Juneteenth holiday bill passes Senate
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Senate passed a bill to make Juneteenth a state holiday to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. The vote was 57-8. The bill earlier passed the House. June 19 will be a holiday for state government workers. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Bobby Joe Champion, D-Minneapolis, said he hopes that private employers will honor the holiday too.
Driver blind to a parade of police in pursuit?
LEWISTON, Minn. – A State Patrol trooper began trailing a red Jeep after a report that the driver had failed to yield and was all over the road. A mile or so later the trooper lit his flasher lights to stop the vehicle. The driver kept going. This was on Highway 14 somewhere around Utica. Other police joined the pursuit. It was too leisurely to be called a “chase,” said Sheriff Ron Ganrude. No speeding. More like a parade. Finally, 2-1/2 miles after it all started and approaching Lewiston, with three squad cars behind and one coming at him, the driver stopped and got out. What was he thinking? No one at the scene knew for sure. A drug recognition expert was summoned from Rochester. This was about 4 p.m.
Gun-owner reports personal arsenal stolen
ORONOCO, Minn. – When an Oronoco man arrived home from work about 3:30 p.m., he sensed something wrong. Quickly he realized that a burglar had taken his gun collection. Gone were:
> Three 12-gauge shotguns.
> A bolt-action rifle.
> An assault rifle.
> A 20-gauge shotgun.
> A 9mm handgun.
> Four rifle optics.
> 2,600 rounds of ammunition.
> Four pounds of Tannerite.
He estimated the loss at $5,300. The man said he had been away at work since 6:40 a.m. Deputies found ono evidence of forced entry. This was in the 1200 block of Oak Lodge Lane Northeast in Oronoco Township.
U-Haul storage unit burgled on West End
WINONA, Minn. – A thief reportedly took $1,100 of items from a locked storage unit at the U-Haul Moving and Storage facility in the old Shopko building on Cottonwood Dive on the Far West End. A lock was broken, then replaced. The theft was believed to have been January 18 as best as the facility manager could determine. Among missing items: Tools and a motorcycle helmet.
UM sees better days ahead for teaching hospital
MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota announced plans to start building a mega medical complex on its East Bank campus. University President Joan Gabel called the university’s other hospitals old and inadequate for “a hospital associated with a leading research university.” The plan came out of the gradual assimilation of the University of Minnesota Medical Center teaching hospital. which has been struggling financially, and the South Dakota-owned Fairview hospital.
Woman with child hurt in I-90 crash
WILSON, Minn. — A Lewiston woman, Erin Marie Johnson, 28 and pregnant, was injured in when her pickup rolled into the median on Interstate 90 two miles west of the Wilson exit to Winona. Riding with her was Jason Martin Johnson, also from Lewiston. He was less seriously injured. They were heading west in a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The I-90 surface was snow-covered and ice-covered.
Cops surveilling P2P child porn downloads
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Three Rochester men, all accused of child pornography, apparently didn’t get the memo that law-enforcement tools now track downloads from peer-to-peer networks. The three arrests were unrelated except that, as investigators tell it, the three got were snared for P2P downloads and in case uploading. Arrested at their homes on warrants were:
Age 60. The tip came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A computer in Young’s home contained “a plethora of image and video files with child sexual abuse material” of infants to children around 8, the criminal complaint said.
Scott Collett: Age 58. A Minneapolis police investigator discovered five suspicious files had been downloaded over 13-month period through September, showing boys as young as 8 engaged in sexual activity. the downloads were associated with Collett. According to the criminal complaint, he admitted accessing obscene videos of prepubescent boys.
Rithvik Hari: Age 26. Minneapolis police found downloads over a three-month this fall from a peer-to-peer network involving dozens of files depicting adults sexually abusing children between 8 and 14. The downloads were to Hari’s address, according to the criminal complaint.
Walz seeks record public works budget: $3.3 billion
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz asked the Legislature to approve a $3.3 billion public infrastructure package. With the money mostly borrowed but with $900 million cash from the current tax revenue surplus, the proposal is for road, bridges, water systems, housing construction and repairs and for the environment. These kinds of project are commonly paid through “bonding” – another word for borrowing – over 30 years. The state borrows at low interest rates based on its excellent credit-worthiness. The Walz infrastructure proposal, $3.3 billion, would be the largest in the state’s history. Walz called the package a “down payment on the future.” Walz said: “Strong infrastructure is what allows Minnesotans to live safe and healthy lives. It’s what keeps our drinking water clean, our roads and bridges safe to drive on, and our communities safe from flooding.” These are broad categories in the Walz infrastructure proposal
Unfinished last year
The Legislature went into a partisan stalemate last year and failed to finish a $1.5 billion bonding bill. Dozens of projects statewide went unfunded. Approval of many of these left-over projects is expected quickly in the new Legislature. Most of Walz’s package, however, will be on backburners probably until May when the 2023 session ss winding up.
Walz 5.0: Infrastructure
The Walz. bonding proposal was the fifth of his financial plan for the 2023 Legislature. It is separate from his four-part overall two-year plan that he rolled out over the past couple weeks. The larger $65 billion plan includes rebates to more than 2.5 million taxpayers and reductions in taxes on Social Security income for many pensioners. The includes some higher taxes and fees.
> $650 million: For roads, bridges and water systems.
> $520 million: For facility repairs and replacement in the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State University systems.
> $520 million: For local community community centers, libraries and fire stations.
> $470 million: For affordable housing.
> $133 million: For Natural Resources Department recreational and other facilities.
> $90 million: For state-operated veterans’ homes in Hastings, Preston, Montevideo and Bemidji.
Minnesota teacher shortage increasingly dire
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Most Minnesota schools are having a hard time finding teachers to hire. The state Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board reported that 84% of school districts are “somewhat significantly” or “very significantly” affected by the teacher shortage. The number was 70% in 2021.
I-90 rollover traps driver inside
LEWISTON, Minn. – A vehicle left Interstate 90 and rolled on its side, trapping a man inside. Rescuers extricated the driver, who was taken 12 miles to the Winona hospital. This was about 5:40 a.m. two miles west of the I-90 exit to Lewiston.
Man found freezing, alone, wandering in bluffs
DAKOTA, Minn. – Deputies found a man half-frozen and walking lost on a remote road up Dakota Creek. The man said he had been walking seven hours. He couldn’t explain how he got up Runaway Drive – a dead-end so far from anywhere. Temperatures were well below freezing. The man was taken to the Winona hospital to thaw out and be checked for hypothermia.
Islam group backs Hamline art prof
WASHINGTON – The Muslim Public Affairs Council declared there was nothing Islamophobic in a Hamline University art prof using a depiction of the prophet Muhammad to make a point in an art history class. The prof, a faculty part-timer, was let go. Responding to the situation, the Muslim Public Affairs Council said: “The painting was not Islamophobic. In fact, it was commissioned by a 14th-century Muslim king to honor the prophet receiving the first Quranic revelation from the angel Gabriel. Given the ubiquity of Islamophobic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, it hardly makes sense to target an art professor trying to combat narrow understandings of Islam.”
Disputed art. At issue: Whether to punish professors whose classes may offend some.
No room at the inn on cold night — nor anywhere
WINONA, Minn. – It seems everybody knows Michael Wade Zvirblis, but they don’t want him around even in crisis. He was turned away from the downtown warming center during the night — a cold winter night, by the way — because of earlier bad behavior. Taverns have him on their unwanted lists. Same reason.The detox people at the hospital won’t take him. Same reason. Police found him downtown on Third Street after midnight, throwing chunks of ice at store fronts and yelling and screaming at who knows who but not causing damage. There was no crime worth arresting him. And officers, who have come to know Zvirblis well, let it go. Soon thereafter, however, he had broken a beer bottle and was smashing a storefront window. This was criminal. It was a $400 double-pane thermal-insulated window. Zvirblis, 55, was arrested, booked at the jail for damaging property, and locked in a warm cell.
Zvirblis. Apparently desperate to get inside from the cold sonewhere, anywhere, he smashes window. Arrest follows and a warm jail cell.
Double brrr: Weekend deep freeze ahead
WINONA, Minn. – After a couple days of scattered light snow, an Arctic air mass will settle into the Upper Midwest this weekend. The high Saturday will be only 6-above, the National Weather Service says. Then will come daytime zeros with overnight lows down as far as 11-below.
What’s ahead. The National Weather Srrvice’s big picture for February 1 to 7.
College scores
Basketball (men): UW-Whitewater 74, UW-LaCrosse 71
Basketball (women): St. Catherine 75, Saint Mary’s 67
Basketball (women): UW-Whitewater 66, UW-LaCrosse 36
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Lanesboro Burros 56, Mabel-Canton Cougars 36
Basketball (girls): Mankato Loyola Crusaders 49, Rochester Schaeffer Lions 43
Hockey (boys): Rochester Mayo Spartans 5, Rochester Century Panthers 1
Icy pavement blamed for I-90 roll-over
GRAND MEADOW, Minn. – An Arkansas man was injured on ice-slick Interstate 90 when his heavy-duty pickup went into the median and overturned. Jamario Trevon Love, 26, of Hempstead, Arkansas, was taken 30 miles to a Rochester hospital with non-life threatening injuries. This was about 8:45 p.m. near the High Forest exit-entry ramps. Love was headed east toward Albert Lea.
Who says Minnesotans lack sense of humor?
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Of 10,000 entries in its annual Name a Snowplow contest, the state Transportation Department has culled and winnowed the field down to 60 finalists. You can vote for a any eight through February 3. There will be six lucky plows, one in each MnDOT district, whose flanks will be christened with its new stenciled name. The finalists:
Brrrr, Sir
Ace of Blades
Ain’t My First Snowdeo
Alice Scooper
As the Snow Flies
Best in Snow
Better Call Salt
Beyonsleigh
Blader Tot Hotdish
Blades of Flurry
Bladezilla
Blizzo
Bobsled Dylan
Bohemian Rhapsnowdy
Buzz Iceclear
Camp Scoopy
Clark Blizzwald
Clearopathtra
For Cold Times’ Sake
Freeze Louise
Goonodaabaan (Ojibwe for “snow vehicle”)
Han Snowlo
Harmon Chillebrew
Here we Snow Again
Hippoplowtamus
I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered
Ičamna (Dakota word for “blizzard”)
It’s a Squall World After All
Just Scraping By
Kim KarDashing Thru the Snow
L’etoile du Nordy
Lollaplowlooza
Mary Tyler More Snow
Melton John
Mighty Morphin Plower Ranger
Miracle on Ice
One Plow Two Plow Red Plow Blue Plow
Optimus Brine
Orange You Glad to See Me
Paisley Plow
Plow Patrol
Plowabunga!
Plower to the People
Plowie Anderson
Point of Snow Return
Queen El-ice-abeth II
Say it Ain’t Snow
Scoop! There it is
Sir Plows-a-Lot
SKOL Plow
Sleetwood Mac
Snow and Tell
Snow Force One
Spirit of ’91
Taylor Drift
Ted Las-snow
The Name’s Plow, Snowplow
Waipahiƞte (Dakota for “snow plow”)
Wolfgang Amadeus Snowzart
Yer a Blizzard, Harry
GOP grumbles at Walz budget: Where are tax cuts?
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz’s $65 billion two-year budget plan runs $11 billion ahead of the current budget and eats into some of the $17.6 billion of unexpected tax revenue from the state’s sizzling economy. The Democratic governor called his budget fair and said it would continue to create growth. Republicans, however, were less than enthusiastic. Missing from the Walz budget was a GOP proposal to eliminate state taxes totally from pensioners on Social Security. Also missing was a GOP proposal to cut tax rates permanently rather than the one-time rebates that Walz proposes. Said House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, a Cold Spring Republican: “If we can’t cut taxes now, when can we?” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican elected from East Grand Forks, complained that Walz wants to increase state spending by 25%. A debate point among Walz’s fellow Democrats is that the governor would hike payroll taxes to help finance family and medical leave. Also, Walz would slow the downward course of motor vehicle license tab fees.
Mom admits killing one infant but not two
RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing woman charged with two counts of second-degree murder for abandoning two newborns in the Mississippi River 20-some years ago pleaded guilty to one count, In exchange the sentence for Jennifer Lynn Matter, 50, would be capped at 27 years – half the max of what it could have been on both original counts. Her sentencing was scheduled for May. It is possible, she still may seek an even lighter sentence Her bail, which had been $1.5 million, was halved to $75,000.
Earlier: Not-guilty pleas in two Red Wing infanticides
Earlier: Bail lowered in Red Wing newborn death
Earlier:Woman held on $1.5 million bond for infanticide
12 years prison for heroine-dealing braggart
BLACK RIVRE FALLS, Wis.- — A Black River Falls woman is going to prison for 12 years for the overdose death of an Eau Claire man. Jackie E.F. Snow was sentenced for conspiring to deliver heroin. Jackson County Judge Anna Becker, who issued the sentence, agreed to drop a charge of reckless homicide-drug delivery. The death was in December 2017. District Attorney Emily Hynek said that Snow had bragged about the heroin she was distributing. Hynek also said that Snow considered the potential loss of life an “acceptable risk” if it meant continuing her drug dealing enterprise.”
Snow. Jackson County heroin dealer.
Jailers hurt when inmate attacks
WINONA Minn. – An inmate attacked and injured two deputies who were escorting him through a hall inside the jail. This was only a few hours after Natajvi Koisef Hodges, 39, had been arrested for meth in an apparently hallucinating sequence of events at his apartment on West Wabasha Street. At the jail deputies said Hodges punched and kicked and scraped, cut and bruised them. This was about 10:30 a.m. Hodges was taken to the hospital emergency room to check what was wrong with him. The doctor couldn’t explain it. Hodges was returned to jail, this time with an assault charge on top of the previous night’s meth charge.
R.I.P.: Betti Grossell
WINONA, Minn. – Elizabeth “Betti” Grossell, 66, of Winona, died unexpectedly at the Winona hospital. She was born in Winona. She loved painting ceramics.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1956-2022
Governor: Let’s eliminate U.S. Bank Stadium debt
ST. PAUL, Minn. – In his budget message to the Legislature, Governor Tim Walz proposed paying off the state’s share of the debt on U.S. Bank Stadium 22 years early. The football stadium, for which the state borrowed $348 million, is where the Vikings play. The governor noted that electronic and paper pull-tab gambling revenues to pay on the debt are exceeding projections. If the stadium isn’t paid off, the excess gambling revenue would go into the state’s general fund.
Citizen to cops: Please come see my meth
WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested Winona man who invited officers into his apartment to show them his meth. Indeed, a baking tin on the stove tested positive for meth residue. The officers arrested Varajalon Natajvi Koisef Hodges. 38. This was about 3:20 a.m. in the 100 block of West Wabasha Street. The police call was weird from the start. Officers said that Hodges had called to complain that an upstairs neighbor was spying on him, taking video through his kitchen window, and threatening to return to shoot him. Hodges said he was afraid to stay in his apartment the rest of the night, officers said. The officers climbed the stairs to confront the neighbor. The neighbor was dumfounded. He said he had never met Hodges. Furthermore, he said he didn’t even own a gun. The officers went back to Hodges and explained they found no evidence of any criminal activity. Hodges persisted he was afraid to stay in his apartment. As the officers were leaving, Hodges insisted they come back in to see his meth. They did. Hodges spent the rest of the night in the safety of a jail cell, booked for drug possession. The next chapter of this saga will be how Hodges explains all this to the judge.
Hodges. However bizarre the pre-dawn events, police said Hodges showed no symptoms of impairment.
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