Driver impaired or not? Second test may tell
WINONA Minn. – A Winona driver, John Joseph Haun, 65, was arrested after his blood-alcohol concentration tested at 0.08% in a preliminary field test. He had been stopped without headlights about 9 p.m. near-the roundabout on Mankato Avenue at Riverbend Drive. A deputy said Haun’s eyes were bloodshot and his speech slurred. Because 0.08% is borderline impairment. a second blood-alcohol test was taken at the jailhouse. The results were pending.
School Board truncates spring classes
WINONA, Minn. — The Winona School Board approved an early end to the school year for elementary school students. The decision creates a longer window to install news heaters and coolers at the Jefferson and Washington-Kosciusko schools. The Goodview school’s calendar will also be shortened, also ending on May 30.
Doerr again enters District 26-A House race
WINONA, Minn. – A long-distance trucker, Stephen Doerr, wants to go to St. Paul to replace Gene Pelowski in the state House of Representatives. Doerr announced his candidacy in a news release. Doerr already has left-over yard signs from 2022 when he challenged Pelowski the first time. But Doerr now will need first to win the Republican endorsement as the GOP candidate for House District 26-A. Last week City Council member Aaron Repinski, also a Republican, announced his candidacy. This is early for candidacies – 11 months before the primary election and 12-1/2 months before the general election. This means that Doerr and Repinski both have time to assess public vibes about the viability of their candidacies before the official period opens to file candidacy papers. Pelowski, a Democrat, has confirmed he’s seeking a 20th term. Pelowski’s party endorsement seems assured. In 2022 Pelowski defeated Doerr by 1,742 votes — a 55% to 45% margin.
Doerr profile
Doerr likes talking about his roots in farming and long Winona memories: “Winona is home. From Cathedral grade school, Cotter, studies at Winona State University and SMU, I know Winona. Great Grandpa Leon Bronk would bring vegetables to town with horse-drawn wagons. Grandma Florence shared many stories of her and Rose having to walk the horses in the field. We grew up here. As a child I sold vegetables and berries we had picked off the farm. I’m raising my children here and want them to be safe, from the farm fields to fishing the river.”
NOTE: Some information that Doerr provided in his candidacy announcement was incomplete, contradictory or misleading. He has not responded to Winona Journal requests for clarifications.
Doerr. Sayd Democrats have been fleecing working people since gaining control of Minnesota state government in 2022.
Ages
Doerr: 50
Pelowski: 71
Repinsky: 50
Doerr platform
Doerr: “As I followed this last legislative session, I became worried for our future if we continue with DFL’s wasteful spending and overtaxing. Our school children and businesses are not safe under the DFL control. The DFL have doubled down on their social experiments over needed literacy, workforce and college readiness. I want to stop the Minnesota DFL from fleecing the working class of Winona County. I believe that the hard-working people of Winona County deserve more genuine representation.” These are among Doerr’s position on key issues, albeit mostly vague.
> Family Values. Favors traditional values, but he doesn’t define them.
> Guns. Pro Second Amendment but silent on common-sense limits.
> Schools. Supports parental rights in schools, which suggests he sees problems but doesnl’ spell them out. Against critical race theory in curriculums, which suggests he opposes sugar-coated histry over honest history.
> Economy. Supports cutting taxes and eliminating wasteful spending. He doesn’t define what’s wasteful and what isn’t. Supports not taxing Social Security payments
> Law and order. Supports police funding. Also keeping violent criminals in jail.
> Health care. Supports funding for nursing homes, for people with disabilities, and for people with mental health issues
Ex-Twins pitcher arrested for Nevada murder
AUBURN, Calif. – A former Minnesota Twins pitcher, Danny Serafini, was arrested in Nevada for the shooting of his in-laws in North Lake Tahoe, California, in 2021. Arrested too was Serafini’s companion, Samantha Scott, 33. The arrests culminated a two-year investigation. On June 5, 2021, police received a 911 call and found Robert Gary Spohr, 70, and Wendy Wood, 68. wounded. Spohr later died. Woods recovered. Surveillance video showed a hooded man wearing a face-covering and a backpack walking to the residence several hours before the homicide. About the arrests Placer County Sheriff Wayne Wo gave no new details but said the process of extraditing Serafini and Scott back across Nevada border to California was under way. The charges: Murder and attempted murder.
Serafini then and now. Played 104 games between 1996 and 2007 for the Minnesota Twins and fove other major league teams.
Drug-dealing claim triggered Glendorado search warrant
FOLEY, Minn. – Police who raided a rural Glendale house last week, which ended in a four-hour armed stand-off, were looking for meth. The officers had a search warrant, signed by a judge, that said the house owner, Karl Holmberg, 64, had sold meth on multiple occasions to an undercover agent. The warrant, which was just unsealed, authorized a search of Holmberg’s house, outbuildings and vehicles. In the stand-off, Holmberg and five officers were shot and wounded. All are recovering.
Fleet Farm first with 2023 Christmas push
Please, Santa, tell us it’s not true. A full 67 days before Christmas , the big-box store Fleet Farm in Winona bannered its bid for holiday shopping dollars. Heck, Thanksgiving is still five weeks off. Image: Steve Lunde
Strangulation charged in Far East End flap
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was arrested after a domestic argument in which, according to a witness, the woman was hoisted by her jacket ad neck and was being strangled. This was outside a storage unit in the 900 block of Frontenac Drive about 12:50 a.m. Arrested was Phillip Edward Edmunds, 34. Police had been called by the witness, who said Edmunds held the woman against wall and was shouting and yelling at her. Edmunds told police it was the other way around — that she had grabbed him and that he never pushed her. Police didn’t see any bruisers on him. The woman police said, had neck bruises. She said she fell to the ground when Edmunds released her. Although never losing consciousness, she said , she was dizzy and couldn’t breathe.
Edmunds. Booked for assault, strangulation.
The case of at least one Bacardi too many
WINONA, Minn. – Police saw Andrew Michael Trygstad, 21, of Woodbury, driving the wrong way. By time he was stoped, he had turned around, but his problems weren’t over. He also had failed to signal. Also, the officer said Trygstad smelled like a distillery and his eyes were bloodshot eyes and he was slurring. He failed a sobriety tests on the spot. Yes, he admitted to having been drinking. A Bacardi, he said. His blood-alcohol level tested at 0.09% — a one-hundredth of a point too high to be driving, This was about 12:20 a.m.
Minnesota prep
Football: Winona Winhawks 42, Rochester Century Panthers 28
Football: Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 35, Winona Cotter Ramblers 14
Football: St. Charles Saints 39, Red Wing Wingers 0
St. Stan’s church video confirms street assault
WINONA, Minn. – Police went on the look-out for a man and woman engaged in apparent physical abuse outside St. Stan’s church on Fourth Street. A church employee reported the altercation to police. By the time police arrived, both were sitting on a bench and said nothing happened. “OK,” said the cops. “Just go on your way.” They did. Then the church employee called the officers inside to look a surveillance video. There it was: The man stands up and slaps the woman across the face with the back a hand. Now what will they say?
How they voted: On House speakership /2
WASHINGTON – The US. House failed again to come up with the 217-vote majority necessary for a replacement for Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. McCarthy, R-California, was removed 216-210 on October 3.
> First round (October 17): Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, 212 votes; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, 200; others, 20.
> Second round (October 18): Jeffries, 213; Jordan, 198; others 22.
By members of the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations:
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (south): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
> Ileana Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
> Dean Phillips, D-Mn3 (west suburbs): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn 8 (Iron Range): Jordan (first round); Westerman (second round);
– –
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Clyman): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Mike Gallagher, R-Wi8 (Green Bay): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
>Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison): Jeffries (first round); Jeffries (second round);
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville): Jordan (first round);Jordan (second round);
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien): Jordan (first round); Jordan (second round);
Earlier: How they voted: On ousting House speaker /1
Zumbrota police, city back to negotiations
Mayor Todd Hammnel. Flanked by City Council memoers Bob Prigge, Sara Durhman, Joan Bucher and Kevin Amundson.
Secret talks end on farming out police duties
ZUMBROTA, Minn. – A quiet scheme by the City Council to eliminate Zumbrota’s seven–person police department appears to have fizzled. The Council announced in a statement that “mutually beneficial negotiations” with the police union will proceed. It appears that Council, or perhaps only some members, had been preparing to play hardball in wage negotiations and begun talks for Goodhue County deputies to take over policing. When word got out, there were citizen objections. The Council’s statement said “numerous personal attacks and threats” were made on the mayor, the Council. and city staff. Although the union had encouraged citizen dialogue on the issue, the union said the purported attacks neither reflected nor supported the union’s values.
Kwik Trip: Recovery progressing on computer snafu
LACROSSE, Wis. – The Kwik Tup convenience chain remained silent for a 10th day on whether it was being held for a multi-million dollar ransom to hackers. The company’s silence on the cause of its crisis was typical of what third-party experts and federal agents advise with ransomware attacks. While vague on whether it was a victim of major criminality, Kwik Trip remained upbeat with customers. In a new emailed statement, the company said that “full access to many of our internal systems” had been restored. “We anticipate that full functionality will be restored in the coming days,” the company said. It noted too payment card processing systems remained secure and were never affected.
Clerks in dark. Employees at the store level knew too little to offer explanations to customers. This sign, taped to a door, was about all they could say.
Ransomware profile
With ransomware attacks. hackers penetrate and lock a computer system, which becomes inoperable. Then comes a ransom demand: Pay for us to unlock your system. Ransomware attacks typically are from Russia and eastern Europe,, They are deesigned to be difficult trace. Ransoms are required in bitcoin. Ransoms can be massive. Last month the Milwaukee-based global industrial services company Johnson Contols reportedly paid $51 million. Kwik Trip, with $5.5 million a day in transactions, would a ripe target. There are 800-some stores with a payroll system for 38,000 employees and complex vertically integrated product lines. It’s been confirmed that telephone and intranet systems at the company’s sprawling LaCrosse headquarters were crippled. Nobody could talk with anybody else except face to face. There also were inventory control snarl-ups with Kwik Trip’s massive same-day delivery truck distribution routes.
Questions, Kwik answers
> Was sensitive personal data exposed? It’s being investigated. So far there’s no evidence that personal or confidential information has been compromised.
> Will loyalty points be lost? Continue swiping your Kwik Rewards cards. Points will be awarded once Kwik Rewards is running again.
> What about Kwik Rewards Plus cards? The credit and debit cards are functioning. All in-store and fuel discounts will appear as credits when systems are fully restored.
Emergency, fire crews make 61 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 42 emergency medical calls plus 19 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, October 17: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Monday, October 16: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Sunday, October 15: 6: medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Saturday, v October 14: 9 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Friday, October 13: 4 medical calls plus 3 calls.
> Thursday, October 12: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, October 11: 6 medical calls plus 7 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 57 calls
Could it be Minnesota’s Phillips v. Biden?
CONCORD, N.H. — A Minnesota member of Congress, Dean Phillips, is looking to run for president. Phillips has met with the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party about being on the party’s primary ballot against President Joe Biden. Phillips, who has represented western Minneapolis suburbs for six years, confirmed the meeting to the Minnesota Post. He described it as “a very friendly conversation.” For a place on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot, Phillips would need to file by October 27. Age 54, Phillips has been critical of Biden’s age for another term. Biden is 78. If re-elected Biden would serve until he’s 86. Phillips recently resigned from the Democratic Policy and Communications committee, which would have been conflict of interest in challenging Biden. Politically Phillips calls himself a centrist. His voting record on major bills has been 100% with Biden. Even so, he’s an active member of the bipartisan Problem Solver’s Caucus and has embraced some GOP positions. Those include term limits for Congress and more money for community policing. He has said the United States should help “neutralize” Iran if the country indeed is found complicit in last week’s terrorist attack on Israel. He has expressed willingness to cross party lines to support fellow Minnesotan Tom Emmer, a Republican, for House speaker.
Phillips. Positioning himself for a White House run.
Phillips profile
Phillips has limited experience in elected office. He went to Washington in 2019 from the Minnesota Third Congressional District by defeating Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen 55% to 45%. He thus became the first Democrat from the western Minneapolis suburbs in 50 years. His biological father was killed in the Vietnam war, and his widowed mother married into the prominent Minnesota family that owns Phillips Distilling. He was adopted as a Phillips stepson. He earned an advanced degree from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he was named chief executive of Philips Distillery. In 2012 he resigned to take over Talento Gelato, another family company. Telento was sold to the British conglomerate Unilever in 2014. Phillips then founded 4 the Twin Cities coffeeshop chain Penny’s.
Minnesota prep
Volleyball (girls): LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 3, St. Charles Saints 0
Volleyball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 3, Rushford -Peterson Trojans 1
How they voted: On House speakership /1
WASHINGTON – The US. House failed to come up with the 217-vote majority necessary for a replacement tofor Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. McCarthy, R-California, was removed 216-210 on October 3.
> First round (October 17): Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, 212 votes; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, 200; others, 20.
By members of the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations:
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs): Jeffries (first round);
>Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs): Jordan (first round);
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (south): Jordan (first round);
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west): Jordan (first round);
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul): Jeffries (first round);
>Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis): Jeffries (first round);
> Dean Phillips, D-Mn3 (west suburbs): Jeffries (first round);
>Pete Stauber, R-Mn 8 (Iron Range): Jordan (first round);
– – –
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Clyman): Jordan (first round);
> Mike Gallagher, R-Wi8 (Green Bay): Jordan (first round);
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport): Jordan (first round);
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee): Jeffries (first round)\;
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison): Jeffries (first round);
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville): Jordan (first round);
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst): Jordan (first round);
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien): Jordan (first round);
Unattended wallet stolen at SMU gym
WINONA, Minn. – A Saint Mary’s University student left a wallet containing $150 to $200 in a basketball gym. By the time he realized the wallet was missing, a thief had rung op charges, presumably at Walmart — plus having the cash for pocket money. The student reported the theft about 3:20 p.m.
Arrest warrant goes out for Hixton stabbing
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – A nationwide arrest warrant was issued charging a Hixton man with attempting first-degree intentional homicide in a stabbing October 12 in outlying Hixton. The warrant named Anthony Sylvester IV, 32. Sheriff Duane Waldera said he also would ask the U.S. Marshal’s Service in Madison to help in the search.
Quick WSU thief spends $2,000 with stolen cards
WINONA, Minn. – A thief stole two wallets that students left in a Winona State University classroom — and headed straight to Walmart. On one credit card there were two charges totaling $1,000. On another card was a single $1,000 charge. One wallet contained $200 cash. The victims told police that they had put the wallets down in a Stark Hall classroom when they went to a science lab. Police asked Walmart to scan surveillance video and also to identify what kind of merchandize was purchased as a possible clue to identify the thief.
Winona fire chief sets retirement
WINONA, Minn. — The Winona fire chief the past 10 years, Curt Bittle, will see his last active-duty fire call on October 30. He’s retiring. Bittle joined the department part-time in 1992 and three months later went full time. Asked what he sees as major accomplishments, Bittle said he’s proud that more firefighters have qualified as paramedics. He also mentioned helping coordinate thousands of CoVid vaccinations when he was doing double duty as the city emergency management coordinator. Bittle’s retirement sets in motion a series of hierarchal changes:
> Joel Corcoran, assistant fire fhief, to chief.
> Brandon Czaplewski, captain, to assistant chief.
Remember when: Huge picnics at Farmers Park
1925 Farm Bureau picnic. The 1920s were prosperous for Winona County farmers. They drove Tin Lizzies and Dodges to their annual picnic at Farmers Park downstream from Lewiston on Garvin Brook. No horse-drawn buggies at this coat-and-tie Sunday-best event. The county-managed park remains better than ever today but mostly for smaller gatherings like birthdays and graduations. And these days nary a coat and tie. Image: Making the rounds online from source unknown
What next for Miken Caledonia campus?
CALEDONIA, Minn. – Word on the street is that the fire that destroyed the Miken sporting-goods factory may be the final blow for the company’s Caledonia operation. The latest out-of-town owners had wanted to shut down the plant in 2021 and move operations to China. Instead they pared the payroll from 120 to 30. Even scaled down, the plant was one of the largest employers in this southeast Minnesota town of 2,800 people. Jake Dickson, of the Caledonia Economic Development Board, said the Board’s agendas includes discussing possibilties. Two Miken buildings, for administration and for shipping, survived the fire. Representatives from Miken’s parent company have been in and out of town but made no announcement.
Miken office building. One of two surviving buildings at Caledonia operation.
GOP Congressional fund-raising: Van Orden leads
WASHINGTON – Trump enthusiast Derrick Van Orden, who represents western Wisconsin in Congress, led the state’s House delegation for fundraising during the latest quarterly reporting period. The legally required report listed $864,000, mostly from GOP committees and partisan lobbying agencies that give to issue-friendly political action committees to pass on to candidates whose favors they seek. The donations raised Van Orden’s war chest for re-election to $1.4 million. Among other third-quarter reports from members of the Wisconsin delegation:
> Bryan Steil, R-Janesville: $593,000.
> Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelburst: $205,000. Earlier, in the year’s second-quarter report, when Tiffany was actively considering a run against Senator Tammy Baldwin, he raised $113,000.
Apartment deck crashes after hit by car
WINONA, Minn. – A car plowed into a deck at a two-story apartment house. The deck collapsed. The driver was still in the car when first-responders arrived but managed to crawl out the passenger door. The driver claimed to be unhurt. This was about 9:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of East Burns Valley Road. After the car was pulled out of he debris, the buidling manager put up temporary brace to support the deck until full repair is completed.
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