Now cast in stone: City Council pay hikes
WINONA, Minn. —The Winona City Council voted 5-2 to raise the salaries of council members and the mayor. The decision was a formality. Six weeks ago the Council voted, also 5-2, to draft paperwork for final approval. Effective in 2027 the mayor’s salary will be $14,500, a 35% increase. Council members will go to $$7,700, a 23% increase. The ratinale: The raises, the first in eight years, are overdue, said supporters. The rationale: To help keep up with inflation. Also: To be somewhat commensurate with the time required to do the job.
Mayo drops Owatonna birthing services
OWATONNA, Minn. — In a further constriction of outlying services, Mayo Clinic is ending birthing services at the Owatonna Hospital. The hospital is owned by the Allina Health chain but relied on Mayo for physicians for labor and deliveries. The hospital averages more than one birth a day. There are other hospitals within 50 miles of Owatonna, including the Mayo mothership in Rochester. Mayo confirmed that pregnancy and postpartum care will continue available at its own Owatonna outpatient clinic. The Rochester Post Bulletin, which broke news about the changing medical landscape in Owatonna, quoted Allina about:
> A nationwide shortage of physicians in obstetrics and gynecology.
> Declining birth rates.
> Doubts about “reimbursement in rural communities,” an apparent reference to Trump funding cuts for healthcare.
Mayo earlier dropped labor and delivery services in Albert Lea, population 18,000 and 35 miles away, and Fairmont, population 10,000 and 90 miles away. Owatonna population: 26,000.
Earlier: Mayo to eliminate six rural clinics
No Kings update: Three dissidents left when urged
WINONA, Minn. —Police took three disturbance calls from the No Kings Day mass demonstration at Windom Park on Saturday and defused the situations, a police spokesperson said at the usual post-weekend news briefing with reporters. The individuals, all in separate incidents, were asked to leave and did so, the spokesperson said. There were no arrests and no citations. The rally drew 1,400 people, few of whom were aware of the presence of dissidents or their uneventful departures at police urging.
As goblins lurk, even in the light of day
Preparing to howl. The cat — black, of course —bares teeth and claws in anticipation of Halloween. The ghost practices her best eeriest moans. In dark recesses behind the library are poltergeists engaged in devilish plotting. Or so it’s said. Image: Steve Lunde
Winona State again on “Best in Midwest” list
WINONA, Minn. — For the 22nd year in a row, Winona State University appears on Princeton Review’s “Best in the Midwest” list. The list of 531 regional colleges is drawn from a survey of 170,000 students nationwide of what they like best about their school. The schools are not ranked. Nor is there a statistical basis for randomization or the usual sampling error. There is no reason to suspect any bad schools make the list, but the lack of rigorous survey methodology troubles scholars even at listed colleges. Even so, many colleges tout being listed in their promotional literature. As a commercial enterprise, Princeton Review makes its money selling guides to prospective students and their parents at $25 and also by selling advertising space to colleges. Colleges are not required to advertise to be listed, but the company encourages colleges to buy space to “build brand awareness, extend your reach and to increase conversation.” Winona State hasn’t advertised in current Princeton Review guides but issued a news release that noted being on the list as the only university in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system among 24 campuses across Minnesota and Wisconsin featured in the rankings. Winona State is one of only four regional comprehensive universities to make the cut, the news release said. Winona State’s president, Ken Janz, capitalized on the 2026 regional listing as “a reflection of the transformative experience we offer at Winona State.” Said Janz: “From exceptional student support and financial aid opportunities to high-impact academics and a 97% job placement rate, our outcomes speak for themselves. We’re proud to be recognized for what truly sets us apart: A community where students thrive, graduate with purpose, and go on to shape the future.” Janz encouraged people “to discover everything you need to build a brighter future at Winona State University.”
About Princeton Review
Princeton Review is a New York-based commercial entity with no connection to Princeton University. The company publishes guides for college-bound students and solicits advertising from the colleges. The company also sells services to help high school students pass college entrance exams. Under previous ownership, the company was accused in 2012 of fraud in its testing services. Since then the company has undergone multiple ownership changes. Currently it’s owned by Princeton Capital Group, which notes it’s distinct from predecessor owners.
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Fall brilliance: Report Number 6
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Were the latest Minnesota map of fall colors a painter’s palette, it would be a slow creep of browns, maroons and oranges southward. Oranges already have splashed into almost all of Houston County on the Iowa border. Colors are are at 50% to 75% of their peak. What’s next? Inevitably winter. Image: Minnesota Natural Resources Department
Earlier: Fall brilliance: Report Number 5
Van Orden touts Trump as peace-maker: Uhh?
WASHINGTON — Representative Derrick Van Orden, a Republican elected from western Wisconsin, proposed that President Donald Trump be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for peace. The legislation was greeted by yawns and snickers even in the Republican-controlled and Trump-friendly U.S. House. VanOrden’s nemesis in House, Representative Mark Pocan, also of Wisconsin, ridiculed the bill as “gimmicky” and a desperate attempt to curry favor with Trump. Van Orden’s bill cited Trump’s clams that he brokered an end to these wars:
> Israel and Hamas, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Egypt and Ethiopia, all in 2025.
> Serbia and Kosovo, in 2020.
The list had been part of Trump’s campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize, which critics called unseemly and delusional. Some of the “wars” were relatively smallish and regional and some have persisted despite Trump’s claim. For whatever reason, Van Orden bit the bait. He called them “historic peace agreements” and even went further than Trump himself: Van Orden claimed the President had ended “eight wars in eight months.” Trump’s own list uncluded only seven in the span of his current presidency. The Setbia-Kosovo conflict was five years ago. To note: Last week the Nobel committee snubbed Trump’s lobbying for the prize. Pocan chalked up Van Orden’s inititative in Congress as a desperate act to distract from his own record of “hiding” from constituents and being out of touch. Van Orden hasn’t held a townhall to hear constituent feelings all year.
Drug abuse suspected for erratic driving
STOCKTON, Minn. – A Winona driver was stopped twice driving into Stockton — first for erratic driving and, oddly, moving only 40 mph in a 60 zone. Then, after a warning, he drove off and, still in the deputy’s sight, continued swerving all over the road. Stopped a second time, the deputy said, Brandon Jon Pederson, 36, was asked to get out of the car. He admitted being hooked on marijuana, this while swaying, fumbling, fidgety and his eyes fluttering, the deputy said. The deputy called for the sheriff’s drug evaluation expert. The expert confirmed additional indicators of drug impairment. This was about 11:15 p.m.at County Road 23 and Main Street in Stockton. Pederson was booked at the Winona County jail 11 miles away. A blood draw was sent an outside lab for review by the county prosecutor.
Police avert suicide leap off Winona bridge
WINONA, Minn. — Police talked a woman to come down from a pedestrian railing on the State Highway 43 bridge over the Mississippi River. This was about 10:45 p.m. Drivers on the bridge had called the police dispatch center that the woman was on the railing and seemed prepared to jump. The drop to the main navigation channel is 64 feet.
College scores
Soccer (women): MSU-Mankato 2, Winona State 0
Felony charges stack up after police chase
LACROSSE, Wis. — A West Salem man was booked on numerous felony charges a after a 100-mph chase that culminated up a brewery grain elevator on Mississippi River in LaCrosse. Chase Allen Cottrell, 24, had climbed a ladder up the grain solo and shouted to pursing officers to let him be or he’d jump. This was early Saturday after the chase, which began in Houston County on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi. Cottrell eventually surrendered and was taken to a LaCrosse hospital. After being cleared medically, Cottrell resisted going to jail, police said. At jail he was booked with an expectation of being sent to back Houston County. The interim charges: Assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence and strangulation, fleeing police, and car theft. Pending a court hearing after the weekend, he was held without bail in the LaCosse County jail. Cottrell has previous felony convictions for battery, motor vehicle theft, fleeing police and robbery, according to records. Police sad this is what happened Saturday:
Cottrell. Intercepted in LaCrose after 10-mile police chase from Hokah and 13 miles from home in West Salem.
> About 3 a.m. a caller reported domestic abuse in Hokah involving Cottrell and a girlfriend.
> Deputies located the girlfriend’s car, in which she and Corell were siting.
> Police asked the girlfriend to exit the vehicle so they could ask her outside of Cottrell’s earshot for her account of what was going on. She got out.
> Cottrell started the car and drove away at high speed.
> Cottrell accelerated to 100 mph-plus, even 105 mph in a 40-mph zone through La Crescent. In LaCrescent he turned right toward LaCrosse.
> Across the Cass Stret intestate bridge, in LaCrosse, Cottrell abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.
> He jumped into the Mississippi River, swam to an anchored barge, and climbed aboard.
> Then he climbed a built-in ladder up the brewery silo.
WSU honors six past Warrior athletes
WINONA, Minn. – Two retired Winona State coaches will be inducted into the university’s athletic Hall of Fame this homecoming weekend:
> Scott Ballard, who led the women’s basketball team to three NCAA Division II tournaments in an 18-year career spanning 2004 to 2022.
> Beckie Rolbiecki, whose gymnastics teams from 2005 to 2020 included 45 All-American athletes.
Also being inducted:
> Alissa Rausch, who earned four league championships in track rack and field from 2011 to 2015.
> Ashley Walker, who had .363 softball career batting average, 232 hits, 23 home runs, and 61 pitching victories.
> Dan Walseth, whose baseball record from 1983 to 1986 included a .424 career batting average.
> Brian Wrobel, a football quarterback, whose Warrior career from 2001 to 2004 included the most touchdown passes in a single game.
Fairwater rollover blamed on alcohol
ELBA, Minn. — A Plainview man was arrested as a drunken driver by deputies investigating a one-car rollover on Fairwater Road in extreme northwest Winona County. Nobody in the vehicle requested medical assistance, said deputies. The blood-alcohol-level of Samuel Leonard Hanlon, age 26, tested at 0.23%, almost triple what’s allowed. Hanlon was taken 28 miles to the Winona jail. The rollover was about 1:25 a.m. between Elba and Plainview.
Hanlon. Failed field sbriety tests ,including one-leg stand.
Old RX’s cramming your shelves? What to do
WINONA, Minn. — A drug take-back event has been scheduled for Saturday by police agencies and the Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center. Anonymous drop-offs are assured, sponsors said. The drop-off point: Hiawatha Valley Mental Health at 420 East Sarnia Street. Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The goal: Environmentally safe disposal of unneeded medications and keeping them off the street to reduce misuse and abuse. Unaccepted: Syringes, sharps or illicit drugs.
At Winona State: A smashing good time
Such fun, such a mess. But, no, not invented at Winona State. This aftermath at Henderson University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. As always, a family event. At Winona a food truck will be there. But no pumpkin pie. Free candy.
“Stand clear down there,” they shout from rooftop
WINONA, Minn. – As part of homecoming, Winona State University students in the sciences plan a Pumpkin Drop on Saturday. The event will be at the Science Lab Center atrium — but outdoors, of course. A ripe pumpkin infused with liquid nitrogen will be splattered. Time: 1 p.m. The event is part of the students’ annual STEM Carnival that begins at 11 a.m. and includes what’s billed as a “Mad Scientist Show.” Game time across campus at 2 p.m.
News summary at week’s end: October 18, 2025
GOVERNANCE: Co-exitence: Merriment amid anti-Trump messaging
GOVERNANCE: Farmer or not, Finstad sticks with Trump
GOVERNANCE: Walz hits road, casts blame for soybean plight
ENVIRONMENT: Study: Minnesota lakes filling with microplastics
POLITICS: As House 26-A race narrows, Wilson lauds Hedin
POLICING: Annual study: Minnesota crime rate steady
POLICING: Cops: No reason to expect Trump troops here
COLLEGES: WSU makes grade as a “green college”
COLLEGES: Southeast College enrollment steady near 2,300
CRIME: Petersen twin to prison for fatal Amish crash
CRIME: Dad accused of choking children
CRIME: Teen reports knife-point robbery on East End
CRIME: Hokah police chase ends at LaCrosse bridge
SEASONS: Standing out in the crowd
ACCIDENT: Manure-hauling truck crashes, burns
College scores
Soccer (women): Carleton 3, Saint Mary’s 0
Volleyball (women): St. Cloud State 3, Winona State 0
Volleyball (women): Saint Benedict 3, Saint Mary’s 1
Volleyball (women): St. Cloud State 3, Winona State 0
Minnesota prep
Four-wheeler, pickup crash at Sherwood Trail
ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Three people were injured when a four-wheeler and light pickup collided on U.S. Highway 52 north of Zumbrota. The driver of the four-wheeler, Kristine Marie Gobin, age 54, of Cannon Falls, was not injured. Taken 28 miles to a hospital in Rochester with non-life tretaenjg injuries:
> Michelle Plonsky, 42, of Cannon Falls, a passenger in Gobin’s 2025 Polaris Ranger four-wheeler.
> George Cave, 76, of Apple Valley, driver of the Chevrolet Blazer pickup.
> Marcia Cave, both, 75, also of Apple Valley, a passenger in Cave’s pickup.
Goodhue County deput=ies said Gobin was eastbound from Sherwood Trail at the intersection of U.S. Highway 52 with County Road 7. This was about 3 p.m.
Co-existence: Merriment amid anti-Trump messaging
WINONA, Minn. – The seriousness of anger toward President Trump was in hundreds of hand-created posters at a Windom Park demonstration, but the mood of an estimated 1,400 protesters was like an old-time and multi-generational block party. A white unicorn roamed the crowd and launched a thousand smiles at the No Kings rally. There were young parents with babies in strollers and seniors in walkers and wheelchairs. Some seniors brought fold-up lawn chairs to sit a spell. A few agitators circled the one-square block wooded park in vehicles. One ventured briefly on foot into the park itself. Most motorists on busy Broadway and Huff streets showed thumbs-up greetings and bonked spurts of support. There was no police presence, although a squad car was a block or so away for traffic control, if necessary. It wasn’t. Nor was there any emergency, let alone violence, in the 90-minute event. The weather was perfect for being outside — sunny and crisp, suitable for light jackets. There seemed agreement that the rally was the largest of four anti-Trump events at Windom Park going back to April.
Peaceable protest. Windom Park gathering among dozens in Minnesota, 2,600 nationwide. Altogether, the No Kings protest had been expected to attract perhaps 6 million against monarchical Trump practices. Yes, unicorns also vote. Images: Nancy Wagner
A Winona portfolio: No Kings Day 2.0
Older, younger, in between. All seriously angry over Trump issues. At Windom Park rally. Estimated turnout: 1,400. Images: Nancy Wagner
Ouch. Stick a pin anywhere you want in a wannabe king.
Trump’s bad company. How many of these tyrants can you name?
Cock-a-Doodle-doo. Among chickens finding voice.
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The kids section and percussion section.
You’ll get message. If you know restaurant jargon, and if you transpose the 7 and the 4, and if you hang around boxing gyms: Pow. Bam. Down.
Flags aplenty bespeak anti-Trump sentiment
Whitewater protest. Protesters staked out the major crossroads in western Winona County to join the No Kings national protest. Seventy demonstrators lined two corners at U.S. Highway 14 and Whitewater Avenue in St. Charles, population 3,700, in the upper Whitewater region. Many moved on later to a larger rally 29 miles away in Winona. Image: Steve Lunde
Hokah police chase ends at LaCrosse bridge
LACROSSE, Wis. — Police talked a man out of a suicidal jump at the Cass Street bridge, ending a 100 mph chase that began 10 miles away at Hokah in Minnesota about3 a.m. Negotiations to bring the man down took several hours. He was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, then booked into the La Crosse County jail for extradition on back to Minnesota. The chase began after Houston County deputies in Minnesota responded to a call about domestic violence and car theft. Deputies located the car in Hokah but said the driver fled at high speed. At the Cass Street bridge over the Mississippi River into LaCrosse, police were waiting. The driver abandoned car, ran to a barge tied up on shore, and climbed a ladder up a riverside grain silo. LaCrosse police waited him out.
College scores
Soccer (women): St. Cloud State 1, Winona State 0
Wisconsin prep
Football: Fall Creek Crickets 44, Osseo-Fairchild Thunder 7
Football: Holmen Vikings 24, LaCrosse Logan Rangers 18
Baseball: Onalaska Hilltoppers 20, LaCrosse Central RiverHawks 14
Football: West Salem Panthers 54, Black River Falls Tigers 7
Football: Mondovi Buffaloes 49, Durand-Arkansas Panthers 18
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