WINONA, Minn. –Police talked a suicidal woman back from a ledge on the Garvin Heights overlook above the city. The woman, age 31, was taken to the Winona hospital with a dozen self-inficted slices on a forearm, none of them too deep. This was about 1:05 p.m. Police had been alerted to self-harm selfies and suicidal comments online. An officer went to an address in the 650 block of West Broadway. The woman had left already and reportedly was beaded for Garvin Heights. The officer found her car unoccupied and locked in a parking lot. The woman was on the overlook ledge a hundred feet away in the freezing afternoon with her legs hanging over the other side with a drop off the bluff of several hundred feet. The officer called for a rescue team and ambulance and began to calm and persuade the woman off the ledge. After 15 minutes or so, the woman climbed out of danger. She was triaged and taken to the hospital.

Garvin Heights overlook. A summer view. Six-hundred feet above Winona with 170 feet straight down. In December, with trees bare of their summer foliage, there little to slow a fall.

CALEDONIA, Minn. – Although school officials have been mum on details about a brawl among high school wrestlers two weeks ago, multiple sources say that Caledonia team members ganged up and beat a fellow team member from Houston during an after-schoolpractice. There are inconsistencies among sources on how badly the Houston wrestler was hurt. Unknown too: What set off the assault. The team is comprised of boys from the adjoining Caledonia and Houston school districts. Caledonia wrestlers dominate the team. School authorities have declined to release details ostensibly to protect student privacy. Their reticence accelerated rumor mills with some contradicting clutter in public speculation.

Earlier: Police investigate Caledonia wrestling brawl

RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing husband and wife were sentenced to four years in prison for torturing their three children. Benjamin Taylor Cotton, 42, and Christina Ann Cotton, 40, had caged and otherwise abused the children.  A social worker discovered the situation in June 2023. The original charges were child torture, child neglect or endangerment, and malicious child punishment. The charges were reduced in plea bargaining. Goodue County Judge Douglas Bayley accepted the watered-down charges. And Christina Cotton pleaded guilty to one count of child torture, and Benjamin Cotton to one count of child torture liability for letting it happen. The other criminal counts were dismissed.

Earlier: Plea-deal offered in child torture case

VIROQUA, Wis. – A man accused in the grisly murder of a rural LaCrosse woman 40 years ago will be tried for the crime, a judge ruled. An attorney for Michael R. Popp, now 61, argued there was insufficient evidence for a trial, but Vernon County Judge Mark Goodman ruled otherwise. Meanwhile, Poppe remains in jail in lieu of $1 million bail. At the hearing a state crime investigator, Lindsay Lehr, testified that a DNA sample in Dolowy’s body was matched in 2022 to Popp. His attorney, Jennifer Lough, acknowledged that Popp’s sperm may have been in the vagina of the victim, Terry Dolowy but said that didn’t mean he killed her. The cause of death was never determined, Lough noted: “This could have been a drug overdose. It could have been a person who was strangled. It could have been a person who was shot,” Lough said. “We don’t know how she died. More important, we don’t know who killed her. All we know is that Mr. Popp’s semen was found inside of the victim.” Dolowy, 24, went missing in Septenber 1985. Her headless and burned remains were discovered four days on the Viroqua side of the LaCrosse-Vernon county line. Popp, whose home is Tomah, was arrested this September while held in the Monroe County jail on charges unrelated to Dolowy’s murder – stalking, domestic abuse, threatening to spread derogatory information, obstructing police, and possessing cocaine and marijuana.

Earlier: Bail $1 million in 40-year-old Dolowy murder

Earlier: Arrest turns cold case hot in grisly 1985 slaying

Poppe.  At hearing. He was 22 years old when the murder occurred. Dolowy, 24, was last known to be at her place in Barre Mills 10 miles east of LaCrosse. Her mutilated remains were found 15 miles away.

WINONA, Minn. — Police found a tiny GPS tracking device hidden in a man’s car after he called about pings on his computer. The Apple AirTag was in the backseat. The man told police he had no idea who would trailing his car digitally. The AirTag device is only 1.3 inches in diameter and weighs less than half ounce. Most commonly it’s attached to key fobs to find them when lost – and also dog collars.

Apple Airtag. Half-ounce tracking device.

WINONA, Minn. – Police continued working to corroborate the report of a 17-year-old girl that she was kidnapped a week ago from the Hidden Valley trailer court in Minnesota City. No video or other evidence has been uncovered, a police spokesperson said. There appears no reason for public concern about its safety, the spokesperson said.

Earlier: Girl hazy on why walking down busy highway

WINONA, Minn. – The judge in the Adam Fravel murder trial will allow video and audio news coverage of his sentencing next week. Family and friends of the murder victim, Maddi Kingsbury, asked for the news coverage  — a departure from their wanting and getting a ban on live coverage of Fravel’s trial. At sentencing the family and friends will have a forum to restate  their contempt for Fravel eyeball to eyeball – a final gesture before he goes off to prison for a mandatory life sentence. Fravel too will have an opportunity to make a final statement to Judge Nancy Buytendorp before she announces her sentence and explains her rationale on fine details.

Earlier: Kingsburys now want news cameras in court

WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Minneapolis driver whose blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. Colin Patrick Cross, 47, tested at 0.17% on the street at Hamilton and King, where he was stopped, and again at the jailhouse. Anything more than 0.08% is unacceptable for driving. Officers said that Cross claimed the last drink he had — a couple, actually, he said — was the previous day. That, police said, didn’t square with his blood-shot and watery eyes and slurred speech. Or the 0.17%. Also: He failed the standard bank of field sobriety tests for balance and dexterity.

PLAINVIEW, Minn. – The Plainview American Legion volor guard is honoring the Minnesota soldiers who were wounded or killed taking Shy’s Hill in the 1864 Battle f Nashville. Time: Saturday at 11 a.m. at at Trailhead Park in Plainview. The weekend marks he anniversary of the battle. The death and wunded toll was 302 Minnesota soldiers – almost 10% of the Union army’s losses. Most were from southeast Minnesota counties. It’s been known as Minnesota’s bloodiest day of the Civil War.

Capitol mural. Th mural by artist Howard Pyle portrays the heroism and tragedy of war —  a face-to-face depiction of the charge of four Minnesota regiments across a muddy cornfield at Shy’s Hill. The mural hangs in the Governor’s Suite at the State Capitol. Pyle lived 1852 to 1911.

Battle of Nashville. Shy’s Hill was at Nashville, top center. Union regiments in blue and Confederacy units in red met in a costly but decisive battle. The Union prevailed, ending the war in Tennessee. The fall of the Southern Confederacy was only a matter of time.

PRESTON, Minn. –A judge has ruled to allow a woman to be tried on 17 counts in a fatal 2023 traffic crash into a horse-drawn Amish buggy. Four other counts against Samantha Petersen, age 36, will be dismissed, said Fillmore County Judge Jeremy Clinefelter. The dismissed charges:

> Two counts of criminal vehicular homicide while under the influence.

> Two counts criminal vehicular operation while under the influence.

Judge Clinefelter’s ruling was a mixed bag for Samantha Petersen. But there was an upside for her. With four counts dismissed, Petersen’s attorney is expected to proceed with plea-bargaining with the Fillmore County prosecutor. Investigators initially concluded that Samantha had conspired with her twin sister Sarah to exchange places at the accident scene to confuse police about who was driving. Meanwhile Sarah still faces 16 separate charges for the wreck. Two Amish children, ages 7 and 11, died in the crash.

Earlier: End in sight for twins in 2013 Amish fatalities?

Earlier: One twin in Amish crash seeks reduced charges

Earlier: Battle grows over evidence in fatal Amish crash

BEAVER DAM, Wis. – The first step to divorce has been taken by the wife of a man who faked his drowning in nearby Green Lake and vanished into eastern Europe. Emily Borgwardt filed for an annulment or legal separation in Dodge County Court. She and Ryan Borgwardt, who lived in Watertown, had been married 22 years. Authorities located the husband 4-1/2 months after he disappeared. He’s now back to face the music.

Earlier: Run-away Wisconsin man is back, faces judge

MADISON, Wis. – Fifty towns are receiving funding to replace aging water systems with pass-down funds from Biden federal infrastructure legislation. Governor Tony Evers said that $440 million is going to the Wisconsin projects. Included:

> Alma. $829,000 to replace Lift Station 4 and a sanitary sewer line

> Arcadia. $984,000 to replace the Main Street sanitary sewer.

> Augusta.  $607,000 to construct a new Spring Street lift station and replace the Main Street sanitary sewer.

> Brockway. $524,000 to replace the  Linoln Street force sewer.

> Merrillan.  $416,000 to replace Mill Street, Hayden Street and Center Street sanitary sewers.

WINONA, Minn. – An Anoka man was charged with drunken driving after a police speeding stop on Riverview Drive. Jeremy Ornellas, 25, had an alcohol level of 0.11% in his system, police said. That’s almost double what’s legal for driving. There were other giveaways to impairment, police said: Blood-shot and watery eyes and slurred speech. Too, they said, he he tottered and stumbled in roadside sobriety tests. The traffic stop was about 11:20 p.m.

RUSHFORD, Minn. –  The power supplier MiEnergy Cooperative issued a peak energy alert for Thursday when high demand for energy was expected as temperatures plummet. The alert goes into effect around 7 a.m. Members enrolled in MiEnergy’s dual-fuel management program can expect to be affected until 11 a.m. Other homeowners were asked to adjust heat systems to 68 degrees  or lower if no is home. Also: Use a microwave to cook, not an oven. Refrain from television. MiEergy delvers power to 22,000 account locations in Fillmore, Houston Mower, Olmsted and Winona counties in Minnesota and Allamakee ,Chicksaw, Howard and Winneshiek counties in Iowa.  Similar alerts were issued by:

>People’s Energy. Of Oronoco. 20,000 account locations in Olmsted, Dodge, Fillmore, Mower, Wabasha and Winona counties.

> Freeborn Mower Electric Cooperative. Of Albert Lea.  22,000 account locations in Freeborn and Mower counties.

Alerts are issued when power suppliers expect their costs to purchase of electricity from wholesalers, like Dairyland Power, will go up. Wholesale prices kick into higher range in peak periods. Eventually the higher prices will be reflected in monthly bills.

Earlier: First horrific winter blast en route

Basketball (men): Saint John’s 75, Saint Mary’s 61

LACROSSE, Wis. – Fire destroyed a house and displaced a family with six children on the LaCrosse South End. No one was injured. Two dogs required veterinary care. The mother, Amanda Hayden, said she had been at the Salvation Army’s Christmas gift distribution site and arrived home to find the house engulfed. Her children — ages 16, 14, 11, 8, 5 and 2 — are without clothing. Their school books, backpacks, jackets and clothes re gone, she said. They went to a hotel for the night. It’s been a tragic year for the Haydens. The husband is hospitalized from a recent stroke. The fire was about 5 p.m. It was extinguished within five minutes by firefighters, but significan smoke damage already had occurred.

Structure intact. On Mormon Coulee Road near the Highway 35 and Highway 14 split.Fire’s cause not known immediately.

EYOYA, Minn. – A St. Charles driver was injured albeit not seriously a three-vehicle pile-up on State Highway 42 on the south end of Eyota. Kelly Ann Cornett, 24, was taken 16 miles to Rochester hospital. The accident was about 5 p.m. Police said a 2016 Ford Explorer. waiting to turn left, was rear-ended first by 2012 Chevrolet Traverse and then by a 2012 Ford Fusion. Unhurt were the other drivers:

> Jasmine Rae Applen, 38, of Lanesboro, in the Ford Fusion.

> Paula Renee Walters, 45, of Dover, in the Ford. Explorer.

Cornett  was in a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse

LEWISTON, Minn. – The policy director for the Land Stewardship Project, which opposes giant feedlots, called the latest court ruling against expanding the Daley dairy herd at Lewiston a “victory” for clean water. Said Sean Carroll: “It defies common sense to allow for the expansion of factory farms in an area that already suffers from significant nitrate contamination of the groundwater.” The new ruling, from the state Appeals Court, went against a Daley claim that the Winona County Board was unduly biased in denying a Daley application to override  the county’s unit cap on feedlots.The Daley plan was to quadruple the county limit with 6,000 animal units. The expanded facility would use 92 million gallons of groundwater a year around Lewiston and produce 46 million gallons of manure and waste water. The Daley position has been that technology can preclude feedlot leaking. Well-equipped large feedlots are better than a lot of smaller traditional feedlots, the Daleys have argued. The appellate court, however, focused not on the broad issues but on a technical issue over Winona Coury Board procedures.

Earlier: Daleys lose latest bid to expand dairy herd

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Appeals Court profile

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reviews decisions of trial courts, state agencies, and local governments. As the error-correcting court, the Court of Appeals filters extraneous and weak arguments in appeals. This allows the Minnesota Supreme Court to spend time resolving difficult constitutional and public policy cases. Court of Appeals decisions are the final ruling in about 95% of 2,000 to 2,400 appeals every year. Typically about 5%  of the appellate court’s decisions are accepted on further appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.