Soot everywhere at Clear Lake resort fire
LEXINGTON. Minn. – The restaurant at Wigum’s Resort on Clear Lake was severely damaged by an overnight fire. The place was vacant in the off-season. Dusty Dienst, deputy Faribault fire chief, said the fire had burned itself out by the time the call came in at 10:38 a.m. But soot was everywhere, he said. How the fire started and where in the building was not immediately determined. Dienst said the fire appeared accidental. Wigum’s is at 17759 177th Street West.
New Minnesota state holiday: Juneteenth
ST. AUL, Minn. – Juneteenth will become a state holiday in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz Tim Walz signed the bill that the state Senate and House had approved overwhelmingly. Minnesota thus is 26th state to create June 19 as a holiday to mark the anniversary of slavery ending officially in the United States.
Freedom Day ceremony. The event was crowded as Walz signed the Juneteenth bill into law. Notable by his absence was state Representative Steve Jacob of Elba, who was the lone negative vote on the bill in the House.
Dead in the water: Disabled paddle-wheeler
Sub-zero victim. The tourist-catching mini-steamboat high on a pylon off Highway 14 at the Winona Visitor Center lost its propelling paddle. Things got too cold. The motorized spinning paddle broke off askew. Image: Steve Lunde
Winona cop accused of assault on juvenile
WINONA, Minn. – A veteran Winona police officer, Joshua Squires, has been placed on administrative leave after a complaint that he beat a juvenile in a domestic incident in early January. Based on a criminal complaint, the Winona Post broke the news of the Squires situation. The Post story came 30 days after the incident. Both the sheriff’s office and city police were involved in the case from the outset. But reporters who attend daily police briefings were not informed about the case either the morning after or in the month since. Police Chief Tom Williams confirmed when asked Friday that he placed Squires on administrative leave January 12, although that had not been reported to news reporters at the time or later. The criminal complaint lists these allegations, some details of which attributed to Squires and some to the juvenile:
> Squires was giving a ride to the juvenile from a rural residence, thought to be Minnesota City, when an argument either began or escalated.
> Squires punched the car seat and then punched the juvenile in the arm.
> Squires and the juvenile went into a house, believed to be inside the Winona city limits, although the locations are not yet entirely clear in public documents.
> In the house Squires proceeded to get in the victim’s face and used his chest to push the victim into a corner of the kitchen. Squires kept his hands behind his back but pulled the victim’s hair with his teeth.
This was the morning of Wednesday, January 4. Deputies were called several hours later, at 4:08 p.m., to go to the rural address to check the welfare of the juvenile. The criminal complaint shields the name, gender and specific age of the juvenile. There is no clue whether the victim was a blood relative of Squires.
Charges
The criminal complaint alleges:
> Fifth-degree, misdemeanor domestic assault causing harm, punishable by 90 days in jail.
> Fifth-degree, misdemeanor domestic assault causing fear, also punishable by 90 days.
Squires career
Squires was a long-time city police investigator. His responsibilities have shifted over the years:
> Squires was on assignment a few years as a uniformed on-site officer at the Winona High School. The School Board reimbursed the city for Squires’ services. The Board School Board eliminated the position in 2020 to soften perceptions about discipline.
> Squires returned to the Police Department full-time as an investigator.
> Because of short-staffing, Squires was among investigators reassigned to patrol duties.
Driver hurt in collision near Rochester
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A car and minivan collided on U.S. Highway 52 near the Simpson Road interchange southeast of Rochester, injuring a Lake Elmo driver. A Preston woman driving the other vehicle was unhurt. Lauren Elizabeth Mathaus, 21, of Lake Elmo, was taken to a hospital with less than serious injuries. Unhurt was Cindy Romero Boettcher, 43, of Preston. The collision was about 1:15 p.m. Both vehicles were heading into Rochester on clear roads.
College scores
Hockey (men): Saint John’s 2, Saint Mary’s 0
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights 65, St. Charles Saints 56
Basketball (boys): Mankato West Scarlets 47, Winona Winhawks 44
Basketball (boys): Caledonia Warriors 71, Winona Cotter Ramblers 59
Basketball (girls): Mankato West Scarlets 43, Winona Winhawks 36
Basketball (girls): St. Charles Saints 61, LeRoy Ostrander Cardinals 41
Hockey (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 5, Winona Winhawks 2
Hockey (girls): Albert Lea Tigers 6, Winona Winhawks 0
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 90, Westby Norsemen 59
Basketball (girls): Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 77, Whitehall Norse 74
Basketball (girls): Mondovi Buffaloes 72, Glenwood City Hilltoppers 20
Basketball (girls): Eau Claire Immanuel Lancers 54, Independence Indees 36
Basketball (girls): West Salem Panthers 74, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 25
How they voted: Minnesota clean energy / 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Senate voted 44-22 to reduce greenhouse emissions from energy producers to zero in increments over the next 17 years. The bill earlier passed the House. To become law, the bill now goes to Governor Tim Walz. The Senate vote:
For 2040 deadline
Liz Boldon, D-25 (Rochester)
Jeremy Miller, R-26 (Winona)
Carla Nelson, R-24 (Rochester)
Against
Gene Dornick, R-23 (Hayfield)
Rich Draheim, R-22 (Mankato)
Steve Drazkowski, R-20 (Mazeppa)
How they voted: On removing Omar
WASHNGTON – The U.S. House voted 218-211 to remove Minneapolis member Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, from the House Intelligence Committee, ostensibly as punishment for a comment two years ago that slighted Jews. The vote was party line with the new Republican majority flexing muscle against Omar’s leadership among liberals on social and environmental issues. Omar will be reassigned to the House Budget Committee.
Verbatim
Omar: “I am Muslim, I am an immigrant. And, interestingly, I am from Africa. Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy, or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs to be silenced?”
To remove Omar
Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
Brad Finstad, R-Mn1( south)
Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
Pete Stauber, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)
—
Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Juneau)
Mike Gallagher, R-Wi8 (Green Bay)
Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport)
Tom Tiffany, R-R-Wi7 (Hazelburst)
Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville)
Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (JPrairie du Chien)
Against
Angie Craig, D-Mn2 (south suburbs)
Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
Dean Phillips, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
—
Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee)
Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
House OKs Juneteenth holiday; Jacob nay
ST. PAUL, Minn. –The Minnesota House voted 126-1 for Juneteenth as a new state holiday to commemorate the final abolition of slavery on June 19, 1865, under President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It was on that day that word reached the last outpost in the confederate South that slavery officially was over. Among blacks it’s come to be called Juneteenth. It’s been a federal holiday since 2021. The lone opponent in the Minnesota House was outlier freshman Steve Jacob of Elba, who was elected from northern and western townships in Winona County. The breakdown among southeast Minnesota representatives:
Monday this year. The proposed holiday for government employees in 2023 falls on Monday the 19th. Private employers would be asked to honor the holiday also. .
For Juneteenth
Greg Davids, R-26B (Preston)
Kim Hicks, D-25A (Rochester)
Tina Liebling, D-24B (Rochester)
Patricia Mueller, R-23B (Austin)
Bjorn Olson, R-22A (Elmore)
Gene Pelowski, D-26A (Winona)
John Petersburg, R-19B (Waseca)
Brian Pfarr, R-22B (LeSueur)
Joe Schomacker, R-21A (Luverne)
Andy Smith, D-25B (Rochester)
Against
Steve Jacob, R-20B (Elba)
Not voting
Peggy Bennett, R-23A (Albert Lea)
Marj Fogelman, R-21B (Fulda)
R.I.P.: Roman Lilla
CENTERVILLE, Wis. – Roman J. Lilla, 82, of Centerville, a farmer his entire lifewith dairy, beef, pork, chicken and crop operations, died peacefully at home. He graduated from Trempealeau High School in 1958. He served on the Centerville Creamery Board.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1940-2022
New Minnesota law: Your hair your way
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A bill that makes it illegal to discriminate against people for their hair style was signed into law by Governor Tim Walz. The bill explicitly prohibits racial discrimination based on natural hair texture and personal preferences like braids, cornrows, dreadlocks and twists. A the signing ceremony was a crowd mostly of of black woman legislators and community leaders, Walz, age 58, whose own hair can be described at best as thinning, joked about “the irony of an older white bald guy signing this bill.” The bill [assed House 111-19, the Senate 45-19.
Verbatim
Esther Agbaje, a Minneapolis Democrat who helped draft the legislation in the House: “With this law we are saying that we will not allow hair discrimination as a proxy for race discrimination. We are also saying it is perfectly fine to show up as you are.”
House: Let felons vote after serving their time
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota House voted 71-59 to allow felons to vote as soon as they leave prison. The bill would enfranchise about 66,000 Minnesotans. Currently a felon’s voting rights are restored only after their sentence, including probation, is complete. The bill now moves to the Senate. The change is part of a Democratic push to expand voting rights. Coincidently or not, felons are considered more Democrat in their voting inclinations. On the ioher hand Republicans, who have a shrinking voter base, had a span of objections to growing enfranchisement. These included a concern that someone who committed voter fraud would be rewarded with the right to vote again — even though voter fraud is virtually non-existent. Other GOP amendments, all of which failed, included keeping the current system in place for convictions for murder, sexual misdeeds, terroristic threats, stalking, and harassment of elected officials and police.
Walz budget: $10 million for new Winona train
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz has included $10.2 million in his two-year budget to put a second daily passenger train on the rails between Minneapolis-St.Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago via LaCrescent, Red Wing, Winona. The railroad item requires approval from the Legislature. as do other Walz infrastructure projects. A similar rail package didn’t receive legislative approval last year. The governor’s new budget would increase Minnesota’s contribution to match a federal grant for track and signal improvements in Winona and La Crescent. The particulars:
> $4.8 million beginning in 2025 as Minnesota’s share of operating costs.
> $3.1 million to match a federal grant for initial operating costs the first three years.
> $2.2 million for capital improvements on the corridor.
> $122,000 for project administration.
Earlier: Mayor: Winona needs rail service upgrades
Earlier: Rail fans, environmentalists rally for trains
Earlier: Rail vision: Smoother freight flow, more trains
Earlier: Amtrak eyes Winona-Rochester route to Cities
Earlier: $10 million for second daily train
R.I.P.: Wilma Mindrum
RUSHFORD, Minn. – Wilma “Doris” Mindrum, 96, of Rushford, who worked child daycare and at Valley View Nursing Home, died at the Good Shepherd Home in Rushford. She was raised in Houston and graduated from Houston High School. Earlier in Peterson she worked at her father’s butcher shop.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1926-2023
Never wise to piss off sheriff
WINONA, Minn. – Cutting off another driver while changing lanes is especially problematic if it’s the sheriff you cut off. This happened where Highway 14 narrows from two lanes to one heading west out of Winona, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said he was almost hit. He stopped the errant driver for a stern warning about adjusting side mirrors and checking closer before switching lanes. A ticket for reckless driving? Just a warning this time.
Anger on school bullying consumes Wabasha
WABASHA, Minn. — A family has gone to the district attorney for Wabasha County to stop bullying at the Wabasha-Kellogg secondary school. In a story first told by television station KAAL, the triggering incident occurred when a classmate AirDropped a photo of a ninth-grader, age 14 and naked, on everybody in the school cafeteria who was hooked in. The photo soon was everywhere with humiliating snickers. The school has 290 students. Child pornography charges are possible even though though the culprit was a juvenile, according to a source knowledgeable in school law. Her son, the mother said, had been unaware the photo existed. The AirDrop was December 5. The principal evidently confronted the offender and called in two police officers to discuss inappropriate behavior in select classrooms. But not until January 10 – 37 days later – was the offender suspended. The suspension, said the victim’s mother, was only five days. In the meantime, the mother told KAAL, the bullying and taunts escalated against her 14-year-old son. Finally, the mother decided the school was “unsafe” and pulled her son out. About the culprit, she called the five-day suspension too little too late . The mother asked KAAL to be identified in the news only as Angie. Meanwhile, at least five other families have come forward, albeit also anonymously, with tales of bullying at the school. Online dialogue has crescendoed.
Verbatim
Mother of targeted boy on the disciplinary action: “This is telling kids it’s OK to go take a picture, and it’s OK to AirDrop pictures in school. It’s OK to bully somebody for two weeks, bully somebody for years, and you’ll get a couple of days of vacation cause that’s exactly what Jim gave this kid — five days of vacation.”
Verbatim
Jim Freihammer, school superintendent: “Although this kind of behavior is not acceptable wherever and whenever it happens, the picture was not taken at school and it was not taken during the school year. As such, the District had no control over those initial actions. However, it was not until several months later that the picture was shared at school, making it a school issue.”
Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 40 emergency medical calls plus 7 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, January 31: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Monday, January 30: 3 medical calls plus no fire callw.
> Sunday, January 29: 8 medical call plus no fire calls.
> Saturday, January28: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, January 27: 9 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Thursday, January 26: 2 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Wednesday, January 25: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
Bad news: Speeding, drinking, weed
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver who was stopped for speeding was arrested for drunken driving and also for marijuana that deputies found. Leigh Elizabeth Meska, 36, was taken to jail. The arrest was about 11 p.m. on Riverview Drive. Deputies said a breath test found her blood was running 0.11% alcohol. – clear evidence of impairment. In Meska’s car deputies reported finding marijuana and a device to smoke it.
Meska. Officers found a small amount of marijuana and related paraphernalia.
In time for Super Bowl: Hormel’s chili beer
AUSTIN, Minn. – Wall Street investors and beer aficionados alike have been scratching their heads: Why were executives of Austin-based food giant Hormel dancing with the folks at a custom brewery in Minneapolis? Now we know. Hormel is introducing a beer for the Super Bowl with corn flakes, powdered cheese and spices to accompany a dip made with Hormel canned chili. It fits: The Modist Brewhouse in Minneapolis has as its motto: “Making beers that are traditionally impossible.” The beer is available at the brewery’s taproom and also mail-order from Hormel at $24 a four-pack. The lager contains Minnesota Pilsner barley malt and flaked corn, which Hormel tasters say gives it a “chip-like” base, along with spices and cheddar cheese powder to tap the chili dip flavor. Golly gee, Marge, what will they think of next
Taproom: Modist Brewing, 505 North Third Street, Minneapolis.
Mail order: Hormel.
A sidekick. New Hormel beer has notes of chili and spices and hints of cheddar. Perfect says the company, for chips and a cheese dip whipped up with Hormel canned chili. So who needs the dip if you can drink it?
College scores
Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 66, St. Olaf 65
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 82, UW-Platteville 67
Basketball (women): St. Olaf 75, Saint Mary’s 69
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 70, UW-Platteville 43
Wisconsin prep
Hockey (boys): River Falls Wildcats 2, Onalaska Hilltoppers 0
Lewiston trailer house fire displaces occupants
LEWISTON, Minn. – The occupants of a trailer house escaped when an electrical fire filled the trailer with smoke. Red Cross emergency services arranged temporary housing for them. The fire was in a rear bedroom. The fire was about 9 p.m. at the Lewiston trailer court.
Barn, equipment lost in fire near Rollingstone
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – Fire consumed a barn up Denzer Road outside Minnesota City. Farm equipment inside the barn was lost. No animals were in the barn. The fire broke out about 9 p.m.
Flattened. Charred and black, all the contents of the barn up dead-end Denzer Road are gone. Image: Steve Lunde
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