Whack-a-mole: Daleys again file to expand herd
LEWISTION, Minn. – The Daley dairy farm has gone to the state Pollution Control Agency for a permit for a bigger feedlot to accommodate a larger herd. This latest Daley initiative comes after years of Daley appeals and lawsuits to exceed the Winona max on herd size. The Daleys have been to the courts and state agencies for hears, including the MPCA, but the legal concept of supremacy of local control has been confirmed all along. Even so, the MCPA has taken the latest Daley proposal under advisement and requested citizen comments by February 26.
Earlier: Large farm groups join Daley expansion fight
Earlier: Daleys back in court to triple Lewiston dairy herd
Earlier: Daleys to appeal new judgment on feedlot caps
Earlier: Daleys again lose bid to expand Lewiston dairy herd
Land stewards organize
Martin Moore, an organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, which supports the Winona County max, encouraged people to write the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and make these points:
> Adding 3,000 more cows to a single location would nearly triple the Daleys’ herd.
> Millions of gallons of liquid manure would result every year.
> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently has instructed state agencies to take bolder steps to address growing nitrate contamination as a public health crisis in southeast Minnesota.
> Expanding the Daley herd would consolidate Winona County’s dairy industry further and push more farmers off the land.
News summary at mid-week February 7, 2024
POLITICS: Kruger starts Winona campaign for Minnesota Legislature
CRIME: Felony lies: Second twin accused in Amish wreck
CRIME: Cops: Driver hauling meth, even more at home
CRIME: Homicide charged against twin in Amish wreck
CRIME: Bar patron left drunk, rammed building, drove off
CRIME: Party host waves AK-47 to evict wild revelers
GOVERNANCE: How they voted: On Homeland impeachment
GOVERNANCE: How they voted: On war aid, border fixes / 1
GOVERNANCE: Minnesota Senate has new majority leader
GOVERNANCE: Any ideas to reform winter parking? Anyone? Anyone?
COLLEGES: State budget: Fingers crossed at Southeast College
INFERNO: Fire levels Lutsen Resort on North Shore
College scores
Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 89, Augsburg 80
Basketball (men): UW-Stout 74, UW-LaCrosse 68
Basketball (women): Augsburg 70, Saint Mary’s 50
Basketball (women): UW-Stout 84, UW-LaCrosse 69
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Rochester Marshall Rockets 82, Rochester Century Panthers 73
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 2, Waseca Blue Jays 1
Hockey (girls): Lakeville South Cougars 12, Rochester Century Panthers 0
Hockey (girls): Albert Lea Tigers 7, Red Wing Wingers 0
How they voted: On war aid, border fixes / 1
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate blocked a $188 billion package to continue sending weapons and other aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine as well as to bulk up security at the Mexico border. The vote, 50-49, was on a parliamentary step that required a super majority of 60 votes to advance to full debate. It was expected the bill would re-emerge within a few days with the foreign war aid and the border issues separated out. Senate Republicans, under pressure from former President Donald Trump, objected to the border provisions for fear the provisions would strengthen border security on President Biden’s watch and undermine a Trump claim that he alone could improve the border situation. How the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations voted:
For war, border funding
> Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
> Amy Klobubar, D-Minn.
> Tina Smith, D-Minn.
Against
> Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Goodview crash injures Circle Pines driver
GOODVIEW, Minn. — A driver was injured on U.S. Highway 61 heading south into Winona when she lost control and struck a tree. Selah Belle Hunt, 18, of Circle Pines, was taken to the Winona hospital with non-life threatening injuries. She was in a 2010 Nissan Sentra. Thus was about 3:30 p.m. at the 44th Avenue intersection. Pavement was dry, police said.
Cops: Driver hauling meth, even more at home
Gilberg. Booked possession with intent to deliver meth.
From the jailhouse evidence room. Confiscated baggies of meth ready for sale.
Arrest just across river from Winona
BLUFF SIDING, Wis. – A Jackson County man was arrested in a traffic stop with meth, which led to a search of his house where a large cache of drugs was fud packaged for sale. About noon a Buffalo County deputy pulled over a car driven by Gary Gilberg, 74, of Taylor. This was near the Highway 35 rest stop between Bluff Siding and \Marshland. A K-9 aide smelled meth and 21 gams of meth were found, the deputy said. Things for Gilberg got worse. A search of his house 40 miles asway in Taylor found an additional 397 grams of meth in 78 individual baggies for sale. Altogether, the meth had street value estimated at $42,000. Whether Gilberg had cooked the stuff himself was unclear in the criminal complaint.
Felony lies: Second twin accused in Amish wreck
Fateful crest. Two Amish children were killed on their way to school in a horse-drawn buggy and two others seriously injured The buggy was rear-ended by a car driven by a Spring Valley woman who police say was high on meth and speeding.
Sisters charged with cover-up complicity
PRESTON, Minn. — The twin sister of a woman accused of killing two Amish children in a backroads crash has been charged with lying to protect her sister. Filed against Sarah Beth Petersen, 35, were 16 felony couts. Eight counts were aiding and abetting an offender — her sister Samantha Jo Petersen. Eight were for taking responsibility for criminal acts. The charges can mean 80 years in prison. Samantha Jo was charged two days earlier with vehicular homicide. The crash was in September. The investigation was delayed by contradictory evidence. The contradictions, say investigators, included cover stories from the sisters.
The collision
A silver 2005 Toyota 4Runner a crested a hilltop on Fillmore County Highway 1 east of Racine the morning about 8:25 a.m. on September 25. The vehicle was speeding between 63 mph and 71, according to a police reconstruction of the accident. The zone is 55 mph. The view on the road was clear for 1,450 feet with no obstructions, according to the reconstruction. The Toyota rear-ended the two-wheel horse-drawn buggy. Killed, apparently outright, were Irma Miller, 11, and Wilma Miller, 7. Their siblings, Rose Miller, 13, and Alan Miller, 9, were injured and taken 22 miles to a Rochester hospital. They eventually recovered. The kids were on their way to school.
Pieces of the puzzle
This is what happened next, according to the 18-page criminal complaint and information gleaned from police accident report, from witness recollections, from collaborating interviews, and from other sources:
> Samantha Jo Petersen was driving. She recognized the seriousness of the accident and knew that she was particularly liable because she was high on drugs. Inside her Toyota 4Runner a deputy found burned marijuana butts and “a small tin can commonly used to hold marijuana. A blood draw showed Samantha Jo with the presence of methamphetamine, amphetamine and Delta 9 cannabinoid.
> Samantha Jo called her twin sister at a HyVee grocery in Rochester, where was in duty. The sister, Sarah Beth, left work and drove to the crash scene.
These are voice and text messages from various exchanges:
Samantha Jo in online searches: “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people?”
“If you hit a buggy and kill two people, are you going
> Sarah Beth beat police to the scene. Meanwhile, witnesses who had happened on the crash saw a woman they presumed involved in the crash on a cell phone. Apparently this was Samantha Jo. Then, they said, another woman, apparently Sara Beth, showed up. “She just sort of appeared,” said one of the witnesses. One woman hugged the other woman, who was heard saying that she didn’t see the Amish buggy “until it was too late.” Nobody saw the women in the act of swapping clothes, but Samantha Jo apparently put on Sarah Beth’s red Hy-Vee T-shirt and back smock to appear that she had been at work. The women then waited for police to arrive, preparing for Sarah Beth to take responsibility for the crash.
> Once deputies arrived, the sisters were told to wait in a squad car. Not realizing that the car’s audio recording equipment was picking up their conversation, the sisters discussed how law enforcement could not tell them apart. “There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell,” Samantha Jo said.
> Samantha Jo also sent a text message to friends: “Made Sarah come and take the fall for it so I wouldn’t go to prison.”
> Another snippet from the squad car recording: “I think that one of the guys is on to me, but I don’t really care. There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell.”
> Later, still in the squad car bt talking with a deputy, Sarah Beth explicitly claimed to have been the driver. She told a deputy she didn’t feel like she did anything wrong but knew that she “hit someone, killed someone,” and would have to live with that for the rest of her life. She later said she wanted to speak to an attorney.
> While at the scene, Samantha Jo asked to grab an ID under the floor mat from the silver Toyota.
Later communications
> Around 10 a.m. Samantha Jo, who also had a Hy-Vee job, texted her boss to call her. To the co-worker on the other end, Samantha Jo said that she was on meth and that she had killed two Amish children after crashing into their buggy: “I fucked up. I just killed two Amish people.” The co-worker asked Samantha Jo if she had been drinking. Samantha responded: “No, you know that’s not my first choice. I’m high on meth.” Talking later to her boss, Samantha Jo said she had left the scene after Sarah Beth arrived.
> Over the next two days Samantha Jo kept sharing information about the crash. Among messages was that she “hit that Amish buggy and killed two ppl” and “made sarah come there and take the fall for it so i wouldn’t go to prison.”
The sister-sister link
Sarah Beth was indebted to Samantha Jo, who took care of Sarah’s children during time in jail. Samantha Jo’s court record shows dozens of run-ins with police, all misdemeanors involving driving and drugs and one for giving an arresting officer a false name. These demeanors go back to when Samantha Jo was a minor. Shortly after the Amish crash the sisters left Spring Valley and moved two counties away to Kellogg, Minnesota.
State budget: Fingers crossed at Southeast College
WINONA, Minn. – The dual-campus Southeast State College has lots on the line — $14.6 million – in the state budget proposed by Governor Tim Walz. The gbvernir ha asked Legislature for the money for modernization project. These include designing and renovating existing spaces, including classrooms, labs and student service areas. The projects would improve nursing, health science, radiology and cosmetology spaces, while also creating a multi-cultural diversity center and integrated student services spaces. Trustees of the Minnesota State colleges system have calculated the renovations would reduce the college’s deferred maintenance costs by $1.4 million at the Red Wing and Winona campuses. The projects are on the agenda of the Legislature, which convenes next week for its once-every-second-year session on state construction spendings.
Emergency, fire crews make 49 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 45 emergency medical calls plus 6 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, February 13: 2 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Monday, February 12: 10 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Sunday, February 11: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire call.
> Saturday, February 10: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Friday, J February 9: 9 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Thursday, February 8: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Wednesday, February 7: 9 medical calls plus no fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 49 calls
R.I.P.: Rob Linden
WINONA, Minn. — Robert “Rob” Charles Linden, 75 of Winona, who operated Rob Linden Advertising for 30 years, died at a Mayo hospital in Rochester. He was a Winona School High and held a bachelor’s degree. He worked with local businesses as an independent author. He was an avid collector of matchbox and toy cars and enjoyed classic cars and canoeing. He was a member of the Flat Liners Club and a member of the Ford F-150 Club in Minneapolis.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1948-2024
Bar patron left drunk, rammed building, drove off
BrickYard bar. At 579 East Third Street. Aptly named from its origins as a brickyard, the bar took the impact unusually well, abeit the wall being bowed by the impact. This sunny-day photo is from summer.
Clue to driver: Had used credit card to pay his tab
WINONA, Minn. – Police tracked a Minneapolis man to an East Second Street address after a hit-and-run incident in which a driver smashed inti the exterior of the BrickYard bar. Christopher Michael Means, 33, was arrested. He was still drunk, police said, his blood-alcohol measuring 0.10%. Means had been at the bar and used a credit card to pay his tab, which gave police a clue to whom they were looking for. The crash had been about 11:50 p.m. Also, a bartender got the car’s license plate number as the vehicle drove off. Police found the vehicle parked at the Third Street address. They said that Means admitted to driving the vehicle, which wasn’t his; to crashing into the building; and to leaving the scene. His eyes were bloodshot and watery eyes, his speech slurred , and his body stank of alcohol, police said.
College scores
Wrestling: UW-LaCrosse 49, UW-Platteville 0
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Owatonna Huskies 80, Winona Winhawks 73
Basketball (boys): LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 93, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 64
Basketball (girls): Winona Winhawks 74, Owatonna Huskies 55
Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 62, Winona Cotter Ramblers 50
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 62, Winona Cotter Ramblers 50
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 68, Neillsville Warriors 49
Basketball (girls): Whitehall Norse 72, Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 60
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 48, Eau Claire Immanuel Lancers 46
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 72, Alma-Pepin Eagles 40
Basketball (girls): West Salem Panthers 82, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 22
How they voted: On Homeland impeachment
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House voted 216-214 against impeaching President Biden’s Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. A coterie of extremist House Republicans backed by former President Trump had had accused Mayorkas of ignoring immigration policy on the Mexico border situation. This was after their attempts fizzled to impeach Biden. The GOP group had no evidence that either Biden or Mayorkas had committed an impeachable offense but were eager to grand-stand vocally in frustration. Their failed impeachment attemt was honchoed by Trump devotee Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Here is how the Minnesoota and Wisconsin delegations voted:
To impeach Mayorkas
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs).
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (south).
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west).
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn 8 (Iron Range).
—
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Clyman).
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport).
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville).
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst).
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du
Against
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs).
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul).
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis).
> Dean Phillips, D-Mn3 (west suburbs).
—
> Mike Gallagher, R-Wi8 (Green Bay).
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee).
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison).
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst).
Crash with injuries at U.S. 52 entry ramp
ORONOCO, Minn. – A Fridley driver was hurt albeit not seriously in a two-vehicle crash between Oronoco and Rochester on U.S. Highway 52. Albert Lucky William, 50, was taken six miles to a Rochester hospital. The other driver,, Timothy Walter Rahman, 41, of Plainview, was unhurt. Rahman, in a 2014 GMC Sierra pickup, was entering U.S. 52 from 75th Street Northwest, deputies reported. William was driving a 2011 Ford Edge. His airbag deployed. The pickup’s did not.
Merchants alert: Fake $100 bills out there
WINONA, Minn. – A Kwik Trip clerk with eagle eyes spotted a counterfeit $100 bill that a customer was attempting to pass – and then two more. There were three Ben Franklins in all, the clerk told police. This was about 4 p.m. at the convenience store at Highway 43 and Homer Road on the Far East End. The bill-passer had left before police arrived, but they believe they found the suspect later in a traffic stop.
Minnesota Senate has new majority leader
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Senate Democrats selected Erin Murphy as their new majority leader. Murhpy, an eight-term senator from Minneapolis, will succeed Kari Dziedzic, another Twin Cities Democrat. Driedzic resigned Friday because of cancer. Murphy served as assistant majority leader in the 2023 legislative session.
Murphy profile
From Senate District 64 in St. Paul, which includes the Highland Park, Macalester-Groveland, Merriam Park, Summit Hill and St. Anthony Park neighborhoods. She is a former majority leader of the Minnesota House. Earlier she was executive director of the Minnesota Nurses Association.
Murphy. In the Minnesota Senate since 2020. Earlier five terms in the Minnesota House. Age: 63.
Fire levels Lutsen Resort on North Shore
Smoke in empty lobby. The fire was spotted about 12:30 a.m. by the only eperson in the lodge the time Smoke was coming from the floor, the employee said. Image: Tim Miller
Building engulfed when firefighters arrived
LUTSEN, Minn. — An overnight fire destroyed the historic Lutsen Resort lodge, a classic three-story log structure on the north shore of Lake Superior 90 miles from Duluth There were no guests in the 170-room lodge, it being a normally slow Monday night in an unusually mild winter with limited outdoor activities. One staffer who was in the lodge called 911 about 12:30 a.m. after seeing smoke coming from the floor in the lobby. The building was too far gone when volunteer firefighters arrived from Finland, Grand Marais, Grand Portage Gunflint, Lutsen, Maple Hill, Tofte and Silver Bay. The building was “completely engulfed,” said a Cook County deputy. Owner Bryce Campbell promised to “begin the heavy weighted process to rebuild back better.”
Rustic elegance. At $585 a night.
Lutsen Lodge profile
Lutsen Lodge dates back 139 years and considered to be Minnesota’s oldest resort. It’s a pricey place stay: $585 a night. The LodgeXhas been visited by fire beFOre– in 1949, 1951 and 2024 – and always rebuilt. .Seven mONThs ago a popular nearby restaurant ,Papa Charlie’s, was also destroyed in an early morning fire.
R.I.P.: Mary Paszkiewicz
WINONA, Minn. – Mary Paszkiewicz, 94, of Winona, a bookkeeper with St. Stanislaus School and Church as well as Cotter High School, died peacefully. In her 50s, she returned to college to earn a degree. She continued to work into her 80s. Friends recallrd her as an amazing card player. She hosted multiple card groups at her home weekly.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1929-2024
College scores
Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 71, St. Scholastica 65
Basketball (women): St. Scholastica 77. Saint Mary’s 61
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 60, Winona Cotter Ramblers 50
Basketball (boys): St. Charles Saints 127, Rochester Science 37
Basketball (girls): Lake City Tigers 63, St. Charles Saints 17
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Viroqua Blackhawks 74, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 60
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 69, Cadott Hornets 48
Basketball (girls): Bangor Cardinals 58, Arcadia Raiders 35
Hard not to be out: At 50, temps press record
Backwater ice relents. At least in places. A couple guys with fishing gear but still bundled in jackets. It’s still February after all. Image: Steve Lunde
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