Golf (women): Falcon Invitational (2nd day): UW-Stout 633 (1st of 13), UW LaCrosse 654 (2nd)

Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 7, St. Scholastica 1

Wrecked bike. Behind the rural-delivery mailbox at U.S. Highway 35 and Blue Gill Road. About 26 miles north of Prairie du Chien. Image: Ken Lange

LaCrosse man succumbed before reaching hospital

FERRYVILLE, Wis. — A La Crosse man died of injuries from a motorcycle crash north of Ferryville. Matthew Keleman, 39, was thrown from the bike. So too was a passenger, Tannille Zemple, 48, of La Crosse. She was taken 36 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Neither had been wearing a helmet, Crawford County deputies said. The accident was about 5:20 p.m. on State Highway 35. Deputies said that several vehicles heading north had slowed or stopped for a vehicle turning left onto Bluegill Drive. Keleman came up on the vehicles, braked and swerved to avoid a rear-end collision, and lost control and crashed.

WINONA, Minn. – Apparently somebody is trying to communicate something but isn’t very good at it. Spray-painted graffiti on the pavement of a parking lot in the 1450 block of Broadway Stret read: “2gBlessAchoo.” Any clue?

MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – A Minnesota City woman said she was beaten and strangled after returning to her boyfriend’s place after a night of drinking. The woman, age 20, said her boyfriend told her to go home to her place but she, feeling sick, said he couldn’t drive. He then yelled at her, called her names, struck her to the floor, and strangled her, she told deputies. This was about 1:05 a.m. at the Hidden Valley trailer court. Medics treated the woman on-site for a bloody head wound, which she said may have come from being hit by a heavy object or from being slammed to the floor or from falling. Deputies said that the boyfriend, Erick Jhodanni Bustillos-Cavazos, 22, denied any physical assault. Deputies took him to jail anyway and booked him for domestic assault and strangulation. Deputies said they understood the two had been a couple about three months.

Bustillos-Cavazos. “Me? Not me.”

Golf (women): Falcon Invitational (Day 1): UW-Stout 312 (at 1st), UW-LaCrosse 312 (2nd))

Soccer (women): Viterbo 1, Bethany 1

Soccer (women): Viterbo 1, Bethany 1

Tennis (women): Warhawk Invitational Day 1): UW-Whitewater 44 (at 1st), UW-LaCrosse (at 5th)

Volleyball (women): Carroll of Wisconsin 3, UW-LaCrosse 2

Volleyball (women): Adrian 3, UW-LaCrosse 2

LAFARGE. Wis.  – A driver suffered a medical episode and left the road, ran into a culvert, and ended in a field. Kyle Ray Stout, 25, of Kendall was heading west toward LaFarge on State Highway 82. Both Kendall and a passenger, Hailey Christine Rogers, 28, of Madison, were taken to a hospital. The accident was about 7:30 p.m. near Spry Road.

Manled upright in afield. Hard to tell this was a Dodge Dakota pickup. Year 2000. You are seeing the grill and a front fender.  Image: Vernon County sheriff

ALMA, Wis. – Three people were injured in a three-vehicle pileup, two of them so seriously that they were airlifted to a hospital. The accident was on U.S. Highway 35 at Beach Harbor Road  north of Alma. Buffalo County deputies said:

> Jeremy Hulberg, 50, of Durand, heading south toward Alma, rear-ended another vehice.

> Keith Koenig, 67, of Alma, was rear-ended

> Grace Kennedy, 19, of LeRoy, Minnesota, on a three-wheel Polaris Slingshot, was then stuck by the Koenig vehicle.

Kennedy and Koenig were the more seriously hurt. This was about 3:35 p.m. Deputies sad alcohol was suspected as a factor.

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – Two Winna motorcyclists were injured when their bike went out of control on U.S. Highway 35 near the Cochrane-Fountain City school. Their injuies were decribed as minor, Buffalo County Sheriff Michael Osmond declined without explanation to release the victims’ names. They were on the same cycle, making a right turn onto State Highway 88 toward Waumandee and Mondovi.. This was about 1:15 p.m.

LACFOSSE, Wis.  –A hiker on a Hixon Forest trail suffered a medical emergency and needed to be rescued in a section of difficult terrain. The hiker was retrieved with what first-responders called a “slope evacuation” with advanced equipment. He was taken from the bluffs to a LaCrosse hospital. This was about 12 noon.

RUSHFORD. Minn.  –- A Rochester man died when he lost control of his motorcycle and went into a ditch on State Highway 30 west of Rushford. Dead when first responders arrived was Noel Alan Luedtke, 81.  He was not wearing a helmet, deputies said. Luedtke was eastbound toward Rushford about 7-1/2 miles from town. He was riding a 2011 Harley Davidson Cruiser. The accident w

as about 10:40 a.m.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – The State Patrol is repainting doors on its cruisers with a new symbol. Gone will be the cluttery former state seal with its much-criticized sexist and racist vibes. New is a symbol intended to identify the Patrol with widely recognized Minnesota features. Rochester-based Sergeant Troy Christianson, who was on the design committee, called it “a modern update” with the:

> North Star. A four-pointed star denoting the cardinal directions served by the Patrol.

> Mississippi River. The state’s critical artery around which the Patrol maintains an efficient transportation network.

> Norway Pines. The state tree symbolizing the Patrol’s 24/7/365 commitment.

The redesign will go on badges, hats, buttons – and, of course, the Patrol’s vehicles. The vehicles, however, remain their familiar maroon. More than 188,000 pieces of equipment and unforms and even stationery will be updated by mid-2025. The redesign is a $4 million project.

Redesign. Sending a different cultural message.

WINONA, Minn. – Police received a call about college kids splish-splashing in the Princess Winona fountain at Windom Park just after the downtown bars closed. There were 20 of them, the caller said. By the time police arrived, they had dispersed. Were they dressed appropriately in swim trunks and tops? “Probably in bar apparel,” said Police Sergeant Nick Quimby. Yes, you guessed it, this was the first weekend of the new semester at Winona State a couple blocks  down Huff Street.

WYATTVILLE, Minn. – A farm hand was arrested in the knifing of a fellow worker outside a dairy barn near Wyattville. The victim told deputies that Adan Cruz-Celis, 24, of Lewiston, came up behind him and stabbed him in the left arm, bicep and elbow. The victim quoted Cruz-Celis: “Don’t mess with my woman. Don’t mess with my family.” The victim’s boss took him 14 miles to the Winona hospital. The victim, who is 30 years old, was treated for the slashes as well as a concussion wound on his head and head cuts that required stitches.The incident was Thursday about 9:40 p.m. but not reported to police until 3:35 p.m. the next day. Deputies went to Cruz-Celis’ address with a search warrant. While deputies were there, Cruz-Celis drove up and was arrested. This was about 9:05 p.m. In his place, deputies found two knives — one a folding pocket knife with a three-inch to a four-inch blade like the victim described. The victim said that he was entirely off-guard when attacked,  that  Cruz-Celis wasn’t even on shift with him, and that he was attacked  from behind.

Cruz-Celis. Charge: Assault with deadly weapon.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was arrested after police caught him trying to retrieve fishing lures from power lines over the Mississippi River with Fourth-of-July sparklers on a long stick. This was about 8 p.m. on Prairie Island at the spillway. There probably is a law regarding fishing lures, power lines and sparklers, but police instead booked James Allen Guenther, 53, for driving with a cancelled license. He had driven to the spillway.

Guenther. Imaginative for sure.

DECORAH, Iowa – A former Iowa man told authorities he would plead not guilty in the 2017 disappearance and death of a teen-age Decorah girl. James Bachmurski, ge65, was expected to make the plea official in an arraignment hearing on Tuesday. Bachmurski had been arrested recently in Georgia and was extradited this week to Decorah. The charge stemmed from a cold case. According to the criminal complaint, 15-year-old Jade Marie Colvin went to Bachmurski’s home on Skyline View Drive in Decorah in March 2017. The two had been messaging electronically for about 20 days, investigators said.

Bachmurski. Charged with second-degree murder.

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – Embattled State Senator Nicole Mitchell pleaded not guilty to burglarizing her stepmother’s house in Alexandria last April. The case is closely watched because Mitchell, a Democrat from the St. Paul suburbs, is critical for the one-vote Democratic majority in the Senate. In entering her plea Mitchell asked explicitly for a jury trial and also a pre-trial conference. Mitchell was caught in the act of breaking into the house but says a strained relationship with her stepmother is an exculpatory factor. Also, she says the theft charge is based on a laptop computer she was taking from the house.  The ownership of the laptop, she says is not her stepmother’s.

Earlier: Ethics hearing delayed for State Senator Mitchell

Earlier: Earlier: State Senate leader on fence on Mitchell issue

Earlier: Earlier: Another Democratic call for Mitchell to step down

Earlier: Walz on Mitchell burglary: Now time to resign

Earlier:  Senate GOP fails to neuter Mitchell as deciding vote

Earlier: In burglary’s wake, Democrats shun Senator Mitchell

Earlier: Earlier: Hypocrisy redux: Who’s calling kettle black?

Earlier: State Senate sidetrack: The Mitchell mess

Earlier: State senator not sidetracked by burglary charge

Earlier: Senator arraigned for burglary, released

Earlier: Senator’s sentimental explanation for burglary

Earlier: Questions loom at state senator’s burglary arrest

Earlier: Cops: State senator found burglarizing house

WINONA, Minn. – Street fooding occurred on Huff Street and the Winona East Side from downpours that moved through southeast Minnesota and adjoining Iowa counties beginning about sundown. Water was standing

knee deep at Second Street and  Mankato Avenue. The storm sewers couldn’t keep up. A small mud and rock slide blocked Old Homer Road south of Winona about 9:40 p.m. In Lewiston in central Winona County, a tree was blown down on a power line. The Rushford-based MiEnergy co-op, which serves the Lewiston area, said the power outage that lasted until midnight. The outage interfered with television reception of the ballyhooed Donald Trump campaign event in LaCrosse. In Iowa near Charles City, 60 mph winds ripped down four-inch diameter tree limbs.

Earlier: Wicked storms coming, then great camp-out days

Four-plus inches. This backyard  rain gauge up East Burns Valley near Wilson showed 4.1 inches the morning after the storm. Image: Andy Frank