Basketball (boys): Cannon Falls Bombers 70, Winona Cotter Ramblers 58

Basketball (boys): Lake City Tigers 56. Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 50

Basketball (boys): Rushford-Peterson Trojans 70, Spring Valley Kingsland Knights 54

Basketball (boys): Adams Southland Rebels 63, Harmony Fillmore Central Falcons 36

WINONA, Minn. — Winter won’t be able to make its mind in coming days. Afternoon drizzle was predicted to turn to snow into the night with blizzardy blowing. Forecasters said temperatures will be back and forth from freezing to thawing and freezing again.. Expect hazardous roads and sidewalks. Wet and heavy snow was predicted to accumulate to as much as two inches around Winona and south into Houston County and northeast Iowa. Accumulations could be as much as eight inches on a northern line stretching from Owatonna to Red Wing.

PRESTON, Minn. — The former mayor of Canton pleaded guilty to domestic assault in a case alleging child abuse. Joshua Nordsving, 34, was charged with slappig a 9-year-old boy over whom he had joint custody. Related charges were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.

Earlier: Mayor, accused of slapping child, resigns

GIRDWOOD Alaska — A Mankato, Minnesota, radio executive and two companions were missing after a massive avalanche buried them in 40 to 100 feet of snow. Rescuers assessed the probable area where the men went under but held off digging until the mountain was safe. David Linder, 39, and two companions had helicoptered in for a day of skiing. The avalanche occurred about 3:30 p.m. This was 40 miles southwest of Anchorage. Linder was a co-owner of the seven-station Mankato Radio group. He also had a Florida address. Also missing were Jeremy Leif, 37, of Minneapolis, and Charles Eppar, 39, formerly of Minnesota but more recently from Montana. Witnesses reported that all three men deployed their avalanche safety airbags in order to swim the surface of the avalanche but were buried anyway.

Girdwood. Population 180.  Summer view of valley. On the Seward Highway on the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet.

Basketball (men): MSU-Moorhead 63, Winona State 47

Baseball: Buena Vista 3, Saint Mary’s 0

Softball: Dominican of Illinois 6, Saint Mary’s 3

Softball: Saint Mary’s 11, Bluffton 1

Basketball (boys): Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 80, Pine Island Panthers 59

Basketball (boys): Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms 56, Houston Hurricanes 45

Basketball (boys): Caledonia Warriors 89, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 47

Basketball (boys): Goodhue Wildcats 98, Rochester Schaeffer Lions 45

Early arrivals.  Their posters covered a range of issues, from the Russian aggression on Ukraine to racism at home. One demonstrator waved a Palestine  flag for the people of Gaza. There was even a placard that said “Nope” under a giant swath of thinning dyed blond hair. Guess whose?  Winona County Democrats organized the rally at Central Park. More than two dozen supporters eventually showed up. Image: Steve Lunde

Earlier: Democrats plan Winona pro-democracy display

WINONA, Minn. – An altar Bible and a second holy book were stolen from he altar at St. Stan’s  on the East Side. Police were notified about 3:40 p.m. The assumption was that the theft occurred during hours that the church is normally open and unlocked. With oversize print and large pages, a typical altar Bible weighs 25 pounds. Not something easily slipped into a hip pocket.

Basilica. The Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka is promient on the Winona skyline. A civic center for Kashubian Poles since 1894.

ELBA, Minn. — Firefighters easily extinguished a ditch fire west of Elba near where Winona County Road 39 becomes Olmsted County Road 2. The responding fire crew was from Dover.

WINONA, Minn. – The drugs confiscated in Worthington traffic stop and a follow-up raid in Winona on Thursday totaled 26.4 pounds, according to an update. The cocaine and fentanyl in the haul could have drawn $1 million on the street, said Chief Deputy Sheriff Jeff Mueller. The 2.2 pounds of meth would be worth somewhere around $60,000, Mueller said. The drugs were concealed in door panels of the vehicle being driven from California to a Winona transfer point.

Earlier: Driver in Winona drug bust claims innocence

Earlier: Huge drug shipment seized; man arrested as mule

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The FedEx shipping company has stepped up its effort to collect overdue bills from the Minnesota-based MyPillow bedding manufacturer. FedEx filed suit in federal court for $9 million. The suit was the latest in the unfolding financial nightmare for MyPlillow owner and television pitchman Mike Lindell. FedEx said it had adjusted its contract with Lindell several times several times to help him deal with “corporate changes” but he kept falling further behind. Meanwhile, Lindell has been ordered by a Hennepin County judge in Minnesota to pay $800,000 to DHL, another delivery company.

Earlier: MyPillow thrown out of warehouses for back-rent

Earlier: Judge to MyPillow pitchman: Pay the $5 million

Earlier: MyPillow Guy: “I’m broke” but yet defiant

Earlier: Lindell downsizes MyPillow, sells off assets

Earlier: MyPillow now a hot potato

Earlie: Cash-desperate Lindell sells private jet

Earlier: Judge to Lindell: No jury would believe this

DULUTH, Minn. – The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is too busy arresting immigrants to respond to news media queries s about its massive Trump round-ups. This includes several arrests at a Duluth roofing project last week. ICE has been silent on how many persons were arrested, their names, and where they were taken.  Nationwide in mid-February the agency clamed 20,000 arrests since President Trump took office. News reporters, however, have been scratching their heads how ICE could have national data if regional offices don’t. It is known that the regional headquarters at Fort Snelling, whose jurisdiction includes Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas, has orchestrated dozens of arrests. Some have already come before immigration judges  at Minnesota’s Fort Snelling with some excused for what in effect has been false arrest. This suggests embarrassingly sloppy if not reckless policing procedures.

ICE at Fort Snelling. In the seven-story Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. Whipple (1822-1901) was the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota.

Verbatim

ICE in a boilerplate responses to media inquiries from its regional headquarters: “Since January 20 ICE has significantly increased its immigration enforcement activities with additional support from other federal law enforcement and Department of Defense]partners. In an effort to keep the American people informed about the results of our efforts with only the most accurate information, ICE is compiling and validating the data and is working toward publishing our enforcement status on a monthly basis. Currently statistics are three months in arrears and published on a quarterly basis.”

Earlier: ICE raids Duluth roof project: Mexicans hauled off

Earlier: Nupá owner grateful at immigrants’ freeing

Earlier: Judge to ICE: Free your Rochester detainees

Baseball:  Illinois of Jacksonville 6, Saint Mary’s 2

Baseball:  Saint Mary’s 9, Illinois of Jacksonville 0

Basketball (women): Rochester Community 78, Northland Community 65

Softball: Winona State 2, Missouri Southern 1

Softball: Augustana 9, Winona State 1

WINONA, Minn. – Police heard from a man’s brother that he had been assaulted by his wife in a domestic dispute. Amy Elizabeth Brenengen, 41, of Winona, was arrested and charged with domestic assault. The arrest was about 10:15 a.m. on Sunday. The incident was the night before. As police pieced together what happened, the husband, age 45, had been resting when he was rousted by his wife with a 40-pound dumbbell weight threateningly over her head. She punched him, then grabbed his collar tightly and strangled and kicked him — and threw him out. The husband told his brother, who went to the police. The husband told officers he was frightened by the attack. Police said they could see red marks on the husband’s neck still the next day. Officers also said they saw smashed furniture in the house.  The couple lived in the 600 block of Walnut Street with four children.

Brenengen. Charged with fear-instilling domestic abuse.

WINONA, Minn. – A Burnsville man arrested Thursday in an elaborate drug transport scheme denied knowing anything about it. After his arrest Rafael Rosales Lopez told police interrogators that he was in town to see a girlfriend, according to the criminal complaint. The arrest produced 22 pounds of cocaine, fentanyl and meth. Lopez was arrested in the Super 8 parking lot where a second vehicle had been parked for a drug transfer. Police watched as he walked over to the parked vehicle and opened the door. Inside were the drugs. Lopes explained that the vehicle looked like his girlfriend’s Honda and that he had expected her at the hotel.

Drug transit details

Here is a timeline for what transpired, according to the criminal complaint and other sources:

> Agents of a California drug lord paid $15,000 to two mules to drive the 22-pound load to a pre-arranged transfer at the Super 8 parking lot in Winona.

> The mules drove separate cars in tandem, at some point picking up Interstate 90 for Winona.

> A state trooper stopped one of the cars near Worthington in southwest Minnesota, apparently for a traffic violation. The driver of the second car pulled over too.

> The trooper discovered the drugs and called for backup.

> One of the California drivers confessed to being hired to drive the drugs to Winona. He said also that the person who hired them was tracking their trip on GPS.

> Both drivers were detained in Worthington.

> The Southeast Minnesota Violent Crime Enforcement Unit in Rochester scrambled to organize a sting.

> An officer in Worthington was assigned to drive the drug-loaded car in street clothes  to the Winona transfer point. This was a 3-1/2 hour trip.

> A team of 15 officers was dispatched on the ground to surveil the Super 8 lot as unsuspiciously as possible and to prepare to block exit routes. A State Patrol helicopter was put in the air to stand by for any eventuality.

> The California car arrived at the Super 8, and the undercover Worthington cop walked away, leaving the door unlocked.

> An hour later Rosales Lopez arrived. He was arrested opening a door of the California vehicle.

> Apparently the California drug bosses who organized the delivery scheme were unaware of the bust. GPS on the mule vehicle showed everything on course and on schedule.

Earlier: Driver in Winona drug bust claims innocence

Earlier: Huge drug shipment seized; man arrested as mule

WINONA, Minn. – Tipped to under-age drinking at Sippi’s Pub & Grub, police set up tactical blocks at exits and began going table to table inside to check ages. Seeing what was happening, several groups of  vulnerable drinkers scattered – some to bathrooms, some to the doors. In the end, the six-officer police team issued 10 citations. This was about 11:15 p.m. Cited were:

> Dominic A. Borecky, 18, of Pine Green, Ill., who wasn’t drinking but in possession.

> Aiden Cooper Carlson, 20, of LaCrescent, whose blood-alcohol tested at 0.08%.

> Dominic Glen Davis, 20, of Winona, 0.02%.

> Violet Ruth Hamacher, 20, of Ramsey, Minn., 0.08%.

> Becca Rose Fladek, 18, of Montgomery, Minn., who admitted consuming.

> Berlyn Arianna Giddings, 18, of Winona, 0.16%.

> Charles Thomas Kober, 18, of Janesville, Wis.., 0.03%.

> Nathan Lee Masterson, 20, of LaCrescent, 0.11%.

> Abigail Marie Turk, 20, of Altoona, Wis., 0.18%.

> Bethany Marie Zawistowfai, 20, of Winona, 0.07%.

Sippi’s Pub & Grub. At 176 East Third Street in the downtown bar district. Earlier site of Warehouse Liquor and before that a corner gas station.

Earlier compliance checks:

>Perfect score on new police check on bar compliance

> Police sting catches more illegal booze service

> Police decoy finds under-age liquor service

> Earlier: School call for all Winona bartenders, bouncers

Citations in hand, all were told to leave and not to come back until they’re the 21 legal age. Later the police reported the violations at Sissi’s to the city agency that monitors liquor licensing. The City Council, which grants liquor licenses, has authority to revoke them. At Sippi’s there clearly was a breakdown in the bouncer and server staff.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Firefighters pulled a woman from her burning house after an explosion, but her injuries were so severe that she died in an ambulance en route to a hospital. Patricia Lynn Spitzack-Havish, get 69, had been alone when the explosion occurred. As fire crews were en route, neighbors pulled Spitzack-Havish out from inside and extinguished flames on her back. This was about 10:55 p.m. Firefighters said that a medical-grade oxygen canister had exploded, It was uncertain whether a fire might have set off the oxygen.

Oxygen blast leaves hole. At 2220 49th Street Northwest. Image: Rochester Fire Department

Basketball (men): Winona State 71, Southwest Minnesota State 60

Basketball (women): Rochester Community 107, North of Itasca 25

 Lacrosse: Softball: UW-LaCrosse 9, Macalester 0

Softball: Central Oklahoma 11, Winona State 0

Softball: Winona State 8, Missouri Science 0

Softball: UW-LaCrosse 9, Macalester 0

Softball: St. Olaf 8, UW-LaCrosse 0

ARCADIA, Wis. — Two off-duty first responders helped a man and a dog escape a house fire on Pansy Pass in the Glencoe area. The two rescuers were driving by and saw flames and rushed to help. They banged on the door. No one answered, but they could see lights inside and ominous smoke. They broke in, found a sleeping man, and pulled him out and also a dog. When fire crews arrived, some from Arcadia, seven miles away, they extinguished the fire after containing it to one corner of the house. The man, age 50, was all right.  No injuries were reported. This was about 9:50 p.m. Tentatively the fire was traced to a chimney.

Post-fire ruins. Not much left of this side of rural Pansy Pass house. Image: Buffalo County sheriff