OAK PARK HEIGHTS, Minn. — Two ice fishermen were rescued after their pickup went through the ice in the St. Croix River near the Xcel power plant. Police said the men, ages 24 and 23, jumped before the truck sank and never got wet. This was after dark about 9:20 p.m. The men had been out ice fishing on the river for most of the day and were heading back to a boat launch. Then they heard the ice cracking and making unfriendly noises nder them, they told Bayport police. They jumped out just as  the pickup started slipping under. This was in water believed to be 15 feet deep.

Going under. It’s a 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche. Avalanches weigh 5,700 pounds. Image: Ben Ziertman

End of 100 mph chase. Driver had only bumps and bruises. Crash kitty corner from the white Beedle’s Bar and Restaurant. The tan Centerville townhall and curling hall down the highway on right.  Image: Four Corners bar

Arcadia driver facing multiple charges

ARCADIA, Wis. – A state trooper was stuck by a car and injured albeit not seriously outside an Arcada address where a man had been reported yelling in the street. It seemed at first to be routine welfare check. Fifteen miles later after 100 mph chase, Michael Peterson, 47, of Arcadia, was arrested after crashing inti a post. Peterson was taken the Trempealeau County jail 28 miles away – after a stop at a hospital to be checked ver. The episode began about 5:05p.m. at Blaschko Avenue and Sobotta streets on the Arcadia South End. Officers found Peterson sitting a. car. They said he refused to get out or communicate, then hit the accelerator, striking the trooper, and speeding south out of town up Highway 93 to the ridgetop and then down Tamarack Valley into Centeriville. The chase ended when the driver crashed into a power pole at the four-way stop with U.S. Highway 35. Peterson  was booked for:

> Battery on a law enforcement officer.

> Reckless endangerment safety.

> Flight from a a police officer,

MADISON, Wis. — The former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse chancellor, Joe Gow, sued the UW Board of Regents in what could become a cutting-edge case for free speech and academic freedom — and against just plain nastiness in firing him. The suit was filed in federal court. Gow was removed as chancellor in 2023 for producing and performing in sex videos that encouraged older adults to loosen up and enjoy the bedroom. With his wife, a fellow academic, he demonstrated up close and personal how to do it. The couple also had written books on the subject. He is 65, she 57. All this was under pseudonyms. UW System President Jay Rothman, a Milwaukee lawyer, was scandalized to learn of the extracurricular videos. Rothman claimed that Gow had sullied the university’s reputation. Rothman organize a campaign not only to remove Gow as chancellor but also to deny him the usual professorship afforded to former chancellors, and to deny him a pension.

Gow’s legal case

In the suit Gow claims that a governmental unit, the UW System, denied his constitutional right as a citizen to free expression. Further he claims his academic freedom to pursue unconventional avenues was violated. This is a centuries-old tradition inspired by the fate of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who in 399 B.C. was forced to drink the poison hemlock. Academic freedom also has been inspired by the heresy trial of Italian physicist  Galileo in 1633 A.D. for theorizing that Earth wasn’t flat. A more mundane element in Gow’s case is wrongful dismissal and denial of a tenured professorship, which is standard practice for former college academic officers.

Earlier: Next step for Gow’s free speech battle: The courts

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneaoplis-based Target retail chain retreated from its long-standing commitment to cultural diversity, equity and inclusion by disavowing its DEI policy. The company announced an end to its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy to help lack employees build meaningful careers, to improve the experience of black shoppers and to promote black-owned businesses. The strategy had roots in a decades-old corporate commitment to social good – a tradition pioneered by its corporate predecessor, the Dayton’s department stores . The reversal nos is part of a sudden shift in U.S. retailing toward a white supremacist culture encouraged by newly elected President Donald Trump. Among hold-outs against Trumpian pressure has been Washington state-based Costco, a major Target competitor. Target’s change, within days of Trump’s inauguration, was unexpected. The company has been reporting with pride that half of its 350,00 employees are people of color and more than half are women. But what of its Dayton’s-like leadership for social goods?  It’s not loke social inequities are things of the past in American culture. The company’s recent record, at least until now, also has favored more diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by people of color, women, gays, veterans and people with disabilities. This apparently is gone now too.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Rochester man who beat a child nearly unconscious with a hair dryer was sentenced to five years probation. David Chan, age 32, had pleaded guilty. At the time, last April, a witness told police that Vannade was trying to force the child to apologize for an incident the previous week. Vannadee explained he was “dealing with other stresses in life” and “exploded.” The child was found on a bathroom floor of the family home in northwest  Rochester. She was convulsing, drawing shallow breaths, had an open wound on the side of her head, and her face was covered in blood, police said. The complaint said that the officer performed multiple sternum rubs to restore the child’s pulse until medical arrived. A witness said  Vannadee had pulled the child into the bathroom to cut her hair and instead grabbed the hair dryer and beat the child. Two other children were in the house. Vannadee was originally jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Vannadee. Admitted hitting the child probably two or three times, then walking out.

Northland Breaks. A tidy but unimposing shop at 91 Harvester Street in an industrial stub off West Fifth. Near the Union Pacific rail yard. Image: Steve Lunde

One haul estimated at $10,400; total pegged near $25,000

WINONA, Minn. – Police confiscated hundreds of sports cards reported stolen from the Winona based online card dealer Northland Breaks. The cards were seized at a Winona residence of a clerk who had been fired in November but who kept coming back to chat with former colleagues who were still on the payroll. The fired clerk, Ike Allen Erdmanczyk, 19, of Winona, has been charged with walking off with an estimated $25,000 in trading cards.  Police said that many cards reported stolen weren’t at the residence and perhaps had been sold. The thefts, according to surveillance video, were mostly during business hours. One haul, however, police said  was a break in which Erdmanczyk used a hidden key whose location he knew from having worked there. This all is according to police reports and a criminal complaint being drafted. The complaint lists multiple misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony theft chaeges. Pivotal points in the case:

> November  Erdmanczyk was fired by Ty Styx, owner of Northland Breaks, for having unsealed some cartons of trading cards.

> Erdmancyck returned often to the premises, ostensibly to chat with friends who still worked there.

> December 28. Erdmaczyk was charged with stealing $1,000 in cards while with a friend who still working here but ducked out for a bite at Kwik Trip.

> On his visits, Erdmaczyk browsed among cartons of cards while employees, seldom more than two a time,  were busy in a side room conducting live online carton “breaks.”

> Sensing inventory losses Northland’s owner, Ty Styx,  began reviewing surveillance video, identified further losses, and called police.

.> January 27. Armed with a search warrant, police went to Erdmaczyk’s residence, seized cards that were identified by Styx as stolen, and made the second arrest.

Retail counters. Cards and trading paraphernalia on sale for local customers. Hours 10 a,m to 7 p.m.

Breaks table. Where sealed cartons of cards are broken open live on the Loupe online steaming site.

Serial thefts

Ty Styx, owner of Northland Breaks, gave police this list of thefts and his estimate of values:November 13, $480; November 16, $805; November 17, $1,423; November 17, $1,422; November 20, $1,700 and $175; November 25, $465; December 5, $2,060; December 6, $403; December  11, $1,440; December 12, $320;  December 13, $900; December 15, $3,600; December 19, $1,807; December 20, $2,800; December 24, $6,435.

Trading card industry

Northland Breaks is a trading card retailer but also runs a lucrative online speculation business in trading cards. The cards, each featuring an athlete, are in factory-sealed cartons. In advance, each players pledges to buy a card of an athlete they specify, say $45 for a Drake Maye of the New England Patriots. Then the players watch an online streaming ceremony of sorts. A carton is unsealed – which is called “breaking,” With high expectations among olinene  players, the cards are revealed  dramatically one at a tim. No Drake Maye card? “Better luck next time. Thanks anyway for the $45 bid.”

Earlier: Card shop robbed; ex-worker blamed

Earlier: Winona clerk accused in $13,000 trading card theft

Earlier: Report: $500 Kobe Bryant collector card stolen

MELROSE, Wis.  – Firefighters from Black River Falls, Farmington, Melrose and Sparta were unable to save a rural house. A neighbor had called in hearing several explosions about 12:40 a.m. No one was home. Two dogs and two cats died. The fire was at 6785 Cardinal Road between Melrose. And Sparta. Both the house and a garage were fully ablaze when fire crews arrived. Lost were several vehicles and equipment in the garage.

Unlivable. Several vehicles also were ablaze when crews arrived. The fire’s cause was under investigation. Image: Sparta Fire District

SPARTA, Wis. – An attached garage t a rural house was heavily damaged by an early morning fire. The house itself suffered smoke damage. The family who lived there escaped safely but couldn’t move back in. The fire was at 14344 State Highway 71. The call came about 1:15 a.m. One crew was delayed on its way when their dire truck hit a deer on County Highway B and Echo Road. Damage was minor, and the crew continued to the fire.  Crews didn’t clear the scene until after 3.

Dual attack. Firefighters attacked the fire with both exterior and interior tactics on the garage The cause was not determined immediately. Image: Sparta Fire District

WINONA, Minn. – An Illinois man was charged with driving drunk after a traffic stop for not signaling at a corner. The arresting officer said he could smell alcohol from inside the car as he began talking with the driver. Further, the officer said, Jacob Nicholas Mekino, 22, of Westchester, Illinois, showed numerous signs of impairment. At the jailhouse Mekino’s blood-alcohol level tested at 0.13%. No more than 0.08% is allowed in Minnesota for driving. The stop was about 11:55 p.m. at Broadway and Lafayette streets.

Basketball (men): Winona State 74, Northern State of South Dakota 69

Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 80, UW-Whitewater 77

Basketball (men): Minnesota State Community 67, Rochester Community 57

Basketball (women): Northern State of South Dakota 85, Winona State 73

Basketball (women): Saint Benedict 73, Saint Mary’s 64

Basketball (women): UW-Whitewater 62, UW-LaCrosse 56

Basketball (qomen): Minnesota State Community-Moorhead and Rochester Community, cancelled

Hockey (men): Saint John’s 6, Saint Mary’s 0

Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 3, Saint Benedict 2

Basketball (girls): Fall Creek Crickets 57, Onalaska Hilltoppers 40

SIBLEY, Minn. – The federal immigration enforcement agency ICE has been offering new contracts to Minnesota sheriffs to house detainees. The extent of the ICE project to line up more jail space isn’t clear, but Minneapolis television station WCCO has confirmed an offer in November to Sibley County in south-central Minnesota. It was in November that Donald Trump was elected president and promised sweeping crackdowns on immigrants and mass deportations. Since November ICE has been prioritizing targets for new mass arrests. It’s unknown whether Sibley County was on the ICE short list, but the country is 9% Hispanic – one of highest immigrant concentrations in the state. These mostly are people of Mexican extraction in agricultural jobs. According to the WCCO report, the ICE office in St. Paul reached out to Sibley County Sheriff Patrick Nienaber November to discuss “the benefits of working with ICE for possible housing.”  Sheriff Nienaber declined the meeting. No law enforcement agencies in Minnesota have authority to act as immigration officers. A somewhat gray area in state law is local complicity with federal agencies to hold ICE detainees. Even so, there have been ICE contracts with these counties and perhaps others:

> Sherburne County (Elk River): 732 jail beds. Population 102,000, of whom 2,800 (3%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Freeborn County (Albert Lea): 138 jail beds, Population 3,800, of whom 3,100 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Kandiyohi County (Willmar): 190 jail beds. Population 43,000, of whom 5,900 (14%) are Hispanic or Latino.

Reportedly the Sherburne County contract has lapsed. Here are data from Sibley County, which turned down the ICE proposal in November.

> Sibley County (Gaylord): 20 beds. Population 14,8700, of whom 1,300 (9%) are Hispanic or Latino.are Hispanic or Latino.

On ICE radar?

Here is breakdown of southeast Minnesota counties with population data from the 2020 census:

> Dodge County (Mantorville county seat): Population 11,000, of whom 1,100 (5%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Fillmore County (Preston): Population 21,000, of whom 200 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Goodhue County (Red Wing): Population 47,000, of wom 1,800 (4%) are Hispanic or Latino.

 > Houston County (Caledonia): Population 19,000, of whom 250 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.

 > Mower County (Austin): Population 40,000, of whom 5,100 (13%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Olmsted County (Rochester): Population 163,000, of whom 9,800 (6%) are Hispanic or Latino.

 > Wabasha County (Wabasha): Population 21,000, of whom 700 (3%) are Hispanic or Latino.

 > Winona County (Winona): Population 50,000, of whom 1,900 (4%) are Hispanic or Latino.

Southwest Wisconsin counties:

> Buffalo County (Alma county seat): Population 13,000, of whom 70 (0.06%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> LaCrosse County (LaCrosse): Population 120,000, of whom 1,2,00 (1%) are Hispanic or Latino.

> Trempealeau County (Whitehall): Population 21,000, of whom 2,700 (13%) are Hispanic or Latino.

NOTE: Hispanic figures in the census may below because many immigrants, fearful of deportation, don’t respond to questionnaires from the federal census agency.