A quiet daylight appearance in an East Burns Valley backyard. It’s when night falls that katydids begin their unmistakable concerts. Males “sing” to attract mates by raising their forewings and scraping a rigid edge of the right wing against a file-like section on the left wing. It’s a process called “stridulating.” Sometimes you can spot them napping during the day. The antennas are longer than the rest of their body. They are gentle feeders and aren’t pests — although they bite if handled roughly. Be gentle. Image: Andy Frank

TREMPEALEAU, Wis. — The Army Corps wants to restore the deteriorating ecosystem at Johnson Island on the Mississippi River a couple miles upstream from Trempealeau. It would be a $15.5 million project. But before proceeding the Corps wants public feedback. Deadline for comments: August 28. At issue is shoreline and backwater habitat that has degraded by erosion, sedimentation, and excessive river flow from a side channel. The plan is to restore 66 acres of degraded backwater and floodplain forest habitat. This would include dredging to remove accumulated sediment and constructing a rock sill to reduce river flow and velocity.  Construction could begin in 2028, followed by one year for vegetation plantings.

Historical structural revetments. Wing dams were state-of-the-art solutions in the 1890s to maintain the main channel at a navigable depth for steamboats. Nobody thought much about ecological damage in those days. Image: Army Corps

Reconstruction of the impact. The car northbound (right in this undated file image) on the main highway. The bicyclist was eastbound (straight ahead). Uncertain to investigators: Was the bicyclist in the marked crosswalk? Who had a green light?

Court documents: Hit-run driver lied, then recanted

WINONA, Minn. – The county prosecutor’s criminal complaint for a car-bicycle collision Sunday includes details that neither the State Patrol nor Winona police shared with news reporters. The complaint, filed in Winona Court, says Jessica Shuntae Smith initially denied driving the vehicle when confronted by police and blamed her boyfriend. This, according to the complaint and other sources, is what happened:

> 10:50 a.m.: A 2007 Mercury Montego, was northbound at 10 to 25 mph on combined Highway 14-61 at Huff Street. A man on an e-bicycle was crossing the highway toward Lake Winona. The intersection has stop-go signals and a marked pedestrian crosswalk.

> A witness told police she saw the bicyclist flying through the air following the collision.” He suffered a severe contusion and laceration on his left leg. blood pooled on the pavement.

> The car’s driver, according to the witness, stopped for a moment, rolled down the window, and asked the bicyclist if he was OK. Then the driver turned onto Huff and headed east across Lake Winona.

Smith. Out on bail. Age 30. Earlier lived in Waseca.

> A witness in a separate car followed the suspect automobile across Lake Winona to Belleview Street. The vehicle pulled into a driveway. The driver entered an apartment building. The witness called 911.

> Police found fresh blood on the suspect car. A damaged headlight was embedded with what looked to be human tissue. Police traced the car’s registration to a man living at the Belleview Street apartment

> Police knocked at the apartment door. After 10 minutes a woman answered. She told officers that her boyfriend was driving.

> Police arrested the boyfriend even though he denied driving the car and wasn’t even in the car. He told police that his girlfriend had admitted to him that she bumped into a person.

> The witness told police they had the wrong person, that the driver was female and heavy-set. Also, the witness said, the girlfriend was still in the same clothes as when she was driving.

> Police found a video that showed the woman arriving at the apartment in the car. Before going into the apartment, she was walking around the car apparently checking for damage.

> Under further questioning, the woman admitted she was driving. She said that she had stopped to ask if the bicyclist was OK and that she believed he said yes.

> Smith was charged on a felony for criminal vehicular operation involving substantial bodily harm, also on a felony account of leaving the scene after causing a collision, and on a misdemeanor for driving without a license, and on a misdemeanor of driving an uninsured vehicle. Police noted too there wasn’t any current insurance for the car and that Smith’s license had been revoked earlier.

> The bicyclist, Scott Adrian Sabotta, age 67, of Winona, was in recovery at a LaCrosse hospital.

Earlier: Timeline of car-bike crash suggests hit-run

ELGIN, Minn. — An Albert Lea driver was injured when he ran off State Highway 42 south of Elgin and went into the ditch and hit an embankment and a grove of trees. Mason Matthew Rafdal, 21, was taken 17 miles to a Rochester hospital with sustainable injuries. The single-vehicle accident was about 6 a.m. at 290th Avenue. Rafdal was wearing a seatbelt, Wabasha County deputies said.

WINONA, Minn. — A motorcyclist was clocked at more than twice the speed limit in a residential area on the Far West End. Yusuf Andrew Kuklinski, age 19, of Winona, was going 69 mph in the 30 zone at Broadway and Junction streets, police said. This was about 11:50 p.m. He was ticketed.

MINNEAPOLIS — Medics took 25 injured passengers off a Europe-bound Delta airliner that hit wicked turbulence and diverted to the Minneapolis airport for an emergency landing. The injured passengers were rushed to several hospital emergency rooms. In total there were 275 passengers and 13 crew aboard. Most were ambulatory and exited down emergency chutes to the tarmac at a MSP terminal gate. The plane, a wide-body Airbus 330-900, had departed Salt Lake City about 5:30 p.m. for a 10-hour-our flight to Amsterdam.  At 6:43 the pilot reported severe turbulence and injuries. The scheduled flight path would have had the plane over northern Wyomig. The two-engine Airbus 330s typically cruise at 39,000 to 41,000 feet.

Airbus 330-900. Delta began flying these French-built state-of-the-art planes in 2019.

WINONA, Minn. — The Winna police dispatcher took a fourth rattlesnake call of the season. A handler was dispatched to the 1300 block of Wincrest Drive west of Garvin Heights Vineyards. The snake was corralled and relocated far away.

Rattler profile

Timber rattlers are southeast Minnesota’s only venomous snake. The region’s only other native venomous snake, now thought extinct, is the eastern massasauga rattler. It began dying out as settlers cleared forests and prairies for farming in the 1850s. Timber rattlers, however, have endured. They typically give birth to nine babies. It means if you see one, there may be more around. Some rattler species have a range of only 200 feet. Others migrate farther from their hibernation dens.

Close encounters  

If you encounter a rattlesnake, keep a distance of at least 10 feet. Rattlesnakes can strike a distance of about half their body length. Slowly back away. Avoid sudden movements. Don’t provoke or handle the snake. If bitten, seek immediate medical attention. 

Earlier: Snake-handler summoned to Cedar Valley

Earlier: Rattler bites rare but Winona hospital ready

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 33 emergency medical calls plus 18 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, July 29: 2 medical call plus 6 fire calls

> Monday, July 28: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Sunday, July 27: 3 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Saturday, July 26: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Friday, July 25: 8 medical call plus 1 fire call

> Thursday, July 24: 5 medical calls plus 7 no fire calls

> Wednesday, July 23: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 57 calls

Saskia Hatvany (LaCosse Tribune, July 25, 2025): “Trying to Buy Time: Scientists Battle to Slow Spread of Invasive Carp in Mississippi River”

Rachel Mergen (Winona Daily News, July 29, 2025): “Maddeline Kingsbury Foundation Works to Prevent Domestic Violence”

Kristoffer Tigue (Minnesota Star Tribune, July 25, 2025: “In a Wetter World. Minnesota I Spending Millions to Flood-Proof Its Communities”

Careful nibbling. Tomatoes can be tricky on bunny tummies. The leaves and stalks are fatal. But this backyard bunny has mastered how to nibble off the fruit and enjoy every juicy bite Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested a kicking and screaming Winona woman after she was reported contacting another person who was protected by a court order. Taken into custody despite the resistance was Gean Beatrice Bennett, age 28. This was about 5:44 p.m. at the tennis courts on the 1750 block of Wabasha Street on the Far West End. Police said Bennett had approached a car parked by the protected person, another woman. This other woman called 911. When a police officer confronted Bennett, she threw herself to the ground and kicked and punched and kneed the officer, he said. Bennett was subdued and jailed for violation of a court order and assault on the police officer. The officer said he was in some pain but unneedful of medical attention.

Bennett. Accused of violence against arresting officer.

TROY, Minn. — A 69-year-old man was evacuated hy med-evac helicopter with a head injury suffered while felling a tree. This was off County Road 6 on Ma Dailey Road about 1:50 p.m. He was flown 26 miles to a Rochester hospital.

WINONA, Minn. – A multi-county drug task force blocked a bluffs-ide house on fashionable East Lake Boulevard and arrested a 34-year-old man. The officers had a search warrant as part of an ongoing drug investigation. Arrested was Bryan Joseph Wurm.  In the house, in the200 block, police confiscated seven firearms, ammunition and 0.06 grams of meth. Wurm was alone at the address except for a 6-year-old child he was caring for. Wurm, age 34, surrendered without resistance, police said.  This was about 11 a.m. Wurm was charged with:

> Illegal drug possession.

> Storing meth in a place with a child present.

> Ineligible possession of firearms.

Standing by for the arrest were eight officers from the Rochester-based Southeast Minnesota Violent Crime Task Force, Winona Countv and the city police.

Wurm. Had lived at the address since 2017. Earlier from LaCrescent.

WINONA, Minn. – The driver of a car that struck and injured a bicyclist on Sunday didn’t stick around, police confirmed. The driver, Jessica Shuntae Smith, 30, of Winona, was located later 10 blocks away and booked at the Winona County jail. The accident was about 10:50 a.m. at the Huff Street entrance to the city center at Lake Winona. She was booked 4-1/2 hours later. Witnesses described the car, a 2007 Mercury Montego. Police found the vehicle at a Winona State University parking lot in the 300 West Belleview Street. Smith’s driver’s license, which was revoked earlier, showed a Waseca address. Meanwhile, the bicyclist, Scott Adrian Sabotta, age 57, has been recovering at a LaCrosse hospital with leg bruises and cuts.

Earlier: Criminality charged in car-bike wreck

WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested a Winona man after a bizarre series of events that began near the King Koin self-laundry on East Howard Street. Police were told that Terrell Desean Watkins, age 36, pedaled a bicycle up to a residencenear King Koin.  An argument ensued between Watkins and a man at the residence.  They knew each other, police said. According to the resident, Watkins created a disturbance and threatened to shoot him , then jumped into the man’s 2017 Hyundai Accent in the driveway and drove off.  This was about 8 a.m. A few minutes later police located the vehicle 16 blocks away on Mankato Avenue but no driver. A couple blocks away, in the 1050 block of East Howard, police found Watkins. They made an arrest despite modest resistance. Watkins was booked on tentative charges of automobile theft and threatening violence.

Watkins. Sudden change in his mode of transportation.

WINONA, Minn. — An overnight storm with stiff winds downed trees and ripped off limbs around Winona County. Sheriff’s deputies responded to 18 calls about road hazards from trees and debris, as well as to assist highway and utility crews. There were six storm-related police calls in the city. One house was severely damaged by a falling tree. There were no injuries.

Splintered tree trunk.  A wind-damaged tree at Parks Avenue at the east end of Lake Winona. Image: Steve Lunde

Catch them while you can. The water lily bloom cycle runs three to five days in our Mississippi backwaters. Daytime only. They close at dusk for the night. Image: Army Corps