How they voted: Family leave / 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Senate voted 34-33 for a joint employer-employee funded family leave plan. The bill now goes to the joint House-Senate committee, then to Governor Tim Walz. How southeast Minnesota senators voted:
For family leave
Liz Boldon, D-25 (Rochester)
Against
Gene Dornick, R-23 (Hayfield)
Steve Drazkowski, R-20 (Mazeppa)
Rich Draheim, R-22 (Mankato)
Jeremy Miller, R-26 (Winona)
Carla Nelson, R-24 (Rochester)
Amazon nixes Minnesota grocery venture
ARLINGTON, Va. – Amazon’s plan to enter the Twin Cities grocery store market with its Fresh brand appears dead. The news site Axios reported that leases for six stores have been cancelled. Amazon declined to comment on the Axios report, which was based on real estate sources. However, the Axios chief executive, Andy Jassy, told shareholders in February that the company would halt expansion of its Fresh stores as it experiments in the few dozen stores it has already opened. The company, Jassy said, needed to “find a format that we think resonates with customers.” The initial foray into the competitive Minnesota grocery market had stores in Arden Hills, Burnsville, Coon Rapid, Eagan, Eden Prairie and Lakeville.
WSU chief now next MinnState chancellor
At campus microphone. The tousled-hair, still-freckled 49-year-old Scott Olson taking student calls and spinning music in his annual air shift on campus radio station KQAL.
His progress toward racial, gender equity noted
ST. PAUL, Minn.—The president of Winona State for 11 years, Scott Olson, has been put in charge of the 326,000-student MinnState statewide system of universities, colleges and vocational schools. Olson’s appointment as chancellor is effective in August. The trustees were unanimous in naming Olson to succeed Devinder Malhotra, who is retiring. In a statement, trustees cited Olson for “a reputation for academic excellence.” The tustees said he was known for delivering “high rates of student success” that have been recognized in national rankings. Roger Moe, chair of the MinnState trustees, said: “Scott has deep roots in Minnesota State and is known throughout the system as a collaborative and strategic leader. He has amassed an outstanding reputation in every role he has played, and has the skills needed to build a common vision of what Minnesota can become.” Olson, who grew up in a Minneapolis suburb, knows well the MinnState system of 30 state colleges and seven state universities with 54 campuses. He arrived at Winona Sate from Mankato State, where he rose through administrative ranks to become vice president for academics and student affairs. He has been at Winona State since 2012.
Olson’s touch, flair
At Winona State, Olson is known for his well-rehearsed speech “What It Means to be a Warrior,” which he rolls out for ceremonial occasions ranging from welcoming new students to congratulating graduates at commencements. He has extensive collection of ties in Winona State’s traditional purple color. On the podium Olson can cleverly mix references to Shakespeare and the Greek philosophers, pop culture icons like his favorite Bruce Springsteen, Biblical passages, and stanzas from Lutheran hymnals. He was at home with the Winona State motto he inherited from Darrell Krueger, one of his predecessors as president: “A community of learners to improve the world.” He always seemedcomfortable rearranging the words to keep it ever fresh.
Olson record
Olson has served on 21 different international, national, and local boards, currently including:
> Great River Shakespeare Festival Board of Directors.
> Higher Learning Commission Institutional Actions Council.
> WSU Foundation Board.
> Chair of the Executive Alliance of HealthForce Minnesota.
Prior to Winona State he was at Minnesota State University-Mankato as academic provost and vice president for academic and student affairs. Earlier he was a professor of communication studies. During his Mankato tenure, the university saw significant growth in enrollment, diversity, innovation, industry partnerships, international programs, system collaboration, and applied research.
Olson also served for one year as interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs in the state university and college system headquarters in St.Paul.
Through a $20 million gift from the Lilly Endowment, he created the Global Media Network, which won a national award from the American Council on Education.
Almanac: Scott Olson legacy at WSU
At Winona State Olson struggled with year after year of enrollment losses – down one-third from 8,800 students when he arrived to 6,100 last fall. The losses reflected a national trend, and Olson was not faulted. In fact, he was credited with handling concomitant budget losses by folding the unionized WSU faculty and staff, as well as students, into a wide range of initiatives to deal with ongoing financial crises. He kept his word that layoffs would be only a last, last resort. He instead didn’t replace faculty who left due to retirements and personal choice. He also offered attractive buyouts that encouraged early retirements.
Olson saved a bundle of expenses by shutting down the West Campus, a failed experiment he inherited from the 1990s at the former College of St. Teresa. The budget crises, however, didn’t slow improvements to the physical plant under Olson at the main campus, many of them with cutting-edge environmentally sensitive technology.
As a builder Olson acquired the former Cotter parochial school facilities near campus and remodeled them into what was called the Education Village for teacher training. New dorms were built to replace aging dorms. A Winona architectural treasure, the Laird-Norton lumber headquarters downtown, was acquired as an art and design center.
Olson was committed to creating a larger campus presence of aides, faculty and students of color. Some hiring choices were seriously flawed and short-lived, but there was a general campus sympathy for Olson’s goal of more racial, ethnic and gender equity. Most of his hires from communities of color worked out well.
One crisis that could have done Olson in was a scandal involving basketball coach Mike Leaf. A basketball player claimed that Leaf molested him at a drunken gathering at Leaf’s home. Just about everyone knew Leaf had a serious drinking problem. In fact there was a police record. But, after leading Winona State to two national basketball championships, the coach’s problem was generally overlooked – even though Leaf was widely known to show up at practices and even games smelling of alcohol. Olson fired Leaf after the player made a public issue of the assault and teammates backed him up. But the question was: Why had the coach been cut so much slack over so many years? It was inconceivable that Olson and also Athletic Director Eric Schoh was unaware of Leaf’s demons. Sensing his own jeopardy, Olson avoided an external, independent investigation by hiring a Winona State-friendly attorney to investigate — and carefully crafted the question to be examined to deflect a conclusion that he or Schoh were either knowledgeable or culpable. The ploy worked, partly because the Winona news media didn’t examine the conclusion of the investigation carefully. It was a successful Teflon tactic by Olson, which succeeded in part because he was well liked as president.
Olson recognized long-standing enmity and resentment that had simmered toward the university for generations among blue-collar sectors in town. Rather than exacerbate town-and-gown tensions, Olson backed down when confronted. This happened when the university sought to build a baseball field at Lake Park. It happened again when the university proposed a property swap for the Kwik Trip convenience store at Huff and Sarnia streets to move student parking nearer to campus. The objections seemed a knee-jerk reaction driven by a townie leave-us-alone mentality against change. These were battles Olson deemed not worth fighting.
Olson succeeded Judith Ramaley as Winona State president. His collaborative management style contrasted with her autocratic style, and he was quickly welcomed.
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 9. Carleton 3
Baseball Carleton 10, Saint Mary’s 2, doubleheader
Wisconsin prep
Softball: Marion Wolves 10, Independence Indees 0
Mistake: Campus told to shelter in place
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Somebody in the St. Cloud State University security office pushed the wrong button and sent out a campus-wide shelter-in-place order. The message was quickly withdrawn. It turns out that a suspicious person had been reported campus. Police arrested the suspicious person without incident. There was no threat to safety, said St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton.
Paid family leave passes Senate hurdle
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Without a vote to spare, the Minnesota Senate approved paid leave for employees when they’re sick or caring for sick relatives. The vote was 34-33 along party lines. The House already has approved a companion bill. Both bills now go to a joint Senate-House committee to resolve wrinkles between them. Both bills would require employers to pay as much as 12 weeks of partial wages for medical leave, including for pregnancy, and for taking care of sick family members. Replacement wages would range from 55% to 90%. The benefits would be funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers. Employers could withhold half their cost from paychecks – a 50-50 deal. Companies already with more generous benefits could opt out.
Earlier: How they voted: Paid family leave /1
Earlier: House: Yes to 18 weeks paid family leave
Verbatim
Senator Alice Mann, a Democrat from Edina, chief sponsor of the bill, said every industrial nation already has a similar program: “The paycheck deduction would be the equivalent of a cup of coffee a week for the average Minnesotan.” Only 24% of Minnesota’s workforce now has access to paid leave, most of them among the state’s highest earners – not the lowest.
Verbatim
Senator Julia Coleman, a Republican from Waconia: “This will crush our small businesses, make goods and services more expensive for every single Minnesotan.”
Verbatim
Christine Fenner, president of the Waconia Chamber of Commerce: “Employers want to offer good benefits so they can be competitive in the tight labor market, but the new tax would compound costs of doing business that are already growing.”
Hormel leader to UM top job coming year
Ettinger. Chosen as interim as interim University of Minnesota president. This photo from November, when he was campaigning for Congress.
Next career step from Austin: Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — Former southern Minnesota Congressional candidate Jeff Ettinger has been named interim president of the University of Minnesota. Ettinger, of Austin, who is a retried president of Hormel Foods, will serve as up to one year while the Board of Regents conducts a national search for a permanent president. The five-campus UM system has 67,000 students. The UM Board of Regents chose Ettinger from a field of four finalists. Janie Mayeron, said that Ettinger emerged from an “impressive group.” The outgoing UM president, Joan Gabel,. was paid $750,000. She resigned to become president of Jthe University of Pittsburgh.
Ettinger profile
Ettinger currently is chair of the Hormel Foundation Board of Directors, one of Minnesota’s largest community foundations and grant makers. Earlier, for 11 years, he was chief executive of Hormel Foods. Before that he was corporate attorney, treasurer and president of Jennie-O Turkey in Willmar. He ran for Congress in 2022 in the Minnesota First Congressional District, Republican Brad Finstad won 53% TO 43%. Ettinger, age 64, holds a law degree from University of California Los Angeles.
MinnState search
Meanwhile, the larger MinnState college system is in the final stages of selecting its new chancellor. An announcement is expected this week. The finalists: Tonja Johnson of the University of Alabama and Scott Olson of Winona State.
Earlier: Quest for interim UM president narrows
Earlier: UM president leaving in July
Accreditors OK Southeast College nursing degree
WINONA, Minn. — The new nursing program at Minnesota State College Southeast has earned accreditation from the Commission for Education in Nursing. Accreditors visited the Red Wing and Winona campuses in February 2002. This means, said college President Marsha Danielson, the initial graduates from the five-semester associate nursing degree in December completed their degree from an ACEN program. The first class had an 89% pass rate, which bettered most state and national programs, said Ginny Boyum, academic vice president.
Union, UP agree to easier work schedules
OMAHA, Neb. – The Union Pacific railroad and its major workers union reached a tentative contact accord that would assure union members a work schedule of 11 days on and four days off – in contrast to the current rule of being on call 24/7. A deal with the 32,000-mile Union Pacific could be become a model for the entire U.S. railroad industry. This includes other major rail lines in the Upper Midwest – BNSF, CPKC and Canadian Nationa;. The Union Pacific runs a daily freight between Winona and LaCrosse. The pending UP deal is with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, whuch has 72,000 members.
Pulitzer book prize for the George Floyd story
NEW YORK – The book “His Name Is George Floyd,” on the 2020 Minneapolis police slaying that stirred national dialogue on policing practices, has won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. The authors, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post, traces Floyd’s life through generations of systemic white exploitation of black Americans. Samuels explained: “We learned that at every turn, George Floyd’s life and his ancestors were shaped by racism.” The sad trail:
> After emancipation during the Civil War, Floyd’s great grandfather amassed 500 acres of land in eastern North Carolina and was becoming wealthy went he was tricked and bamboozled out of it.
> The generations that followed, the authors conclude, never had a chance.
> Floyd himself grew up in school systems that were crumbling and under-resourced. So, in effect, he majored in football and showed promise. He was told to focus on sports, not to study, and found himself unable to qualify college.
> As an adult, unable to go to college, he found himself in a Texas neighborhood with a large police presence due to the war on drugs.
> He was arrested for armed robbery and pleaded guilty. He said he didn’t do it but pleaded guilty because, down on his luck, he felt there was no better choice.
> On release from prison he couldn’t find a job. Texas law forbids felons from any professional license. He got hooked on drugs but tried to kick it. From friends he learned about treatment centers in Minneapolis with a record for helping people get healthy and thrive. He moved to Minnesota.
> He worked at a homeless shelter, where he met black people who had lived through heavy-handed Minneapolis policing against minorities. His hopes of a new life in Minnesota were punctured. A fear of police deepened.
Subtitle: “One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice.” By Robert Samuels and Tolusa Olorunnipa, who cover politics, policy and the changing American identity for the Washington Post. Based on interviews with 400 people. Published by Random House
Pulitzer winners for revelatory news coverage
NEW YORK – The Associated Press global news agency won two 2023 Pulitzer prizes for journalism for reporting and photography from the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine. Among other recipients of the most prestigious U.S. award in news:
> Los Angeles Times, for revealing a secretly recorded conversation among city officials that included racist comments.
> Wall Street Journal, for reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies in the Trump era.
> Caitin Dickerson, of The Atlantic, for reporting on Trump a policy that forcefully separated migrant children from their parents.
> Anna Wolfe, of Mississippi Today, for uncovering how a Mississippi governor steered millions of welfare dollars to his family and friends, including NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
> AL.com, of Birmingham, Alabama, for unveiling how police preyed on residents to inflate revenue.
> Caroline Kitchener, of the Washington Post, for personifying abortion issues through a teenager who gave birth to twins after new restrictions denied her an abortion.
> New York Times, for an eight-month investigation into Ukrainian deaths in one town and the Russian unit that did it.
A bargained-down guilty plea in baseball bat attack
WABASHA, Minn. — A third person pleaded guilty to a reduced charge related to a baseball bat attack in 2020 at a Zumbro River campground near Hammond. Originally Daniel Luhmann, 53, was charged attempted murder, but police later determined he was only part a gang in the attack and didn’t actually himself inflict the wounds. Four people were accused in the case. In the attack a man suffered a a broken jaw and cheekbone, a fractured eye socket, skull fractures, and scrapes and bruises.
Winona bus hub never intended as camp site
WINONA, Minn. – The shelter at the municipal transit hub downtown, at Third and Center streets, has become a problem after buses stop running a 6:15 p.m. People have been camping there, said Deputy Police Chief Jay Rasmussen. The corner now is on every police patrol list to check.
Day view. Where the green and gold routes intersect to carry passengers to the East End red route and the End blue route.
Winona Health ends masking but monitors risk
WINONA, Minn. – Although Winona Health made face masks optional April 24, the hospital and clinic’s infection control committee continues its risk assessment. Changes will be posted if masks again become necessary, said spokesperson Karen Sibenaller. Anyone not feeling well or experiencing fever, cough, sore throat or other communicable symptoms is asked to mask, she said. Masks are available at entrances. Also: asks are required at Lake Winona Manor nursing home, she said.
Earlier: Mayo scales back face-mask rule
Earlier: Olmsted Medical face masks npw optional
Earlier: Gundersen Health goes mask-free
R.I.P.: Joseph Bilicki
WINONA, Minn. – Joseph “Joey” John Bilicki Jr., 77, an employee of Miller Felpax 20 years, died of cancer at a Mayo hospital in Rochester. Earlier he was a custodian at Fiberite and Saint Mary’s College. Also, he delivered the Winona Daily News off and on. Since 2017 he had been a First Student school bus monitor.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1945-2023
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 8, Carleton 1, sixth innings, postponed by rain
Baseball: Rochester Community 10, Minnesota West 4
Baseball: Rochester Community 10, Minnesota West 0, doubleheader
Softball: Saint Benedict 10, Saint Mary’s 0
Softball: Saint Mary’s 5, Saint Benedict 2, doubleheader
Fill ‘er up: Gasoline at pre-summer low
Falling fuel pieces. At $3.07 a gallon in St. Charles, gasoline is 71 cents less than a year ago. Expect a surge upward when summer vacation travel begins. In the meantime, have you considered buying your own tanker truck and stocking up? Image: Steve Lunde
Walz on Mayo threat to take marbles elsewhere
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz said he needs to see what the Legislature comes with on health-care reforms against which Mayo Clinic is so opposed it has threatened to halt its multi-billion Medical Destination Project in Rochester and move the project to a more Mayo-friendly state. Walz said he believes a compromise is possible. “We’ve always supported making sure that our nurses are supported, have what they need. We also understand that Mayo Clinic’s a unique entity where it’s focusing globally on it.” the governor said in an attempt to defuse anger at Mayo’s threat, which has been seen as heavy-handed bullying to kill public policy reforms it doesn’t like.
Earlier: Solon: Mayo Clinic late opposing health-care bill
Engine fire halts ethanol train into Winona
GOODVIEW, Minn. – A Canadian Pacific locomotive caught fire, its cab ablaze, as it pulled a mile-long train of ethanol tankers into Winona. The two-man crew stopped the locomotive and hopped off. The fire was put out quickly by first-responders carrying fire extinguishers. The fire was confined to the locomotive. There was no risk to tanker cars with their explosive ethanol, said Ben Klinger, the county emergency management director. The locomotive, an aging six-axle unit, was the only engine in the consist. The tank cars, fully loaded from mills across southern Minnesota, had just descended the CP grade down Garvin Brook from Lewiston, Stockton and Minnesota City. This was about 2 p.m on West Sixth Street near the Winona airport, just short of the junction of CP’s Waseca Division and he mainline through Winona and points downriver.
Flames dart out vent. The crew halted the locomotive and jumped off near West Sixth Street and Martina Road. This was near the Lake Village trailer court on the old LaCanne gravel pit. The CP mainline and Sixth Street were closed about 1-1/2 hours. Image: Winona County Emergency Management Department
School principal denies party rumors
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A fight broke out Friday at a Fun Night event for Kellogg Middle School students, but Principal Angi McAndrews in a note to parents squashed rumors about what happened. McAdrews said there had indeed been a brief fight but no brawl. The fight involved an outsider and only two students, she said. Police were called, but about rumors of arrests, drugs, injuries and broken windows, it just wasn’t so, McAndrews said. Chaperones shut down the party about 7:30, but children were not forced to wait outside in the rain, McAndews said. The principal promised better monitoring of attendance and behavior at school events in the future. Even with that, however, she said no plans for another Kellogg Fun Night are in the works.
Solon: Mayo late opposing health-care bill
EAGAN, Minn. – The sponsor of a House bill to create a state health-care affordability board expressed dismay at Mayo Clinic demanding that the bill be scrapped – or else. Liz Reyer, an Eagan Democrat, said she’s already had been fine-tuning he bill but without much feedback from hospitals or Minnesota health juggernaut Mayo clinic. Mayo has threatened to shift $5 billion in future expansion out of the state if Reyer’s bill becomes law. “It would have been nice to hear concerns after the bill was introduced in February,” Reyer told the Minnesota Reformer, “It’s not like it’s not been public. We could’ve had a lot of productive conversations.” It was reporter Max Nesterak at the Reformer who broke the story on Mayo’s threat aggressive posture – an ultimatum – on Reyer’s bill as well as a second hospital bill moving through House committees. Reyer told Nesteak that Massachusetts and a number of other states have created similar boards. She said the Massachusetts experience has been lower growth in health-care costs than the national average.
Reyer target: Rising healthcare costs
Reyer’s proposed Health Care Affordability Board and Health Care Affordability Advisory Council would monitoring health care market trends and report them to the Legislature and the public. There would be targets to reduce health-care costs to the public — and civil penalties for hospitals that miss targets.
Reyer. A second term Democrat in the Minnesota House. A member of the Health Finance and Human Services committees in the House. Former market research director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.
First look: World-class Winona concert hall
Biesanz stone, of course. Architectect Jason Woodhouse said the acoustically balanced concert hall will stand 54 feet at its tallest. The street-side facade will be locally quarried Biesanz stone and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Inaugural concert still Summer 2025
WINONA Minn. – A long-waited peek at the proposed Masterpiece Hall concert venue and art museum, a $35 million project, was released philanthropists Bob Kierlin and Mary Burrichter. The site, next to the Winona library on West Fifth Street, has been leveled for a year. Now, pending final city clearances, construction is planned to start this spring. Target for a debut concert: Summer 2025 for a full house of 700 Beethoven aficionados.
Mayo bullying catches legislator unawares
BRIGHTON, Minn. – The sponsor of a House bill to assure adequate hospital nursing care, Sandra Feist, said an ultimatum from Mayo Clinic to kill the bill was unexpected. “I was surprised,” Feist said. “I had been working diligently with Mayo for many weeks to identify language that would address their concerns without gutting the bill.” Feist said there have been months of debate and negotiations with hospital leaders and more than a dozen significant changes. The bill, called Keeping Nurses at the Bedside, aims for nurses and hospital staffs to establish workload standards. The standards would apply to hospital preparedness and to incident response rates. The in-house hospital committees also would establish eligibility for nursing scholarships, for education loan forgiveness, and for mental health programs for health care workers.
Feist. A second term House member elected from north Minneapolis area. A lawyer. A Democrat.
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