Arrest made in Mazeppa campground murder
WABASHA, Minn. — A western Minnesota man was arrested for the killing of a woman at a Mazeppa campground six months ago. Stanley Alam Munstermann, 69, was confronted in Madison, 4-1/2 hours away from Mazeppa near the South Dakota border. He was transported to jail in Wabasha County, where Mazeppa is located. The charges:
> Second-degree murder with intent.
> Second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony.
ti First-degree manslaughter.
Munsternann had been on investigators’ radar almost from he beginning. The crimal complaint reported video surveillance showing Munstermann arriving at the Mazeppa campground on August 28 and leaving at 3:47 a.m. on August30. It was on the 30th that the body pf Barbara McBride-Law, age 66, was found in her camper. Munstermann told police that he was drinking heavily on the night of the 29th and didn’t remember being inside McBride-Law’s camper., the criminal complaint said. The complait also quoted Mnsgemann as claimng early in the investigation as. being at a womanfriend’s home in Nebraska on he day of the Mazeppa homicide.
Munstermann. Arrested in his hometown n Madison, Minnesota, 220 miles from murder scene.
Charge: Beating up, strangling girlfriend
WINONA, Minn. — A Winona woman told police that her boyfriend pulled her hair, threw her down, hit her across the face with an open hand, grabbed and squeezed her neck, and rammed her head into cabinets three, maybe four times. Police arrested Dominick Eugene Brown, age 38. This was about 2:10 a.m in the 450 block of Mankato Avenue. Brown was booked for domestic assault and strangulation. Police said the woman, age 36, showed redness and bruising to her neck and dried blood on her face.
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 60, Wayne State of Nebraska 57
Basketball (women): Winona State 79, Wayne State of Nebraska 57
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Rochester Marshall Rockets 53, Winona Winhawks 47
Basketball (boys): Winona Cotter/Winona Hope 74, Harmony Fillmore Central Falcons 62
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 98, Spring Valley Kingsland Knights 27
Basketball (girls): St. Charles Saints 46, LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals 44
Basketball (girls): Rochester Marshall Rockets 65, Winona Winhawks 62
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 89, Blair-Taylor Wildcats 71
Basketball (boys): Eleva-Stru Cardinals 73, Gilmanton Panthers 47
Basketball (girls): Arcadia Raiders 60, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 37
Mental test OK’d for rollover into gas pumps
LACROSSE, Wis. –A LaCrosse man charged in a high-speed crash into gas pumps at a Kwik Trip, Andrew David Hermes, has been ordered to undergo evaluation for mental competency. Judge Elliott Levine issued the order before the reckless endangerment case continues. Hermes’ attorney asked for the evaluation.
Vehicle totaled. Car was airborne before overturning into gas pumps at the north end of George Street in LaCrosse.
Marriotts donate $100 million to Mayo
ROCHESTER, Minn. — An unusually large gift of 100 million was made by Marriott family foundations to Mayo Clinic’s “Bold. Forward. Unbound” expansion project. In appreciation Mayo Clinic said a two-story building due for 2030 completion as will be named the Marriott Family Atrium. The building, on the main Rochester campus, will be a welcome center for new arrivals. The Marriott connection with Mayo dates to 1962. Bill and Donna sought treatment for their 5-year-old daughter’s severe congenital heart condition. Open-heart surgery with emerging technology at saved the girl’s life. The Marriott fortune is from hotels.
Proposed Mayo greeting center. Architect’s drawing of elegant Mayo arrival site for new arrivals.
News summary at mid-week: February 4, 2026
MINNESOTA SIEGE: Partial retreat: Trump recalls 700 troopers
MINNESOTA SIEGE: Demand to FBI: Cough up ICE homicide evidence
MINNESOTA SIEGE: ICE agents to be issued body cams finally
POLITICS: GOP caucus voters give Demuth top billing
POLITICS: Flanagan wins nod from retiring U.S. senator
GOVERNANCE: How they voted: On ICE funding /2
ART: Telling Winona’s story in match-sticks
ACCIDENT: Taylor crash victim: At 17 an aspiring nurse
CRIME: Lewiston driver faulted for girl in car
CRIME: Man arrested on complaint of drunken abuse
College scores
Minnesota prep
Woman jailed after spurning court decorum
WINONA, Minn. — Petite drama played out in a Winona courtroom when the judge ordered bailiffs to remove a Stockton woman as disruptive. The bailiffs, assisted by a nearby deputy, forcibly escorted Danielle Marie Prigge, age 46, to jail. She was booked for contempt of court. Prigge is no stranger to courtrooms. Over the years she has faced numerous drunken driving charges; speeding, 89 in a 65 zone; driving without license and insurance; driving without securing a child in safety restraints; and assault. Jn court this time she was argumentative despite the judge’s repeated warnings.
Partial retreat: Trump recalls 700 troopers
MINNEAPOLIS — President Trump’s Operation Metro Surge against Minnesota, which backfired in national disapproval and disgust, is being pared back. Trump’s new on-site manager for Metro Surge, Tom Homan, announced a drawdown of 700 agents from the 3,500 ordered into Minnesota by Trump to restore order when in fact there was no disorder. Homan said the drawdown will cut the number of armed federal agents roaming Minnesota streets to 2000. To be sure, there was fuzziness in numbers. In fact there may be as many as 2,800 agents remaining. Whether the drawdown will satisfy Minnesotans was not immediately clear. ICE normally has a payroll of only 150 for its Minnesota activities. Homan, a longtime Trump ally, saved Trump some face for the partial retreat by claiming that he had negotiated an agreement with state and local to back off their resistance to Trump’s plan to deport 1 million immigrants year, including thousands in Minnesota. Said Homan: Gomansaid he had negotiated “unprecedented collaboration” from state and locl authoriteses: “The need is less federal law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment.”
Earlier: Farewell, Bovino: Not so nice knowing you
Earlier: Who’d they kill this time: A Minneapolis nurse
Earlier: Trump ups ante in Minnesota showdown
Homan. Says 700 armed federal agents from Trump’s Minnesota siege will be withdrawn immediately, Still on the streets: 2000 to 2,800 of the storm troopers that Governor Tim Walz has likened to gestapo.
Emergency, fire crews make 48 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 42 emergency medical calls plus 16 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, February 3: 7 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Monday, February 2: 8 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Sunday, February 1: 7 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Saturday, January 31: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, January 30: 2 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Thursday, January 29: 9 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, January 28: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 59 calls
GOP caucus voters give Demuth top billing
ST. PAUL, Minn. — In Republican caucuses statewide, the party faithful favored Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth for governor. As of midnight with 71% of caucus ballots counted, Demuth led easily. Second was former healthcare executive Kendall Qualls. Third was MyPillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell. Caucuses choose delegates to later conventions that eventually decide who ends up on the November ballot, Caucuses are a kind of straw poll. Primary elections in August will winnow out weaker candidates if necessary. The general election is 10 months off in November. Among Democrats it appears that U.S. Senator Am yKlobuchar already has wrapped up the nomination for governor. Other possible candidates backed off when Klobuchar announced her candidacy.
Minnesota prep
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Onalaska Luther Knights 76, Arcadia Raiders 62
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 57, Blair-Taylor Wildcats 43
Basketball (girls): Eleva-Strum Cardinals 72, Alma Center Lincoln Hornets 35
How they voted: On ICE funding /3
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted 217-214 to fund several federal agencies but keeping the Department of Homeland Security on ice— no new funding. There will be a separate vote on Homeland Security in two weeks. In the meantime, Congress wants answers to why Homeland has made hundreds of arrests without warrants in Minneapolis, many brutal, two with fatalities. At issue for Congress is $10 billion that Homeland wants to escalate its Trump -directed deportation and law-and-order campaign that’s spiraled violently out of control. The funding package, without a single dollar for Homeland, now goes to Trump for his approval, which is expected. Here’s how Minnesota and Wisconsin’s House delegations voted:
To fund agencies but not Homeland
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)
—
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Mn8 (Clyman)
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport)
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi-1 (Janesville)
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst)
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien)
> Tony Wied, R-Wi8 (DePere)
Against as a statement against Homeland
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs)
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
> Kelly Morrison, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
—
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee)
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
Earlier: How they voted: On ICE funding /2
Claremont driver hurt in crash with city bus
WINONA, Minn. — A Dodge County driver was injured in a two-vehicle collision involving a city bus on busy Broadway Street near downtown. Sara Krosch, age 39, of Claremont, suffered non-life threatening injuries. She was taken to the Winona hospital. This was about 12:50 p.m. A 2-year-old girl in the vehicle was belted and unhurt. No one on the bus was injured. The bus, driven by Shawn Marie Fitzgerald, 68, of Winona, was southbound on Main Street. Krosch was driving a 2025 Ford Explorer
.
A chimney-sweeping gargoyle?
Smile as you gaze up. Gargoyles once were the rage as architectural flourishes around Winona. Check out the 1920s vintage Somsen Hall at Winona State University. This guy, tail and all, is a bit unusual as a residential ornament. On the southeast corner of Fifh and Center streets bear downtown. Image: Kevin O’Reilly
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Owatonna Huskies 91, Winona winhawks 65
Basketball (boys): St. Charles Saints 71, Lewiston Cardinals 57
Basketball (girls): Lewiston Cardinals 71, St. Charles Saints 52
Hockey (boys): Austin Packers 5, Winona Winhawks 1
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 7, Red Wing Wingers 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 77, Bangor Cardinals 39
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 61, Blair-Taylor Wildcats 39
St. Charles man unhurt in Mower County wreck
LANSING, Minn. — A St. Charles driver escaped injury in a collision roughly five miles north of Austin. An Austin woman in the other car was injured but not seriously and taken to the Austin hospital. The St. Charles driver, Mitchell Roger Leistikow, 30, was heading toward Blooming Prairie on State Highway.218. Mower County deputies said Kaydance Marie Verhey, 18, of Austin, was going the same direction. Pavement was wet. The accident was about 11:35 a.m. Leistikow was on 2015 Ford Fusion, Verhey in a 2008 Chevrolet Impala.
Flanagan wins nod from retiring U.S. senator
WASHINGTON — Minnesota’s junior senator, Tina Smith, has endorsed the state’s lieutenant governor ,Peggy Flanagan, as her successor. About Flanagan, Smith said: “She understands that right now what we need are fierce fighters, people who are willing to stand up to the status quo, people who won’t be intimidated.” Smith was making a veiled reference to President Trump’s xenophobia and racism. Flanagan is an Ojibwe activist. Flanagan is running against U.S. House member Angie Craig for the Democratic nomination to replace Smith, who isn’t seeking reelection. The primary election is August 11. Democrats are forecast to retain Smith‘s Senate seat in the general election. The much-followed Cook Political Report calls Minnesota wide-open in the general election but likely Democratic. On the Republican side the highest profile candidate is former football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, a Tr ump loyalist.
Bmith bestows endorsement. Two-term U.S. Senator Tina Smith, in red turtleneck, favors Flanagan ahead of U.S. House member Angie Craig for the Democratic nomination.
Demand to FBI: Cough up ICE homicide evidence
MINNEAPOLIS — The jurisdiction battle has heated up over who controls the investigation into the shooting death of Renee Good by a federal deportation agent. The no-nonsense Hennepin County prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, demanded in writing that the FBI turn over evidence that federal agents scarfed up from the scene January 7 while barring local police from access. Moriarty specifically demanded firearms, cartridge casings and motor vehicles as well as videos and photographs. She also insisted on the names of the federal agents involved. The FBI, which has come under President Trump’s tight control, has been engaged in a cover-up, said Moriarty:
“This demand should not even be necessary. The federal government’s blanket refusal to cooperate with Minnesota law enforcement — after initially agreeing to jointly investigate this matter — is unmatched in recent memory.”
Moriarty. Elected Hennepin County attorney 2022. Earlier a public defender. Demands that Trump abandon games that impede investigation of Renee Wood homicide by deportation agent by Jonahan Ross.
Moriarty said that Trump administration can expect a lawsuit if the evidence isn’t provided by February 17. It’s known from citizen video that the ICE agent who fired several shots into Wood was Jonathan Ross. Other agents, guns drawn, witnessed what happened. Trump forces have refused to say whether Ross was ever placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is standard policing procedure for officer-involved shootings. Trump people have claimed there is no basis for any criminal investigation. The shooting was self-defense against a domestic terrorist, they say. The Trump claim, for which there has been no evidence, has inflamed Minnesotans, who have signed up for citizen trackers to record ongoing ICE violence. More than 32,000 people registered for the training.
Earlier: Good’s family wary of federal probe of death
Earlier: Analysis: ICE agent shot Renee Good four times
Earlier: ICE agent ID’d in Minneapolis raid death
ICE agents to be issued body cams finally
WASHNGTON — President Trump’s Homeland Security chief, Kristi Noem, has ordered that her deportation agents in ICE and related agencies be equipped with body cams. The order was taken as further evidence of Noem’s incompetence. She has been in charge of Trump’s Operation Merto Surge in Minneapolis, where thousands of citizens have used their own cameras to document excessive force, brutality even, by Homeland Security agents. The competence question: Why weren’t Noem’s agents equipped with body cams 11 weeks ago when Metro Surge began? Body cams have been standard issue for years in local policing. The lapse became critical for Noem only after her propagandists realized they didn’t have footage to devise counter-messaging to the powerful evidence from citizen cameras of agent misdeeds in the streets.
Noem. Calls have been growing for her impeachment if she doesn’t step down as Trump’s secretary of the cabinet-level Homeland Security agency. She was put in the job by Trump 13 months agon despite no experience in border issues or law enforcement. She had been a long-term Trump supporter. She was governor of South Dakota, the 47th least populous state in the country.
Verbatim
Noem, explaining why she was so late with body cams? “The problem was having the resources to get them on every agent and every officer that’s out there. And then having the resources to do the analyses and the storage of those videos and who can help us really utilize them.” Her explanation has been seen as a lame for send 3,500 agents into Minneapolis mostly without being issued body cams. This appears related to the rush to hire inexperienced agents for Operation, Metro Surge with $50,000 sign-ip bonuses, not screening them carefully, and. putting them through inadequate crash training.
Mutual distancing
Aware that her role as Homeland Security secretary may be on thin ice, Noem has distanced herself from her bdy cam lapse from being blamed on him. Deferring blame away from Trump and currying favor, Noem said that body cam decisions were hers and hers alone — not Trump’s. And in not-too-subtle subtle scape-goating, Trump has made the point that body cam policy was Noem’s, not his.
Noem: Messed up? Or great?
Asked whether his confidence in Noem has been shaken Trump has said “No” and praised her as “great” There are doubts, however, about the truth. Last week Trump spent two hours in closed meeting with Noem and her paramour. Corey Lewandowski, reportedly in part to hash out deepening and disruptive personnel feuds at Homemeland Security. This set off power struggles. Noem had hired Lewandowski in September as a “special government employee,” effectively serving as her chief of staff. There are limits on how many weeks a “special government employee” can serve. Lewandowski has been posting only partial hours in order to stretch out his eligibility.
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