Army Corps names hall fame inductee
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A veteran Army Corps contracting officer, Mark Koenig., whose jobs included many Mississippi dam projects, will be conducted into the Corps’ St. Paul District hall of fame. Koenig has been with the Corps 41 years. He was the District’s emergency manager during the Global War on Terror and the 2011 Red River and Souris river floods. He deployed twice to Afghanistan.
Koenig. Most recent title: chief of construction.
Fire levels rural Rochester house; nobody home
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A large abandoned house southwest of Rochester went up in flames, a total loss, about 2 a.m. A neighbor a mile away reported the fire. By then there wasn’t much that firefighters could do, especially because water had to be trucked in. The area had no hydrants. Address: 233 County Road 16 .
In High Forest area. Loss estimated at $25,000 to $30,000. Image: Rochester Fire Department
Score one for sweets from home kitchens
MADISON, Wis. – A county judge ruled that baked foods and shelf-stable goods from home kitchens can be sold without a commercial license. Judge Rhonda Lanford was specific on candy, cocoa bombs, fried doughnuts and roasted coffee beans. So too cider, maple syrup and pickles .The ruling was a victory for the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association.
How else to explain it: Too much holiday cheer
WINONA Minn. – Police received a call about 2:55 a.m. of a man running at a Canadian Pacific freight train and shouting: “Chicken.” He was gone when officers arrived. The train too.
Charges in Mall of America shooting: Murder, riot
MINNEAPOLIS – Four teenagers have been charged for the fatal Mall of America shooting last week:
> TaeShawn Adams-Wright, 18, of Minneapolis: Second-degree murder, as well as a weapons charge from St. Cloud in July.
> Lavon Longstreet, 17, of Minneapolis. Second-degree murder. He is in the loose.
> Two 17-year-olds, also from Minneapolis, whose names were shielded as minors: Second-degree riot.
Five youths huddled in a St. Louis Park house were arrested the morning after the shooting. Whether more charges are pending was unclear. In suburban Bloomington, where the mall is located, Police Chief Booker Hodges said the shooting apparently culminated a long-running feud.
Earlier: Warrant issued in Mall of America shooting
Earlier: Mall of America shooting victim’s name released
College scores
Basketball (women): Penn State-Behrend 71, Saint Mary’s 65
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 66, Redlands 57
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Winona Winhawks 70, Kasson-Mantorville Komets 64
Basketball (boys): Pine Island Panthers 66, St. Charles Saints 58
Basketball (boys): Mount Horeb Vikings 53, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 46
Basketball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 55, Onalaska Luther Knights 53
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Mount Horeb Vikings 53, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 46
Basketball (girls): Whitehall Norse 62, Spring Valley Cardinals 42
Basketball (girls): Bangor Cardinals 64, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 59
Basketball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 55, Onalaska Luther Knights 53
Warrant issued in Mall of America shooting
MINNEAPOLIS – An all-points arrest warrant was issued for a Minneapolis teenager for the shooting death of a fellow teenager at Mall of America over the weekend. Police described Lavon Longstreet, 17, as dangerous. Court documents related to the warrant say that security video shows Longstreet pointing a gun toward Johntae Hudson and a muzzle flash. The video also shows a second youth, TaeShawn Adams-Wright, 17, standing over Hudson in a shooting stance. Wright was among five teenagers arrested the next morning in a suburb 10 miles from the mall. Police said the arrested individuals have not been forthcoming about much of anything in interrogations.
Earlier: Mall of America shooting victim’s name released
Longstreet. Police unable to locate a suitable photo of him for wanted posters
Adams-Wright. May also have held a gun on the Hudson youth, police say.
R.I.P.: Donald Alsum
WINONA, Minn. – Donald “Don” J. Alsum, of Winona, a Saint Mary’s University biology professor for 28 years, died at age 85. He held degrees from Calvin and Purdue universities and a doctorate in physiology from the University of Minnesota. At Saint Mary’s he established allied health programs and developed partnerships for student placement with hospitals in four states. He served 20 years on the Pleasant Valley Evangelical Free Church council.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1937-2022
Ex-con booked in Eyota woman’s death
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A man convicted in a 2006 murder case and on release since 2020 has been booked at the Olmsted County jail for the death of an Eyota woman whose body was found in northwest of Richester Monday. Booked on suspicion of second-degree murder was Mustafa Rahshad Bush. 39, of Rochester. Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said a relative had brought Bush to police Wednesday night. Bush declined to make a statement, the sheriff said. Torgerson said warrants would be issued in a search for a firearm.
Bush profile
Bush was convicted of aiding and abetting in a murder without intent in 2006. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release. He was released under supervision to the Rochester area in March 2020.
Bush. Investigators identified him as a person of interest and asked family to bring him in for questioning.
Deadly deer disorder present in Buffalo County
ALMA, Wis. – A two-year-old deer has been found infected with easily transmitted and fatal chronic-wasting disease in the Alma area. The state Natural Resources Department immediately slapped a three-year ban on deer-feeding and deer-baiting in all of Buffalo County, which runs 27 miles along the Mississippi River and is bounded by the Trempealeau and Buffalo rivers. The infected deer was in Lincoln Township north Alma in the Buffalo drainage. There had been a year-to-year ban in Buffalo County because of infections in neighboring counties.
CWD profile
Chronic-wasting disease is an infectious nervous system disorder affecting deer, moose and elk. The disease is inevitably fatal and can decimate deer populations. It first appeared in Wisconsin in 2002. Infected deer stop interactions with fellow animals in their herds, stop eating and drinking, develop tremors and odd walking patterns, and lose their instinctive fear of humans amid their growing confusion. It can go undetected in an animal long as 24 months.
Miller’s convenient spin on failed 2022 tax relief
WINONA Minn. – On Day One of the 2023 Legislature, State Senator Jeremy Miller plans to introduce a bill to eliminate the state income tax on Social Security income for seniors. In a radio station KWNO interview. Miller, a Winona Republican, called the current state tax a redundancy. Seniors, he said, already paid taxes on their original income, some which comes back to them through the federal Social Security program. The state tax, he said, is unfair double taxation on the same income. Miller characterized the plan as his priority for 2023, mentioning no other initiatives in the open-ended 15-minute interview. Miller predicted bipartisan support for the plan this time — despite simultaneously demonizing Democrats for the relief plan failing in the 2022 session. He made no mention of his own pivotal leadership in the meltdown of 2022 budget negotiations that included Social Security relief.
Miller. No rocket science here. Already 39 states don’t tax Social Security income for seniors.
R.I.P.: Fred Mayo
WINONA, Minn. – Fred Edward Mayo, 78, whose career was mostly as a telephone system diagnostician, died after a protracted battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, His employers included Northwestern Bell, US West, Quest, and Century Link. He graduated from John Marshall High School Rochester in 1962 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed four years in Spain. After the Air Force he worked at radio station KROC in Rochester. He was was a member of American Legion Post 9.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1924-2022
After the Blizzard of 2022: Upsides
WINONA, Minn. – Nobody wants a repeat of the blizzard that hit southern Minnesota especially hard last week, but there are upsides.
> The precipitation may ease the drought for better 2023 crops.
> Plow drivers can take a breather after 15-hour and 16-hour days clearing roads.
Jacob backs farm-supplier for County Board
ELBA, Minn. – Outgoing Winona County Commissioner Steve Jacob has hand-picked his preference for a successor. It’s St. Charles farm-supply dealer Josh Elsing. Jacob said he and Elsing share many values. He called them “on the same page.” If there is a second candidate, the campaign may determine whether Elsing is also an extreme fiscal conservative with deep suspicions about whether the public good should ever override self-serving individual prerogatives. Both Jacob and Elsing have worked together through the Winona County Soil and Water Conservation District. Elsing is the district’s current treasurer. Elsing was once mayor of Altura but lost a 2016 re-election bid 126-40 to a write-in candidate. He moved later to St. Charles.
County Board District 3
The District comprises St. Charles, Stockton, Minnesota City and rural townships in northern Winona County. The seat is being vacated by Steve Jacob of Elba but who uses an Altura mailing add ress. Jacob was elected to the state Legislature in November. By law can’t hold both seats simultaneously. The deadline for County Board candidates to file: February 14. Election: May 9 unless there are more two candidtes,then August 8
Elsing. If elected to the County Board, he would need to resign from the board of county Soil and Water Conservation District.
College scores
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 73, Augustana of Illinois 70
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 74, Chapman 48
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Mount Horeb Vikings 74, Winona Winhawks 59
Basketball (boys): Dover-Eyota Eagles 50, Winona Cotter Ramblers 48
Basketball (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 82, St. Charles Saints 70
Basketball (boys): Lewison-Altura Cardinals 60, Prairie du Chien Blackhawks 56
Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter Ramblers 42, Pine Island Panthers 18
Basketball (girls): New Ulm Eagles 75, Winona Winhawks 61
Basketball (girls): Waseca Blue Jays 44, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 32
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 4, Hudson Raiders 3
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Mount Horeb Vikings 74, Winona Winhawks 59
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 74, Stanley-Boyd Orioles 65
Basketball (boys): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 60, Prairie du Chien Blackhawks 56
Basketball (boys): LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 78, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 69
Basketball (boys): Ladysmith Lumberjacks 81, Whitehall Norse 64
Basketball (boys): Bruce Raiders 77, Gilmanton Panthers 56
Basketball (girls): Stratford Tigers 58, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 54
Basketball (girls): Eau Claire Regis Ramblers 61, Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 28
Basketball (girls): Prairie du Cnien Blackhawks 51, Dover-Eyota Eagles 41
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 4, Hudson Raiders 3
Kids get out of smoky Onalaska duplex fire
ONASLAKA, Wis. – Three children escaped a fire that severely damaged a duplex in this LaCrosse suburb. Witnesses said the children had fled the structure just before fire crews arrived. The crews arrived about 5:47 p.m. a to find smoke coming a basement fire. No one was in the building.
Frigid duty. At 1820 East Avenue North. Image: Onalaska Fire Department
Autopsy: Eyota woman’s death a homicide
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Authorities said the death of a woman found mostly cuvered in snow Monday will be pursued as a homicide. An autopsy confirmed the identity of the woman as Kimberly Ann Robinson, 41, of Eyota, and that she was already dead when her body was dumped in a ditch in a rural neighborhood. She had been shot, according to sources familiar with the case. Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said that one person was being questioned and that others would be brought in.
Robinson. Her family offered this portrait to jnvestigators. She had three children – ages 25, 19 and 11.
New extension granted in Mall of America shooting
MINNEAPOLIS – A judge granted a second extension for prosecutors who are working up charges for a fatal shooting at Mall of America. The new deadline: Noon on Thursday. Being held are the two 18-year-olds – Taeshawn Wright and Deandre Depratto – and three 17-year-olds whose names were not released because they’re under age.
R.I.P.: Diane Erdmann
WINONA, Minn. –Diane M. Erdmann, 90, of Winona, who farmed many years near Ridgeway until moving in retirement to La Moille in 1980. died at Brookdale Senior Living in Winona. She grew up on a family farm in Wilson Township with eight siblings. She loved bowling and was a card whiz at 500, 31 and Euchre.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1932-2022
Evers aims opioid settlement funds for homeless
MADISON Wis. – Governor Tony Evers announced an opioid recovery project for opioid-addicted homeless people. Evers said the project will provide affordable, safe and stable housing. The project will tap $2 million from the $31 million fund created by the McKinsey drug company as punishment for falsely promoting opioid sales, the governor said..
Two Winona County jack-knifes on I-90
WINONA, Minn. – An icy left lane on Intestate 90 caught two semi-truck drivers unaware. Both jacknifed and blocked traffic. There were no injuries. The incidents:
> 6:45 a.m. Near the Winona exit to Highway 43.
> 8:15 a.m. Near the St. Charles exit to Highway 474.
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