Men rescued after ice breaks under UTV
BEMIDJI, Minn. — Two men were rescued after their four-wheeler broke through ice a mile from the southeast shore of Upper Red Lake. Buoyant ice suits kept them afloat until bystanders pulled them out of the water. The men, both 67, were taken to the Bemidji hospital for hypothermia. One man had a broken hand. Sheriff Jason Riggs said the area had been marked as unsafe since 122 people had to be rescued two weeks ago from an ice floe that broke away. Even so, authorities have had to rescue a half dozen rescue calls since for people who became stranded or broke through the ice.
How ‘bout hoisting one for Joe Gow?
LACROSSE, Wis. – A micro-brewery issued a new beer in support of Joe Gow, the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse chancellor who’s been fired for producing and performing in what he calls “sex-positive” videos. The beer is called Hot for Chancellor. A caricature has Gow as a caped crusader sprinting naking across the label with a bomb, the fuse lit, coming at him from behind. The limited-run brew is from 608 Brewing Company on Cass Street, which has a aoroom on the LaCrosse North Side. The brewery is owned by two couples, Phil and Lorie Humphrey and Danielle and Ryan Beach. They’ve been in business since 2018.
How’s it taste? A slightly sour ale fruited with cherries, apricots and vanilla.
Sustainable injuries in Stewartville car crash
STEWARTVILLE, Minn. – Two drivers were injured, albeit not seriously, when they collided on wet pavement on Main Street heading south out of Stewartville. Taken 14 miles to a Rochester hospital were:
> Ervin Hans Schmidt, 81, of Stewartville, in a 2011 Buick Lucerne.
> Caryl Lee Sharp,84, of Spring Valley, in a 2014 Chevrolet Equinox.
The accident was about 5:20 p.m.
Fraud charge: Village records scrubbed, missing
SPARTA, Wis. – The village clerk in rural Wilton, population 500, was charged with fraud involving credit cards over 1-1/2 year on the job. The criminal complaint against Leigha Barton, age 40, doesn’t list the sums, but an indicator of the scope is that each of nine counts is punishable by three years in prison and fines $4,000 to $10,000. Monroe County prosecutor Kevin Croninger said the village computer was scrubbed as a cover-up. Barton resigned last June – the same day as did, said Crounger, as the village public works director whose credit card was used. The 14-page document also implicates other village employees and village board members.
Barton. Allegation is that petty frauds added up.
Winona driver spins into snow plow, injured
TOWER, Minn. – A Winona driver lost control on ice and spun head-on into a snowplow in northern Minnesota on the Iron Range. Joann Collins Smerage, 64, was taken 30 miles southwest to the Virginia hospital. Her injuries were non-life threatening, police said. She was buckled up, police said. The accident was about 3:30 p.m. on State Highway 169 just west of Tower. The plow driver, Douglas Joel Briski, 59, was unhurt. Smerage was driving a 2020 Jeep Cherokee.
Retiring: Last GOP appointee to high court
ST. PAUL, Minn. – After 20 years as a state Supreme Court justice, G. Barry Anderson plans to retire. Anderson announced he’ll step down in May. Anderson was named to the seven-member court by Governor Tim Pawlenty. He is the only remaining justice to have been appointed by a Republican governor. He was elected in 2006, 2012 and 2018. His judicial temperment was considered mild Republican.
Anderson. On Supreme Court since 2004. Age 69.
East End raid nets two arrests, meth, Rx pills
WINONA, Minn. – The regional violent crime task force raided a house on Mankato Avenue and arrested a man and woman and confiscated an array of drugs. The arrests were without resistance. Booked for theft and drugs was Donnie Allan Lord, 49, of Winona. The woman, Kristen Kitty Lynn Bruggeman, 44, of Winona, was referred to the county prosecutor for possible charges. The raid was about 10:30 a.m. in the 400 block of Mankato Avenue. The house had been under observation long enough to persuade a judge to authorize the raid. The house was surrounded by seven officers from the Winona Police Department and sheriff’s officers from Houston, Wabasha and Winona counties.
Seized
Found on-site, police said:
> Meth, one bag of .04 grams.
> Meth, 3.1 grams elsewhere on-site.
> Meth, 0.2 grams elsewhere on-site.
Also 177 pills, including prescription drugs:
> Escitalopram, generally for depression, anxiety.
> Methenaman, generally for urinary infection.
> Predisone, generally for arthritis.
Lord. Booked for possession of Schedule 1,2, 3 and 4 controlled substances.
Trumper wants to oust GOP House leader
MADISON, Wis. – A never-say-die backer of former President Donald Trump wants to run House Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, out of office as a turncoat. A petition was filed Matthew Snorek, who lives in Vos’ home election district in Racine County. The peteiton asks for a recall election. Snorek now has two months to collect 6,800 signatures for an election. He claims Vos failed to proceed with a proposal to impeach state election officials. He is among “deniers”who believe that Trump won Wisconsin in 2020. Trump in fact lost the state by 23,000 votes.
GOP misses deadline to fix jury-rigged election lines
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to reconsider its ruling that threw out election districts lines drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature. The 4-3 ruling leaves a Friday deadline in place for Republicans, who control the Legislature, to redo their proposed maps. It’s unlikely the deadline can be met. This means the Court may end up creating boundaries.
Earlier: Court: No more rigging Wisconsin election districts
Head injury to pedestrian outside Hy-Vee
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona shopper was hit by a car in the Hy-Vee grocery store parking lot on the West End. Caroline Marie Harman, 71, was taken to the hospital with a head injury. There was no arrest, police said.
Two vehicle collide with an injury on Riverview
WINONA, Minn. – Two cars collided near the Winona fleeting harbor, injuring one driver. Injuries to Lawrence Emanuel Johnson, 71, of Winona, were serious enough for him to be taken to the hospital. This was about 9 a.m. Police said Johnson was crossing Riverview Drive from Prairie Island. Both vehicles were severely damaged.
Ellison’s jurisdictional triumph over Big Oil
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The state attorney general, Keith Ellison, was pleased but not surprised that the U.S. Supreme Court has left his pioneering climate-change case against Big Oil to be decided in state courts. The Supreme Court ruling was a setback for the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil and three subsidiaries of Koch Industries. Responding to the Supreme Court ruling, Ellison said it aligns with 25 previous federal court decisions across the country that have found that Big Oil had engaged in “campaigns of deception around their products’ contributions to the climate crisis.” Ellison said the ruling confirms that his Minnesota case and others that followed were filed properly in state courts.
Verbatim
Ellison: “Taken together, the defendants’ behavior has delayed the transition to alternative energy sources and a lower carbon economy, resulting in dire impacts on Minnesota’s environment and enormous costs to Minnesotans and the world. Now, the case can move forward in state court, where it was properly filed, and we can begin to hold these companies accountable for their wrongful conduct.”
Ellison. Minnesota attorney general. Elected in 2018. Re-elected 2022. .Earlier a member of Congress elected from Minneapolis. Also deputy chair of Democratic National Committee in 2017 and 2018.
Profile: Minnesota v. Big Oil
Attorney General Keith Ellison sued ExxonMobil, three entities of Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute in 2020. He alleged that they had engaged in a 30-year campaign of deception about their role in climate change. The suit cited evidence how these companies strategized to deceive the public about climate-change science in order to safeguard their business interests He noted that experts on climate change inside the companies had issued multiple warnings to corporate leaders about what was coming. Unheeding these internal warnings, the companies mounted “a multi-pronged campaign of public deception” while earning hundreds of billions of dollars in profits while Minnesota shouldered the costs and consequences of unmitigated climate change. The lawsuit includes claims for fraud, failure to warn, and multiple separate violations of state laws that prohibit consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false statements in advertising. The suit demanded restitution, which although unspecified would undoubtedly be in the billions of dollars, for the harms Minnesotans have suffered. The suit also demanded a corrective public education campaign about climate change. The oil companies responded by claiming that state courts were an inappropriate jurisdiction for such suits. This threatened to remove the case from Minnesota state courts to federal courts. However, a Minnesota federal judge, John Tunheim, threw out Big Oil’s jurisdictional claim. Big Oil appealed further in the federal courts and went eventually to U.S. Supreme Court and now has lost. The case now is back in Minnesota state courts and also in the courts of other states that brought similar suits.
Pelowski’s CoVid-driven family decision to retire
WINONA, Minn. – Every election year about New Year’s Day, Gene Pelowski has had a decision-making ritual: “Should I run for another term?” This year, with a 20th campaign facing him, Pelowski decided it was time to pack it up. At age 71, he announced he won’t seek reelection. He wants to spend more time with family. His decision left Winona County Democrats with a vacancy they haven’t had much to worry about since 1986 when Pelowski, a popular high school civics teacher and local golf pro, first went to St. Paul. Explaiiing his decision Pelowski said the intensity of his New Year’s deliberations began taking on new intensity in 2020 when the CoVid pandemic erupted. “My wife and I have been talking about this since CoVid when we had two years of CoVid and we really couldn’t do anything with the grandchildren,” Pelowski said. “We have a granddaughter who is in first grade. She’s 7, Abigail. And we have a grandson, Nicholas. He’s 16 now and he’s in 10th grade. The decision was that after 38 years, it’s time to focus on other things and the direction is going to be is going to be mainly toward those grandchildren.” When the 2024 Legislature convened Thursday in St. Paul , itwas the beginning of Pelowski’s finale term.
Earlier: House speaker on Pelowski: “A remarkable legacy”
Earlier: Winona DFL chair: Pelowski decision unexpected
Earlier: Pelowski on why not running: Seems to be: “It’s time”
Forever a teacher. Early in his political career, Pelowski organized what was called the “Model Legislature.” High school students would gather after weeks of preparation for a weekend of practicing the art of law-making. The mock exercises continued even during the CoVid crisis. Here, all masked and lanking Pelowski, are student leaders of the 2022 session. This was after Pelowski retired from a career teaching civics at Winona High School and also teaching political science part-time at Winona State University.
Yard signs. Some Pelowski supporters saved his distinctive green campaign yard signs from one election to the next, Now tyey can retire them. His first campaign was 1986.
Suspected drug explodes in testing; officers burned
WILLMAR, Minn. Two police officers were injured when a white substance they suspected as an illegal drug exploded. They were treated at the Willmar hospital and released. The officers were testing the substance to identify what it was. The incident was about 12:30 a.m. inside the evidence room at the Kandiyohi County Law Enforcement Center.
News summary at mid-week January 10, 2024
ENVIRONMENT: Minnesota case against Big Oil nearer to trial
POLITICS: Pelowski on why not running: Seems to be: “It’s time”
COLLEGES: Background: Rothman all out against UW-L’s Joe Gow
TRAGEDY: Body of missing woman recovered at dam
CRIME: $100,000 bail for flare attack on cop car
RELIGION: Watchdog group displeased with finding on archbishop
CONSTRUCTION: Volunteer Services sets move-in timeline
College scores
Basketball (men): Gustavus Adolphus 88, Saint Mary’s 68
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 77, UW-Stout 69
Basketball (women): Gustavus Adolphus 74, Saint Mary’s 32
Basketball (women): ): UW-LaCrosse 67, UW-Stout 62
Police testing impaired driver for drugs
WINONA, Minn. – A St. Paul driver was arrested after showing signs of impairment during a traffic stop, police said. Tayton Ann Hansen, 21, failed a field sobriety test. Because officers suspected drugs, a blood draw was taken and sent to a state lab for tests that will determine what charges are warranted. Such tests usually have a three-day turn-around. The stop was for speeding in the 200 block of West Sarnia Street about 8:40 p.m.
A few too many rum and colas, test shows
WINONA, Minn. – A Minnesota City driver, who told police he been drinking rum and cola, was booked into jail for drunken driving after a traffic stop. Police said they stopped Jeremy Robert Jacques, 34, for speeding and weaving out of his lane. This was near Fourth and Vila streets. A breath test showed his blood was 0.19% alcohol – roughly 2-1/2 times the legal limit. This was about 7:40 p.m.
Chase ends: Car stranded car, no driver, two flats
WINONA, Minn. – Police terminated a wild automobile chase down Sarnia Street after speeds approached 80 mph in the 30 zone and posed, the officer thought, a threat public safety. This was about 9:20 p.m. Police later found the vehicle abandoned 1-1/2 miles away behind Sugar Loaf on Bluffview Drive. Two tires were flat, which officers couldn’t explain. The car had four working tires in the chase eastbound on Sarnia. After finding the car, police began looking for the registered owner of the vehicle, a 2006 Acura. The pursuit had begun at Wabasha and Hamilton streets. The chase continued on Sarnia toward the shopping mall at Walmart before the officer backed off.
Ex-Minnesota House Speaker calling it quits
CROWN, Minn. – A leading Republican in the Minnesota House, Ken Daudt, is resigning mid-term. Daudt offered no explanation but said the resignation is effective February 11. He is 50 years old. Since 2011 Daudt has served House District 27-B, which includes Saint Francis, Princeton, Zimmerman and other parts of Sherburne, Isanti, Mille Lacs and Anoka counties. There will be a special election to fill the seat. Going into the 2024 session, the House was controlled controlled 69 to 64 by Democrats
Daudt. A former car salesman and business manager. Also an aviation enthusiast and pilot.
House speaker on Pelowski: “A remarkable legacy”
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The career of Gene Pelowski in the Minnesota House – 38 years – has left a “remrkable legacy,” said House Speaker Melissa Hortman on learning he won’t seek another term. Hortman cited Pelowski, a Winona Democrat, for leading historic investments in higher education. She also praised him for policy work on disaster preparedness and legislative reform. When the Legsislature convened Thursday, it was start of Pelowski’s finale session.
Hortman. From Brooklyn Park. Leader of Democratic majority in House
Emergency, fire crews make 57 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 48 emergency medical calls plus 11 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, January 9: 4 medical calls plus 5 fire calls
> Monday, January 8: 9 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Sunday, January 7: medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, January 6: 7 medical calls plus 2 fire call.
> Friday, January 5: 7 medical calls plus no calls.
> Thursday, January 4: 7 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Wednesday, January 3: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 47 calls
R.I.P.: Lambert Kluzik
WINONA, Minn. – Lambert M. “Bert” Kluzik, age 87, of Winona, who was employed 15 years at Badger Foundry, died at the Winona hospital. His early career was 30 years with Standard Foundry. He was a long-time member of the Red Men Club.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1936-2024
Intruder arrested in household ruckus
WINONA, Minn. – A teen-age girl called police to a disturbance that an unwanted man had forced his way into the house and was raising a ruckus with her mother. Police found Paul Anthony Clark, 33, of Winona, in a bedroom. He showed signs of intoxication, police said. This was about 10:10 p.m. in the 450 block of Sioux Street. The woman said Clark had trespassed before. This time, she said, he knocked at the door and, when she opened up, he forced his way in. She said he threw her cell phone in a toilet. Besides the 15-year-old who managed to call 911, three other children were in the house, police said. Clark was booked for intruding, trespassing, interferring with an emergency call, and damaging property.
College scores
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s and Lawrence, postponed
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