WSU to high schoolers: Apply for free
WINONA, Minn. – In a bid to attract new students, Winona Sate has waived its usual $20 application fee again this spring. The waiver is in effective through March. The university also is inviting prospective students to weekday campus tours. There is a Live Like a Warrior event April 1. High school seniors can pair with a student guide, visit a class or two, and take lunch in the campus cafeteria. Details.
Army Corps: Pepin ice beginning to yield
LAKE CITY, Minn. – The ice pack on Lake Pepin’s navigation channel remains as thick as 22 inches, the Army Corps reported. The ice, however, has deteriorated in the past week. At the thickest checkpoint, with 22 inches, only 17 inches is solid blue ice. The other five inches is “white ice” with bubbles. At five of the Corps’ 22 checkpoints, the lake is clear of ice.
College scores
Baseball: Dubuque 11, Saint Mary’s 2
Tennis (men): Saint Mary’s 7, Albion 2
Tennis (women): Saint Mary’s 6, Adrian 3
Minnesota prep
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 66, Altoona Railroaders 61
Basketball (boys): Mauston Golden Eagles 73, Arcadia Raiders 67
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 67, Ontario Brookwood Falcons 41
Basketball (boys): Loyal Greyhounds 63, Independence Indees 47
Fillmore County allows farms to double herds
PRESTON, Minn. — The Fillmore County Board voted unanimously to double the size of allowable dairy herds to 4,000 animal units, which is the equivalent of 2,800 cows. The Board sided with farmers in the largely rural southeast Minnesota county, population 21,000, and against environmentalists and land stewards. The meeting was packed, although the Board took no testimony from the public. The Board members’ agenda packet included nearly 70 pages of compiled correspondence from the public, state agencies and other organizations on both sides. The Board also accepted a petition from citizens against larger farms and their manure-producing herds. There also was a recommendation to move further toward factory-scale farming from the county Planning Commission two weeks earlier.
A county divided
Fillmore County is one of 21 among Minnesota’87 counties with a maximum on herd size. The county’s 2,000-animal unit cap had been in effect since 1997. The debate over increasing the limit to 4,000 has divided citizens for two years – mostly with environmentalists and large farmers at odds. Traditional small family farmers, who consider themselves land stewards, generally sided with the environmentalists. Only one Fillmore County farm is at the 2,000-unit limit. Seven others are approaching the limit.
Cops spot probation violator, find meth
WINONA, Minn. – Police reported finding a green baggie containing a hit of meth in the right shirt pocket of a man as they were arresting him for a probation violation. Donald Allie Huck,54, of Winona, had been stopped on Third Street about 5:35 p.m. The amount meth, police said, was .09 grams.
Huck. Narcotics charge.
Cops: Raid catches man flushing evidence away
WINONA, Minn. – After several weeks of a drug investigation, a Winona man was arrested flushing stuff down a toilet at his East Side duplex. His hands were dripping wet, officers sid. Next to the toilet, apparently still waiting also to be flushed, was 88 grams of meth in small baggies, police said. In all, caches of drugs totaling 101 grams were found in the place, police said. Arrested was Jacob Matthew Millen, 38. He was taken without resistance. The raid, about 11 a.m, was led by Winona County sheriff’s officers with officers, 11 in all, from the regional drugs task force, Winona police. and and sheriff’s deputies. Among evidence seized:
> 4.5 grams of meth, unbagged, in a nightstand drawer.
> Two open piles of meth on a plate.
> 2.5 grams in a capsule.
> A scale, measuring devices and tube.
Millen. Wanted also for a probation violation. Raid in 550 block of East Wabasha Street.
2022 Mayo expenses outpace revenue
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The health-care giant Mayo Clinic remains caught between rising salary and supply costs and revenue that hasn’t kept pace. Mayo’s bottom line from expenses last year grew $1.3 billion to $15.7 billion. Income grew only $640 million. In its annual report, Mayo noted that income, although an indicator of economic performance, remained at a healthy 3.7% margin, albeit off 53% from 2021.
Mayo databank
Also in the annual report:
> Mayo hired 17,000 new employees for 76,000 total, including about 5,500 physicians and scientists. Of these 42,000 were at the mother operation in Rochester.
> Mayo Clinic invested $1.2 billion in capital projects in Rochester, Arizona, Florida and outreach communities, up 27% from 2021.
> Mayo treated 1.4 million patients, performed 141,000 surgeries and 1,800 transplants, and recorded 5 million outpatient visits.
> Mayo invested $1 billion in research, including 1,500 clinical trials.
Clinic adds urgent care physician’s assistant
WINONA, Minn. – The Winona Health clinic has a new physician’s assistant in urgent care. Lynn Spindler-Ebensperger holds a bachelor’s degree from Touro Health Sciences College in New York and her master’s from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants
Spindler-Ebensperger. An Army Reservist. Says she’s passionate about caring for veterans.
R.I.P.: Dale Egland
HOUSTON, Minn. – Dale H. Egland, 80, of Houston, a finance administrator for many Widwest hospitals. died at Lewiston Senior Living. He was a graduate of Houston High School. He earned a degree in accounting and education from Winona State University. He taught high school for a short time and then worked for IBM in Rochester. He served in the Minnesota National Guard.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1947-2023
Three, four shots reportedly fired in fight
WINONA, Minn. – An Elba man, Marshall Edward Kieffer, 19, was arrested after gunshots were fired during a fight behind a house on the Far East End. Police had been called about 10:45 p.m. When they arrived, things had quieted down. Witnesses said the combatants, two adult men, were gone. Then Kieffer walked up, apparently from nowhere, and asked what was going on. In the course of conversation, officer said, Kieffer admitted that he had a gun in his car nearby, that he had been in a fight, and that he fired his gun three or four times. Officers found shell casings on the ground. Kieffer was booked for recklessly discharging a firearm and carrying a pistol while intoxicated. The incident was in the 500 block of Mankato Avenue. As best as police could determine, nobody was wounded by the gunfire or hurt in the fight.
Kieffer. Tentative charges: Carrying a pistol drunk, firing it recklessly.
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 3, Milwaukee Engineering 2
Tennis (men): Calvin 9, Saint Mary’s 0
Tennis (women): Calvin 6, Saint Mary’s 3
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Randolph Rockets 48, Rushford-Peterson Trojans 40
Basketball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 46, Winona Cotter Ramblers 44
Basketball (girls): Goodhue Wildcats 72, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 50
Glare ice: An early morning problem for drivers
Motorist assist. In northern Minnesota. Image: Minnesota State Patrol
An I-90 wreck at Nodine wreck involved injury
WINONA, Minn. – Police call them “motorist assists.” There were about a dozen in Winona and the county overnight. mostly spin-outs, from freezing rain that left a glaze of ice. In one accident, on Interstate 90 near Nodine, a driver was injured when she slid into a parked tow truck. Statewide troopers responded to 115 crashes s between 6 and 11 a.m., 18 of which involved injuries. One multi-vehicle pileup slowed traffic at the junction of Interstate 394 and Highway 100 west of Minneapolis.
Earlier: I-90 ice blamed for injuries in Nodine crash
Austin schools in lockdown after 911 threat
AUSTIN, Minn. – All 13 schools in the Austin school district went into lockdown after a 911 call purporting that an active shooter was at an elementary school. The call turned out to be a hoax. But taking no chances, school Superintendent Joey Page ordered a system-wide lockdown for 5,000 students. Within minutes, police broached Banfield Elemehtary School, which was where the 911 caller said a person was about to enter the building with explosives and a firearm. The call was punctuated with what sounded like gunfire. The call was at 9:53 a.m. Banfield has 435 students in Grades One to Four. The lockdown was called off as soon as police determined the threat was not credible. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been a team to investigate
Targeted school. Photo from an October day.
“Swatting”
Eighteen minutes before te 911 hoax in Austin, the same call was made 20 miles to the west, claiming Halverson Elementary School in Albert Lea was being attacked. Grade school classes in Albert Lea, however, were not in session because the day had been set aside for parent-teacher conferences. Albert Lea has eight schools and 3,500 students. Albert Lea police have had three “swatting” incidents this school year. The term “swatting” is new to the language. It means a threat that activates a police response with a SWAT team of armed officers, sharp-shooters and bomb technicians.
I-90 ice blamed for injuries in Nodine crash
NODINE, Minn. – A pickup truck slammed into a heavy-duty tow truck on the shoulder of ice-slick Intestate 90 west of Nodine before starting down the Four Mile Grade to Dakota. The driver, Tracey Johna Smith, 34, of Bangor, Wisconsin, was injured by the impact. She was taken 23 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Her injuries were described as non-life threatening. The tow truck was unoccupied. This was about 8:30 a.m.
SMU, WSU lag in new college ranking
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Saint Mary’s University made 13th on a new list of best Minnesota Colleges in the annual niche.com rankings. Carleton was Number 1 The only public university in the Top 10 was the University of Minnesota. Niche.com, in business since 2002, draws on publicly available data and student reviews for its rankings. The grades:
> A-plus: 1, Carleton (Northfield).
> A: 2, Macalester (St. Paul); 3, University of Minnesota; 4, Saint Olaf (Northfield).
> A-minus: 5, St. Thomas (St. Paul); 6, Gustavus Adolphus (St. Peter).
> B-plus: 7, Saint Catherine (St. Paul); 8, Concordia (Moorhead); 9, St. Scholastica (Duluth); 10, Lather (New Ulm). 11, UM-Crookston.
> B: 12, Bethany (Mankato); 13, Saint Mary’s (Winona); 14, Bethel (St. Paul); 15, Metro State (Minneapolis); 16, UM-Duluth; 17, MSU-Mankato; 18, Saint John’s (Collegeville); 19, Saint Benedict (St. Joseph); 20, UM-Morris; 21, Concordia (St. Paul; 22, UM-Rochester); 23, Minneapolis Art & Design; 24, Winona State; 25; Crown (St. Boniface); 26, Hamline St. Paul).
> B-minus: 27, Northwestern (St. Paul); 28, Dunwoody Tech (Minneapolis); 29, Bemidji State; 30, Augsburg (Minneapolis); 31, MSU-Moorhead; 32, Southwest Minnesota State (Marshall).
> C-Plus: 33, North Central (Minneapolis). 34, St. Cloud State.
niche.com profile
Two Carnegie Melon business students launched niche.com in 2002 to grade and rank colleges. It first was called College Prowle. rAs a startup Niche.com attracted several muti-million dollar investors. The company has expanded in recent years to rank K-12 schools and livable neighborhoods. Niche.com has 325 employees. The company was the victim of what was called the FacebookGate scandal jn 2008. College administrators created 125 online groups posing as students to tilt the rankings. Niche.com responded by removing administrators from any input.
Freezing rain, drizzle close Winona schools
WINONA Minn. – Winona public schools cancelled classes Monday because rain and icy weather left rural roads unsafe for busing. Earlier the district announced a two-hour late start for classes but called everything off about 8:15 after bus drivers reported how bad roads were. Spokesperson John Casper said school offices would be open but advised calling to be sure.
One-vehicle Zumbrota crash injures driver
ZUMBROTA, Minn. – A North Saint Paul man driving a pickup truck was injured when he left U.S. Highway52 south of Zumbrota and went into the ditch. Tyler Anthony Jager, 23, was taken 22 miles to a Rochester hospital, his injuries believed to be non-life-threatening. The accident, about 6:10 a.m. was at the intersection with Highway 60. The roads were packed with snow and ice. Jager was northbound toward St. Paul.
Farm-supply dealer joins County Board race
ST.CHARLES, Minn. — A St. Charles farm supply dealer, Josh Elsing, filed candidacy papers for the vacant District 3 seat on the Winona County Board. This makes it a three-way race, which requires a run-off to narrow the field to two. The earlier candidates:
> Bill Spitzer, of St. Charles, a former St. Charles mayor. Age 58.
> Pat Heim, of St. Chaeles, a real estate agent. Age 49.
The election calendar puts the run-off primary on May 9. The two leaders will advance to an election August 8. This means that the 9,000 people who live in District 3 will have been without representation on the County Board eight months. The district’s primary population center is St. Charles. The district winds through eight townships north and west of Winona. Elsing is the favored candidate of Steve Jacob who vacated District 3 seat in January after being elected to the state Legislature. Jacob, a diehard believer in minimalist government, said he and Elsing think alike. Elsing and Jacob have been buddies through the Winona County Soil and Water Conservation District. Elsing, age 45, is the district’s current treasurer.
Elsing. Former mayor of Altura. Lost a 2016 re-election bid 126-40 to a write-in candidate. Later moved later to St. Charles.
Police have theory on Old Homer Road wreck
HOMER, Minn. – A LaCrosse woman escaped serious injury in a one-vehicle accident where Old Homer Road intercepts U.S. Highway 61. Deputies called an ambulace to take Brianna Autumn Brown, 27, to the Winona hospital three miles away. To the deputies, Brown didn’t seem sober. They ordered a blood sample. Lab tests weren’t returned immediately. Brown was alone in the car. The accident was about 2:45 a.m.
Storm’s effect on drought yet to be written
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Last week’s winter snowstorm could help alleviate the drought that’s been a problem for Minnesota agriculture. But maybe not. State climatologist Luigi Romolo said many variables need to play out for the 2023 crops season:
> Existing soil moisture.
> Depth of frost in ground.
> Precipitation and temperatures.
> Snow accumulation and melt
Romolo noted that snow acumulations from the latest storm were uneven, ranging, for example, from three to 14 inches in southern Minnesota. “If te snow melts slowly, the soil will better be able to absorb it, which is ideal for spring farming,” Romolo said in a KAAL interview.
Verbatim
Romolo: “Sometimes when you get heavy snowfalls in the early part in January, which is what we got, it suppresses the frost from getting really deep. It really depends on the timing of the snowmelt and we could even see a little bit of spring flooding with this much snow on the ground. That’s always an issue in spring whenever we get snowfalls like this adding onto what we have, the risk increases slightly.”
Romolo. State climatoogist.
Corps readies dam for spring flood control
WATSON, Minn. – To create space for snow run-off, the Army Corps of Engineers began a seasonal drawdown of Lac Qui Parle reservoir on the Minnesota River. The storage cacpity will be increased by dropping the water one foot to 933 feet above sea level by March 15. The reservoir, 10 miles long, is on a major tributary to the Upper
La Qui Parle dam. Length: 4,10- feet with 239-foot spillway. Built in 1939 for Upper Mississippi flood control.
R.I.P.: Lucille Burke
RUSHFORD, Minn. – Lucille M. Burke, 97, of Rushford, who worked at Niggle’s Cafr, Norm’s IGA and later at Rushford Foods, Rush Products, and the Golf View Restaurant, died at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home. She was active in Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Sweet Adelines, Legion Auxiliary, and the Rushford Historical Society. She never Lawrence Welk on television.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1925-2023
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