Minnesota prep
Volleyball (girls): Harmony Fillmore Central Falcons 3, Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights 1
Volleyball (girls): Caledonia Warriors 3, Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 2
Volleyball (girls): Mabel-Canton Cougars 3, Alden-Conger Knights 2
Volleyball (girls): Cannon Falls Bombers 3, Chatfield Gophers 2
Zumbrota trims police force, OKs pay hike
ZUMBROTA, Minn. — The Zumbrota City Council voted 5-0 to approve a new contract with its police department. The decision shelves a Council plan to disband the police department and instead contract with the county sheriff to for policing services. The new contract leaves two vacant police positions vacant and divvies up $115,000 in savings among five remaining officers. Their pay goes from $26.52 an hour to $29.24
Passenger hurt when vehicle hits deer
DRESBACH, Minn. – A Wisconsin woman was injured when the vehicle n which she was riding struck a deer. The vehicle was approaching the Interstate 90 bridge to Wisconsin. Emily Smith, 26, of Madison, was taken six miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Her injuries were non-life threatening, deputies said. The driver, Liban Abdulkadir Bile, 52, of St. Paul, was unhurt. The accident was about 8:35 p.m. They were in a 2017 Toyota Highlander. The airbag deployed.
Judge reprimanded for barring felons from voting
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the validity of a new state law that allows convicted felons to vote as soon as they finish their time. The decision was a rebuke – a serious one – to a trial judge in Mille Lacs County. The appellate court said that Judge Matthew Quinn had ventured behind his authority in ordering at least six defendants to never vote the rest of ther lives. Quinn’s sentencing documents contained an identical memo calling the new voting law unconstitutional. The appellate court made these points in a writ of prohibition against Quinn:
> Quinn violated a duly passed state law.
> Quinn was out of bounds as a trial-level judge to much around with questions of constitutionality.
The writ was the latest rebuke to Quinn, a diehard Trump supporter. He was reprimanded in 2021 by the he Minnesota Board of Judicial Standards for pro-Trump social media posts and for riding in a parade supporting Trump.
Quinn. Wayward Trump-supporting judge scolded for over-reach.
Quinn profile
Quinn is a graduate of St. Cloud State University and holds a 1999 law degree from William Mitchell law school. He was Appointed to the bench for Minnesota’s St. Cloud-based 7th Judicial District by Governor Mark Dayton. a Democrat, in 2017. He was elected to continue serving in 2018. His current term expires in 2025. He is chambered n Milaca. He handles more than 4,000 cases a year.
Political issue
The Democratic majority in the 2023 Legislature voted to allow convicted felons to vote after leaving prison. Their point: The felons had served their tme, and arring them from voting violated a key right of citizenship. Republicans opposed the change. It was thought, rightly or wrongly,. that ex-prisoners were more inclined to vote for Democrats than for Republicans. The GOP opposition was part of the party’s nationwide initiatives to disenfranchise groups that lean Democratic.
Attorney quits Tomah vets home walk-away as client
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The attorney for a man wanted for the killing of an Eau Claire woman seven years ago was granted a request to be removed as counsel. Michael Cohen said he had made numerous attempts to reach Shane Helmbrecht but had no response. In 2017 Helmbrecht was found incompetent to stand trial in the murder of Jenny Ward and was ordered to a mental health facility. This September he walked away from the group home at the Tomah Veterans Hospital. A nationwide arrest warrant was issued, but Hembrecht has eluded authorities.
Trump on Minnesota ballot? Court hears case
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Supreme Court took a citizens’ case under advisement that former President Donald Trump can be barred from the 2024 Minnesota ballot. The case was brought by voters who argued that Insurrection Clause of the U.S. Constitution precludes Trump because of the mob violence he triggered against Congress in 2021. Similar suits are active in Colorado and other states. Trump’s attorney, Nicholas Nelson of Minneapolis, argued to the Minnesota court Thursday that a state’s role in determining a candidate’s eligibility for president is limited to “basic processing requirements” He cited the minimum age requirement, 35, as an example. Nelson suggested chaos if some states and not others kept a presidential candidate off their ballots. “The petitioners,” he said, “would like this to be a one-off case, but we are a 50-state democracy.” The state Supreme Court has taken the case on an expedited track because the 2024 presidential preference primary isonly four months away. During oral arguments Thursday, several justices that noted the constitution gives Congress the authority to certify presidential electors and to impeach and that such implies that the Founders saw eligibility as a federal issue. The constitution is silent on a state role. Chief Justice Natalie Hudson said the fundamental role belongs to Congress and not the states. She conceded that the question of a federal and state interrelation is troubling. Even so, she leaned toward “this As a national matter for Congress to decide.”
Earlier: Case to state Court: Keep Trump off 2024 ballot
Earlier: Simon: State won’t keep Trump off Minnesota ballot
Constitutional issue
Section Three of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars from office anyone who previously swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it. One issue is defining “insurrection.” Another s whether enforcement can be at the state level. The Constitution leaves balloting to the states. Unstated is whether this means a state can keep a national candidate, such as for the presidency, off its ballot.
Driver critically hurt at bad Kellogg cross-over
KELLOGG, Minn. — A 72-year-old Kellogg driver was gravely injured in a two-vehicle collision on U.S. 61 at the main Kellogg intersection. Kevin Christensen was taken five miles to the Wabasha hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was heading south, the other driver north. This was about 11:40 a.m. The other driver, Kara Ann Talledge, 35, of St. Paul, also was taken to the Wabasha hospital but with less serious injuries. The accident was on the four-lane divided highway at the County 18 cross-over into Kellogg. It’s been a problematic intersection with frequent accidents for decades, mostly with travelers in and out of a busy Kwik Trip fueling and snack location. Christenson was driving a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox, Talledge a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
$50 million sought in Iowa apartment collapse
DAVENPORT, Iowa – A woman who lost a leg when an apartment building collapsed in May has sued for $50 million. The leg was amputated at the site. Peach Berry, 25, blamed the city government for flawed building inspections and also the owners of the decrepit five-story building. There also have been other lawsuits. Three men died in the collapse.
Earlier: Consultants cite repair errors in Iowa apartment collapse
Earlier: Iowa apartment collapse death toll: Three
Earlier: First body recovered from Iowa building collapse
Earlier: Mayor: Search for collapse victims to be respectful
Earlier: Video shows Iowa apartment in stress in last seconds
Earlier: Negligence seems factor in Iowa apartment collapse
Earlier: Six-story Davenport apartment falls Apart; three missing
R.I.P.: Maynard Rustad
RUSHFORD, Minn. – Maynard I. Rustad, 83, of Rushford, a field surveyor for Tri-County Electric, died at Good Shepherd Home. He graduated from Rushford High School in 1958. He was active in the Rushford Lions Club and served as treasurer. He received the club’s highest honor, the Melvin Jones award. He was a member of the Rushford Fire Department.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1940-2023
R.I.P.: Gerald Guidinger
WINONA, Minn. – Gerald “Jerry” Leo Guidinger, 87, of Winona, who worked 25 years at the College of St. Teresa, died at home. He was a U.S. Navy veteran.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1937-2023
Vietnam vet activist on WSU agenda
WINONA Minn. – Ahead of Veterans Day, a champion for veteran causes, will discuss his three books, all flowing from his Vietnam experience, at Winona State University on Wednesday. The first book of Doug Bradley’s three books, ““We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War,” tracks the role of popular music in the American experience in Vietnam. The evebts all ree. Times:
> 9 a.m: Lecture in the history seminar “Roots, Rock and Rebels.” Minne Hall 244.
> 2 p.m.: For students. Performing Arts Center,154.
> 5:30 p.m.: Public presentation about his “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”
> 6:30 p.m.: Reception and book-signing. Science Learning Center atrium.
Bradley is a retired University of Wisconsin executive. In Madison he created aa storefront, community-based service center for Vietnam-era veterans. Bradley was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1970 and served as a combat correspondent the newspaper Army Reporter and the magazine Uptight. He has written three books: “DEROS Vietnam: Dispatches from the Air-Conditioned Jungle”; “We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War,” co-authored with UW-Madison professor Craig Werner; and “Who’ll Stop the Rain: Respect, Remembrance, and Reconciliation in Post-Vietnam America.” The book with Werner was named “Best Music Book of 2015” by the magazine Rollingstone.
2012: Published by Warrior Publishing Group. As audio book, 2023. 218 pages. $15.
2015: University of Massachusetts Press, 2015. 272 pages. $27.
2019: Warriors Publishing Group, 2020. 259 pages. $15.
Bradley. Visit a part of campus Veterans Day commemoration.
Army Corps plans Big Lake habitat rehab
WABASHA, Minn. — The Army Corps of Engineers, scheduled a meeting for Wednesday for public feedback on plans for habitat rehabilitation on the Mississippi River near Wabasha. Time: 6:45 p.m. at Wabasha-Kellogg Hifg School. Details. The plan, for Big Lake, is the 55th in a 36-tear series of projects that has included 100,000 acres on the Upper Mississippi.
Angry man carries grievance to hospital
RIDGEWAY, Minn. – A Dakota man was arrested at rural house near Ridgeway after a call that he had attacked a woman inside and then was outside yelling and still threatening her. Concerned about the man’s mental stability, deputies summoned an ambulance to take him 14 miles to the Winona hospital for evaluation. The man resisted being loaded into the ambulance and grabbed and twisted a thumb of one deputy. This was about 11:50 p.m. in the 30000 block of Shortcut Road. Deputies followed the ambulance to the hospital and left him there. Later the deputies were called back to the hospital for a new disturbance. After calming the man down, the deputies left again and began doing their paperwork on all that had happened. Pending charges against Christopher Randall Palmer, age 34: Domestic assault, threatening violence, attacking a police officer, and obstructing the legal process.
Police dog brings down St. James jail escapee
ST. JAMES, Minn. – A prisoner who escaped the Watonwan County jail was captured near town after three days on the loose. Leonado Lopez Jr., 36, was in a car that officers stopped, said Sheriff Jared Bergeman. Lopez fled on foot, the sheriff said. He ran into a field, but a K-9 deputy ran faster and brought hm down. Two other people in the vehicle face charges of aiding and abetting, the sheriff said. Lopez had escaped the jail Monday evening after donner. He was being held for a sex offense. He has a criminal record: A 2006 sexual conduct conviction and a 2006 burglary conviction.
Lopez. Back in southwest Minnesota jail awaiting court appearances
Minnesota prep
Soccer (boys): Pine Island-Zumbrota-Mazeppa Wildcats 1, St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders 0
Soccer (girls): Fridley Totino-Grace Eagles 1, Winona Winhawks 0
Volleyball (girls): Byron Bears 25, Stewartville Tigers 17
Volleyball (girls): New Prague Trojans 3, Rochester Mayo Spartans 1
Biden touts funding with rural benefits
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – President Biden launched a two-week cross-country trip to underscore new federal investments in agriculture and economic development. At a family-owned Minnesota pork farm, Biden said: “Because of these investments, we’re making sure family farms like this one stay in the family, and their children and grandchildren won’t have to leave home to make a living.” Biden pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act as key legislative achievements of “Bidenomics.” Yes, he used the term “Bidenomics.. These include significant spending on clean energy and climate change mitigation and improvements in roads, bridges, wastewater systems and broadband connectivity, he said.. The president began his remarks on foreign affairs. He reported the safe passage of foreign nationals, including Americans, and of injured Palestinians out of Gaza into Egypt. “We’re working nonstop to get Americans out of Gaza as soon and safely as possible,” Biden said. “This is a result of intense and urgent diplomacy with our partners in the region.”
Farm welcome. Biden is greeted by Brad Kluver, in plaid jacket, and his wife Katherine in a barn at their Dutch Creek hog operation. About 100 Northfield farm folks were there In the president’s party: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Verbatim
Biden, on rural life: “Over the past few decades these communities lost more than jobs. They lost their sense of dignity, opportunity, pride. My plan is about investing in rural America, but it’s about something else as well: i\It’s about restoring pride in rural communities that have been left behind for far too long.”
Bail kept at $5 million in poisoning murder
ROCHETER, Minn. – A judge refused to lower the $5 million bail under which a former Mayo clinic doctor is held for the death-by-poison of his wife. Judge Kathy Wallace said the severity the crime bespeaks Connor Bowman being a flight risk. In effect, the judge said tjat that Bowman, facing a murder conviction, would have little to lose in an attempt to get away. Bowman’s attorney, Michael Schatz, had noted that Bowman’s assets and passwords had been frozen and that has no means to flee. Judge Wallace was unswayed. She noted too that Bowman has has no family roots to keep him in Rohester.
Earlier: Neighbors: Mayo couple kept to themselves
Earlier: Prosecutor alleges doctor’s plot to poison wife
Turkey dinner: Winona students in giving spirit
Table service. Student Council members delivered meals and bused up afterwards at their 022 Herkey Turkey event. Five-hundred meals were served.
Herky Turkey time again: Dinner November 15
WINONA, Minn. – Students at Winona High and Middle schools are rolling up their sleeves or their annual Herky Turkey Thanksgiving community dinner. The event this year will be November 15. Invited are retired, senior and community members in need of a traditional Thanksgiving: Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, buns and dessert. Registration required. Thee re three options:
> A dine-in at the high school.
> A drive-through with pick-up at the high school.’
> Home delivery.
The meal is free but donations would be appreciated. The big question: Will the Winona mascot Herky make an appearance?
Expect governor in Lake City for fishing opener
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The 2024 Governor’s Fishing Opener will be May 11 in Lake City, the office of Governor Tim Walz announced. This 76th annual celebration will be on Lake Pepin. The opener is May 11. This past spring the rotating site for the event was Mankato. Because the governor’s daughter’s graduation was the same day, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan did the inaugural cast.
Emergency, fire crews make 55 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 20 emergency medical calls plus 35 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, October 31: 3 medical calls 4 fire calls.
> Monday, October 30: 4 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Sunday, October 29: 5 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Saturday, October 28: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Friday, October 27: 8 medical calls plus 2 calls.
> Thursday, October 26: 7 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Wednesday, October 25: 4 medical calls plus 5 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 65 calls
R.I.P.: Kathleen Fischer
WINONA, Minn. – Kathleen Joan Fischer, 82, of Winona, who worked at Praxel Ambulance and Benchmark Electronics, in parts assembly, died at Gundersen Tweeten Care Center in Spring Grove in hospice care. She was raised in Winona. In retirement she helped at Winona Volunteer Services and Grace Place.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1941-2023
Drugs? “Not recently, officer” – but then
WINONA, Minn. – A Stockton man was charged with possession of illegal drugs after a traffic stop in which he admitted, yes, to using meth, but that, he said, was three months earlier. The officer who made the stop, a certified drug recognition evaluator, saw signs of more recent drug use, like that very night, and searched the vehicle. Seized was a baggy containing meth and a black bag with a meth pipe and brass knuckles. The officer said that Jason Paul Schulz, 50, admitted it all belonged to him. At the jail, officers found another small bag of suspected meth in a pants pocket. The suspected meth confiscated at the jail weighed 0.23 grams and the meh in the car 1.69 grams. Besides drug offenses Schulz was charged with possession of brass knuckles and, yes, for driving with an expired registration and a bad taillight, which prompted the traffic stop in the first place. That was about 1 a.m. at Mankato Avenue and Frontenac Drive on the Far East End.
Schulz. Symptoms listed by the drug officer who made the traffic stop: Bloodshot and watery eyes, dilated eyes, rapid eye movement.
R.I.P.: Bruce Merrill
WINONA, Minn. – Bruce James Merrill, 75, of Winona, a tool and die maker at Lake Center Switch and later a computer programmer for 25 years. died after an extended illness. He was born in Winona and graduated from Appleton High School. He was in the U.S. Army , mostly four years in Germany. Because of a work injury he was on disability several years. He enjoyed motor cycling and model airplane flying.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1948-2023
Winona home sales in October 2023
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in October:
> 229 Oak Leaf Drive: Morgan to Olness, $430,000.
> 1334 Highland Drive: Merchlewitz to Massa, $415,000.
> 27263 Wilderness Road: Schansberg to Helgeson, $380,000.
> 42671 Lisa Lane: Albrecht Trust to Harding, $302,000.
819 West Howard Street: Thompson/Stangler to Bonilla, $302,000.
> 528 West Broadway Street: Buco to Heckman, $301,000.
> 60 Whispering Avenue: Otto/Fliokowski to Ihkre Trust, $$300,000.
> 23504 Lamoille Road: Smith to Lambert, $300,000.
Earlier: Winona home sales in September 2023
Winona County home sales in October 2023
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales outside Winona logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in October:
> Lewiston: 220 Nicholas Drive: Dammon to Elmer, $366,000.
>Minnesota City: 7325 Golden Oak Court: Fritz to Hoffman, $320,000.
> Rollingstone: 107 Wilmar Street East: Speltz to Averbeck/Palencia, $380,000.
> St. Charles: 366 Saint Martin Avenue: Fix to Newell, $325,000.
> Utica: 24182 County Road: Koebke to Lukowicz, $386,000.
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