New med-evac helicopter in Winona ascent
From roof helipad. The new Eurocopter EC145e, branded as Emplify Health, has made trial landings at Winona Health’s rooftop helipad. The craft is a lighterand more sophisticated update of Gundersen’s predecessor EC145. The German-built craft is based 50 miles away in Sparta. A second Emplify helicopter flies out of Decorah. Rotating in 24/7 shifts are eight pilots, five mechanics, 11 flight nurses and 10 flight paramedics. Image: Steve Lunde
College scores
Hockey (men): St. Scholastica 5, Saint Mary’s 1
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 5, St. Scho;astica 2
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Rushford-Peterson Trojans 57, Winona Cotter Ramblers 49
Basketball (girls): St. Charles Saints 63, LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals 51
Hockey (boys): Austin Packers 3, Winona Winhawks 2
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 75, Whitehall Norse 52
Basketball (boys): Independence Indees 59, Augusta Beavers 39
Basketball (boys): Onalaska Luther Knights 62, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Redhawks 49
Basketball (boys): Westby Norsemen 56, Arcadia Raiders 50
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 51, Whitehall Norse 42
Crash into power pole kills Whitehall driver
WHITEHALL, Wis. – A driver was killed when his vehicle slammed into a power pole just south of Whitehall about 6 p.m. Without explanation Trempealeau County Sheriff Brett Semingson declined to disclose the victim’s name. It was known, however, that the driver was alone in the vehicle. First-responders found victim unresponsive. The accident was on Schansberg Road near Qually Lane.
Hit-run vehicle found with banged-up grill
LEWISTON, Minn. – Deputies were called to a collision in which one driver was reported going through a stop sign, smashing into a second vehicle, and driving off. Nobody was injured, but the second vehicle needed towing. Deputies traced the striking vehicle to a Lewiston address and cited Autumn Rose Corey, 26, of Lewiston. Parts of the other vehicle were hanging from her grill, deputies said. Corey was charged with a stop sign violation and leaving the scene. The collision was about 5 p.m. at Benson Drive and Tews Avenue.
Stewartville fire victims: Dogs cats
First floor fire. Firefighters easily extinguished a fire in an apparently unoccupied building in southeast Stewartville–but too late for two cats who died trapped sjde. A third cat and two dogs were resced. The fire call was about 4:25 p.m. Image: Stewartville Fire Department
Major contract let for Red River flood project
ST.PAUL, Minn. — The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $10.1 million contract to BCSS of Tempe, Arizona, for the south end of its Red River flood diversion projeevt around Fargo and Moothead. The contract is the last major Corps project on the Minnesota side in Clay County. Two miles of road will be reconstructed with a soil-cement mixture overlain by aggregate to withstand overtopping during extreme floods.
Fire damages Wabasha dentistry, laundromat
WABAHA, Minn. – Fire forced dentists and patients into the street at he historically restored Wabasha Density building downtown. Everyone made it out safely. There was extensive heat and smoke damage, said Fire Chief Darren Sheele. The cause was not determined immeditely. The origins appere to have been in a coin laundry in he back. The laundry was damaged extensvely. It wa a multi-alarm fire with additional crews responding from Kellogg, sjx miles awah, and Lake City, 14 mles. Dentists Scott Durand Robert Mann will not be seeing patients for a while.
Wabasha Dentistry. Downtiwn at 207 Main Street. Dentists Scott Durand Robert Mann will not be seeing patients for a while.
Dresbach rest stop targeted for drug dealing
DRESBACH, Minn. — Winona County deputies are swinging regularly into the Interstate 90 rest stop at the Dresbach dam. The parking area has acquired a reputation in drug circles as the place to buy. The rest stop is operated by the state as a welcoming gesture for tourists. It’s relatively quiet in winter.
Winter drought elevates fire danger
Grass fire. Firefighters from Stewartville and Rochester extinguished a grass and brush fire at First Street Southeast and Fourth Avenue Southeast. The fire broke out near a home, but was contained without damage or injuries. Meanwhile, burn bans are in effect for 12 Iowa counties, mostly along the Minnesota border. Image: Stewartville Fire Department
One driver hurt in Red Wing collision
RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing man was injured in a two-car collision near the U.S. Highway 61 bridge over the Cannon River. Wilfrido Bailon Cruz, 23, was taken to the Red Wing hospital with sustainable injuries. The accident was about 11:50 a.m. Police said a 2021 Ford Escape was entering Highway 61 from State Highway 19. A second Escape, this a 2014 model, was heading north out of town in Highway 61. Unhurt were:
> Gene Anthony Bygd, 54, of Rochester, driver of the 2021 Escape.
> Javier Francisco, 30, of Red Wing, in the 2023 Escape.
> Wilfrido Bailon Cruz, 23, of Red Wing, also in the 2023 Escape.
> Carlos Martinez, 34, of Red Wing, also in the 2023 Escape.
Shadows sharp on this pre-Ground Hog Day
A chilly jog. Pacing steady around Lake Winona. With highs in the 30s recently, the surface ice has melted and reflects the pure azure of the winter sky on a clear day. Image: Steve Lunde
All apparently copasetic at Winona Target store
WINONA, Minn. – Neither the Winona police nor the sheriff’s department has been asked to assign extra details Saturday at the big-box Target store on Mankato Avenue. Organizers of a national boycott over the giant retail chain’s revised hiring and sourcing policies announnced nationwide boycott at a rally and demonstration Thursday outside the company headquarters in Minneapolis. There has been no request for help from the local Winona store, police spokespersons said. Doors are scheduled to open at the usual 8 a.m.
Earlier: Their target: Target’s retreat from diversity goals
Sniff visit finds Houston County school drug-free
SPRING GROVE, Minn. – Winona County officers with their K-9 deputy made a sniff check of lockers at the Spring Grove Secondary School. Nothing untoward was found. The check, requested by Superintendent Rachel Udstuen, was periodic but unannounced to students. The Winona County sheriff’s K-9 unit is on call around Houston County. The Spring Grove school has 160 students in Grades 7 to 12.
Shed fire blamed tentatively on warm ashes
STOCKTON, Minn. – Two fire units from Lewiston responded a burning shed on Garvin Brook Road off County Road 23 begtween Stockton and Minnesota City. This was about 4:50 a.m. The property owner said he was unaware of the fire but had put ashes into a trash pile beside the delapidated shed the day before. Flames were extinguished before spreading from grass to nearby woodland. No injuries were involved.
California firm proposes Cedar Rapids casino
$279 million project. The Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center, would be on the old Cooper Mill site in northwest Cedar Rapids.
Giant emporium would have 700 slot machines
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has been asked to license a proposed 20th casino in the state. The casino would be an equidistant 170 miles from LaCrosse in Wisconsin and Rochester and Winona in Minnesota. There’s Republican-led opposition in the Iowa Legislature. A ] mandate would pause new casino licensing through the year 2030. The Cedar Rapids proposal is from the Los Angeles-based gaming company Peninsula Pacific Entertainment. The company as has had an Iowa foothold since its 1999 acquisition of the Diamond Jo casino in Dubuque for $77 million. The Cedar Raoids project would be a complex of restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, an arts and cultural center, and an gambling engineering lab., Oh, yes, there would be 700 slot machines and 22 table games.
Bishop backs Trump attack on transgender funding
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Catholic bishop for southern Minnesota, Robert Barron, endorsed President Trump’s order to ban federal funding for childhood transgender counseling and surgeries. Barron told his flock that changing gender violates human nature. In his Winona-Rochseter diocesan newspaper, he called it unacceptable for children to be encouraged to undergo “destructive medical interventions.” Better, he said, is “receiving access to authentic and bodily-unitive care.” The Diocese claims 134,00 Catholics. Barron’s influence, however, is broader. His online ministry “Word on Fire” has 3.2 million Facebook followers.
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Barron. Chair of the Committee of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, a unit of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Lanesboro Burros 77, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 51
Basketball (girls): St. Charles Saints 77, St. Paul Christ’s Household of Faith Lions 61
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 4, Red Wing Wingers 2
Hockey (girls): Winona Winhawks 7, Red Wing Wingers 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 66, Eau Claire Immanuel Lancers 54
Basketball (girls): Viroqua Blackhawks 67, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Redhawks 36
Basketball (girls): Onalaska Luther Knights 46, Arcadia Raiders 32
Basketball (girls): Independence Indees 61, Augusta Beavers 50
After ninth time, he’s called a habitual offender
WINONA, Minn. — Eddie Lee Stinson doesn’t seem to be getting the message that you need a valid license to drive. For the ninth time in a year he was stopped for driving with a revoked license. Yes, the officer recognized him. Stinson, age 33, was charged as a habitual violator. The stop was about 9:45 p.m. at Fifth and Wilson streets on the Near West Side..
Stinson. Also charged for his vehicle as uninsured.
Road rage: Two vehicles crash on I-90
WYATTVILLE, Minn. – Two drivers escaped injury in a road-rage crash on Interstate 90 near the Rushford exit. Initial reports were incomplete but did identify one vehicle as a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado. There were no immediate arrests, deputies said. The crash was about 5:30 p.m.
Study: One-fifth of Minnesotans in food insecurity
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — A new study says almost one in five Minnesota households cannot afford the food they need. The study, by the food shelf Second Harvest Heartland, found 18% of the state is supported by the emergency food system. Also: 30% of households are not confident about having enough food in the next year. Other findings: Only 60% of households of color are food-secure, compared to 84% of white households.
Strangulation charged in domestic dispute
LEWISTON, Minn. – A Lewiston man as booked into the Winona County jail for domestic assault and strangulation. TC Ryan Lee Simon, 38, was arrested in a residence in the 100 block of First Street South about 4 p.m. This was after officers separated the parties.
Simon. Domestic disturbance drew Lewiston police and sheriff’s deputies
Rival House leaders in political theater
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Democratic House leader Melissa Hortman said she has been unable to make contact with her Republican counterpart to negotiate a new power-sharing agreement and end the Democratic boycott that has put the House into gridlock. Hortman, D-Brooklyn Park, said she was at the Capitol at 9 a.m, ready to negotiate, but the Republican leader Lisa Demuth refused to meet. “I’ll be at the Capitol ready to negotiate at 9 a.m. tomorrow as well, and I hope she will join me,” Hortman said. Demuth, R-Cold Spring, meanwhile, has insisted that her willingness to negotiate has been “very clear.” Said Demuth:“If she has something that she wants to talk about in a serious offer, I’m willing to have that conversation.”
Demuth. Republican House leader.
Hortman. Democratic House reader.
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