Woman’s 911 screams lead to arresrt
WINONA, Minn. – Police responding to an open 911 line on the East End arrested a Winona man running out the back door of the Wabasha Street address. While officers held the man , the woman inside the house told them that the man had dropped by to pick up some belongings. In an argument, she said, he struck her face with an elbow and she fell to the floor. She described starting to ring 911 for help but he grabbed the phone. She then tried to get to reach front door to a ring camera but he grabbed her neck and dragged her to a bedroom with a chokehold, she said. The struggle lasted several minutes, she said. As police arrived, the man fled out back. Arrested was Zachary Chad Koetz, age 28. This was about 9:25 a.m. in the 600 block of East Wabasha. The woman, age 35, declined medical attention. The duty police dispatcher reported hearing screams in the background of the open 911 call and traced the address.
Koetz. Charges: Domestic violence, painful assault, blocking a 911 call, false imprisonment, fleeing.
They grow lots of big, big beets in Halstad
HALSTAD, Minn. — What this Red River flatlands village lacks in population — 564 —it makes up for in pride about its sugar beets. Since March 2024 Halstad has boasted a 21-foot concrete homage to sugar beets. At 10,000 pounds and eight feet around, it’s the world’s largest sugar beet. The statue is the work of Josh Porter of Avalanche Studios three hours away in Merrifield, Minnesota. Potrer crafted the statue using an old concrete mixer drum, spray foam and protective coatings in the tawny tones of sugar beets. It was a 10-day project. The Red River Valley accounts for 50% of the total U.S. sugar beet acreage.
Now you have another reason to visit Halstad.
Cops make arrest for LaCrosse gunfire
LACROSSE, Wis. – Police arrested a Westby man after being called to the downtown bar district about shots being fired. This was about 2:40 a.m. Dominic L. Janzen, 22, was at a nearby residence. No one was injured, but the windshield of a car leaving the area was hit. The incident was in the 300 block of Third Street South. Jansen was booked for reckless endangerment of public safety. Police also said he had marijuana on his person.
Janzen. Unclear why gun fired. Targeted? Random?
Woman: He refused to let me call cops
LEWISTON, Minn. — A Lewiston man was arrested after a woman told deputies he prevented her from making a 911 call during an argument. The incident was about 10:55 p.m. in the 100 block of First Street South. A couple hours later Jose Javier Macuixtle-Sanchez, age 23, returned to the residence and was arrested. There was no physical abuse, deputies said.
Macuixtle-Sanchez. Violent interference with emergency communication.
College scores
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 82, Concordia of Wisconsin 73
Basketball (men): Joliet Junior 96, Rochester Community 63
Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 68, Luther of Decorah 65
Basketball (women): Bethel 63, UW-LaCrosse 57
Wrestling: UW-LaCrosse 46, Aurora 5
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Northfield Raiders 62, Winona Winhawks 50
Basketball (boys): Winona Cotter/Winona Hope 71, St. Charles Saints 62
Basketball (boys): Lewison-Altura Cardinals 79, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 41
Basketball (girls): Northfield Raiders 53, Winona Winhawks 27
Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter/Winona Hope 57, St. Charles Saints 40
Basketball (girls): Lewison-Altura Cardinals 71, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 69
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 50, Arcadia Raiders 46
Basketball (boys): Alma-Pepin Eagles 68, Gilmanton Panthers 33
Basketball (boys): Eleva-Strum Cardinals 59, Augusta Beavers 45
Basketball (girls): Arcadia Raiders 58, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 36
Basketball (girls): Eleva-Strum Cardinals 68, Augusta Beavers 55
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 47, Alma-Pepin Eagles 25
Basketball (girls): Durand-Arkansaw Panthers 29, Mondovi Buffaloes 20
Meth charge added to Winona man’s list
WINONA, Minn. – Police reported finding a glass pipe with meth residue in a man they stopped on an alread- existing arrest warrant. Officers said Shane Richard Oevering, 46, of Winona, also was carrying a bag with 2.5 grams of meth in a jacket pocket. Oevering had been walking in the 40 block of Mankato Avenue.
Oevering. Cops recognized pedestrian as a wanted man.
Racket leads police to probation arrest
WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested man who was reported screaming and banging against a wall inside an apartment. An arrest was made on a probation violation. Police suspected the man was under the influence of a controlled substance. This was about 3 p.m in the 450 block of East Sarnia Street.
Snowmobiler hurt in U.S. 14 crash
BYRON Minn. — A Kasson man was hospitalized after a snowmobile crash along Highway 14 on Byron’s commercial west end. Philip Madsen, age 34, was taken 12 miles to a Rocheste hospital. Alcohol was a factor, police said. His injuries appeared non-life-threatening, they said.
Coup de grâce after lo these 94 years
Black Hawk Bridge. Now settled 12 feet deep on river-bottom sludge The demolition itself was less dramatic than dozens of camera buffs had expected. The descent was graceful — in a surrealistic slow motion amid a few puffs of smoke. Next: Clearing trusses and debris from the Mississippi River navigation channel for commercial shipping when ice clears in the spring. Image: Iowa Transportation Department
A winter walk in the park
Sun’s rays on a December day burns snow and ice from asphalt around Lake Winona. Image: Steve Lunde
Alternate-side parking tally at 1,141
WINONA, Minn. – Police continued issued eight citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:
> December so far: 402 of which 45 were tagged and towed
> November totals: 739
Special CWD-targeted deer season opens
WINONA, Minn. — An abbreviated deer hunting season aimed at identifying chronic wasting disease patterns opened for the weekend in southeast Minnesota. Erik Hildebrand, state wildlife health specialist, said a slight uptick in CWD infections has occurred statewide this year. About 100 positive cases have been reported with another 16 are suspected but awaiting confirmation testing. Last year Minnesota had 95 confirmed cases.
True? Minnesota frauds pegged at $18 billion
MNNEAPOLIS — Fraudsters have absconded with $18 billion from Minnesota Medicaid programs in “industrial-scale” abuse of the system. Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompso for the federal government’s Minnesota District, a Trump appointee, made the claim in a news conference. There were immediate doubts about the Thompson’s claim of $18 billion. — far more than anyone has previously alleged. His credibility is clouded as aligning too much with President Trump’s unbridled propagandist rhetoric to denigrate Minnesota as a Democrat-controlled hotbed of corruption. Thompson failed to itemize evidence to support his $18 billion figure. His core message verbatim:
“This is not a handful of bad actors. It is a staggering, industrial-scale fraud that has swamped Minnesota.”
Then Thompson hedged a bit on his numbers: A “significant portion” of the $18 billion “could be” fraudulent. The sum, he said, might be “in the order of half or more.” The precise loss will depend on ongoing investigations and audits, he said. Nonetheless, he took unusual speculative liberties with facts —uncommon in pre-Trum eras for traditionally careful and restrained federal attorneys. Thompson was appointed by Trump in June as acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota. He has since been replaced by Dan Rosen. However, osen is out of the country getting married, leaving Thompon temporarily in charge again. A suspicion is that Thompson’s news conference claims were orchestrated from the White House. About his $18 billion claim, Thompson acknowledged the need for forensic accountants and regulators to quantify losses.
Somalis and terrorism
Thompson did, however, softened Trump grossly exaggerated assertions that Somali immigrants comprise most of the Minnesota fraud and have channeled their ill-gotten gains to international terrorists: “There’s no indication that the defendants that we charge were radicalized or seeking to fund al Shabaab or other terrorist groups.” he said, So while ome money went to Somalia, it was largely to Kenya, including real estate. Trump has been quick to embrace racist conspiratorial theories that generalize about U.S. immigrants from Somalia as in cahoots with al Shabaab.
Thompson. “Industrial-scale fraud,” he calls it in usually strident language designed to attract public attention.
Thompson profile
Thompson attended Gustavus Adolphus College. Law degree from Stanford. A Trump appointee as interim U.S. attorney under Trump’s later appointee of Dan Rosen to the post. Earlier Thompson chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Before that he was a federal prosecutor for the District of Minnesota. There has been speculation in Republican circles about Thompson as a potential candidate for state attorney general against incumbent Keith Ellison, a Democrat.
East Africa. Comprises 18 sovereign nations, including Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Thompson specifics
At the new conference Thompson announced his office was joining existing investigations by other federal agencies. These include cases, some new, some not against:
> Pristine Health: Claims for $750,000 spent partly on international travel.
> Safe Lodgings: Claims of $150,000 into cryptocurrency, the owner fleeing the country after receiving a grand jury subpoena.
> Runner and Retzel Real Estate: Vlaims that the owners, both of Philadelphia engaged in “fraud tourism” — out-of-state actors enrolling businesses in Minnesota programs, hen billing $3.5 million for services they didn’t provide.
> Star Autism Center: Vlaims that that kickbacks were made to parents to have children diagnosed with autism for $6 million with $200,000 to Kenya.
Earlier: Governor names ex-judge to fight fraud
Earlier: Earlier: An unhinged Trump in angry Minnesota attack
Earlier: Trump rehashes old news on CoVid-era fraud
Earlier: Walz orders outside audit for Medicaid fraud
Earlier: Auditor hopeful creates stir with fraud charge
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Winter storm a bane for motorists
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A doozy of a winter storm worked its way across Minnesota and kept State Patrol troopers busy. Their statewide Wednesday summary from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
> 102 vehicular accidents.
> 50 vehicles off the road.
> 10 injury crashes.
> Three jackknifed semis.
> Two spinouts.
Tragedy pauses Stewartville wrestling season
Schedule hiatus. Stewartville High School has cancelled wrestling events until after Christmas. The decision follows a shooting that left a wrestler critically injured, and a recent graduate dead. The Tigers were set to host Goodhue and Fillmore Central on Thursday, which would have been their first event since the tragedy.
Driver hits second car on Broadway, injured
WINONA, Minn. — A Wisconsin driver suffered a large cut on her nose when her car rammed a parked vehicle on West Broadway Streer near the Washington Crossing apartments. Cassidy Yager, age 28, of Alma Center, was taken to the hospital. This was about 10:26 p.m. Police suspected alcohol was a factor and took a blood sample. Charges will hinge on lab tests, police said. . Tager told a deputy at the scene that she was on the phone with her father when the accident occurred.
College scores
Basketball (men): Augustana 84, Winona State 68
Basketball (women): Winona State 87, Augustana 58
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals and Grand Meadow Superlarks 0 (postponed, first half)
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): LaCrosse Central RiverHawks 0, Sparta Spartans (postponed first half)
Basketball (girls): Caledonia Warriors 0 and Holmen Vikings 0 (postponed, first quarter)
Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 66, Onalaska Hilltoppers 51
Basketball (girls): Holmen Vikings 36, Marshfield Tigers 26
Why, oh why? Ex-prep wrestler’s motive unclear
STEWARTVILLE, Minn. — The shooting of a high school wrestler and the suicide of a former teammate continued to confound investigators. Why did it happen? This much is known: Logan Moyer, age 19, showed up near the Stewartville High School parking lot with a rifle as the wrestling team was boarding a bus for tournament trip. This was about 5 a.m. last Friday. From. distance, Moyer targeted one wrestler and fired. After the single shot, he turned the rifle on himself and committed suicide. Plainly Moyer knew his target. A year earlier, when he was a high school senior, Moyer wrestled on the 40-biy team team. He was especially notable for his sturdy but shirt stature with congenital achondroplasia. He smiled easily under his a tousled haircut. He was on the team’s series promotional posters in a singlet and took on much taller opponents in his weight class. His motive for the shooting, which easily could have been fatal? That remains an unanswered question. His family, writing his obituary, called his death unexpected. His funeral service has been scheduled for Saturday followed by a private family burial.
Verbatim
Obituary: “Logan Jay Moyer was born on July 17, 2006, in Rochester. He grew up in Stewartville where he attended school and graduated from Stewartville High School in 2024. He was attending Rochester Community College taking courses to someday become a magnetic resonance imaging technologist. Logan was a member of the Stewartville Tigers wrestling team and had begun assistant coaching in his senior year of high school. He attended Sunday services at Grace Evangelical Free church with his family. Logan was an avid fisherman, enjoyed playing cards and video games, and followed the Vikings. He loved time spent with all of his large family, especially his parents and his brother.”
Moyer. Motive a mystery, perhaps never to be figured out.
In a match.His singlet in Tiger maroon and gold.
Mayor’s veto on sports-rec complex voted down
ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Rochester City Council reversed Mayor Kim Norton veto of a multi-million dollar sports-rec complex planned in the city’s southeast quadrant. The vote was 5-2. The mayor had vetoed the project because, she said, the plans had warped into something very different from what big-buck promoters pitched when campaigning for voters to approve new taxes to build the park. The massive $65 million complex includes eight ball diamonds, 12 pickleball courts, two multi-use fields, and parks of several sorts.
Earlier: Mayor vetoes Rochester mega-sports complex
Earlier: Rochester Chamber backs sales tax
Earlier: Rochester Chamber backs sales tax
No prison for LaCrosse crochet prodigy for rape
LACROSSE, Wis. – The teen-age crochet prodigy Jonah Larson has pleaded no-contest to a charge of sexual assault on a child at a youth crisis center where he volunteered. Larson, now 17, said he would agree to specified behavioral stipulations if the charge of second-degree sexual assault were dropped. Larson will need to live up to the stipulations through November 2027. The charge originated at an overnight crisis shelter. The child victim was 12.
Earlier: Rape trial scheduled for crochet wunderkid
Mayo fleet foreman accused of $200,000 swindle
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Mayo Clinic employee whose jobs was keeping a 10-car fleet in working order has been accused of paying himself $200,000 for unneeded repairs. Ryan Bradley Lott-Gardner, age 40, was arrested on six felony counts of swindling. The supposed repairs were over 12 months beginning in June 2024, according to the criminal complaint. The repairs purportedly were at businesses called A1 Auto and Rochester Motor Car, which, according to the complaint, Lott-Gardner had spun from whole cloth. Records show 247 payments. Where did the money go? Investigators said vacationing and school and daycare expenses. According to the complaint, Lott-Gardner initially claimed to investigators that he did some work on the vehicles himself at home even though he wasn’t authorized to do so. They quoted him also as having no idea the charges totaled anywhere near the alleged $200,000.
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