Why massive St. Cloud State cutbacks? “Data”
ST. CLOUD. Minn. – The huge downsizing at St. Cloud State University, with elimination of 42 programs, was based strictly on statistics, said interim President Larry Lee. Cuts were driven by enrollments, registered credits, degree completion rates, revenue numbers and other empirical evidence, he said. In one sense, he said, the cuts are less than they appear: Only 8% of students are enrolled in the suspended programs. These students will receive a personalized plan toward graduation, he said: “They’re guaranteed to graduate on schedule.” It was liberal arts and teacher-preparation programs that are most decimated. Lee, whose academic background is business, denied that any particular colleges in the university were targeted. Many traditional higher education institutions nationwide are de-emphasizing liberal arts amid the rise of schools focused on workforce development, he noted. At St. Cloud the cuts reflect a 44% overall enrollment loss from an 18,000 peak in 2010.
Lee. Interim president since the sudden resignation of Robbyn Wacker six weeks ago. Lee too is leaving in a career move announced several weeks previous.
R.I.P.: Robert Rusert
MNNESOTA CITY, Minn. – Robert “Bob” Rusert, 64, of Minnesota City, who worked 30 years for Winona Lighting. died of cancer at home. More recently he was at Acuity Brands as a custom sheetmetal fabricator. He graduated from Winona High School in 1978 and continued at Winona Area Vo Tech in auto mechanics and body repair. His hobby was restoring classic cars, notably his 1969 Olds Cutlass and 1969 Olds 442. He learned guitar young and was lead electric guitar for the local bands Ritz, Jaded Heart, Swift Creek and Big Woody.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1960-2024
Milwaukeeans take offense at Trump denigration
Lest he forget. The Democratic National Committee has moved quicky to capitalize on Donald Trump’s slap. He’ll be greeted with billboard reminders when he arrives July15 to be anointed for the presidency at the party’s national convention. Dozens of other billboards of local origin also are popping up.
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Billboard barrage. Dozens of other billboards of local origin also are popping up.
Winona Daily News further downsizes
WINONA, Minn. – In a further constriction the financially struggling Winona Daily News is leaving its downtown storefront and relocating to an upstairs office in the Extreme East End industrial area. The office will be unstaffed, but staff members can unlock it for interviews and meetings. The corporate owner, Lee Enterprises of Iowa, is channeling telephone callers and emails to its newsroom at the LaCrosse Tribune, which the chain also owns. Although out of the way, Lee noted the new office, in the former Winona Knitting Mills factory at 902 East Second Street, has fashionable neighbors: The Winona Area Chamber of Commerce, Edward Jones Financial and Northwestern Mutual. Most recently the Daily News has been downtown on higher-rent Third Street. Before 2018 it was also at Winona Knits but in spacious ground-level suites with a patio on the Levee.
Earlier: Only one reporter left at Daily News
Earlier: Daily News drops Monday, Tuesday editions
Earlier: Winona Daily ends home delivery, cuts frequency
Earler: Newspaper hikes rates: Less costs more
Earlier: Almanac: Lee Enterprises
In heyday in 1970s
Really a daily anymore? The paper has a 24-hour presence online, but print editions were reduced to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in 2023. No further home delivery. Subscribers, now fewer than than 1,900, get the paper by mail. At its peak the paper claimed 18,000 subscribers on Sundays and 15,000 weekdays.
News summary at week’s end: June 15, 2024
COLLEGES: St. Cloud State cuts 54 profs, kills 42 programs
CELEBRATIONS: Winona parade: John Phillips Sousa lives
RIVER: Temporary hold on Lansing bridge project
POLITICS: Trump bad-mouths Milwaukee as “horrible city”
POLITICS: Ethics hearing delayed for State Senator Mitchell
CRIME: Windom Park fountain a warm evening’s lure
CRIME: Drunk twice swings barstools as weapon
CRIME: Brazen dog-napping reported downtown
HEALTH: Mayo hospital workers forgo strike, choose arbitration
95 mph caught cop’s eye, then a DWI arrest
WINONA, Minn. – A police officer’s radar showed a driver at 95 mph in a 60 zone on Highway 43 south of Winona. Once stopped the driver showed multiple signs of impairment, the officer said. Arrested was Michael Wesley Baudelaire Vernio, 30, of Minneapolis. The symptoms, said the officer: Slow deliberate movements, an alcohol odor, and slurred speech. Also a breath test showed his blood alcohol at 0.12% — half as much more what’s allowed. He also failed physical field sobriety tesrs. This was about 8:45 p.m. near Northwood Road.
Near-bump on parking lot leads to assault
WINONA, Minn. – A woman filling up at a Kwik Trip gas pump reported that a man, angry at a near collision, aggressively pushed her car door shut hard on one of her legs. The impact, she told police, was painful. The man was gone when police arrived. Surveillance video at the Kwik Trip, at Broadway Street and Mankato Avenue, was being checked by police to identify the man. The incident was about 11:30 a.m.
Notable journalism
Gabriel Hathaway (Winona Post, June 12, 2024): “Homer Town Hall Vote Not Sticking.”
Rachel Mergen (Winona Daily News, June 15, 2024): “Pelowski Reflects on 38 Years of Advocating for Education, Winona Upon Retiring from State House”
Michael Phillis, Jim Salter and Camille Fassett (Alton Telegraph, June 11, 2023): “Mississippi River Towns Struggle as Frequent Floods Push More Out”
Next stop for torpid man: Detox
WINONA, Minn. – A man who’s been wandering Winona streets for days was found passed out on the boulevard of a West Side residential neighborhood. After he was cleared medically, Matthew Bradley Connor, 45, was sent to the Zumbro detoxification facility in Rochester. Connor has no Winona address, police said. The call to pick him off the West Side boulevard was about 5:30 p.m. on South Baker Stret.
R.I.P.: Shirley Sandvig
WILSON, Minn. – Shirley A. Sandvig, age 88, of Wilson, who was dedicated to rural life, died peacefully at home on the family farm. She attended school in Rose Valley and Cochrane-Fountain City in Wisconsin. On the farm she had a every cow and calf, and did all all the cats, geese and other animals. Ironically it was not until that she was 80 that she visited a zoo.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1935-2024
R.I.P.: Douglas Reinhard
WINONA, Minn. – Douglas J. Reinhard, age 81, of Winona, wo owned and operated the Primo Record shop with his wife, died at Sauer Health Care. He completed two degrees in teaching at Winona State University and taught at St. Martin’s School. In later years he drove buses, which he considered one of his favorite jobs. He also enjoyed doing Elvis impersonations.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1942-2024
R.I.P.: Wayne Schmidt
WINONA, Minn. – Wayne G. Schmidt, age 88, of Winona, who inherited the family business in 1963 and later opened Schmidt Sales & Service, died at home. He was in the U.S. Air Force and traveled Europe widely. He graduated from Winona High School in 1953. His passions included dominoes, local history, and genealogy.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1936-2024
Wreck on LaCrosse-LaCrescent Pike injures driver
LACRESCENT, Minn. — A Wisconsin driver was injured after crossing lanes and ending up in a ditch on the pike linking LaCrescent and LaCrosse. Sydnee Kaye Touche, 22, of LaCrosse, was treated for non-life threatening injuries at a LaCrosse hospital. The accident was about 1:25 a.m. on four-lane U.S. Highway 61. Touche was heading toward LaCrescent in a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse. She wasn’t belted but her airbag deployed, police said.
M60 war tank takes hit at Mondovi park
MONDOVI, Wis. – A man in an all-terrain vehicle crashed into an M60 tank on static display at Veterans Memorial Park. The 45-ton tank was unfazed. The Polaris UTV didn’t fare well at all. Christopher Schultz, age 40, of Mondovi, survived and declined medical treatment. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under influence of an intoxicant. This was about 12:50 a.m. Schultz crashed into the tank Shultz after jumping a curb on Oak Street and hitting all kinds of signs
M60 Battle tank. A 1960s U.S. Army upgrade of the war-tested Patton Tank. Image: Mondovi police
Cops: Driver pinched for speed, boozing too
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man stopped for speeding on Riverview Drive was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving as well as for driving too fast, police said. Any formal charge against Nicholas Paul Lemon, 31, will await a chemical analysis of bodily fluid from the state crime lab. Police said Lemon’s eyes, speech and balance all bespoke impairment. Also, they said, he declined the usual battery of field sobriety tests. The stop was about 12:30 a.m. near the fleeting harbor. Lemon said he was unfamiliar with the area and had been looking at his GPS. About speeding Lemon said he hadn’t noticed that the road was posted. He acknowledged going 55 mph in a 40 zone.
Minnesota prep
Baseball: Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 8, Montevideo Thunderhawks 5
Baseball: Perham Yellowjackets 8, Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 4
Neighbor disturbed at upside-down flag
RIDGEWAY, Minn. – A neighbor called the sheriff about a U.S. flag being flown upside down next door. Deputies told the complainant that the display wasn’t a legal issue. No inquiries were made at the household where the flag was wrong side up. There has been new attention lately to upside down flags as a pro-Trump symbol of support for 800 of the people prosecuted so far for the January 6, 2021, to take over the government.
Denoting distress. Vendors have found a market for Trump paraphernalia including rude flag variations.
Frisbee catches driver’s attention: Smash
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver, Jonathan Carmen Motl, 19, was cited for inattentive driving after rear-ending another car. Police quoted Motl that he took his eyes off the road to catch a frisbee golf game at Lake Park. He struck a car that had slowed on Sarnia Street to turn into Bronk’s seasonal garden shop. Nobody was hurt. This was about 12:55 p.m.
Winona parade: John Phillips Sousa lives
Route: Straight down Broadway from Sinclair Park on the East Side. Thirteen blocks in all.
Chief organizer foresees crowd of 20,000
WINONA, Minn. – The Steamboat Days parade on Sunday will have 93 units, including nine marching and rolling bands, said festival chair Jeremy Graves. He expects 20,000 people on the parade route to see to wave at Miss America, Miss Minnesota, Miss Wisconsin and local royalty from around the region. The parade starts at 12 noon at Sinclair Park. There will be food vendors at the park, Graves said. Before the parade starting at 11:30, Graves said, the Little Warriors Drum Corp will perform along the parade route. After the parade, the Hesper-Mabel Steam Calliope will be hauled back at Sinclair Park to keep making music. Among the parade’s musical units:
> Cotter Senior High Marching Band.
> Cotter Junior High Marching Band.
> Lake City High School Tiger Band.
> Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.
> Onalaska Marching Hilltoppers Band.
> St. Peter High School Marching Saints Band.
> U.S. Marine Band.
> Winona Municipal Band.
> Winona Senior and Middle School marching bands
A flyover of World War II war will mark the start of the parade, Graves said. There won’t be any political candidates tossing candy, reaching into the crowd to touch hands or kissing babies. Inexplicably they’ve been told they’re not welcome. A few incumbent office-holders are exceptions, like Mayor Scott Sherman.
Earlier: Flotsam and jetsam: Steamboat Days
Earlier: Police put full force out for Steamboat Days — plus
Earlier: Bandshell concert kicks off Steamboat Days
Earlier: Site shifted for Steamboat Days midway
Earlier: Steamboat Days too far to walk? Then shuttle
Deputies: Cocaine on couple at rural place
LACRESCENT, Minn. – Deputies arrested a man and woman while searching a for evidence in a sex case but instead found, they said, that each had a minute quantity of cocaine – one-quarter gram each. Arrested were Kevin Arthur Humfeld, 38, whose house was being searched, and Hannah Nicole Cullen, 22, of Holmen, Wisconsin. They were taken to jail in Winona. Deputies had a search warrant for a cellphone in the unrelated sex case. Some items listed in the search warrant were found, deputies said. This was in the 31000 block of Pier Ridge Road in the extreme southeast corner of Winona County. Deputies said Humfeld was uncooperative but did not resist.
Humfeld. Search warrant at his house.
Cullen. Present with Humfeld. Also arrested.
Vandal uses dumbbell to bust Jeep window
WINONA, Minn. – Somebody smashed a 15-pound dumbbell through the tailgate window of a parked Jeep in a driveway on the Far West End and then yanked off the windshield wipers. The Jeep owner said the vandalism occurred overnight. A bedroom window screen also was damaged. The owner told police she suspected a former tenant. The incident was in the 300 block of Elmhurst Street.
R.I.P.: Randy Northrup
WINONA, Minn. – Randy Northrup, of Winona, a bartender and car salesman, died at age 62. He traveked widely for auto races and classic car shows. Friends remembered him for a sense of humor and finely runed storytelling.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1961-2024
Temporary hold on Lansing bridge project
LANSING Iowa – Heavy rains over the past week have paused construction of the new Lansing bridge over the Mississippi River at Lansing. Water has pooled where deep concrete foundations were being poured. Unknown is the effect on the late 2026 completion target, said project manager Clayton Burke. The $140 million project will replace the historic Black Hawk Bridge, which itself was closed a few weeks this spring dur to structural issues.
Troubled river crossing. Joins Lansing and rural southwest Crawford County across the Winneshiek Slough on the Wisconsin side. Image: Iowa Transportation Department
Driver wobbly at wheel after beer tent visit
WINONA, Minn. – A Minnesota City man, wearing a wrist band from the Steamboat Days beer tent, was arrested driving with his blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit. Mark Elmer Walters, 38, was stopped about 12:15 a.m. at Broadway and McBride on the West Side when according to a patrolman, he failed to halt at a stop sign. The officer said Walters smelled of alcohol and had glassy eyes and couldn’t stand up without leaning against his truck. Asked to take a three-stage field sobriety test, Walters was unable even to tackle the second stage, let alone the thrd,ethe officer said. His breath showed at 0.17%. Impairment under state law begins at 0.08%.
Trump bad-mouths Milwaukee as “horrible city”
WASHINGTON – Among before the Republican National Convention Milwaukee, where Donald Trump is a shoo-in to be nominated for the presidency, he called the city “horrible.” Wisconsinites took immediate umbrage. Political observers were complexed at Trump’s literal ineptness, which reinforced growing concern that the 78-year-old’s mental slippage. Trump’s Milwaukee disparagement was at a closed-door meeting with U.S. Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill. Some toadies said he ever said it. Others said he did but his meaning was misunderstood. Several apologists said Trump hadn’t intended a broad swipe at Milwaukee but was commenting on the city’s crime rate. That, however, seemed kame and misinformed. Among major U.S; cities, Milwaukee is rated in the top 2% for safety. In the first three months of 2024, Milwaukee homicides have decreased 39% – down to 23 from a year earlier. This in a city of 560,000 people. Property crime was down 11%. Auto thefts are down 10%. Some Trumpites said he was referring to election integrity. The fact is that only one voter fraud case has been uncovered in Milwaukee in the 2020 election and that the 2020 state-level fraud was committed by Trump’s own people, some of whom are in various stages of prosecution and being purged for ethical lapses.
Trump. Uniformed? Just loose talk? Reckless with facts? Politically less than astute?
Democrat responses
Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee mayor: “If Donald Trump wants to talk about things that he thinks are horrible, all of us lived through his presidency. So right back at you buddy.”
Gwen Moore, member of Congress from Milwaukee: “Once he’s settled in with his parole officer, I am certain he will discover that Milwaukee is a wonderful, vibrant and welcoming city full of diverse neighborhoods and a thriving business community.”
Tammy Baldwin, U.S. senator from wisocsin: “Milwaukee is “part of what makes Wisconsin the best state in the nation. Donald Trump wouldn’t understand even if a jury told him so.”
Tony Evers, governor: “Add it to the list of things Donald is wrong about.”
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