BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Like dominos, there were three drug arrests in Black River Falls. About 5:30 p.m. deputies recognized Ryan Carter, age 37, of Black River, going into the town’s Walmart. He was arrested for a probation violation. In his car deputies said they found meth. Also in the car with drugs was Brandon Spangler, 38, of Black River. He was arrested. Then a search of Carter’s residence turned up 90 grams of meth, drug paraphernalia and cash that deputies said bespoke a drug dealership. In the residence they arrested Brandi Sattler, 39, of Warrens, which is 25 miles awy. One, two, three, all in an evening’s police shift.

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WINONA, Minn. — A Winona woman, her face scabbed and still with a black eye, told police her boyfriend assaulted her three days earlier. Police found the boyfriend, Justus William Pomeroy, age 31, and arrested him. The woman said Pomeroy grabbed her by the throat, slammed her against a wall, and punched her probably 10 times in the face and head. She fell to the floor.  Police found blood on a bedroom carpet, a wall, a dresser and on the pants and shirt she had been wearing. The assault was Saturday after an argument, she said. She made the report Monday about 5:20 p.m. Despite her injuries, the woman told police she hadn’t sought medical attention  but would soon.

Pomeroy. Jailed on domestic assault counts.

WILSON, Minn.  Sheriff’s deputies were investigating am assault on a Winna school bus taking kids home on the next to the last day of classes before Christmas vacation. The bus was on the Gilmore Valley route near Monahan Road. The mother of one child said she would not let hm ride the bus the next morning and would drive him instead. The incident about 4:20 p.m. Possible charges: Assault and disorderly conduct.

LACROSSE, Wis. — The elected LaCrosse County district attorney, Tim Gruenke, has egg on his face. Without forensic evidence, a murder and arson case against Matthew Sierra, age 38, is on hold. Judge Scott Horne said he will dismiss the charges unless Gruenke’s prosecution team procures more evidence.  This was after prosecutors admitted not having seen a report from fire investigators nor autopsies. “It may well be that the pathologist findings and the fire marshal’s findings may support the allegations, but I can’t make that finding from the complaint as it stands today,” Judge Horne said.  The criminal complaint against Sierra says video surveillance showed Sierra leaving Alexis Pickett’s townhouse minutes before the fire started. It also quotes neighbors hearing a struggle with the dog inside. Judge Horne said that prosecutors proceeded prematurely without seeing autopsies and reports on whether there was arson. Meanwhile, Sierra remains in jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Earlier: Homicide alleged in LaCrosse house fire

Earlier: Woman dies in LaCrosse duplex

“Baby, it’s cold outside.” This cactus is indoors and in full bloom just in time for the holidays. Image: Andv Frank

FRONTENAC, Minn. — A Lake City driver was injured when he slammed into a truck-semi trailer rig parked on the shoulder. Mitchell Steven Mund, age 27, was taken 14 miles to the Red Wing hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident was about 8:35 a.m. on U,S. Highway 61. Mund was driving north toward Red Wing in a 2010 Toyota Camry. The truck driver, Rick David Omalley, 53, of River Falls, Wisconsin, in a 2022 Freightliner tractor, was unhurt. The highway was slick with ice and snow.

CLARKS GROVE, Minn. — A Florida tucker was killed when two 18-wheelers lost control and collided in an Interstate 35 median ditch. Alessandro Gelsomino, 46, of Miami, was dead at the scene. The other driver, Standley Calixte, 34, of Hamilton, New Jersey, was taken 10 miles to an Albert Lea hospital. His injuries were described as sustainable. The accident was about 2 a.m. on dangerously slick pavement. Both tucks were headed north toward the Twin Cities.

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In distance against the bluff. Yes, a real red caboose. Really  red.

Shoppers had a choice. Choose and chop your own. Or select a pre-caught tree from a seasonally cool, cool warehouse on the premises. Up Homer Valley Road off County Road 15 just a bit up the coulee from Homer. Appointment required. Image: Steve Lunde

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Sheriffs Association wants state Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell to resign or be thrown out. The sheriffs made the call in a resolution at their annual meeting. Their complaint is vague. The resolution refers to “ongoing issues” between local law enforcement and the Department of Corrections. It talks about “arbitrary and capricious decisions” that have created “hardships” for incarcerated individuals, the legal community and law enforcement. Other language refers to a “lack of follow-through, empty promises and misinformation.” The sheriffs claim that they have done their best to work with Schnell but his response has been “heavy-handed” with “draconian sanctions” to impose personal whims and preferences of on how to run jails. Although not cited, the most visible tension with Schnell involved his 2024 order to Hennepin County to release inmates to relieve crowded and unacceptable jail conditions. It was a power play invoking the state certification requirements for county jails.There also have been capacity ceilings imposed on jails  in Bemidji and Fergus Falls, requiring inmates to be moved to certified jails elsewhere. Historically the county sheriffs have welcomed such pressure. It was such pressure, for example, that the forced Winona County Boardt o put a tax increase on the ballot for a new $28 million jail that opened in 2023.

Earlier: Sheriffs’ Group Sides Against Jail Reform Order

Earlier: Paying for new jail: Voters OK sales tax hike

Earlier: Voters to decide on sales tax hike for new jail

KRAKOW, Poland — Hockey buddies reported that former Rochester Grizzzlies player Gavin Black is improving day-day-by from head injuries on the ice. The accident was eight days ao at Opole University, where Black plays on the varsity team. Doctors have decided he doesn’t require bran surgery. Friends said he has been able to hold short conversations with his parents. He has also been able to get up and walk short distances and sit jna chair outside his ward. He isn’t lack lacking the ability to find words although isn’t up to talking much, friends said.

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Teammates with video encouragement. From ice at Opole University. The team is comprised of 15 Americans, seven Canadians, one Hungarian and one Indonesian.

WINONA, Minn. — A woman said her Minnesota City ex-boyfriend slapped her during an argument as she was driving them for a late snack on the West End. Two slaps, she told police, then he jumped out and fled on foot. Police on their way to the call arrested Erick Jhovanni Bustillos-Cavaazos, age 23. They saw him running in the 1450 block of Gilmore Avenue. This was about 12:15 a.m. It turned out that Bustillos-Cavazos was under a judge’s restraining order not to be near the woman. He was charged with violating the order and also assault.

Bustillos-Cavazos. Charge: Domestic assault instilling fear and harm.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Four men were accused of trafficking women among strip clubs stretching from Wisconsin to the Gulf Coast, all with backrooms for prostitution. There also were transient sex sites in rented facilities operated a few weeks at a time and advertised for clients online. The ring operated out of the On the Border strip blub in the Milwaukee suburb on the Franklin on the Racine County line. Arrested were:

> Brian T-R. Hopkins, age 50, manager of On the Border.

> Jimmy L. Durant Jr. III, 31, listed as a well-known trafficker.

> Dantavia Vernar Rule and Maurice Russel, both age 31, and both isted as recruiters

A search warrant has been issued for a fifth man. The arrests followed a five-year investigation. The 22-page criminal complaint showed 24 victims were forced to perform sex acts. Abuses detailed in the complaint include:

> Women working from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. to meet daily quotas.

> Victims forced to hand over their earnings or be beaten up. One woman told police that Rule punched her and later, after learning she bruises easily, resorted to strangling her.

> Durant threatened physical abuse when a woman threatened to leave if she didn’t get any of her pimped money, then told her: “You pay to go to college, but if you don’t finish, you don’t get your money back.”

> Hopkins fired dancers from the club, then demanded thousands of dollars to get their jobs back.

> Rule threatened one woman to “get her fired,” then injured her ankle. She was required to make a “one-time payment” to On the Border to take her back.

On the Border profile. Premier strip joint. Touts itself as “Milwaukee’s only Midwest Gentlemen’s Club of the Year. Main floor with 360-degree stage. Flatscreen TVs throughout for sports. Performers include ”elite level dancers, artists and athletes from around the country” in strip tease, burlesque and aerial acts. Periodical events include a vertical pole showdown. dunk-a-diva and a bikini bike wash. Daily drink specials from $3.25 to n$3.75. Dance requests are $2.41 on Tuesdays Cover charge $20 but waived for couples on Thursdays. VIP room with lights off for erotic activity.

WINONA, Minn. — The governing board of Fastenal approved mid-July for the retirement date of Dan Florness as company president. His successor was approved earlier — Jeff Watts, who has been with the company 28 years. The board has assured investors of an orderly transition, Florness, age 62, will remain as chief executive, as a member of the board of directors, and as a strategic adviser to Watts until early 2028.

Fastenal profile

Founded in Winona in 1967 as a small nuts and bolts shop. Grew into a global manufacturer and distributor of industrial supplies. Headquarters still in Winona. Now city’s largest employer with 1,800 on local people on payroll. Worldwide employees: 25,000 in 1,600 branch locations. Revenue in 2024: $7.5 billion. Diversified ownership through publicly traded stock.

Florness. Grew up in western Wisconsin. Holds accounting degree at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, then with a major accounting firm.  Fastenal co-founder Bob Kierlin recruited him to Fastenal in 1996. Twenty year later Florness succeeded Will Oberton as chief executive. Florness compensation package in 2024: $1.7 million, including a $750,000 salary, a $75,000 bonus, and  $868,000 in in company stock and equity.

Watts. Reared in Canada. With Fastenal 30 years. Led company’s international sales team. Has held title as company president and chief sales officer since 2024. Pushed into the Canadian market in 2005. Compensation package in 2024: $1.1 million, including a$516,000 salary, a $61,000 bonus, and $496,000 in company stock and equity.

Earlier: Fastenal’s aisles of inventory, miles of conveyors

Earlier: Fastenal curbs but doesn’t end China imports

Happily and merrily. As  recent snow melts slowly along  County Road 15 at the Old Homer Road  corner up Homer Creek Valley to Witoka. The day was sunny in the upper 20s. Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. — Police reported a Winona man afoul of the law on four counts. First: Caleb Joseph Christopherson, age 24, was failing to maintain his lane, weaving across the center and fog lines. Second: He smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot and watery eyes. Third: An open can of Busch Light was on the console. Fourth: As Christopherson fumbled in the glove box for insurance documents, the officer saw a handgun. It was loaded. So too the magazine. This was about 2:10 a.m. in the 1450 block of Gilmore Avenue. Police said Christopherson denied drinking. Later after a blood-alcohol test showed 0.20%, he admitted to “a couple” A later test at the jailhouse showed 0.25%. Anything more than 0.08% is illegal impairment for driving. Among charges: Drunken driving with a loaded firearm.

Bill Lukitsch (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 16, 2025): “Under the radar: How Charter Airlines Fly ICE Deportees at MSP”

Gavin Michelson (LaCrosse Tribune, March 30, 2024: “Allamake and Crawford Counties as Lansing Bridge Repairs Continu:”

Tom Rusch (Whitetails magazine, Winter 2025): “Where Have All he Deer Yards Gone?

PIGEON FALLS, Wis. — A driver from Independence was hurt when her vehicle overturned several times in Pigeon Falls in northern Trempealeau County. Injuries to Chyriae Polk, age 19, appeared non-life threatening, but she was taken to a hospital, deputies said. The accident was blamed on mechanical failure. This was about 10:35 p.m on U.S. Highway 53 near Haug Road.

Basketball (men): Wayne State of Nebraska 65, Winona State 64

Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 73, UW-Stout 67

Basketball (men): Augustana of Illinois 82, UW-LaCrosse 75

Basketball (women): Winona State 49, Wayne State of Nebraska 40

Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 46, Lawrence 39

Basketball (boys): LaCrosse Central RiverHawks 58, Sparta Spartans 40

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man who threatened to burn down another person’s house was arrested soon after the threat was reported to police. Officers located David Jeffrey Clickner, 47, soon thereafter. He owned up to the threat, officers said. He also was very drunk. Officers tested his  blood-alcohol at 0.23%, roughly triple the legal intoxication threshold. The thrat was about 1:05 p.m. on a house in the 900 block of East Wabasha Street

Clickner. Charge: Violent reckless threat.

ST. PAUL, Minn. —Governor Tim Walz came down hard on the Trump-appointed assistant U.S. attorney for Minnesota, accusing him of sensationalizing the extent of cheating to get government aid. Walz called a news conference to debunk what Joe Thimpson asserted the day before — that investigations into false claims may exceed $18 billion. Thompson didn’t spare superlatives, claiming there has been “staggering, industrial-scale fraud.” The Walz response:

“It’s speculating. To extrapolate what that number is for sensationalism, or to make statements about it, it doesn’t really help us.”

Walz, a Democrat, referred the specter of Republican President Donald Trump in Thompson’s attack. Trump has mounted continuing and savage campaign to portray Walz as a pansy who doled out government money without due diligence. About Thompson’s claim of $18 billion in losses: “No way,” said Walz. The governor has acknowledged that fraud has occurred but noted too that he’s committed to prosecuting wrong-doers and installing safeguards. As he put it:

Walz accused Thompson for not sharing details of federal investigations into payments to bad actors. The federal information could help the state address the issues, Walz said, Instead: “They throw up these numbers.” Walz noted steps he has taken over several months to guard against fraud:

> Hiring a former FBI agent to lead prevention.

 > Shutting down a program susceptible to fraud.

> Ordering an outside audit of billing in 14 Medicaid services.

The governor’s Republican critics, however: “Too  little too late.”

Earlier: True? Minnesota frauds pegged at $18 billion

Earlier: Governor names ex-judge to fight fraud

Earlier: Trump rehashes old news on CoVid-era fraud

Earlier: An unhinged Trump in angry Minnesota attack