Staff Directory 9130974

Trey Mewes

Rochester reporter | Rochester
Phone: 507-405-7002

Trey Mewes is a reporter based in Rochester for the Star Tribune. Sign up to receive the Rochester Now newsletter.


Trey Mewes joined the Star Tribune in 2022 as our Rochester correspondent. He has spent more than 10 years reporting on southern Minnesota, first at the Austin Daily Herald, and more recently at the Mankato Free Press. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, with a double major in journalism and history. He is a Minnesota native who grew up in the southern part of the Cities. He enjoys hiking, pop culture, video games and basketball.
Recent content from Trey Mewes
Chris McPhillips, the owner of Minnesota Valley Cannabis Co., bought the former Green Giant canning building in Le Sueur. He plans to turn the buildin

A small Minnesota city rolled out the red carpet for jobs in cannabis growing

An entrepreneur wants to put up to $10 million toward a new kind of ag business, transforming a former Green Giant cannery to grow cannabis.
Adam Fravel stands for the beginning of his sentencing hearing Tuesday at the Winona County Courthouse in Winona.

Adam Fravel gets life in prison for murder of Winona's Madeline Kingsbury

He was convicted last month of four counts of murder for killing Kingsbury, the mother of his young children, and hiding her body in a rural area.
Downtown Albert Lea in 2021.

After problems with health care access, Albert Lea residents are getting a better ride

A local transit company is expanding free medical shuttle services to Freeborn County.
Amtrak’s Borealis daily service to Chicago from St. Paul’s Union Depot began May 21.

In southern Minnesota, cities debate whether passenger rail is a costly endeavor or 'wave of the future'

Communities across the state are reviewing their transportation options as MnDOT officials update the rail policy plan.
The Zumbro River in downtown Rochester, Minn.

Rochester adjusts future growth plans as it faces rapid expansion

City officials plan to update housing, transportation and comprehensive development goals in the wake of a recent growth boom.
A crow flew over hunters in southern Minnesota in this file photo.

Murder some crows? Rochester seeks remedy for downtown menace

City officials plan to cull the crow population after more than a decade of nonlethal attempts to disperse them from downtown.
This undated photo provided by NASA shows an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope showing a giant star cluster in the Constellation Carina, about

A Winona professor dreams of new ways to observe the stars

Astronomer Adam Beardsley recently received $500,000 to design a radio observatory in the Winona area.
The Oronoco City Hall. The City Council temporarily delayed certifying its election results this week after members on Wednesday disagreed over when D

Oronoco, Minn., delays, then certifies election results after tension and distrust

The Oronoco City Council certified local election winners Friday after council members recessed on Wednesday over when an incoming candidate could start his term.
Dick Brown, left, speaks with other volunteers underneath a billboard in Faribault they bought in part to honor gun safety advocate Jon Frasz, who die

Late gun safety activist's message lives on in billboard in southern Minnesota

Jon Frasz died in January, but his friends honored his dedication with a billboard in Faribault.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Ex-boyfriend guilty on all four counts in murder of Madeline Kingsbury of Winona

After 10 hours of deliberations, a jury found Adam Fravel guilty of killing the 26-year-old mother of two, whose disappearance sparked nationwide interest.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Emotional day in court as murder trial over Madeline Kingsbury goes to jury

Deliberations began Wednesday afternoon on whether Adam Fravel is guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend.
Randy Schubring

Randy Schubring wins Rochester City Council president seat

Schubring defeated Ward 5′s Shaun Palmer to take the council's only at-large seat.
U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, a Republican, chats in early August with attendees at Farmfest in Morgan, Minn. He is the incumbent First District congressman

GOP's Finstad wins another term representing southern Minnesota's First District

Finstad fended off a challenge from Rochester lawyer Bohman if he wants a second term in Congress.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Defense rests in Madeline Kingsbury murder trial; Adam Fravel declines to testify

Closing arguments will be made next week in the killing of the young mother from Winona.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Friends of slain Winona woman detail alleged abuse at murder trial

Several friends and sorority sisters of Madeline Kingsbury say they saw bruises on her body and incidents where her ex-boyfriend hit or pushed her.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Madeline Kingsbury was frantic after alleged choking by her ex, her parents testify

They said she often complained about ex-boyfriend Adam Fravel.
Mayo Civic Center

Rochester's Mayo Civic Center switches operators, affecting almost 150 jobs

The switch will happen in January, though Experience Rochester promises "a seamless transition" as staff remain in place.
Democrat Sarah Kruger, left, and Republican Aaron Repinski are running to replace retiring Rep. Gene Pelowski in the Minnesota House.

Winona-area House seat — one of the last DFL rural holdouts — could be key to legislative control

Rep. Gene Pelowski retired from the Legislature earlier this year, creating a must-win seat for DFLer Sarah Kruger and Republican Aaron Repinski.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Spurned lover or 'revisionist history'? Trial starts in Madeline Kingsbury's killing.

The Winona woman's ex-boyfriend and the father of her children, Adam Fravel, faces four murder charges in a Mankato courtroom.

Red Wing School Board member accused of shoplifting from Target

Rachel Marshall Schoenfelder allegedly stole just over $500 in goods from March to July 2024.
Olmsted County has capped the number of cannabis business licenses in the area at 14.

Rochester punts cannabis business regulation to Olmsted County

The city is taking advantage of a recent ruling allowing communities to delegate local authority over the cannabis industry to counties.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Murder trial for ex-boyfriend of Madeline Kingsbury starts this week

Adam Fravel faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Winona woman Madeline Kingsbury.

Rochester man dies in SE. Minnesota after motorcycle veers off road

The State Patrol says alcohol was a factor in Ross Anthony Stensrud's death
Attendees watch the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance at the Loose Moose Saloon in Mankato on Tuesday.

In Tim Walz's home city, opposing groups watch him debate on the national stage

Parties in Mankato highlight chasm over how Minnesotans view Walz.
Downtown Rochester in March 2024.

What's in Rochester's Destination Medical Center budget for 2025?

A bus rapid transit line and sewer work for several projects takes up most of the group's annual funding.
Downtown Rochester

Rochester's Destination Medical Center rejects funding for proposed apartment projects

Developer R&R Properties of Mankato plans to rework project to meet DMC guidelines.
A rendering of Mayo Clinic's planned expansion in Rochester.

Mayo Clinic's $5B Rochester expansion clears first major hurdle with city

The Rochester City Council on Monday signed off on the 363-page environmental review while Mayo plans to begin demolishing buildings this fall.
Nix Dixon, 16, from left, Gayle Curtiss, 14, and Harmonie Hollister, 14, talk and draw with chalk during the Plainview Pride Festival at Refill Goods

For small Minnesota cities, embracing Pride celebrations can come with tough community conversations

Plainview held its first Pride event in mid-September even as organizers faced online threats and criticism from some in the community who disagree with LGBTQ displays.
Olmsted County Government Center in Rochester.

Olmsted County looks at $7 million levy increase for 2025

The county has yet to calculate specific impacts to homeowners.
Downtown Austin, Minn.

Southern Minnesota city's souped up food project aims to end hunger in the area

Austin nonprofits are teaming up with Hormel to improve food access and create a blueprint for other communities.
Downtown Rochester.

Rochester could get new 14-story building that includes student housing downtown

The proposed 175,000-square foot building could provide more than 200 housing units for area college students.
Nancy Vaillancourt inspects letters and other documents given to her as part of her research into the Ku Klux Klan's presence in Minnesota during the

An Owatonna librarian's mission: Documenting the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota

"People don't want to believe that it happened here," Nancy Vaillancourt says. "I want people to know the truth. I want them to know it did happen."

A Rochester man threatened to kill people online. An appeals court overturned his conviction.

Kyle Ketterling made social media posts threatening to kill Muslims, Democrats, government officials and police.
Fast-moving water erodes the earth around the Rapidan Dam during flooding in June. Blue Earth County officials voted Tuesday to remove the dam instead

Blue Earth County to remove Rapidan Dam

County commissioners vote to tear down the dam near Mankato that failed during major flooding in June.
Rochester officials are proposing a $120 million budget increase.

Rochester proposes a 21% increase in city spending next year, major tax hike

City officials say the $120M in increased spending comes from more staffing needs, larger contract gains for police and firefighters.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Ex-boyfriend's trial in Madeline Kingsbury killing gets new venue, start date

Adam Fravel is charged in Winona County with the murder of Madeline Kingsbury, with whom he shared two children. A judge ruled on Wednesday that the trial will start Oct. 7 in Blue Earth County.
Rochester City Hall. The City Council voted 5-1 to make it legal to drive golf carts on streets with speed limits at 25 mph or less.

Rochester to allow golf carts on city streets

Golf carts will be permitted on roadways with speed limits of 25 mph or less.
All of Rochester City Council Member Molly Dennis' challengers say Dennis is too combative. They say she is hindering the city’s work.

Rochester's controversial council member faces 3 challengers in primary next week

Molly Dennis seeks re-election while suing the city of Rochester amid continuing tensions with her colleagues.
Sherri Blasing, the principal at Mankato West High School and former neighbor of the Walz family, stands in the backyard outside her home with the for

'Just got the tingles': Mankato, where Tim Walz taught and coached, reacts to his political ascent

"We in Mankato knew he was a good guy, because our kids told us."
Residents want to modify the Fourth Avenue dam in Austin, Minn. to create a park featuring whitewater rapids along the Cedar River through the city's

Austin pushes to create whitewater rapids in the middle of town on the Cedar River

"Everybody couldn't understand how we could do this in a flat county, but some city officials got it."
Rochester

YMCA closing Rochester child care center at the end of August

Local YMCA officials say rising costs, staffing issues led to center's shuttering.
Elliot McPike, 12 plays Pokémon Scarlet and Violet during a Pokémon league night July 25 at NerdinOut in Rochester.

Rochester tween training for Pokemon World Championships in Honolulu

Elliot McPike heads back to the Pokemon World Championships in the next few weeks to challenge the video game's elite players.
Olmstead County Government Center in Rochester.

Rochester leans toward limiting cannabis business licenses

Council members say Minnesota's third-largest city should set license limits at state minimum
Rochester City Hall, adjacent to Olmsted County Government Center,  Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022,

Years in the making, Rochester closing in on site for $65M regional sports complex

City officials expect to finalize a location for the complex by the end of summer.
The Rochester Public Schools Board and district officials listen as Jess Garcia, far left, discusses the district's guidelines supporting transgender

After months of turmoil, Rochester schools adopt guidelines supporting trans students

District officials came under fire for a rule requiring staff to report students' transgender identity to parents, but only if they asked.
The Rochester, Minn., skyline, including the Mayo Clinic Plummer Building.

Rochester wants to use $4M in sales taxes on major housing development

City looks to boost Prairie Ridge housing project in NW Rochester
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Winona auto parts plant starts to close later this month; 117 employees to be laid off

BCS Access Business Systems will start the first round of layoffs July 26.

High-speed chase in southern Minnesota leads to 10-hour standoff, recovery of child in Austin

Austin police persuaded the suspect to surrender.
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office rescue vehicles cruise down flooded streets in Cook, Minn., on June 21, passing in front of the flooded Comet Theate

Damage leaves Minnesotans without flood insurance hoping for aid

Home and business owners are left reeling as they also await federal and state disaster dollars.
Back Barn on the grounds of the George Stoppel Farmstead, Rochester Township, Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States. Now a museum operated by the H

Olmsted County history center raising $3M to save 1800s farmstead

Local officials say it's the first step toward a larger campus dedicated to area history
Mayor Keith Swenson points out how Hwy. 19 east of downtown is flooded in Henderson on Thursday.

With no bonding bill in 3 of last 4 years, flood funding unreliable

With growing costs and growing needs, cities across Minnesota are waiting for state funds.
Logan Hortop of Faribault wades through knee-deep water on his way back to his truck after helping some friends deal with flooding Monday in Watervill

Minnesota National Guard, inmates arrive in Waterville to fight flooding

'This is the worst flooding I can remember. Ever.'
Members of the Axley clan join the parade Thursday in horse outfits in honor of patriarch Ralph Axley, who won best outfit during the 100th Gopher Cou

In Minnesota township, one of the longest-running festivals in the U.S. celebrates a rodent

The Viola Gopher Count has its 150th anniversary this year.
Developer Stack Downtown plans to raze nine homes in Lowertown neighborhood near Silver Lake Park.

Rochester council signs off on demolishing a block of houses

Developers will raze nine homes in Lowertown neighborhood near Silver Lake Park.

Rochester day-care worker accused of slashing infant's face with pizza cutter

Court records show Andrianna Newburn told police she intentionally went after a co-worker's child.
Spectrum to close Rochester call center; 300 employees affected

Spectrum to close Rochester call center; 300 employees affected

The company has offered to relocate staff affected by the August closing.
A photo of Madeline Kingsbury stood at the front of a room alongside law enforcement during a news conference at the Winona City Hall on Thursday.

Trial in Madeline Kingsbury murder case moved out of Winona County

A judge on Wednesday granted Adam Fravel's attorneys' request to move the trial.
Tucker Quetone, right, shows Coen Wagner, 8, where to plant seeds in the medicine garden Friday at Dakota Middle School in Rochester.



Rochester Pub

From medicine garden to language classes, Native education is growing in Rochester schools

The district's Native American education programs will soon include Dakota language classes.
More than 50 SEIU workers and allies picket outside St. Marys Hospital in Rochester on May 28, demanding better wages and more support from Mayo Clini

Mayo Clinic faces worker distress as employees bargain, unionize

Nurses are considering unionizing at Mayo's Rochester location, while hospital support staff picket and bargain for higher wages and workplace improvements.
View of skyline of downtown Rochester, Minn.

No charges for teens accused of putting racial slur on Rochester bridge

NAACP of Rochester calls Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem's decision a "dangerous message."
The Kahler Grand Hotel

Rochester snags perhaps its most expensive restaurant: Ruth's Chris Steak House

The high-end restaurant opens in the Kahler Grand Hotel on June 17.
Four teens accused of putting racist slur up on Rochester bridge

Four teens accused of putting racist slur up on Rochester bridge

Rochester police say they're forwarding the case to the Olmsted County Attorney's Office for potential charges.
Paul Wotzka  looked over a water well at his home in Altura, Minn., in April. Lawmakers directed $16 million to the problem of farm runoff pollution o

Lawmakers direct $16 million to clean up polluted wells, change farming practices in southeastern Minnesota

The Legislature declined to impose a fertilizer tax, which would have made farmers help pay to clean up runoff.
An Alumacraft boat in 2012

Another 106 workers laid off at Alumacraft in St. Peter in second round of job cuts within a year

Canada-based parent company BRP cut 68 workers in St. Peter last fall as demand for boats declined.
The Destination Medical Center Board approved about $12 million in funding for housing and historic preservation — including $5 million to support R

Rochester's population boom is coming. But is the area ready?

Community leaders strategize how to address the expected influx of new residents over the next 20 years.
Council Member Molly Dennis was told to leave more than two hours into the council meeting during a discussion on collecting unpaid parking tickets.

Rochester council member suing the city kicked out of council meeting

"You are interrupting me again. Enough!" Council President Brooke Carlson told Molly Dennis before ejecting her.
David Ruff, conservation program manager with The Nature Conservancy who helped acquire the land, looks out onto newly seeded prairie during a tour of

New 'rare' 400-acre wildlife preserve opens near Rochester

The Moon Valley Wilderness Management Area is ready for hikers and hunters.
The Edison Administrative Building photographed in Rochester in August 2022.

A $10M referendum failed last fall; now Rochester schools are doubling their request

District officials warn that school closures are likely if voters reject the proposal.
The contents of a time capsule from 1920 found in the cornerstone of the old Owatonna High School earlier this year. Courtesy Steele County Historical

Owatonna opens time capsule tucked in the high school a century ago

The rusty metal box was filled with newspapers, city history and lots of telling financial statements.
Downtown Albert Lea in 2021.

Albert Lea Pride drag show draws controversy after venue pulls out

Venue change comes amid planning for city's second-ever Pride celebration.
Organizers and supporters of the Bravo Zulu House celebrate a groundbreaking of the novel veterans sober living project in Winnebago, Minn., late last

New sober house for veterans in southern Minnesota wants to treat the real issue: PTSD

Organizers say the Bravo Zulu House in Winnebago could kickstart a new nationwide model for recovery.

Austin man sentenced to 32 years for killing woman who was playing with a stun gun

Me'darian L. Mcgruder received 386 months in prison during a sentencing hearing Friday.
Mankato-area sirens working again; faulty phone line caused failed test

Mankato-area sirens working again; faulty phone line caused failed test

Blue Earth County is working on a backup system in case the sirens fail in the future.
Tornado sirens rang throughout Minnesota Wednesday except in the Mankato area, where Blue Earth County officials say an unknown malfunction prevented

Mankato area schedules new siren test Friday after malfunction

Blue Earth County officials say they think they've worked out the problem.
Molly Dennis

'I'm not going to walk away from this': Rochester council member wants her day in court

Molly Dennis and attorneys for the city argued whether her lawsuit against the city should be dismissed in federal court Tuesday.