Ex-WSU prof chronicles Viking legend fancifully
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – A former Winona State University professor, Julie Zuehlke, has co-authored what she calls a “bio-simulography” of a Viking settler in Alexandria, where she lives in retirement. A bio-simulography? It’s an imagined history, she explains. The book, “The Big Ole Legend,” is 132 pages. The book was issued by AMP-Squared Books of Alexandria. It’s available e at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria for $50.
Book’s cover. Features the most-photographed Viking statue in the nation. Now home in Alexandria after debut at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Farmer killed in train-tractor collision
FORT ATKINSON, Iowa – A man on a farm tractor was killed in a collision with a Canadian Pacific freight train. Initial details were sketchy. The accident was about 2:30 p.m. six miles west of Fort Atkinson at Jackson Junction. The rail line and State Highway 42 run side by side. The CP line is one of two routes acquired by Canadian Pacific in 2008 from the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern. The former DM&E lines connect South Dakota and Mississippi River trunk lines at Winona in Minnesota and McGregor in Iowa.
Buried gas line pierced; West Side block evacuated
WINONA, Minn. – A stump-removal crew punctured a buried gas line, forcing the evacuation of a West Side neighborhood. No one was injured. Police blocked off an area bounded by Fifth, Olmstead and Wilson streets until the gas was cut off and the rupture repaired.
Spring Grove man dies in house fire
SPRING GROVE, Minn. — A Spring Grove man was found dead in his burning house. Dead was Karl Onstad, age 62. He lived alone. The fire call came in about 2:15 p.m. Houston County Sheriff Brian Swedberg said that foul play was not suspected. Fire crews responded from Spring Grove and from Caledonia, 10 miles away; Eitzen, 11 miles; and Mabel, 8 miles.
Fire’s cause uncertain. At 512 2nd Avenue Northwest. Image: Houston County sheriff
Buttons popping off at Hy-Vee: Best in U.S.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – To celebrate being named the best U.S. grocer, all 280 stores in the Iowa-based Hy-Vee chain grilled free hot dogs and burgers, your choice, over the weekend. Chips and water were free too. The honor was bestowed by the newspaper USA Today, which empaneled 10 industry experts to nominate stores and then asked readers to vote. Hy-Vee was voted best nationally and in Minnesota. Second in Minnesota was Aldi. Third was Trader Joe’s.
Hy-Vee hereabouts
> Winona.
> LaCrosse.
> Rochesteer (two).
> Eau Claire.
Muscled-up actor Liu in WSU speaker series
WINONA, Minn. – Actor Simu Liu, known mostly for the Marvel Studios film” Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” will speak Friday in the Duran cultural enrichment series at Winona State University. The time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $10 to $25. Liu was born of Chinese immigrants and after college became an accountant but shifted gears to acting. His memoir “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story” will be available at a signing after his presentation. Since his breakout as a Marvel superhero, Liu has had prats in the 2023 film “Barbie” and “Arthur the King,” “Atlas” and “Jackpot” all in 2024.
Liu. Cover guy in Men’s Health magazine. Soon un upcoming movie thriller “Last Breath.”
NextEra finally hauls off dumped turbine blades
GRAND MEDOW, Minn. – Under pressure from state regulators, the giant NextEra wind-energy company finally has removed piles of old turbine blades dumped years ago on the Grand Meadow outskirts. NextEra had ignored local pleas to clean up its mess. Only after two state agencies threatened to act did NextEra hire a contractor to haul the discarded blades away for recycling.
NextEra profile
NextEra, based in Juno Beach, Florida, near Mara-a-Lago, claims to be the largest US. electricity producer. Its wind farms dominate Iowa and southern Minnesota. The company’s revenue exceeds $18 billion a year.
10-hour bluegrass event: Hootin’ and hollerin’
Eckers as a music venue
CENTERVILLE, Wis. – The Ecker apple stand once known mostly for pies baked on premises has expanded into the live music business. On Saturday is a 10-hour hootenanny starting at 12 noon. The “Honeycrisp Hootenanny,” they call it with two stages for unending bluegrass. On an open-air stage: Mike Munson, Sheep for Wheat, My Grandma’s Cardigan, and G-E-T vocal and band groups. In the Big Top Tent: Ross Thorn, Lojo, Texas Toast, Heatbox, Maxaphone, and Them Coulee Boys. Admission: $27. There’s an open jam from 3 to 6. Bring your own string or brass or whatever. Cider and beer available. Food trucks to be there. In a couple weeks will be what’s billed a Halloween Hootenanny Fare: $25.
Looking up. Passersby who miss the billboard out front can get idea on looking up bluff above the orchard with the word “hoot” planted unmistakably in white planks.
First frost debuts, then vanishes
WINONA, Minn. – People living up coulees and down in hollows around Winona County awoke to a skiff of frost – the first of the season. The whitish coating didn’t survive much after sunrise, which was at 6:12 a.m.
Earlier: Frost overnight? Probably not but cover the tomatoes
Minnesota corn, soy harvest well along
ST. PAUL, Minn. — — A week of warm and dry days created suitable harvesting conditions for Minnesota corn and soybeans. The latest U.S. Agriculture data for the state:
Corn for grain
2024 so far 75% harvested.
A year earlier: 72%.
Corn for silage
2024 so far: 92% harvested.
A year earlier: 99%.
Soybeans
2024 so far: 68% harvested.
A year earlier: 50%.
State GOP pushes Repinski candidacy
.
Flashy new mailer. Vague on specifics. Sidesteps nitty-gritty issues. Part of the message is a generic Republican theme that Minnesota is unaffordable, as shown by a forlorn woman at a grocery cart, and that Democratic dominance in state government is the reason why. The mailer doesn’t support the claim with cause-and-effect data.
At stake: House 26-A race as partisan kingmaker
WINONA, Minn. — The state Republican party sees Winona as a battleground with a chance to regain control the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. The seat has been vacated by 19-term Democrat Gene Pelowski’s retirement. The state-level GOP has issued a new mailer supporting seasonal tour boat operator Aaron Repinski. The mailer is the latest in a state-level GOP salvo flooding Winona mailboxes. The new mailer features Repinski’s platform planks only in broad and general terms on easy issues like opposing “reckless spending,” which are unspecified — and who doesn’t. The mailer proclaims Repinski an advocate for working families, which would be news if he weren’t — and as if he’s alone as a candidate for working families. The mailer was silent on:
> Women’s issues, on which the state party did Repinski no favors with an earlier sexist mailer that likened teb26-A Democrat candidate Sarah Kruger to a Barbi doll.
> Abortion, on which Repinski has spoken against Minnesota’s policy that assures women a right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
> MAGA credentials and whether Repinski is loyal to GOP national standard-bearer Donald Trump.
There has been lingering doubt among local Republicans about Repinski’s sincerity as a Republican. His only earlier bid for public office was for o a nonpartisan City Council seat. When Repubski was rumored to be pondering a run for House District 26-A, he was asked whether he would declare as a Republican or Democrat and why. To some, his answer came across as opportunistic: He said the GOP banner seemed to present the more favorable route to being elected.
Earlier: Repinski mum on Barbi mailer against rival
Earlier: GOP goes sexist against Winona House candidate
Earlier: August 2024 primary: House District 26-A
Earlier: Repinski to vacate City Council seat
Earlier: Premature though it is, Repinski gets GOP nod
Earlier: Repinski throws hat in ring for State Legislature
Earlier: Repinski says House bid will be as a Republican
Winona home sales in September 2024
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in September:
112 Cobblestone Lane: Swenson to Breet, $785,000.
22928 Mohan Road: Shaw to Yanta, $572,000
1454 Sunny Ridge Drive: Ewert to Stanford/Bower, $560,000.
101 Renea Drive: Ask to Strand, $360,000.
22919 Countv Road 17: Murphy Trust to Eckerson, 348,000.
391 Pleasant Hill Drive: Gander to Mendia, $345,000,.
.349 East Lake Boulevard: Ulrich/Geiger to Lampp, $345,000.
257 Center Street: Martin to Newman, $315,000.
1526 Heights Boulevard: Todd Estate to Paulson, $310,000.
Earlier: Winona home sales in August 2024
Winona County home sales in Septemrer 2024
WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales outside Winona logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in Septenber:
Altura: 360 Taylor Hill Drive: Konkel to Fairchild, $335,000.
LaCrescent: 1517 Ambrosia Court: Nothaus to Rudder, $537,000;
Lewiston: 200 Country Club Drive: Benson to Turner, $325,000.
Minnesota City: 7435 Golden Oak Court: Doffing to Schultz, $$306,000.
St. Charles: 191 Pearson Drive: Bahr to Edstrom, $44,000.
St. Charles: 111 Penn Drive: Mueller to Boettcher, $332,000.
St. Charles: 524 Wiskow Way: Smith/Nuttall to Hilke, $320,000
St. Charles: 1919 Brownell Street: Raatz/Pruka to Juliot, $310,000.
Winona County commercial property sales in September 2024
WINONA, Minn. – Among commercial property sales in Winona County logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in Septenver: None exceeding $1 million;
Earlier: Winona County commercial property sales in August 2024
Grenade at Red Wing dump a harmless look-alike
RED WING, Minn. – Police were called to the Red Wing Waste solid-waste site for what appeared to be a grenade. A bomb squad determined the object was a replica and not a danger. This was about 11 a.m. Where the device originated was under investigation.
A stolen car’s odyssey – and a Vermont connection
WINONA, Minn. – Police surprised a Winona man when they rang his doorbell to tell him that his car had been stolen. The man looked out at his driveway. Sure enough, the car was gone. The officers explained that a 16-year-old Vermont youth was in custody in LaCrosse after police there stopped him for speeding and erratic driving. The youth wouldn’t explain how or where he got the car, but LaCrosse police traced the registration to a Winona address. That was how Winona police ended up on the porch of the Winona man whose vehicle, surprise, had been stolen. Winona police ironically had been alerted earlier by numerous callers about a wild driver around town, but he wasn’t to be found. Apparently he already was en route to LaCrosse 30 miles away. Police in LaCrosse said the youth was a long ways from home 1,200 miles away in St. Albans, Vermont. The car, by the way, had been impounded by LaCrosse police and veen towed into storage. The question for the Winona car owner: How to get his car back
For this driver, one drink apparently too many
WYATVILLE, Minn. – A Winona woman was charged with drunken driving after a traffic stop near the County Road 25 bridge over Rush Creek not far from the Fillmore County line. Deputies said that Braidy Loran Schneider, age 26, admitted to one drink. They also said she failed roadside sobriety tests and exhibited bloodshot and watery eyes and smelled drunk. There was an open container in a cupholder, apparently with a Bloody Mary, deputies said. This was about 7 p.m. At the wheel she had been stopped for weaving and crossing lane markers, deputies said.
Police bolster ranks for WSU homecoming
WINONA, Minn. – Police Chief Tom Williams has authorized four extra officers the weekend of Winona State University’s homecoming. The usual Saturday day shift of five or officers will be at eight, mostly for traffic congestion and crowd control on the parade route and the football game. The parade: 10 a.m. The game: 2 p.m. Also the chief has asked for volunteers for two extra positions for Saturday night with overtime pay as an incentive. Bars in the downtown entertainment zone also are adding staff for the weekend of merriment.
Frost overnight? Probably not but cover the tomatoes
WINONA, Minn – The Sunday night forecast was for lows in the mid-30s – close enough to freezing for cautious gardeners too bring their plants inside or cover them. The cooler air was blowing in from Canada with gusts expected as strong as 30 mph. Is fall here?
A temperature rise next week will put daytime temps back in the 70s and maybe breaking into the 80s. Whether it’ll be Indian simmer depends on how far the Sunday cooling and winds turned the forests yellow, red and orange.
Earlier: Abnormally dry season persists in Minnesota
Earlier: Fall arriving a tad later than usual
GOP yard collage with negatory yellow prelude
Galesville-style neighborliness. Republican yard signs crowd this home on the Park Drive entrance to the Trempealeau County fairground, but two of the signs are out ahead and prominent: “Never Ever Vote Democrat,” compleat with a Trumpian exclamation mark, and “Deport Liberals.” Across the street is a yard equally cluttered for Democrats. Image: Steve Lunde
Jackson County wreck claims Galesville woman
ALBION, Wis. – A Galesville woman, Mary Ladwig, died in a two-vehicle vehicle crash on a backroad southwest of Black River Falls toward Hegg. She was 80. Several other persons were hurt. The accident was about 12 p.m. at a County Road C crossroads. Ladwig died apparently instantly in the impact, said Jackson County Sheriff Duane Waldera.
Cops see choking scratches, arrest boyfriend
WINONA, Minn. – A Twin Cities man was arrested and charged with strangling his girlfriend in an argument over fidelity. Arrested was Kirby Ray Henderson Jr., 23, of the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights. Police were called about 7:30 a.m. They found the girlfriend sitting in a car outside with scratches on her neck and bleeding from an ear. She said she had been choked and couldn’t breathe for perhaps 30 seconds and was fearing for her life. Also, she said, the boyfriend smashed her phone. This was in the 450 block of West Fourth Street. The boyfriend wasn’t around, but police later located Henderson. He denied any strangulation. Even so, he was booked for a heightened level of domestic assault. The girlfriend declined medical attention.
Henderson. Charged with strangulation and instilling fear.
1980s WSU baseball player to sports hall of fame
WINONA, Minn. – A baseball player who rewrote the Winona State baseball record books during his career the 1980s, Scott Cozad, will be inducted into the university’s sports hall kf fame this weekend at homecoming. Cozad is among six 2024 inductees. Cozak set a record for playing the most games, 200, in Warrior history. He ranks first in runs scored,185; walks, 132; and stolen bases, 116. Cozad was on three Northern Sun all-conference. During his senior season Cozad was named an NAIA All-American and led Winona State to the NAIA World Series.
Other 2024 inductees.
Cozad. His Winona State baseball career spanned 1985 to 1988.
> Craig Halvorson, who led the Warriors to back-to-back conference wrestling championships in the 1970s.
> Mike Herzberg, who was the university’s sports information director from 1991 to 2010.
> Joe Hutter, who anchored the football offensive line four seasons in the 1990s.
> Shelly (Girtz) Robohm, who was a staple in the gymnastics lineup in the 1980s, including the national championship in 1985.
>Tom Sawyer, who coached football for 25 seasons, with a record 197 victories and who was the Northern Sun conference Coach of the Year five times.
Yellowstone calls off search for Winona climber
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – The National Park Service has ended the organized search for missing Winona climber Austin King-Henke in the rugged Absarokee wilderness. “Despite significant search efforts over the past week and a half, we have not been able to locate Austin,” said Park Superintendent Cam Sholly. The rescue mission now is in a recovery mode with limited resources, he said: “We do not expect to provide further updates unless a notable change occurs.” At its peak, the search involved 100 personnel, utilizing helicopters, dog teams, and drones. More than 3,225 miles were covered by air and ground at elevations ranging from 11,350 feet to 8,400 feet in every direction down from Eagle Peak. King was last known to be at the peak 29 days ago. He had scaled the peak solo and was excited about his accomplishment.
Raising dust in post-harvest field sweeps
Image: Steve Lunde
Combine chopping. Along Little Taamrack Road east of Centerville a farmer aboard a combine chops up the stubble from corn stalks and shoots them out the back. The rubble helps retain soil moisture and recirculates nutrients.
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