ST. CHARLES, Minn. — Deputies were called to the swimming pool parking lot near the St. Charles High School about teenagers whipping their car in circles and hanging out open doors. Ever been on a carnival ride designed for a thrill from centrifugal force? A difference here: These four teens had unbuckled their seatbelts for the fullest possible effect. Police called the parents.

Dubious sundown fun. Multiple automobile safety violations at Mel Brownell aquatic center.

WITOKA, Minn.  — A man had packed guns from his late father’s house in a case and headed home in an open side-by-side four-wheeler. At home the man discovered the guns were missing and called the sheriff’s office. Later the man called back. He had retraced his path back over the ridge to East Burns valley and found the case and the guns in a ditch, They had bounced off. This was about 2:55 p.m.

GOODVIEW, Minn. ­ —The Kickass jerky maker Jeremy Littel plans a 2,500-square foot retail gallery with a porch out front to sit and chomp. Next step: A warehouse. Then what? Littel thinks big. Remember Kevin Costner’s line from the movie “Field of Dreams”: “If you build it, they will come.” Metaphorically: Kickass could come to be to Minnesota what L.L. Bean is to Maine — a travel destination, or at least a do-not-miss travel stop. For now, Littel’s home garage in Goodview is the world center of his Kickass brand, which a growing social media following and a growing presence on retail shelves in the Upper Midwest.

Earlier: Imagine this: Goodview as a global jerky epicenter

Jerky for the world. Now only a dirt pile, but, says Jeremy Littel, just you wait. Coming soon is the Goodview entrepreneur’s showroom for what he sees as a Kickass brand beef jerky empire. The site: 54th Avenue at U.S. Highway 61.

NODINE, Minn. — A 17-year-old LaCrescent motorcyclist ran into a guardrail and was injured seriously. An ambulance took him to a LaCrosse hospital. This was about 11 a.m. at the top of twisted and steeply banked County Road 12, which rises up a coulee from Dakota. The accident was near the Apple Blossom Drive intersection.

ZUMBROTA, Minn., — Two South Dakota travelers were injured when their pickup truck went into a ditch on U.S. Highway 52. Taken to the Cannon Falls hospital were Rutungisha Ruganyintare, 20, and Mwibagiza Mbitsemunda, 16, of Sioux Falls. Their injuries were sustainable, said Goodhue County deputies. The accident was about 10:20 a.m. They were in a 2014 Ford pickup headed toward Cannon Falls on the four-lane divided highway. Both were wearing seatbelts, deputies said.

Cloud Peak. In the 27-mile spine of the Bighorn mountains. The range is known for sharp summits, sheer rock faces, and glacier-carved box canyns. In the Big Horn National Forest. Cloud Peak reigns as the tallest point.

Six days since last contact with Grant Gardner

TEN SLEEEP, Wyo. — Ground and air searches intensified for a Minnesota climber missing on remote Cloud Peak, a 13,000-foot granite crag in the Big Horn wilderness. Missing a week has been Grant Gardner of Lakeville. He was on a three-day hike.  The rugged terrain is a challenge for searchers and so too the unpredictable weather at high altitude, said Sheriff Ken Blackburn. There are few visible paths in the cliffs and boulder fields above timber line. Nightfall would have made Gardner’s descent all he more dangerous, the sheriff said. The last that  anyone  heard from Gardner was a 7 p.m. call home to Minnesota from the summit.  He told his wife that he would be heading down. The peak can be dangerous even during the day but thist was sunset . Sheriff Blackburn said two searchers already have been injured, bith in daylight. . Besides ground teams, search sorties have been flown by the Wyoming National Guard, First Flight of Wyoming, and private aircraft flying out of Cody, Riverton and Sheridan. Ground team, some with K-9s, have been from Wyoming’s Big Horn, Johnson, Park. Sheridan and Washakie counties.

View from top. Cloud Peak;’s xact elevation 13,167 feet. In 191,900-acre Cloud Peak Wilderness in north-central Wyoming’s Big Horn mountains. Lower elevations still snow-covered  on the sunny summer day this photo was taken.

Earlier: Minnesota climber lost on 13,000-foot

WINONA, Minn. — Police know Brently Steven Johson well from dozens of encounters around town. It did not look right that the perennially homeless Johnson was pedaling a fancy $1,700 bicycle loaded with features. Too, the bike matched the description of a bike for which the officer had taken a theft report the day before. The police stop was about 9 a.m. at Levee Park. Johnson was booked for receiving stolen property and escorted to a familiar place — a jail cell. The bike was returned to its rightful owner.

Johnson.  A pedaling adventure cut short.

WINONA, Minn. – A City Council committee has recommended renaming the Masonic Temple that the city has operated since 1979 as a senior center. The recommendation is flavorless: The ARC, short for arts, recreation and culture. At least it would eclipse the disrepute that, rightly or wrongly, the once prominent but elitist and secretive Masonic lodge has picked up in the popular mindset. In recommending The ARC, a Winona Creative Commission subcommittee considered 70-plus suggestions from the community. About its recommendation to the City Council, the committee said The ARC “reflects the activities and opportunities offered by the facility.” The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Restoration became a pet project of Chad Ubl, the city’s park director and now city manager. Upkeep has been costly and controversial. Heating, cooling and ventilation upgrades cost $3 million in 2023.

Winona landmark. From a 1930s postcard. Some 39,000 square feet at Main and Fifth Street.

Proscenium Arch stage: In an elegant auditorium for theatrical productions.

Timeline

1857: The Winona Lodge No. 18 was chartered.

1909: The Winona Temple was completed, a project of Minnesota architect Warren Powers Laird.  Furnishings throughout were rich mahoganies. The lodge commissioned 98 hand-painted scenic drops from the Sosman and Landis studio in Chicago.

1930: Membership and enthusiasm began dwindling.

1978: The Winona lodge consolidated with a lodge in Rochester and relocated.

1979: The city purchased the building and established a senior center on the ground floor. Winona Lodge No. 18 leased the upper floors.

1997: The Theatre du Mississippi began performances in an auditorium and ballroom.

1998: The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its striking Beaux Arts facade of red brick and stone and for its past cultural and social role in community life.

Earlier: Another $1 million for Masonic Temple upgrades

ROCHESTER, Minn_. — an assistant golf pro at the Rochester Country Club died in a street 10 blocks south of the club. Police said Nathan Westergaard, age 39, was lying in the east lane of Salem Road Southwest when he was a hit by a car. This was about 5 a.m. Attempts to revive him were futile, police said. An investigation was begun. Police said the driver who struck Westergaard reported the incident promptly. There has been no reason to suspect criminality, police said. Westergaard was believed in good health.

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Sylvan Park pond. Stocked with rainbow trout with a perfectly suited shoreline pier. No license needed but no free dinner. The policy is catch-and-release. Forgot your gear? It’s available. Hungry? They have tender vittles too. Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. — Police took a call that a man had climbed into his car drunk at the Westfield golf course and drove off. An officer stopped the car 10 blocks away and made a stop. Geoffrey Paul Schewe, age 39, of Winona, had blurry eyes and mumbled speech and stumbled through roadside balance and dexterity tests, the officer said. Schewe’s breath showed his blood at 0.09% alcohol. He was arrested. This was about 6 p.m. near Broadway and South Baker streets.

DRESBACH, Minn.  — Deputies spotted a stolen boat on a Mississippi island across from Blue Heron Lane and arrested a Winona man. Charged with theft was Nathan Eric Valentis Walker, age 42. This was about 5:30 a.m. The boat, a 14-foot aluminum craft, was towed back to its dock at the Blue Heron address, its motor intact. Because Walker had a cut on his head, deputies took him 22 miles to the Winona hospital. An hour later Winona city police stopped Walker crossing Mankato Avenue near the hospital in an emergency room gown and barefoot. Back in custody Walker was taken to jail. Deputies were unsure how Walker’s head had been cut. They had been in the Blue Heron area to investigate a report from a Canadian Pacific crew that a man had jumped off a freight car on their moving train. Deputies were unsure whether the train case and the boat were related.

Walker. Suspect in a boat theft made it across the Mississippi only to an island.

LANESBORO, Minn. — A van carrying nine people, most in their 60s, and a car crashed near Lanesboro. Two people in the van were taken 50 miles to a Rochester hospital with seemingly sustainable injuries, said Fillmore County deputies. The accident was three milles west of Lanesboro about 9:45 p.m. on a narrow and steep section of State Highway 16.with sharp turns and no shouders  The 2019 Ford Transit Van was eastbound toward Houston. The other vehicle, a 2011 Chrysler 200, was headed west. The Chrysler driver, a recently licensed 16-year-old girl, was unhurt. Everyone in both vehicles was belted, deputies said. All airbags deployed. In the van:

> Thomas Stanley Kaase, 66, of Preston, the van driver, uninjured.

> Patti Lu Foster, 65, of Lancaster, Wisconsin, uninjured.

> Kathryn Ann Hesse, 65, of Burnsville, Minnesota, uninjured.

> Shelly Ledria Jordan, 54, of Ankeny, Iowa, to hospital.

> Rose Marie Miller, 65, of Westside, Iowa, to hospital.

> Karen Sue Nieland, 68, of Carroll, Iowa, uninjured.

> Sandra Marie Obrecht, 71, also of Carroll, uninjured.

> Carolyn Sue Sander, 57, also of Carroll, uninjured

> Lori Ann Schott, 65, of Tipton, Iowa, uninjured.

WINONA, Minn. — A woman told police that a Minnesota City man stole her purse with $400 from her West End apartment. The thief, she said, was Dale Curtis Marks. He left in a car, she said. Police located the vehicle 2-1/2 miles away at Broadway and Winona streets. In the rear seat, police said, was the purse but no money. A cellphone, also reported stolen, was in the car too, police said. Police found more: There was a set of glass pipes with meth residue. Marks, age 53, was booked for drug possession as well as theft. Driving the car with Marks was Crystal Leanne Brand, 35, of Winona. She was also charged with drug possession. The purse theft was at an apartment in the 1700 block of West Broadway about 9:30 a.m., police said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An air quality alert has been extended through Monday by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as western Canadian wildfire continue sending fine smoke particles airborne across the border. Affected also are neighboring Iowa, Wisconsin and contiguous areas.

We’re not alone. Major wildfires in the Grand Canyon and Maui have degenerated air quality even more severely. Images: National Weather Service

WINONA, Minn. — Authorities who have been monitoring social media for chatter promoting pop-up beer busts have picked up nothing for this coming weekend, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said. There was a large gathering two weeks ago deep up a remote coulee in the northern tip of Winona County. It was the only such event so far this summer — unlike 2024 when the they were weekly with some drawing hundreds of roisters, almost all teenagers, from all over southeast Minnesota. There were fights, falls and medical emergencies. To get a handle on the situation, Ganrude organized fellow sheriffs to monitor social media for tip-offs and to share what they were picking up. Extra patrols were put on stand0by on likely party nights. Back-ups were pre-arranged with the State Patrol and other agencies.

Earlier: Beer-bust teen parties back in Whitewater woods

TEN SLEEP, Wyo. — A Minnesota climber’s automobile was found parked at a trailhead for 13,000 Cloud Peak. The wife of Grant Gardner had called authorities that she feared him missing. The last she had heard from hm was three days earlier. He called from the summit as night fell. She described him as exhausted. The peak, in the Big Horn Mountains east of Yellowstone Park, can be challenging. Typically snow remains until mid-July. Weather patterns include winds, thunder and lightning storms. Gardner was described ny friends as an experienced outdoors enthusiast and climber. At the trailhead to Cloud Peak he logged in for a three-day hike alone up the Mistymoon Lake Trail. The log-in suggested “a well-thought-out, very planned, meticulous itinerary,” said Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn. A friend back home in Lakeville, an outer-suburb of Minneapolis, said that Gardner often took solo trips and was used to cold conditions.

Gardner. Age 38. A marketing agent. An amateur licensed pilot. Father of two. His last call home: Exhausted but triumphant from Cloud Peak summit at nightfall.

WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in July:

23171 County Road 17: Heist Trust to Gerts, $775,000.

66 Shady Oaks Court: Schrupp to Kiel, $600,000.

131 Jay Bee Drive: Mahoney to Moore/Steigelman, $592,000.

199 Treetops Lane: Stevens/Thompson to Philipps, $542,000.

85 Forest Oak Court: Grewe to Ziebell, $515,000.

51 Oak Park Court: Solheid to Peterson/Cryderman, $505,000.

31949 Headwaters Drive: McNamer to Weilandt, $450,000.

58 Shady Oaks Court: Kiel to Flowers, $430,000.

200 Janet Marie Lane: Wheeler to Duncanson, $410,000.

381 Knopp Valley Drive: Goede to White, $368,000.

1341 Conrad Drive: Maas to Jacob/Davis, $340,000.

25877 Morning Glory Drive: Marg to Todd, $329,000.

462 Glenview Drive: Sharp to Murck, $310,000.

Earlier: Winona home sales in June 2025

WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales outside Winona logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in July:

Lewiston: 20760 Enterprise Valley Drive: Fannie Mae to Davis, $$350,000.

Minnesota City: 313 Saehler Drive: Hengel to Kosel, $300,000.

St. Charles: 1931 Brownall Street: Dezell to Omdahl, $325,000.

Stockton: 8440 D Street: Ellinghuysen to Reusch, $305,000.

Utica: 26921 Cemetery Road: Slabaugh to Weaver, $667,000.

Earlier: Winona County home sales in June 2025

WINONA, Minn. – Among commercial property sales in Winona County logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in July:

Winona: 207 Winona Street and 276 West Fifth Street: Fastenal to River Tides, $3.5 million.

Earlier: Winona County commercial sales: June 2025

MINNEAPOLIS — The 25 people injured when a Delta airliner hit severe turbulence out of Salt Lake have been released from Minneapolis hospitals. There were bumps and bruises but the injuries all were sustainable, Delta said. The Airbus 330-900 was 40 minutes into a flight to Amsterdam and had climbed to 37,000 feet. It was just clearing the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains in northern Wyoming. It hit what can be described as an invisible pillar of wildly heaving currents. The plane dropped 1,300 feet in two minutes. Passengers described flight attendants being thrown into the air. One woman hit the ceiling and fell on another passenger and appeared to break her ribs. The pilot immediately throttled back to minimize mid-air structural stress on the aircraft. Airbus 330-900s weigh 26 tons fully fueled with fuel. Aware of injuries, the Pilot radioed to be diverted to an airport with facilities to accommodate mass casualties. Response: 800 miles to Minneapolis. The plane touched down successfully at 7:43 p.m. Medics were waiting. Among passenger accounts:

> Nick-Taylor Jensen, a Danish passenger, said seat belt signs were off, although passengers were advised as usual to keep belted while in their seats. Flight attendants were serving drinks. “A man five rows in front of me flew out of his seat and hit the ceiling,” Jensen told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “The side-to-side and up-and-down jostling was not normal turbulence. The noise of the plane and extreme rushing air was unlike anything I’ve heard on a flight. Jensen’s father, a few rows in front of him, hit his head on the overhead luggage bin. At one point Jensen made eye contact with his father and “mutually had the feeling we were saying goodbye.”

Disarray in cabin. Water bottles, pillows, phones and food carts flew in what looked to be slow motion, said one passenger. People were drenched in drinks that were being served ahead of dinner. Image: Ricardo Hoogesteger

> A Belgian passenger told KMSP that he was buckled and uninjured but watched a nearby passenger fly into ceiling. Another passenger grabbed onto one of the man’s legs to hold onto him. The man was basically stuck to the ceiling during the turbulent free-fall.

> Joseph Carbone, a passenger, to KARE: “It was the meal service. It was just starting. It was calm before that, then it felt like we crashed into something. All of a sudden, the bottom just dropped out. We watched everything around us go up and hit the ceiling. There was lots of screaming and panic. It honestly felt like it was tearing the plane apart.”

NOTE: This updates and clarifies details from our original account.

Earlier: Turbulence jolts Delta flight: 288 aboard, 25 injured