ROSE CREEK, Minn. — Medics called for medevac helicopter to rush a LeRoy motorcyclist 35 miles to a Rochester hospital.  Corey David Winkels, age 41, didn’t appear seriously hurt, but medics didn’t want to take chances. Winkels had stuck a deer and gone into a ditch. This was in town about 9:15 p.m. at State Highway 56 and 740th Avenue. Winkels was northbound on a 2007 Triumph America. He was helmeted.

BUFFALO CITY, Wis. — A disheveled woman was arrested sitting in her driveway after a report of trying to kill a family member, stabbing him with a pocketknife, and setting fires all over the house. Deputies said Tonia J. Schwanke, 45, was surrounded in the driveway by charred clothing when they arrived. She was taken 11 miles to the Buffalo County jail in Alma. The arrest was in the early morning on North Humboldt Street. Deputies were told that Schwanke attacked the victim with a small pocketknife, puncturing his right arm and cutting his left ear. During the attack, witnesses said, she threatened to kill him. Later, deputies were told, Schwanke threatened to burn the house down and proceeded to set fire to newspapers in the kitchen, her bedroom and a mudroom. Deputies described the fire damage as extensive. A preliminary breath test showed Schwanke’s blood alcohol content at 0.18% — Anything more than 0.08% is considered impairment

Schwanke. Deputies understood the fires followed the stabbing by several hours.

Spores with rhizome roots. These bamboo-looking shoots are in a moist roadside ditch along East Burns Valley Road. They are from a plant called horsetails, which have been around 300 million years. Horsetails reproduce by spores and spread by rhizome roots that can sink four feet. Pioneers called them “scouring plants,” using the fibrous stems to scour pots and pans. Image: Andy Frank

INDEPENDENCE, Wis. — A driver crashed into a rural house west of Independence and was seriously injured. Trempealeau County Sheriff Sheriff Erica Koxlien declined y release y-the driver’s name, contrary to usual policing practice unless there are extenuating circumstances. The accident was about 11 p.m. at West 24672 County Road X. The driver missed a curve, dropped into a ditch, soared across a driveway, and crashed into the house, deputies said. No one in the house as hurt. First-responders extricated the unconscious driver from the vehicle. He was airlifted 33 miles to an Eau Claire hospital. Deputies tentatively blamed speed and alcohol.

Golf (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 291, Mendota Heights St. Thomas Cadets 294, Eden Prairie Holy Family Fire 296, Chanhassen Storm 298, Stewartville Tigers 302 (tie), Rochester Century Panthers 302 (tie), Minneapolis Blake Bears 306, Eden Prairie Eagles 307, St. Louis Park Orioles 309, Austin Packers 314, Lake City Tigers 319, Richfield Holy Angels Shiners 337

WINONA, Minn. –_A police officer wanted know why   a Winona driver had parked in the middle of the Broadway and Franklin intersection. The officer said he figured it all out when he walked up to the car and told the driver to lower his window: The odor of alcohol was unmistakable. Craig Adams, age 45, then failed roadside sobriety exercises., the officer said.  At jail Adams was booked on suspicion of drunken driving and also refusing to have his blood-alcohol tested.

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EAU CLAIRE Wis. — Police arrested a Menomonie man for the brutal and fatal stabbing of his mother in her Eau Claire apartment. The woman, Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, age 56, suffered multiple wounds apparently from a kitchen knife, police said. Police had been called to the Half Moon Lake apartments about 8 p.m. by a man who reported just stabbing someone. At the scene police attempted but failed to revive the woman. Arrested a few blocks away was the son — Michael Jon Hurlburt, age 27. On the original phone call to police, the dispatcher recorded the caller: “I believe that I’ve been gang-stalked by the U.S. government and the Chinese, and they wanted to force me to do things in my life that I don’t want to do.”  Police quoted Hurlburt admitting to thinking about killing his mother in the past and finally doing it. He also claimed that his mother was mean to him until he was 18 and wanted to make a statement to the rest of the family, police said. Hurlburt also talked at length about his mental health, police said.

Hurlburt. From Menomonie, 35 miles away in the next county.

POSTVILLE, Iowa —An Iowa man died when he was pinned under his off-road vehicle when it rolled on its side in a rural area east of Postville near Luana. Isaac Hanson, age 25, of Luana, was dead at the scene, said Allamakee County deputies. This was about 5:45 p.m. on Scott Hollow Road. Hanson was alone on the vehicle

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal immigration agent accused of pointing his gun at occupants of a car after pulling alongside them in February has turned himself in to county authorities. Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. was arrested on the spot — a triumph for Hennepin County prosecutor Mary Moriarty in her battle for local sovereignty.  The arrest was a break in the Trump administration obstinacy to cooperate with local authorities in cases of lawlessness by ICE agents during the President’s Operation Metro Surge over the winter. Refusing to be bullied, Hennepin Cojnty’s Moriarty went after Morgan, age 35, with a nationwide arrest warrant.  “There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota,” Moriarty said at a news conference, announcing Morgan’s arrest. Morgan was apprehended recently at his Maryland home and ordered to return to Minnesota to face Moriarty’s charges of felony assault. Rather than be extradited, Morgan volunteered to do so. Once the was in Minneapolis, Hennepin County judge promptly ordered bail at $100,000, which he posted.

Moriarty. Tough no-nonsense Hennepin County attorney. Elected 2923.

The incident

The driver and front-seat passenger of a car called 911 that an unmarked SUV pulled alongside them, rolled down his window, and pointed a handgun at them, and blocked their car on the shoulder. The car’s driver told investigators they feared it was a “crazy person driving down the road aiming guns at people.” They acknowledged tyat Morgan claimed be a police officer although he was nit not in unform nor, was not wearing a badge or identification, and an unmarked vehicle. This was — on February 5 on State Highway 62 near Portland Avenue in Minneapolis —at the height of the Trump’s uninvited occupation of Minnesota streets wtih 3,000 federal immigration and deportation agents.

What next

Trump’s interim atteney genral, Todd Blanche, has warned that the U.S Justice Department could prosecute state or local officials who arrest federal agents for performing their official duties. The same rough-shod position as taken earlier by Pam Blndi, who was Blanche’s disgraced predeessor as Trump’s attorney general. Morgan has been with the U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement agency eight years.

EAGLE LAKE, Minn. — Police agencies across southern Minnesota have been sharing security camera photos of a brazen but soft-spoken thief who walks into banks, presents identification, and walks out with cash from home equity lines of credit So far, five banks have been hit. The combined take: $30,000. The scams were between May 7 and 3 at:

> Eagle Lake in Blue Earth County.

> Hutchinson .in McCleod County.

> Rochester in Olmsted County.

> St. Peter in Nicollet County.

> Waldorf in Waseca County.

Know who this is? Several bankers would appreciate your call. Police too.

Resting and rejuvenating. An East Burns Valley Road farm leases pasture every summer for Amish horses. These lucky buggy and work horses, along a spring-fed creek and in lush green pasture, h ze the summer free from their normal duties. Image: Andy Frank

WINONA, Minn. — Wisconsin driver who was stopped for expired auto plates was then arrested as drunk. Emery McCullers, age 25, of Sun Prairie, had twice as much alcohol in his system as allowed, police said. The level: 0.17%. The arresting officre said McCullers first denied imbibing. The arrest was about 1:10 a.m. in the 200 block of West Mark Street at Winona State University.

INDEPENDENCE, Wis. — A driver crashed into a rural house west of Independence and was seriously injured. Trempealeau County Sheriff Sheriff Erica Koxlien declined y release the driver’s name, contrary to usual policing practice unless there are extenuating circumstances. The accident was about 11 p.m. at West 24672 County Road X. the driver missed a curve, went off the road, dropped into a ditch, soared across a driveway, and crashed into the house, deputies ad. First-responders extricaetd  the unconscious driver from the vehicle. He was flown 32 miles to an Eau Claire hospital. Deputies tentatively blamed speed and alcohol.

CHATFIELD, Minn. — The Chatfield City Council met in an emergency session to fire part-time police officer Ken Gallion. In Bloomington the previous evening Gallion had been arrested in his Chatfield uniform as driving drunk and carrying a handgun. Bloomington police notified Chatfield Police Chef Scott Keigley about the arrest, and he briefed Mayor John McBroom. Gallion, age 61, was passing through the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington from a second job as a security agent at the State Fair grounds. Chatfield, in Fillmore County, population 3,000, has a four-person police department.

Earlier: Charge: Chatfield cop too drunk to drive

Gallion. In Bloomington jail mug shot.

WINONA, Minn. –— For the frst time in 44 years a Borzyskowski won’t be on a Winona ballot. George Borzyskowski, age 72, confirmed is retiring from the  City Councill as representative from the East End’s Ward 4. Borsyzkowski has been a Council member  28 years. Before that his father held the seat. Borzyskowski grinned that he’s been on the Council  longer all the current members combined.

Borzyskowski. Retired for several years from Winona manufacturer Peerless Chain.

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.  — The vice chair of Itasca County Democrats, Cynthia Arlene Martin, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the 2024 hit-and-run death of a 19-year-old pedestrian. The guilty plea was part of a deal in which Martin, age 66, agreed to one year in jail. The deal remains subject to acceptance by Judge Heidi Chandler. Sentencing guidelines allow as much 10 years and a $20,000 fine. The July 2024 accident was 18 miles northeast of Grand Rapids near Nashwauk. It was dark. Martin was returning to Grand Rapids from an event. It took investigators four months to link Martin to the accident. Her account was that she was aware of the impact, stopped, checked her gauges, and drove on. The next day, she said, she learned ghat Carter Haithcock had been struck on Highway 169 near Nashwauk, but she didn’t come forward about the possibility she had been the driver. The plea agreement includes a provision barring alcohol and non-prescription drugs. The agreement followed 1-1/2k years of legal maneuvering in which Martin’s attorney sought variously to dismiss the case, to suppress evidence, and to move case to a venue where Martin wasn’t as prominent. Meanwhile, this December, Martin resigned her Democratic Party duties under pressure.

MINNEAPOLIS — A central figure in the Feeding Our Future scandal has been sentenced to 42 years in prison. Aimee Bock, age 45, was accused in what’s believed to have been the largest fraud of federal emergency funds u=intended for child nutrition during the CoVid crisis. In all, as much as $243 million was stolen by falsely seeking government reimbursement for meals that were never delivered. The amount that Bock stole has been disputed, but her take was enough for a lavish lifestyle with luxury cars and upscale items. Already she’s been in jail three hears while her case wended through the judicial system. The sentence was meted out by federal Judge Nancy Brasel. In all, nearly 80 persons mostly restaurateurs and caterers, have been charged in the scandal.

Bock. In jail while awitign senttncing.

CALEDONIA, Minn. — Sheriff Brian Swedberg of Houston County registered as a andidate for the 2026 elections. If re-elected Swedberg, age 55, would be in his second your-year term as sheriff. He has lived in Rushford but currently is in La Crescent at the populous east end of the county. Swedberg began as a dispatcher and jailer in the sheriff’s office. He became chief deputy, second in command, in 2018. He holds a state emergency management certificate.

\Swedberg. In office since 2023.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A part-time police officer from southeast Minnesota’s Chatfield was arrested 105 miles away after crashing his car in this south Minneapolis suburb. Kenneth Ronald Gallion, 61, was in full uniform, carrying a sidearm, and very drunk, police said. His blood-alcohol tested at 0.28% — 3-1/2 times the acceptable level. Gallion, who lives in Rochester, was en route home from a moonlighting security job at the State Fair grounds in St. Paul. He also had been speeding, police said. This was just before midnight in the 9400 block of Lyndale Avenue.

Jail-bound. A wobbly Gallion being loaded into a Bloomington squad car. Faces washed-out by police emergency lighting. His shoulder patch says Chatfield.

WINONA, Minn. — Responding to a vandalism call at Winona High Scholl, police saw eight teenagers scrambling into the night. Two were slow. Police caught them, both 17. Trees had been toilet-papered. Silly-putty string was well, strung all over. Dozens of forks were inexplicably pounded in the grass. This was about 10:20 p.m. Will there be criminal charges? Police were waiting for morning to see what Principal Nathan Warnekewill do.