GRAND MARAIS, Minn. — An employee of the Cook County Co-op has been arrested and faces attempted second-degree murder and other charges following a stabbing Saturday afternoon in the store.

Donovan Michael Vondall (Courtesy of the Cook County sheriff’s office)

Donovan Michael Vondall, 32, of Grand Portage, is accused of slashing the neck of a customer. The customer — Thomas Wayne Peterson of St. Paul — said the attack was unprovoked, according to the criminal complaint.

Peterson told Cook County Sheriff investigator Angelique Homan he noticed Vondall perspiring and looking at him in an agitated fashion just before the attack. As he pulled open the door to a refrigerated case, Peterson said he felt a “sharp punch” on his right jaw and saw the suspect holding a knife.

Realizing that he had been cut, Peterson said he began to run toward the front of the store in search of assistance, with his assailant in pursuit.

Vondall allegedly told Homan he chased Peterson with the initial intent to ensure his death. But he then retreated to the rear of the store, exiting through a staff entrance.

Vondall, who has twice been civilly committed to psychiatric care (once in 2012 and again in 2013), told police he had considered staying home that day “because he felt like hurting someone,” according to the criminal complaint.

A Cook County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the incident at 3:48 p.m. Saturday and found Peterson lying on the floor of the store with a bystander pressing bandages to his neck in an attempt to stanch the bleeding. Peterson was transported to North Shore Health for emergency care.

Homan interviewed Peterson at the Grand Marais hospital and noted that he had difficulty speaking, having “suffered nerve damage to the right side of his face, causing his face to droop and his tongue to feel partially numb.”

Arrested at home

Shortly after the incident, authorities received a call from the co-op manager, who was not on the scene, informing them that he had spoken to Vondall’s brother and was advised that the suspect was at home and waiting, unarmed, for officers to take him into custody.

Vondall was arrested without incident. His grandmother said he has schizophrenia and had not been taking medication to control the condition, according to the complaint.

Vondall reportedly told Homan he did not sleep well, “and it might have been from drinking vodka and White Claw.”

At the residence, authorities recovered a black fold-out knife with a serrated edge. Vondall confirmed the weapon had been in his possession, the complaint said.

When asked why he had targeted Peterson, Vondall reportedly told Homan he had seen the customer previously and considered him friendly, “but it was the look on (Peterson’s) face that day.” Vondall said “people staring at him is a trigger for him, and he also thought there was some racism happening,” the complaint states.

Community shaken

In addition to attempted second-degree murder, Vondall also faces charges of first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon used to inflict substantial bodily harm.

Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen described Grand Marais as a small town “where these types of things typically don’t happen.”

“This level of violence has a lot of people shaken up,” he said, even though he noted there is no further threat to public safety.

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Joe Friedrichs, a local author and freelance journalist, said he and fellow residents were particularly taken aback by the setting and the timing of the attack, just a few days after Christmas.

“It makes people feel uneasy, especially given the fact that the co-op is so much more than a grocery store for our community. It’s a place for healthy, friendly social interactions. So, that juxtaposition in itself is just so alarming and unsettling,” he said.

Eliasen concurred but added: “A violent crime like this is horrific, no matter where it happens.”

Co-op management could not be reached for comment Monday. The establishment has remained closed since the incident Saturday, but it was slated to reopen Tuesday, Dec. 30, according to its website.

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people.

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The strike, which was announced by U.S. Southern Command on social media, has brought the total number of known boat strikes to 30 and the number of people killed at least 107 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

The military said the vessel “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” though it did not provide evidence to back up the claim.

In a video of the strike posted to social media, a boat is seen moving through water before being struck by two explosions.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Along with the strikes, the Trump administration has built up military forces in the region as part of an escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States.

Trump, when asked by reporters Monday about “an explosion in Venezuela,” said the U.S. had “hit” a dock facility along a shore where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.”

“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida. Trump, the White House and the Pentagon have provided no other details.

In December, the Trump administration also launched a new tactic by seizing two sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela and pursuing a third. As a result, some sanctioned tankers began to divert away from the South American country.

Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. operations is to force him from power. Trump for months has suggested that he may conduct land strikes in Venezuela or possibly another country.

The Trump administration has been faced scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign. It grew amid revelations that the first attack in early September involved a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

By Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call

For all the lawmakers who’ve announced plans to retire from congressional service this year, there’s a long list of former members from both parties who want to be back in Congress.

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They range from former lawmakers whose terms ended only a year ago to ex-members who’ve been out of the political spotlight for more than a decade.

Here’s a look at the former members who have launched comeback bids for 2026:

Senate Michigan: former Rep. Mike Rogers (R)

Rogers served 14 years in the House, rising to chair of the Intelligence Committee before leaving office in 2015. He returned to the political spotlight last cycle, narrowly losing a Senate bid to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Now he’s seeking the state’s other Senate seat, which retiring Democrat Gary Peters is vacating.

Mike Rogers, a candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a panel discussion with former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition, on Oct. 28, 2024, in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS)

Republicans say Rogers has learned from his losing 2024 bid and is better prepared to win this year. While Democrats face a potentially messy primary for the open seat, Rogers has largely cleared the GOP field.

New Hampshire: former Sen. John E. Sununu (R)

Sununu is attempting a Senate comeback nearly two decades after losing a second-term bid to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring this year. The National Republican Senatorial Committee and other national Republicans are supporting his bid, but before he can focus solely on Rep. Chris Pappas, the likely Democratic nominee, Sununu must contend with a primary against another comeback-seeking former senator.

New Hampshire: former Sen. Scott P. Brown (R)

Brown won a 2010 special election in deep-blue Massachusetts to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy but lost reelection two years later to Democrat Elizabeth Warren. He then moved north to New Hampshire and unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen in 2014, falling short by 3 points. He served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during President Donald Trump’s first term and announced his second bid for Shaheen’s seat in June.

Ohio: former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D)

Sherrod Brown, D- Ohio, speaks with a voter during a campaign stop at Yonder Brunch and Vibe, on Oct. 30, 2024, in Cleveland. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Brown lost his bid for a fourth Senate term in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno as the Buckeye State’s red shift finally caught up with the longtime Democratic lawmaker. But Democrats were encouraged by his decision to launch a comeback this cycle against GOP Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to the seat after JD Vance became vice president. Republicans have dominated statewide elections in Ohio in recent cycles, but Brown’s entry puts the Senate seat in play.

Louisiana: former Rep. John Fleming (R)

Fleming served four terms in the House before an unsuccessful Senate bid in 2016. After serving in the first Trump administration, he was elected state treasurer in 2023.

Fleming is now challenging Sen. Bill Cassidy in a crowded Republican primary. He’s criticized the incumbent for his 2021 vote to convict Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial. In a change from previous elections, Louisiana will hold partisan primaries in 2026, with a runoff required if no one takes more than 50 percent of the vote.

Florida: former Rep. Alan Grayson (D)

Grayson served two separate stints in the House, representing two different Orlando-area districts. He left the House after an unsuccessful Senate run in 2016. Since then, he has made multiple failed bids for the House, Senate and state legislature, including a special election for the state Senate last year.

The perennial candidate is now one of several Democrats challenging appointed Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in the special election to complete Marco Rubio’s unfinished term.

House Alabama’s 1st District: former Rep. Jerry Carl (R)

Carl was in his second term when he lost a member-versus-member primary to fellow Republican Rep. Barry Moore after the Supreme Court ordered Alabama to draw a new congressional map for the 2024 elections. But Moore is now campaigning to succeed Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who’s running for governor.

Carl faces competition for the Republican nomination, however. State Rep. Rhett Marques, who has the backing of Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, and Air Force veteran Austin Sidwell are also set to compete in the May primary for the 1st District, which stretches across southern Alabama.

California’s 38th District: former Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D)

It’s been nearly 17 years since Solis, now a Los Angeles County supervisor, left the House to become President Barack Obama’s first Labor secretary. She announced in August that she would seek to return to the House if California adopted a new congressional map, which voters approved in November.

UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 15: Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis attends California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press conference for the official reopening of the state of California at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 15, 2021 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Solis’ comeback bid has the support of several current and former members of California’s House delegation, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Solis faces at least two other Democrats in the June all-party primary for the Los Angeles-area seat: former Obama staffer TJ Adams-Falconer and Pico Rivera City Councilmember Monica Sánchez.

Florida’s 19th District: former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R)

Cawthorn represented a Western North Carolina seat for one term before losing a 2022 primary to fellow Republican Chuck Edwards. Cawthorn was beset by a series of personal-conduct scandals, and redistricting also forced him to change his plans about where he would run for reelection.

Now, he’s running in Florida for the deep-red House seat being vacated by gubernatorial hopeful Byron Donalds. But Cawthorn isn’t the only snowbird politician setting sights on the coastal Southwest Florida district.

Florida’s 19th District: former Rep. Chris Collins (R)

Collins, who won four terms representing a Western New York seat, has told reporters he intends to run for Florida’s 19th District. But the former congressman doesn’t appear to have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to officially raise funds for a campaign.

Collins, the first sitting House Republican to endorse Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, resigned in 2019 before pleading guilty to insider trading charges. The following year, he began serving a 26-month term in federal prison but won a pardon from Trump about two months into his sentence.

Illinois’ 2nd District: former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D)

Jackson served in the House for nearly 17 years before resigning in 2012 shortly before he pleaded guilty to repeated personal use of campaign funds. He was later sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

With his House successor, Rep. Robin Kelly, now running for Senate, Jackson launched a bid for the deep-blue Cook County-anchored 2nd District. But the former appropriator faces nine other Democrats in the March primary.

Illinois’ 8th District: former Rep. Melissa Bean (D)

Bean lost her seat in the Chicago suburbs during the 2010 tea party wave after three terms in Congress. Fifteen years later, she decided it was time to get back in the game.

Bean is one of eight Democrats running for the suburban 8th District, which Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is vacating to run for Senate. Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Pelosi and the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund have all endorsed Bean’s comeback bid.

Maryland’s 6th District: former Rep. David Trone (D)

David Trone, D- Md., speaks during the news conference following the Maryland delegation’s meeting on the federal response to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 9, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA Press/TNS)

Trone left the House a year ago after spending more than $60 million on an unsuccessful Senate bid. He announced last month that he would seek his former House seat in suburban Washington, challenging his successor, Rep. April McClain Delaney, in the Democratic primary.

Trone, a co-founder of Total Wine & More, is expected to once again invest his fortune in the race, but McClain Delaney also has personal wealth that she’s invested into her campaign. She has won endorsements from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other members of the state’s congressional delegation.

Missouri’s 1st District: former Rep. Cori Bush (D)

Bush waged a successful primary challenge to Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay in 2020 but, four years later, found herself on the losing side of an intraparty contest against Wesley Bell.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 22: Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks during a news conference to advocate for ending the Senate filibuster, outside the U.S. Capitol on April 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. With the Senate filibuster rules in place, legislative bills require 60 votes to end debate and advance, rather than a simple majority in the 100 member Senate. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

She announced in October that she would seek to win back the St. Louis-anchored 1st District. The United Democracy Project, an arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, targeted Bush in 2024, and could be involved again in this year’s repeat race.

New Jersey’s 11th District: former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D)

Malinowski was elected to New Jersey’s 7th District in the 2018 “blue wave” but lost reelection to Republican Thomas H. Kean Jr. in 2022 after redistricting made his seat redder. He’s now running in the April special election to complete the unfinished term of Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill in the neighboring 11th District.

The Democratic primary for the blue-leaning North Jersey seat has drawn a crowded field, including several elected officials. Malinowski has the support of New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim, who was also first elected to the House in 2018.

Tennessee’s 6th District: former Rep. Van Hilleary (R)

Hilleary left the House after narrowly losing a 2002 gubernatorial race, but he returned to Capitol Hill in 2019 as chief of staff to GOP Rep. John W. Rose. With Rose running for governor this year, Hilleary is competing in a busy primary to succeed his former boss in the Middle Tennessee district.

This is the second time Hilleary has sought elected office since his 2002 loss. He placed third in the Republican primary for an open Senate seat in 2006.

Texas’ 9th District: former Rep. Steve Stockman (R)

Stockman served two separate one-term stints in Congress, most recently departing in 2015 after an unsuccessful primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn. He was convicted in 2018 of 23 felony charges related to misusing charitable contributions and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Trump commuted his remaining prison sentence in December 2020.

Now, Stockman is one of several Republicans running for the Houston-area 9th District, newly redrawn to be safely red. The primary also includes state Rep. Briscoe Cain; Army veteran Alex Mealer, the losing GOP nominee for Harris County judge in 2022; and businessman Dan Mims.

Texas’ 23rd District: former Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R)

Canesco won election to a lone term representing the massive border district in the 2010 tea party wave, when he unseated Democrat Ciro D. Rodriguez. Since losing reelection two years later, he’s made two unsuccessful House bids, losing Republican primaries in 2014 and 2018.

This year, he’s challenging Rep. Tony Gonzales in a primary that also includes pro-gun activist Brandon Herrera, who lost to the incumbent by just 354 votes in a 2024 primary runoff. Gonzales won an endorsement from Trump last month.

Texas’ 33rd District: former Rep. Colin Allred (D)

Allred left the House in 2024 after unsuccessfully challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. He then spent more than five months campaigning for Senate last year before making a last-minute switch to a House race shortly before Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett entered the Senate race.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 22: U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are gathering in Chicago, as current Vice President Kamala Harris is named her party’s presidential nominee. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Now, he’s set to face his successor, Rep. Julie Elizabeth Johnson, in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 33rd District, which is centered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and includes territory both have represented in Congress. Johnson has already won the backing of the top three Democratic leaders in the House.

Texas’ 34th District: former Rep. Mayra Flores (R)

Since winning a June 2022 special election to flip a Democrat-held seat in South Texas, Flores has lost two elections to Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. She’s once again seeking to challenge Gonzalez in his South Texas district that became redder under the state’s new congressional map. But first, she must contend with a Republican primary that includes Army veteran Eric Flores, who has Trump’s endorsement, and businessman Scott Mandel.

Utah’s 1st District: former Rep. Ben McAdams (D)

McAdams is a centrist Democrat who flipped a battleground seat in 2018, before losing reelection to Republican Burgess Owens in 2020. Utah’s new court-ordered congressional map has provided him an opportunity for a comeback this year.

But it’s not certain whether McAdams, a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition while in office, will be a match for the heavily Democratic 1st District, now anchored in deep-blue Salt Lake City. Several other Democrats, including state Sens. Nate Blouin and Kathleen Riebe, have also launched campaigns for the redrawn seat.

Virginia’s 2nd District: former Rep. Elaine Luria (D)

Luria was part of the victorious Democratic class of 2018 that helped power that party to the House majority. Four years later, she lost her bid for a third term to Republican Jen Kiggans after her Hampton Roads seat inched to the right in redistricting.

Since announcing in November that she would challenge Kiggans in 2026, Luria has consolidated significant support from fellow Democrats and a handful of contenders have dropped out of the Democratic primary. Luria could also benefit from more favorable district lines if Democrats are successful in their push to redraw Virginia’s congressional map this year.

Virginia’s 5th District: former Rep. Tom Perriello (D)

Perriello is another Democrat who lost reelection in 2010 seeking a comeback this year. A month after Virginia Democrats posted strong performances in the November off-year elections, he announced a challenge to Republican freshman John McGuire, a former state senator who defeated former House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good in a primary in 2024.

Perriello, who won election to a single House term in 2008, has secured endorsements from the commonwealth’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, as well as from former Gov. Ralph Northam, who defeated him in a 2017 gubernatorial primary.

©2025 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By DEVI SHASTRI and MARGERY A. BECK

States will share $10 billion for rural health care next year in a program that aims to offset the Trump administration’s massive budget cuts to rural hospitals, federal officials announced Monday.

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But while every state applied for money from the Rural Health Transformation Program, it won’t be distributed equally. And critics worry that the funding might be pulled back if a state’s policies don’t match up with the administration’s.

Officials said the average award for 2026 is $200 million, and the fund puts a total of $50 billion into rural health programs over five years. States propose how to spend their awards, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services assigns project officers to support each state, said agency administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

“This fund was crafted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed only six months ago now into law, in order to push states to be creative,” Oz said in a call with reporters Monday.

Under the program, half of the money is equally distributed to each state. The other half is allocated based on a formula developed by CMS that considered rural population size, the financial health of a state’s medical facilities and health outcomes for a state’s population.

The formula also ties $12 billion of the five-year funding to whether states are implementing health policies prioritized by the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. Examples include requiring nutrition education for health care providers, having schools participate in the Presidential Fitness Test or banning the use of SNAP benefits for so-called junk foods, Oz said.

Several Republican-led states — including Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas — have already adopted rules banning the purchase of foods like candy and soda with SNAP benefits.

The money that the states get will be recalculated annually, Oz said, allowing the administration to “claw back” funds if, for example, state leaders don’t pass promised policies. Oz said the clawbacks are not punishments, but leverage governors can use to push policies by pointing to the potential loss of millions.

“I’ve already heard governors express that sentiment that this is not a threat, that this is actually an empowering element of the One Big Beautiful Bill,” he said.

Carrie Cochran-McClain, chief policy officer with the National Rural Health Association, said she’s heard from a number of Democratic-led states that refused to include such restrictions on SNAP benefits even though it could hurt their chance to get more money from the fund.

“It’s not where their state leadership is,” she said.

Experts say fund is inadequate in face of other cuts

Oz and other federal officials have touted the program as a 50% increase in Medicaid investments in rural health care. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska who has been critical of many of the administration’s policies but voted for the budget bill that slashed Medicaid, pointed to the fund when recently questioned about how the cuts would hurt rural hospitals.

“That’s why we added a $50 billion rural hospital fund, to help any hospital that’s struggling,” Bacon said. “This money is meant to keep hospitals afloat.”

But experts say it won’t nearly offset the losses that struggling rural hospitals will face from the federal spending law’s $1.2 trillion cut from the federal budget over the next decade, primarily from Medicaid. Millions of people are also expected to lose Medicaid benefits.

Estimates suggest rural hospitals could lose around $137 billion over the next decade because of the budget measure. As many as 300 rural hospitals were at risk for closure because of the GOP’s spending package, according to an analysis by The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“When you put that up against the $50 billion for the Rural Health Transformation Fund, you know — that math does not add up,” Cochran-McClain said.

She also said there’s no guarantee that the funding will go to rural hospitals in need. For example, she noted, one state’s application included a proposal for healthier, locally sourced school lunch options in rural areas.

And even though innovation is a goal of the program, Cochran-McClain said it’s tough for rural hospitals to innovate when they were struggling to break even before Congress’ Medicaid cuts.

“We talk to rural providers every day that say, ‘I would really love to do x, y, z, but I’m concerned about, you know, meeting payroll at the end of the month,’” she said. “So when you’re in that kind of crisis mode, it is, I would argue, almost impossible to do true innovation.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.