Voegeli set to announce candidacy for Legislature
WINONA, Minn. – A veteran of the Winona County Board, Dwayne Voegeli, has decided to run for the state Legislature, according to a knowledgeable source. Voegeli will be seeking the District 26-A seat from Winona. The seat is being vacated by fellow Democrat Gene Pelowski, who is retiring. Voegeli was elected to the Winona County Board in 2002 and served two terms. He was elected again in 2022. Currently he is Board chair. Voegeli, age 56, teaches social science at Winona High School. He was selected as Winona Teacher of the Year in 2009 and the next year was among 10 finalists fir state Teacher of the Year.
Voegeli. Hat in the ring for State House of Representatives.
Political path ahead
Although the period for candidates to file doesn’t open until May 21, the field for Minnesota House District 26-A is filling up.
> Republicans: Winona City Council member at-large Aaron Repinski and former 26-A candidate Stephen Doerr have announced their candidacies.
> Democrats: Winona County Board Chair Dwayne Voegeli has announced, A second Democrat is expected to announce soon.
Other candidates also could be forthcoming. With multiple candidates, run-off primary elections will be needed to decide who is each party’s candidate on the November ballot.
R.I.P.: Bruce Whetstone
WINONA, Minn. – Bruce G. Whetstone, age 77, of Winona, who owned Whetstone Auto and Truck Salvage and worked all his life as an auto recycler, died at home. He graduated from Winona High School in 1966. He enjoyed restoring automobiles, especially Ford Mustangs. He also enjoyed metal detecting on trips to to Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and Montana.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1946-2024
Phillips concedes New Hampshire primary
Displacing the glum. To supporters in New Hampshire, Phillips exudes exuberance even while conceding. His message: Upward, onward. Phillips is finishing his third term in Congress from western Minneapolis suburbs.
Minnesotan still sees self as best hope against Trump
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Minnesotan Dean Phillips, who has given up his seat in Congress to run for president, congratulated Joe Biden for his victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Biden won by almost a 2-1 margin. But Phillips told supporters he is undeterred in his bid for the presidential nomination at the Democratic national convention in Chicago in August: “Your votes tonight were the most meaningful votes you’ve ever cast in your life, and I’ll make that promise to you.” He repeated his campaign point that the is a stronger candidate to go against Donald Trump if Trump indeed gets the GOP nomination. “The polls are saying Mr. Biden cannot win. His approval numbers are saying he can’t win, We’re going to go to South Carolina, to Michigan, and 47 other states.”
Earlier: Minnesota’s Phillips falters in New Hampshire
Police beam leaves no place to hide
“Stop! Raise your hands!” It was a dramatic if not dangerous finale to a police chase. The driver had abandoned his disabled vehicle on the ice on Lake Altoona and tried getting away on foot. Image: Altoona police
Roads around lake’s perimeter like a fence
ALTOONA, Wis. – A driver being chased by police made a daring turn into the ice on Lake Altoona to get away. A bad choice. His vehicle got stuck in the lake snow. So he set out running across the 840-facre frozen lake. He gave up a half mile out – a police searchlight illuminating his every move and officers waiting every which way on shore. Finally Nicholas Rickey, 22, of Chippewa Falls, gave up. The chase had begun when Lake Hallie police pursued a pursuing a vehicle into Eau Claire County. Officers were positioned to intercept the vehicle, but the driver turned into the Seymour Boat Landing and drove onto the Lake Altoona ice. Officers followed half mile on the ice until Rickey was taken into custody. He was walked back to the Lake Altoona Park boat landing and turned him over to Lake Hallie police. Police said Rickey’s pockets were stuffed with alcoholic beverages and so too his vehicle.
Rickey. Booked at the Chippewa County Jail for fleeing an officer, intoxicated driving, and driving with a revoked license. His third time for drunken-driving.
Driver ignores flashing, clanging railroad warning
WINONA, Minn. – A driver busted through a railroad crossing arm on Sioux Street and broke it off, according to witnesses who called police. Police found the car nearby, its hood still warm and with damage from the broken-off crossing arm. This was about 10:10 p.m. Arrested at the address where the car was parked: Ashley Claire Schietke, 37. A breath test showed her blood-alcohol at 0.18% — more than twice the legal threshold for impairment. Police said Schietke admitted to “a couple beers.”
Complex crossing
The single-track Canadian Pacific mainline crosses three intersecting streets — Sioux, Gilmore and Mark. It was unclear whether Schietke was trying to beat a train or was just impatient after a train had passed. About one train an hour passes through town at 40 mph. These are mostly freights, some more than a mile long, and at night the St. Paul-bound Empire Builder passenger train.
Schietke. Charged with driving drunk, crossing tracks illegally, and leaving the scene.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Winona Winhawks 82, Kasson-Mantorville Komets 72
Basketball (boys): Caledonia Warriors 77, St. Charles Saints 38
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 62, Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 57
Basketball (girls): Caledonia Warriors 66, St. Charles Saints 24
Hockey (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 1, Winona Winhawks 0
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 76, Black River Falls Tigers 48
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 69, Whitehall Norse 53
Basketball (boys): Independence Indees 58, Augusta Beavers 46
Basketball (girls): Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 51, Viroqua Blackhawks 23
Minnesota’s Phillips falters in New Hampshire
CONCORD, N.H. – The first trial run of Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips for the Democratic presidential nomination didn’t go well. Phillips took only 20% of the vote. Incumbent President Joe Biden took almost 33% even though he wasn’t on the ballot and didn’t campaign. Biden’s votes were write-ins. Feel-good author Marianne Williamson received 5%. Even so, the Democratic votes were moot. In an intra-party squabble, the National Democratic Party decided many months ago not to recognize the New Hampshire primary. The state’s 32 delegates instead were chosen two weeks ago at district caucuses. The squabble had prompted Phillips to launch a long–shot candidacy to show he was a viable alternative to Biden. In response, the New Hampshire Democratic establishment organized a write-in campaign for Biden rather than risk an embarrassing loss to Phillips. In contrast, the Republican primary stuck to the usual rules. Former President Donald Trump won 55% to 44% over former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. For Trump the margin was a setback considering he had characterized himself in continuing self-denial as an incumbent, albeit he lost the presidency to Biden in 2020.
Earlier: MN-3’s Phillips leaving Congress to tackle Biden
Voting databank
The New Hampshire turnout, at 322,000, was robust.
Democrat totals
Biden: 37.% (37,597 votes).
Phillips: 19.8% (19,917).
Williamson: 4.8% (4,309).
Republican totals
Trump: 54.6% (160,356).
Haley: 43.2% (126,194).
Rumor control: On Rochester teacher contract impasse
ROCHESTER, Minn. – In a rare look at in-process contract negotiations, the superintendent of Rochester schools, Kent Pekel, laid out details of the School Board’s offer to teachers. Negotiations have reached an impasse. In an open letter, Pekel addressed street talk around town about contact issues – some of it flat-out wrong, he suggested. Pekel listed these particulars in the School Board offer:
> Compensation increases would average $6,700 the first year with none less than be $3,900. There would be 2.17% more the second year.
> A.4% increase in the School Board budget over wo years. That, he said, would be one of the largest increases in any new contract deal in the state – and the largest increase in total compensation that Rochester teachers have received in 30 years.
> The School Board already has accepted 100% of increased health-care premiums, which, Pekel said have led to “significant increases” in take-home pay.
Verbatim
Pekel, in denying hiding or mismanaging funds: “The financial position of Rochester Public Schools is continually monitored not only by the State of Minnesota but also by the bond rating agencies that determine the rates we pay to borrow money for construction and a wide array of other essential expenses. Last year RPS received its fourth flawless external audit in a row, confirming that our school district adheres to the highest standards of financial management and public reporting of its resources.”
Fire damage severe at East End house
Sub-freezing fire call. The fire, only a few blocks from the city’s Central fire hall on Third Street, was controlled within 30 minutes. Image: Winona Fire Department
No injuries: Occupant escaped safely
WINONA, Minn. – The lone occupant of a Far East Side house escaped from the 1-1/2 story burning structure. The fire was in the 200 block of St. Charles Street. A police officer on patrol called in the fire about 12:45 a.m When firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed. The occupant had exited even before the police officer spotted the fire. Not having a phone, the man had raced to a neighbor’s house to call for help. The house was deemed uninhabitable.
Cops force fleeing car into stall-out spin
GOODVIEW, Minn. – Police arrested a driver whose car had been disabled after running over a police spike-strip after a 25-mile chase. For the final two miles, the car, with at least one tire punctured, was limping at 20 mph with police right behind. Arrested was Anthony Robert Lemon, 53, of Rochester but who was believed living in the Hidden Valley trailer court in Minnesota City. Lemon gave up without resistance. A search of the vehicle yielded 9 grams suspected to be the illegal opioid fetanyl, police said.
As fast as 90 mph
Lemon. Why weaving? Why flee? Why fetanyl?
The chase began a little after midnight in Olmsted County when an officer tried to stop a weaving car. The driver accelerated toward the county line in St. Charles. The Olmsted officer terminated the chase but radioed ahead. In Lewiston, 10 miles into Winona County, deputies picked up the pursuit. Seven miles later in Stockton the driver suddenly turned 90 degrees onto County Road 23 toward Minnesota City. Speeds wee as fast as 90 mph on the dark county road, police said. At the T-junction with Highway 61 in Minnesota City, police from Goodview, alerted the chase was headed their way, laid the spike strip. One tire was punctured. The driver turned north on 61, made it a mile, one wheel riding on a rim, to the Rollingstone exit. He made a U-turn back to Minnesota City and then Goodview, In Goodview the pooice, their patience strained, initiated a tricky tactic to force the vehicle into a 180-degree stall. It worked. For Lemon it was all over,
Throwing the book at him
Lemon was booked at the Winona County jail at 1:29 a.m. on these charges:
> Fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.
> Stealing a car.
> Driving a vehicle without registration.
> Turning without a signal.
> Driving without proof of insurance.
> Driving with a revoked license.
> Speeding.
> Driving recklessly.
> Possessing a controlled substance.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Adams Southland Rebels 90, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 87
Basketball (boys): Winona Cotter Ramblers 71, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 40
Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter Ramblers 69, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 59
Basketball (girls): Blooming Prairie Amazing Bloomers 57, St. Charles Saints 13
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 84, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 75
Basketball (girls): Whitehall Norse 45, Black River Falls Tigers 28
Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Logan Rangers 68, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 40
Basketball (girls): Greenwood Indians 50, Independence Indees 35
Arcadia hires new schools chief from Green Bay
ARCADIA, Wis. –The Arcadia School Board voted to hire a Green Bay high school principal as the district’s new superintendent. Lori Ann Frerk begins in July, succeeding Lance Bagstad, who is retiring after six years. Her new salary: $152,500. At Green Bay, Frerk has been principal at the 1,100-student East High School for 10 years. Frerk began her career as a math teacher. Her age: 55. Arcadia schools have almost 1,300 students. The president of the Arcadia School Board, Paul Servais, said Frerk’s experience with an ethnically diverse school population will be helpful in Arcadia, whose students are 76% Hispanic.
Frerk. To have $22 million annual budget for a high school, a middle school and two grade schools.
Company closing Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls hospitals
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.— The Illinois-based hospital chain HSHS is closing its Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls hospitals in a “complete exit” from the western Wisconsin health-care market. The announcement was unexpected. Closing:
> HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital. In Eau Claire. 216 beds.
> HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital. In Chippewa Falls. 102 beds.
> Prevea Health. A physician network with primary and specialty care.
Fourteen-hundred employees will be laid off. These are about 1,100 at the hospitals and 300 with Prevea. What went wrong? The company cited financial stress from the CoVid pandemic, inflation, workforce constraints, local market challenges, and industry-wide trends. Unaffected are HPHP hospitals in Green Bay, Oconto Falls and Sheboyhgan. The company’s departure from western Wiscosin will leave Eau Claire with a Mayo hospital and clinics. These are within 15 miles of Chippewa Falls.
Verbatim
Damond Boatwright, HSHS chief executive. “We closely considered other options and sought strategic alternatives. After an agreement with a suitable partner did not work out, it was determined that exiting the market is the only feasible path forward.”
HSHS profile
HSHS, short for Hospital Sisters Health System, is a non-profit faith-based health system with 15 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. It dates to 1844 in Germany. In the United States it opened its first hospital in 1875 in Springfield, Illinois. It operates St. John’s College in Springfield, the oldest Catholic hospital-based nursing school in the United States.
Police have name in Grand Street smash-up
WINONA, Minn. – Police have identified a person in a four-car accident that punctuated a police chase early Friday. Being sought is “a person of interest,” a police spokesperson said. The name was not released. Two persons had fled the scene and eluded officers. This was on Grand Street. No one was injured. Three of the wrecked cars were parked unoccupied on the street when a speeding car missed a corner and struck them. This was a little before 5 a.m.
Enrollment loss seals fate of LaCrosse school
LACROSSE, Wis. – The La Crosse School Board voted 6-2 to close historic Lincoln School due to declining enrollment. Students instead will go Longfellow or Logan middle school. The building, at 510 Ninth Street, is being sold to developers for $2.2 million to convert into affordable housing.
Lincoln School. After 100 years too costly to maintain. Image: Wisconsin Historical Society
Notable journalism
Gabriel Hathaway (Winona Post, January 19 2024): “Drone to Assist WPD with Searches”
Caden Perry (Winona Daily News, December 29, 2023): “Fired UW-LaCrosse Chancellor Defends Porn Videos Made with Wife and Adult Stars Since 2015”
Alexandra Retter (Winona Post, January 19, 2024): “Grant Puts Cameras on School Bus Stop Arms”
Rural firewood burner out of control
WILSON, Minn. – A wood shed and firewood burner were destroyed in a fire on Reinhard Drive east of Wilson. The shed was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived about 1:45 a.m. The burner’s value was estimated at $5,000.
Say bye to Solvay: Now it’s Syensqo
WINONA, Minn. – The Solvay logo around town is disappearing, just as did the logo of the predecessor Winona-born company Fiberite in 1997. The manufacturer of adhesives and lightweight carbon fiber has been spun off by its Belgian owners and rechristened. The new name: Syensqo, which may seem a little too clever for “science-koh” but that’s how the new company wants you to say it. In announcing the spin-off, Syensqo’s U.S. headquarters in Texas made no comment about any changes in the Winona operation. The Winona plant employs 200 people. The split from Solvay, accordig to new company, marks a significant strategic shift” in the competitive marketplace for specialty polymers and composite processing technologies. The Syensqo portfolio is especially diversified, the company said. The Syensqo spin-off has $8.5 billion in annual sales. Its products include not only adhesives but also specialty polymers nd fragrances. The Winona plant produces mostly aerospace composite materials. The olant occupies most of two city blocks between Olmstead and McBride streets between Third and Fourth streets.
New name, new logo. Some locals still call it Fiberite.
Time to call the painters. Again. At 501 West Third Street. Image: Steve Lunde
Syensqo profile
The Syensqo facility in Winona was founded in 1948 as Fiberite by local entrepreneurs Ben and Rudy Miller. The Millers built Fiberite into a major role in the emergency composites industry by engineering resins that were far lighter than aluminum and incredibly stronger — and also far less expensive than titanium. The Millers cashed in on their innovations in 1985 and sold the company to the British conglomerate Imperial Chemical Industries, which adjusted the local name “ICI Fiberite.” ICI sold the company to Cytec Engineered Materials of New Jersey in 1997. In 2015 Cytec was purchased by Solvay of Belgium. These all were multi-billion dollar deals. Solvay will continue to exist but corporately separate from the Syensqo spin-off.
Why “Syensqo”?
It takes some explaining. So hang on:
>“Sy.” Links back to the first and last letters in Solvay.
> “En.” A nod to Ernest Solvay’s name.
> “Syens.” For “science” get it? Refers to Solvay’s scientific heritage, which goes back to 1911, when its founder. Ernest Solvay. brought 24 of the world’s most brilliant scientific minds together – including Albert Einstein and Marie Curie – for the first Solvay Conference. In fact, the impact was so profound that the Unesco World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe the archives of the Solvay Conferences for Physics and Chemistry in its Memory of the World Register.
> “Q.” Points to this same 1911 conference, which laid the foundations for quantum physics, whhc ed to cutting-edge innovations.
> “Qo.” For company.
Southern winds pushing mercuries up
WINONA, Minn. – Southern winds pushed a freezing air mass out of their way and brought temperatures to the mid-teens. The National Weather Service predicted highs in the mid-30s in Winona County for Monday. Above average temperatures were expected through the week. There could be manageable snow Tuesday morning, forecasters said.
DeSantis ends GOP presidential campaign
ST.PAUL, Minn. – Although ballots for Minnesota’s Super Tuesday presidential primary list Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a candidate, he isn’t. On Sunday DeSantis quit his once high-flying bid for the GOP nomination. The death knell was the Iowa caucuses. DeSantis managed only 21% of the vote — well behind Donald Trump’s 51%. “We don’t have a clear path to victory,” DeSantis said.
Post-Iowa toll
Also withdrawing their candidacies but whose names also remain on the Minnesota Repuhlican ballot:
> Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor.
> Vivek Ramaswamy, wealthy entrepreneur.
Rollover injures driver just south of Winona
HOMER, Minn. – A LaCrosse woman, alone in her car, was injured when the vehicle left four-lane Highway 61 and rolled. Julie Louise Scholz, 77, of La Crosse, was taken to the nearby Winona hospital with injuries that deputies described as non-life threatening. The accident was about 12:40 p.m. near the Highway 61 intersection with County Road 15 up the bluffs to Witoka. Airbags in the 2017 Toyota Rav4 deployed. The road surface was dry.
Impairment tested after meth found on driver
WINONA, Minn. – A Rochester driver was booked after a traffic stop in which police said meth weighing 0.9 grams was found in her purse. Jennifer Elaine Newlan, 41, was stopped downtown at Fourth and Center streets about 8:50 p.m. The arresting office said her eyes wer red and dilated and her speech slurred. She was booked for drunken driving. A blood draw for possible drug impairment was sent to an outside lab for testing.
Newlan. Police say meth in purse
A fetish for pickups? It happened one night
VIROQUA, Wis. – For the Vernon County sheriff’s dispatcher it was dejavu, dejavu the other morning.
> 5:45 a.m.: A black Ford F-250 pickup was reported missing along rural Will Kumlin Road near DeSoto.
> 6 a.m.: A black 2015 Chevrolet Equinox was missing from another Kumin Road address.
> 7:15 a.m. A silver 2013 Chevrolet Silverado K3500 was missing from Peterson Avenue near Viroqua.
Investigators connected the thefts to Colton Frazier, 26, of DeSoto. He was booked on three counts of taking motor vehicles without the owner’s consent, as well as three counts of felony bail-jumping on similar charges in adjoining Crawford County in October. The vehicles in the latest stolenbatch were recovered, all abandoned, one in a ditch with minor damage. Frazier was released Friday on $5,000 bail.
Frazier. Vehicles recovered near DeSoto, Gays Mills and Viroqua.
WELCOME
The worthiest goal of journalism is to promote intelligent citizen involvement. Such is our goal with Winona Journal. We focus on local issues so you can go about your daily activities with confidence that you can be a genuine and valued part of informed public dialogue on the kind of community we’re building.
Although Winona-centric, we are attentive also to regional issues. Our community doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
You will find opinion here. We quote and paraphrase with attribution so you know the source and can assess ideas and thoughts. Sometimes you will find our commentary but always clearly labeled.
As journalists we are committed to accuracy but not perfect. Please let us know if you spot an error, whether substantive or even just a dumb typo. We’ll get errors squared away promptly.
We’re glad you’re with us.