Three shot dead in Coon Rapids home break-in
COON RAPIDS, Minn. – Three people were shot and killed at their home, one of them point-blank, in what police think was a brazen day-time robbery. There were no immediate arrests. Dead were:
> Mario Alberto Trejo Estrada, 39.
> Shannon Patricia Jungwirth, 42, his wife.
> Jorge Reyes-Jungwirth, 20, her son.
Police said surveillance video showed three men, two of them in UPS delivery uniforms, entering the house about 1:20 p.m. One was carrying a cardboard box, apparently for get-away loot. Ten minutes later the men came out and drove away in the vehicle in which they came. It was not a UPS van. In the house, police found three bodies, each in a different room, all shot in the head. Two children, age 4 and 2, wandered into the carnage according to video. Although hysterical, the children were unharmed, police said. Video inside the house showed the Estrada couple being held at gunpoint as the intruders demanded money. Other video showed Shannon Jungwirth being shot point-blank in a bedroom. Her husband was shot in a home office. The 20-year-old son was shot just inside the front door.
Murder scene. At 94th Avenue Northwest in Coon Rapids, a suburb in Anoka County north of Minneapolis.
State tax coffers filling faster than expected
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The state’s economy, as measured by tax collections, finished 2023 doing just fine. The state Budget Office reported the atest monthly collections totaled $5.2 million – about 1.4% more than projected. The breakdown:
> Individual income tax: $2.4 million, up 1.5%
> Sales tax: $1.2 million, off 0.1%.
> Corporate tax: $560,000, up 11.5%,
> Other: $945,000, off 3.2%.
Anonymous gift saves Winona kidney treatments
WINONA, Minn. – Donors have come forward to subsidize the Winona Heath kidney dialysis program that was scheduled for shutdown. Rachelle Schultz, the hospital’s chief executive, called it an “amazing gift.” Costs of running the dialysis unit were outstripping revenue by $1 million a year. This was from the hospital and clinic’s $113 million budget that was running a $2.5 million deficit. Schultz didn’t disclose the amount of the donation nor the names of the donors but said it was “in the spirit of the Ben and Rudy Miller families to maintain health care in our community.” The Millers, whose Winona fortune came from Fiberite resin engineering, have been instrumental in community philanthropy. The donation followed a blockbuster 1,600-word article by Chris Rogers, editor of the Winona Post, on how Winona kidney patients relied on the dialysis unit.
When kidneys fail. Patents sit for three hours thrice weekly for all their toxin-laden blood — every last drop — to be drawn into a filtering hemodialysis machine. Once filtered, the blood is cycled to the body. The machine is an artificial kidney so speak. The alternative: Dying.
R.I.P.: Marte Knopick
FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – Marte Knopick, 75, of Fountain City, a Winona High School graduate who lived most of her life in Chicken Valley, died at Gundersen hospital in La Crosse. Her home was the backdrop for countless joyful memories, including weddings, lively parties, and penny poker nights, her family said.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1949-2024
Seized in traffic stop: AK-47, handgun, drugs
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Police making a traffic stop found an AK-47 rifle in the vehicle, plus suspected cocaine and hallucinogenic drugs called “magic mushrooms.” Arrested was Somnith Thuo, 40, of Rochester. Thuo was carrying $1,700 in cash, police said. This was about 10 p.m. The stop was at 11th Street and Second Avenue Northwest for an inoperable brake light. Right away, officers said, they saw open beer cans and a 9mm bullet inside the vehicle. There was also an odor of fresh marijuana, they said. In the glove box was a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun. police said. The search also led to the discovery of, the suspected cocaine and mushrooms, and a digital scale. In the trunk police reported finding the AK-47, a military weapon. The suspected confiscated drugs were 13.5 grams of loose cocaine and 19.9 grams of packaged mushrooms, police said.
Thuo. Booking charges: Felony possession of with a firearm.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Rushford-Peterson Trojans 68, Winona Cotter Falcons 66
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 87, Chatfield Gophers 63
Basketball (boys): St. Charles Saints 71, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 62
Basketball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 67, St. Charles Saints 20
Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter Falcons 75, Rushford-Peterson Trojans 47
Basketball (girls): Chatfield Gophers 59, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 56
Hockey (boys): Winona Winhawks 7, Mankato East Cougars 3
Hockey (girls): Mankato East Cougars 3, Winona Winhawks 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (girls): Viroqua Blackhawks 40, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 30
Basketball (girls): Arcadia Raiders 58, Onalaska Luther Knights 56
Proposal: Extend, enrich school Spanish program
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona School Board committee has recommended broadening the district’s Rios Spanish immersion program for secondary-school students to develop Spanish language skills. These recommendations will go to the School Board. The Rios program began in elementary schools and now those students are in high school. The committee recommendations include a campaign to attract more elementary-children families to Rios and to add upper-level components in cultural studies, social studies, literature and film.
Sexploitation case detailed against Lewiston man
MINNEAPOLIS — A Lewiston man was charged in federal court with an sextortion scheme that investigators say victimized more than 60 minors, mostly girls but a few boys too. Federal prosecutor Michael McBride called it blackmail. According to court documents, Valentin Silva Quintana, 30, Snapchat, Instagram and other social media apps exploit girls primarily in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Zealand and elsewhere. This was over 11 months ending with Quintana’s arrest at his Lewiston home last June. The charge says that Quintana:
> Knew that most of the girls were between 9 and 12.
> Used fake identities, lied about his posed as a minor girl himself, and sometimes pretended be a friend or romantic partner, or by offering them money.
> Threatened to send image to their friends and family unless the girls produced ever more graphic sexual images and cavorting videos for him.
> Persisted even as victims wept and begged him to stop.
Federal Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright ordered that Quintana be held in jail pending further court proceedings. He already has spent 7-1/2 months in the Winona County jail after his arrest.
Call for tips
Although 60-plus minor girls have been identified in the sextortion, investigators believe there may be more. Anyone who believes they have information was encouraged to contact Homeland Security at toll-free 1-866-347-2423.
Verbatim
Jamie Holt, Homeland Security chief in St. Paul: ““Today’s indictment sends a crucial message to all predators: We will not allow any crimes against our most vulnerable population to go unpunished. We are dedicated to protecting our children against sexual predators who seek to take advantage of their innocence by working with our federal, state and local partners to bring people like Quintana to justice.”
An encounter of Impalas: Two drivers hurt
ETTRICK, Wis. — Two people were injured in a two-vehicle crash at County Road D on the Highway 53 bypass around Ettrick during the evening fog. Taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries were Gayle M. Jacobs, 76, of Ettrick, and Veronica S. Wry, 50, of Galesville. In an irony, said Trempealeau County deputies, both were driving Chevrolet Impalas, one blue one gray. The accident was about 5:40 p.m.
Report: Three Minnesota stillborns linked to syphilis
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Syphilis has re-emerged as a health threat in Minnesota. A new report from the state Health Department lists 29 infant cases in 2023. As recently as 2013 and 2014 there were no cases in the state, the report noted. The cases last year included three stillbirths. The disease had been passed on from mothers. Health authorities renewed their recommendation for screening three times during pregnancy. Maladies for newborns include premature birth, brain and nerve problems, blindness and deafness.
Verbatim
Brooke Cunningham, state health commissioner: “It is heartbreaking to see this surge in congenital syphilis in Minnesota and nationally. This is preventable by timely diagnosis and treatment.”
Voegeli opens campaign for Minnesota House
WINONA, Minn. – County Commissioner Dwayne Voegeli confirmed that he will seek the Democratic endorsement to represent Winona in state Legislature. Voegei called his bid “the next step” in a career of public service that includes 10 years on the County Board. Voegeli is the first Democrat to announce. The seat in the Legislature is for House District 26-A. The seat has been held 38 years by Gene Pelowski, who also is a Democrat. Already two Republicans, Aaron Repinski and Stephen Doerr, announced they were seeking the GOP endorsement to be on the November ballot.
Campaign values
In announcing his candidacy, Voegeli promised “a positive and respectful campaign.” He said he will strive to stay “humble and kind.” Leadership, he said, is “about service to others.” He has taught social science at Winona High School for 28 years. He said he has made arrangements, if elected, to take leave in spring semesters when the Legislature is in session. About teaching, Voegeli said:
“Every day I work with a wide range of wonderful kids and families. I love working with and listening to all kinds of people, especially people with different points of view. I see the light in everyone. There is much good in Winona and the world.”
Community record
Voegeli has a record of community volunteering. He has advocated for homeless people. This included the steering committee for the community warming center. He has helped organized a volunteer team at the homeless shelter. He helped found groups that provide food, shelter and clothing for Afghan, Central American, and other refugees. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he was outspoken:
“Democracy is a beautiful thing. It’s also a fragile thing. Ukraine right now is on the frontlines of that worldwide struggle and what we want to do is stand with them so they can enjoy the same things that we enjoy here.”
Voegeli. Grew up on a fourth-generation Brown Swiss dairy farm in Wisconsin. Has lived 28 years in Winona. Holds degree international politics from George Washington Universityand a master’s degree in education from Saint Mary’s University. Wife Denine teaches earth science. Two adult children.
Making a political decision
Voegeli said he has been asked to run for state office before but declined. Asked why now, Voegeli said he has spoken with many people in coming to a decision:”Yes, this is a tough and important family and personal decision.” On the County Board he said he has worked to make county government more user-friendly and transparent. Abiut his current County Board role, Viegeli said he would reman on the Board while campaignng for 26-A. If he loses the 26-A elecion, he woud sereve out his current. Board term. If he wins, he sad he would resign in late December to prepare for 2025 Legsilature’s session that begjnsin January.
Earlier: Voegeli set to announce candidacy for Legislature
Earlier: Pelowski’s CoVid-driven family decision to retire
Earlier: Earlier: Pelowski leaving Minnesota House after 39 years
House unit OKs physician-assisted suicide
ST. PAUL, Minn. – An overflow crowd packed a House Health Committee hearing on whether to allow physicians to facilitate a patient’s death. The committee passed the bill 10-5 and forwaded it to the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee. The prime sponsor. Mike Freiberg, D-Golden Valley, said he expected the bill to pass the House,. Passage in the Senate, observers said, could be problematic. Freiberg has introduced similar legislation before. This time, he noted, he has 25 co-sponsors. He pointed to states that have had favorable experience with physician-assisted suicide going back to Oregon in 1994. Freiberg’s bill would apply to patients with terminal illnesses and less than six months to live. They could obtain a prescribed drug to end their own lives. They would have to take the drugs themselves. Among testimony at the hearing and at a news conference outside:
> Nancy Unde, of Corcoran, who suffers aggressive brain cancer: “As I imagine the end of my life, I would like to be able to say my goodbyes and go peacefully. I’m thankful that we have hospice as an option. I will use it for the maximum comfort I can. But if it’s not enough, in the end, I want the option to die gently in my sleep.”
> Chris Massoglia, of Blaine, representing Americans United for Life: “Intentionally ending a human life is wrong. It doesn’t matter what name we call it. Suicide is not health care. And it’s completely unnecessary due to the advances in palliative and end-of-life care.”
Freiberg. Elected to the Golden Valley City Council in 2007. To the Legislature in 2012. An attorney for the Public Health Law Center in St. Paul.
Legislative detail
The 2024 Legislature doesn’t convene until February 12, but committees are free to conduct hearings earlier.
Formal title: Minnesota End-of-Life Option Act.
Essentia, Marshfield quit health-care merger plan
DULUTH, Minn. – Two major health-care chains, Minnesota-based Essentia Health and Wisconsin-based Marshfield Clinic, have calle doff a merger. In a joint news release the organizations said:
“We have decided that a combination at this time is not the right path forward for our respective organizations, colleagues and patients. We will continue to seek opportunities for collaboration as two mission-driven, integrated health systems dedicated to sustainable rural health care.”
The two systems had begun merger explorations in 2022. This July they signed an “integration agreement” for a new regional health system with facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota. It is that plan that has been dropped.
Marshfield Clinic. Recent focus has been to build rural services.
Essentia. $90 million \ Duluth hospital opened 2023.
System profiles
Essentia Health. Based in Duluth. With 2,100 physicians and clinicians. Includes 14 hospitals, 70 clinics, six long-term care facilities, six assisted and independent-living facilities, and one research education institute. Predecessor St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth founded in 1888.
Marshfield Clinic. Based in Marshfield, Wisconsin. With 1,200 physicians and clinicians. Includes 10 hospitals, 60 clinics, a medical research institute, and an education division. Founded in 1916.
Other mergers
Marshfield is not new to merger dances. Discussions with LaCrosse-based Gundersen fell apart in 2019. Some other regional consolidations have worked, some not. Gundersen and Green Bay-based Bellin merged in 2022. Talks between Gundersen and Rochester-based Mayo Clinic failed in 1994, and Mayo instead bought St. Francis Hospital in LaCrosse. This was after on-again off again merger talks between Gundersen and St. Francis failed to materialize.
Feds take over Lewiston online sex case
WINONA, Minn. – A Lewiston man in jail since July on charges of soliciting massive numbers of lewd selfies from children online has been turned over to federal agents. Valentin Silva Quintana, age 29, was transported to St. Paul for a new arraignment before a federal magistrate. The original arrest was without resistance July 6 at the man’s house in Lewiston. There had been a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Winona County sheriff’s internet crimes investigator developed forensic data on online activity that included at least one local victim and dozens elsewhere in the nation and also internationally. It was uncertain whether there was commercial exploitation or whether the solicitation was more a hobby, albeit perverse, among collectors. The charges against Quintana specified solicitation, distribution and possession of child pornography The investigation eventually expanded to include resources of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and later of the U.S. Homeland Security Department. Unsettled still is whether the Winona County charges will be superseded by federal charges.
Quintana. Winona County had charged him with 60 online contacts with chidren under 14 for photos, although, police said, there probably there were more. Also charged with first-degree criminal sexual penetration.
Forensics creates partial picture in July death
LACROSSE, Wis. – A convicted drug-dealer, already in jail, has been identified in the death of a \woman whose body was found along a LaCrosse hiking trail in July. Police said evidence led them to Benjamin Thoreson, 43. He had been arrested in a separate matter in August, two weeks after the death of Julia Hedum. Her body was found on the Bud Hendrickson hiking trail in north LaCrosse on July 23. The latest charge against Thoreson will be hiding a corpse, police said. Police investigators reported finding property belonging to Hedum in Thoreson’s room at a North Side hotel. Surveillance video showed him carting out a wagon with what appeared to be a body wrapped in a sheet, investigators said. A few days later, on the separate matter, Thoreson was indicted on federal drug trafficking and firearms charges. That case is still in the courts.
Thorseon. Already indicted for drugs and firearms. Now hiding a corpse?
Notable journalism
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (October 21, 2022): “Yet Another Minnesota House Republican’s Extremist History Exposed”
Chris Rogers (Winona Post, January 10, 2024): “Farm Organizations Apply to Join Daley Appeal”
Kimberly Wethal (Wisconsin State Journal, December 29, 2023): “Firing UW-LaCrosse Chancellor Not a Violation of Free Speech, Experts Say”
Well camouflaged: Can you spot the wild turkeys?
An arctic turkey trot. In the recent cold spell, turkeys began venturing down the bluffs for bits of foliage no matter how brown and desiccated. Six turkeys in this image are heading off a frozen slope to spring-fed Peterson Creek near the Lewiston skeet-shooting range. Image: Steve Lunde
News summary at mid-week January 24, 2024
POLITICS: Voegeli set to announce candidacy for Legislature
POLITICS: Phillips concedes New Hampshire primary
HEALTH: Winona Health ending costly kidney dialysis unit
HEALTH: Company closing Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls hospitals
MANUFACTURING: Say bye to Solvay: Now it’s Syensqo
GOVERANANCE: Start of a wildfire against new state flag?
CRIME: Fravel: So reviled he’s too hot to handle?
CRIME: Police beam leaves no place to hide
CRIME: Cops force fleeing car into stall-out spin
CRIME: A fetish for pickups? It happened one night
SCHOOLS: Rumor control: On Rochester teacher contract impasse
SCHOOLS: Arcadia hires new schools chief from Green Bay
HISTORY: $255,000 museum grant to Rushford historians
College scores
Basketball (men): Hamline 99, Saint Mary’s 65
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 85, UW-Whitewater 75
Basketball (women): Hamline 65, Saint Mary’s 55
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 85, UW-Whitewater 75
Cops: We found driver who fled
WINONA, Minn. – The driver of a stolen car who fled after a wreck on Grand Street didn’t have far to go, police said. Five days after the wreck Joel James Coleman III, 18, was arrested at his home — also on Grand Street and only a few houses from the wreck. The driver and a companion in the stolen car had fled the wreck and disappeared in a backyard just as a pursuing police officer pulled up in a squad car. The officer gave chase, but the pair were nowhere to be found. This was early Friday. About the second person: There has been no arrest.
Coleman. Booked for auto theft, fleeing police.
Pregnant woman battered at hotel; ammo found
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was arrested after his pregnant girlfriend was beaten at the Days Inn hotel on the Far West End. Arrested was Devon Carlton Zenk, 33. Zenk denied the attack. Police said that the woman had a black eye and that some hair had been pulled out. The incident was about 5 p.m. Police said the assault occurred in the hotel parking lot, in a hotel common area, and in the couple’s hotel room. Later with a search warrant, police found ammunition in the couple’s room. The ammo led to an additional charge, besides domestic abuse, against Zenk. As a felon he had been barred from possessing firearms and ammunition.
Zenk. Booking charges: Domestic assault, illegal possession of ammunition.
Winona Health ending costly kidney treatments
WINONA, Minn. – Caught in a financial squeeze, Winona Heath is closing its money-losing kidney dialysis program. Rachelle Schultz, Winona Health’s executive director, notified 32 patients that their three-times-a week appointments will not be booked after the end of February. Dialysis treatments involve draining, cleansing and restoring blood for patients whose own kidneys have failed. Each visit is a three-hour process. It’s a treatment essential for survival. Schultz said that some patients might consider recently developed home treatments or going to dialysis centers 40 miles away at Mayo Clinic in Rochester or at Gundersen or Mayo in LaCrosse. Schultz said that Winona Health lost $1 million last year on dialysis. “There was no way to fully mitigate that loss,” she said. “As we look into the future, we just can’t continue to absorb a loss like this.” She noted that the Winona Health dialysis unit held a premier five-star regional rating. Employees in the unit are being transferred to other Winona Health departments, Schutz said.
Verbatim
Schultz: “Through months of investigating options I held out hope we could find a way to ensure patients would be able to continue with dialysis locally. But the financial reality didn’t change. The solution is that patients are able to make a transition and continue receiving dialysis care, and that is the next best outcome.”
Schultz. Executive director at Winona Health since 2002. Holds doctorate n leadership from Creighton. Earlier degrees in health administration and economics
The process, the experience. Dialysis filters toxins that functionig kidneys normally remove from blood. Appointments are three hours three times a week.
Truck-car collision kills driver near RST airport
STEWARTVILLE, Minn. – A Mankato woman was killed when her car and a large delivery truck collided at an intersection west of the Rochester airport. Deputies said that Lenora Ingrid Tahtinen, 83, died apparently on impact. The collision was about 8:45 a.m. on wet surfaces. Deputies said the truck, a Freightliner M2 driven by Jeffry Allen Burnikel, 60, of Lime Springs, Iowa, \was heading north into Rochester County Road 8. He wasn’t hurt. Tahinen was eastbound on State Highway 30 in a 2017 Toyota Prius.
Emergency, fire crews make 54 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 39 emergency medical calls plus 15 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, January 23: 5 medical calls plus 4 fire calls
> Monday, January 22: 9 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Sunday, January 21: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire call.
> Saturday, January 20: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Friday, January 19: 1 medical call plus 1 fire call.
> Thursday, January 18: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, January 17: 9 medical calls plus 2 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 60 calls
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