WINONA, Minn. – A police officer making a traffic stop smelled marijuana in the car. Yes, said the driver, Preston Riley Nelson, 23, of  Winona, he had puffed earlier but it had  been a while.  The officer, who had drug-evaluation training, got a fluid sample, which was sent to a state lab for testing. The stop was about 8:45 p.m. at Mankato and Sanborn streets on the Far East End.

A home of Rawlings. Factory for sports equipment and Rawlings softball bats and Major League Baseball product.

Even after downsize, a major rural employer

CALEDONIAA, Minn. – The production plant at Miken Sports, famous for its Raqlings brand sports equipment, was destroyed by fire. The building was unoccupied on a Saturday morning. Fire crews from four commuities responded to ghe 11 a,m. call. The administrative office building and a new warehouse escaped damage. What remained of the main plant, however, was only warped metal and charred softballs.

Earlier: Legislators snubbed on Caledonia jobs plea

Earlier: Hagedorn joins calls to save Caledonia factory

Earlier: Senator at bat to keep Caledonia jobs

Earlier: Solons stymied in call to save Caledonia factory

Earlier: Up in air: Future of Caledonia softball bat plant

Miken in Caledonia

Miken opened the Caledonia plant in1999. At its peak there were 120 employees.  Rawlings Sporting Goods bought the company in 2004. Seventeen years later Rawlings announced the plant would close and production moved to China. Under political pressure, Rawlings scaled back its closure plans.  Since then the payroll has dwindled to 30 employees.

WINONA, Minn. – The Winona Police Department roster is filling up slowly after being depleted by retirements and other departures, this amid a nationwide police hiring shortage. Full-time officers now number 33 – still four short of a full complement. New officers have begun a three-month training program, said Deputy Chief Jay Rasmussen. Seven newcomers are recent Police Academy graduates. Two made career moves from other departments. Since January 2021 the department has lost 11 officers.

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona police officer was attacked by a woman during a traffic stop because she didn’t want her friend, who was driving, hassled. While the friend was being put through a standard field sobriety test, the woman charged out the passenger door and shouted at the officer. She punched him in the chest with both hands and bent back his thumb. Off balance and his thumb  sprained, the officer dropped his radio. A second officer arrived and restored order. When all was said and done, things didn’t end well end for Trinity Rose Knutsen, 23, of Red Wing. She was booked for assault. Meanwhile he driver, Muhammad Rahshawn Bush, 32, of Rochester failed field sobriety tests.

Soccer (women): Southwest Minnesota State 1, Winona State 0

Soccer (women):  Augustana of Illinois 3, Saint Mary’s 0

Round-about. Now in service 11 months. Still tripping up motorists. Image is facing south on a sunny day. Pavement wet at time of new collision.

Four others escape injury in collision

WINONA, Minn. – A Wisconsin woman was injured in a two-vehicle collision at the new rotary intersection of the junction of Highways 61 and 43 on the Far East End. Michele Jacobs, 56, of Brandon, was taken to the Winona hospital a block away. Her injuries were described as sustainable. This was about 8:45 p.m. Jacobs was a passenger jn a 2015 Dodge Caravan driven by Steven Ronald Jacobs, also of Brandon. He was unhurt. Also unhurt, in the other vehicle, a 2021 Jeep Renegade, were Tara Lynn Knutsen, 46, the driver, and Krista Lynn Brommerich, 23, and Trinity Rose Knutsen, 23, all from Winona. Police said  he Dodge was traveling north on Highway 61, the Jeep south on Highway 43.

FOLEY, Minn. – Bail was set at $6 million for a rural Benton County man, Karl Thomas Holmberg, 64, who was arrested after a stand-off with police in which five officers were shot. Holmberg himself was shot in a foot in the encounter. After his arrest he flown to a Minneapolis hospital. Doctors cleared him to be returned 60 miles to Benton County for legal proceedings. He was in court for the bail hearing. The charges: Six counts of first-degree attempted murder of a police officer and six counts of first-degree assault against a police officer. Holmberg told Judge Michael Jesse that he didn’t know that the officers who showed up at his door didn’t provide any positive identification. No way could he have known who were, he said. He added that he was sorry he shot anybody but that no one had a right to kick down his door. Despite Holmberg’s explanation, Judge Jesse set bail at $6 million without conditions — or $3 million with standard conditions such as not possessing weapons or ammunition. The judge scheduled Homberg’s next court date in 1-1/weeks.

Earlier: State honchoing Glendorado drug-raid probe

Legal representation

Holmberg, believed to be of modest means, normally woukd be entitled to a court-appointed attorney at no cost to him. But at the bail hearing Judge Jesse ruled that Holmberg didn’t qualify. An attorney who represented Holmberg in earlier cases, Todd Young of Roseville, said he hasn’t spoken to Holmberg in years.

BLUE EARTH, Minn. – Two drivers including a Winona woman were injured in a collision at the Interstate 90 exit ramp to Blue Earth. Gloria Marie Horner, 68, of Winona, and Fernanda Salazar, 20, of Blue Earth, were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Deputies said that Horner, in a 2017 GMC Terrain, had just left I-90. Salazar, in a 2009 Dodge Journey, was southbound on U.S> Highway 169. This was about 1:05 p.m.

STEWARTVILLE, Minn. – An Iowa man who repeatedly drove 50 miles to the Stewartville municipal swimming pool, was cited with lewd acts of genital self-stimulation in front of children. Scott David Quam, 57, of Cresco, was cited on three counts of sexual conduct and indecent exposure. A boy had told his mother, who said to call her if the man ever came back. He did. She said she then saw the man fondling inside his swim trunks and called a pool manager. The man apologized and left. An investigator later met with Quam in Cresco and reported that he denied performing any lewd acts. He did, say, however er, that he might have been wearing old swim trunks that might have slipped down.

STOCKTON, Minn. – The 911 caller told the police dispatcher about hearing gunshots at the Hickory Lane trailer park near Stockton. Well, the caller added, maybe it was fire crackers. A deputy checked it out and concluded it was firecrackers. Nobody would own up to it, but the deputy gave a stern lecture anyhow. All seemed to end well.

WINONA, Minn. – A 16-year-old boy was cited for assault at Winona  High School after hitting another boy repeatedly on the back of his head. Teachers pulled the assailant off and called police. The boys told police there had been a simmering disagreement. Parents were notified. The incident was about 9:05 a.m.

WINONA, Minn. –Habitat for Humanity in Winona has a new executive director. Brittany Hennessey will lead the organization, which facilitates affordable homeownership in the county. Hennessey earlier was a a college readiness counselor at YouthPower365 in Avon, Colorado.

Hennessey. Native of Hastings.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver, Johan Strydom, 26, was booked for drunken driving after a traffic stop at Fourth and Market streets. Police said that Strydom admitted to a few beers. He showed signs of inebriatiion, police said. Also o blood-alcohol check showed 0.11% — almost twice the threshold for impairment. The stop was about 1:05 a.m.

WINONA, Minn. – A driver was stopped at Huff and Howard streets and appeared to have been drinking. Kelly Michelle Armijof-Tinoco, 19, of Cottage Grove, blew .03% in a blood-alcohol test – far short of the 0. 08% threshold for impairment. So she was off the hook for drunken driving but not entirely scot-free. She was cited for under-age consumption.