Basketball (men): Winona State 60, Mary 47

Basketball (men): Concordia of Moorhead 75, Saint Mary’s 69

Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 69, UW-Eau Claire 55

Basketball (men): Rochester Community 88, Central Community Columbus 73

Basketball (women): Mary 69, Winona State 48

Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 63, Concordia of Moorhead 58

Basketball (women): UW-Eau Claire 73, UW-LaCrosse 63

Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 3, Lawrence 2

Basketball (boys): Blair-Taylor Wildcats 74, Elmwood-Plum City Wolves 52

Basketball (boys): Golden Valley Breck Mustangs 74, LaCrosse Central RiverHawls 34

Basketball (girls): Durand-Arkansaw Panthers 50, Onalaska Luther Knights 44

Basketball (boys): Blair-Taylor Wildcats 64, Elmwood-Plum City Wolves 42

WINONA, Minn. – Police booked a Rushford driver for drunken driving after his blood-alcohol level tested 1-1/2 times too high to drive. Jonathan David Lesser, 39, was stopped at Mankato Avenue and King Street on the Far East Side End about 11:45 p.m. He had been failing to maintain his traffic lane, police said. He smelled of alcohol and had blurry vision and sloppy speech, police said. A test showed his blood contained 0.11% alcohol.

VIOLA, Wis. — A West Salem man was arrested after a 911 call about screams for help coming from a rural house along State Highway 56. Vernon County deputies later arrested Joel Richard Davis, 44, and. booked him for attempting to enter a private home. Davis was 40 miles from home. This was about 5:30 a.m. roughly midway between Viroqua and Viola. Drugs may have been a factor in the incident, said Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson.

NEW LISBON, Wis.  – Five days into a manhunt for Virgil Thew, who’s wanted for a triple homicide, police believe he has fled this western Wisconsin area. The local search has been extensive but unsuccessful. Ground teams and drones have covered the 800-square ile Juneau County, where New Lisbon is located and where Thew had family. There were two early sightings:

> A caller reported Thew walking with his dog on private property carrying what looked to be a gun in a sleeping bag and yellow bags that appeared to have food inside.

> Trail camera footage in the township surrounding New Lisbon showed him in a wooded area, again walking his dog.

Police continued to invite any and all tips — and released a new photo in hope that someone would recognize and report him. They expanded their original physical description: He has a one-inch scar on his forehead. He is 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, wgh blue eyes brown hair.

Earlier: First-degree murder charges filed in three deaths

Thew. Police have posted another photograph.

Basketball (men): Minot State 113, Winona State 104 (three overtimes)

Basketball (men): Rochester Community 79, Dakota County 75

Basketball (women): Minot State 68, Winona State 61

WINONA, Minn. – A Wisconsin driver was arrested for impaired driving after almost swerving into several parked cars downtown, police said. Michael Sheridan Dahl, 53, of Fountain City, was stopped and tested for his blood-alcohol content. The measuring device showed 0.08%. Officers said there were impairment clues before the test — an odor of alcohol, blood-shot and watery eyes, and slurred speech. Also, they said, Dahl flubbed roadside tests on walking straight and touching his nose. Thus was about 9:35 p.m. in the 100 block of East Fifth Street.

HOKAH, Minn. – This Houston County town has its first woman police chief. Kaylee Inglett joined the department as assistant chief in July. Now she is replacing Bob Schuldt. He’s retiring after 35 years in law enforcement. Inglett earlier was with the LaCrescent and Rushford departments and also the county sheriff’s office. Hokah, population 550, has a three-officer department. About her role in gender history, ,Inglett said: “It’s a great message for all, everybody, just seeing that we can do hard things, we can do awesome things, and we can do things boys do.”

Inglett. A gender milestone in Houston County policing.

NEW LISBON, Wis.  – Police have decided that 47-yea-old Virgil Thew is a murderer. A criminal complaint with three counts of first-degree murder was filed with Juneau County court in nearby Mauston, the county seat. Thew earlier was listed as a person of interest. Thew has been at large four days. Meanwhile, new details about the victims, earlier withheld by New Lisbon police without explanation, have been confirmed: Elizabeth Kolba, age 33, was Thew’s girlfriend. One teen-age victim was his stepdaughter. The relationship of the second teen-age girl remained unclear. The girls were 13 and 12. The bodies were found shot to death Monday in a locked bedroom of Thew’s home in New Lisbon.

Earlier: Cops: All victims of New Lisbon slayings female

Katryn Conlin (Minnesota State College Southeast January 2, 2025): “Southeast Welding Students Craft Campus Monogram”

Kelsey Fitzgerald (Big River magazine, January-February 2025): “Chill: Water Dipping”

Chandler Jackson (KAAL, December 5, 2024): “Preston City Official in Civil and Criminal Case with State”

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver who blew an intoxicated blood-alcohol ratio during a traffic stop was taken in for drunken driving. Cynthia Sue Robertson, 71, was stopped about 3:30 p.m. in the 1850 block of West Fifth Street. She had been weaving in and out of her lane, police said. She failed roadside balance and dexterity tests. Too, police said, she smelled of alcohol and had blood-shot eyes. A breathalyzer showed her blood-alcohol at 0.17% —  more double the legal limit.

Robertson.  Charge: Intoxicated driving.

WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Winona man for a wild chase that had four squad cars in hot pursuit through the East End and the central city about dawn. James Robert Hernstine, 44, was arrested 7-1/2 hours after chase. Hernstine denied any involvement and said somebody else must have been driving his vehicle, police said. The cops didn’t buy the story and booked him for:

> Fleeing police.

> Speeding.

> Racing through stop signs.

> Driving recklessly.

> Driving with a revoked license.

Police had broken off the chase after five miles as too risky.  They later found the vehicle, a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, ditched on the West End. Numerous documents linking to Hernstine were in the vehicle, Among them were bills addressed to his home address and a paystub. Officers had familiarity with Hernstine from past encounters, and about 3 p.m. they spotted him driving his brother’s car. This was in the 4000 block of West Sixth Street in Goodview. The chase had begin on the Far East End when police were investigating an alarm call and saw the Jeep speed off suspiciously.

Earlier: Driver abandons car after 50 mph chase

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Mustafa Bush is going away fir a long time. The ex-con, convicted of murdering an Eyota woman in 2022, was sentenced to life in prison. “There will be no parole,” said Judge Douglas Bayley. The judge called the sentence “appropriately lengthy.” He noted that it’s the most severe punishment allowed by Minnesota law. Bush is 41. The sentence was pronounced after a statement by Kimberly Robinson’s family was read in court. The family said that Bush lacked remorse: “Prison is where he belongs.” Robinson’s body was found dead from a gunshot wound and dumped in a steep, snow-covered ditch on an Omsted County road.  This was in December 2022. She was 41. Prosecutor Mark Ostrem asked for the life sentence, Ostrem noted that Bush had a previous murder-related conviction in 2006. Public Defender Graham Henry told news reporters after the sentencing that Bush would appeal. Also, Henry noted, the state Supreme Court reviews all first-degree murder conviction as a matter of course.

Earlier: Guilty verdict for 2022 Eyota woman’s murder

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – A Marshfield man has been charged as complicit in two Jackson County bank robberies five years ago. Alexander Pongratz, 24, was charged for conspiring. A Medford woman, charged with the hold-ups last week, reportedly fingered Pongratz, according to the new criminal complaint. The woman, Michaels Davis, said she picked Pongratz up prior to the robberies and that Pongratz chose the banks to rob. Asked about his possible role, Pongratz at first denied ever hearing about the robberies and never having known Davies, police said. Confronted with the video, he admitted it was him, according to the criminal  complaint. A police check of phone records found text messages between the two discussing a robbery.

Earlier: Lengthy bank robbery probe ends in arrest

Earlier: Bank bandit hits tiny Alma Center

Earlier: Bank branch robbed in Black River Falls

WINONA, Minn. — Police officers were led on a five-mile car chase around town and finally backed off for safety’s sake about 7 a.m. as the streets began crowding with morning commuters. “The driver obviously, and without care, was disobeying traffic control devices,” said a police spokesperson. Speeds had been at 50 mph through town. Multiple police vehicles had joined the chase. Later the car was found abandoned in the 700 block of West Fifth Street near Fast Eddie’s Bar and towed to the police station to be examined for evidence. Expect an arrest warrant, police said.

A chase saga

Police were called to an alarm in a Far East End industrial zone, at 1000 block of East Third Street at 7:01. They offered this account: An employee claimed everything was fine, saying something about confusion in a meet-up. The officers parked nearby to observe. About 7:20 a.m. a suspicious vehicle drove out from behind the Winona Knitting Mills professional building. The officers followed the vehicle, checking its registration by radio. Information came back that the registered owner was from out of town and had a revoked driver’s license. The officers attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop. The pursuit continued on East Second Street and on to Carimona Street, Sixth Street, Mankato Avenue, East Belleview Street, East Mark Street and Sarnia Street. Other police attempted an intercept. Polic terminated the chase at 7:27 close to Main and Sarnia streets in the Winona State University neigborhood.

NEW LISBON, Wis. – One of three homicide victims Monday was a 33-yrear-old woman and the others were girls 12 and 13, police said. The woman was identified as Elizabeth Kolba. Police didn’t release much other detail. They kept a lid on the names of the teenagers. The new release clarified that the juveniles were female. Earlier news reports had them as boys. Police said the case is now classified as an active homicide investigation. Meanwhile, a warrant remains active for Virgil Thew, 47, of New Lisobin. He was was reported to have been in the company of one of the girls earlier, police said.

Earlier: New Lisbon triple homicide timeline taking form

Earlier: Dragnet out in triple New Lisbon slayings

Earlier: Three dead in suspected Juneau County homicide

Fuzzy video. Store surveillance camera captured this grainy image of Thew. Image: New Lisbon police

CHATFIELD, Minn. — A rural Fillmore County man has been charged with aiming a laser beam at a med-evac helicopter en route to an emergency. Steven Clifford Johnson, 43, was arrested at his trailer house. The pilot of a Mayo One helicopter radioed that the cabin was aglow in green from the laser — a situation known to cause temporary blindness and sometimes permanent damage. A flight nrse aboard the Mayo One flight said she had never experienced such an aggressive attack in nine years on the job.The pilot turned on a spotlight to identify where the laser was coming from. Fillmore County s deputies responded to the site. They said Johnson argued with them to stay off his property but eventually admitted to shining the helicoopter but said it was in retaliation for Mayo One shining at him first. The charge is a federal crime punishable by prison and a $11,000 fine. The Chatfield incident was in October.

Earlier: Prison time for laser attack on airliner

Earlier: Laser from Whitewater area aims at airliner

Earlier: Airline pilot blinded by Kenyon laser beam

Not first time

Minnesota laser attacks on aircraft have been aimed at airliners beginning their descent into the Minneapolis airport. No crashes resulted. Locating the source of a laser attack van be difficult. A beam fired in 2023 from around Crystal Spring in Winona County, 20 miles from  Chatfield, never was found. A 2022 beam fired from Kenyon in Goodhue County, 60 miles from Chatfield, resulted in a two-year prison term.

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man was found in the basement of the St. Stanislaus Basilica by police responding to an alarm trigger. They arrested Joseph Allan Peaslee, 31, and booked him for burglary. This was about 11:50 p.m. Police said Peaslee was hiding in a corner behind a door. He fessed up to having been in the landmark East Fourth Street church 12 hours – and that he had scrounged and eaten an eight-pack of wieners, helped himself to communion wine, and damaged an alarm system in an attempt to turn it off. There also was disarray, police said. Peaselee was charged under a state statute that explicitly protects churches.

Peaslee. His explanation for after-hours church visit didn’t wash with police.