How they voted: On Trump tax cuts for rich
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House rejected President-elect Trump’s plan to suspend the national debt ceiling to facilitate massive tax cuts for wealthy Americans. It was a jarring setback for Trump. He and his new found chief advisor, Elon Musk, had lobbied heavily to lift the debt ceiling. They even threatened Republican House mebers to go along or find themselves challenged for re-election in 2026 by Trump-endorsed candidates. The bullying failed with 38 House Republicans breaking rank. Political observers said it was a clear indication that neither Trump nor Musk is savvy about how Congress works. Musk was born and schooled in South Africa. Athhough financialky successful in the United States and now thev richest person on the globe, Musk is a neophyte on U.S. governance structures. Trump ,although American-schooled, never did well with his lessons. The House vote was 235-117. How the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations voted:
Against Trump budget plan
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs)
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee)
—
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst)
Not voting
> Dean Phillips, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
For
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (south)
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn 8 (Iron Range)
—
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Clyman)
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport)
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville)
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien)
> Tony Wied, R-Wi8 (DePere)
Vehicle rolls off road, tumbles down steep bank
VIOLA, Wis. – Two Illinois travelers escaped serious injury when their car skidded off a country road, overturned down an embankment and landed upside down in a creek. The driver, Joseph E. Froeter, 27, and passenger, Julie S. Froeter, 62, both of Evanston, Illinois, were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Deputies blamed a snow-covered and icy curve on County Road U east of Viroqua in central Vernon County. The accident was just after dark about 5:30 p.m.
On its roof. The Subaru Outback is dwarfed by a culvert on a small creek near Viola. Image: Vernon County sheriff
Forget the calendar: Hello to winter
A snow cap. This fall pumpkin got a jump start on the official beginning of winter, which is only two days away. Image: Andy Frank
New WSU dean of students in pending overhaul
WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University has borrowed a student recruiter from the Enrollment Management Office as interim dean of students. Paul Stern, age 50, has been at the university17 years. most recently as associate director of enrollment. Hus salary: $118,000. Stern holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and St. Thomas University. He also has studied at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Cheng Da National University in Taiwan, and Alliance Francaise in France. He succeeds Karen Johnson, who took early retirement as dean of students. The position meanawhile, is being redesigned as a new Student Life and Development Division. The division will under Denise McDowell, a university vice president.
Stern. Appointment effective in January.
Homeowner backs plow out of driveway: Crash
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – A man plowing his driveway backed his blade-equipped pickup into the street, where it was clipped by a passing car. A deputy ticketed the plow driver, Thomas Allyn Hartert, age 82, for inattentive driving. This was about 1:50 p.m. in the 100 block of Washington Street. The driver of the passing car suffered minor injuries but declined an ambulance and said he would drop by the Winona hospital on his own later
Semi-tuck jack-knifes off I-90, driver hurt
DOVER, Minn. – A truck-semi rig jack-knifed on compacted snow on Interstate 90, injuring the driver, Xavier T Boelter, 26, of Urbana, Illinois, was taken 20 miles to a Rochester hospital. His injuries were described as non-life threatening. The accident was about 11:20 a.m. between the Dover and St. Charles exit ramps. The rig went into median, blocking the westbound lanes. Traffic was detoured north to State Highway 14 on Olmsted County Road 10 and Highway 74. There also were there six other jack-knife accidents across southern Minnesota. By noon the State Patro reported 47 crashes, six with injuries. In addition 17 vehicles needed a tow back onto the road.
Winona schools close early as snow piles up
WINONA, Minn. – With road conditions deteriorating, Winona schools Superintendent Brad Berzinski released students early. Elementary and early childhood students were to be released at 12:15 p.m. and middle and high school students at 1:30 p.m. Alternate bus stops for inclement weather were activated.
No jail for shoplifting School Board member
RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing School Board member, Rachel Marie Marshall Schoenfelder, was sentenced to one year of probation and 24 hours of community service work for shoplifting from the local Target department store. Also she was ordered to pay $504.76 to Target for restitution. Schoenfelder is 49 years old. The incident, not her first, was in July. The School Board censured her and voted 5-2 to ask her to resign. She did. Her Board duties included being treasurer. Those duties were transferred to another Board member.
The take-down
The criminal complaint offered these details: Surveillance videos caught Schoenfelder putting a 10-pack of Diet Coke into a cart. She then placed other items, worth $158.72, into a reusable Target bag. These items included three books, one pair of shoes, games, chocolate chips and a bar of white chocolate. At a self-checkout aisle she paid for items in her cart but not items in the reusable bag. An asset protection investigator called police about “a known shoplifter” in the store. Schoenfelder was being held in a backroom when police arrived. She admitted to the shoplifting and that this wasn’t the first time. Why did she do it? “Things were becoming more expensive,” she said. Target confronted her about seven other shoplifting incidents in the previous five months. The stolen merchandise, Target said, totaled $504.76. She was served a trespass notice not come back.
Schoenfelder. On School Board since 2023. A pediatric physician assistant with the Mayo Clinic outpost in Red Wing. Active in conservative political circles. A Trump supporter.
Semi off snowy I-90 at high Rush Creek span
LEWISTON, Minn. – A semi-truck slid off snow-covered Interstate 90 and went down sn embankment. This was near the 120-foot high I-90 span over Rush Creek at Enterprise. Luckily the rig wasn’t on the bridge itself. The driver was unhurt.
Gift-bearing Hidden Heroes making the rounds
Fleet amassing. To bring cheer to tri-county kids whose prospects may have been bleak for a Santa visit.
“What all the commotion? “No chimney, no problem”
HOUSTON, Minn. — Weather permitting, a caravan of police and emergency vehicles, their lights ablazin’, will be pulling up unexpected at select households to hand out holiday gifts to wide-eyed children. It’s the annual Bluff Country Hidden Heroes caravan arranged every year by Sergeant Chris Frick of the Houston County sheriff’s office. If roads are too sick, the event will be put off to another day, Frick said. The project has raised $9,000 with a golf tournament, a raffle and solicitations to buy the gifts for chidren recommended by local school officials. The caravan typically 18 or 19 vehicles, makes its rounds in Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties. The event is an ongoing spectacle household to household.. In just a little over a minute at each stop 35 people jump out, Santa too, with gifts. Then, like Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid Dunder and Blixen, and Rudolph too, they’re gone. And to all a good night. On the distribution list: Households around Brownsville, Caledonia, Dakota, Eitzen, Hokah, Houston La Crescent Money Creek, Mabel, Newburg, Nodine Rushford, Spring Grove, and Wilson.
Frick. Hidden Heroes his pet project.
Fender-benders, no injuries, as snow bedecks city
WINONA, Minn. – Traffic moved slowly and carefully — very carefully — during the morning commute as heavy snow accumulated for the first time this season. Police were called to three minor accidents – at Gilmore and Vila streets, Second and Laird, and Mankato and Sanborn. There were no injuries, police said. In the county, a crash occurred in a 55 mph zone on snow-slickened U.S. Highway 14 at the Arches west of Stockton.
Arson suspected in East Fifth garage fire
WINONA, Minn. – Arson is a possibility in a garage fire on the East Side. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, then checked numerous surveillance cameras and saw a person coming out of the garage with what looked to be a rag that was on fire and throw it on materials piled against the garage wall. The person left the scene. The fire was about 7:10 a.m. in the 1000 block of East Fifth Street. Lost in the fire were a window air conditioner a piece of live-edge lumber and the front tire for a battery-powered scooter.
Students act on school’s generosity theme
Care packs for foster kids. Assisted by Washington-Kosciusko grade school staff, students assembled bags filled with essential items for children entering foster care. The bags each have personal care items and a warm blanket. Winona social workers picked up the bags and explained how they would give a sense of security for children in scary transitions. The project fit the school theme for the month: Generosity.
Bald eagle finally about to be national bird
WABASHA Minn. – “About time,” says Ed Hahn, marketing director for the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. The U.S. House and Senate approved legislation this week to make the bald eagle the national bird. When the bill is signed by President Biden, the bald eagle will be elevated to the role that many already assumed it had. The new bill corrects a historic oversight, Hahn said. The nation’s founders debated what the national bird should be in 1776. Benjamin Franklin favored the turkey. But Preston Cook, a naturalist doing latter-day research at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, discovered that Congress never acted. Soon, 248 years later, the United States will have a national bird.
Iconic but officially unrecognized. The bald eagle has recovered from near extinction due to agricultural use of DDT as an insecticide poison following World War II. Due to protective-status legislation, the population has grown to 316,00 in the Lower 48 states plus 35,000 in Alaska. Image: Minnesota Natural Resources Department
News summary at mid-week: December 18, 2024
CRIME: Judge: Life sentence to Fravel for murder
CRIME: Unseen images released in Kingsbury slaying
CRIME: Teen shooter opens fire in Madison school
CRIME: Police raid yields large cocaine cache, arrest
CRIME: Burglaries linked to skinny, hooded, gloved guys
CRIME: Killer-cop wins new access to George Floyd autopsy
SPORTS: Inside Caledonia High’s wrestling locker room
COLLEGES: Mankato prof to Congressman: Get real
COLLEGES: College president sidesteps call to fire prof
COLLEGES: Mid-year WSU graduation on upswing
GOVERNANCE: Campaign widens against Glock Switch hardware
GOVERNANCE: Police chief lauds suit against Glock gun kits
GOVERNANCE: Mail way late? Rochester postal operation faulted
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 72, UM-Duluth 71
Basketball (women): Winona State 67, UM-Duluth 65
Shop with cops: Venturing into toy aisles
Making merry. For a fifth year Winona police chaperoned kids to Fleet Farm in a Shop with a Cop adventure. A few more students participated this year thanks to donations from Fleet Farm and the Affinity Plus credit union.
Mid-year WSU graduation on upswing
WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University held its commencement ceremony for 433 fall graduates – a significant rise from the year before. The number reflected the apparent bottoming-out of enrollment after a decade of slippage. Cereonmies were held December 14. A year-to-year comparison for mid-term graduations:
> 2024: 488 (456 undergrads and 32 advanced degrees)
> 2023: 433 (388 and 45)
> 2022: 482 (451 and 31)
> 2021: 468 (431 and 37>
> 2000: 506 (478 and 27)
Weather alert: Second winter storm due
WINONA, Minn. – The National Weather Service issued a winter advisory for as much as five inches of snow overnight into the afternoon in southeast Minnesota. Accumulations may could be as little as two inches in places. Winds gusting to 30 mph could produce blowing snow and reduce driving visibility. The storm was expected to be more intense to the north with as much as eight inches in the Twin Cities.
Cops: Madison shooter chatted with terrorist online
CARLSBAD, Calif. – A California man intent on a terrorist attack was in touch with the 15-year-old girl who wounded nine people at a Madison, Wisconsin, school Mnday, three of them fatally including herself. Natalie Ruonow’s online devices showed communication with 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf of Carlsbad, California, police said. He talked about attacking a government building with explosives and a gun. Paffendorf has since been arrested for terrorist threats. Police in neither Madison nor Carlsbad commented whether the two shared thoughts on her plans for the Madison school shooting. Said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes: “We may never know what she was thinking that day.”
Earlier: Madison school shooter had two guns
Police to Kasson school over violence threat
KASSON, Minn. – The principal of the Kasson-Mantorville High School, Trent Langemo, asked for a greater police presence at the school after a potential threat. Police determined the threat was “non-credible,” but Langemo thought a police presence would be calming and send the right message. The school has 670 students. The school grapevine was abuzz about the threat by 2:15 p.m. when Langemp called police. He said the rumors had spread by technology and rumors.
Burglaries linked to skinny, hooded, gloved guys
After hours. And where they shouldn’t be. A common denominator in 30-day burglary spree: Find and take cash. Images: LaCrescent police.
Four police agencies share clues, notes
WINONA, Minn. – Recent break-ins in Winona fit a pattern of burglaries in LaCrosse, LaCrescent and Onalaska. Surveillance in LaCrescent show two peoplel probably both male and 18 to 21 years old, and usually wearing black hoodies, black pants and gloves. The burglaries, all in the past 30 days, have been at restaurants, offices and businesses with entry by breaking windows or scaling rooftops, said La Crescent Police Chief Luke Ahlschlager. In one burglary, Ahlschlager said, the thieves were in a white Kia Sorento that later was identified as being stolen from La Crosse and abandoned. The most common target: Mexican restaurants.
Suspected thieves. On surveillance video on North Walnut Street in LaCrescent. Image: LaCrescent police
Madison school shooter had two guns
MADISON, Wis. – The 15-year-old girl who killed herself after shooting up her school study hall, killing a teacher and a fellow student and injuring seven others, had two handguns. This information about two handguns was included in new court documents. How Natalie Ruonow obtained the handguns remained under investigation. The Abundant Life Christian School was not equipped with metal detectors at entrances. The court documents also said that Ruonow, who preferred he name Samantha, had been in therapy but didn’t specify why. Her parents are divorced and shared custody. The girl lived primarily with her father.
Ruonow. A 2023 image self-posted on Facebook.
Mankato prof to Congressman: Get real
MANKATO, Minn. – A professor whose words literally called for assassinating more health insurance company executives says his wording was insensitive. His intent, says political scientist Kevin Parsneau, was to draw news media attention to abusive claims practices by the insurance industry. The news media focus, he said, have been too focused on the ambush killing of a UnitedHealthcare executive on a New York sidewalk –not on the core issue of bad insurance practices. Parsneau made the clarification in an interview with Mankato television station KEYC. Parsneau’s original comments, in a Facebook exchange, prompted southern Minnesota Congress member Brad Finstad to call for Parseau to be fired from the faculty at Minnesota State-Mankato.
Verbatim
Parsneau: “My comment was a social media response to a friend meant to reflect the tone of his initial question. I had never heard of Thompson before his murder, and I wasn’t advocating curtailing the investigation of his assassination. It was an insensitive comment after the fact, and it was meant to be about the larger social media reaction to the crisis, which I believe reflects public frustration with the health insurance industry and the countless tragic stories of denied health care. Representative Finstad should spend his time addressing that crisis instead of being a Cancel Culture activist.
Parsneau. At MSU-Mankato since 2006. Holds doctorate in political science from University of Minnesota. Academic specialties: Public policy analysis, public administration.
Cops say burglary solved with arrests
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – A Black River Falls couple were arrested in a search of their house on Hawk Island Road south near the airport. Harland Hunter, 43, and Rachel Lyngen, 52, were charged with burglary. Deputies said they located several items of stolen property. There also was meth and firearms. Among charges were possessing drugs and felon possessing a weapon.
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