Sad glow: I-35W bridge in red, black and yellow
Color decisions. The Minnesota Transportation Department’s metro district engineer chooses the colors to display from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise. Citizen requests are considered.
Minnesota shares memories with Baltimore
MINNEAPOLIS — the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River was lit the colors of the Maryland state flag — red, black and yellow – in sympathy with the collapse the Interstate 695 bridge over the Baltimore harbor. The Minneapolis bridge, whose predecessor collapsed in 2007, taking 13 lives, has lighting system to denote holidays and special occasions. The latest overnight illumination was in the colors of the Maryland state flag. The Minnesota Department issued this statement: “Our thoughts are first and foremost with all those who have been injured or are still missing as a result of Tuesday morning’s tragedy in Baltimore and to the brave first responders on the scene.”
St. Anthony Falls bridge. Bathed in the colors of Maryland.
Francis Scott Key bridge Rammed by giant cargo ship, weighing 213 million pounds. Ship had lost power intermittently three tmes while leaving harbor near Fort McHenry of “Star Spangled Banner” fame. A major 1.6-mile four-lane Baltimore commuter route normally with 34,000 vehicles a day. Death toll believed to be six highway workers fixing potholes overnight.
Freaky stuff: Wisconsin outlaws sex dolls
MADISON, Wis. –Wisconsin has joined several other states to outlaw anatomically correct dolls that are marketed for sex. Governor Tony Evers signed a bill from the Legislature to ban child-like dolls that are marketed “for sexual gratification, or for manipulating children into participating in sex acts, or for instructing children how to participate in sex acts, or for normalizing sexual behavior with children.” The crime is a felony.
A robot? A mannequin? A doll? Doesn’t matter. Now illegal.
R.I.P.: George Richtman
TREMPEALEAU, Wis. – George J. Richtman, 77, of Trempealeau, who worked at Lock and Dam 6 on the Mississippi river, died unexpectedly. He was docking his fishing boat at the Perrot State Park landing. With the Corps of Engineers he started as a deck hand and later a tender operator. He also was a survey boat operator before retiring to Lock 6. He was a graduate of Memorial High School in Trempealeau, He joined the U.S. Army 1964 and continued in the Army Reserve. He supplied fish for local restaurants, fish fries and Trempealeau Catfish Days. He helped initiate the rock-skipping contest at Catfish Days. He was Trempealeau’s Citizen of the Year in 1999 and Catfish Days parade marshal in 2019. He was a volunteer for scouts and youth baseball. As an environmental activist he presented demonstrations at Perrot State Park. He supported the Rainbow Riders Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1946-2024
Gift funds $50,000 Viterbo medical scholarship
LACROSSE, Wis. – Heirs of physician Joan Gennrich have donated $1.3 million for a $50,000 annual scholarship to a senior female medical student at Viterbo University. Gennrich, a 1960 Viterbo grad, died in 2020. Gennrich operated a physician-owned urgent care facility in Milwaukee — the first one of its kind in Wisconsin.
R.I.P.: Mitchell Hale Sr.
WINONA, Minn. –Mitchell N. Hale Sr., 56, of Winona, who over the years worked at Gorman’s Foundry, Badger Foundry, Peerless Chain, died at his home of cancer. He also bartended around town. Most recently he worked at the at Hal Leonard sheet-music company. He was in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1967-2024
Walz: Kids shouldn’t be afraid to go to school
Crossing the podium. Walz greets an Owatonna crowd for his annual State of the State address. It was brief, 22 minutes, but covered a waterfront of issues before the 2024 Legislature
Governor to lawmakers: Gun safety reform needed
OWATONNA, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz pressed Minnesota legislators to pass new gun controls to require the safe storage of firearms. “Take the NRA on,” Walz said in a reference to the National Rifle Association, which for decades vehemently has opposed any gun limits. Walz made his call for what’s called common-sense limitations in his annual State of the State address, this year at the Owatonna High School. “When you come to high school, you should be worried about pop quizzes and prom dates — not mass shootings,” Walz said. “That’s why as governor I made it a point to move towards responsible gun ownership and take the NRA on.” The governor, a gun-owner and hunter, consistently held an “A” rating from the NRA while in Congress. Then in 2018 in Florida, 17 students and school staff at Parkland High School were murdered. Walz lost the NRA’s “A” that year when he ran for governor on a platform to help preclude more Parkland massacres. In the Owatonna address also called for:
> Mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms.
> Tougher penalties for straw purchases.
Walz left unmentioned two proposals from fellow Democrats in the Legislature. These include a ban on the sale and transfer of semi-automatic rifles. There also is a Democratic proposal to allow local governments to enact their own gun laws.
Other Walz points
In his 22–minute address Walz praised the Democrat-controlled 2023 Legislature for what he called “historic investments” in public education, affordable housing and child care. The speech, said political observers, was mindful that all 134 seats of the Minnesota House will be on November ballots. Republicans already have stepped up attacks on Democratic spending from 2023 and new programs. “Tonight,” Walz told his Owatonna audience. “I am proud to report that the state of our state is strong, and one of the main reasons is because the kids of our state are better equipped to thrive,” Walz said. Other takeaways:
> More work is needed to improve child skills. Less than half of Minnesota students meet or exceed grade level standards in reading and math, he said.
> More students are eating school breakfast and lunch thanks to the free school meals program passed last year. Full bellies make for better learning, he said.
> Government should steer clear of regulating women’s choice for their health. He was specific about the recent Alabama Supreme Court declaration that frozen embryos are children, which caused infertility clinics to close at least temporarily. He noted that First Lady Gwen Walz underwent in-vitro fertilization to start their family.
> The 2004 Legislature needs to fund infrastructure projects for clean water, safer streets and affordable housing. He earlier proposed a $982 million for public works, which he acknowledged was “not flashy” but nonetheless essential.
Need a driver license? County OKs relocation
WINONA, Minn. – The Winona County Board authorized relocating the county licensing center within the Winona Mall. The center has been in a section of the Mall that is being converted into a regional special-ed facility. The new licensing site: The former Quality Vac and Sew space on the southeast side of the mall, off the same parking lot as the current location. The move carries a price tag: The current site rents for $22,800 a year. The new rent: $46,200. One-time renovations will run $50,000 to $85,000, the Board was told.
Cops say disabled motorist was drunk
WINONA, Minn. – A California driver was arrested for drunken driving after police found her stalled with mechanical problems on West Service Drive across from Altra Federal Credit Union. Arrested was Jessica Lee Freeborn, 34, of Santa Monica. Among booking charges besides driving drunk: Driving without a permit, driving without insurance, and refusing a blood test. Officers said Freeborn had several signs of impairment: Watery and blood-shot eyes, slurred speech, and tell-tale odors. This was about 8:05p.m. at the Orrin Street intersection.
Freeborn. Broken car was start of her day’s problems.
Nebraska traffic stop IDs missing Kellogg man
WABASHA, Minn. – A state trooper in Nebraska located a missing Wabasha Countu man who disappeared after dropping kids at their mother’s house in Minnesota City and then not showing up for work in Winona. Adam Lewis Kerley, 44,of Kellogg, told the Nebraska trooper 300 miles way that he was fine and didn’t assistance. Kerley had been stopped on a traffic issue. A license plate check in a database showed him to be missing from Wabasha County in Minnesota. There had been extra concern about Kerley because of a medical issue, said Sheriff Rodney Bartsh in Wabasha.
Kerley. Found safe. Shuns assistance offer.
Hit-run charges levied in February buggy wreck
PRESTON, Minn. – A Spring Valley woman was charged for a hit-and-run buggy crash into an Amish buggy in February. Brittany Nicole Edgar, 32, was accused of:
> Criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm.
> Gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation.
> Leaving the scene of a collision.
> Careless driving.
> Failure to provide proof of insurance.
> Providing false information to an officer.
NOTE: This case is not the Amish buggy wreck involving the Petersen twins and two fatalities, also near Soring Valley but in September. Both cases are moving through Fillmore County District Court at the same time. Petersen case.
In court documents investigators say this: Edgar drove her white 2008 Pontiac Grand Pix into a horse-drawn buggy carrying nine Amish. This was about 10 p.m. on February 16. Two miles ahead she was stopped by a deputy for a damaged fender. She told the deputy she had hit a deer and was let go. Meanwhile at the wreck, other deputies found pieces of a white Grand Prix in both lanes, on the shoulder, and in the ditch. Contacted at home later, Edgar admitted having hit the buggy. No one in the buggy died, but a 12-year-old child suffered a brain bleed, a 3-year-old child suffered a broken arm. a 1-year-old hurt suffered a skull fracture and a swollen eye.
Earlier: Loose ends still in car-buggy collision
Edgar. At her home jn Spring Valley a couple days after the wreck, police found her damaged Pontiac Grand Prix. Its front bumper had been removed for fixing.
Edgar profile
Edgar has a history of bad driving: Speeding and careless driving in neighboring Dodge County in 2018; drunken driving, also in Dodge County, in 2019; and driving after license revocation in 2021.
Wisconsin expands weapons for first-responders
APPLETON, Wis. – Governor Tony Evers approved a new law to allow first-responders to carry firearms into otherwise prohibited areas like fish hatcheries, wildlife refuges, and school zones. The law applies to a “tactical emergency medical services professionals.” These are state-licensed first-responders. To carry firearms they need prior written approval from a sheriff or chief of police. The governor signed the law at a fire station in Appleton.
Police called to Middle School fracas
WINONA, Minn. – Four Winona Middle School boys, ages 11 and 12, were sent home after exchanging punches in a gym class. Police said that discipline would be left to Principal Dave Anderson. One boy complained of a headache, but no physical injuries were otherwise apparent, police said.
Ex-prisoner arrested for drugs on East End
WINONA, Minn. – Seven officers stood ready as two of them knocked at a door on Mankato Avenuen on a tip about drugs. They arrested a Winona man who was already out of prison on an earlier drug conviction. Benjamin Wayne Blaschka, 47, was taken into custody without resistance. This was about 10:15 a.m. on the 500 block of Mankato Avenue. In the arrest and preparing for the worst were three agents from the state Intense Supervised Release program; three city police officers; and two sheriff’s deputies. In the house in a zip-lock bag on a top shelf in the living room was a zip-lock bag containing 10.5 grams of meth, police said. Hypodermic needles, pipes and other drug paraphernalia also were found, police said.
Blaschka. Booked for drug possession.
Harder now for bank robbers to get off hook
MADISON, Wis. – It doesn’t matter much anymore in Wisconsin whether bank robbers articulate explicitly that they’re using force. Governor Tony Evers has signed a bill clarifying the definition of bank robbery. A loophole in the law had made it hard to prosecute some robbery cases. Republican Senator Eric Wimberger gave this example: “Up in Green Bay, there was a person who had slipped a note to the teller but said nothing except “$100s, $50s, and $20s” in a rough voice and “Give me all your money.” The guy was arrested but because force wasn’t threatened explicitly, he couldn’t be charged, Wimberger said.
Criminal act: Disconnecting a driveshaft
WINONA, Minn. – Someone who knows cars better than most mere mortals stole a driveshaft from under a parked car at a house on Lenox Street on the Far West End. Also taken: A battery and two subwoofers.The owner discovered the theft, which must have occurred the night before. The owner told police he suspects an acquaintance.
1886 shipwreck located, filmed 350 feet deep
HOLLAND, Mich. — Divers who found the wrecked steamship Milwaukee off the Lake Michigan port of Holland unveiled details of their discovery at the Knickerbocker Theater annual film festival. The ship, which sank in 1886, was in remarkable shape, said Valerie Van Heest of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association. It was 350 feet deep 40 miles off Holland. The 135-foot vessel had been rammed by another ship on a calm night. Smoke from Wisconsin wild fires was limiting visibility somewhat. The entire crew survived. The wreck was discovered last June using side-scan sonar, Van Heest said. Her team spent the summer filming the wreck with remotely operated cameras.
Steamship Milwaukee. Built as combination passenger-cargo vessel. At some point during its 18-year career the upper decks were removed for conversion to cargo-only. Mostly carried lumber.
College scores
Softball: Winona State 7, UM-Duluth 2
Softball: Winona State 3, UM-Duluth 2
MyPillow thrown out of warehouses for back-rent
SHAKOPEE, Minn. – The once-flourishing MyPillow enterprise, headed by the publicity-loving and free-spending Trump conspiratorialist Mike Lindell, has been ordered to get out of two massive warehouses. The eviction order was signed by Clark County Judge Caroline Lennon. The reason: $200,000 in overdue rent. Neither Lindell nor an attorney was at the eviction hearing to object. A MyPillow plant remains in nearby Chaska but with little product being shipped. About the eviction for back-rent in Shakopee, Lindell said in an interview that he had had a subleasor lined up but the deal fell through. He had raised cash by auctioning off forklifts and other warehouse Equipment.
Financial ruination
Lindell’s financial status depends on which day you ask. Sometimes he has the bravado of yore. But recently on Fox News he told an interviewer he was down to his last $10,000 and a pickup truck. This all is a comedown from Lindell’s energetic albeit overstated late-night advertising claims on cable networks that his pillows, stuffed with styrofoam pellets, guaranteed better sleep. Lindell’s final ruin began with his exuberant support of Donald Trump. Lindell claimed that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. As a result he was sued for millions by voting machine companies for libel. Recently in another setback Lindell was ordered by a judge to pay a $5 million bet he lost over a reckless television claim that one of his Trump conspiracy theories couldn’t be disproved. Legal expenses have been drowning. His attorneys have gone unpaid and quit. Meanwhile, MyPillow sales are tanked: Walmart, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond and other retailers dropped the MyPillow line amid Lindell’s fervant antics for Trump, including claims that the 2020 looting of the U.S. Capitol was a hoax.
Donald, where art thou?
Trump, who has claimed but never proven to be worth billions, has not offered Lindell a cent to help through slack times.
Earlier: Lindell: $5 million only over my dead body
Earlier: Lindell downsizes MyPillow, sells off assets
Lindell. Smilijg in better times with an autographed MyPilllow. Recently on eBay for $65.
New Southeast College logo hard to miss
Marsha Danielson, college resident: “This work has helped us understand that Minnesota State College Southeast has a simple, clear, and focused purpose, to help anyone who wants to take their next step forward in life by nurturing student success.”
About ex-logo: The Eagle Has Been Landed
WINONA, Minn. — Minnesota State College Southeast has unveiled a new logo — an intertwined green S, E and T on either a white or jetblack field or superimposed on other images. Katryn Conlin, the college’s image chief, said the new logo was two years in the making and planning and involved a survey of 350 of the college’s stakeholders at both the Winona and Red Wing campuses. The fine-line serif of a nondescript former logo as well as as a logo with an eagle gone although the green was kept. Consulting on the rebranding was the Twin Cities design firm Object,.The logo project was was funded by a $100,000 grant for image and branding changes from the Lumina Foundation.
Eagle to retirement. Lost in college’s latest rebranding.
Man killed inside Blair water tank from Texas
BLAIR, Wis. – A man who died cleaning the bottom of the 100,000-gallon Blair municipal water tank was Carlos Medina, 30, of El Paso, Texas, Sheriff Brett Semingson confirmed. The sheriff has classified the death as accidental even though an autopsy report was pending. It was thought that Medina died underwater of hypothermia, probably entangled in a 90-foot suction hose he was using to suck sediment from the bottom. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful.
First twin arraigned on fatal Amish buggy crash
PRESTON, Minn. – A woman accused in a fatal wreck with an Amish buggy in September, Samantha Jo Petersen, was freed on her own recognizance in her first court appearance. Judge Jeremy Clinefelter allowed Petersen to go home without posting any bail so long as she stays drug-free and alcohol-free nd doesn’t keave the state. Her next court appearance was scheduled for June. At the arraignment Judge Clinefelter gave Petersen an option. One was posting bail of $50,000 and being released on her word that he wouldn’t skip out. She chose the cost-free option with the conditions. The hearing was only 15 minutes. Petersen, age 35, was solemn and spoke only to identify herself for the record and to acknowledge that she understood the charges against her. She arrived and left the Fillmore County Courthouse in a dark parka, hoodie up, and unpressed jeans and a flimsy sweater.
Free with no bail
County prosecutor Brett Corson asked Judge Klinefelter to set bail at $100,000. Petersen’s attorney, Carson Heefner, asked for zero bail. The judge, although acknowledging Petersen as a public safety risk, set bail at $50,000 with the option if no bail if she agreed to stay drug and alcohol clean and comes back to court for further hearings on her own volition. In post-hearing interviews, Heefner expressed surprise the prosecution hadn’t sought more than $100,000.
The criminal case
Samantha Jo Petersen stands accused of driving into horse-pulled Amish buggy and killing two children on their way to school and injuring two others. Their horse was also killed. In all Samantha Jo faces 31 charges. These include eight counts of criminal vehicular homicide, eight counts of criminal vehicular operation, two counts of driving while intoxicated, failure to provide proof of insurance, careless driving, and speeding. When deputies arrived at the accident, both Samantha Jo and her twin sister Sarah Beth Petersen were at the scene. Investigators, said the twins, who look alike, had concocted a story that Sarah Beth was driving, this to protect Samantha Jo, who investigators said was as high on meth. The twins have a long history, going back to grade scool, of swapping places to confuse authorities when they were trouble. Separately the twin Sarah Beth also faces multiple charges. Her arraignment will be later this week.
Earlier: Attorney seeks all documents in fatal buggy crash
Earlier: Sheriff defends lengthiness of buggy wreck probe
Petersen. Samaha Jo, pictured here, and identical win Sarah Beth lived in spring Valley when the accident occurred north of town. Since then they’ve relocated 60 miles to Kellogg.
Clinefelter. On Fillmore County bench since 2022. Appointed by Governor Tim Walz.
Notable journalism
Jeanne Pietig (Big River, Magazine, March-April 2024): “What’s in a Name? Tows and Riverboats on the Upper Mississippi”
Olivia Prondzinski (KTTC, March 21, 2024): “Possible Match Revealed n in Winona’s ‘Baby Amgel’ Case”
Megan Zemple (KTTC, March 22, 2024): “Hot Air Balloon Crash Survivors Recall Their Close Call”
Message in Altura: Get Fido licensed
ALTURA, Minn. – Authorities have cracked down on loose dogs in this central Winona County town. Sheriff Ron Ganrude reported seven citations were issued to dog owners with unlicensed animals.
Storm fallout: Late start for schools
WINONA, Minn. –Many schools started the week with delayed in the wake of weekend storms:
>Alma Center-Humbird-Merrollan: Closed.
> Black River Falls: Two hours late. No morning 4K.
> Blair: Closed.
> Caledonia: Open. Buses only on paved roads.
> Chatfield: Opening two hours late. No morning preschool, practices, or weight room.
> Cochrane-Fountain City: Closed.
>Dover-Eyota: Two hours late.
>Gilmanton: Closed.
> Harmony Fillmore Central: Two hours late. No morning PreK, SAC/daycare opening at 6:30 a.m.
> Houston: Open. Buses only on paved roads.
> Melrose-Mindoro: Two hours late.
> Mondovi: Closed.
> Spring Valley Kingsland: Two hours late. No morning preschool.
> Lake City: Two hours late, No morning preschool.
> Lanesboro: Two hours late. No morning preschool.
> Lewiston-Altura: Two hours late. Cardinal Club open.
> Plainview-Elgin-Millville: Two hours late. No morning preschool. Kids Club open.
> Rushford-Peterson: Two hours late.
> St. Charles Head Start: Two hours late.
> St. Charles: Two hours late, SACC open at 8 a.m.
> Wabasha-Kellogg: Two hours late.
> Whitehall: Closed.
>Zumbro Education: Two hours late.
> Zumbrota-Mazeppa: Two hours late, Cougar Care and Bright Beginnings open at 7 a.m.
Earlier: Wintery storm creates travel havoc
Kitchen fire melts appliances; couple flees
WINONA, Minn. – A couple on Sioux Street escaped a kitchen fire that left so much smoke in heir house that they couldn’t stay the rest of the night. They went to a hotel. This was about 2 a.m. The man said he had left cooking oil on the stove to go to the bathroom. The stove, an oven, and a microwave melted, and a cabinet was destroyed. The man admitted that he and the woman had been drinking, police said. They weren’t injured. This was on the 450 residential block of Sioux Street.
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