WINONA, Minn. — Several cars sled off roads in Winona County as weather deteriorated overnight. There were no injuries, a sheriff’s spokesperson said. City police had nine weather-related traffic accidents, one with a minor injury.

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 63 emergency medical calls plus 17 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, December 9: 10 medical calls plus 7 fire call.

> Monday, December 8: 8 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Sunday, , December 7: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire cal

> Saturday, December 6: 11 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Friday, December 5: 10 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Thursday, December 4: 8 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Wednesday, December 3: 10 medical calls plus 1 fire cals.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 68 calls

Hockey men): Saint Mary’s 4, Dubuque 1

Basketball (boys): LaCrosse Logan Rangers 0, Reedsburg Beavers 0, postponed, first half

Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 70, Holmen Vikings 16

PRESTON, Minn. — A Chatfield man has been fined $150 for aiming a laser beam at a med-evac helicopter. Steven Clifford Johnson, age 44, was also sentenced to one year in jail by Fillmore County Judge Jeremy Clinefelter, but the judge waived the jail time if Johnson doesn’t do it again and otherwise stays out of trouble. In an unusual Alford plea, Johnson did not admit guilt but agreed to accept punishment as if he had. The incident was in October 2024. The Mayo One helicopter was flying to Rochester at 120 mph and 1,800 feet. Jphnson said he feared an attack on his railer house from armed men on the helicopter.

Earlier: Laser-at-helicopter case in court from Chatfield

Johnson. Claimed copter shined him first.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Military and Veterans honored a St. Charles aviator who died in his war plane over the English Channel in 1942. The body of At Donahue was never recovered, but his legacy has endured through two books he wrote about his aviation experience. Donahue grew up on a St. Charles farm and learned to fly from legendary Winona aviator Max Conrad. He became Minnesota’s youngest commercial pilot at age 19. In 1940 Donahue went to Canada, claimed to be Canadian, and enlisted in the British Royal Air Force. He flew missions during the Battle of Britain — one of only 11 Americans who flew for the Royal Air Force.

Donahue. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His name is on the Battle of Britain Monument in London.

WINONA, Minn. – Police issued 74 citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:

 > December 8:  74

> December 7: 68

> December 4, 5 and 6: Officers on other priorities

> December 3: 8

> December 2: 43

> December 1: 28

> November totals: 731

Earlier: Snow or not, Winona winter parking rules kick in

CHICAGO —The Amtrak Borealis passenger train is sold out for most of its daily Chicago-to-St. Paul runs but is carrying fewer passengers than when service started in May 2024. How can this be? Amtrak first assigned aging Horizon cars to the train with seats for 286 passengers, but the cars  had to be scrapped as unsafe when rusting was discovered. Amtrak replaced the Horizons with spare bi-level Superliner coaches  with 210 sets. Even with lesser capacity, Amtrak regards the Borealis as a success. The latest report shows the train at 97% capacity in July and 89% August.

Earlier: Borealis with bi-level Superliner coaches in tow

Earlier: Amtrak’s rusting Borealis rolling stock to scrapyard

Earlier: Borealis back on tracks, now odd-looking

Earlier: Daily Borealis trains sidetracked as unsafe

Earlier Borealis ridership at six months: 100,000

Earlier: Borealis day trains begin new corridor trips

Bi-level Superliner coaches. Designed for long-distance trains. In substitute service on Borealis day trains. Winona departures to St, Paul at 4:45 p.m., to Milwaukee and Chicago at 1:41 p.m.

Some say 4 million lights make up the drive-through and walk-through Rotary Lights display at Riverfront Parr. For sure it’s 3 million, but who’s counting.

Landing pad at Okoberfest grounds

LACROSSE, Wis. — For a different perspective, helicopters tours are flying over the Rotary Lights holiday extravaganza on the LaCrosse riverfront. Take-offs are from the nearby Oktoberfest grounds. The fare:

> 10-mile tour: $124 per person.

> 5-mile tour: $79.

> 2-mile tour: $49.

Duluth-based Lake Superior Helicopters flies four-passenger Robinon s R-44s, which it also uses also for aerial tours of Duluth’s  Bentleyville holiday display. The LaCrosse flights begin at 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through December 21. Said pilot Rachael Bugella: “When you’re flying above it, you get the entire Christmas light show, all the Christmas decorations in people’s yards, the city lights, the campus.”

Robinson R-44A. With oversize glass cockpits and wrap-around windows.

WINONA, Minn. –— A fleet thief may be targeting parked cars in shopping mall parking lots and cutting expensive catalytic converters from the undercarriages. A Menards shopper called police that he found fresh crawl marks under his car and suspected the catalytic converted had been stolen.  The man had been at Menards about an hour between 4 to 5 p.m. A few hours later a Menards employee coming off shift reported his catalytic converter had been stolen too. Police hoped for clues on store security video.

Exhaust control devices. From 7 to 15 inches long, 5 to 10 pounds. The converters filter dangerous fumes with the rare metal platinum. No questions asked, unscrupulous junk dealers offer $200 to $300 each. Replacements of the legally required devices can cost a car-owner $2,300

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Rochester City Council voted 5-2 to accept a $53 million bid from Knutson Construction for Phase One of the new city sports and recreation super-complex. The phase incudes eight turf and natural grass baseball fields, two rectangular multipurpose turf fields, 12 pickleball courts, an outdoor basketball court, a playground, and bike trails connecting to the Willow Creek Trail. This is on 160 acres on the southeast edge of the city.

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — A Minnesota woman was found dead on Interstate 94 near Black River Falls, apparently having been struck by a car. She was identified as Kara Meslow, age 30, of the outer-ring St. Paul suburb of Mahtomedi 130 miles way. Police were called about 5 :50 p.m. Police believe Meslow was a pedestrian but have more questions than answers about why she was on foot in he eastbound lanes of the interstate. There have been no arrests.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Somali man arrested by Trump agents over the weekend was no murderer or gang member or even violent, according to a Somali community leader, Said Hussain, executive director of the Rochester Somali Community Center, described man as “a normal person working and going to the community center and stuff like that.”  Speaking in a Minnesota Public Radio interview, Hussain didn’t identify the man by name, deferring to fear among the man’s friends and associates that they too might be targeted next. It was on Sunday that the man was plucked from the street by ICE agents. Hussain said the agents followed the man from home to a nearby restaurant and detained him as he was getting out of his car. Hussain:

PLATTVEILLE, Wis. — Two University of Wisconsin-Platteville professors have won a patent for converting milk protein into a polymer to create 3D printing molds. For Joseph Wu, a chemist, and John Obielodan, a mechnical engineer, their discovery had roots in the CoVid pandemic. Farmers lost much of their milk market — and milk went bad. The professors realized that curdling milk produced a protein called “casein.” Through trial and error, they learned that adding butanol to the casein would create a polymer. Now, they joke, there’s no reason anymore to cry over spilled milk. Wu and Obielodan now are working on a version of the protein that can be converted into plastic without being blended with other materials.

Lab buddies. John Obielodan and Joseph Wu are looking now to refine their process for converting sour and curdling milk into plastics

WINONA, Minn. — Prosecutors asked the judge in the Jonahan Payton case to allow his criminal record to be considered against him. Payton, age 40, is accused of shooting up an East Side neighborhood in November. Police, however, haven’t established a motive, which means Paytin might argue it was all a mistaken or accidental. Hence, prosecutors want Payton’s lengthv rap sheet on firearm, stalking and burglary convictions to be considered. The judge took the prosecution request under advisement. Payton’s next court date is in February. Meanwhile he remains in custody in lieu of bail.

Earlier: Bail at $200,000 for East Side gunshots

Earlier: Motive still unclear in East Side gunshots

Earlier: East Side gunshots random? Targeted?

WINONA, Minn. – Police issued 68 citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:

> December 7: 68

> December 4, 5 and 6: Officers on other priorities

> December 3: 8

> December 2: 43

> December 1: 28

> November totals: 731

Earlier: Snow or not, Winona winter parking rules kick in

Holiday gift shop dazzle. At the Gundersen mother ship in  LaCrosse. Image: Steve Lunde

WABASHA, Minn. — A Rochester driver lost control on snow and ice along Lake Pepin and ran into the ditch. Lucas Arruda Olson, age 20, was taken 10 miles to the Wabasha hospital. His injuries were sustainable, said Wabasha County deputies. The accident was about 10:35 p.m. on U.S. Highway 61 between Lake City and Wabasha. Olson was southbound toward Wabasha in a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Trump deportation agents jumped an unmarked van, snatched a Somali man from the street, and hauled him away. A bystander posted video of the arrest online with an eyewitness account. The witness said the incident was over, the agents gone, in less than two minutes. This was on 14th Street Southeast near the Meadow Park apartments.

Rochester police confirmed they were alerted by a 911 call to a possible kidnapping as the event unfolded. It was all over when police arrived. Police later confirmed the incident was an operation by the U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement agency. Whether ICE had alerted local police to its presence in Rochester was unclear. ICE sometimes makes an inter-agency courtesy all when it’s in an area. , sometimes not. Also unknown was whether the ICE unit made other arrests in Rochester. The arrest apparently was part of the agency’s Operation Metro Surge, in which has focused on Minnesota Somalis in recent days in Minneapolis. The operation is part of President Trump’s program to rid Minnesota of its Somali population. Estimates are that 70,000 to 120,000. Somalis live in the state.

Eyewitness account

The woman who taped he arrest cellphone asked to be identified only as “Suban,” She included a description of what she saw in her TikTok post. Later in a telephone interview with KTTC, she expanded on her account. Excerpts from TikTok post and KTC:

> “The minute he saw me recording and crying, he was comforting me, and he said it in Somali, ‘I’m cool. It’s okay.’ He repeated that multiple times and it really broke my heart. It was him who needed comforting in that situation.”

> “I wasn’t sure if they were agents or if they were kidnappers. I wouldn’t have not known in that situation. I told my younger sister to honk my vehicle so that at least people can come out and see the situation.”

> “He goes to our local mosque. He is very hardworking, and he’s very active in our community. Other than that, I have never heard of him or any crimes that he might have committed Suban explained the agents did not state their reason for the arrest at the time. She said she made her sister call 911.”

Blow-by-blow

The video shows three agents in a dark van with heavily tinted windows. They were bundled for the cold. Two wore wool-knit caps. All had dark glasses.  They had no uniforms or badges or other conventional identification of legitimate law officers. They showed no arrest warrant or other documents to justify yanking someone off the street. The Somali man was cuffed without resistance. One agent recorded the arrest. Unknown was where the Somalian was taken. ICE has contracts with a few county jails in the state to hold detainees. Detainees in some cases are sent to large federal camps for deportation with no notification to families, employers o anyone else.

Neighborhood profile. The arrest was outside Meadow Park Apartments complex in southeast Rochester at 412 14th Street.  Apartments range from one-bedroom units at $995 a month to three-bedroom units at $1,250. The complex has a record of management and maintenance compliance issues. It was purchased in April by an investment group led  Nick and Elaine Stageberg. The new owners have hied construction and clean-up crews and property managers to address problems

Earlier: Trump’s new Minnesota anti-immigrant purge nets 12

Earlier: An unhinged Trump in angry Minnesota attack

Earlier: Trump to Minnesota Somalis: Go back to Africa

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona driver was arrested during a traffic stop on suspicion of meth use. The arresting officer said William Alan Post, age, 39, was jerky, spoke rapidly and had watery eyes — all symptoms associated with meth. He then failed field sobriety tests that check for dexterity and balance. At jail a blood sample was taken and sent to an outside lab. A specific charge will hinge on test results, police said. The traffic stop was about 8:55 a.m. at King and Orin streets on the West Side.