Alternate-side parking tally at 1,197
WINONA, Minn. – Police took breather enforcing the city’s alternate-side parking ordinance. The running tally:
> January 4: 56 citations.
> December 19 through January 1: None. Officers on other priorities.
> To mid-December: 402 citations of which 45 were tagged and towed.
> November totals: 739 citations.
Trump jumpstart in Wisconsin’s Trempealeau County
Somebody didn’t get the memo. The U.S. Constitution forbids a president from a third term. An irony: The old Beaches Corners schoolhouse, once a place of learning, sits next door to the Trump trailer house. Image: Steve Lunde
Apology about bad car registration didn’t fly
ALTURA, Minn. — A Lewiston nan was stopped for expired car plates, for which he apologized profusely, according to the arresting officer. But in the process of apologizing, Robert William Bambenek, age 45, of Lewiston, was heavily exuding alcohol-laden breaths, the officer said. A roadside test showed his system was 0.19% alcohol — 12 points more than allowed. Bambenek was taken into custody and driven 18 miles to the county jail in Winona. The stop was on County Road 27 between Bethany an and Altura about 5:30 p.m.
Bambenek. Which more serious: Driving drunk? Expired plates?
Viroqua fugitive hauled back from Minnesota
VIROQUA, Wis.— A man wanted on a bevy of Vernon County charges was extradited back to Viroqua from Minnesota, where he had been arrested Monday. Nathan Raymond Lee McNamer, age 33, now in the Viroqua jail, was held in lieu of $1,000 bail. The Wisconsin charges include four felonies and one misdemeanor from three cases, at least one of which dates back to April 2022:
> Auto theft.
> Misappropriating an identification to obtain money.
> Possessing meth.
> Possessing drug paraphernalia.
> Jumping bail.
McNamer. Switching cells from Caledonia in Minnesota to Viroqua in Wisconsin.
FleetFarm reports airgun shoplifing loot
WINONA, Minn. — Police were called to the FleetFarm home improvement store about a theft in progress and, surprise, gotcha, arrested a LaCrosse man as he walked out. Police said Dean Jacob Mickelson, age 30, admitted to the thefts. Store detectives said they had seen Mickelson usig a box-cutter to remov spider-wrapping from several items:
> A black semi-automatic look-alike air-gun pistol.
> A 357-caliber look-alike air-gun pistol.
> A pack of three knives.
The total value was about $200, store loss-prevention agents said. This was about 4:50 p.m.
Mickelson. Store detectives say he removed spider-web security wrapping.
Pair of Hixton truck trailers up in flames
HIXTON, Wis. — A parked semi-trailer caught fire between Hixton and Black River Falls, then the flames spread to a second trailer. When a Hixton fire crew arrived, one trailer was engulfed completely and sending black plumes skyward,. Soon six units from Black River Falls also arrived. No one was injured. This was about 3:10 a.m.
Mystery truck fire. Investgators have been called to identify what sparked the fire. Image: Black River Falls Five Fire and Rescue
Blood at 0.19% alcohol after snowbank crash
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona woman who drove into a snowbank was arrested as drunk. Police said Tomorrow Schreiber, age 53, went into the snow near the Parks Avenue exit from U.S. Highway 61 to the Family Y building and the Winona hospital. This was about 12:20 a.m. Police said Schreiber acknowledged drinking throughout the night. She smelled of alcohol and showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.19%, roughly 2-1/2 times more than tolerated for driving.
Schreiber. In roadside sobriety exercises, police said she failed all.
News summary at week’s end: January 3, 2026
ALMANAC: Our lived experience: 2025 in review
GOVRNANCE: Finstad on Trump’s Venezuela incursion: Yes
GOVERNANCE: Agency answers demand for state childcare data
POLITICS: No GOP shortage of rivals to Walz re-election
POLITICS: Trump jumpstart in Wisconsin’s Trempealeau County
TRIBAL: Oneida chief vexed at tribal role in new ICE jails
ARTS: Quarter-mile scrolled mural at Winona museum
ACCIDENT: Pickup hits horse-dawn cart; no injuries
CRIME: State appellate judge fined $500 for DWI
CRIME: Dubious distinction: First 2026 Winona DWI case
CRIME: Assault charged in odd Rollingstone incident
FIRE: Pair of Hixton truck trailers up in flames
FIRE: Fire victim known around town as Mr. Fix-it
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 85, Concordia of St. Paul 67
Basketball (men): Macalester 89, Saint Mary’s 77
Basketball (women): Concordia of St. Paul 77, Winona State 87
Basketball (women):,Saint Mary’s 60, Macalester 38
Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 3. UW-Stevens Point 1
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Pine Island Panthers 70, Winona Cotter/Winonna Hope 56
Basketball (boys): St. Charles Saints 86, Spring Valley Kingsland Knights 79
Basketball (boys): Adams Southland Rebels 68, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 51
Basketball (girls): Mendota Heights Visitation Blazers 79, Winona Cotter/Winonna Hope 55
Hockey (boys): Winona Winhawks 3, St. Paul Blades 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (girls): Alma-Pepin Eagles 49, Spring Valley Cardinals 38
Basketball (girls): Alma Center Lincoln Hornets 65, New Lisbon Rockets 49
Fire victim known around town as Mr. Fix-it
INDEPENDENCE, Wis. — The victim of a December garage fire in Independence was Kyle Clarence Klimek, the Edison Funeral Home confirmed. Klimek, age 39, attended Independence High School and held a 2005 certificate from Western Wisconsin Technical College. He did factory work most of his life and was known around town as someone who could fix anything he could get his hands on. Authorities have yet to explain what caused the fire.
Earlier: Man dies in Independence garage fire
Klimek. 1986-2025.
Apartments in big converted house burn up
LACROSSE, Wis. — Fire crews responded to a burning South Side apartment building and extinguished a fire in two of the eight apartments. The task was complicated because the building had been subdivided and modified heavily from an original single-family residence. There were deep-seated fire pockets, firefighters said. No one was injured. The fire was about 4:50 p.m. in the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue South.
Finstad on Trump’s Venezuela incursion: Yes
WASHINGTON — Predictably the southern Minnesota delegate to Congress, Brad Finstad, fell dutifully in line behind President Trump’s military invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president. Finstad, a Republican, called the world “now safer” and said that Venezuela can now “reclaim their democracy.” Finstad called Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro “a criminal narco-terrorist and dictator who ruled through corruption and fear.” Finstad’s reaction was knee-jerk, coming even as geopolitical experts were only beginning to make sense of the implications. In announcing the military action, Trump was unable to explain his self-contradicting positions on Latin America coherently. Nor could he lay out any plan into the future except broadly that the United States would be running Venezuela, population 30 million, and that U.S. companies would take over the vast Venezuelan oil production infrastructure. Trump offered a lame justification for invading a sovereign country. He cuted in the long-abandoned U.S. Monroe Doctrine of 1823 for Western hemisphere dominanance. He joked that the Monroe Doctrine should. now be called the Don Doctrine. Trump’s first name is Donald. Get it. Get it.
Caledonia Hall of Famer now a UM coach
MINNEAPOLIS — Fans who remember Isaac Fruechete from Caledonia High School now can follow him at the University of Minnesota. Fruechete, age 34, has been named the the Gophers receivers coach. Most recently he has been offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for North Dakota. Earlier he played with the Vikings. He also coached at Winona State, Northern State of South Dakota, Northern Iowa and UW-La Crosse.
Notable journalism
Richard Chin (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 15, 2025): “There’s Gold in That There River, Say Minnesota Treasure Hunters”
Gabriel Hathway (Winona Post, December 23, 2025): “Competing Demands for Ice Time Limit Open Skating”
Christopher Megan (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 17, 2025): “Minnesota Immigration Cases Are Increasingly Held in Secret”
No GOP shortage of rivals to Walz re-election
ALBERT LEA,Minn. — A lot of folks want to send Tim Walz packing as Minnesota governor. Veteran state legislaor Peggy Bennett o of Albet Lea has announced her — the 11th Republican to do so. Walz is the only Democrat running so far. He’s seeking a third term. At the Capitol Bennett carries a handgun. Bennett is a retired school teacher. She taught first grade for 33 years. Her House District 23-A includes parts of Faribault, Freeborn, Steele and Wascea counties. She was first elected 12 years ago.
Bennett. Endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio, not Donald Trump, for president in 2016. She made no primary endorsements in 2020 or 2024. Age 67.
Electoral history
2014: Bennett defeated Democrat Thomas Keith Price 53% to 29% from House 27-A.
2016: Defeated Gary Schindler 61% to 37%.
2018: Defeated Terry Gjervik 56% to 43%.
2020: Defeated Thomas Martinez 63% to 36%.
2022: Defeated Ma Hinenkamp 65% to 34% in renumbered House District 23-A.
2024: Defeated Joe Staloch 67% to 32%.
Legislative history
On House Education Policy Committee. In 2018 Bennett authored legislation to help foster children in from being separated from their siblings. She supported legislation increasing fines on protestors who block freeways. During the CoVid pandemic she opposed vaccine mandates. She opposes gay rights. Aligns with conservative view that emphasizes biological sex over individual gender identity choice.
GOP gubernatorial field
> Peggy Bennett: State Representative of Albert Lea.
> Lisa Demuth: Speaker of the Minnesota House.
> Mike Lindell: MyPillow owner, vocal ally of Donald Trump.
> Scott Jensen: A physician and former state senator, 2022 OP nominee for governor.
> Jeff Johnson: Former St. Cloud City Council member.
> Brad Kohler: Retired mixed martial arts fighter.
> Patrick Knight: Chief executive of Good Sense Foods and former Marine.
> Chris Madel: A prominent Minneapolis defense attorney.
> Kendall Qualls: Army veteran and former healthcare executive.
> Phillip Parrish: Retired Naval intelligence officer.
> Kristin Robbins: State representative, chair of the House Fraud Prevention Committee.
College scores
Basketball (men): Rochester Community 76, Minnesota Prep 67
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 3. UW-Stevens Point 1
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 72, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 53
Basketball (girls): Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 63, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 50
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 69, Blair-Taylor Wildcats 56
Basketball (boys): Gilmanton Panthers 63, Boycevile Bulldogs 60
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 63, Boyceville Bulldogs 60
Quarter-mile scrolled mural at Winona museum
A visceral feel for mid-1800s whaling. The painting is a water-based binder on cotton muslin. On loan from the New Bedfor Whaling Juseum in Massachusetts.
Glimpsing exotic sites like the Azores 150 years ago
WINONA, Minn. — The longest painting in the United States, 1,275 feet in length, is being scrolled out in sections at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum through March 1. The work was completed in 1848 by a one-time New England whaler, Benjamin Russell, and fellow artist Caleb Purrington. The mural is based in a a 42-month whaling voyage aboard the ship Kutusoff. Russell and Purrington transformed these experiences into a a giant moving painting designed at the time for specially designed panorama theaters and public halls. Russell and Purrington called it “The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ’Round the World.” In an era before movies, such panoramas would be stretched along the perimeter of huge circular exhibition halls. People would walk around the perimeter for the full experience. At the Winona museum the displays are opened one section at a time in what are called “grand advancements.”. Repeat visits are encouraged.
Many hands. Installing yet another section of what passed as a traveloguein mid-1800s. Imagine the thrill of circumnavigating the globe before jumbo jets and cruise ships.
Updated charge: Rollingstone woman turns combative
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. — A Rollingstone woman was jailed on a new assault charge, this time alleging combative behavior against a deputy taking her to the Winona hospital for a medical evaluation. As reported earlier, Amanda Jo Lee, age 41, originally was confronted at her residence about an incident elsewhere in Rollingstone. The deputes dealing with the incident, who had previous experiences with Lee, were called back to her place two days later about a medical situation. They asked Lee if they could take her to the Winona hospital. She said no. The deputies then told her that fhe fact was she was under arrest and had no choice. She screamed and kicked, the deputies said, but they managed to get her loaded in a vehicle for the 15-minute ride to the hospital. Once medically cleared, Lee was taken to jail.
Driver’s bail at $5,000 after Kwik Trip crash
LACROSSE, Wis. – Bail was set at $5,000 for a driver who lost control in an 80 mph police chase and crashed into a gas pump at a Kwik Trip fueling station. Andrew D. Hermes, 25, of LaCrosse, was arrested after the crash. He was was injured but not seriously. The Kwik Trip was busy at the time, about 8:40 a.m., but no one else was hurt.
State appellate judge fined $500 for DWI
OWATONNA, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge who was arrested in November as driving drunk, pleaded guilty. Judge Renee Lee Worke, 67, who lives in Owatonna, was sentenced on the spot to one-year of probation with random chemical dependency testing and community service. She also was fined $500. The sentencing judge, Adam Johnson, was brought in from Hastings, 70 miles away, to avoid suspicion pf local favoritism. Worke originally faced two counts of gross misdemeanor third-degree DWI, but one count was later was amended to a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge.
Worke. Judge-to-judge order: No more booze
Original police report
The case against Worke began about 9:15 p.m. November 29, when a Steele County Sheriff’s Office deputy found a vehicle stuck in a snowbank on eastbound U.S. Highway 14 at the Interstate 35 overpass in Owatonna. The vehicle was “presenting a road hazard,” the report says. The driver, later identified as Worke, had glossy eyes and slurred speech, the deputy noted. A second deputy arrived and spoke to Worke, who said she was coming from Waseca. According to the criminal complaint, Worke said she had one glass of wine about two hours earlier. Asked how she was feeling, she told the deputy, “I’m totally fine.” The second deputy noted Worke’s bloodshot, glossy eyes, and detected alcohol on her breath, court documents say, as well as “slurred speech and slow motor function.” The complaint says an initial field sobriety test showed signs “consistent with impairment,” and Worke was detained for further DWI investigation. Due to inclement weather — the area was in a winter storm warning — Worke was taken to the Steele County Detention Center to complete the field sobriety tests. She reportedly agreed to take a breath test, which the document says showed an alcohol concentration of 0.16.% The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08%.
Verbatim
Adam Johnson, visiting judge Steele County: “As the prosecuting authority in Judge Worke’s case, both the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s response were considered. Judge Worke accepted responsibility at an early stage and proactively sought appropriate chemical health resources. Without consideration of position, status, or potential collateral consequences, the State extended the standard Steele County resolution routinely offered to first-time DWI offenders with no prior record. This disposition is consistent with how similarly situated defendants are treated. The one-year term of probation, including abstinence from alcohol, serves to protect public safety while ensuring continued oversight and accountability, and supports rehabilitation to prevent future impaired driving, Worke’s probation will be monitored by Steele County Community Corrections. Legal professionals concerned about their well-being
Oneida chief vexed at tribal role in new ICE jails
ONEIDA, Wis. — The Oneida Nation is working to cancel contracts with the U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation agency to house detained immigrants. Tehassi Hill, chair of the Oneida Nation, issued an apology to his people after learning that tribal subsidiaries had entered $2.6 million and $3.7 million contracts with the U.S Immigration Control and Enforcement agency to build jails. “I was very upset when I learned about this,” Hill said in the video apology to the Oneida people from his headquarters in the Green Bay suburb of Oneida. These two business ventures, he said, do not align with the tribe’s values. ICE has been desperate to build detention camps on orders from Trump in April to arrest 1 million immigrants in the next 12 months. By October ICE had arrested 75,000 people but did not have have places to hold them pending detention hearings.
Hill. Reiterated his commitment to protect Oneida sovereignty as guaranteed under treaties with U.S. government. In his third term as chair of the Oneida Nation Business Committee, which is part of a consortium of tribes in Wisconsin and Michigan.
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