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13November 2024

Southeast College shows off trucking program

WINONA, Minn. – Anyone who has toyed with the idea of a trucking career can get a hands-on feel for the possibilities at a Minnesota Southeast College house house. The event: Tuesday at 5 p.m. Chris Cook, a student recruiter, said that trucking company agents will be on hand. Also, he said, there will be ride-alongs with Southeast instructors. The college’s 20-credit truck driving certificate program has 100% job placement, Cook said. He noted that Minnesota truckers average $57,000 a year to start.

COOK shric SE Mn reccruter 2024 - Winona Journal

Cook. Southeast admissions counselor.

13November 2024

Western Tech, Viterbo bridge path to ethics degree

LACROSSE, Wis. – A new agreement allows Western Technical College paralegal graduates to apply two years of academic credit toward a four-year ethics degree at Viterbo University. Professor Andrew Hamilton, chair of the Viterbo program, said the head start from Western Tech will be an economical path to a four-year degree.

13November 2024

Emergency, fire crews make 46 calls

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 34 emergency medical calls plus 12 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, November 12 1 medical calls plus 2 fire call.

> Monday, November 11: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Sunday, November 10: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Saturday, November 9: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire calls.

> Friday, November 8: 9 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.

> Thursday, November 7: 1 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Wednesday, November 6: 9 medical calls plus no fire calls.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 51 calls

13November 2024

R.I.P.: Larry Siddell

DODGE, Wis.  — Larry R. Siddell, 70, of Dodge, an automobile fancier who sold Jeeps at the Chrysler Winona dealership, died unexpectedly after a heart attack at work. Before a career in auto sales he was a high school band director in his native Iowa. He considered himself a son of Cresco. His latest four-wheel passion was a Dodge Charger, souped up and new from the factory in a menacing solid and total black.

Details: Lindstrom Funeral Home

SIDDELL arry 1944 2044 - Winona Journal

1944-2024

13November 2024

Cops: Displeased pizza fan had cocaine stash

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man insisted — really insisted – that he had change coming for a pizza at Toppers downtown, but the clerk said he hadn’t paid for the pizza to begin with. As the exchange became unruly, the clerk called police. Unable to stem the unruliness, police arrested Larry Tramone Hudson, age 41. This was about 1 a.m. in the100 block of East Third Street. At the station house, police found a baggie with 0.8 grams of cocaine in Hudson’s undershorts. He was booked for illicit possession of drugs. A records check showed Hudson had a probation requirement to abstain from alcohol, but, said officers, he plainly was intoxicated.

13November 2024

Two drinks, she said; blood tested at 0.11% alcohol

WINONA, Minn. – A Wisconsin driver who failed to turn on her lights was stopped. After failing a battery of sobriety tests, Payton Renee Lawson 28, of Trempealeau, was arrested. This was about 12:05 a.m. at Third and Center streets near the downtown bar district. She admitted to two drinks, the arresting officer said.  Her blood tested at 0.11% alcohol –roughly 1-1/2 times more than what the law considers impairment.

12November 2024

College scores

Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 92, Luther of New Ulm 83

12November 2024

Minnesota prep

Hockey (girls): Rochester Mayo Spartans 3. Faribault South Central 1

12November 2024

Hard frost in the bluffs

IMG 4701 scaled - Winona Journal

November takes hold.  The wild blackberries are long gone but this blackberry bush still holds delights on this frosty morning. Image: Andy Frank

12November 2024

Teacher accused of seeking teen carnality

ALBERT EA, Minn. – An Albert Lea middle-school teacher has bewn arrested for lascivious online chats with a teen-age girl and sending nude videos. Gerardo Noe Guerrero, 31, whose address is 20 miles away in Austin, was intent on hanging out alone with the girl, according to the criminal complaint.  The online exchanges began in May, the complaint said. The exchanges were discovered by a school resource officer on a tip the 15-year-old girl. Guerrero has been fired.

GUERRERO gerardo noe ALB LEA tracge sec 2024 X - Winona Journal

Guerrero. A cross-generation sex case.

12November 2024

Hunter to jail for out-of-season deer kill

WHITEHALL, Wis. – A Galesville hunter, Tony James Lorenz, age 44, was sentenced to a year in jail for numerous gun crimes, illegally shooting a deer, and possessing meth. Judge Rian Radtke also revoked Lorenz’s hunting and fishing privileges for three years. Last February game wardens were told that Lorenz illegally shot a doe out of season at an illegal bait pile in his backyard. His story, according to wardens, was that he freaked out and buried the carcass. Wardens confiscated his rifle, which turned out to have an illegal silencer. A search of his home turned up 20 illegal silencers, four illegal short-barreled rifles, a stolen shotgun — methamphetamine, and 100 meth pipes.

LORENZ ty gaesvile illegaoshoit deer 2024 - Winona Journal

Lorenz. Also fined $2,300 and placed on 4-1/2 years probation.

12November 2024

Probation for publicly flashing genitalia

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A homeless man accused as a serial exhibitionist, Tarius James Seas, age 25, has been sentenced to two years of supervised probation. Seas also was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. The sentence was for one of six counts of indecent exposure in a three week-week period. Five counts were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea. Police said Seas was he was naked from the waist down in public or self-pleasurizing.

Earlier: Charge: Serial public masturbation

12November 2024

Four-day school week nixed in St. Charles

ST.CHARLES, Minn. – Discussion has dead-ended about St. Charles schools moving to a four-day week. Superintendent Rob Routh said a community survey for feedback found 125 of 228 responses were firmly opposed. The pushback speaks for itself, Routh said.

Earlier: St. Charles ponders four-day school week

12November 2024

R.I.P.: Joseph Kamrowski

WINONA, Minn. – Joseph G. Kamrowski, age 97, of Winona, who worked with Lake Center Switch and later for Howard Keller Construction, died at home. He was in the U.S  Army during the Korean Conflict. He was a member of the American Legion in Winona and earlier the Cochrane-Fountain City unit of Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a member of the Laborers International Union of North America for 60 years.

Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home

KAMROWSKI joseph 1927 2024 - Winona Journal

1927-2024

11November 2024

Drivers hurt in evening wreck at Eyota

EYOTA, Minn – Two Winona County drivers were injured, albeit not seriously, in a collision at the Center Avenue intersection with U.S. Highway14 into Eyota. Charlene Margurit Kronebusch, 75, of Utica, and Susan Mary Schwantz, 64, of Lewiston, were taken 16 miles to a Rochester hospital. The accident was about 6 p.m. Police said that Kronebusch was heading west in a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta, and Schwantz east in a 2013 Chevrolet Cruz.

11November 2024

Hy-Vee puts $341,000 to hurricane aid

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The Hy-Vee grocery chain, which has 280 stores in the Upper Midwest, donated $341,000 for hurricanes relief in the Southeast. The donation included a $100,000 corporate match to $241.0000 raised from customers in checkout aisles. Hy-Vee also deployed its disaster relief fleet with a large flatbed generator and trailers with supplies and bottled water.

11November 2024

Deer hunter falls, hurt in remote Tiffany woods

NELSON, Wis. — A hunter found himself in pain and unable to walk after falling from a tree in the Tiffany Wildlife Area. Rescuers found the man after a two-hour search and got him 40 miles to an Eau Claire hospital. Rescuers said the man was 32 years old and from Sulphur, Louisiana. He was up Star Coulee Road near Maxville, roughly halfway between Nelson and Durand. It was opening weekend of deer season

11November 2024

A Veterans Day vigil at Lake Winona

2024 11 11 WNA firef at ivet dsy vigil - Winona Journal

Firefighters at attention. Winona firefighters, both active and retired, stood watch for the Veterans Day Vigil from 4 to 7 p.m. This is the 32nd year of the vigil at Veterans Memorial Park. Image: Winona Fire Department

11November 2024

Injury in car crash near Caledonia golf curse

CALEDONIA, Minn.  – A Caledonia woman, hurt in a two-car collision south of town, was taken 24 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Injuries to Carly Jean Steele, 24, were described as sustainable. The collision occurred about 2:25 p.m. on State Highway 44 near the Ma Cal Grove Country Club. Police said Steele, in a 2017 Buick Envision, was turning eft onto Green Acres Drive. The other vehicle was a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Tyler Norman Hoscheit, 17, of Caledonia. He was unhurt.

11November 2024

Grocery heist from Hy-Vee delivery truck

WINONA, Minn. – Someone stole $288 in groceries from a Hy-Vee home-delivery truck, the store reported. This was about 2 p.m. At last report, police were trying to ascertain whether the heist occurred outside the store, at 1400 Service Drive, or on a delivery.

11November 2024

Wisconsin justices lash out on 1849 abortion law

MADISON, Wis.  – Things don’t look favorable for a right-wing attempt to use a 175-year-old Wisconsin law to erase latter-day easing of abortion law. The case originated with the Republican district attorney from Sheboygan County, Joel Urmanski, In a fiery response from the bench,  state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet didn’t hold back. She noted that the 1849 ban dated to an era when white men held all the power. You cannot ignore everything that has happened since then, she said. Another justice, Jill Karofsky, pointed out that the 1849 ban could result in doctors withholding medical care. She said yhat Urmanski was essentially asking the court to sign a death warrant for women and children. “This is the world gone mad,” Karofsky said.

11November 2024

Porn found incidental to missing corpse case

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – A rural Jackson County man never suspected that police interviews about a corpse on a neighbor’s land would lead to this.  But now, 21 months later, Michael Petersen has been charged with eight counts of possessing child pornography. The porn, according to the criminal complaint, was on a cellphone and hard drives that police found in Petersen’s pockets. This August, the complaint said, a digital evidence specialist located the pornography. Petersen, age 36, was scheduled for further proceedings in Jackson County Court in early December.

Earlier: Six Black River persons arrested in foul play case

11November 2024

Five years prison for fatal 112 mph car crash

MEDFORD, Wis. – An 18-year-old Medford man, Blain Lain, was ordered to prison for five years for a car crash that killed a passenger in his minivan. Judge Ann Knox-Bauer said she couldn’t ignore that Lain was high on marijuana, was going 112 mph, and was not even a licensed driver. Killed was Breanne Flint, 26, of Medford. Others were injured. The Lain vehicle went into a ditch, became airborne, and rolled many times. In a separate case, Judge Knox-Bauer gave Lain additional six months in jail for exposing himself indecently to a child.

11November 2024

UW fires coaching aide for drunken crash

MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin assistant football coach, Jack Del Rio, has been told to resign for a drunken-driving crash. Del Rio, 61, crashed into a yard in Madison about 12:30 a.m. on Friday. Said Badger Head Coach Luke Fickell: “Jack is going to move forward and resign and move on.” His continuation, Fickell said, would be a distraction. Police said that Del Rio’s vehicle hit a street sign, broke a fence and came to a rest in a yard. He was arrested walking away.

Del Rio profile

Del Rio joined the Badger football program as the senior adviser to Head Coach Luke Fickell this season. He had been the defensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders from 2020 to 2023. Previously he held head coach and defensive coordinator positions with the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers. He played 11 seasons in the National Footbal League as a linebacker.

11November 2024

Quiz for Winona news hounds /12

> Who carried Minnesota in the presidential election? By how much? Clue

> How was Adam Fravel escorted back to jail in Winona after his murder conviction in Mankato? Clue

> What’s happening to the 157-year-id Leinenkugel brewery in Chippewa Falls? Clue

 > Among marijuana usrs, how, how are joints and blunts different? Clue

> Why is the sales tax in Winona going up a quarter penny on the dollar? Clue

Earlier: Quiz for Winona news hounds /10

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