BROWNSDALE. Minn; — Fire destroyed a hog barn and killed 4,0000 animals before firefighters could even get there. The 5,000-square foot barn was engulfed when the first fire crew arrived. This was about 11:50 p.m. west of Brownsdale on 570th Avenue. Fire Chief David Pike said the fire’s origin was not determined immediately. Besides the loss of animals, there were no injuries, Pike said. The fire brought crews from Brownsdale and from Austin,10 miles away, and Rose Creek, also 10 miles away.

Basketball (men): Winona State 90, Augustana of Sioux Falls 83

Basketball (men): Gustavus Adolphus 65, Saint Mary’s 55

Basketball (men): UW-Platteville 83, UW-LaCrosse 73

Basketball (men): Rochester Community 72, St. Cloud Tech 67

Basketball (women): Augustana of Sioux Falls 67,

Winona State 61

Basketball (women): Gustavus Adolphus 73, Saint Mary’s 39

Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 75, UW-Platteville 65

Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 14, Red Wing Wingers 2

Hockey (girls): Lakeville South Cougars 10, Rochester Century/Rochester Mayo 1

Hockey (girls): Northfield Raiders 3, Rochester Mayo Spartans 0

Fifth-wheeler destroyed. A 39-foot fifth wheeerl camper was leveled by fire up Center Creek Road northeast of Nelson. Most of a nearby garage was saved. Nelson Fire Chief Barry Johnson suspected a furnace in the camper caused the fire. Image: Buffalo County sheriff

ST. PAUL, Minn. –A Lewiston man who talked kids into sending nude selfies to him online and then demanded money not to show the world is going to prison for a very long time. Valentin Silva Quintana, age 31, was sentenced to 27 years by a federal judge. And then, at age 58, he must stay on supervised probation until he’s 78. In addition, the judge ordered Quintana to pay $1.7 million to the victims of his greed and blackmail – all girls between ages 9 and 12 around the country and abroad. Judge Jerry Blackwell issued the sentence. Quintana pleaded guilty in June to production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Originally he was charged on 60-plus counts.

Earlier: Quintana rape case remains locally active

Earlier: Sexploitation case detailed against Lewiston man

Earlier: Feds take over Lewiston online sex case

Earlier: Lewiston man accused as online sex fiend

Quintana. Greedy and shady out of his home on North Fremomt Street in Lewiston in central Winona County.

MANKATO, Minn. – Explosive experts brought down the concrete piers of the flood-damaged Rapidan bridge on the Blue Earth River upstream from Mankato. Dust and debris settled in a matter if minutes, as captured in dramatic video by television station KEYC from a drone.

Earlier: Rapidan bridge coming out slowly, carefully

arlier: Flood-ruined Rapidan dam, bridge to be razed

Earlier: New Rapidan jeopardy: County Road 9 bridge

Earlier: Mankato dam fails as flood finds work-around

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New gateway to Iowa. From the Wisconsin side looking into Lansing.. Fifteen piers are in place for the $140 billion bridge acrpss Wisconsin swamps and over the Mississippi River.  The contractor, Kraemer of Plain, Wisconsin, expects to start planking in April. The defective  1939 bridge is alongside. Image: Iowa Transportarion Depatment

 Earlier: Temporary hold on Lansing bridge project

Earlier: Bridge at Lansing carrying traffic again

Earlier: Early-warning system failed on Lansing bridge

Earlier: Water taxis subbing for disabled Lansing bridge

Earlier: Traffic banned on wobbly Lansing bridge

All smiles. Sisters Leah and Patti handle the scissors as their father Leon grins approvingly. Flanking them are John Corcoran and Brittany Hennessy of Habitat for Humanity.

Project is first with new financing model

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – Keys to the first Habitat for Humanity home in the South Fork Division have been turned over to Leah Swenson and Patti Eckhart. It will be home for them and their father Leon. The house, constructed with volunteer help, is the first financed through a combination of third-party traditional mortgage origination via Bell Bank, an affordability gap mortgage lender, and Habitat for Humanity of Winona County. Financial participants included federal funds from Winona County, land from a regional housing authority, and philanthropists.

Verbatim

Brittany Hennessy, county director of Habitat for Humanity:  “This project showcases what is possible when public and private partners come together to create lasting housing solutions. We are grateful for every person who has provided time, expertise, and care to ensure we can get community members in safe, secure, and affordable housing.”

Hockey (women): UW-River Falls 3, Saint Mary’s 2

WINONA, Minn. – Police knocked at the door of Erin Margaret Beirne, 48, and told her she was under arrest for a $1,300 shoplifting haul at the Menards big-box store on the Far East End. Beirne had been identified on security video pushing a cart with merchandise out the door three days earlier. She was taken to jail. Video showed her cart heaped with a bunch of cameras, jump-starters, a wireless impact wench, 20-volt batteries, a lithium battery, Gain laundry detergent, hand towels and family packs of tooth brushes.

Beirne. Irony: Store security cameras showed a home security cam being stolen

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – A sheriff’s deputy trying to serve legal documents on a rural St. Charles man wasn’t received well. The deputy said Stephen Micah Trachtenberg, 65, shouted and yelled at him and said he  hoped the deputy got shot. The deputy walked away and mailed a citation for disorderly conduct. The documents being served will need to wait for another day. This was about 3:10 p.m. in the 23000 block of County 37 northeast of St. Charles, where Trachtenberg owns property. He also lists Hudson, New Hampshire, as an address,

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Wisconsin man, Mark John Buschman, has been accused of shipping firearms secretly and illegally to Saudi Arabia. According to a federal grand jury indictment, Buschman packed handguns inside toasters and long guns inside automobile axles. Buschman, age 60, had been arrested in his hometown, Viroqua, 30 miles south of LaCrosse. He was taken to Clevekand, where he was advised of yjr indictment in federal court. The indictment claimed that the shipments:

> Occurred over five years, the latest in 2024.

> Were through the U.S Postal Service to an international freight forwarding company in Cleveland.

> Contained handguns and parts hidden inside toasters, coffee makers, space heaters, fans, landscaping edge trimmers and other common household appliances.

> Include at least one long gun inside an automobile axle.

> Were of firearms whose serial numbers had been removed, obliterated or altered.

Buschman earned $398,000 in the transactions, the indicjent said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor released Buschman without bail pending further proceedings. Buschman was told that sentencing guidelines are for as many as 42 years in prison and fines of $1.5 million. It was not immediately known to whom the shipments were addressed. Saudi Arabia has strict limits  on possessing guns.

SIDDBAR

Buschman profile

Buschman, age 60, knew firearms as a hunter. He has lived inViroqua four years. Earlier he lived in LaCrosse and Holmen and occasionally in recent years in South Carolina. According to the indictment, Buschman obtained the firearms and firearms parts in the United state and advertised the items for sale in online marketplaces, including eBay. Saudi Arabia buyers responded to the postings. In making shipments, Buschman used fake

MASON CITY, Iowa – A private investigator has asked a judge to release police documents in the still-unsolved 1995 disappearance of KIMT television anchor Jodi Huisentruit. Steve Ridge wants to see a 2017 search warrant for vehicles belonging to John Vansice, who was a person of interest in the case. Vansice died in December. Ridge, who represents the Vansice survivorss, said: “It’s time to lift the cloud of suspicion that has hung over Vansice and his family for many years.” Authorities have acknowledged that the vehicle searches found nothing incriminating but have refused to say what they were looking for.

Earlier: Death claims link to missing Iowa news anchor

PRESTON, Minn. – One twin sister in a 2023 wreck tyat killed Amish school children pleaded guilty to switching roles with her sister.  The plea by Sarah Beth Peterson left things not looking good for her sister Samantha Jo Peterson, whose trial is pending as the driver. Sarah Beth’s ples was Tuesday in a hearing before Fillmore County Judge Jeremy Clinefelter. The judge reminded Sar Beth that changing her plea could mean six months in jail. The plea was to only two criminal counts on condition that other counts be dropped. Judge Clinefelter seemed agreeable to the deal. The judge scheduled  sentencing for late March. Meanwhile, her identical twin Samantha Jo Peterson goes on trial in July. At Sarah Beth’s hearning on Tuesday, she admitted that her sister called her to the accident. Sara Beth said she arrived  even before police and that Samantha Jo asked  her to take her place as the driver. Sara Beh admitted she agreed to take the blame to protect her sister who had been taking meth.

Earlier: Trial set for twin for in Amish buggy deaths

Verbatim

Daniel McIntosh, defense attorney for Sarah Beth: “Our goal was to have a resolution that Miss Peterson could take responsibility but accurately reflecting her culpability did not harm the children, that she  did not hit them with the vehicle. Yes, she made some mistakes out of concern for her sister that she shouldn’t have done. She regrets that.”

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A twin-engine plane carrying seven people diverted from its course near the Iowa birder for an emergency landing at the Rochester airport. The landing was without incident, said airport spokesperson Mary Gastner. What went wrong wasn’t immediately clear. The plane was more than half into a 600-mile flight from Columbus, Nebraska, to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, when the pilot abruptly descended and pivoted north for Rochester. Take-off in Iowa had been at 8:15 a.m.  The emergency was 45 minutes later. The RST touchdown was at 9:26 a.m. The plane is operated by  Silverhawk Aviation, a charter service in Lincoln, Nebraska. The company has a fleet of 22 airplanes.

Beechcraft King Air 30. Cruises at 410 mph. Can go 500. Cruising altitude 30,000 feet. Between 1972 and 2023 theee were 4,200 built in various models. No longer in production.

Interrupted flight path. Jerky diversion to Rochester. Image: Flightaware.com

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was arrested and charged with brutalizing a woman in a dispute over money. The woman told police that Stephen Andrew Shaw. 59, had asked her for money. When she refused, she said, he struck her in the head with a closed fist, grabbed her by the hair, and pushed her over. Later, she said, Shaw grabbed her hair again  and pulled her toward him and off a chair. The woman, also 59, complained of pain in her arms and knees and on her head. The arrest was about 9 a.m. in a house in the 500 block of Laird Street on the East Side.

Shaw. In jail on domestic assault charge.

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 30 emergency medical calls plus 17 fire calls in recent days:

> Monday, February 3: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire call.

> Sunday, February 2: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Saturday, J February 1: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Friday, J January 31: 10 medical calls plus 5 fire calls.

> Thursday, January 30: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Wednesday, January 29: 2 medical calls plus 2 fire call.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 34 calls

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – Deputies arrested a trucker as he was pulling out of the Love’s fueling station in a semi-rig that had been stolen 90 miles away near Sparta, Wisconsin. Arrested was Keith Michael Lee, 42, of Rapid City. South Dakota. A GPS tracker aboard the rig had pinged to authorities in Monroe County, Wisconsin, who radioed the location at Love’s to Winona County. Deputies intercepted the rig. Lee was taken 25 miles to the Winona jail and booked as in possession of a stolen vehicle. Charges also were expected from Wisconsin. Deputies said Lee was uncommunicative. The rig itself, a 2006 Freightliner, would have little resale value. Deputies were unsure of the cargo’s value.

Lee. South Dakotan in jail. Not talking.