At 22 below, even Buddy needs a hat
Images: Andy Frank
U.S. Senate: Craig calls Tafoya a Trump toady
PRIOR LAKE Minn. — A leading candidate for the U.S. Senate rfom Minnesota, Angie Craig, sees a “dog fight” ahead. Commenting on sportscaster Micele Tafoya’s newly announced candidacy, Craig called Tafoya “nothing more than a Trump puppet who advances the worst of his agenda.” Craig, currently a U.S. House member from MN-2, is running for the Democratic nomination to succeed Senator Tina Smith who is retiring. Tafoya wants the GOP nomination. Said Craig: “We’ve got to make sure Donald Trump isn’t handed another rubber stamp in Michele Tafoya.” About her own record in Congress, Craig said: “I’ve fought back against Donald Trump, corporate greed and the political corruption that have taken over our government. I took on Big Pharma — who spent millions trying to defeat me — and won.”
Craig. Four-term U.S. House member. Has carried MN-2 by 55% in 2024, 51% in 2022, 48% in 2020, 52% in 2018.
Adult son to jail after bout with father
WINONA, Minn. — A 36-year-old man was arrested at a home near Homer where his father had been assaulted, police said. The son, Ivie Thomas Popplewell Jr., was taken to jail and booked for domestic assault causing fear and harm. The incident was reported about 1 a.m. in the 500 block West Burns Valley Road. The father had face and scratches but declined medical treatment, police said.
College scores
Hockey (men: Saint Mary’s 2, Saint John’s 2 (two overtimes)
Wrestling: UW-LaCrosse 29, UW-Whitewater 9
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 71, Hayfield Vikings 67
Basketball (boys): Red Wing Wingers 88, St. Charles Saints 68
Basketball (girls): Pine Island Panthers 53, St. Charles Saints 49
Hockey (boys): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 3, Winona Winhawks 0
Hockey (girls): Mankato West Scarlets 3, Winona Winhawks 1
Wrestling: Staples-Motley Cardinals (1st), Chatfield Gophers (2nd,) Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson 9th)
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (girls): Arcadia Raiders73, Black River Falls Tigers 39
Basketball (girls): Alma-Pepin Eagles 41, Whitehall Norse 35
Basketball (girls): Westby Norse 57, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 49
Klobuchar files papers for governor bid
WASHINGTON — Four-term U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, arguably the most popular political figure in Minnesota, filed paperwork with the state Campaign Fuanc Board — a signal she will run for governor. To be sure, Klobuchar hasn’t announced her candidacy, but an aide said to expect an announcement in coming days.
Arctic strike coincides with anti-ICE boycott
WINONA, Minn. — The most severe winter cold spell since the 2021 polar vortex has saved local Minnesota school boards from wrought decisions whether to shut down schools for the ICE Out of MN boycott. The weather decidedit for them. Typical was the announcement from Winona’s District 861:
“Due to the cold temperatures, Winona Area Public Schools will be closed Friday, January 23. All extracurricular activities are canceled. The district office will be closed.”
Overnight wind chills were forecast from minus 40 to minus-50 degrees. The afternoon highs: Minus-25 to minus-35. Nary a school in southeast Minnesota will be operating. Nor in adjoining Iowa and Wisconsin counties.
How they voted: On ICE funding /1
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted 220-207 to approve $10 billion for new and expanded funding for the Immigration and Control Enforcement agency. Passage came despite growing public outrage at human rights abuses in the siege of Minneapolis by ICE and companion federal agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol. Republicans used their House majority to pass the Trump-backed ICE funding. Democrats opposed with the exception of seven who joined the Trump majority. As a sop to Democrats, the bill required that federal agents use body cameras and undergo additional training on how to interact with the public. The bill next moves to the Senate. Here is how the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations to the House voted:
To fund ICE
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (southern counties)
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)\
—
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)
> 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
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs)
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
> Kelly Morrison, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
—
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
LaCrosse air service still in doldrums
LACROSSE, Wis. — Fewer than 150 travelers a day pass through the troubled LaCrosse airport. A periodic report to the regional Aviation Board listed 43,125 passengers in 2025, a 12.5% increase from the year before but far short of the pre-CoVid era. Boardings and departures have never recovered from the Delta decision to end LaCrosse service, which had been hourly to Minneapolis at peak times of day. Remaining: Only three American flights, all to Chicago. A slight uptick can be expected with Allegiant Air’s new occasional service to vacation destinations. Meanwhile LaCrosse air travelers have the option of shuttle buses to Rochester and Minneapolis airports.
Hokah fire victims: Father, daughter
HOKAH, Minn. — The man who died early Monday in a Hokah house fire was LaCrosse car repair shop owner Arden McCallson, authorities said. He was 81. A woman seriously burned in the fire was his daughter Michelle Lang, 57, of Chaseburg, Wisconsin. She has been transferred to the University of Wisconsin hospital in Madison for burns, fractures and other injuries. Arden McCallson and been in business in LaCrosse since 1970, when he bought a gas station at 803 Jackson Street and built a loyal following for repairs.
News summary at mid-week: January 21, 2026
CIVIC UNREST: It’s a go: Freedom March 2.0 in Winona
CIVIC UNREST: Vance to pop in, pop out for Minnesota photo opps
CIVIC UNREST: Trump ups ante in Minnesota showdown
CIVIC UNREST: Winona business leadership silent on boycott
CIVIC UNREST: Labor unions unite against Trump’s Minnesota siege
CIVIC UNREST: Good’s family wary of federal probe of death
CIVIC UNREST: MinnState campuses join Ice Out of MN walk-out
CIVIC UNREST: Anti-ICE boycott for Friday picks up steam
CIVIC UNREST: Analysis: ICE agent shot Renee Good four times
CIVIC UNREST: Bishop prioritizes peace over right, wrong
GOVERNANCE: U.S. House: Yes to Boundary Waters open-pits
POLITICS: Ellison to stay the course as attorney general
POLITICS: Tafoya gives up sports mike, runs for Senate
FIRE: One person dead in house fire, second badly burned
ACCIDENT: Milk truck crashes, loses 3,000 gallons
ACCIDENT: Motorist cited in Amish buggy crash
CRIME: Winona coach: Yes, I’m a serial teen sex offender
CRIME: Lewiston man charged with beating mom-to-be
CRIME: He says her music too loud; ruckus followed
WEATHER: No Amtrak: Cold jeopardizing rail safety
WEATHER: Out of the woods at Terrace Heights
College scores
Basketball (men): St. Olaf 84, Saint Mary’s 74
Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 81, St. Olaf 45
Minnesota scores
Hockey (girls): Owatonna Huskies 3, Rochester Mayo Spartans 2
U.S. House: Yes to Boundary Waters open-pits
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-208 to allow mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on Minnesota’s Canada border. The vote followed party lines, reflecting the Trump priority of industrialization over the environment. The bill now goes to the Senate. The core arguments:
> Pete Stauber, elected from Minnesota’s Range, who sponsored the bill, argued that the nation needs to exploit the Duluth Complex, the world’s largest untapped copper-nickel deposit, rather rely on China and other adversarial sources for critical metals.
> Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, said House Republicans were sacrificing America’s most visited wilderness for the benefit of a Chilean company that sends its concentrates to China.
> Kelly Morrison, elected from Minneapolis west suburbs, said that mining “will permanently allow toxic copper sulfide into the watershed of the Boundary Waters literally forever.”
How the Minnesota and Wisconsin delegations voted:
To allow Boundary Waters mining
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (southern counties)
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)
—
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Ckyman)
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport)
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville)
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst)
> Tony Wied, R-Wi8 (DePere)
>Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien)
Against
> Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs)
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
> Kelly Morrison, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
—
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee)
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
Milk truck crashes, loses 3,000 gallons
Rescue crew in huddle. Deciding how to go about retrieving wreckage after struggling to pull out the trapped driver. Inage: Monroe County sheriff
Driver trapped in cab more than hour
CASHTON, Wis. — A milk-tank driver was trapped more than an hour in the cab of his rig after it rolled off State Highway33 and slid sideway and then belly-up into a steep ravine east of Cashton. The driver eventually was extricated and taken to a hospital. Without explanation Monroe County Sheriff Wes Revels declined to release the driver’s name but said he was 22 years old and from Florida. Spilled in the crash: 3,000 gallons of milk and 100 gallons of diesel fuel. The accident was about 3:40 p.m. on the curve near Oklahoma Avenue.
It’s a go: Freedom March 2.0 in Winona
WINONA, Minn. — Despite forecasts for another bitter cold weekend, community organizers plan a second Freedom March around Lake Winona to express broad disaffection with where President Trump is taking the nation. The time: 1 p.m. on Saturday. The first march, last Saturday, drew somewhere between 200 and 550 protesters. Crowd estimates have varied because marchers were spread out along the 1.8-mile mile Lake Winona bike path. The weather for the nee mach: Bitterly cold. Afternoon high at minus-7 degrees. Partly cloudy. County Board member Dwayne Voegeli who has become the public face of the grassroots organizing group Winona Indivisible, said the march will begin at the Winona High School parking lot and loop around the smaller Lake Winona. Again the event will be proceeded by a pep talk at the school parking lot. For protesters unable to walk, there will be an alternative — a mid-point gathering spot on Huff Street between the two halves of Lake Winona to await and greet the marchers.
Voegeli. County Board member. Day job: Teaches high school civics The march isn’t affiliated with the Winona School District, he noted. The school parking lot at 901 Gilmore Avenue, where the march begins and ends, is legally a public place.
Vance to pop in, pop out for Minnesota photo opps
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance will travel Thursday to Minneapolis to meet with ICE deportation agents, the White House confirmed. Details were scant, but Vance was expected to confine himself to the heavily fortified Whipple federal building at Fort Snelling a mile from the Minneapolis International airport. It’s from the Whipple fortress that an estimated 3,500 ICE are assigned for Minnesota control duty. Vance was not expected to venture into Minneapolis, proper, where ICE raids have triggered. massive citizen protests and where an ICE agent killed a woman at a protest two weeks ago. White House sources used the term “roundtables” to describe Vance’s Minneapolis agenda, falsely suggesting these would be forums for honest exchanges on issues. Access will be tightly controlled and brief. Vance will be on a one-day trip that also has a stop in Toledo.
Earlier: Trump prepares airborne troops for Minnesota duty
Earlier: Judge to ICE: Lay off the tear gas
Verbatim
White House slant: “The Vice President will highlight the Administration’s commitment to restoring law and order in Minneapolis. He will point out how Minneapolis’s sanctuary city policies have degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers. He will also celebrate the essential work ICE agents have done to take dangerous, criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets.
Winona coach: Yes, I’m a serial teen sex offender
WINONA, Minn. — A Winona high school track coach accused of messing around and fornicating with teen-age girls says he did the deeds — at least three of them. Eric Dione Birth, now 31, pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop seven other sex charges. The deal was negotiated for Birth by his attorney Christine Ledebuhr. Sentencing was scheduled for March. In the plea deal Birth agreed to accept 7-1/2 years in prison.
Earlier: Track coach’s sex trial now in January
Earlier: Sex misdeed cases mount against Winona ex-coach
Earlier: Coach’s bail softened in teen sex cases, now $20,000
Earlier: Coach accused of sex with fourth teen athlete
Earlier: Police chronicles: The Eric Birth probe
Earlier: Teacher’s bail: $300,000 over school sex allegations
No Amtrak: Cold jeopardizing rail safety
WINONA, Minn. — The national passenger rail service Amtrak canceled its trains through Winona for fear that frigid weather has warped tracks. Snow and ice accumulation was also a problem, Amtrak said. Cancelled:
> Borealis. Through Friday both ways between Chicago and St. Paul.
> Empire Builder. Through Saturday both ways between Chicago and Seattle and Portland on the West Coast.
Alternative bus transportation was being arranged, Amtrak said.
Lewiston teen injured in overturning car
LEWISTON, Minn. — A Lewiston teenager was injured in a one-car roll-over on U.S. Highway 14 east of Lewiston. Kaylee Rae Vanetten, 16, was taken 15 miles to the Winona hospital with sustainable injuries. The driver, Jessica Carol Vanetteb, 18, of Lewiston, was unhurt. They were in a 2006 Ford Fusion heading toward Winona. The road was ice-slick along No Name Creek. This was about 7:10 a.m.
Tafoya gives up sports mike, runs for Senate
MINNEAPOLIS — Television sportscaster Michele Tafoya, most recently with WCCO, is running for the U.S. Senate. No surprise: It’s the Republican nomination she seeks. No surprise: For years Tafoya has had a sideline as a conservative political bloggerand is a Trump acolyte. So far there are only two other Republicans in the horizon to replace incumbent Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat, who’s retiring. The other Republican contenders:
> Royce White, a former profession basketball player who lost in 2024 against incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.
> Marissa Simonetti, who once ran for the Hennepin County Board but quit after bad publicity for tossing a tarantula at a roommate.
The leading Democrats for their party’s nomination:
> Angue Craig, currently in her fourth term in the U.S. House.
> Peggy Flanagan, currently lieutenant governor.
> Melissa Lopez Franzen, a former state senator from Edina.
In announcing her candidacy Tafoya said: “For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were the highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works. I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver real results.” She said the nation has a middle-class crisis: “We’ve got families struggling to pay rent, to pay mortgages, to put groceries on the table. Energy costs need to come down. Schools need to do better.” Asked whether she supports President Trump’s economic policies despite those struggles, Tafoya pointed to lower gas prices and recent reports of rising gross domestic production. “It’s only been a year,” she said. “Let’s see what happens here early 2026.”
Promoting her podcast Besides being an online influencer, Tafoya, age 58, has been a football sideline reporter for ABC, CBS, ESPN and NBC. In 2022 she co-chaired the Kendall Qualls campaign for Minnesota governor.
Verbatim
Tafoya: “What I wouldn’t do is stir up this hatred for law enforcement, No one has worked to calm the issue and say, ‘Everyone let’s take a breath. Everybody settle down. If you want to peacefully protest, that’s OK.’ What I’ve seen is the governor and the mayor stir people up and create this environment where they feel they should throw their cars and their bodies between law enforcement and their mission. That’s not how you’ll get peace and normalcy here. I want public safety and I back law enforcement. So I would really like it if Minnesota’s law enforcement could work with federal law enforcement to make this as safe and as peaceful for everyone. That keeps the officers safe and that keeps the public safe.”
Notable journalism
Natasha Bertrand (CNN, January 14, 2026): “Pentagon to Dispatch Dozens of Military Lawyers to Minneapolis Amid Immigration Crackdown”
Ryder Blair (KTTC, January 16, 2026): “Albert Lea Residents Report Front Suspicious Activity, Police Find ICE Conducting Operations”
Caitkin Looby (Milwaukee Journal ,Sentinel January 21, 2026): “Scientists Race to Protect Lake Superior from Invasive Mussels”
Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 36 emergency medical calls plus 13 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, January 20: 7 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Monday, January 19: 8 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Sunday, January 18: 3 medical calls plus 4 fire calld.
> Saturday, January 17: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Friday, January 16: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire 1 fire call.
> Thursday, January 15: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, January 14: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 48 calls
Car overturns between Lewiston, Stockton
LEWISTON, Minn. — A car overturned on its side at the top of Lewiston Grade with initial reports indicating serious injury. This was about 7:10 a.m. on the heavily traveled Winona-to-Rochester trunk commuting artery. First-responders were called from Lewiston and Stockton. The westbound lane of U.S. Highway 14 was blocked for emergency crews at the Dutchman’s Crossing exit to the old Old Highway 14 into Lewiston.
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