WINONA, Minn. – The judge for the Adam Fravel murder trial has yet to decide whether to allow television cameras. Judge Nancy Buytendorp listened to arguments from both sides in a pre-trial conference Tuesday but delayed a decision. The trial, for the 2022 death of Maddi Kingsbury, a Winona mother of two young children, has attracted national attention – and it’s likely that the Court TV channel is interested in live coverage. The case was covered exhaustively by local media, most notably KTTC television of Rochester. The media attention prompted Judge Buytendorp to relocate the trial 140 miles away in Mankato. The trial is scheduled for three weeks, maybe four, in October. At Tuesday’s pre-trial conference Judge Buytendorp ruled to:

> Exclude witnesses from the courtroom – except to testify — so as not to affect each other’s testimony, a not uncommon procedure

> Seat five alternate jurors, more than the usual three.

Fravel himself was at the hearing, which was in the Winona County Courthouse. Fravel has been in the county jail next door in lieu of $3 million bail. The pre-trial conference has been scheduled to continue a second day.

Earlier: Fravel: Please bar witnesses as trial gawkers

Earlier: Fravel murder trial site chosen: Mankato

Earlier: Judge orders venue change for Fravel murder trial

Pre-trial accounts

Witnesses at the pre-trial conference, mostly friends and family of Maddi Kingsbury, related recollections and observations — some not reported before, some of them old news, and all subject to challenge when the trial begins:

> During an assault Fravel had threatened that Maddi would become like Gabby Petito – a woman who was killed in Wyoming in 2021 by her fiance.

> Maddi had called her family in hysterics after an assault in September 2021.

> Maddi had red bruising that was suspected from domestic violence.

> Maddi had shared frustration over Fravel not holding jobs very long and his erratic income.

>  Maddi was  torn about her situation with Fravel and was weighing possible ill effects on their children.

> For two weeks before she disappeared, Maddi had been in a romantic relationship with another Winona man, Spencer Sullivan.

> Maddi had apprised Fravel about her Sullivan relationship and that she was considering moving out of the townhouse where she and Fravel lived – and taking the children.

> Fravel had checked Maddi’s phone records and security cameras about the Sullivan relationship.

LEWISTON, Minn. – Somebody found a mandolin at Farmers Park and notified the sheriff’s office. The owner’s name was inside the case, and the instrument was returned. Mandolins, a steel string instrument akin to a lute, can be purchased for about $350 but can be as much as $300,000.

WINONA, Minn. — Deputies patrolling likely Winona County partying sites for under-age beer bashes found nothing suspicious over the weekend.  Sheriff Ron Ganrude said he hoped that initiatives to discourage the pop-up parties have been successful. Might the start of the school year be a factor? We can hope,” Ganrude said.

Earlier: Cops nip Beaver Creek beer bust early

Earlier: How cops pre-empted yet another rural beer bash

Earlier: Cops caucus on early alerts for beer blowouts

Earlier: Cops bust 300 revelers at drunken bash

Earlier: Rural wingding ends quickly, just in time

PRESTON, Minn. – An Amish woman, accused of driving her horse-drawn buggy through a stop sign and into a passing pickup truck, skipped her first court appearance. Sarah Yoder, 18, was charged with driving carelessly and failing to yield. Neither she nor the pickup driver was seriously hurt. But the pickup driver, swerving s to avoid the buggy, hit the horse, which died. The accident was June 30 north of Canton at Fillmore County Road 21 and 130th Street. Yoder will be mailed a notice at her Missouri address of rescheduled court date.

WINONA, Minn. – A customer in the eating nook  of a Winona Kwik Trip shot up suddenly from his bench and in a wild rage pulled down a ack of food and merchandise and began throwing the items, witnesses told police. When police arrived, Timothy Mitchell Senling, 34, of Arcadia, had calmed down and asked to be taken to the hospital to be evaluated. Police did as requested. They also ticketed Senling for disorderly conduct. The incdent was about 8:20 a.m. at the Kwik Trip at Huff and Sarnia streets.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – The driver of a white wagon-style vehicle lost control on a northwest Rochester street, struck a parked car, hit the corner of an apartment building, and came to rest against another tree. Initial reports had the driver, Brian Cain, 39, of Rochester, seriously injured. No one in the four affected apartment unitswas hurt, first-responders said. This was about 7:25 a.m. at Valley High Drive and 15th Street Northwest.

Across from the Valley High post office. More than half a dozen police and fire vehicles responded. Image: Rochester Fire Department

Soccer (women): Saint Mary’s 1, Wartburg 0

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Several news reporters in a motorcade with vice presidential candidateTim Walz suffered sustainable injuries when their vans rear-ended on the way to a Labor Day event. Walz and First Lady Gwen Walz were in a vehicle near the front of the motorcade and were not involved. Initial reports said one reporter suffered a broken arm in what was described as a sudden impact.  Another reporter suffered a concussion. Other reporters were transferred to other vans and caught up with the governor. The accident was on a freeway on the eight-mile route from the Milwaukee airport to the Labor Fest event on the lakefront near downtown. The accident was about 1 p.m.

Crumpled press vans. The motorcade vehicle with the Walzes was not involved in the crash. The Walzes were in Milwaukee to show support for union workers and to underscore the pro-union platform of the Harris-Walz campaign.

MINNEAPOLIS   – The National Weather Service office in Minneapolis, which tracks conditions in 51 counties, confirmed two tornado touchdowns in western Wisconsin during the August 29 storm.

> River Falls. Touched down three miles west of Beldenville. Coursed its way 6.6 miles northeast before dissipating a few miles east of River Falls. On the ground nine minutes. Knocked down and uprooted trees.

> Spring Valley. Touched down around Interstate 94 near the community of Wilson 10 miles north of Spring Valley. On the ground one mile and for two minutes. Knocked down trees.

So far this year Wisconsin has had 44 tornadoes, compared 23 last year. The record: 64 in 2005.

WINONA, Minn. – Hands down, nobody in Winona beats the succulence and the firm seasoning of the fried chicken at Tim Beier’s new Pizza Ranch franchise. Too bad it’s the Iowa chain’s formula. We’d prefer a  home-grown Winona recipe. But that doesn’t take away from its deliciousness. Our Galloping Gourmands ratings:

Number 1. Pizza Ranch. 405 Highway 14. Buffet service. Delivery and carry-out available. Downsides: No table service. Deplorable acoustics made all the worse by a tinny sound system.

Number 2. Kwik Trip. Eight Winona locations. The convenience store chain’s test kitchen in LaCrosse has come up with a close second in our rating. Juicy although not quite the golden plump of Pizza Ranch. Breading a tad heavy on the salt but still tasty. Downsides: Carry-out only. No table service.

Number 3: KFC. 1558 Service Drive. A weak third. Once was the only game in town andknown formerly as Kentucky Fried Chicken. The namesake chicken has become relatively uninspired compared to the competition and tends to be drier and blase. The chain’s formula dates to 1952, which, while still acceptable, doesn’t measure up. Upside: Drive-through service. Downside: Spartan inside-dining. No table service.

Earlier: Dining out: Our Galloping Gourmands at Outback

Princess Kay if the Milky Way. After Rachel Visser from Hutchinson was crowned the Minnesota dairy industry’s 71st Princess Kay, she smiled into her likeness carved from butter at the State Fair. Among six other princesses in the court this year is Katie Ketchum of Altura in Winona County.

WINONA, Minn. – It wasn’t so much that a man was pushing a women’s bicycle with a flat tire down the street but that his pants were down and his buttocks exposed. A police officer on patrol stopped the guy. It turned out that Terry Dean Sylvester, 57, of Wabasha, was wanted elsewhere for bail-jumping. He was arrested for that. The bicycle was taken to the police Bike Barn until somebody clams it. Why were his pants down? The officer didn’t get into those details in writing up his report at the end of a long shift. The arrest was near Fifth Street and High Street on the West End about 8:10 a.m.

Sylvester. What with the pants? We may never know.

MADISON, Wis.  – The presidential race in Wisconsin hardly is in the bag for either side, according to recent polls, but the Democratc Harris-Walz team holds an edge. These are recent snapshots from polls commissioned by news media and conducted by reputable survey companies using statistical probability sampling with margins for error of three percentage point or less. Note: These percentages, as listed here, don’t include extraneous candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

> August 25 to August 28: Trump 47%, Harris 46%. Sample size: 1,082 likely voters. Conducted by Trafalgar Group.

> August 25 to August 28: Harris 48%, Trump 44%. 672 likely voters. By Redfield & Wilton Strategies. For London Telegraph newspaper.

> August 25 to August 28: Trump 50%, Harris 49%. 850 likely voters. By Emerson College. For The Hill newsletter.

> August 23 to August 26: Harris 53%, Harris 44%. 648 likely voters. By Morning Consult. For Bloomberg magazines.

> August 19 to August 21: Harris 49%, Trump 45%. 400 likely voters. By Fabrizio Ward. For Pinpoint Policy Institute.

> August 14 to August 20: Harris 46%, Trump 42%. 600 likely voters. By Spry Strategies. For American Principles Project, a super PAC.

Variables in polling

Polls are snapshoots at a given time and are not predictive. Also: The results are affected by numerous variables: When was a survey conducted? Who was surveyed, whether likely voters or registered voters? How large was the sample?  Any sample of fewer than 384 people has what’s generally considered an unacceptable margin error. Surveys are expensive. Clients choose how much precision their budgets can handle. The larger the sample, the stronger the confidence in the findings but also the more expensive.

Foibles in measuring public opinion

Statistical probability sampling isn’t random. Questioning the first 500 people in a check-out Walmart will be accurate for what those 500 people think, but when it cems to elections: Who cares. Everyone in the group doesn’t need to be questioned but everyone needs to an equal opportunity of being questioned. For elections this means creating a list if every registered voter in, say, the state Minnesota. Or every likely voter. Or every citizen. This is an expensive and daunting process but an absolute necessity. Once a sample defined – say, registered voters — then an interval must be established to determine how many persons need to be sampled. It can be every 384th person, which is the minimum for 95% confidence that results will be within a margin of error of three points. An interval of every 500th will carry a higher confidence level. Absolute confidence will be questioning all 3,594,940 Minnesota registered voters but, of course, that’s not feasible. Remember too:  The electorate is a moving target. People change their minds as issues change and as political camaigns progress.

Earlier: Minnesota voters still favor Harris-Walz

Earlier: Minnesota polls find Harris-Walz moving ahead

Labor Day display. The Capouch family transformed a fence at their ranch into an unmistakable patriotic statement along U.S. Highway 95 near Blair, Wisconsin. There are 50. Go count ‘em.  Image: Steve Lunde

Golf (women): Falcon Invitational (2nd day): UW-Stout 633 (1st of 13), UW LaCrosse 654 (2nd)

Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 7, St. Scholastica 1