking ordinance. Not even once.
Red Wing crash review: PiIot error
WASHINGTON – Pilot error caused the crash of a light airplane at the Red Wing airport that killed two Rochester men, according to federal inspectors. The crash was in September 2022. The report from the National Transportation Safety Board concludes a 2-1/2 year review. Killed were flight instructor John Zeman, 28, and college student Ethan Smith, 20. They were attempting to land after a 40-mile training flight from Rochester. The NSTB couldn’t determine which man was in control but that Zeman as the flight instructor should have recognized the plane was entering an “unstabilized approach” from which safe recovery waa impossible. The accident, the Board said, was preventable.
Earlier: Crash victims: Flight instructor, student
Earlier: Plane crashes at Red Wing; two dead
News summary at mid-week March 12, 2025
POLITICS: Finstad: Count me in for 2026 re-election
POLITICS: Ex-state senator seeks return to public duty
POLITICS: Cooke back: Running for Wi-3 seat in Congress
POLITICS: Roseville elects Democrat to Minnesota House
COLLEGES: WSU civic project slowed but moving ahead
RIVER: Viking’s 2025 ports of call exclude Winona
GREAT LAKES: Pioneer all-steel lake freighter 600 feet deep
AVIATION: Rochester crash blamed on engine failure
AVIATION: Airport refines emergency rules after crash
ARTS: Bell House Band plays for food shelf
CRIME: Sex offender caught after Winona disappearance
College scores
Lacrosse: UW-LaCosse 19, Edgewood 8
Softball: Wayne State io Nebraska 3, Winona State 0
Softball: Winona State 7, Northwood 1
Tennis (women): Winona State and Seton Hall
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Minnehaha RedHawks 68, Caledonia Warriors 63
Basketball (girls): St. Louis Park Benilde-St. Margaret’s 84, Stewartville Tigers 58
Lake Pepin ice shrinks to 18 inches
LAKE CITY,Minns — The thickest ice remaining on Lake Pepin is 18 inches, down two inches since the previous Army Corps boring a week ago. At its thickest in mid-February the ice was 23 inches. The Corps does weekly borings to advise the Mississippi River navigation industry when the lake is safe. Shippers look for 12 inches or less for barges to have safe passage to Red Wing and St. Paul. Shipping over the past 10 years has begun as early as mid-March and as late as the first week of April.
Teacher: “I heard that!” Student: Oops
WINONA, Minn. – A marijuana-loaded vaping pen fell out of an eighth grader’s pocket during class. The teacher heard the clunk. This was at the Winona High School in the afternoon. The 14-year-old boy was marched to the principal’s office. Police were called. His parents too.
Pioneer all-steel lake freighter 600 feet deep
MANITOWOC, Wis. – Shipwreck hunters announced finding a coal freighter that sank in Lake Superior’s notoriously treacherous Whitefish Bay in 1892. The discovery was last summer but not announced until the Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association’s annual meeting in Manitowoc. Some 26 people died when the 300-foot Western Reserve came apart apart in a relatively mild August 1892 squall. One person survived. The ship was among the first all-steel carriers on the Great Lakes. Those aboard included the ship’s owner, Peter Minch, and his family. They were on an adventure excursion. The wreck was located 600 feet deep west of Soo Locks.
The Western Reserve. A post-wreck investigation at the time blamed brittle steel contaminated with phosphorus and sulfur was used to build the ship. Laws followed to test steel used in shipbuilding.
Notable journalism
Rachel Mergen (Winona Daily News, March 12, 2025): “More Than 150 Winonans Protest Recent Actions by Trump and Musk”
John Molseed (Rochester Post Bulletin, March 2, 2025): “Student Group Rallies Hundreds in Support of Immigrants”
Caden Perry (LaCrosse Tribune, March 6, 2025): “UW-La Crosse Warns of ‘Red Zone’ Sex Assaults after Pair of Dorm Incidents”
Police nab fugitive in cocaine case
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona woman wanted on a federal arrest warrant in a cocaine case was arrested in a traffic stop. Tanya Sherrice McCain, 50, was turned over to federal authorities in Minneapolis. The stop was about 10:50 a.m. The original case was for possession of 2.1 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute. The case had originated in September in Winona but was elevated to the federal courts. The warrant said that McCain had violated terms of her release.
Cows all evacuated from St. Charles barn
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – Fire destroyed a dairy barn south =east of St. Charles without any injuries and 25 cows being ushered out in time. The fire, at an Amish farm, was reported about 8:30 a.m. Crews from Altura, Lewiston and St. Charles responded. The fire seemed to have started in the milking room, said St. Charles Fire Chief Aaron. Carlson.
Barn ablaze. In 26000 block of County Road 37. Image: St. Charles Fire Department
Emergency, fire crews make 40 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 24 emergency medical calls plus X16 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, March 11: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire call.
> Monday, March 10: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Sunday, March 9: 6 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Saturday, March 8: 3 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, March 7: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Thursday, March 6: 1 medical call plus 7 fire calls.
> Wednesday, March 5: 3 medical call plus 1 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 54 calls
Man dead on Gilmore; foul play not suspected
WINONA, Minn.—An 86-year-old man was found on the sidewalk and unresponsive at Gilmore Avenue and Junction Street about 7:10 a.m. across from Taco Bell on the West End. Attempts to revive the man failed. Dead was Clarence Truman Russell. There was no reason to suspect foul play, police said.
R.I.P.: Jason Gruett
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. — Jason Gruettt, age 51, of Minnesota City, who was fire chief in the adjacent suburb of Goodview for eight years, died at age 51. Death was suicide. Gruett was with the Goodview Volunteer Fire Department for 19 years. As chief he succeeded Todd Ives as chief in 2017. He worked 34 years for Wabasha Sand and Gravel. His life had ironies. He had an illegal burning conviction. He served probation for assaults and also had a drunken driving conviction. His family remembered his “joy and compassion” in serving the community. The family also noted his passion for cars and hockey. A funeral service was schedued at the Remlinger Collector Car Museum in Goodview.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
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