I-90 lane restrictions due along Dakota Creek
NODINE, Minn. — Uphill and downhill sections of Interstate 90’s Four-Mile Grade between Nodine and Dakota are due for major repairs that requiem lane closures, the state Transportation Department said. The work is scheduled from March 30 to April 24. The project is for ditch cleaning and tree removal.
Lake Pepin ice easing; shippers delighted
LAKE CITY, Minn — Shippers are antsy, as always this time of year, about the Lake Pepin ice pack. They wait weekly for the latest borings by the Army Corps to determine when their Upper Mississippi barges can make it safely through lake for the new season. The latest borings found ice — 11 to 18 inches thick —at seven of 22 evenly spaced sites. That was down from 14 ice-covered sites a week earlier. Individual towing companies determine how much ice their barges can navigate safely. It’s is not uncommon for them to break through 5 to 12 inches. In 2004 the twin screw 5,600 horsepower Reggie G was first. The Reggie G broke through a seven-mile stretch with ice at 17 to 19 inches. It was pushing 12 barges loaded with fertilizer.
Earlier: Lake Pepin ice still impediment to shipping
College scores
Baseball: Bodoin 5, UW-LaCrosse 4
Baseball: Vtierbo and Waldorf (cancelled)
Tennis (men): UW-LaCrosse 7, Saint John’s 0
Tennis (men): UW-LaCrosse and Coe
Tennis (women): UW-LaCrosse 7, Saint Benedict 0
Tennis (women): UW-LaCrosse 7, Coe 0
How they voted: On voter suppression /1
WASHNGTON — The U.S. Senate failed to pass President Trump ’s priority proposal to suppress voter participation with new poll policing. Republicans managed a 51-48 majority, but the bill needed 60 votes to pass. Trump had issued an ultimatum: Pass the bill or he would veto and all other bills coming from Congress. His urgency has been to discourage unfriendly voters from the polls in this November mid-terms and likely ending his current slim margins in Congress. Also he is avenging his 2020 loss of the presidency. He has manufactured a claim that he lost in 2020 because Democrats cheated, although he has no evidence to support the claim. Countless studies have refuted his claim. And Trump’s legal challenges to the 2020 results — 60 lawsuits total — have failed in the courts. Here is how Minnesota and Wisconsin senators voted on the bill:
To suppress voting
> Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin
Against
> Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin
> Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota
> Tina Smih, D-Minnesota
Southeast College presidential search aborted
WINONA, Minn. — The search for a new president for the dual-campus Minnesota State College Southeast has been scuttled. The chancellor of the state colleges system, Scott Olson, said none of the four finalists won sufficient campus support after on-campus interviews. Olson plans to visit the Winona and Red Wing campuses himself to decide how to restart the search from scratch. The presidency becomes vacant this summer when Marsha Danielson retires. Her five years had early rough-sledding with staff objections to abrasive management. The campuses have 45 full-time faculty.
Verbatim
Olson: “We had four strong candidates, all with different strengths and talents to bring to the two campuses, and many faculty, staff, and community members engaged in the community sessions. Unfortunately none of the candidates received widespread campus support — something that is an important foundation from which a new leader can build”
Olson. Plans a trip to campuses to scout the situation. He is a past president of cross-town Winona State University, also in the same state college system as Southeast.
Earlier: Search for Southeast College leader in final phase
Earlier: Earlier: Southeast College president retiring
Shooting of pet dops blamed on gun enthusiast
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A rural Chatfield man has been charged with killing two dogs belonging to neighbors. The criminal complaint quotes Craig Allen Reichel, 67, as shooting Bertha, a 1-½ year-old Great Pyrenees, and Sadie, a 7-year-old Goldendoodle, because they were chasing deer and threatening his own dogs. The dogs’ bodies were found the morning of January 6 after a sheriff’s deputy, a game warden and the dogs’ owners followed a blood trail from a deer carcass pile on Reichel’s property. Both dogs were dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The allegations could mean two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Reichel is the founder of Reichel Foods, a purveyor fof resh-cut snacks in Rochester. He currently owns the Coyote Creek Outdoors gun shop and shooting range in Rochester.
After a romp around Scharmer Estates near Brookview
Unfazed, tail wagging. Nothing says fun to a Golden Retriever more than a big snow. This is the puppy Holly enjoying the new blanket before it melts. Image: Kevin O’Reilly
Texas vehicle rolls off I-90 snow, ice
LEWISTON, Minn. — Two central Texas motorists were in a pickup truck that lost control on ice and snow on Interstate 90 near the Rushford and Wyattville exit ramps. The passenger, Kailey Christine Wrolstad, age 24, of Coppeas Cove, Texas, was injured and taken 25 miles to to a Rochester hospital. The driver, Jakob Hunter Wrolstad, 26, also of Coppeas Cove, was unhurt. The accident was about 10:40 a.m. They were jn a 2026 Toyota Tundra and traveling west toward Rochester and pulling a car dolly with a vehicle on it. The pickup, the trailer and the strapped- on vehicle rolled into the right ditch.
Fires in Winona bluffs to be controlled burns
WINONA, Minn. — Municipal foresters plan controlled burns Wednesday at the western end of the city’s Bluff Traverse Trail System. Thrash from oak savannahs and prairies is being incinerated. Hikers can use the trails during the burn, but, say foresters, be cautious about snow and ice and problematic mud.
Trailheads. At Holzinger Lodge and the old Bub’s brew house at Sugar Loaf.
Sedan skids on ice into semi; driver hurt
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Rochester driver was injured, albeit not seriously, when his mid-size sedan spun out on snow and ice and slammed into a Freightliner truck and semitrailer. Eric Lee Johnson, 36, was taken to a nearby hospital. This was about 6:50 a.m. on U.S. Highway 52 near the 16th Street Southwest interchange. The trucker, Eric Lee Johnson, 36, of Rochester, was unhurt. The vehicles, both southbound on the divided highway, were a 2005 Ford 500 and a 2021 Freightliner.
College scores
Baseball: UW-LaCrosse and Amherst (cancelled)
Softball: UW-LaCrosse and Amherst (postponed
Softball: UW-LaCrosse and SUNY-Genesco (postponed)
Tennis (men): UW-LaCrosse 5, Hardin-Baaylor 2
Tennis (women): UW-LaCrosse 5, Hardin-Baaylor 2
Tennis (women): UW-LaCrosse 5 and Trinity of Connecticut (postponed)
An aviary feast up a Winona coulee
Communal smorgasbord. Cardinals and a huge flock of hungry red-winged blackbirds gather for goodies off a back deck in wind-sheltered East Burns Valley after our big snowstorm. Image: Andy Frank
Cops drag resisting woman from her car
WINONA, Minn. — After a driver repeatedly refused to get out of her car during a traffic stop, the officer called for backup. Together the two officers dragged Erin Elizabeth Roberts from the vehicle by her arms. This was near Fifth and Liberty streets on the East Side. Roberts, age 27, of Winona, had been recognized by the first officer as not having a valid driving license. He made the traffic sgop about 7:35 p.m. The charges now facing Roberts include obstructing police. Also, the officers said, she had no proof of legally required insurance.
Three persons hurt when pickup overturns
HART, Minn. — Three teen-agers were injured when their pickup truck left a highway in southern Winona County and rolled. The names of the passengers, both from Rushford, were withheld for unstated reasons by State Patrol. The Patrol said, however, they were 17 and 16 years and taken 17 miles to the Winona hospital. The pickup, a 1995 GMC Sierra, was driven by Evan Basil Koxlien, 19, of Galesville, Wisconsin. He also was taken to the Winona hospital, also with non-life threatening injuries. They were northbound toward Interstate 90 on State Highway 43 on the Winona County side of the Fillmore County line.
Alternate-side parking tally at 1,658
WINONA, Minn. — Police closed out enforcement of Winona’s alternate-side winter parking ordinance with 1,658 tickets, records show. It’s believed these included 45 tag-tow-and-tow citations during a December snow storm, but data were lost in a cyber-attack on records stored on the county computer system.
Earlier: Winter parking rules expire just as big snow arrives
Earlier: Ahead: Hyper-enforcement of parking regs
Earlier: Snow or not, Winona winter parking rules kick in
Prison visitor accused of bringing drugs
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — An Arizona woman has been charged with trying to sneak cocaine to an inmate at the Jackson state prison outside Black River Falls. Valencia Nash, age 26, of Phoenix, was intercepted March 10 in routine visitor screening with six ounces of cocaine, according to court documents. The warden asked Jackson County Sheriff Duane Waldera to investigate. Over the next several days, according to court documents, there were further discoveries
> The illicit drug extasy in Nash’s car.
> Cocaine at rental property 70 miles away in Appleton.
The Jackson prison is in suburban Brockway. It opened in 1996 with a capacity designed for 800 imale nmates and 300 employees. In recent years the inmate population has swelled to 1,000.
Extasy profile
Extasy is a lab-manufactured hallucinogenic drug that enhances energy, happiness and empathetic feelings in small quantities but can lead to muscle cramps, depression, heart failure and death. German scientists invented the drug n 1912. It became widely available on the streets in the 1970s. While not addictive like cocaine, ecstasy may lead to dependence. Like meth, it affects perceptions and seeing things that are not there.
Nash. Charges: Delivering illegal articles to an inmate, possessing cocaine with intent to deliver, possessing a class of drugs that includes methetamines, LSD and Psilocin.
Snowplows to rescue: I-90, I-35 opened
ALBERT LEA, Minn. — State troopers raised access barriers to Interstate 90 and Interstate 35 to points west and south. Plow crews managed to clear single lanes by mid-morning after a horrendous mid-March storm. Many rural routers remained inaccessible A them was Sate Highway 247 from northeast of Rochester to Plainview on the Olmsted-Wabasha county line. The State Patrol tally of incidents statewide as of midnight Saturday:
> Damaged vehicles: 464
> Injury crashes: 40
> Fatal crashes: 1
> Spin-outs: 46
> Vehicles off road: 651
> Jack-knifed semis: 19
Earlier: Snow traps 18-wheelers out of Albert Lea
Democrats field Zumbrota farmer for Senate
ZUMBROTA, Minn. — A member of the Zumbrota-Mazeppa School Board, Jason Lohmann, plans to kick off his campaign Sunday for the Minnesota Senate. The event will be at his 800-acre farm outside Zumbrota. Lohman was endorsed by Senate District 20 Democrats over the weekend. Ironically he was a registered Republican in 2012 but has since changed parties. He acknowledges zigzag paths in life. “I’ve worn many hats over the years: Roofer, truck driver, farmhand, construction worker, mechanic.” Currently he’s a boom operator and delivery driver at an Oronoco lumber yard. He is a high school graduate with lessons from “the school of hard knocks,” which he says has taught him the value of hard work and grit. Besides being a 10-year member of his School Board, Lohmann has elected experience on the Zumbrota Township Board. If elected, he would replace 14-year Senator Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, who is retiring. Already announced as the Reoublican candidate is Steve Jacob of Elba, also a farmer. Jacob is leaving a State House seat to run for the Senate. As for Lohmann, he plans a series to campaign events around District 20 in St. Charles, Wabasha, the Plainview-Elgin area, Cannon Falls, and the Chatfield-Dover-Eyota area.
Lohmann. A third-generation farmer.
Cannabis shops sprouting all over
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state Office of Cannabis Management reported licensing of three cannabis businesses in Winona and others in adjoining counties.
> Black Bear. In Winona at 104 East Fourth Street.
> Fairwater Farm: In Plainview.
> Green Goods: In Rochester at 3456 East Circle Drive Northeast
> Hempire: In Rochester at 3135 Superior Drive Northwest.
> Knocked Out Genetics: In Rochester as a cultivator.
> La Canna, In LaCrescent at 1570 61 Highway 14.
> Tranquil Gardens: In Winona at 79 West Third Street.
> Winona Dispensary. In Winona at 173 East Second Street.
No licenses have yet been issued in Fillmore or Wabasha counties.
Questions remain Black River pedestrian death
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — A pedestrian who was struck by a car rand killed last week has been identified. He was Jordan M Funmaker, age 34, of Black River Falls, said Sheriff Duane Waldera. What Funmaker was doing in a lane of traffic after dark in dark clothing wasn’t yet established. He had seven children.
Funmaker. 1992-2026.
Snow traps 18-wheelers out of Albert Lea
ALBERT LEA, Minn. — At dawn the transcontinental highways I-90 and I-35 remained blocked by snow out of Albert Lea. Hundreds of truckers were holed up at rest stops and fueling stations. Interstate 90 remained closed 116 miles from Albert Lea west to Worthington. So too Interstate 35 12 miles south to the Iowa state line. Also impassable: Many roads in northern Iowa.
Fastenal to build $90 million depot in Georgia
CARROLLTON, Georgia — The Winona-based industrial supplier Fastenal is building a 900,000-quare foot logistics hub for the Southeast. A ceremonial ground-breaking has been scheduled for a week from Tuesday on greenfield acreage at the industrial park on Carrollton’s West Sde. The $90 million facility will replace an Fastenal aging depot 45 miles away in Atlanta and be almost four times larger. The state-of-art and highly automated new facility, patterned after a recently opened Fastenal distribution hub in Utah, will have 280 employees — compared to 300 at the facility being replaced Atlanta. Details of the Carrollton plan were confirmed n Winona by Will Roedeske, Fastenal’s vice president of distribution. There had been local concerns in Carrollton about heavy truck traffic to the Fastenal plant, but the Carrollton Payroll Development Authority saw the financial presence of Fastenal as more important The Payroll Authority provides infrastructure support like roads and utilities and arranges tax incentives.
Still unBroken greenfield acreage. The Carrollton Industrial park comprises 1,200 acres with 2 million square feet of industrial space. The site is an hour off Interstate 20, which stretches from west Texas to South Caolina. Carrollton, population, 27,000, s near the Alabama state line. Near the industrial park is the University of West Georga, 16,000 erNollment. The local tech school offers truck-driver training.
Fastenal profile
Founded in Winona in 1967 as a small nuts and bolts shop. Grew into a global manufacturer and distributor of industrial supplies. Headquarters still in Winona. Now city’s largest employer with 1,800 on local people on payroll. Worldwide employees: 25,000 in 1,600 branch locations. Revenue in 2025: $8.2 billion. Diversified ownership through publicly traded stock.
How deep the snow? Winona about 13 inches
WINONA, Minn. — Because of winds and drifting, snow accumulations from the Sunday storm were hard to measure, In Winona most reports were 13 inches. Other measures in inches:
> Reads Landing: 20
> Zumbro Falls: 20
> Dumfries: 18
> Lake City: 17
> Millville: 17
> Pine Island: 16
> Wabasha: 15
> Rochester :13
> Red Wing: 11
> Hastings: 8
In Wisconsin
> Nelson: 20
> Pepin: 19
> Eau Claire: 12
Earlier: Storm besets motorists but not many
Earlier: Chilly day for early robin
Earlier: Storm too severe for shoppers, plows too
Earlier: Winter parking rules expire just as big snow arrives
Storm besets motorists but not many
WINONA, Minn. — Most people stayed home during the blizzardy weekend but not everyone. City police had seven assistance calls for motorists in trouble. Sheriff’s deputies had four such calls in the county. There were no injuries. A tree downed a power line on County Road 12, along Interstate 90, between Wyatville and Wilson and caused an outage There also were numerous nanosecond outages — just enough to require annoying resets on on plugged-in clocks.
College scores
Baseball: Winona State 8, Sioux Falls 5
Baseball: Saint Mary’s and Milliken (cancelled)
Tennis (men): Saint Mary’s and Gustavus Adolphus
Baseball: Saint Mary’s and Milliken (cancelled)
Tennis (women): Saint Mary’s and Gustavus Adolphus (cancelled)
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