Harmony, Rochester drivers hurt in crash
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Two drivers, one from Harmony, one from Rochester, suffered sustainable injuries in a collision on the Southwest Side. Eric Neal Slindee, 69, of Harmony, and Judy Lynn Moyer, 74, of Rochester, were taken to a Rochester hospital. The accident was about 9:25 p.m. on U.S. Highway 52. Slindee, in a 2022 Kia Seltos, was southbound. Moyer, in a 2020 Ford Edge, was northbound. How the collision occurred on the divided highway was unclear.
Another Riverview Drive drunk-driving stop
WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Winona driver, Derek Oberon Clegg, 26, on Riverview Drive at the west end of the fleeting harbor. A jail check found a blood-alcohol level of 0.10% — about 20% too high to be driving legally. There are more drunk-driving arrests on Riverview than any other place in town.
Driver air-lifted to hospital after rear-end wreck
Schwertel Family Farms. This image is from a sunny fall day, but traffic in summers too has grown exponentially as once-quaint roadside fruit stands have grown into destination attractions in an eight-mile stretch between Centerville and Bluff Siding.
SUV rearends truck turning off Highway 35
CENTERVILLE, Wis. – A motorist was seriously hurt when his vehicle slammed into the rear of a truck slowing to turn into a roadside fruit and produce business west Centerville. The driver was airlifted to a hospital. His condition was not known immediately. Trempealeau County deputies said the impact pushed the truck into the driveway down to the Schwertel produce, nursery and cider garden complex. People in the truck were treated on-scene bumps and bruises. This about 5:15 p.m.
This new waiting to happen
The accident was on combined Highways 35 and 54 — part of the Great River Road north from LaCrosse. Yhe route carries seasonally heavy tourist traffic. Once small fruit stands have grown into large-scale attractions, some with family activities, live entertainment and as places to linger over cider. State highway engineers have been aware of a need to widen the route but failed to prioritize budgets to fund improvements. Rear-enders are not uncommon these days.
Crops flourish in cool, slightly damp August
A gentle swale among the soybeans. Along State Highway 74 near St. Charles in far western Winona County. Highs have been mostly in low 70s in recent days with only occasional showers. Image: Steve Lunde
Drunk-driving stop at ex-KOA campground
LAMOILLE, Minn. – Deputies delivering a warrant at the Forest River Campground found a Winona woman who, they said, she was driving impaired. Jozetta Maria KcKee, 55, was arrested. This was about 10:40 a.m. off U.S. Highway 14.
$223,000 for LaCrosse aerodrome upgrade
LACROSSE, Wis. – The LaCrosse airport has been awarded a $223,000 federal grant to rehabilitate its rescue and firefighting facility. The money is from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for national infrastructure. The airport is home to 63 aircraft and averages 50 operations a day.
Under-age and impaired at 2 a.m.
WINONA, Minn. –A Spring Grove teenager as arrested driving drunk at Huff and Sanborn streets about 2 a.m. He was been stopped for a bad brake light, but deputies said his impairment signs couldn’t go unnoticed. A blood sample was taken and sent to the crime lab for substance analysis.
News summary at week’s end: August 10, 2024
POLITICS: August ballot: Kruger-Voegeli in 26A
POLITICS: Walz tightens grip as folksy yet capable hybrid
POLITICS: GOP reckless to disparage Walz military record
POLITICS: Public chatter: About Walz as vice president
ENVIRONMENT: Mussels invasion looms in Lake Byllesby
CRIME: Jewelry-laden scammers may still be out there
CRIME: Long-missing car found submerged
GOVERNANCE: LaCrosse Council to homeless: Go elsewhere
BLUFFS: Hiker suffers multiple injuries at Sugar Loaf fall
Twice now: Second serious fall at SugatrLoaf
WINONA, Minn. – Firefighters rescued an injured climber who roke an ankle at the bufftop Sugar Loaf craig . It was the second fall at the patk in two days. Firefighters eeved ge call at 5:54 p.m.
Troubling news for the Irish: “Our pub is gone”
LACROSSE, Wis. – Dublin Square Irish Pub & Eatery, famous locally for its Guinness Irish stew, locked its doors and went out of business. A staff shortage was blamed. Ironically the closing came as the annual LaCrosse Irish Fest weekend was underway. There was a little forewarning. On Friday the restaurant yanked its meals menu and stopped serving. On Saturday the bar closed too. Besides staffing, sources said the kitchen was problematic and would have cost a fortune to upgrade. For 14 years Dublin Square had been a fixture on LaCrosse’s downtown Third
Street.
Not to be. A poster for an Irish Fest weekend of noshing and imbibing.
Infected water identified in Zumbro village
HAMMOND, Minn. -People in this hamlet of 100 people on the Zumbro River were told not to drink the water without boiling first. The alert was issued through Wabasha County Sheriff Rodney Bartsh. The advice: Water for drinking, cooking and ice-making should be boiled a full minute and cooled before consumption. The cause of the contamination was not clear except that it was bacterial. Hammond is on the Zumbro River 20 miles downstream from Rochester.
Stolen vehicle ditched near spillway
WINONA, Minn. – Police called a wrecker to pull an abandoned vehicle out of a ditch on Prairie Island – and learned later it had been stolen. The vehicle was ditched near McNally landing, on the Minnesota side across from the Fountain City dam. The vehicle was pulled out about 9:20 a.m. The theft had been from the 1000 block of East King Street in Winona.
Cops: Driver stopped drunk twice in one night
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver was arrested with sjgns of impairment about 12 a.m., taken to jail, and released to a sober adult — and then arrested driving again, also with signs of impairment, about 5 a.m. This second time the police locked up James Miles Kohnen, 43, to see a judge on Monday morning. The first stop was in the 1200 block of West Fourth Street, where police had been called for a domestic disturbance. They found Kohnen sitting outside in a running car. Police said he smelled of alcohol and acted impaired. He refused to field sobriety tests and was taken to jail. He was charged with drunk driving. Per police protocol, Kohnen was released to a sober friend, presumably to take home to sober up. The second arrest, four hours later, was at the other end of town on Mankato Avenue, where Kohnen had drjven into a parked car. Kohnen still showed impairment signs and smelled like a drunk, police said. In both arrests, police said Kohnen refused to submit to blood-alcohol testing.
Kohnen. Back-to-back drunken-driving arrests.
K-9 deputy rousts driver who fled on foot
ARCADIA. Wis. – A driver who fled a police officer on foot during a traffic stop in Arcadia proved no match for Luke the Trempealeau County sheriff’s K-9 Luke. Unleased by his handler, Luke tracked Brooks D. Johnson through tall grass and brush to a utility trailer where he was hiding. Johnson surrendered, albeit with bruises and cuts that were treated on-scene. An Arcadia police officer had attempted to stop Johnson’s vehicle on a city street about 3:10 a.m. The vehicle pulled into a private driveway. The driver got out and fled on foot and disappeared into the dark. After several commands for the man to come out, Luke arrived. It was not known initially by officers, but a state Corrections Department felony warrant already had been issued against Johnson for skipping out on bail.
Johnson. Five-foot-6 and 120 pounds. Charges: Obstructing police, bail-jumping.
R.I.P.: Janet Hanson
WINONA, Minn. – Janet K. Hanson, age 84, of Winona, whose career included Winona Knitting Mills and Benchmark Electronics. died at St. Elizabeth’s Care Center in Wabasha. She belonged to the the Odd Fellows lodge since 1969. Her hobbies included collecting teddy bears.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1940-2024
News junkie quiz /1
> Is State Representative Gene Pelowski right-handed or left-handed? Clue
> From what ancient language did the name “borealis” come for the new passenger train with a Winona stop? Clue
> How much do top executives make at Fastenal? Clue
> Who won yhe most votes for the 26-A House seat from Winona at the Democratic county convention but failed to cinch endorsement? And why? Clue
> How many miles of dikes protect Winona from Mississippi River floods? Clue
Cops: Alcohol explains sloppy driving
WINONA, Minn. – An Altura driver, stopped for failing to yield, was tested for blood-alcohol and found to be drunk. The test showed 0.15% alcohol, almost twice the legal limit. Police said Michael Joel Selden, 67, failed a battery of roadside sobriety tests. The stop was about 8:25 p.m. at Carimona and Howard streets.
Hiker suffers multiple injuries in Sugar Loaf fall
Ambulance standby. As first-responders carry an injured climber down the Sugar Loaf landmark. Image: Winona Fire Department
Fell hiking or scaling? Not immediately clear
WINONA, Minn. – A hiker fell at Sugar Loaf Park and was caried off the bluffs with multiple injuries. The hiker was taken a few blocks to the Winona hospital. This was about 6:40 p.m. Initial reports had it that the hiker fell from “the rock,” which would indicate the 85-foot Sugar Loaf pinnacle. The pinnacle is equipped with glued-in metal hand and foot clamps for scaling. Rapelling is also an attraction at the city-operated park. The incident was the second in two weeks at the craggy pillar on the bluffs in southwest Winona. Over the years the years there have been other accidents.
Earlier: Step-by-step: How Sugar Loaf hiker rescued
Earlier: Climber seriously hurt in Sugar Loaf tumble
Earlier: Sugar Loaf hiker falls in dark; leg injured
CAPTION
Man in custody for hidden corpse
LACROSSE, Wis. – A judge ruled there was probable cause for police to continue holding a suburban Shelby man related to a corpse found the day before at a trailer court. In jail was John Stumlin, 55. The body was in an area adjacent to a house trailer in Shelby.
Mussels invasion looms in Lake Byllesby
CANNON FALLS, Minn. – It was alarming enough for fishing when a zebra mussel was found last summer in Lake Byllesby between Cannon Falls and Randolph. Now water samples have shown larvae of the invasive mussel. At stake is fishing in the 1,400-acre lake behind a 40-foot concrete dam built in 1910 across the Cannon River.
Zebra mussel profile
The small freshwater mussel originated in southern Russia and Ukraine. A few attached themselves to the hulls of transoceanic freighters and entered the Great Lakes in 1980s. Most are the size of a fingernail. Their shells have fibers the allow the mussel to absorb nutrients that otherwise would be food for bottom-feeding fish.
Easy to spot. Most have a stripes on their shells, hence the name.
SNL quandary: Who to play Tim Walz
NEW YORK — Comedian Steve Martin, whose career dates to hosting the oddball NBC television show Saturday Night Live way back when, was asked to play the role of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Martin said no. To SNL producer Lorne Michaels, Martin said he’s not an impressionist: “You need someone who can really nail the guy.’” Martin reportedly suggested his New York theater buddy Martin Short.
Walz look-alike? Well, Steve Martin’s balding a bit and white-haired.
Bar zone arrest downtown: Too fast, too drunk
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver was stopped for speeding just after bar closing time downtown and, you guessed it, police said he was drunk. David Daniel King, 42, blew a blood-alcohol test at 0.16%, police said. That’s two times the standard impairment level. The stop was about 1:10 a.m. at Johnson and Fifth streets. Police said King smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech, and failed every field sobriety test. The speeding stop aad been for 40 mph in the 30 downtown zone.
King. Issues in field sobriety tests: Balance, dexterity.
LaCrosse Council to homeless: Go elsewhere
LACROSSE, Wis. – The La Crosse City Councl voted 7-2 to ban camping on city grounds – a move to address problems at homeless encampments. On a related issue, to concentrate homeless people to Houska Park on the river failed 9-2. Council member Erin Goggin was especially adamant for the ban. Goggin described encampments as filthy and inhospitable. “We are allowing people to live in the marsh, along the river banks, and in another hidden places is not helping anyone. Goggin talked about “drug paraphernalia, excrement, unlicensed animals, random blight, parks, air conditioners, anything that can add to the horde and the criminal subculture.” Councilwoman Mac Kiel had doubts about the ban: “It worries me that we are going to drive them into more hazardous and more dangerous places.” Some Council members were urged caution, pointing to the possibility of a solution through a five-year plan being developed by the joint city-counct Pathway House project.
Cars rear-end 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5: No injuries
WINONA, Minn. – Five cars pulled up in a series of rear-ending collisions at U.S. Highway 61 and Huff Street. Nobody was injured, the State Patrol said. This was about 4:30 p.m. Traffic in the evening commute backed up a mile.
State Fair’s food fare /16
August 22 to September 2
IMAGE
Swedish Ice Cream Sundae. Vanilla ice cream covered in lingonberry jam, sprinkled with Swedish ginger cookie crumble, and garnished with a ginger cookie heart. Vegetarian At Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall, north side of Randall Avenue, just south of the Progress Center.
Swedish ‘Sota Sliders. Cranberry-Wild Rice Meatball formed into patties, paired with dill Havarti cheese and a red relish of beets, red onions, red peppers, lingonberries and cranberries, served on two brioche buns. At Hamline Church Dining Hall, north side of Dan Patch Avenue between Underwood & Coope.r streets
Earlier: Fair’s food fare /15
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