Will Minnesota ban gas lawn mowers?
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A law has been proposed in the Minnesota House to ban gas-powered lawn mowers. The bill’s goal: Reduce air pollutants in a step against global warming. The bill was introduced by state representatives Jerry Newton of Coon Rapids and Heather Edelson of Edina, both Democrats. It would require new lawn and garden equipment to be fully electric by 2025. This includes leaf blowers, chainsaws, brush-cutters and lawn edgers. The bill hasn’t found traction yet. There is no companion proposal in the Senate. And even though the Democrat-controlled House has an environment-friendly policy platform, House Speaker Melissa Hortman hasn’t assigned the bill to a committee for an initial review.
Late-night shower sets off SMU fire alarm
WINONA, Minn. – A Saint Mary’s University student was taking a steamy midnight shower in a dorm, which wouldn’t be news except the steam set off an alarm. Firefighters reset the alarm.
College scores
Basketball (men): MSU-Mankato 67, Winona State 65
Basketball (women): MSU-Mankato 65, Winona State 42
Gymnastics (women): UW-Oshkosh 190.775, Winona State 183.950
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Cannon Falls Bombers 86, St. Charles Saints 42
Basketball (boys): Pine Island Panthers 38, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 24
Basketball (girls): Winona Winhawks 58, Austin Packers 57
Hockey (boys): Kasson Dodge County Wildcats 5, Winona Winhawks 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (girls): Eleva-Strum Cardinals 52, Whitehall Norse 37
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 60, Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 55
Basketball (girls): Onalaska Luther Knights 61, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 24
Basketball (girls): West Salem Panthers 65, Arcadia Raiders 40
Fillmore County edges toward factory-scale herds
PRESTON, Minn. – The Fillmore County Planning Commission voted at a packed hearing to recommend doubling the county’s feedlot maximums to 850 cows and 13,300 finishing pigs. The Planning Commission recommendation goes next to the full County Board. Opponents said the manure from larger operations would threaten groundwater in the porous and fragile limestone that undergirds the county. That’s not to mention the stink, opponents said. Several large-farm operators said they should be free to grow their businesses. There also is another economic motivation, they argued — to keep multi-generation farms in the family. A fourth-generation farm for example, could have as many as eight families – children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren – all trying to make a living from the operation.
The Daley alliance
At the meeting was Ben Daley, a Lewiston dairy farmer in neighboring Winona County. The Winona County Board has stood firm against factory farming to preserve water and air quality – and Daley has fought the county with almost every conceivable strategy and tactic for a variance to expand his herd from the county’s max of 1,500 animal units to 6,000. An animal unit is 1,000 pounds whatever the herd, cattle or swine. Fillmore County has a ceiling of 2,000 animal units, which large-scale farmers want upped to 4,000.
Ben Daley. No mere interloper from Winona County. He sees a stake in what Fillmore County does.
A rural woman’s desperate call from Altura church
ALTURA, Minn. – A badly beaten rural woman telephoned for help after making her way several miles into town and the safety of an Altura church. She said her live-in man-friend had beaten her for two days. At one point, she said, he threatened to slash her with a box cutter. To deputies she pointed to bruises, teeth marks and a swollen face. Police issued a bulletin for the man, who had driven off in the morning. The man, age 26, had no driver license, which police said impeded the hunt. The woman, age 22, said she and the man had broken up but gotten together again a month ago. They lived in the 17000 block of County Road 114 several miles northwest of Altura. Sheriff Ron Ganrude said he’s looking to charges of assault and threats of violence
A vivid, dreadful recollection
Through a Spanish translator, these are exceprts frim the woman’s account:
> In an argument the night before, the man pulled her hair and bit her cheek.
> After the initial assault she went to sleep, then went downstairs.
> The argument resumed. He grabbed her waist and a cheek, then left for errands.
> He returned as if nothing had happened. She went to a bedroom and laid down on a bed. He pushed her over, and she went downstairs again.
> He came down and ripped a plate she was holding and struck her with a fist.
> They went back and forth verbally. He said he was fed up with her. threw her to the floor, and kicked her two times.
> She went to the bedroom, grabbed his things, and told him to leave. He lunched her. She told him again to leave. He did.
> She was dizzy but made it to Altura and called for help.
House passes bill making paid leave a law
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Democrat-controlled Minnesota House voted vote 69-54 to require employers, big and small, to provide paid sick leave. The bill next goes to the Senate, where passage also is expected. As the bill stands now, workers would accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work. The paid leave maxes out at 16 weeks. The time could be used to recover from illness, to care for sick family, or to cover weather closures. The bill allows exception for labor unions whose existing contracts have stronger overall provisions. The bill’s main sponsor, Representative Liz Olson, D-Duluth, was mocked for the labor union exception. “Lizzie’s loophole” it was called by Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington. “We’ve seen it from our friends on the Iron Range before. A little special perk, a little special set aside, is given to the collective bargaining units. I compliment them on their effectiveness for doing this. I just want the flexibility that the unions have gotten. I just want to see that for small businesses.” Among GOP objections was that many small businesses would be burdened with new bookkeeping. Also, said one Republican representative during the seven-hour debate, many small businesses already treat employees like family.
Olson. Her paid leave bill would fine would employers $10,000 for a violation, which Republicans called outlandish. The bill would create access to paid day off for 900,000 people.
Autopsy: Serious bumps, bruises on boy, also drugs
LACROSSE, Wis. – An autopsy concluded that 6-year-old AJ Pedrin died of blunt force injuries at his mother’s rural house. The autopsy, by pathologist Reade Quinton at Mayo Clinic, found the bludgeoning injuries on the head and neck, as well as multiple chest and back bruises and a fractured rib. The tranquilizer Xanax also contributed to the death, Quinton said. Meanwhile, sheriff’s investigators reported learning from other children that AJ’s mother, Josie Dikeman, had a pattern of hitting and choking the boy. In mid-January, Dikeman bent one of his AJ’s legs forward, toward his head, and broke the leg, the children said. At the time, she blamed the injury on a younger child pushing AJ down some stairs. On the day before AJ died, a deputy made a welfare check at the home but the boy was sleeping. The mother, the deputy said, explained that the whole house, including AJ, was just getting over Covid and that she had just given him melatonin, a drug that induces sleep. The deputy reported small bruise on AJ’s outer left thigh but saw no imminent danger, . The mother said little bumps or bruises came from rough-housing with other kids. Fifteen hours later, AJ was dead.
Double whammy: Shoplifting, snubbing court order
WINONA, Minn. – Police cited a LaCrosse man who admitted when stopped that he had wheeled $595 of merchandise out of the Far East End Walmart without paying. Lionel Isaac Silvera-Zaldo, 34, was in a car leaving the store when he was spotted by an officer who happened to be on Frontenac Avenue and got a radio message as the car left the Walmart lot. Silvera-Zaldo turned over the shoplifted items: Electronics, sporting goods, media and gaming items, and apparel. There was another problem for him: With Silvera-Zaldo in the car was a woman from whom he had ordered by a judge to stay away.
Real estate agent runs for County Board
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – A St. Charles real estate agent, Pat Heim, plunked down a $50 filing fee to enter the race for a vacancy on the Winona County Board. Heim is the son of Jerry Heim, who was twice elected as a county commissioner. His grandfather and great-grandfather also served on the Board. In the northern and western parts of the county that comprise election District 3, Heim is known widely as an auctioneer. On the County Board, he would succeed Steve Jacob of Elba, who vacated the District 3 seat in January to become a state legislator. Former St. Charles mayor Bill Spitzer earlier filed for the seat. The election is scheduled for May unless more candidates require a primary election to narrow the field. Board members earn $23,400 plus insurance as a fringe benei\fit.
Earlier: Ex-St. Charles mayor files for County Board
Heim. WIth wife Wendy, he is the St. Charles outpost of Counselor Realty of Rochester. Age 49.
District 3
Comprises townships north and west of Winona. Communities include St. Charles, population 3,730; Stockton, 800; Rollingstone, 670; Altura, 470; Elba, 130; Minneiska, 90; and Saratoga, too small for census breakout.
R.I.P.: Chad Wenzel
WINONA, Minn. – Chad Michael Wenzel, 52, of Winona, who volunteered at Restored Blessings. died unexpectedly at the Winona hospital. He lived in Winona his entire life and graduated from Winona High School in 1989. His family remembered him as an excellent cook who thrived in the kitchen.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1970-2023
Donor pledges $25 million to SMU: Biggest gift ever
WINONA, Minn. – A Saint Mary’s alum has pledged $25 million to the university — the largest gift in the school’s history. James Burns, president, said the gift will push the university’s endowment beyond $100 million. The endowment generates investment income that stabilizes the university’s ongoing budget. Burns said the donor has asked to remain anonymous. There are strings attached. Burns acknowledged that the gift is dependent on Saint Mary’s raising $100 million from other sources by May 2024. Also, the university will need to reverse recent enrollment losses and grow to 900 students. The university’s announcement said the current undergraduate enrollment is 800, although the university somewhat confusingly lists 1,300 in some promotional material.
Earlier: SMU looks to Spain for new provost
Earlier: SMU academic chief departing after three years
Earlier: SMU student loss 13%: Curriculum overhaul to blame?
Verbatim
Burns, Saint Mary’s president, called the gift an endorsement of his controversial new career-oriented curriculum. “Saint Mary’s has refocused its program offerings to directly meet workforce needs while maintaining a liberal arts core,” he said. “We know that today’s students are looking for a solid return on their investment, which is why our university is partnering with health care and other major industry leaders to ensure that Saint Mary’s can continue to respond to the evolving marketplace. We must ensure our graduates, who are tomorrow’s leaders, have the right skills for both work and life including problem solving, critical thinking, and communication. This is because our liberal arts foundation remains central to our undergraduate experience thus providing students with a well-rounded perspective that will benefit them throughout their lives.”
Nurse: Innocent to unauthorized amputation
ELLSWORTH, Wis. – A nurse pleaded not guilty to a charge of cutting off a dying patient’s foot without a physician’s oversight or permission. After entering the plea, Mary K. Brown, 38, of Durand, was bound over for trial by Pierce County Judge Elizabeth Rohl. Brown has been out on a $150,000 bail since December. In the meantime, Brown is barred from work in any capacity as a caregiver. The amputation was at a Spring Valley nursing home. The amputation was discovered at a funeral home when the coroner found the foot of the man was not attached to his body but lying beside him.
Media ban?
Brown has asked Judge Elizabeth Rohl to bar courtroom news coverage of the grisly case. There has been international interest.
R.I.P.: Parvis Emad
WINONA, Minn. — Parvis Emad, 87, a leading scholar and author on the German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger, died in retirement in Winona. His academic home was DePaul University in Chicago, but his reputation as a Heidegger scholar was global. He founded the journal Heidegger Studies and served as editor until 2015. He was born in 1935 in Iran and doctorate in continental philosophy at the University of Vienna. He co-translated five significant volumes from Heidegger’s complete works. He sole-authored four books and many articles and essays. In his later years, as some memory loss held sway, he always recalled each of his family members, including the beloved nicknames he was famous for creating.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1935-2023
Fugitive caught in multi-agency police assemblage
LACROSSE. Wis. – Preparing for the worst after corralling a federal fugitive, LaCrosse police arrested a Minnesota man without incident. Numerous police agencies had been called to stand by, including a Winona County canine unit and a Winona city narcotics officer. This was shortly after 9:30 a.m. downtown near Eighth and Cass streets. Arrested was Jarel Jenkins, 28, of St. Paul. In his place, police said, were numerous weapons, ammunition and a ballistic vest. Police Chief Shawn Kudron said Jenkins had a history of violent and dangerous behavior with disregard for the safety of the community. The lead agency in the arrest was the U.S. Marshal’s Office. Assisting were units from Caledonia, Campbell, Eau Claire, La Crescent, La Crosse, Onalaska, Winona. and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Jenkins. Armed to the teeth. With flak jacket.
Jenkins’ 2022 rap sheet
Court documents showed Jenkns had previous run-ins with the law in LaCrosse.
> He fled LaCrosse police last August when they attempted to stop him for an expired rmotorcycle registration. He abandoned the motorcycle during the chase and entered two retail establishments to elude police before he was taken into custody. He was released on $300 bail but failed to appear for a court hearing.
> In November he a fled an attempted traffic stop at high speed. Police broke off pursuit for safety reasons. He got away.
Fish kill probe: Bad manure practices at two farms
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found two Winona County dairy farms were keeping sloppy records on manure applications in July, about the time that pollution killed an estimated 2,500 trout in Rush Creek in central Winona County. The agency did not identify the farms in a news release that wound up a multi-agency investigation. Sources said, however, the farms were mid-size dairy operations in the Rush Creek headwaters near Utica. The investigation found that the farms spread manure within 50 feet of a sinkhole and failed to keep complete manure management records. The agency sent notices of violations to the farms but apparently didn’t levy fines. The agency said it could not definitively link bad manure practices to the fish kill. The agency noted the likely role of torrential rain that created unusually heavy subterranean flows that may have carried pollutants through porous limestone layers and caverns. The investigation examined manure records of 100 farms n the 20,000-ace watershed.
Earlier: Farmers queried about Rush Creek fish kill
Earlier: Message to Walz: Please solve Rush Creek fish kill
Earlier: To Walz: Crack whip to get fish-kill answers
Verbatim
MCPA news release: “Investigators did not find evidence of a direct discharge of pollutants to Rush Creek. They concluded that recent upstream applications of manure and pesticides combined with low-flow conditions in the creek prior to rainfall on July 23 may have led to the fish kill.”
Bail at $10,000 for Eyota drug “trove”
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Olmsted County prosecutor has thrown the book at an Eyota man arrested after a drug raid uncovered a warehouse of drugs in his trailer house. Andrew Krukow, 45, was charged with on felony charges of:
> First-degree drug sales.
> First-degree drug possession.
> Fifth-degree drug possession.
> Firearm possession near a controlled substance.
Krukow posted $10,000 bail.
College scores
Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 83, Bethel 67
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 74, UW-River Falls 61
Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 70, Bethel 68
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 62, UW-River Falls 43
Soccer (women): Winona State 4, Grand View 1
Softball: Winona State 8, Grand View 4
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Winona Cotter Ramblers 62, Wabasha-Kellogg Falcons 59
Basketball (girls): Spring Grove Lions 60, Mabel-Canton Cougars 22
Hockey (boys): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 6, Waseca Blue Jays 2
Hockey (boys): Owatonna Huskies 3, Rochester Marshall Rockets 2
Arrest in struggle outside St. Charles library
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – A deputy arrested a St. Charles driver whom he described as first evasive and then hostile. The incident, about 5:50 p.m., began when the man ran a stop sign just south of the railroad tracks. The man stopped nearby for the deputy but claimed not to know English. When the deputy went back to his squad car for Spanish translation software, the man drove off, circled around and ended up three blocks away at the town library. This time, the deputy said, Belzazar Adelfo Marengo Leon, 37, was belligerrant, cursed at him — in English — and resisted arrest. He was subdued when a second officer arrived. Then the deputy discovered Marengo Leon had a record of traffic offenses. They took him 16 miles to jail in Winona.
Marengo Leon. Library parking lot arrest. Charge: Obstructing police.
Apache Mall car crash injures two
ROCHESTER, Minn.. – Two people suffered less than serious injuries in a collision on U.S. Highway 52 just south of APache Mall. One driver, Aownyowan Mihmad Noase, 18, and a passenger, Amane Ojulu Cham, 21, both of Austin, were taken to a hospital. They were in a 2005 Toyota Camry that was northbound at 16th Street Southwest.The other car, a 2006 Ford Focus, driven by Korrena Theresa Wyro, 20, of Dodge Center, also was northbound. Wyro was unhurt. The cars rolled into the ditch. This was about 6:50 p.m.
Report: Thief walked right in, took $80,000
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – A theft of $80,000 from a rural house on Horseshoe Road was reported. The house owner, a woman, age 56, said the money was locked in a safe. She told a deputy that the theft must have been between 7:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. when she was away. Also missing, she said, were five pieces of jewelry from a jewelry box and two handguns. A deputy said there was no sign of forced entry. The woman said ehe found he front door open.
Iowa pair to hospital after pickup-car crash
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A pickup truck wandered into an oncoming lane at the spaghetti intersection of U.S. Highways 14 and 52 near Apache Mall and hit a car, causing non-life threatening injury to three people. Police said Neal Leroy Krippmer, 66, of Rochester, was driving a1995 Dodge Ram 1500. He was treated at the scene. Taken to a hospital were Daniel Ray Wiese, 68, of Le Claire, Iowa, and Cynthia Rae Edwards, 67, of Indianola, Iow. They were i. a 2008 Toyota Camry. This was about 2:10 p.m.
Death claims vacuum-cleaner genius Oreck
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Minnesota-reared David Orleck, who invented, built and marketed world-class vacuum cleaners, died at age 99. Most of his adult life was in New Orleans. He dropped out of college his freshman year in college to join the Army Air Corps for World War II. He was a B-29 navigator in the Pacific. After the war, he rose through executive ranks at RCA television and Whirlpool appliances. In 1963 he founded Oreck Corporation as the exclusive national distributor for Whirlpool vacuum cleaners. Then he honed direct mail technologies for his Oreck brand vacuum cleaners that were both powerful and durable yet light weight.
Oreck. Born in Duluth.
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