MINNEAPOLIS — Somali-owned and operated businesses at the Karmel Mall shopping center were targeted by Trump deportation agents. Mall owner owner Basim Sabri gave this account to a WCCO news crew:

Earlier: Minneapolis mayor on deportation raids: Not here

WITOKA, Minn. — Deputies shot and killed a sick racoon, which was acting rabid, between Homer and Witoka on County Road 15. This was near the County Road 122 junction. The racoon the second one suspected of rabies by Winona County deputies within three months. The incidents were widely separated. Rabies is a dreaded nervous system disorder transmitted by bites from infected animals. Untreated it’s fatal to humans and also pets.

Earlier: Rabid racoon dispatched

LACROSSE, Wis. — The wealthy Weber family wants to sell its world-class Charmant Hotel near the LaCrosse riverfront. The family filed a document with the city for permission to make the sale. The transaction will need city consent because of covenants involving the buiding’s historic status. In the documents the Webers chose not to disclose whether a buyer has come forward. TheWebers, whose first-generation fortune is from government  insurance processing, put $30 million into converting an abandoned candy factury into the Charmand in 2017. The building’s value has been pegged at $17 million.

Earlier: Top-tier Michelin rank for LaCrosse hotel

Earlier: Rural estate Weber Springs sells for $10 million

Video in his own words: Don Weber interview

Earlier: Winona County estate on market for $11 million

Rooftop dining. In shadow ofvrestored classic water tower from 1890s.

BUFFALO CITY, Wis. —  A man who was hard-water fishing at the Spring Lake slough landing fell through the Mississippi River ice. Bystanders pulled Daniel L. Keller, age 71, of Cochrane, from the water. He was treated by an ambulance crew called to the scene. This was about 1p.m. The incident was the first on thin ice in Buffalo County this season.

Spring Lake. A Mississippi River boat landing on the Lock and Dam 5 levee. Image: Buffalo County sheriff

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. — The classic North Shore resort Lutsen Lodge burned to the ground in February 2024. Now the owner, Bryce Campbell, 41, has been arrested and charged with arson and fraud. The arrest was in a Detroit suburb, where Cambell was on a business trip. Extradition was expected back to Minnesota. The criminal complaint details an incriminating list of circumstantial evidence from 22 months of investigation:

> The lodge was $467,000 past due on bills to 80 vendors. Owed to the lodge’s previous owners was $521,000; owed to a townhome association whose rental properties Campbell managed was $247,000; and owed to Highmark Builders was $277,000 on a mechanic’s lien. One business checking account showed a negative balance of $3,000. Others had balances of just $28 and $544.

> The lodge’s manager repeatedly had warned Campbell that there wasn’t enough money for the next payroll.

> Campbell doubled insurance on the lodge, from $8.5 million to $11 million in 2022, and then to $13 million in 202.

> Residue from the fire included the gel Swissmar was which can be used as an accelerant. CamPbell’s phone showed seaches for Sterno-Fuel, Fondue Fuel BTU and Swissmar the month before the fire.

> Campbell admitted tO performing maintenance on boilers in the basement in the days leading up to the fire. Investigators found a wrench wedged under the basement door to block entrance.

> Campbell first told investigators THAT he had left the lodge the night of the fire, picked up a pizza, and drove HOME and went to bed. Later in a separate interview Campbell said had stopped at the lodge shortly before midnight, to pick up items from his desk.

>The lodge manager tried to call Campbell 30 times at home between 1 and 2 a.m. after the fire had broken out. There was no answer. Campbell’s husband. left a series of unanswered Facebook emails to alert him to the fire.

> In earlier messages with his husband about the debt, Campbell said: “Just burn it.”

No guests were registered at the lodge. Business had been slow during a shoulder season. A property caretaker, who reported the fire, escaped unhurt.

Earlier: Investigators ready to probe Lutsen Lodge ashes

Earlier: Lutsen Lodge mired in lawsuits before fire

Earlier: Lutsen Lodge gigged on fire code in July

Earlier: Fire levels Lutsen Resort on North Shore

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 49 emergency medical calls plus 19 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, December 2: 1 medical call plus 3 fire call.

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

> Sunday, November 30: 8 medical calls plus 4 fire call.

> Saturday, November 29: 5 medical calls plus no fire calls.

> Friday, November 28: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Thursday, November 27: 14 medical calls plus no fire calls.

> Wednesday, November 26: 5 medical calls plus 5 fire calls.

> Tuesday, November 25: 4 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 41 calls

WINONA, Minn. – Police issued 43 citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:

> December 2: 43

> December 1: 28

> November totals: 731

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

WASHINGTON — President Trump ended a televised cabinet meeting with a confusing, hate-filled, incoherent tirade focused on Minnesota. The tirade that vilified Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and. The tirade began with swipes at Governor Tim Walz, for whom the President carries grudges from the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump’s rant also savaged Ilhan Omar from the Minnesota Congressional delegation. Verbatim:

Verbatim

Trump: “Walz is a grossly incompetent man. There’s something wrong with him, OK? There’s something wrong with him. And when you look at what he’s done with Somalia, which is barely a country, they have no anything, they just run around killing each other. There’s no structure.

“And when I see somebody like Ilhan Omar, who I don’t know at all, but I always watch her. For years, I’ve watched her complain about our Constitution, how she’s being treated badly. Our Constitution, the United States of America is a bad place. It hates everybody, hates Jewish people, hates everybody. And I think she’s an incompetent person. She’s a real terrible person.

“But when I watch what is happening in Minnesota, the land of a thousand lakes or however many lakes they have — they’ve got a lot of lakes, but this beautiful place. And I see these people ripping it off and now…. I hear they ripped off Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars, billions. Every year, billions of dollars and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88 percent. They contribute nothing.

“I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you, OK? Somebody would say, oh, that’s not politically correct. I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks and we don’t want them in our country.

“I can say it about other countries too. We don’t want them — the hell we have to rebuild our country. You know, our country is at a tipping point. We could go bad; we’re at a tipping point. I don’t know if people mind me saying that, but I’m saying it. We could go one way or the other and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.

“Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great.

“These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain, and from where they came from, they’ve got nothing. You know, if they came from Paradise and they said this isn’t Paradise. But when they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.

Earlier: Trump to Minnesota Somalis: Go back to Africa

MNNEAPOLIS — The cop whose 2020 choking death of George Floyd set off racial protests nationwide, wants a new trial.  Derek Chauvin, age 48, is serving a 22-year prison sentence. In a 71-page legal brief, his attorney alleges there was false expert testimony at Chauvin’s trial. The issue is whether the “hobble” technique used by Chauvin to control Floyd was banned as Minneapolis police policy. The Chauvin argument also is that local hysteria worked against a fair trial. Only now, says the document, can the facts and evidence be viewed through a clear lens.

Earlier: Prison time for Chauvin: 22-1/2 years

Dress snugly. The free walk-through holiday lighting display is believed the nation’s largest. Alert: Dress warmly. The park is on Lake Superior and may experience strong winds and rapid temperature changes. Charge: $12 per vehicle. Free hot chocolate, coffee, cookies, popcorn and marshmallows for roasting at dozens of on-site fire pits.

Lights aglow at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park. Five million lights mark this 16th year of the display, although its origins are earlier in nearby Cloquet. The focal point, visible for miles, is the 120-foot lighted Christmas tree Ar 17 tons the claim is that it’s the nation’s largest Christmas tree.

WINONA, Minn. – Police issued 28 citations overnight for violations of the city’s winter ordinance for alternate-side parking. The running tally:

> December 1: 28

> November totals: 731

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

WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in November:

25014 Gull Lane: Gull to Berget/Voter, $425,000.

27378 Farmview Road: Flikki to Bambenek, $373,000.

483 East Howard Street: Kimmerle to Krings, $305,000.

Earlier: Winona home sales in October 2025

WINONA, Minn. – Among commercial property sales in Winona County logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in November:

Winona: 930 Frontenac Drive: CEH Family Trust to Bryan Condo, JR Monroe, MJH Investments Verizon, $1.5 million.

Earlier: Winona County commercial sales: October 2025

WINONA, Minn. — A man described as “absolutely nuts” and fighting at a West Side bar was arrested with an almost off-the-charts blood-alcohol level. This was about 8:50 p.m. The night got wilder. Not until after 11 o’clock was Matthew Martine Sheetz, age 28, of Eagle Lake, booked at the jail house — and this after belligerent and disruptive episodes at an intermediate stop at the Winona hospital emergency room. Police gave this account:

> Officers responded to a call from the Cornerstone Bar at 501 West Fifth Street. Patrons said that Sheetz had kicked in door to the men’s toilet and was inside. The man was “absolutely nuts,” one patron said.

> One patron told police he had followed Sheetz to the toilet room to check on his well-being and was punched about 10 times. The patron, police said, had swollen marks on his face and a small cut but declined attention.

> Police found Sheetz still in the toilet room and grasping a partially drunk bottle of Fireball cinnamon whisky. A mirror had been ripped from the wall. Officers described Sheetz as “highly intoxicated” with bloodshot eyes and his speech heavily slurred. A breath test showed his blood at 0.246% alcohol — triple the legal definition of impairment.

>Because of his level of intoxication, Sheetz was taken to the hospital emergency room to determine whether could be jailed or needed hospitalization.

> At the hospital he was uncooperative and defiant, kicking and swinging, verbally abusing the staff and officers, refusing to lay down for intoxication checks, and ripping medical testing devices from his body.

> The wild behavior continued at jail. Sheetz refused to be uncuffed and grabbed an officer by the coat. The booking was completed finally at 11:18 p.m. His cell door was locked behind him. The charges:  Obstructing police, disorderly conduct, assault, and violating terms of his probation.

WINONA, Minn. — A Winona driver who police said admitted to consuming vodka several hours earlier but whose blood-alcohol tested at 0.258%, was arrested for drunken driving. Anything more than 0.08% is against the law. Joy Isabella Meyers, age 31, was stopped driving a truck without headlights about 8:45 p.m. The arresting officer said Meyers smelled of alcohol and had poor finger dexterity, bloodshot and watery eyes, and failed a battery of roadside sobriety exercises. The traffic stop was at King and Chatfield streets on the East End.

Meyers. An initial breath test for blood-alcohol was 0.28%, later at jail still 0.25%.

ST. CHARLES, Minn. — Crews with front-loaders cleared thousands of bushels of corn and twisted metal debris from the collapse of two grain elevators to reopen busy State Highway 74 through St. Charles to Interstate 90. The highway was reopened about 4 p.m. Traffic had been detoured on side streets after the elevators came down in blinding clouds of corn dust. The Canadian Pacific’s single-track line also was blocked. The line carries two freight trains a day across southern Minnesota from Winona to the South Dakota border.

Earlier: Two of quintuplet St. Charles grain towers collapse