Basketball (girls): Jackson Kettle Morraine Chargers 82, LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 58

Hockey (girls): Hudson Raiders 4, Winona Winhawks 2

STEWARTVILLE, Minn. – A woman called 911 that she saw and heard shots at rural intersection on the southeast flight approach to the Rochester airport. This was about 9:30 p. m. She said she saw four flashes from a minivan, which then sped away. Her vehicle was not struck. Deputies later found shell casings and four bullet holes in a stop sign. The incident was at Olmsted County Roads 20 and 120 northwest of Stewartville.

All smiles before the feast. Near Holmen and McHugh roads in the north LaCrosse suburb of Holmen. lmage: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. – After more than a dozen complaints about untoward behavior downtown, police caught up with Michael Wade Zvirblis, 55, and booked him for habitual disorderly conduct. People said that Zvirblis had frightened them by banging on their car windows and threatened to assault them. Apparently he was on a long-term binge that began at least five days earlier with him entering eateries from which he had been banned for previous bad behavior. When arrested this time, in the 100 block of East Third Street, his blood was running 0.22% alcohol, police said. The legal definition of impairment starts at 0.08%. Police said his eyes were bloodshot and watery and he smelled drunk. Also, they said, Zvirblis threatened them with violence.

Earlier: When a pizza craving blocks memory

Zvirblis. Charged with offensive, abusive and boisterous conduct.

CHICAGO  — A man accused of killing an Eau Claire woman in 2016 was arrested in Mexico and deported to U.S. authorities in Chicago. The next stop for Shane Helmbrecht, 51, will be the Eau Claire County jail to await a decision on what to do with him. In 2017 Helmbrecht was found incompetent to stand trial in the murder of Jenny Ward in Eau Claire and was ordered to a mental health facility. This September he walked away from a group home at the Tomah Veterans Hospital. In October he was stopped by Pojoaque tribal police near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Without sufficient information to hold him Helmbrecht was released. Somehow he made it 3another 320 miles to the Mexico bide and crossed over.

Earlier: Attorney quits Tomah vets home walk-away as client

Earlier: Mental patient walks off from VA hospital

2016 homicide

Jenny Ward, age 36, was shot and killed during an early morning break-in at her Eau Claire home. Ward’s children, who were hiding in the home, told police that Helmbrecht called her a demon as he fired multiple bullets into her from a 30-10 Winchester rifle. When police responded, they found Helmbrecht trying to flee and took him into custody at gun point. Helmbrecht told police that voices in his head told him to do it. But why? He said he had “cast demons to hell.” But why? “Because they eat babies.” Helmbrecht, 44 at the time, was an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran possibly with a post-traumatic disorder. Helmbrecht admitted using methamphetamine the day before the shooting. Helmbrecht’s parents said they had urged him to seek medical attention but he refused.

Masked demonstrators. Gathered first at historic synagogue, then down State Street to lakeside James Madison Park.

Hateful rhetoric all over before any confrontation

MADISON, Wis. –About 20 neo-Nazis carrying black swastika flags marched down State Street and the Lake Mendota shore. They chanted “There will be blood” and “Israel is not our friend.” They shouted racial and anti-Semitic epithets. The group had gathered about noon at James Madison Park in front of the Gates of Heaven synagogue, a 19th century Jewish place of worship. They wore black plants red shirts with “Blood Tribe” printed across the back. They covered their faces with black masks and sunglasses. There was no confrontation. No weapons were demonstrated. At the Lake Mendota, after a couple hours of marching, the group, hastily wrapped up their flags, covered their make-shift uniforms, and melted away. The group didn’t have a parade permit for what seemed to observers to be a spontaneous event, although obviously planned. There were 911 calls to police. News media, short-staffed on a Saturday, were caught unawares and had no reporters on site. It was unclear whether police had been tipped. Officers monitored the situation from afar once the group was up and going. Police Chief Shon Barnes later issued a statement: ‘The Madison Police Department does not support hateful rhetoric. The department has an obligation to protect First Amendment rights of all.

Pohlhaus. A tattooist who wears his art on a shaved head and elsewhere. Raises funds through podcasting and selling white supremacy gear.

Blood Tribe profile

The leader of the Blood Tribe cult, Christopher Pohlhaus, was believed in charge of the Madison rally. Pohlhaus, who was in the U.S. Marines for four years, founded the Blood Tribe in 2020. He operates an1 1-acre training camp of Maine. The group claims to have chapters throughout the United States and Canada. As best as academic cult-trackers can make sense of the cult’s values, there is am savory  mishmash of values. These include exalting Hitler as deity. There are elements of Wotanism, a variant of Norse pagan  worship. Anti-Semitism is cinsistent theme. Blood Tribe members emphasize hyper-masculinity, don’t allow women to belong, and  abhor homosexuality.  Blood Tribe sees themselves as the last remaining bulwark against enemies of the white race and the only path to a white “ethnostate.”

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. – Police hoisted a mid-size SUV from 12 feet of water in Hiniker Pond just south of the Highway 14 interchange with Highway 169. The vehicle was unoccupied. Apparently someone had driven into the pond intentionally, said Sheriff Jeremy Brennan. Attempts were being made to trace the ownership of the 2020 GMC Acadia. There were not any signs of injury, the sheriff said. How long had the vehicle been submerged? Don’t know yet, the sheriff said.

WINONA, Minn. – A device used by skydivers to deploy their parachutes went off accidentally in a West Side backyard and crashed through a second-floor window next door and lodged in the bedroom ceiling. There were no injuries, but, wow, what a way to wake up. The device was about the size of a plastic soda-pop bottle. The man who accidentally deployed the device told the neighbor he would pay for repairs. This was in the 450 block of West Wabasha Street.

Skydiver’s friend. Used to activate a reserve parachute automatically at a pre-designated altitude. This model, from Cypres manufacturing, retails about $1,200. Cypres is shoptalk for “cybernetic parachute release system.”

MINNEAPOLIS – Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will appeal his conviction for murder to the U.S. Supreme Court, his attorney said. Chauvin choked George Floyd to death in 2020 and sparked national dialogue on excessive policing.  Chauvin is white. Floyd was black. Chauvin’s attorney, William Morhman, said that going now to the U.S. Supreme Court will repeat Chauvin’s claim that his right to a fair trial was compromised by pre-trial publicity and the trial court’s worry that acquittal could trigger race riots all over he country.

Earlier: U.S. Supreme Court next for Chauvin murder appeal?

Earlier: Chauvin loses appeal in George Floyd murder

Earlier: Killer-cop Chauvin appeals to state Supreme Court

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Cantaloupe from Arizona, sold under the brand name Malichita, have been recalled. The Minnesota Health Department reported five cases of salmonella in the Twin Cities. The melons were sold  throughout the United States and Canada between sold between October 16 and 23. Some people still may have some frozen. Symptoms: Diarrhea and fever.

WINONA, Minn. – An 18-year-old Winona nan with three underage teenagers in his car was arrested as a drunken driver charge about 3:10 a.m. on the Near West Side. Deputies said that Wyatt Ashley Cunningham Baker, 18, admitted drinking. His blood-alcohol level was tested at the jail but charges were deferred until the blood readings could be run through by the state crime lab. Cited for under-age consumption:

> Nashun Robinson, 19, of Winona.

> Tyson Hemaer, 19, of Winona

> Jay-Zeon Christopher Blackmond-gofwick, 18, of Winona.

WINONA, Minn. – Police stopped a Wisconsin driver for speeding – 54 mph in a 30 zone, they said. And then they sensed why. Jacob Joseph Pryor, 25, of Waukesha, had bloodshot and watery eyes, an odor of alcohol, and slurred speech. After failing field sobriety tests, he was arrested. At the jail his blood was running 0.21% alcohol, a test showed. That’s almost triple allowable limits. The speeding stop had been about 2:05 a.m. at Fourth and Grand streets on the Near West Side.

WINONA, Minn. – A Rochester driver, Nicholas Houfea, 33, was arrested at Huff and King streets near Winona State University for driving drunk. Deputies said that Houfea was crossing the centerline, this about 1:30 a.m. When stopped, he showed signs of inebriation and failed field sobriety testing. Hs blood-alcohol tested at 0.14%, almost double the state-defined threshold for impairment.

Basketball (women): Truman State 83, Winona State 59

Basketball (women): St. Catherine 83, Saint Mary’s 45

Hockey (men): Augsburg 6, Saint Mary’s 0

Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 3, Augsburg 2

Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 1, Loras 0

Basketball (girls): Onalaska Hilltoppers 67, Chippewa Falls Cardinals 34

Basketball (girls): Thorp Cardinals 50, Augusta Beavers 42

CALEDONIA, Minn. – A pickup truck turning left into the MaCal Country Club collided with a motorcycle. Both drivers suffered non-life threatening injuries. Taken 26 miles to a LaCrosse hospital were Dylan James Stemper, 28, of Caledonia, the pickup driver, and the 17-yer-old motorcyclist, whose name was secreted by authorities. The accident was about 5:30 p.m. on State Highway 44 south of town. The vehicles: A 1998 Chevrolet GMT-400 and a 2014 Harley-Davidson.

WITOKA, Minn. – A farm tractor valued at $65,000  burned up in a field near Witoka and was a total loss. Deputies said the owner had left the tractor in the field overnight and refueled it in the morning and left. A neighbor saw tractor ablaze about 11:50 a.m.  and called for help. There were no injuries. This was in the 26000 block of County Road 15. The cause of the fire was not determined immediately.

Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 4, Rochester Century Panthers 1

Hockey (girls): Albert Les Tigers 9, Red Wing Wingers 2