Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Pine Island Panthers 60, St. Charles Saints 34
Hockey (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 3, Winona Winhawks 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 67, Bangor Cardinals 46
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 56, Osseo-Fairchild Thunder 47
Basketball (girls): Eleva-Strum Cardinals 49, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 34
$5 million land deal for Rochester sports complex
ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Rochester City Council voted unanimously to buy 160 acres to build a sports and recreation complex in southeast Rochester. The price: $5 million. The city has $65 million total to build the complex. The funds are from a sales tax approved by voters in November. Plans include eight baseball fields, two soccer fields, 12 pickleball courts, food stalls, a biking and walking connection to Willow Creek Trail, a dog park, and an 800-car parking lot.
Grassland site. The property, owned by Seneca Foods but never developed, is barren prairie behind the Shoppes on Maine mall off South Broadway.
Machete weapon: Rochester man’s throat cut
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Rochester man was slashed across the throat with a machete during a fight with another man at a northwest Rochester address. Although hospitalized, police said, the victim was able to discuss the incident. Police had been called to the 900 block of Elton Hills Court Northwest about 4:30 p.m. The victim had left and driven himself to the 200 block of Penny Lane Northeast, where police found him. He was taken to the hospital. Police said both men were cooperating with investigators. No charges were filed immediately
School bus, car collide; the kids are OK
EITZEN, Minn – Three children on a Caledonia school bus, the last still aboard on their way home from school, escaped injury when a car and the bus collided. The bus driver also was unhurt. The driver of the car, Anna Michael Becker, 28, of Dorchester, Iowa, was taken 35 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Becker was buckled, said Houston County deputies. Her injuries were sustainable. The accident occurred about 4 p.m. Deputies said the bus was traveling west on Cabbage Ridge Drive north of Eitzen and entering State Highway 76. The car was heading south toward Iowa. The bus was driven byTerry Paul Schuldt, 70, of Caledonia.
Two-vehicle crash backs up I-90 transcon
I-90 blocked. A two-vehicle collision blocked Interstate 90 between the Ridgeway exit to Houston and the Nodine exit. The crash was about 8:25 a.m. No serious injuries eere reported. Detours eventually were set up on Winona County backroads, alas a bit slower than 70 mph. Image: Minnesota State Patrol dashcam
Winona home sales in January 2025
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in January:
215 Washington Street: Randall to Main Square Development, $500,000.
84 Lyngholm Drive: Gerlach to Walsworth, $497,000.
2368 Maria Road: Vold to Randall, $457,000.
Earlier: Winona home sales in December2024
Winona County home sales in January 2025
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales outside Winona logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in January:
Goodview: 1355 50th Avenue, Westby to Hoeth, $349,000.
Houston: 31070 County Road 13: Eiden to Thomson, $487,000.
Lewiston: 160 Benson Drive: Omar to Schumacher, $390,000.
Minnesota City: 6625 Woodland Boulevard, Troke to Mach, $327,000.
Winona County commercial sales January 2025
WINONA, Minn. – Among commercial property sales in Winona County logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in January:
Winona: 950 and 950 Frontenac Dribe (strip mall): Split Rock Holdings to BJM Holdings, $3.6 million.
Winona: 5676 Industrial Park Road (warehouse): BCS Automotive Jnterface Solutions to MSI Properties, $1.2 million.
Earlier: Winona County commercial property sales in December 2024
Driver cited after Boat Club gunshots
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – A Winona man was stopped in his car after reports of gunshots near the Minnesota City Boat Club. Deputies couldn’t find the source. However, Goodview Police stopped a vehicle a little while later and found the driver had a loaded firearm. Andrew Michael Weilandt, age 28, of Winona, was cited for a loaded gun in a motor vehicle.
Europe-bound Delta flight in MSP emergency
Airport fire units. Raced along the runway as the twin-engine Airbus 330-900 touched down and taxied to the terminal. There was no fire. Passengers deboarded the usual way at a gate.
Airline blames mechanical issue with flaps
MINNEAPOLIS – A Delta Airlines flight headed for Amsterdam turned around after take-off and made an emergency landing back at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. No injuries were reported. Flight 160 had departed about 3:30 p.m. for the 4,200-mle 8-1/2 trip when the pilot realized a problem with flaps that control direction up and down and for turning. On board were 272 passengers. Delta said. The usual crew is nine There were 80 empty seats. Delta said another [lane would be swapped out for the trip.
Notable journalism
Emily Hamer (Wisconsin State Journal, January 30 2o25): “They Escaped from Afghanistan to Wisconsin. Now They’ve Resettled across the Nation”
Rachel Mantos (KAAL, January 31, 2025): “Minnesotans Will Feel Tariff Pat the Pump”
Caden Perry (LaCrosse Tribune, January 31,2025): “With Joe Gow on Offense Over Porn Production, What Are His Odds of Returning to UW-L?”
Summary at week’s end: February 1, 2025
POLITICS: Martin tapped for national Democratic role
GOVERNANCE: Rival House leaders in political theater
GOVERNANCE: GOP to Supreme Court: Cut Simon down to size
GBVERNANCE: Winona senator files sports gambling retread
CORPORATE: New med-evac helicopter in Winona ascent
CORPORATE: Fraud: Timeshare rescue firms give up Minnesota
SCHOOLS: Mystery bullets found in two Tomah schools
TOURISM: Visit Winona’s veteran chief saying bye
HEALTH: Fire damages Wabasha dentistry, laundromat
HEALTH: Study: One-fifth of Minnesotans in food insecurity
Wrong-way driver flees, found in woods
WINONA, Minn. – A deputy sheriff did a quick turn-around after a vehicle came straight at him the wrong way on four-lane U.S. Highway 61 a couple miles south of Winona. The wayward driver stopped 1-1/2 moles later near the Black Horse tavern site on the Winona outskirts and fled into the woods. The deputy chased him on foot. Hunkered down in the woods nwas Miguel Angel Arenas, 35, of Sparta, Wisconsin. He was drunk, the deputy said: Blood-shot and watery eyes, slurred speech,, smelling of alcohol, and unable to perform the first step in roadside sobriety testing before the deputy gave hm trying the next steps. At the jail his blood tested at 0.13% alcohol – substantially more than the allowable 0.08%. The arrest was about 11:10 p.m.
Arenas. Deputy swerved to avoid 65 mph head-on collision on divided highway.
College scores
Basketball (men): MSU-Mankato 76, Winna State 52
Basketball (men): Riverland Community 68, Rochester Community 64
Basketball (women): MSU-Mankato 105, Winona State 49
Basketball (men): Bethel 60, Saint Mary’s 76, Bethel of St. Paul 60
Basketball (women): Bethel 60 of St. Paul, Saint Mary’s 55
Hockey (men): St. Scholastica 6, Saint Mary’s 1
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 3, Scholastica 1
Minnesota prep
Basketball (43boys): Winona Cotter Ramblers 73, Lyle-Pacelli Athletics
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 93, Wells United South Central Rebels 69
Basketball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 70, Winona Winhawks 55
Hockey (girls): Austin Packers 4, Winona Winhawks 2
Wisconsin prep
Martin tapped for national Democratic role
OXON HILL, Md. – The Democratic National Committee has chosen the storied leader of the party in Minnesota as its national leader. Ken Martin will head the machinery to retake the Trump-dominated Congress in the 2026 midterms and lay groundwork to elect a Democrat to the White House in 2028. For 14 years Martin has chaired the Minnesota DFL. In the past eight years the Democrats have won every statewide Minnesota office. At the national committee meeting in Onox Hill, Martin won 246.5 votes to 134 for Wisconsin’s Ben Wikler and 44 for Maryland’s Martin O’Malley.
Earlier: Minnesotan Ken Martin as U.S. Democratic chief?
Earlier: Wisconsin’s Wikler eyes national Democratic leadership
Martin: “We’re going to go out there and take this fight to Donald Trump.”
Winona Ice Festival in relative warm spell
Cleat check queue. Some 300 ice adventurers, their gear in tow, lined up at the trailhead below Sugar Loaf to register to scale the ice cliffs at the Winona Ice Park. Tents housed clinics for novices and experts and also vendors and hot cocoa. Organizers had carved out numerous climbing routes. Image: Steve Lunde
Notable journalism
Steve Karnowski (Associated Press, January 30, 2025): “Boycott after Retailer Backs Away from Diversity Programs”
Gavin Michaelson, Rachel Mergen and Audrey Korte (LaCrosse Tribune, January 30, 2025): “TikTok Shutdown Gives River Valley Region Creators, Users a Taste of hat a Ban Could :ook Like”
David Schuman (WCCO, January 21. 2025): “Three Minnesota Jails Have Agreements with ICE to Hold Detainees”
Mom with Minnesota links dead in Potomac crash
WASHINGTON – A woman originally from Minnesota was killed, as were 66 other persons, when an American Eagle airliner and an Army helicopter collided Wednesday over the Potomac River. On the survivor list, released three days later, was Wendy Jo Shaffer. She grew up in the St. Paul suburb Mahtomedi but was living now in North Carolina. Schaffer was married with sons 3 and 1 years old.
Shaffer. On flight into Reagan National Airport from Wichita.
Teen cited for obnoxiousness at pizza joint
WINONA, Minn. – Police were called to a disturbance between two under-age women at Toppers Pizza downtown after bar-closing time. They cited Taytym Nezaeh Shezchuk, 18, Winona, for under-age consumption. Shezchuk, officers said, seemed to he primary culprit and was drawing attention to herself with loud and obnoxious behavior. Ths was about 2:25 a.m.
Visit Winona’s veteran chief saying bye
WINONA, Minn, — Tourism promoter Pat Mutter announced her retirement after 22 years in charge of Visit Winona. Mutter, who is 65, said her last day will be March 31. Her projects have included Hello Winona to welcome newcomers. Mutter has been involved in early phases of ongoing events like the Great River Shakespeare Festival, Mid West Music Fest, Winona Ice Fest and Trinona. It’s impossible to count her ribbon-cuttings. She seldom misses a summer river cruise docking or working to keep Winona kon the map like the new Borealis train service.
Mutter. Her work has included the seasonal tourist greeting center straddling Lake Winona on the Huff causeway.
Teens pinched for under-age drinking
WINONA, Minn. – Police stopped two Wisconsin teens who were too young be drinking but were but whose breaths tested as legally drunk. Officers had been called regarding teenagers trying to enter a car near Third and Walnut streets in the Bar District. This was about 1:10 a.m. Officers found nothing criminal about the car but cited both for under-age consumption:
> Connor Lawrence McGrath, 19, of Galesville, whose breath tested as 0.09% blood-alcohol.
> Arthur James Willette, 19, of Trempealeau, who blew 0.10%.
Experts:Trump tariff means higher gas prices
ST.PAUL, Minn. — The tariff war that President Trump started Saturday against Canada will push gasoline prices up at least 40 per gallon in the Upper Midwest and perhaps70 cents, say economists. John Spry at the University of St. Thomas noted that Minnesota refineries rely lean heavily on crude oil by pipeline from Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Whether Trump was aware of this was unclear. Said Spry, a finance professor: “If you’re a Minnesotan, you’re not really using crude oil from the Middle East — why ship it that far? You’re using crude oil from North Dakota or Canada.” Trump slapped 25% tariffs on imports from Canada, which is the largest U.S. trading partner, and on Mexico, the second largest.
Conflicted Trump messaging
Pressed about his executive order on taruffs , Trum said he wanted to push Mexico to stop immigration across the southern border. How would weaponizing tariffs accomplish this? Pressed by reporters, Trump shifted his rationale to Canada: “Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade,” he said. “They’ve treated us very unfairly on trade, and we will be able to make that up very quickly because we don’t need the products that they have.” At another point Trump told reporters that tariffs would reduce illegal importation of the drug fentanyl. How? By definition, pirates and traffickers avoid customs agents and sneak their goods into the country. Trump’s messaging, in effect, was mixed and confusing.
What’s next
It’s possible that Trump’s bully-posturing could backfire. Canada’s prime minister, JustinTrudeau immediately announced retaliatory new tariffs against U.S. products into Canada. Experts in geopolitics and international finance agree that tariff wars have disastrous consequences as they escalate. It is possible, too, that Trump could be forced to back down under U.S. domestic pressure and exclude specific products, for example Canadian crude oil. Last week Trump retreated under pressure from Congress, governors and lobbyists to back off a poorly and hastily conceived scheme for massive job cuts at federal agencies, which would have decimated public services.
Spry. Global finance professor.
Trump panacea
Inside Trump’s mind on tariff hikes: “Number One is the people that have poured into our country so horribly and so much. Number Two are the drugs, fentanyl and everything else, that have come into the country. And Number Three are the massive subsidies that we’re giving to Canada and to Mexico in the form of deficits.”
Domestic downsides
Textbook explanation Economics 101: Higher tariffs push prices higher on imported goods because import companies cannot absorb what’s, in effect are surcharges. The surcharges are passed on to consumers. The new Trump tariffs are up 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on China. Gary Hufbauer, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics: “There’ll be price spikes in particular, goods, like the autos, also fruits and vegetables.” U.S. farmers could lose foreign outlets in a tariff war as did Trump’s trsde war in his first presidency. To alleviate the resulting farm crisis, Trump cannibalized other federal programs to finance farm aid packages.
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