GOP: Where are Hennepin County election judges?
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Republican Party has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Hennepin County has failed to issue a list of election judges. The Party said it had suggested 1,500 people as election judges. None had been listed, according to the suit. With the November 5 general election less than three weeks away, the suit was fast-tracked to the state Supreme Court. State law requires county election officials to pull names suggested from both parties for election service. The goal: To assure parity. The Hennepin County auditor, Daniel Rogan, who runs elections, denied anything was wrong.
Widespread GOP tactic
Republican partisans have filed more than 200 pre-emptive suits nationwide alleging election irregularities. Most of the cases are frivolous, say Democrats. The GOP goal, say the Dems, is to create doubts about election integrity and give their presidential candidate, Donald Trump, a talking point to claim election fraud if he loses. The tactic was used by Republicans in 2020. The courts found all but one of those 160-some 2020 cases were baseless.
College scores
Soccer (women): Saint Mary’s 2, St. Olaf 0
Volleyball (women): UW-Oshkosh 3, UW-LaCrosse 0
Volleyball (women): Minnesota West 3, Rochester Community 0
Minnesota prep
Football: Dodge Center Triton Cobras 26, St. Charles Saints 19
Football: Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 27, Winona Cotter Ramblers 15
Fravel jury trimmed: 12 jurors, three alternates
MANKATO, Minn. – Attorneys in the Adam Fravel murder trial shook up the jury by striking three jurors who earlier had been empaneled tentatively. Utilizing their prerogatives to strike jurors, attorney eliminated:
> A mother who said a coworker was being abused by her husband.
> A retired woman who had worked with victims of domestic violence.
> A woman whose son is in jail for drug crimes.
Going into opening arguments on Thursday, the jury will have 12 immediate members and three alternates. The alternates also will sit on the trial.
How bad his tobacco habit?
WINONA, Minn. – The guy asked the Kwik Trip cashier for cigarettes and some Swisher Sweets cigars, then grabbed them, and ran out. No, he didn’t pay. The value: $43. It’s all on surveillance video.
Gravel road repairs up the Winona bluffs
Summer project into fall. Sections of East Burns Valley Road have been blocked to through traffic as large culverts are replaced and ditches are scooped out to improve flood control and storm water runoff in Wilson Township. This torn up and impassable section is a half mile south of Camp Drive. Image: Andy Frank
Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 32 emergency medical calls plus 15 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, October 15: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calsl.
> Monday, October 14: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Sunday, October 13: 3 medical calls plus 1 fire cals.
> Saturday, October 12: 10 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Friday, October 11: 3 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Thursday, October 10: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire call.
> Wednesday, October 9: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
Trial set in Albert Lea meth-dealing case
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – An Albert Lea man accused of dealing drugs, Shawn Casey Tope, 44, pleaded not guilty. Trial was scheduled for March. Tope was arrested in a South Central Drug Investigation Unit bust in June. Agents said he sold 31.6 grams of meth to a confidential informant.
Trackside marijuana arrest at oddly parked car
WINONA, Minn. – A deputy sheriff spotted a car with the lights on at the dead-end of Harriet Street at the tracks off Belleview Street about 11 p.m., then came back half an hour later, and the car was still there. When the driver lowered her window, the deputy said, the odor of marijuana blew out. The breath of the driver also was sweet with marijuana, he said. The 20-year-old Winona woman was wobbly and failed a sobriety test, her eyes were droopy, bloodshot and watery, and her speech was slurred, the deputy said. At the jailhouse a blood sample was drawn and sent for analysis to the state crime lab. Meanwhile, a charge was pending for impaired driving. Others in the car were not arrested.
College scores
Soccer (women): St. Olaf 2, Saint Mary’s 0
Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 5, Lawrence 0
Soccer (women): Rochester Community 2, Faith Baptist 1
Minnesota prep
Soccer (boys): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 5, Winona Cotter Ramblers 1
Volleyball (girls): Winona Cotter Ramblers 3, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 0
Volleyball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 3, Dover-Eyota Eagles 0
Volleyball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 3, St. Charles Saints 1
Fravel jury still needs fifth alternate
MANKATO, Minn. – Four of five alternate jurors for the Adan Fravel murder trial have been selected.
> Juror Number 13 (alternate): A middle-aged man who works at a health clinic and who had never heard about the case.
> Juror Number 14 (alternate): A middle-age truck driver who had never about the case.
> Juror Number 15 (alternate): A middle-aged man who works in security.
> Juror Number 16 (alternate): A man in his 20s who works in retail and who had heard only second-hand from father about the case.
Courtroom interviews for a fifth and final alternate juror were expected to be completed Wednesday, to be flowed Thursday by opening arguments about whether Fravel killed Maddi Kingsbury of Winona. If he’s convicted, the jury will recommend a sentence to Judge Nancy Buytendorp. Life imprisonment is possible.
Smoldering birthday candle ignites trash
WINONA, Minn. – After a birthday party, somebody discarded a candles from the cake in the trash. Unbeknownst to anyone, one wick still had a glowing ember inside. Firefighters were called abut 2:45 p.m, to a burning trash bin. But by then the fire been put out with a home fire extinguisher. This was in the 500 block of Wilson Street on the Near West Side.
Fall is surely here
The colorful fall oak leaves. They are falling in East Burns Valley. Image: Andy Frank
Eyota arrest update: Lewis found sane for trial
MINNEAPOLIS — An Iowa woman accused of driving down Interstate 90 with a former girlfriend’s body in the backseat has been found competent to stand trial. This means that second-degree murder charges won’t go away for Margot Lewis. The 32-year-old woman was arrested east-bound on I-90 near Eyota in June. It’s been established that the victim was killed in a Minneapolis apartment and her body carried to Lewis’ car. Now with the psychiatric evaluation complete, the judge ordered that Lewis remain in jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail pending further court hearings.
R.I.P.: Thomas Houde
WINONA, Minn. — Thomas Eugene Houde, a DeLaSalle Christian Brother who taught theater at Saint Mary’s University from 2001 to 2014, died at the Winona hospital. He was 78. Earlier he taught at Bethlehem University in Palestine and at schools in the Twin Cities and Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He also directed student retreats at a at St. Croix, Minnesota. He earned a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota and a master s in pastoral studies from the University of St. Thomas
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1946-2024
Woman calls bar attack out of nowhere
WINONA, Minn. – A woman said another woman, whom she didn’t know, came into Katie’s Place bar and punched her in the head a couple times, then bashed a bar glass on her head. The glass didn’t break. When police arrived, the assailant was gone. The victim told officers that she would be OK without going to the hospital. She said the attack was unprovoked and she had no idea what prompted it. This was about 10:55 p.m. on the Far East End.
Minnesota prep
Credit card theft reported at WSU dorm
WINONA, Minn. – Roommates in a Winona State University dorm reported credit cards missing from their room over weekend. The women told police that had had three male visitors over late on Saturday and discovered the cards missing after they left. The women didn’t notify police until Monday evening
Jury ready to assess Kingsbury death, decide guilt
MANKATO, Minn. – After four days of exhaustive winnowing process, a12-jury is in place to hear the case of Adam Favel ofvWijijam and possibly lock him up for life. This much can be said about the complexion of the jury:
> The jury is mostly middle-age. Three are younger. Two are older.
> The jury is white, albeit one juror who is Hispanic. Blue Earth County is 82% white.
> The jury is mostly people with white-collar careers, with three exceptions.
> The jury is mostly people who professed they can be unbiased and faithful to evidence as it is presented,
even though some admitted a passing familiarity with th case
> The jury is mostly college-educated, with three exceptions.
There remain loose ends. Five alternate jurors still need to be selected. Judge Nancy Buytendorp has told attorneys to be prepared for their opening arguments to tyhe jury on Thursday.
Fravel jury profile
> Juror Number 1: A woman business owner, born in Germany, who admitted an interest in crime shows and mystery movies but who said she had no prior knowledge of the Fravel case.
> Juror Number 2: A middle-age grandmother who has reire as a paralegal and who recalled when Maddi Kingsbury went missing, and when her remains were found but who professed not to have formed an opinion on the case.
> Juror Number 3: A middle-age mother who claimed no knowledge of the case and limited knowledge of the justice system.
> Juror Number 4: A retired woman who formerly was a physician’s assistant, who had no prior knowledge of the case but, she noted had worked with victims of domestic violence.
> Juror Number 5: A middle-age single man who works in retail and who had heard briefly about the case on television but not paid much attention.
> Juror Number 6: A young Hispanic man who works as a courier and said he would be fair and impartial.
> Juror Number 7: A young man, a mortgage banker, who has read a few articles about the Kingsbury case but doesn’t feel too knowledge about it.
> Juror Number 8: A middle-age woman, the owner of a small business with her husband.
> Juror Number 9: A middle-age woman, is a nurse, who had heard about the case.
> Juror Number 10: A middle-age man who works as a metal fabricator and who had no knowledge of the case.
>> Juror Number 11: A man in his 30s who is a credit analyst at a bank.
.> Juror Number 12: A young man who works at gas station.
Driver’s condition grave after I-90 crash
LEWISTON, Minn. – A Wisconsin man was injured critically when his minivan went out of control on Interstate 90 and slid and tumbled 20 feet into the borrow pit. Jamal Lamonte Arnold, 33, of Holmen, who was alone in the vehicle, was air-lifted 38 miles to a Rochester hospital. The initial assessment was that his injuries were life-threatening. The first officer at the wreck radioed the police dispatcher that the vehicle was unoccupied, only to find Arnold a few minutes later in the weeds a few yards away. He had been ejected as the vehicle as it tumbled down he bank. He had not been belted, police said. The accident was about 1:55 p.m. midway between the I-90 exits to Lewiston and Houston. Arnold was heading east toward Wisconsin.
Wrinkled body. The twisting descent popped the windows out of the 2010 Chrysler Town and Country. The airbag didn’t deploy, police said.
The deep autumn colors descend downward
Latest installment. The fourth weekly update of the state Natural Resources Department fall color map has southeast counties at 25% to 50% of their peak. Is this what inspired the Sherwin Williams logo back n 1893?
Star Tribune relaunches as state news source
New name, new look. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has brought its rebranding campaign to Winona with a Highway 61 billboard. Err, it’s not the Minneapolis Star Tribune anymore. It’s now the Minnesota Star Tribune with a spiffy new tagline: “The Heart and Voice of the North.”
Legacy newspaper seeks outstate readers, advertisers
WINONA, Minn. – Now with a new name, the Minneapolis- based newspaper the Star Tribune is a shifting in focus from the Twin Cities to the entire state. Why? The corporate explanation: “The new name and brand identity reflect the organization’s ambition to connect people, ideas, and stories across the state” The paper more coverage in Greater Minnesota, particularly Duluth, Mankato, and Moorhead. A new opinion team headed columnist Phil Morris runs what’s called “Strib Voices.” Kavita Kumar was promoted to community engagement director to buid outstate content. Being revamped are digital products including mobile apps and startribune.com.
Inaugural edition. With high hopes for new nameplate, new design, “Strib Voices” and new readers.
Evolving newspaper landscape
The Star Tribune is the Midwest’s largest newspaper. Rivals among are Forum Communications of Fargo, North Dakota, which expanded aggressively through acquisitions of local newspapers and televsion stations. These include dailies in Duluth, Mankato, Red Wing and Superior. Shrinking in a regional presence is Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, which properteis include papers Chippewa Falls, Kenosha, LaCrosse, Madison and Winona.
Minnesota Strib profile
The Minneapolis Tribune was founded in 1867 and purchased competing Minneapolis Daily Star in 1920. The consolidation led to the Tribune publishing in the morning and the Star in the evening. They merged in 1982 into the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. The name was shortened to Star Tribune in1987 in a failed bid to take readers away from the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch. There followed a financially confused. period in which the newspaper was sold and resold. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Mankato billionaire Glen Taylor, a former Republican state senator, purchased by purchase of the paper in 2014, adding to a portfolio that included the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx.
Driver’s blood drawn for alcohol; tests under way
WINONA, Minn. – A Burnsville man, Oman Omod Oman, 25, whom police stopped for speeding, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Oman not only was speeding but also was weaving all over the road, police said. He showed signs of inebriation and blood was drawn, police said. Charges were pending test results from the state crime lab. The stop was about 2:30 a.m. at Service Drive and Clarks Lane.
College scores
Soccer (women): MSU-Mankato 1, Winona State
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