Mayo receives $75 million Grainger gift
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic has received a $75 million gift for a new logistics center. The building will be in the downtown Mayo complex and be named to honor the Grainger family .The family’s fortune is from the Chicago -based Grainger industrial supply giant. The family has been a Mayo benefactor through four generations Mayo said the Grainger facility will use artificial intelligence to track and update supplies. Robot vehicles will do deliveries through underground tunnels.
Grainger Building. The new logistics hub will be at the former Lourdes High School site.
From a front-row seat to a Minneiska sunrise
Dawn across the wide Mississippi. From Minneiska’s Krully Avenue above U.S. Highway 61. South of Weaver Bottoms and upriver from Lock and Dam 5. Image: Charlie Kramer
No Kings 3.0: Cool but nippy winds to calm
WINONA, Minn. — Weather for the No Kings rally at Windom Park on Saturday will be bright and sunny albeit cool — in the low 40s. A sweater day, said forecasters. Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Organizers expected their latest anti-Trump event to be larger than their previous Windom Park rally in October. That turnout, a t1,700, was roughly 7% of the city’s population. Statewide 94 rallies have been organized.
Trump loses: End in sight for snarled air travel
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to restart salaries for federal airport security agents after a growing crisis that backed up millions of travelers. House passage was expected quickly. For a month travelers were trapped in a growing mess at major hub airports. Affected also were travelers whose journeys had begun at feeder airports like Rochester and LaCrosse. Unpaid for weeks, a growing number of airport security agents, 500 at last count, refused to show up for shifts. Lines for pre-boarding ay airport magnetometers backed up and lopped around themselves. The anxiety was chaotic. Public disgust and anger grew. Airlines lobbied to end the crisis, which President Trump had created the problem by ordering his GOP minions in Congress to combine funds for airport agent salaries with new money for his unpopular ICE policing agency. Trump also wanted the package to include his priority project to suppress voting by unfriendly blocs in November’s mid-term election. His scheme fell apart at 2 a.m. when the Senate went for for airport security salaries but delayed decisions on ICE funding and voter suppression until a later day.
Huff Street motorist pinched as going wrong way
WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man was seen driving north in the southbound lane of Huff Street near the tourism center on the Lake Winona causeway. An officer stopped Cody John Prigge, age 30 at Huff and Mill streets.. This was about 2:15 a.m. Prigge smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech and fumbled through a roadside sobriety test, the officer said. At jail Prigge’s blood-alcohol, at 0.10%, was two points beyond impairment. He was charged at an elevated of drunken driving because of an earlier conviction from 2018.
Two legislators caught after night out
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — Two legislators, one of them drunk, the other carrying a firearm, got stopped by police on a traffic issue. This was about 1:50 a.m. — not a good morning for:
> Elliott Engen, a Republican from Lino Lakes.
> Walter Hudson, a Republican from Albertville.
Police said Engen initially denied drinking but later admitted to a couple of beers. Two 12-ounce Coors Lights at a White Bear Lake bar, he said. This, Engen told officers, was two to three hours earlier, between 11 and 11:30 p.m. At jail Engen registered a 0.13% blood alcohol concentration, considerably more then the 0.08% maximum allowed for driving. Engen explained he didn’t believe the alcohol affected his driving and that he was “sober cabbing” Hudson, and a second passenger. Hudson’s blood-alcohol level doesn’t appear in the police report, but it apparently exceeded the 0.04% maximum to be carrying a firearm. There was a bottle of alcohol in the backseat, which police said Hudson admitted was his. The third person in the pickup wasn’t named in the police report. Officers towed Engen’s pickup after the arrest and offered courtesy rides to the police station to wait for rides home. It was during a weapons screening at jail that an officer discovered Hudson’s 9-millimeter pistol. A records check determined he was a legal permit holder. The weapon and a holster, however, were confiscated for safekeeping.
Engen. In open collar for mugshot at Ramsey County jail. As a state representative he earns $51,750. So does Hudson.
Engen profile
Engen, age 27, a rising star in Minnesota Republican politics, is running for state auditor. In 2020 he lost a bid to represent House District 38-B by a narrow 50% to 49% margin. He was elected in 2022 from renumbered 38-A by 51% to 48%. In 2024 he won a second tern 54% to 45%. Engen is a Charlie Kirk style right-wing Republican. He holds a political science degree from Hamline University. Out of college he worked for a wildlife conservation group focused on invasive species prevention.
Hudson profile
Hudson, a Republican, is a two-term state representative from District 30-A in northwest Twin Cities suburbs. Age: 40. In 2022 and again 2024 he won 62% to 37%. He holds an information technology degree from the University of Phoenix. He has held jobs in logistics. He once hosted a talk show “Closing Argument” on Minneapolis radio station KTLK. He was a “Never Trump” campaigner in 2016. He likened Trump to Mussolini. However, during Trump’s recent Operation Metro Surge he defended the ICE killing of Renee Wood and called on President Trump to send federal troops to reinforce the ICE occupation of Minnesota. He’s an anti-vaxer.
College scores
Softball: UW-LaCrosse 8, St. Olaf 3
Softball: UW-LaCrosse 6, St. Olaf 5
Volleyball (men): Viterbo 3, Trinity of Illinois 0
Minnesota prep
Baseball: Hayfield Vikings7, Spring Grove Lions 1
Insider-trading doubts still trail Duffy
WASHNNGTON — The U.S. transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, remains in the sights of Washington watchdogs for what they say smacks of insider trading. The former Wisconsin congressman has adamantly denied the suspicions. Duffy has been part of the Trump cabinet to run the federal transportation agency since January 2025. In April, two days before Trump announced sweeping tariffs hikes, Duffy sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock. The next day he sold $50,000 more. On the third day, when Trump announced the tariff hikes to the public, Wall Street panicked. The Dow Jones stock average plummeted 1,000 points. By then Duffy had cleared out of 34 stocks, including Shopify and John Deere. It’s not clear whether Duffy was privy to advance discussions about Trump tariff announcement. His critics, however, aaren’t letting go — even after a spokesperson responded to calls for an investigation that Duffy “had no input on the timing of the sales.” The spokesperson called the transactions “part of a retirement portfolio and “not managed directly by the Secretary.” The spokesperson also said that duffy “isn’t part of the administration’s decisions on tariff levels. “It didn’t ease the situation for Duffy that the spokesperson added: “The secretary strongly supports the President’s tariff policy.”
Soft on the white-collared
The U.S. Justice Department’s duties include investigating possibilities of insider trading that puts other investors at unfair disadvantages. Under Trump the DOJ has been soft on white-collar crime. Notably the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, who runs the Justice Department, unloaded between $1 million and $5 million in stock just before the market deflating with Trump’s first tariff hikes.
Duffy. Age 54. A 1994 marketing graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Winona. Holds 1999 degree from William Mitchell College of Law. A world champion speed climber and the 1994.
Duffy profile
Practiced law in his native Hayward, Wisconsin. Served five terms in Congress from Wisconsin’s Distirct WI-7. Father of nine. Gained attention in Congress for voting for a pay increase because his $1250,00 a was insufficient to pay his bills. By 2025 when Trump appointed him as U.S. transportation secretary, Duffy’s net worth was an estimated $5 million, mostly from a media career, consulting work, and lbbying. The media career began when he auditioned for the MTV program “The Real World” and told casters he was interested in “cute girls.” He landed the part. The New York Times called hm a “resident playboy.” He also has had media gigs as a sports announcer and later as a financial commentator on CNN and Fox News. In Congress his committee assignments included the House Committee on Financial Services.
Amtrak throws passenger off train
WINONA, Minn. — The conductor on the westbound Empire Builder called ahead for Winona police to take an unwanted passenger off the train. The guy, said the conductor, speared under the influence of something. Police took him into custody and recognized something awry. The man looked to be in his mid-30s to late 40s but his driver’s license said he was 73. So what gives? Fingerprints found him to be Arturs Osokins, age 44, of Loveland in southern Ohio. Somehow, police said, Osokins had obtained a driver’s license in the name of a 73-year man from the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park and also bank cards in the man’s name. Police did paperwork to charge Osokins with a false persona. Then, as he was changing into the usual orange jumpsuit, a jailer saw him dig something from his mufti pants and eat it. “Maybe heroin,” he told the jailer.when queries=d. He was taken to the hospital to be examined r for deleterious ingestion, then back jail. New charges were Added:
> Possession of drugs.
> Introduction of contraband into jail.
Walmart to shopper: Why steal? “Confused”
WINONA, Minn. — Security guards at Walmart told police they stopped a Winona man wheeling a cart with $660 of goods out a side door without paying. The cart was full of food and personal items, the guards said. Drew Stephen Bawek, age 37, offered this explanation, according to the guards: He understood that merchandise ordered online could be picked up at the store and simply carted out. Asked why he was leaving out the secondary exit rather than the usual check-out out lanes, he explained his habit was to park near the side door, the guards said. In effect: “Please excuse. ‘My bad.’” The guards didn’t buy it and called police. Bawek was charged with theft
Winds pose weekend wild fire danger
WILSON, Minn. — After a small grass fire near Interstate 90, the Wilson Fire Department is alert to dry and windy conditions the next few days. In LaCrosse the National Weather Service issued a warning about potentially critical conditions west of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and Iowa. Dormant and withered long grasses are conducive to ignition that could spread rapidly, forecasters said.
News summary at mid-week: March 25, 2026
GOVERNANCE: New mass protest rally set at Windom Park
GOVERNANCE: Chalk one up for Ellison against Tik Tok
GOVERNANCE: Legislators act against now-sullied farm reformer
GOVERRNANCE: Democrats fail to derail new Homeland chief
GOVERNANCE: Election judge in tiny Up Norh township: I’m guilty
RIVER: For river buffs: Spring officially here
CITATION: School boy honored as Annunciation hero
TRAGEDY: Among Jackson fatalities: A 74-year-old birthday boy
HEALTH: Coming soon to a Kwik Trip near you
HEALTH: Fountain’s utility chief fired as incompetent, negligent
POLICING: Lewiston loses police chief after brief tenure
CRIME: Rural man accused as electronic Peeping Tom
CUISINE: What were burgers like 1926? Ask at Centerville
Keeping watch on thawed waters
A bald eagle perched in a tree overlooking Lake Winona near Highway 61. Probably eyeing up his next meal. Image: Kevin O’Reilly
College scores
Softball: Wartburg 7, UW-LaCrosse 1
Softball: Wartburg 9, UW-LaCrosse 1
Softball: St. Ambrose 11, Viterbo 4
A geranium budding for spring
After overwintering inside. This geranium in a sunny window is showing promise of flowering soon. Image: Andy Frank
Large barn fire traps livestock inside
MODENA, Wis. — Several animals were lost in a barn fire south of Mondovi in northern Buffalo County. No persons were injured. The fire was discovered around 11:30 a.m. The barn was fully engulfed in flames and partially collapsed when firefighters arrived. Crews worked several hours to contain and extinguish the fire. This was at South 1174 Myren Road.
School boy honored as Annunciation hero
WASHINGTON — A fifth-grader at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis has been honored with a Congressional Citizen Award for leaping in front of gunfire to protect a classmate during a mass shooting in in August. Victor Greenawalt, now 11, received the award Capitol with Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith. He was among six honorees- for “extraordinary bravery far beyond his years.” Greenawalt and 8-year-old friend Weston Halsne had been in a church pew at the school when a shooter opened fire. Besides two deaths, 10 others were wounded. Greenewald’s citation noted that he “instinctively protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life.”
Earlier: Shooter took lives of 10- and 8-year-old
Earlier: Gun shop owner: Church shooter relaxed, chatty
Earlier: Mayor: “Let’s not lose our sense of humanity”
Greenewald. At MSP awaiting a flight to Washington for awards ceremony.
With Senators Klobuchar and Smith.
Did sleeping intruder empty upstairs till?
WINONA, Minn. — About $110 cash was discovered missing from a drawer at the entrance to an East Second Street business downtown. The discovery was about 9:40 a.m. Earlier an employee arriving for work reported finding a vagrant sleeping in the basement and chasing him out. Police were given a description of the intruder. There were no signs of forced entry, police said.
Emergency, fire crews make 54 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 36 emergency medical calls plus 18 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, March 24: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Monday, March 23: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire call.w
> Sunday, March 22: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire callw.
> Saturday, March 21: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire callw.
> Friday, March 20: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Thursday, March 19: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, March 18: 8 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 50 calls
College scores
Baseball: Waldorf 9, Viterbo 2
Softball: St. Ambrose 10, Viterbo 4
Softball: St. Ambrose 6, Viterbo 3
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Goodhue Wildcats 70, Perham Yellow Jackets 49
Cops: Driver concedes to jagged driving
WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested a Winona driver who had been reported driving poorly and who, when later located by an officer, admitted to missing several turns and consuming alcohol. Arrested was Lydia Julia Paulson, age 38. This was about 9 p.m. The officer said her blood tested at 0.14% alcohol — six points more than allowed. The erratic driving was reported by another motorist. This was on the East Side near Sarnia and Hamilton streets. The other motorist followed the errant vehicle, a gray sedan, to the 1200 block of Belleview Street, where the driver parked. The officer found Paulson, whom he described as having slurred speech, poor balance, and the odor of alcohol. She failed standardized field sobriety tests.
Lewiston loses police chief after brief tenure
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Lewiston police chief, Calley Bortz, is resigning after two years. Bortz oaid a severe infection in November complicated an existing chronic condition and.slowed her down. Even so, she said she would continue until the City Council finds a successor. Bortz joined the police force as co-chief in March 2024 with understanding of taking over when long-time chief Scott Yeiter’s retirement became effective. She then became Lewiston’s first woman chief. Besides the chief, the department has a second full-time officer and four part-timers.
Bortz. Grew up in Minnesota. Began law career in New Hampshire. Holds graduate degree in criminal justice.
Campus payroll screws up with new software
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The MinnState colleges system messed up its payroll and repeatedly underpaid and overpaid professors and other employees, according to a state audit. In some cases, no paychecks were issued at all. One overpayment was $16,200. The system’s personnel vice chancellor, Eric Davis, blamed a wobbly transition to a new software contractor. By now the errors have been corrected, said Davis. The MinnState system has 33 universities and colleges with 5,000 employees. These include Winna State University, Southeast Minnesota State in Winona and Red Wing, and Rochester Community College. The audit uncovered errors going back to 2023. How did it happen? The audit, by the Legislative Audit watchdog agency, blamed inadequate training of paymasters to use the new Workday software. Also at fault: Data-entry errors. Also: Systemic incompatibility among protocols at different campuses. The audit concluded too that Workday was not set up to use pre-2023 payroll data that fed ongoing accounts
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