GOP presses anew to oust Senator Mitchell
ST. PAUL, Minn.– Senate Republicans took a new tack to unseat state Senator Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat who is facing a burglary trial in Detroit Lakes. This time the Republicans want the Senate Ethics Committee expel Mitchell. The earlier GOP tactic to oust was before the full Senate, and Mitchell cast the deciding vote in her own behalf, Mitchell represents the St. Paul suburbs of Woodbury and Maplewood. In Detroit Lakes she is charged with breaking into her mother-in-law’s house to retrieve family memorabilia. There has been an ongoing family feud. In the current Legislature, the Senate is narrowly split. The GOP covets a majority.
Earlier: Ethics hearing delayed for State Senator Mitchell
Earlier: Senate GOP fails to neuter Mitchell as deciding vote
Third floor in place at Riverview Flats
At Huff’s sharp turn. With exterior walls mostly in place, the crews nailing, bolting and gluing the 43-unit Riverview Flats apartments together soon will be able to focus on interior features. Address: 51 Riverview Drive. Image: Steve Lunde
Earlier: How they voted: On Riverview Flats
Municipal buses as mobile warming shelters
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester public transit system waived its usual $2 fare for anyone needing a warm place during the current cold spell. Just tell the driver you’re too cold. The program is called “A Warm Place to Be.” Wind chills were forecast as low as 40 below zero. The system runs 87 buses on 23 routes.
So blue, so bright, so so cold
And so bitter. An Arctic air mass normally situated over Canada has broken south. Temperatures have lodged in single digits both above and below zero. Northwest winds put the feel on bare skin as low as minus-40. Dig out those wool muffs and mufflers. Image: Steve Lunde
College scores
Softball (women): Winona State 15, Jewell 3
Softball (women): Winona State 10, Jewell 2 (doubleheader)
Softball (women): Saint Mary’s 16, Crown 3
Softball (women): Saint Mary’s 8, Wesleyan og Nebraska 2 doubleheader)
Domestic assault alleged in Goodview disturbance
GOODVIEW, Minn. – A Dodge Center man was arrested after domestic use was reported at a Goodview address. Ritlu Gaxiola Fischer, 41, was taken in about 6:30 p.m. by Goodview police backed up by Winona County deputies
Minnesota City house fire displaces occupants
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – Everyone escaped safely from a fire that destroyed a Minnesota City house. The fire, reported about 4:30 p.m., promoted responses from firefighters not only from Minnesota City but also Altura, Goodview, Rollingstone and Winona. There were no injuries. The fire was in the 100 block of Mill Street.
Missing man OK but cold in disabled vehicle
WINONA, Minn. – The Winona police dispatcher took a worried call about a man who hadn’t come home from work. The call was about 11 p.m. from the 1000 block of Glen Echo Road. Some 7-1/2 hours later, deputies followed car tracks in the snow down a bank off County Road 19. Inside was the stuck car was the missing man. He was uninjured. Deputes weren’t sure why the man spent the night in subfreezing cold inside the disabled vehicle. A tow truck was called.
Meth found on suspect hiding in woods
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – After a brief manhunt, police found man hiding in the woods behind Oak Valley Drive and arrested him for drugs. This was about 3:45 a.m. Roger Lee Heinrich, 32, of Rochester, was carrying a small amount of meth, police said. He didn’t resist arrest in the subfreezing night, police said. A couple hours later Heinrich was finger-printed and booked at the Winona County jail. The search in the woods followed a theft report from a household on Oak Valley Drive.
Breath check finds 0.15% alcohol in his blood
UTICA, Minn. – A deputy stopped a Lewiston man for speeding on U.S. Highway 14 and then smelled alcohol. Kenneth Prigge, 22, of Lewiston, was asked to take a breath test and blew 0.15%. Impairment begins at 0.08% under Minnesota law. Also, the deputy said, Prigge stumbled through a roadside balance test. He was booked for driving drunk. Tus was abput 2:40 a.m.
ICE jailing immigrant detainees in Albert Lea
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – The Freeborn County jail is being used by federal agents to hold immigrants rounded up this week in southern Minnesota. Sheriff Ryan Shea confirmed he is holding the immigrants but wouldn’t disclose details. His jail roster lists 22 inmates, all held on routine local charges unrelated to ICE operations. The jail has 138 beds. About ICE detainees, Shea referred news reporters to a national ICE registry of detainees. However, it’s impossible to find ICE detainees on the registry without their names. It’s also impossible to know where the estimated 2,500 detainees arrested in recent raids are being held. In short, it cannot be determined how many ICE detainees are in Shea’s custody in Albert Lea — and he’s not talking, The jail has 138 beds. The activist immigrant support group, Communities Organizing Latin Power and Action, is aware of at least three ICE detainees in the Albert Lea jail — two arrested Wednesday in Rochester, 65 miles away, and one arrested Thursday in Austin, 40 miles away.
Other jails where ICE unloads
Sheriff Shea is one of three county sheriffs in Minnesota who has said yes when ICE went county to county to assess jail capacities and propose “partnering contracts.” Besides Albert Lea, other contracts are in Elk River with 732 beds and Willmar with 190 beds. There are 87 counties in the state. Among counties not under ICE detention contracts for whatever reason are Olmsted with 202 beds and Winona with 53 beds.
Legality of ICE jail contracts
Shea. Sheriff through 2026. Age 48. First elected 2022, defeating Police Lieutenaat Jeff Strom by fewer than 500 votes. Replaced Kurt Freitag, who retired.
Freeborn County jail. Opened in 2004 as a regional jail for males. With 22 local inmates this weekend, there could be room for 116 ICE detainees.
Jail. In Freeborn County Government Center.
The Minnesota jail contracts appear illegal. On February 6 as the extent of the ICE sweeps was becoming clear, the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, issued a formal legal opinion. Ellison said that Minnesota law prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from holding someone based on an immigration detainer. ICE has responded obliquely to the Ellison ruling that it has never forced any Minnesota county to take its detainees but merely requested that they do so.
History of ICE-local relations
Somewhat related is long-standing ICE policy that that asks local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE before releasing any “removable aliens.” This suggests that ICE expects local policing agencies to turn over anyone suspected of lacking legal documents for being in the country. In effect, ICE wants local sheriffs and police chiefs to do ICE’s job, which has become politically problematic with exuberant Trump policy aimed at deporting brown-skin immigrants.
Earlier: Advice to immigrants: Don’t open your door
Earlier: ICE agents pounce on Africa refugee in Austin
Earlier: ICE agents arrive: Restaurant workers nabbed
Earlier: Ruling: No to Minnesota jails for ICE raid detainees
WSU spin on sad Lourdes saga: It served us well
WINONA, Minn. – Desperate to sell its 217,000-square foot Lourdes dorm, Winona State has accepted a drastically lower appraisal. The century-old dorm can be had for $760,000, university Vice President Scott Ellinghuysen confirmed. The university paid $5 million for Lourdes and two other buildings at the former College of St. Teresa between1999 and 2001 and used them as overflow dorms. Two the buildings were sold after the university shut down its “West Campus,” as the satellite operation at the St. Teresa site was called. Finding a buyer for Lourdes, however, proved difficult at a $3 million asking price. In an interview with the Winona Post, Ellinghuysen put an upbeat spin on the financial drain of the university’s whole failed St. Teresa venture and Lourdes in particular. Lourdes, he said. “served its great purpose for us, but it’s time for somebody else to take it and run with it.” What happens next is in the hands of CBRE, a national commercial realty agency based in Dallas, Texas. Ellinghuysen said. He called the building “pretty amazing” and noted it’s on piece of land in the middle of the city.
Driver in fatal wreck from Fountain City
FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – A driver who died in a head-on collision between Fountain City and Cochrane last week was 16-year-old Isabelle Mae Steinmetz, classmates confirmed. She died apparently on impact. The collision was February 10 on U.S. Highway 35. Her name had been withheld without explanation by Buffalo County Sheriff Michael Osmond. Still a week later the sheriff had not released the name.
Steinmetz. 2009-2025.
News summary at week’s end: February 15, 2025
GOVERNANCE: ICE jailing immigrant detainees in Albert Lea
GOVERNANCE: Advice to immigrants: Don’t open your door
GOVERNANCE: ICE agents pounce on Africa refugee in Austin
GOVERNANCE: ICE agents in Rochester: Poised for raids?
GOVERNNCE: Protesters at Peace Plaza against immigrant arrests
GOVERNANCE: ICE agents arrive: Restaurant workers nabbed
GOVERNANCE: Rochester police: Fed migrant raids may be imminent
GOVERNANCE: Senate opponents derail sports gambling
COLLEGES: WSU slashes asking price to unload Lourdes Hall
CONSTRUCTION: New Levee hotel profile in final form
POLITICS: Walz doesn’t deny interest in U.S. Senate
POLITICS: Lieutenant Governor Flanagan goes for U.S. Senate
POLITICS: U.S. Senator Smith not seeking re-election
ACCIDENT: Buggy driver injured in Utica pickup crash
CRIME: Red Wing man found dead in New York field
CRIME: One man dead, second wounded in Austin
CRIME: Scared Walmart shoppers: Guy drew blade
CRIME: Lakeside attack over drug money at fishing pier
CRIME: Quintana’s Lewiston rape case: Where now?
CRIME: Melrose man’s murder trial set for 2026
CRIME: Fresh charges in New Lisbon triple homicide
AMUSEMENT: Minnesota laughs: Personifying our snowplows
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 83, Minot State 58
Basketball (men): Carleton 79, Saint Mary’s 66
Basketball (men): Rochester Community 75, Minnesota West 39
Basketball (women): Winona State 82, Minot State 70
Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 59, Carleton 53
Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 4, St. Olaf 1,
Hockey (women): St. Olaf 4, Saint Mary’s 0
Softball: Saint Mary’s 4, Northwestern of St. Paul 2
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 54, Winona Cotter Ramblers 51
Basketball (girls): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 54, Winona Cotter Ramblers 42
Hockey (boys): Winona Winhawks 6, Owatonna Huskies 5
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Eau Claire Regis Ramblers 64, Whitehall Norse 57
Basketball (boys): Onalaska Luther Knights 76, Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 37
Basketball (girls): Onalaska Luther Knights 58, Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 42
A path not much taken in winter
A February sun. Has burned the snow off the blacktop trail to the Garvin Heights overlook above Winona. Visitors are welcome to the city park whatever the season, but for now a wool cap is a good idea. Image: Steve Lunde
One man dead, second wounded in Austin
AUSTIN, Minn. – A man believed to be from Austin was shot and wounded fatally in a quiet, older residential section in northwest Austin. Pooice said they attempted life-saving measures but too late. The victim, an adult man, was pronounced dead at the scene. A second man was injured and transported to the hospital in a private vehicle, police said. The csll to police was about 1:35 p.m. The incident was in the 1100 block of Fifth Ave Northwest.
Behind yellow crime scene tape. Vehicle shows what appears to be a bullet-shattered driver’s window on a dark sedan. Image: Kevin Hanson
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 73, Mary 68
Basketball (women):, Mary 70, Winona State 61
Hockey (men): St. Olaf 5, Saint Mary’s 0
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 3, St. Olaf 1
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Mankato West Scarlets 62, Winona Winhawks 59
Basketball (boys):, St. Charles Saints 74, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 72
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 82, Chatfield Gophers 68
Basketball (girls): Mankato West Scarlets 65, Winona Winhawks 32
Basketball (girls): Chatfield Gophers 65, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 63
Basketball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 73, St. Charles Saints 21
Wisconsin prep
Scared Walmart shoppers: Guy drew blade
WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a man in the Winona Walmart who, customers said, was wandering the aisles and saying he wanted to kill people. He was flaunting something like a box-cutter. Arrested was Amelioleona Jonquese Mitchell, 41, who believed was homeless.
Mitchell. Charged with reckless and life-threatening behavior.
Advice to immigrants: Don’t open your door
WASHINGTON – A champion of immigrant rights, Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, advised immigrants not to open their doors if federal agents come knocking — unless the agents have a warrant. Tell agents to leave if they don’t produce a warrant, she said. “Citizen or not, we all should know our rights to protect ourselves and others from illegal search and seizure,” Ocasio-Cortez said. Her advice was directed to her New York constituents but applies everywhere that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are rounding up immigrants for deportation. “ICE cannot enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge,” she said. Once inside, they have the brute strength and weapons to do whatever they want, she said. ICE tactics have been called “Nab now, ask later.” If detained, immigrants should remain silent, she said. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, has been outspoken against the massive new ICE campaign ordered by President Trump to deport immigrants. “We are on the eve of an authoritarian administration,” she said. “This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like.” Ocasio-Cortez was hosting a webinar that was streamed from her House website. One webinar participant, Genia Blaser, a lawyer with the Immigrant Defense Project, called ICE raids “often very aggressive” with political tactics intended to create fear. “We see how ICE often uses rhetoric to criminalize immigrants, to normalize their tactics and justify what they’re doing.” Another speaker with the Immigrant Defense Project told viewers that “very, very, rarely” do ICE agents have legally obtained judicial warrants. “They often use ruses or intimidation to try to trick people into doing or saying things that they can interpret as consent to enter a private space,” she said.
Earlier: ICE agents pounce on Africa refugee in Austin
Earlier: ICE agents arrive: Restaurant workers
Earlier: Ruling: No to Minnesota jails for ICE raid detainees
Ocasio-Cortez. Known as AOC. Since 2020 in Congress from NY-14, which covers most the Bronx and Queens boroughs.
A guide. Instructing immigrants in English and Spanish on protecting themselves against wrongful detention.
Slick road a factor in Chatfield car wreck
CHATFIELD, Minn. – A Chatfield driver suffered sustainable injuries when she lost control on snow and ice and crashed. Catharine Cowdery McCook, 33, was taken 23 miles to a Rochester hospital. The accident was about 4:40 p.m. on U.S. Highway 52 north of Chatfield.
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