Schimel to U.S. attorney post in Milwaukee
WASHINGTON — President Trump named long-term supporter Brad Schimel as U.S. attorney for the Milwaukee-based Eastern Wisconsin judicial district. It’s a 120-day interim appointment, reflecting Trump’s awareness of growing dissatisfaction on Capitol Hill that makes the necessary Senate confirmation of his appointees is problematic. Trump is able to appoint and reappoint in 120-day increments without Senate confirmation. The position of U.S. attorney for Eastern Wisconsin has been occupied by a place-holder since Trump removed Biden-appointee Gregory Haanstad in January. Schimel, age 60, is a former Wisconsin attorney general and later a Waukesha County circuit judge. He was defeated by 10 points for the state Supreme Court in a November 2024. The election considered a bellwether on the Trump Administration.
Schimel. Wisconsin attorney general 2015-2018 Defeated for re-election.
Cheesehead clowning. Schimel’s moment in the national limelight was dimmed by Trump budget-cutter Elon Musk, who campaigned for him with a cheesehead schtick. The fired-up GOP campaign crowd in Green Bay loved it, but the clowning didn’t go over well statewide. Wisconsinites enjoy self-deprecation but resent outsiders who exploit cheese-headedness as a cheap I-Am-One-of-You gesture. Musk, an outsider, had put $17 million into the Schimel campaign. Schimel lost 55% to 45%.
Mauston man sought for threats to Tech teacher
TOMAH, Wis. — Police began hunting for a Mauston man who was so angry at a teacher at the Western Tech campus in Tomah that, according to an arrest warrant, he threatened to torch her car. And maybe other cars too. The arrant names Evan Zeman, age 39. The listed crimes:
> Terroristic threats.
> Messaging to threatening harm.
> Disorderly conduct.
Zeman is not a Tech student but his girlfriend is. The threats were November 9 on Facebook. The somewhat incoherent message, addressed to the college, didn’t spare vulgarities:
“If you guys don’t get your shit together about that teacher. Teacher in the college if you guys don’t start doing your investigation on that fucking bitch the cars in the teacher’s parking lots are gonna start getting fucking set on fire. To be specific the Tomah scam school. That teacher better watch her ass.”
The Tomah campus draws students from Mauston, 30 miles southeast on combined Interstate 90 and 94.
Buttigieg cancels LaCrosse event: Family issue
LACROSSE, Wis. — The U.S. transportation secretary in the Biden Administration, Pete Buttigieg, cancelled a political event scheduled for Tuesday in LaCrosse. There has been a family medical emergency, a spokesperson said: “Expect a raincheck.”
Researchers: Autism-Tylenol link is quackery
LONDON — Another group of researchers has discredited a link between the complex child brain disorder autism and the everyday reliever Tylenol. Such a possible connection has been put forth by President Trump on the advice of his national health secretary —the publicity hound Robert Kennedy Jr. Neither Trump nor Kennedy has any credentials in medicine. Even so, the pair called a news conference in October with the message: “If pregnant, don’t take Tylenol.” The researchers reported in the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ, published by the British Medical Association, that an exhaustive review of existing scientific studies has found no such link. The researchers said they reviewed 40 studies. Specifically about autism and Tylenol, they said evidence was weak and failed to account for family-related and environmental factors as progenitors of autism. Kennedy also has claimed a link between circumcision and autism.
Dreaming for the slopes? Not likely soon
WINONA, Minn. — Ski slope operators have fingers crossed that they can generate enough artificial snow to open by their usual Thanksgiving weekend target. The eight-day forecast isn’t promising: Lots of afternoon highs to be in the 30s. The usual point at which artificial can be created is with a wet bulb temperature of 28. There may be assistance from Mother Nature on Tuesday with a 70% chance precipitation. The big question: If it’s snow, will it stick? Hoping for the best, operators have posted these prices for lift tickets:
> Coffee Mill, near Wabasha: $38 to $60.
> Mount LaCrosse, near LaCrosse: $40 to $80.
> Steeplechase, near Mazeppa: $45 to $55.
Hub-feeder flights resume at LSE, RST
WASHINGTON — The Trump Administration said airlines were free to resume full schedules as of 6 a.m. This ended a 10-day order to cancel 40% of flights nationally. American Airlines’ three LaCrosse-Chicago flights a day can be expected to begin filling up. So too Delta’s three Rochester-Minneapolis flights. Why did Trump ground so many flights? Experts have theories. Some accept the explanation of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that the loss of many air controllers during the 43-day federal government shutdown had exasperated safety risks. As a Trump loyalist, however, Duffy sidestepped blaming Trump for cutting off controller salaries and thus creating safety questions. An uncharitable assessment is that Trump found it convenient to inflict pain on air travelers to pressure Congress to accept his major shift in budget priorities. Duffy claimed there had been incidents of planes getting too close in the air, of runway incursions and of pilot concerns, but he offered no supporting data or whether the frequency exceeded typical levels.
Earlier: Aviation slowdown deepens at hub airports
Earlier: Trump salary cuts squeeze MSP traffic
Earlier: Planning to fly soon? Maybe not
Thanksgiving countdown: 11 days to go
At the Viking longboat. Among the few dining rooms serving on the holiday is Drugan’s on U.S. Highway 93 between Galesville and Holmen. Turkey will be trumping the usual Norwegian house specialties: Lutefisk and smelt. Image: Steve Lunde
College scores
Soccer (women): Chicago 3, UW-LaCrosse 1
Minnesota’s hemp-infused industry at risk?
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nobody except the perpetrators noticed that a “sleeper amendment” against hemp-infused products had been dropped into the 1,500-page Trump budget that Congress approved last week. State Senator Scott Dibble, a Minneapolis Democrat, is concerned the sneaker provision could undermine a Minnesota law that allows -level hemp derivatives in consumable products. “All of these entrepreneurs who have started creating products in the low-potency hemp market are just going to be completely wiped out,” Dibble said in a KEYC interview. “All of their investments, all of their aspirations, all their dreams, just wiped out.” The state law, championed by Dibble has facilitated hemp products to be sold in retail outlets, mostly restaurants, groceries and craft breweries. Dibble has been in touch with Minnesota’s congressional delegation about undoing the new federal provision, which doesn’t take effect until year.
Dibble. A Minneapolis Democrat. First elected 2012. Earlier a community organizer.
Verbatim
Omar Ansari, of Surly Brewing in Minneapolis, to KEYC: “When we started, we made 700 cases, like seven pallets of product. That was the first run. We’re now doing about 8,000 pallet runs.”
Parking update: 108 folks missed the memo
WINONA, Minn. – On the first night of Winona’s alternate-side winter parking ordinance in effect for the new season, officers tucked citations under the wiper blades of 108 vehicles. The fine, $25, usually is enough to remind people what the law is. At 108, the total was fewer than typical, officers said.
Notable journalism
Steve Karnowski (Associated Press, November 12, 2025): “Prosecutors Turn Over 130,000 Pages of Evidence in the Killing of Minnesota Lawmaker”
Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota Star Tribune, November 10, 2025): “Fastenal CEO Leads with Minnesota Modesty and So Far HiIs Hit the Mark”
Christoher Magan (Minnesota Star Tribune, November 9, 2025): “Federal Judges in Minnesota Reject ICE Attempts to Hold Immigrants without Bond”
College offers real feel for trucking career
WINONA, Minn. — A ride-along adventure in a truck, perhaps an 18-wheeler, is part of an open house Wednesday for prospective students at Southeast State College in Winona. The event: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Registration encouraged. The college has eight-week certification programs beginning January 12 and March 16. The college claims 100% job placement. The open house includes meeting instructors and learning details n program requirements
Abts Transportation Center. At Southeast’s Winona campus at 1250 Homer Road.
News summary at week’s end: November 15, 2025
GOVERANCE: Trump pardons ex-Wisconsin GOP bigwigs
GOVERNANCE: Craig: Congress has misread public preferences
GOVERNANCE: Finstad: Shutdown end was people-friendly
POLICING: Snow or not, Winona winter parking rules kick in
POLICING: Police in quandary on suspicious fire death
CRIME: Assassination prosecutors unveil lode of evidence
CRIME: Utica man faces criminal sex assault claims
College scores
Basketball (men): Washburn 88, Winona State 57
Basketball (men): North Central of Minnesota 71, Saint Mary’s 63
Basketball (women): Northwestern Oklahoma State 53, Winona State 52
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 70, Saint Mary’s 59
Football: Winona State 30, Southwest Minnesota State 6
Basketball (women): Northwestern Oklahoma State 53, Winona State 52
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 70, Saint Mary’s 59
Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 7, Hamline 1
Hockey (women): Hamline 5, Saint Mary’s 0
Volleyball (women): Winona State 3, Bemidji State 0
Minnesota prep
Hockey (girls): Rochester Century/Rochester Marshall 3, Mendota Heights Visitation Blazers 2
Bishops opt for seniority, longevity
BALTIMORE, Md. — The Winona-Rochester Catholic bishop, Robert Barron, will not be the new president — or vice president — of the influential U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Barron had been nominated, but Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville were chosen. Both are senior to Barron in church hierarchy; Coakley, age 70, was first a bishop in 2004; Flores, age 64, first a bishop in 2010; and Barron, age 66, first a bishop in 2022. Barron, however, is the most prominent for his “Word on Fire” television and online ministry. Also he is occupied currently with a major liturgical translation.
Woman dies in rolling vehicle near Taylor
TAYLOR, Wis. — A Blair woman was killed and a man injured in a one-car rollover east of Taylor. Cortney Ellis Schultz, age 32, was a passenger. Driving the 2009 Ram 2500 pickup was Casey James Kersting, 34, of Black River Falls. They were heading into Taylor on West Blair Road near the Springfield Town Hall. The vehicle went into a ditch, struck a power pole and overturned. This was shortly after 12 a.m.
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 60, Southern Arkansas 59
Basketball (men): Minnesota North-Vermilion 76,
Basketball (women): Winona State 67, Southeastern Oklahoma State 60
Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 6, Hamline 2
Hockey (women): Hamline 4, Saint Mary’s 1
Volleyball (women): UM-Duluth 3, Winona State 0
Minnesota prep
Hockey (girls): Rochester Century/Rochester Marshall 6, Princeton Tigers 0
Hockey (girls): Red Wing Wingers 1, Faribault South Central 0
Wisconsin prep
Football: Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 17, Oshkosh Lourdes Knights 14
Football: Edgar Wildcats 21, Mondovi Buffaloes 14
Briarscombe mystery: Urban exploration escapade?
Showcases in 1912. Up the mouth of Pleasant Valley on a 350-acre estate with the Winona landmark Sugarloaf sentinel-like across the valley. No expense was soared: Interior doors were solid San Domingo mahogany.
Foot chase eds Winona mansion foray
HOMER, Minn. — Police caught six intruders at the abandoned Briarcombe mansions after dark, apparently exploring the historic structures uninvited after dark. Police said at least two of them, perhaps four, had managed their way inside. In any event, four scattered into the into the dark Briarcombe woods. Police rounded them up after foot chases. Ticketed for trespassing and fleeing, all from Wisconsin, were:
> Zachariah Rogge, age 18, of Eau Claire.
> Noah Erickson, 18, of Independence.
> 17-year-old boy, from Trempealeau.
> 14-year-old boy, from Chippewa Falls.
Standing outside at a second vehicle and cited for trespassing were:
> Ava Davis, 19, of Winona.
> A boy, 15, from Winona.
The Briarcombe mansions, built in 1912, are matched side-by-side homes on a secluded estate. Originally each had 11,500 square feet, eight bedrooms and six bathrooms. They are at 22571 Briarcombe Lane on tbe backside of Bridges golf course. One mansion has been partially dismantled. The other, although also abandoned, has been preserved. It last sold in 2013 for $875,000. There usually is a watchman on the premises. Burglaries have been frequent over the years. The latest incursion appears more in the spirit of the growing albeit spooky and dangerous game of urban exploration adventuring.
No expense spared
Brothers-in-law Samuel Prentiss, a Winona banker, and Fredrick Bell, a lumber mill owner, built the mansions for their wives — the sisters Maude and Francis of the Laird lumbering family. The sisters, after being widowed, continued living in mansions into their spindly years, each keeping to her own mansion, There was a connecting tunnel underground. The estate originally included a dairy and an orchard. It also featured the first outside swimming pool in Minnesota. The pool was built in 1913.
Trempealeau holiday program on pause
WHITEHALL, Wis. — The Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Department is too short-handed for its annual Christmas for Kids program. Sheriff Brett Semingson said he hoped the program can be resumed year.
Retirement ahead for WEAU news anchor
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — After 35 years at the dominant television station in Eau Claire, mostly as an anchor, Judy Clark is retiring. She announced her departure from WEAU will be December 5. Her plans: Spend more time with family. Clark, age 63, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Her early broadcast career was at radio station WAXX in Eau Claire. She started at WEAU in 1990 as a news reporter.
Clark. Holds numerous journalism awards from state and regional broadcast associations.
College scores
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 63, Bethany of Mankato 42
Volleyball (women): UW-Eau Claire 3, UW-LaCrosse 0
Volleyball (women): Rochester Community 3, Sandhills Community 1
Volleyball (women): Rochester Community 3, Brookdale Community 0
Volleyball (women): Viterbo 3, Trinity of Illinois 1
Minnesota prep
Hockey (girls): Kasson Dodge County Wildcats 10, Winona Winhawks 0
Hockey (girls): Albert Lea Tigers 3, Rochester Mayo Spartans 0
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