Winona woman back to jail after tumultuous arrest
WINONA, Minn. — For the second time in a week sabella Joy Isabella Meyers ran afoul of the law. This time she was accused of stealing car keys and, already drunk, making a booze run to a liquor store. Meyers, age 30, was arrested about 6:45 p.m. after a call to police from someone in the 350 block of Hillview Drive in West Burns Valley. The caller said that Meyers had taken the car keys and the car without permission and was intoxicated. Police stopped the car a mile away near King and Louisa streets on the Far East End. Alcohol containers were in the car and Meyers acted impaired, police said. She told officers she indeed had consumed alcohol but only “a small amount.” Also she said the car was hers. Advised she was under arrest, police said, Meyers resisted being cuffed. Officers managed to cuff her anyway. Once on the squad car, they said, she kicked the backseat interior repeatedly and banged her head against the backseat partition. Officers then clamped her in leg shackles for the rest of the ride to jail.
Earlier: Cops: Too much vodka was lingering
Meyers. Booked for drunken driving, auto theft, obstructing police.
School bus slides off road; kids OK
WITOKA, Minn. — A Winona school bus on its after-school run slid off East Burns Valley Road. Two children were aboard but unhurt. Parents picked up the kids. Apparently undamaged, the bus was winched back on the road.
Driver OK after truck sinks in Beef Slough
NELSON, Wis. — A tucker hit snow and slush on the causeway connecting Nelson and Wabasha and slid into Beef Slough. The truck sank, but the driver, Amanuel D. Bauer, age 24, of of Perry, Iowa, got out first. Bauer told Buffalo County he didn’t he didn’t need medical attention. This was about 2:05 p.m. just north of the Beef Slough boat landing on Wisconsin State Highway 25, known locally as the Wabasha Dike Road coming off the interstate Clickner bridge over the Mississippi River.
Rescuers check winch. Truck had been submerged after skidding off Wabasha Dike Road. Image: Buffalo County sheriff
Farmers Park car crash injures three
LEWISTON, Minn — Three persons were injured when two Buicks collided on ice and snow on U.S. Highway at the foot of Lewiston Grade near Farmers Park. One driver, Christopher Sage, age 52, of Winona, and his passenger, Jasmine Sage, 30, also of Winona, were taken 13 miles to the Winona hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other driver, Benjamin Mueller, 46, of Lewiston, was treated at the scene. The collision was about 1:45 p.m. The Sages, in a 1998 Buick Park Avenue, were headed west toward Lewiston. Mueller, in a 2013 Buick Lacrosse, was headed east toward Stockton. Airbags in both vehicles deployed.
Eitzen driver admits drinking night before
WINONA, Minn. — Police said that 20-year-old Kyle Hunter Bechtel was too young to be drinking, let alone driving after drinking, and made an arrest. This was about 9:20 a.m. on Huff Street near the Canadian Pacific rail crossing. A breath test showed 0.07% alcohol in Bechtel’s system, which was legally tolerable, but boozing at age 20 isn’t. Bechtel was charged with under-age consumption after admitting to drinking the night before, police said. Bechtel was 50 miles from home in the Houston County village of Eitzen.
2025 finale: The December Cold Moon
Also known as the Super Moon. Happens when the moon reaches perigee, or its nearest point to Earth. It appears larger and fuller. The event is the closest to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Aptly named. Winona’s overnight low at 2-minus Fahrenheit. As seen from the Brookview Subdivision. Image: Kevin O’Reilly
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 83, MSU-Mankato 75
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 72, Ripon 62
Basketball (men): MSU-Mankato 87, Winona State 80
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Winona Winhawks 80, Albert Lea Tigers 74
Hockey boys): Northfield Raiders 4, Winona Winhawks 0
Hockey girls): Northfield Raiders 11, Winona Winhawks 2
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 63, Gilmanton Panthers 16
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 78, Alma-Pepin Eagles 65
Basketball (girls): Blair-Taylor Wildcats 56, Whitehall Norse 42
Basketball (girls): Arcadia Raiders 49, Onalaska Hilltoppers 43
Hockey boys): LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 1, West Salem Panthers 0
Cops: Judge too drunk to walk straight
OWATONNA, Minn. — The Minnesota state appeals court judge charged with drunken driving had been stuck in a snowbank, court documents show. This was on November 29 on U.S. Highway 14 near Owatonna. The arresting officer said Renee Lee Worke’s blood-alcohol tested at 0.16%, twice the legal limit. She needed help walking, the officer said. The charge: Two misdemeanor counts of driving drunk
State restaurant award for Victoria’s in Rochester
ROCHESTER. Minn. — The proprietor of Victoria’s Italian restaurant in the downtown Koehler Hotel in Rochester has been named Restaurateur of the Year by the trade group Hospitality Minnesota. Natalie Victoria and her husband opened the street-level corner establishment in 1997. She began in the business three years earlier as a server and bartender in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Runners-up for 2025 Minnesota award:
> Trista Vogelpohl of the Green Mill Restaurant in Willmar.
> Brent Frederick, who operates 13 Twin Cities restaurants, including the high-profile Parlour; Butcher and the Boar; Shiki; and Rustica Bakery.
At 75 Mary Cody leaving restaurant business
ONALASKA, Wis. — Legendary Onalaska restaurateur Mary Cody is hanging uo her apron to retire. The last meal will be lunch on December 28, she said. Her side-by-sideside establishments, Traditions Restaurant and Mary Cody’s Restaurant & Lounge, have been landmarks. Cody, now 75, first opened her namesake lace in 1995.
Restaurant for sale. At Main Street and Highway 35.
Trump’s new Minnesota anti-immigrant purge nets 12
MINNEAPOLIS — Deportation agents arrested 12 men in its Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities. The number was released in Washington by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security along with false Trump propaganda that the state has been overrun by blood-thirsty immigrant gangs. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended Operation Metro Surge as protecting Minnesotans by arresting the “worst of the worst.” McLaughlin failed to note, however, that the 12 ICE targets already were being prosecuted or were already convicted by state authorities and having done their time. Also: None were anywhere near being accused of murder and mayhem of the degree suggested by McLaughlin nor that President Trump has used as an excuse for rounding up 60,000-plus immigrants and others this year. Two of the 12 recent Minnesota detainees had been stopped for traffic violations. Even so McLaughlin’s news release meandered into overstated and inflammatory Trump assertions that Minnesota politicians allow criminals to “roam the streets.” McLaughlin also used her news release to claim repeat Trump claims that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have allowed sanctuary to deranged and menacing immigrant marauders. This McLaughin’s list:
Countries of origin
The 12 Operation Metro Surge detainees are from:
> Mexico: 6
> Somalia: 5
> El Salvador: 1
Unanswered question
Trump has demonized Somalis and wants all 70,000 of them in Minnesota deported to Somalia. His logic is flawed with an outlandish premise that all these Somalians are miscreants. Does he know better? If so, why is Trump so animated. Critics say he is blinded by white racism from his upbringing. Somalians are mostly deep black in complexion. Second: Trump has sought evidence to discredit, even demonize Governor Tim Walz for challenging Trump’s 2o24 presidential bid. For Trump it’s hardball grudge politics — civility and facts and truth be damned.
Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi: Convicted of fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft and multiple probation violations.*
Mukthar Mohamed Ali. Convicted of assault, fraud, robbery, larceny.
Alvaro Davila Alanis. Charged aggravated assault with a weapon.
Ismael Bonilla Avalos. Convicted of driving under the influence; charged with domestic violence.
Oscar David Ayala-Ocampo. Charged with domestic violence.
Carlos Mark Boquin-Alfaro. Charged with domestic violence.
Higuera Chupin. Charged with driving under the influence.
Rudy Arendondo Jarillo. Convicted of felony smuggling aliens.
Alberto Gallardo-Montiel. Convicted for driving under the influence.
Ahmed Mohamed Said. Convicted of two domestic violence counts, three counts of driving under the influence, assault, damaging property, violating probation.
Feisal Mohamed-Omar. Charged with two counts of domestic violence.
Sahal Osman Shidane. Convicted of sexual conduct with a minor.
*McLaughlin listed Abdulkadir Sharif Abdi as a former member of the Gangster Disciples and a current member of Vice Lord Nation but offered no evidence.
Earlier: Minneapolis mayor on deportation raids: Not here
Lindell keeps gubernatorial options open
ST.PAUL, Minn. — MyPillow founder Mike Lindell filed candidacy documents for governor with the secretary of state. But will he actually run? An aide said Lindell will make a decision by next Thursday. A question is whether lives in Minnesota. Most recently he’s been in Texas. The aide said he’s moving back.
Earlier: Trial lawyer Madel joins anti-Walz race
Earlier: Governor on Lindell: A disaster if elected
Alternate-side parking tally at 829
WINONA, Minn. – Police issued eight citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:
> December 3: 8
> December 2: 43
> December 1: 28
> November totals: 731
Alternative to winter parking fines: Donate food
GRAFTON, Wis. — Anyone ticketed for winter parking violations in this Milwaukee suburb will be forgiven the usual $20 fine if they donate $10 worth of canned goods or non-perishable food. Said Police Chief Jeff Caponera: “This allows us to enforce necessary winter parking rules while giving back to families who need support most.” The waiver is in effect to January 15.
A dinosaur called Medusa arrives at WSU
Wrapped lke a mummy. A 66,000,000-year-old Edmontosaurus has been unloaded at Winona State for display in the university’s Science Laboratory Center. A campus geoscience team unearthed the dinosaur over the summer in North Dakota. The excavation site was infested with rattlesnakes, which prompted the team to name her Medusa from Greek mythology. Probably she died in a landslide, her remains being preserved underground all these eons. She’s a big girl: 12 feet long, seven feet wide and 7,000-plus pounds.
Rochester college offers bargain Z-Degree
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Rochester Community and Technical College plans to offer courses for which students won’t need to buy textbooks or other course materials. There will be enough such courses to cobble together a liberal arts degree, the college said. It’s called a Z-Degree, which is suddenly trendy at colleges struggling to maintain enrollments. For Z-courses, students use open educational resources, free online textbooks, and library-curated materials. Courses aren’t cost-free, however. There is still tuition and the usual fees. Eleven other Minnesota System colleges and universities also are moving ahead with Z-Degree options. Textbooks and materials fortypiva traditional college courses range around $1,200 and $1,400 a year.
Ski hills a week late in opening slopes
WABASHA, Minn. — Ski hills missed their usual Thanksgiving target to open the season. But this weekend they expect their base of artificial snow to be sufficient to power up the lifts. The weekend outlook:
> Coffee Mill (Wabasha): Expected to open Sunday. New snow expected Friday, 2.0 inches.
> Mount LaCrosse LaCrosse): Soft opening expected Friday. New snow expected Friday, 0.5 inch; Saturday, 0.8 inch; Sunday, 0.4 inch.
> Steeplechase (Mazeppa): Tubing hill open. Skiing and snowboarding expected to open Saturday. New snow expected Friday, 2.0 inches.
Earlier: Dreaming for the slopes? Not likely soon
Domestic discord: Woman reports assault
DRESBACH, Minn. — Deputies arrested a rural man whose girlfriend reported he had pulled her hair and otherwise assaulted her. Arrested was Nicholas Ray Dickson, age 30. This was in the 33000 block of Lanes Valley Road south of Dresbach. The woman had bruises and cuts, Winona County deputies said. The call to the Winona police dispatch center was about 2:30 a.m. The issue was fidelity, deputies were told.
Dickson. Arrest at home up from Pine Creek.
Walz on new Trump rumbling to end food aid
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz accused President Trump of expanding a personal vendetta against the governor into an attack on needy people. Through a spokesperson Walz said the President is using federal nutritional aid as a political tool. The spokesperson, Claire Lancaster, said the governor “wishes President Trump would be a president for all Americans rather than taking out his political vendettas on the people who need these benefits the most.” Lancaster also noted that Trump has threatened o cut highway funding for Minnesota. “The President is making malicious decisions that will raise prices and harm families.” About SNAP nutritional assistance, the program is a major purchaser of U.S. agricultural products, which means cuts will damage the nation’s farm economy.
News summary at mid-week: December 3, 2025
GOVERNANCE: Portrait of an anti-Somali ICE raid
GOVERNANCE: Minneapolis mayor on deportation raids: Not here
GOVERNANCE: Walz on new Trump rumbling to end food aid
GOVERNANCE: Craig: Trump continues “weaponizing hunger”
GOVERNANCE: Trump vows anew to cut nutritional assistance
GOVERNANCE: Finstad aide’s travel expenses ”raise eyebrows”
GOVERNANCE: An unhinged Trump in angry Minnesota attack
POLITICS: Trial lawyer Madel joins anti-Walz race
SCHOOLS: St. Mary’s parish eyes future without school
ACCIDENT: Two of quintuplet St. Charles grain towers collapse
ACCIDENT: Thin ice breaks under Cochrane ice- anger
COMMERCE: Top-tier LaCrosse hotel for sale
COMMERCE: Winona home sales in November 2025
CRIME: Lutsen Lodge owner charged as firebug
CRIME: “Absolutely nuts” man jailed after bar fight
CRIME: Woman arrested after parking lot rant
CRIME: Judge to jail after drunk-driving arrest
CRIME: Oral arguments set for final Fravel appeal
Red River drawdown goal: Avert spring floods
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Army Corps has started its annual drawdown of reservoirs on the upper Red River on the Minnesota-North Dakota border to mitigate spring flooding. So far there have been only minor increases in downstream flows through Fargo and Grand Forks on the rivers path north into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.
College scores
Basketball (men): Carleton 74, Saint Mary’s 59
Basketball (women): Saint Mary’s 64, Carleton 48
Wrestling: UW-LaCrosse 39, UW-Platteville 3
Craig: Trump continues “weaponizing hunger”
WASHINGTON — A Minnesota member of the House Agriculture Committee, Angie Craig, a Democrat, has lost patience with Trump efforts to deny federal nutritional assistance to Minnesota and other Democrat-controlled states. Craig’s ire was heightened when Trump’s agriculture secretary demanded states turn over the personal data on SNAP receipients or lose federal funds. The ultimatum was from Trump’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins. Craig accused Rollins of “weaponizing hunger”:
“Her disregard for the law and willingness to lie through her teeth comes from the very top. The Trump administration is as corrupt as it is lawless, and I will not sit silently as she carries out the president’s campaign against Americans struggling to afford food in part because of this president’s tariffs and disastrous economic policies.”
Craig is a leading candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Tina Smith
Earlier: Trump vows anew to cut nutritional assistance
Earlier: Craig bids for U.S. Senate with macho “fight” video
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