House reaffirms marijuana legalization policy
ST. PAUL, Minn. ––The Minnesota House approved the final draft of the bill to legalize recreational cannabis with a73-57 margin. This final draft was from a joint Senate-House committee. The revision still needs senate approval, which sems a certainty. The final deal would legalize marijuana for recreational use but also allow for new state-licensed businesses that will grow, manufacture and sell at retail dispensaries marijuana products. The bill would appropriate $15 million to the state Traffic Safety Office to train drug recognition evaluators. The bill also would fund a roadside testing pilot project for $2.6 million.
Earlier: Agreement reached on marijuana reforms
Earlier: How they voted: Marijuana legalization /2
Earlier: Marijuana legalization bill passes House
Earlier: Senate echoes House, OKs marijuana as legal
Earlier: How they voted: Marijuana legalization / 1
Earlier: Marijuana legalization bill passes House
Earlier: Walz: Let’s legalize marijuana; prohibition a failure
Canada wildfire smoke pollutes Minnesota air
WINONA, Minn. – You don’t need a vacation to see Canada. Nor to smell Canada. Go outside and look and whiff, and you’ll have feel for wildfires in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. A cold front has moved an unhealthy band of ground-level smoke that’s heaviest in northwest Minnesota but also statewide and into Wisconsin. The smoke should clear rapidly overnight. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued an air-quality alert at red in northern areas, a level considered unhealthy for everyone, and orange elsewhere, almost as severe.
Mystery: Snowmobile in ditch on backroad
STOCKTON, Minn. – A snowmobile was found abandoned in a ditch on German Ridge above Farmers Park. Deputies learned that the owner was deceased, although the death was unrelated to the snowmobile. How and why the snowmobile was abandoned was not established. This was about 11:40 a.m.
New farm bill into law with rural broadband
Barnyard event. The Legislature’s bipartisan work on a new agriculture bill was Governor Tim Walz’s main point at a signing ceremony. The bill includes funds to encourage a new generation of aspiring farmers — see the little guy in the blue parka — to get into the business
Funding for conservation, insurance, incentives
FINLAYSON, Minn.– Governor Tim Walz got out and about, 90 miles north of the Capitol to a family dairy farm in Finlayson, to sign the 2023 agriculture into law. The bill includes a $100 million investment to expand high-speed broadband, establishes a grain indemnity fund to protect grain producers, and a program to help aspiring farmers and producers succeed. Major provisions:
> Broadband. $100 million to widen high-speed broadband with funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
> Grain Indemnity Fund. $10 million to cover unpaid grain sales when buyers or warehouses go under financially.
> Dairy aid. $4 million for financial assistance to smaller dairy cow operations in the federal dairy risk protection program.
> Soil Health. $1.2 million to help farmers implement soil health management with specialized machinery.
> Emergency backup. $1 million to replenish the state fund for agriculture-related emergencies.
> Emerging Farmers. Enlarges the state Emerging Farmers Office to support young and immigrant farmers succeed.
> Forever Green. For a University of Minnesota initiative to produce high value commodity crops for conservation purposes.
> Emergency food aid. Funding for the Good Acre’s Local Emergency Assistance Fund to provide market-rate prices for farmers who donate to hunger-relief organizations.
USA Today poll: Kwik Trip tops again
WASHINGTON – The Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip chain was named the best in the country for fueling stops and convenience stores by USA Today readers for the fourth year running. Readers were asked to rank bathroom cleanliness, coffee freshness, snack options, and fuel service. Kwik Trip is known for its central bakeries in LaCrosse, which make more than two dozen different items a day, and its milk products from dairy farms within a 100-mile radius of La Crosse. Other leaders:
> 2: Hy-Vee (Iowa headquarters, 126 locations)
> 3: RaceTrak (Georgia, 650).
> 4: Royal Farms (Maryland, 200).
> 5: Maverik (Utah), 400.
> 6: Parker’s (Georgia, 70).
> 7: Sheetz (Pennsylvania, 670)
> 8: Love’s (Oklahoma, 600).
> 9. Quik Trip (Iowa, 900).
> 10: Sapp Bros. (Nebraska, 17).
800 stores. And counting.
Tax rebates of $260 OK’d in Legislature
ST.PAUL, Minn. – Conferees from the Minnesota Senate and House agreed to tax rebate checks — starting at $260 per filer and maxing out for a family of five at $1,300. The checks will be from the state’s budget surplus. Eligibility varies. Rebates are only for people earning less than $75,000 on their own and $150,000 for married couples. The deal is part of a larger state budget bill. The bill will go to both houses in a few days, after conference committee lawyers work up precise language. Passage is as good as a done-deed. The bill also includes:
> $300 million in one-time aid to local governments for public safety.
> Property tax relief for renters and homeowners.
> Lower state income taxes on Social Security.
> Child tax credits aimed to child poverty.
Earlier: GOP now favors tax rebates, one-ups Walz
Earlier: Walz revamps budget: Bigger rebates, more services
Earlier: GOP grumbles at Walz budget: Where are tax cuts?
Political compromise
The idea of direct-to-taxpayer rebates began in 2022 when Democratic Governor Tim Walz proposed rebates of $2,600. Republicans bristled at the idea as political grand-standing and mocked the idea as “Walz Checks.” The totals came down as legislative tax-writers wrangled over spending priorities on what to do with the state’s revenue surplus, which since has grown to $17 billion.
Biogas promoters brief Lewiston Council about plant
LEWISTON, Minn. – The Lewiston City Council voted 4-0 to listen further to a European company’s plans to build a biogas digester, probably just out of town at the city’s waste treatment site. The vote was neither an approval nor disapproval, said Mayor Beth Carlson. The plant would collect dairy farm manure in a 25-mile area and convert it to natural gas. Agents of Nature Energy said the multi-million dollar project would create jobs and alleviate issues with current agricultural manure disposal practices around Lewiston. The company, recently acquired by Shell Oil, has encountered local resistance to similar proposals in St. Croix County in Wisconsin and in Wilson Township near Winona. Among concerns: Spills and aquifer contamination. Since those setbacks, Nature Energy has moved its focus to Lewiston in central Winona County, where the factory-scale Daley dairy farm is located.
Killer-cop Chauvin appeals to state Supreme Court
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Without much to lose, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appealed his murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The appeal was filed by an attorney for Chauvin, who is in a federal prison in Arizona where he’s serving 22-1/2 years. The claim: The judge at Chauvin’s trial should have moved the trial out of Minneapolis to avoid a biased jury in a highly charged case had received saturation news coverage. It’s an argument that failed before the Minnesota Court of Appeals in April. About bias, the appeal noted too that one juror participated in a black civil rights march in Washington, D.C., a few months before Chauvin, a white cop, murdered Floyd, a black man.
Emergency, fire crews make 40 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 25 emergency medical calls plus 15 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, May 16: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Monday, May 15: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire call.
> Sunday, May 14: 6 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Saturday, May 13: no medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Friday, May 12: 2 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Thursday, May 11: 2 medical calls plus 5 fire calls.
> Wednesday, May 10: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 46 calls
Bond set for ex-priest after South Dakota arrest
WINONA, Minn. — A former Winona Diocese Catholic priest posted $6,000 bond in a 2020 sex crime case and agreed to come back to court in a couple weeks. Ubaldo Roque Huerta, 51, had been picked up two weeks ago in South Dakota as a fugitive. He told the judge, following his extradition back to Winona, that he would be his own attorney in his defense. The original charge, fifth-degree criminal sexual assault, followed a drinking incident at a Winona man’s place. Huerta also is charge with skipping a Winona court date on the charge in September, which led to the fugitive warrant and his arrest May 5 in South Dakota.
Huerta. Decommssioned as a priest in 2019.
Proposal: More inattentive fines at school buses
MADISON, Wis. –State lawmakers are circulating a bill to increase penalties for people failing to stop for a school bus. The bill received additional impetus after the death of a schoolgirl waiting to board a Reedsburg school bus last week. The bill would require vehicles to stop at least 20 feet away from a school bus that is stopped flashing red warning lights. New penalties would range a forfeiture of $300 to $1,000 – compared to the current $30 to $300.
Rochester fairgrounds stadium declared unsafe
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The rickety grandstand at Graham Park, built in 1938, has been condemned. In a required once-every-10-years review, the Institute for Environmental Assessment concluded that the grandstand doesn’t meet state structural standards. It seems doubtful that repairs can be completed before the Olmsted County Fair that begins July 26. The County Board chair, Gregory Wright, may need to need to be found for the fair.
Olmsted County grandstand. Time has run out on years improvised patching.
Arrest follows report of elevator sex assault
LACROSSE, Wis. – A man was charged with sexual assault for an attack reported by a meal-delivery woman in an apartment building elevator. Charged was Bradley Quimbley, 37, who was arrested the next day after a report that he was in the lobby of the same building, Stokke Tower, and trying to kick in a door. Police said Quimbley ran onto Seventh Street, where he attempted to get inside a moving vehicle. A foot chase followed across Cass Street. Police incapacitated Quimbley with a stun gun, handcuffed him, took him a hospital for a cursory examination, and took him to jail. His bail was set at $100,000. The charges: False imprisonment, sexual assault, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct, bail jumping.
Woman’s account
What she told police: She was delivering meals to Stokke Tower on Sixth Street when Quimbley, who had been walking toward her, suddenly turned around and followed her into an elevator. Quimbley commented on her appearance. He said they “should be boyfriend and girlfriend.” They had never met before. He asked for her name and phone number. He told her they should have sex in the elevator. She told him no. He then grabbed her hand and pushed it toward him and rubbed his body against her. He then exiting the elevator. She was terrified and sick to her stomach. Police said video footage confirms the woman’s account, albeit no audio.
Quimbley. No permanent address. Has court record of stalking, battery and bail-jumping.
Mayo looks ahead: More Rochester skyscrapers
Ever onward, upward, outward. Who knows the price tag of Mayo’s next expansions. At this day-dreaming point, budget isn’t the issue.
Breaking news: A peek at Mayo’s 15-year self-image
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Mayo Clinic has a 15-year master plan with new skyscrapers that would dwarf existing buildings and change Rochester’s skyline. News reporter Andy Brownell of radio station KROC posted a photo of a table-top mock-up of the development. Brownell came by the mockup from anonymous sources. Much of the multi-billion dollar expansion would require razing existing structures in a five-block area adjacent to the current campus. The plan includes:
> New hospital. On the site of Mayo’s Ozmun Building, which once was the Olmsted County courthouse.
> Twin towers. These would rise 10 stories higher than the 21-story Gonda Building, the main patient entry.
> New labs. A 15-story tower overing an entire block and replacing current Baldwin pharmacy building.
> Parking. Two new parking ramps would replace the Damon parking ramp and the current Mayo medical sciences building.
Five square blocks. Mayo’s futurologists have more pedestrian subways and skywalks to connect it all.
Biker hurt wiping out to avoid deer
DOVER, Minn. – A Dover man westbound on U.S. Highway14 laid down his bike to avoid a deer. Anthony Paul Wegman, 29, suffered non-life threatening injuries. He was taken 25 miles to a Rochester hospital. This was about 5:45 p.m. The deer got away. Wegman’s 2002 Buell Blast was seriously damaged.
Gun survives bumpity fall at Hy-Vee
WINONA, Minn. – A plastic gun case with a gun inside was found smashed and run over near the Hy-Vee grocery store on the West End. The gun survived whatever it was that happened, police said. Officers surmised the case fell off a vehicle bumping down the street, unbeknown to the driver. The gun was secured with a lock, police said. Police began a check for the owner through a national database. Are you missing a gun? Bring the gun-lock key to the police station.
Agreement reached on marijuana reforms
ST. PAUL, Minn. – House and Senate negotiators have worked through minor differences in bills to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota. By the end of the week, legislative staffers are expected to have cast the details into form for final passage in both houses. Governor Tim Walz has pledged to make the reforms law. Among provisions, most of them effective in August:
> Marijuana use at home would be legal in limited amounts, as well as home growing.
> Marijuana-infused gummies could contain 800 milligrams of THC.
> Sales would be taxed 10%.
> The record of anyone already with a misdemeanor marijuana conviction would be expunged.
> People with felony marijuana convictions could ask for a review.
> Local governments could ban marijuana near schools.
> Retail dispensaries probably would be in operation by mid-1024.
Schoolgirls puffing mystery weed in bathroom
WINONA, Minn. – Two Winona Middle School girls, age 15 and 14, were reported hiding in a bathroom and smoking cigars. Yes, cigars. One cigar was hollowed out and stuffed with a green leafy substance. But, no, it didn’t test positive for marijuana. In fact, police were at a loss to identify whatever it was. The other cigar was conventional dried, fermented tobacco wrapped in a tobacco leaf. Principal Dave Anderson called in their parents for an uncomfortable confrontation.
How they voted: Gun restrictions / 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. – How members Minnesota House from southeast districts voted on the 2023public safety budget that included new limits on firearms. The bill passed 69-63.
For budget, with gun restrictions
Kim Hicks, D-25A (Rochester)
Tina Liebling, D-24B (Rochester)
Gene Pelowski, D-26A (Winona)
Andy Smith, D-25B (Rochester
Against
Peggy Bennett, R-23A (Albert Lea)
Greg Davids, R-26B (Preston)
Marj Fogelman, R-21B (Fulda)
Steve Jacob, R-20B (Elba)
Patricia Mueller, R-23B (Austin)
Bjorn Olson, R-22A (Elmore)
John Petersburg, R-19B (Waseca)
Brian Pfarr, R-22B (LeSueur)
Joe Schomacker, R-21A (Luverne)
Earlier: How they voted: Gun restrictions / 1
New law funds replacement of lead pipes
Shiny day in St. Paul. Leaders of the St. Paul regional water pumping plant gather around Governor Tim Walz for signing ceremony.
Grants available from $240 million pool
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz signed a bill for $240 million to remove and replace lead pipes across the state. The bill establishes grants to municipalities and public water suppliers from the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Health risk
The Minnesota Health Department that 100,000 water lines are leaching lead into the drinking water statewide. The lead can damage the brain, kidneys and nervous system. In children, lead can slow development or cause learning, behavior and hearing problems.
Verbatim
Walz: “Safe, clean drinking water is a foundational human need – and it is long past time we make it a reality for all Minnesotans. By investing in lead pipe replacement across the state, we’re taking the burden off families and homeowners and improving the health and safety of Minnesotans in every corner of the state. This is how we build a safer, cleaner future for our children and grandchildren.”
Angry grafitti aims at Winona man for drugs
WINONA, Minn. – A spray-paint vandal continued a campaign against a Winona man with a grafitti message that he was “killing people with Fentanyl.” The latest graffiti showed up at dawn on the bandshell at Lake Park and at the Aldi grocery store on the West End. The bandshell is near Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Clinic, where one of the previous attacks occurred. The other previous attack was at the Culver’s restaurant near the Aldi grocery store.
Earlier: Identical message in two graffiti attacks
Earlier: Police on notes with gloomy edge: Not to worry
Mystery notes
Bay State Milling reported receiving a troubling incoherent letter that smacked with similarities to dozens of other messages placed on car windshields and left elsewhere around town in recent weeks. Police believe they all originated with a mentally disturbed but not dangerous woman who is well known to them. Police regard the messages as nuisances, not a threat. These messages appear unrelated to recent grafitti.
Federal role in Wisconsin school bus death
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigator to southwest Wisconsin, where a 13-year-old girl was struck and killed while waiting to board a school bus. The NTSB investigator will work with Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister and produce a report probably within three weeks. The NTSB noted that although about 100 fatal school transportation-related crashes occur annual in the United States, school buses are extremely safe. Even so, possibilities for safety improvements will be examined, the agency said.
Verbatim
Brian Gurney, father of Evelyn about the pickup driver: “We’re sorry that he’s also having to go through the grief he is. We hope that he can try to grow from this and not let it ultimately affect him for the rest of his life.”
R.I.P.: Jerry Tobin
WINONA, Minn. — Gerald W. Tobin, a retired Winona State University prof and innovator, known among other things for his underground house near Fountain City, died at age 82. At Winona State he taught industrial education. He was in a group of seven faculty who were let go during a misguided retrenchment campaign by an acting president and who fought the action through the faculty union and was reinstated. It was an early victory for the new union, the Inter-Faculty Organization. The acting president didn’t survive a campus-wide faculty vote of no confidence and resigned. Tobin earned two degrees n vocational education from Stout State University. In 1966 he began a 34-year teaching career at Winona State, during which he earned a doctorate from Utah State University. Besides the underground house, he designed and built an airplane. In 1994 he also built a steel house and hangar on the Arrowhead airstrip near Sandia, Texas. He had earned pilot’s license at Winona in 1985.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1940-2023
Notable journalism
Andy Brownell (KROC, May 16, 2023): “Leaked: Mayo Clinic’s Multi-Billion Plan for Rochester”
Chris Rogers (Winona Post, April 26, 2023): “County’s Initial Vote Favors No Action on Dog Kennels”
Max Nesterak (Minnesota Reformer, May 10, 2023): :Bill Regulating Uber and Lyft Could Hold Up the Rest of the Legislative Agenda in Minnesota”
Driver alibi: “Those darn potholes”
WINONA, Minn. – The driver explained to police that his erratic driving about 1:20 a.m. was because he was trying to avoid potholes. He also admitted to marijuana a while earlier. After he failed field sobriety tests, and because his speech was slurred and because the car smelled of marijuana, police arrested Choua Lor, 44, of Winona. The car, police said, had a small clear bag of marijuana in a door compartment. Also, they said, Lor had marijuana in a pocket. How impaired was he? Results of a urine test were pending from the state crime lab. The arrest was at Howard and Zumbro streets, not far from his Belleview Street home.
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