WINONA, Minn. – A 16-year-old boy punched a 14-year-old boy in the Winona High School cafeteria, the school told police. Neither boy required hospitalization. This was about 12:05 p.m. Police began a review of surveillance video to determine what charges should be brought, if any. Witnesses said the older boy had taken umbrage at a rumor that the other boy had disparaged his girlfriend.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Chatfield man pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual conduct in exchange for five similar counts being dismissed. The plea deal paved the way for sentencing Kenneth Archer Holt, 43, without a trial. The sexual contact was with underage girls over three years beginning in 2014. The girls said that Holt touched their chests and genitals, both above and below clothing, on several occasions when they were alone together. They were 7 and 8.

Holt. Agrees to register as predatory offender.

LEWISTON, Minn. – A deputy responded to a report of a pit bull running loose on Highway 14 at the Arches. The dog was not to be found, but a neighbor. reported seeing it being let into a house that has a recent history of police calls. The deputy knocked, but nobody answered.

Earlier: Wisconsin fugitive eludes cops at Arches

Keeping the burghers happy. An Army Corps excavator removes sand from a temporary storage site 1-1/2 years into an agreement with Wabasha city leaders. The city prevailed in 2023 with a “not in my backyard” campaign against a Corps dump near the touristy river community. The Corps is moving 265,000 cubic feet of sand a year to an alternate site — after dredging the sand from the Mississippi River to keep the river navigable for barge commerce. Image: Patrick Moes

Earlier: Feud over: Army Corps cedes silt disposal to Wabasha

Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 81, UW-Platteville 71

Baseball: Missouri Science 11, Winona State 1

Baseball: Missouri Science 6, Winona State 2

Softball: Winona State 12, Upper Iowa 3

Softball: Winona State 9, Upper Iowa 1

Basketball (boys): LaCrosse Central Riverhawks 76, LaCrosse Logan Rangers 57

Basketball (boys): Altoona Railroaders 96, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Redhawks 90

Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 71, Elmwood-Plum City Wolves 58

Basketball (boys): Fall Creek Crickets 83, Whitehall Norse 63

Basketball (boys): Black River Falls Tigers 62, Osseo-Fairchild Thunder 55

PRESTON, Minn. – Investigators have identified a woman they believe was driving a vehicle that struck an Amish buggy on Friday and injured two children. Criminal charges won’t be filed pending a reconstruction of what happened, said Investigator Dan Dornick of the Fillmore County sheriff’s office. Dornink confirmed that:

 > The accident was a hit-and-run.

> The vehicle was found parked six miles away in Spring Valley.

> The driver likely was a 32-year-old woman.

Still being reviewed, he said, were the vehicle’s internal tracking devices, cellphone records, and whether drugs or alcohol was involved. The accident happened about 10:05 on Friday night.

Earlier: Children in car-buggy wreck medically cleared

Earlier: Hit-run driver strikes buggy; six Amish injured

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The man who killed three first-responders in a police stand-off and then shot and killed himself on Sunday was 38-yea-old Shannon Cortez Gooden. His name was confirmed by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which has taken over the investigation. For five years Gooden had been renting the house where the stand-off occurred. In the house during the six-hour stand-off were his girlfriend and several children, some his, some hers. All were safe.

Gooden. Unclear what went wrong and triggered incident.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Two Amish children hurt in a buggy crash in Fillmore County on have been released from a Rochester hospital. The children, age 12 and 1, had been in treatment and under observation since the accident, Four others in the horse-drawn buggy escaped serious injury. The motor vehicle that hit the buggy left the scene.

Earlier: Hit-run driver strikes buggy; six Amish injured

U.S. and Minnesota state flags s to lowere to half-staff at all state buildings starting sunrise, to honor the life of three Burnsville offers who died in an armed stand-off in suburban Burnsville on Sunday. “We must never take for granted the bravery and sacrifices our first responders make each and every day,” said Walz. “It is with deepest gratitude that the State of Minnesota recognizes Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, and Firefighter Adam Finseth for their dedicated service to, and sacrifice for, their fellow Minnesotans.”

Earlier Three Burnsville officers killed in stand-off

RUSHFORD, Minn. – Members of the MiEnergy Co-operative were asked to conserve energy until 11 a.m.  due to high demand on the regional electricity grid. The message to MIEngery subscribers in southeast Minnesota and adjoining Iowa: Please lower thermostats to 68 degrees or lower if no one is home. Also: Delay dishwashing or laundry until evening; use a microwave instead of an oven; and refrain from television and gaming systems.

WSU grid hero. Later a Winona High track coach. Now accused of coercing high school girls on his teams into sex.

How anonymous tip led police to carnal abuse arrest

WINONA, Minn. – Police were onto Eric Birth as a possible sexual offender in June. It began as anonymous tip. A social worker reported being told that a former Winona High School track athlete had been in a sexual relationship with Birth during her senior year. When a police investigator tried to interview the woman, now a graduate of Winna High, she said that the anonymous tip wasn’t true — that Birth was just her coach. This was in June. Her denial dead-emded the investigation. Six months later, on January 2, the girl reached out to the investigator, this asking to discuss her relationship with Birth again. Indeed, she said, there had been intimate liaisons. Investigators were back on the trail.

Breakthrough

A second person, now in her mid-20s, approached a police investigator January 18 – two weeks after police were told there had been an incident in 2022. This second woman alleged a sexual relationship with Birth in 2016 when she was a junior at Winona High School. She said she had confided in Birth, her track coach, about personal issues. Birth offered to help however he could. They flirted through text messages during the spring track season. They began a sexual relationship in the summer. The relationship continued into the fall.

Forensic evidence: Where now?

Later in January, two other women approached police about a video of Birth having sex with another female student. They said they had used Birth’s phone to take a photo of themselves during a track practice. On the phone they stumbled on an image of another student performing oral sex on Birth. They returned the phone to Birth. They didn’t tell anyone what they saw. Unclear was whether police ever obtained the video.

Another woman comes forward

An investigator spoke with the woman in the video. She acknowledged a sexual relationship Birth in April and May 2017. She was 17 at the time and, yes, on the high school track team. She said that she had confided with him about personal issues. Pressed by the police investigator about the video, she said she was unaware of being recorded.

A 2022 allegation

The criminal complaint against Birth says he started a Snapchat instant-messaging group in January 2022, ahead of the spring track season. The girls were already running. The criminal complaint cites these further allegations:

> Birth deleted himself from the Snapshot group but gave his number to two Snapchat members.

> Birth began text messaging with one of the Snapchat members.

> The girl, a high school senior, confided with Birth online about personal issues. She met with him April 24 to talk in person and privately. This was in Winona and in her car.

> While chatting, Birth kissed the girl, which she recalled made her uncomfortable. Birth then pulled her from the car and kissed her more. He pulled his pants down, forced her on her knees, and made her perform oral sex while he held her head down. He wanted her to get in the back of the car and go further. She refused.

> Birth continued to try to get the girl into a relationship for a week or two.

Birth learns he’s targeted

At some point Birth became aware that word was out about the affairs. One of the athletes said that Birth had called and warned her that she was likely to get a call from the high school principal about their relationship. Indeed, the principal called. To the principal she denied any relationship. Her mother, she later explained, was sitting next to her during the principal’s call.

Earlier: Teacher’s bail: $300,000 over school sex allegations

Earlier: Teacher booted early in police sex misdeed query

Earlier: High school teacher accused of teen sex

Now 40 years old. The maples at Steve and Penny Spaag’s place on Garvin Brook upstream from Lewiston finally are  mature  enough to tap for sap. Boiled down, the sap from the six trees  probably will yield a quart. Can you taste those pancakes already? Image: Steve Lunde

ELGIN, Minn. – An Edina woman was hurt, although not seriously enough to be hospitalized, in a three-vehicle pile-up on the outskirts of Elgin. This was about 11:20 a.m. Police said a 2023 Chevy Suburban driven by Scot William Engler, 44, of Elgin, was sopped at a County Road 25 stop sign onto State Highway 42. He was unhurt. Also involved was a 2016 Chevy Equinox driven Rose Camille Staloch, 26, of Elgin, who was unhurt. The third vehicle was a 2018 Jeep Cherokee driven by Nicholas Edward Sachs, 29, of Dublin, Ohio, who was unhurt. A passenger, Katrina Marie Jirik, 19, Edina, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Two Burnsville police officers and a firefighter on SWAT team paramedic duty were killed — shot dead — in a six-hour stand-off with a man holed up in a house with firearms and a large cache of ammunition.  The confrontation was declared over about 8 a.m., when authorities found the barricaded man dead inside the house. Meanwhile, family members, including seven children ranging in age from 2 to 15, were evacuated safely from the house. The confrontation was on a leafy residential street in the south Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville. Dead were:

Police went to the house, in the 12000 block of 33rd Avenue, about 1:50 a.m. This was in response to a 911 call from the address about a domestic situation. What happened next hasn’t been confirmed in detail by police agencies, but fragmented accounts from various sources suggest this sequence: The first officers to the scene realized a heavily armed man had barricaded himself inside with family. The family included several children. The officers called for back-up. Dispatched were an armored vehicle, a SWAT team sharp-shooters, and negotiators. As police established a perimeter, there was gunfire from the house. During negotiations, police determined the man in the house was suicidal. Over the next few hours, shots were fired from several places in the house, both the first and second floors.. About 5:30 a.m.  Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Adam Finseth were shot.  A paramedic firefighter, Matthew Ruge, went to their aid and also was shot. All three died.  A fourth uniformed officer, Adam Medlicott, was shot too. His wounds turned out to be  sustainable.