Car in ditch near Rollingstone: Tequila blamed
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – Deputies found a car in a ditch off County Road 248 and the driver passed out a few yards away. The driver was unhurt but drunk, deputies said. The quoted Jose Luis Tellez-Navarro, 32, of Altura, that he had been drinking tequila in Altura. His blood-alcohol level, at 0.24%, was triple the legal max for driving. He himself had called 911 that his car was in the ditch near Plummer Road coming into Rollingstone from Altura. This was in the afternoon about 12:40.
Tellez-Navarro. Also charged for a revoked driver license.
Next step for Gow’s free speech battle: The courts
LACROSSE, Wis. – The porn-producing former UW-LaCrosse chancellor, Joe Gow, confirmed he plans to take his case for academic freedom and free speech to the courts. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has supported Gow through his final appeal within the University of Wisconsin system, which he lost last week. “We’re going to talk to the FINE people next week about a lawsuit because this is wrong,” je said. “I’m being discriminated against because of things that my wife and I put on the internet on our own time as private citizens,” he said. “The universities should not be able to fire a tenured professor over that.” He acknowledged that the case is cutting edge but rooted in basic principles that protect college faculty to pursue novel theories and approaches. He repeated his claim that the UW regents are hypocrites, espousing a commitment to free expression but not walking the talk. About a lawsuit Gow said: “We’re excited about it, because this time we’ll get to be heard by an impartial judge or jury.” He said he can image the U.S. Court having an interest in exploring the issue. Meanwhile, he said that said that he and faculty wife Carmen Wilson, who co-produced the videos, expect to be visiting campuses nationwide to talk about their experience and what it means for free speech.
FINE profile
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is committed to defend and sustain individual’s rights to free speech and free thought. Among FINE’s projects is ranking college for a commitment to free speech to help students in choosing a college. Among colleges red-flagged by, mostly for suppressing student dissent over 2 024 Gaza war issues:
> Barnard College.
> University of Pennsylvania.
> New York University.
> Columbia University.
> Harvard University.
Cops: Speeder high with three pre-teens in car
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – State troopers arrested a Chicago driver whom they say was speeding and high on Interstate 94 with three children in the car. Wilma J. Peeples, 37, was taken to a hospital for observation. The children, ages 10, 10 and 9, were turned over to another adult. The arrest was near an an Eau Claire exit about 11 a.m. Peeples was eastbound.
The mechanical innards of a Mississippi River dam
Well oiled, well maintained. After almost a century, this giant gear in the top level of a Dresbach dam tower still controls the flow of the Mississippi River. Lock and Dam 7 went into operation in 1937. A major renovation n 1989 replaced a lot of the dam’s equipment, but it still bespeaks the technology of the late Industrial Age. Image: Andy Frank
Mystery surrounds bloodied-up kid on sidewalk
WINONA, Minn. – A 16-year-old Minnesota City boy was found in blood and vomit on the sidewalk at the Fifth, Orin and Junction streets intersection about 3 a.m. The boy said he had been attacked by four or five men in masks. What he was doing so far from home at 3 in the morning was unclear, police said. For 16-year-olds the Winona curfew is 10 p.m. Also unclear was whether the assault occurred at the intersection or whether the boy had been dumped there. The intersection is on a major thoroughfare connecting Winona and Minnesota City. There had been a call to police to go the intersection. The boy, although bloodied with head and face injuries, declined to go to the hospital, police said. He told police he didn’t want to file a criminal complaint. His mother picked him up and took him home.
Marijuana a crime only if it’s flowered
WINNEBAGO, Minn – Charges have been dropped against former Winnebago Mayor Scott Roberson and his adult son for cultivating marijuana. None of the 240 cannabis plants in their makeshift greenhouse had yet flowered, said their attorney Dave Risk. Thus, he explained, the plants hadn’t yet produced the hallucinating compound THC. Risk also said the search warrant for the greenhouse was flawed. The search was based on somebody thinking they smelled “unburnt marijuana” In the neighborhood. The Robertsons admitted to experimenting with the possibility of growing marijuana commercially but said the experiment never got to to the point of doing it.. Prosecutors would have had difficulty proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the attorney said. Even so, prosecutors asked Blue Earth County Judge Troy Timmerman for more time to fine-tune their case. The judge said no.
Verbatim
Risk, the Robertsons’ attorney: “This experience was a lengthy process that caused incredible stress to Mr. Robertson and his family. He also suffered significant reputational damage. He gave up the mayorship of Winnebago in light of the charges. He did not want to be a distraction and did not want to disgrace the city he loves so much. Mr. Robertson is very happy to have all of this behind him, and I am proud to have helped him through this process. Mr. Robertson, in the end, is a farmer who wants to get back to farming and he hopes to provide jobs to his local economy.”
Mayor Robertson. Marijuana cultivation charges dismissed,.Now can focus on farming his old-style crops.
Police chase ends badly for South Dakota driver
Kammback sedan upside down. The 2009 Mazda MX-3 overturned after early morning chase. Image: Theodore Tollefson
Miracle: No injuries when fleeing car crashes
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A South Dakota driver walked away relatively unhurt from his turned car in southwest Rochester. – and ran. Justin Hudson, 31, of Sioux Falls, was apprehended nearby, police said. He had been the subject of s police chase, which a state trooper called off for safety reasons. Shortly after Hudson’s car crashed into several unoccupied parked cars near Fourth Street Southwest and Sixth Avenue Southwest. The initial chase began about 2:20 a.m. Hudson, who had been alone in the car, was taken into custody without resistance. Jail booking chargers included drunken driving and fleeing police.
News summary at week’s end: September 28, 2024
POLITICS: Trump doubles down to stir immigration paranoia
POLITICS: Repinski mum on Barbi mailer against rival
POLITICS: Walz drilling for televised Vance showdown
POLITCS: Poll: Harris widens Minnesota lead over Trump
POLITICS: Brazen daytime attack on Trump shop
POLITICS: Preston vandal steals Harris-Walz yard signs
CRIME: Fravel’s concern about decorum at murder trial
CUISINE: Bye to Schwan’s: Driving into the sunset
COLLEGES: Gow’s termination at UW-La Crosse upheld
MOUNTAINEERING: Yellowstone search for Winonan enters new week
ENVIRONMENT: WSU executive lauded for energy savings
Earlier: News summary at mid-week: September 25, 2024
Two injured in Fountain City crash; alcohol blamed
FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – Two persons were injured in a three-vehicle pile-up north of Fountain City at the U.S. Highway 35 straight stretch over Waumandee Creek. Taken to the Winona hospital with injuries that appeared sustainable were:
> Brittany Prieur, 34, of Fountain City.
> Matthew Prieur, 28, of Fountain City.
Buffalo County deputies said a 1995 Geo Prizm driven by Alberto Luis Vasquez Jerez, 36, of Fountain City, crossed the centerline ans struck a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Fred Prudoehl, 83, of Winona. A 2022 Toyota Camry following the Equinox tried to swerve to avoid colliding with the Prizm but was also struck. Neither Vasquez Jerez nor Prudoehl was hurt seriously. The accident was about 10:05 p.m. Deputies said that Vasquez Jerez admitted to eight beers during the day. His blood tested at 0.16%, roughly twice the legal limit. He was arrested for several traffic violations and drunken driving.
Wreck at Wauandee Creek. The highway, which connects LaCrosse with upriver points on the Mississippi, was blocked 2-1/2 hours. Image: Buffalo County sheriff
Vasquez Jerez. Booked at county jail in Alma.
College scores
Football: Northern State of South Dakota 30, Winona State 24
Football: Minnesota West Community 27, Rochester Community 15
Soccer (men): Saint John’s 5, Saint Mary’s 0
Soccer (women): Saint Mary’s 2, Saint Benedict 1
Volleyball (women): MSU-Mankato 3, Winona State 0
Volleyball (women): Loras of Iowa 3, UW-LaCrosse 1
Volleyball (women): Edgewood 3, UW-LaCrosse 0
Minnesota prep
Volleyball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 2, Rochester Marshall Rockets 1
Volleyball (girls): Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 2, Owatonna Huskies 1
Volleyball (girls): Mankato West Scarlets 2, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 0
Wisconsin prep
Volleyball (girls): River Falls Wildcats 2, Alden-Conger Knights 1
Volleyball (girls): River Falls Wildcats 2, Alden-Conger Knights 0
Winona team calls helicopter to rescue farm worker
WINONA, Minn. – A farm worker from Eitzen, seriously injured up Pleasant Valley, was found in a quickly organized search and airlifted to a hospital. The man, age 65, had been reported missing about 4:20 p.m. This was a couple hours after he failed to return from mending fence. He was located two hours later in a remote area and hoisted by cables into a State Patrol rescue helicopter. Although serious, his injuries were described as non-life threatening. The first-response team, comprising 35 persons, was mobilized by the Winona County sheriff’s office. Neighbors with four-wheelers helped. The man had been on a tractor in the bluffs off Ciounty Road 17ab0ve Blackberry Road just out of Winona. Rescuers said he was ejected when his tractor hit gravel on a trail. Judging from the dried blood on his injuries, the accident likely had been three to four hours earlieir, first-responders said.
Hoisting victim to helicopter. The injured man was in dense forest and rough terrain. Ground evacuation would have been difficult. Image: Winona County sheriff
New search rescue alliance
The Minnesota State Patrol Air Rescue Team, which includes two firefighters from St. Paul, flew 100 miles to the site. Winona County sheriff’s officers have trained recently with MART. The rescue was the second with MART near Winona within three days. Assisting agencies: Wilson Fire Department, Winona County search and rescue, Winona County mounted posse, Winona County emergency management, Winona Fire Department, Winona ambulance, Winona police, Gundersen Air.
Trump doubles down to stir immigration paranoia
Mugshot backdrop. Exuberant supporters cheered wildly at Trump’s claim of a nation in imminent peril. The auditorium was at the750 maximum capacity allowed by the state fire marshal.
Vows to “liberate Wisconsin” from migrant “invasion”
PRAIRIE DU CHEIN, Wis. – Former President Donald Trump promised to “liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion” in a campaign rally with heated rhetoric. A surge of migrants is “poisoning the blood of the country,” he said at a rally in Prairie du Chien. Trump blamed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for “an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration” across the Mexico border. (Fact check: Migration at the Mexico border remains its lowest since 2020, according the Customs and Border Patrol.) Fans packed a 750-seat theater for Trump with oversize mugshots of male Latinos accused of violent crimes. One mugshot was of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, who was arrested three weeks ago in Prairie du Chien and charged – though not yet convicted — of rape and assault on his traveling companion and her daughter.
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion. We’re going to liberate the country.”
Trump was savage against the Biden-Harris team that defeated his 2020 bid for re-election: “Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way.” The crowd loved the wildly excessive characterizations.
“Kamala Harris can never be forgiven for her erasing our border and she must never be allowed to become president of the United States. She’s letting in people who are going to walk into your house, break into your door.”
Harris is “erasing our border,” he said. About Democratic criticism that he was responsible when he was president for taking thousands of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that has been globally condemned as inhumane, Trump said he had no idea what the critics are talking about. Trump failed to mention that in February he personally torpedoed a bipartisan plan developed in Congress to help solve border issues. The bill was on track for passage when Trump ordered his Republican pinions to switch gears and withdraw their support rather than for him to lose the border issue as a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. The legislation failed.
Anonymous Capitol poisoning threat benign
ST. PAUL, Minn. — White powder found inside a suspicious package mailed to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office was inert and nonhazardous. U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Minnesota Department of Health both examined the powder. The package carried the label of “United States Traitor Elimination Army” but no address. Similar packages have been received in several states by the officials responsible for running elections.
Verbatim
Steve Simon, Minnesota secretary of state: “Fear and intimidation of election workers will not be tolerated. New laws enacted in 2023 make it very clear that it is a crime to intimidate election workers and interfere with the administration of an election. Our focus remains on delivering a free, fair, accurate, and secure election for Minnesotans.”
Simon. Responsible for state election integrity.
Bad idea: Acting out against damn machine
WINONA, Minn. – We’ve all been there: You put your money in the machine and nothing happens. At the Gilmore Avenue car wash on the West End, unstaffed at 7:35 a.m., a Winona man drove in, put his money in the kiosk – and nothing happened. He swore, he kicked, then smashed the screen. It was all on video surveillance tape. The proprietor estimated the damage and loss of business the rest day at $3,000 to $4,000. Charges against the 56-year-old man were pending for criminal damage to property.
Gilmore Avenue car wash. At corner of 600 Clarks Lane.
After her bad U-turn, a drunk driving charge
WINONA, Minn. – A police officer witnessed an illegal U-turn at Huff and Second Street near downtown and began following the car. The driving went from bad to worse – over the centerline, over the fog line. The officer activated his flashers, sounded his siren. The driver pulled to the shoulder on Riverview Drive near Prairie Island Road and stumbled from the car. Jan Therese Hale, 57, of Winona, was arrested for drunken driving. A roadside breath test showed her blood was 0.13% alcohol. At the jail she was tested again – still 0.13%. The law allows only 0.08%. In the meantime, she had failed a test for balance and exhibited bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech and also was oozing the odor of alcohol. This was about 1:55 a.m.
College scores
Soccer (women): MSU-Moorhead 1, Winona State 0
Soccer (women): Newport of Virginia 3, UW-LaCrosse 1
Tennis (women): UW-Eau Claire at Winona State
Volleyball (women): Concordia of St. Paul 3, Winona State 1
Volleyball (women): Gustavus Adolphus 3, Saint Mary’s 0
Minnesota prep
Football: Kasson-Mantorville 28, Winona Winhawks 7
Football: Harmony Fillmore Central Falcons 42, Winona Cotter Ramblers 14
Football: Dover-Eyota Eagles 36, St. Charles Saints 12
Football: Lewiston-Altura Cardinal 43, Wabasha-Kellogg Falcons 8
Wisconsin prep
Football: Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 56, Viroqua Blackhawks 15
Football: Whitehall Norse 34, Independence Indees 14
Football: Blair-Taylor Wildcats 21, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 14
Football: Westby Norsemen 32, Arcadia Raiders 18
Lesson to juvenile: Don’t flaunt a knife
WINONA, Minn. – A 14-year-old boy with a knife was detained by Winona High School teachers at the homecoming football game. Police were told the youth hadn’t threatened anyone but was showing off the knife. Police confiscated the knife and called the boy’s grandma. In another incident at Paul Giel Field, somebody heaved a brick through storage shed window. Three was no immediate arrest.
Repinski mum on Barbi mailer against rival
WINONA, Minn. – Legislative candidate Aaron Repinski has declined repeated news media requests to explain whether he had a role in a campaign mailer that cast rival candidate Sarah Kruger, a woman, in pinkish tones and in a context that likened her to the fashion-obsessed and somewhat inept Barbi doll. The mailer rankled voters sympathetic to women’s issues. Repinski acknowledged a Winona Journal request for an interview about the mailer but then failed twice to follow through on requests to set up an interview. Unclear is whether Repinski helped create the Barbi mailer. The mailer was sent to House Distctm26-A households in early September. The mailer, issued by state Republican office, carried a disclaimer that it was “not coordinated with or approved by any candidate nor is any candidate responsible for it.” It would seem easy enough for Repinski to say he was blind-sided by the mailer and even to disavow it. He has decided to do neither. Attempts to reach Repinski’s campaign manager Jerry Papenfuss, have been unsuccessful. The question to Papenfuss also is whether he participated in creating he Barbi mailer or knew advance it was coming. For her part Kruger has been silent about the mailer publicly as an unfortunate distraction from issues.
Repinski. Silent on whether he had advance knowledge about Barbi mailer.
Repinski on women issues
Repinski, a family man with a son, has avoided a firm position on women’s issues during his first experience in public office as a member of the Winona City Council. Pressed recently on abortion by a Winona Daily News reporter, Repinski was contraductory on values. He said he was both pro-life but believed abortion should be between a woman and her healthcare providers. He expressed no interest in leadership in the Legislature on Minnesota’s law that permits abortion. Sidestepping abortion as a looming public policy issue in the 2024 election, Repinski tried to get off the hook by saying that both sides need to get together to find a solution. At the same time, he said politicians should avoid “weaponizing” the issue, as if resolution is possible without robust dialogue that that includes the policy-makers who write the law.
House 26-A profile
The District, comprising most of Winona County, is one of the most closely watched statewide in the 2024 election. The 26-A seat has been held 38 years by Democrat Gene Pelowski. His retirement has put the seat into play. Democrats desperately need their candidate, Sarah Kruger, to maintain their slim majority in the House. Republicans are no less desperate for Repinski to win to help them take control of the House. For Winona Republicans, Pelowski’s popularity has been an unending frustration. It’s hard to ignore the evidence of Pelowski being elected 19 times in a row. There have been years when the local GOP fielded weak candidates, some absurdly so. Once they didn’t even put anyone on the ballot
Flags to half-staff to remember firefighters
ST.PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz directed flags at state buildings to be flown half-staff Sunday to honor firefighters who have been killed or injured in the line of duty. This order occurs annually on Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day.
Yellowstone search for Winonan enters new week
Morning assembly. Search and rescue teams gather in a hangar for the day’s instructions on where to resume their searches. The are ferried by helicopter into the remote and rugged Eagle Peak terrain. Image: National Park Service
Rescue operation grows to 96 personnel
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – The search for a summer Yellowstone employee from Winona, Austin King-Henke, 22, entered its psychologically significant second week. Search teams, equipped with rescue gear, expanded to 96 personnel, plus two helicopters, a search dog team, and a drone. Everyone carried spotting scopes. Searchers remained focused on areas from 11,300-foot Eagle Peak down to about 8,000 feet. Every drainage and ridgetop was being searched. The last anyone heard from King was a celebratory telephone call from the summit of Eagle Peak as sunset approached September 17. He had scaled the peak solo. He wasn’t discovered to be missing until couple days later. King was in Yellowstone working in a hotel dining room. He was planning to return to Winona in a couple weeks at the end of the tourist season.
Attacker heaves cocktail inside car
WINONA, Minn. – Somebody threw an iced cocktail through the open passenger window of a car outsidenear Fourth and Huff strets, drenching the female passenger and triggering an anxiety attack. This, according to a delayed report to police, was Wednesday about midnight. There was no physical injury nor an evident motive, police were told.
WELCOME
The worthiest goal of journalism is to promote intelligent citizen involvement. Such is our goal with Winona Journal. We focus on local issues so you can go about your daily activities with confidence that you can be a genuine and valued part of informed public dialogue on the kind of community we’re building.
Although Winona-centric, we are attentive also to regional issues. Our community doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
You will find opinion here. We quote and paraphrase with attribution so you know the source and can assess ideas and thoughts. Sometimes you will find our commentary but always clearly labeled.
As journalists we are committed to accuracy but not perfect. Please let us know if you spot an error, whether substantive or even just a dumb typo. We’ll get errors squared away promptly.
We’re glad you’re with us.