Sean Baker
Reporter
Baker joined the Star Tribune in June 2024. He previously spent eight years covering Rochester for Med City Beat, an independent news website he founded at the age of 25. Prior to moving to Southeast Minnesota, Baker worked as a news producer for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wis. Baker also served as news editor for the Fourth Estate, the student paper of UW-Green Bay, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Baker lives in Rochester with his wife, Sarah, and their two boys.
Latest from Sean Baker
Prison for southern Minnesota driver whose drunken crash killed a motorcyclist
Nicholas Sprau, 60, of the Rochester area was drunk and within feet of his driveway when he crashed his vehicle into an oncoming motorcycle in 2022.
March 27, 2025
Red Wing juvenile center’s well-being checks faulted in teen’s death, investigation says
A state inspector general’s report also finds the facility did not seek parental approval before administering medication to the young inmate.
March 26, 2025
From Wells, Minn., to the White House: How Larry Buendorf’s heroics saved the life of a president
Buendorf, a southern Minnesota native who thwarted an assassination attempt on President Ford in 1975, died earlier this month. He was 87.
March 20, 2025
Northfield residents turn up the volume for rare, independently owned radio station
KYMN has been the voice of Northfield for 56 years, even under new ownership. But wear and tear to its broadcast tower is stretching the station’s bandwidth.
March 15, 2025
Rochester teacher arrested on child pornography charges
Wolf Parsons was a teacher at Resurrection Lutheran School until last week, when the school terminated his employment.
March 11, 2025
Winona State University loses $1.1 million grant from Defense Department
The grant, intended to support civics and community engagement, was axed as part of spending cuts brought on by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
March 7, 2025
![Students walked on the campus of Winona State University. ] CARLOS GONZALEZ • cgonzalez@startribune.com – Winona, MN, – September 24, 2020, A sense of normalcy has returned to college towns across Minnesota since the start of the fall semester, but with it has come increases in COVID-19 cases and greater risk to small communities like Winona,](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/56XBSP6FBACNHQD3E342NKGZGY.jpg?&w=252&ar=3:2&fit=crop)
Change in plans for Rochester sports complex has some voters feeling ‘hoodwinked’
Voters approved a $65 million sports complex, but officials now say much of what was planned is out of budget.
March 6, 2025
Frustration mounts as Rochester heads back to drawing board with historic Chateau Theatre
“If we have owned this thing for 10 years, how do we not have a vision already of what this should be for us ... ?”
February 28, 2025
Rochester teacher arrested on child pornography charges
Wolf Parsons was a teacher at Resurrection Lutheran School until last week, when the school terminated his employment.
March 11, 2025
Winona State University loses $1.1 million grant from Defense Department
The grant, intended to support civics and community engagement, was axed as part of spending cuts brought on by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
March 7, 2025
Change in plans for Rochester sports complex has some voters feeling ‘hoodwinked’
Voters approved a $65 million sports complex, but officials now say much of what was planned is out of budget.
March 6, 2025
Frustration mounts as Rochester heads back to drawing board with historic Chateau Theatre
“If we have owned this thing for 10 years, how do we not have a vision already of what this should be for us ... ?”
February 28, 2025