Judge recites charges for hit-drag-flee clash
ROCHESTER, Minn – A Rochester woman was arraigned on charges that she ran over another woman in a Taco Bell parking lot and drove off, dragging the woman 50 feet over asphalt. Lindsay Jo Hawkinson, 40, was charged with operating a vehicle criminally, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving after revocation. The incident was May 5. According to the criminal complaint, Hawkinson was driving her boyfriend’s car with a revoked driver’s license with her 11-year-old daughter in the vehicle. The other woman told police that Hawkinson grabbed her hair and pulled her partially into the vehicle and the accelerated away.
Hawkinson. Had failed to show July 9 for first court date. Subsequently arrested.
Car on hillside street crashes through roof below
LACRESCENT, Minn. – A car dropped 60 feet off a hillside street and crashed through the roof of a garage on a house on another residential street 60 feet below. The driver was injured bumping through trees and thicket all way down. This was about 10:30 a.m. The driver had been on Houston County Road 25. The final impact was at 1102 Juniper Street. No one was home.
Greetings from above. Driver crawled out among garage rafters. Hospitalized in stable condition.
Pickup-semi collision injures driver
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Hollandale driver was hospitalized with sustainable injuries after her car and a semi-truck collided near an inntersection southwest of Rochester. Sharon Lea Kenitz, 75, of the Freeborn County town of Hollandale, was on Highway 30 eastbound in a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado. The trucker, Shawn Daniel Johnson, 57, of Gibbon, was unhurt. He was southbound on 44th Avenue. This was about 9:43 a.m.
News summary at mid-week: July 17, 2024
POLITICS: No surprise: Minnesota GOP delegation all for Trump
POLITIC: Van Orden stirs scene with anti-war woman
POLITICS: Walz decries political violence after Trump shot
CRIME: Ohio cops kill man a mile from GOP convention
CRIME: Guilty plea proposed if infanticide charge eased
CRIME: Two stabbed at Spring Valley gas stop
GOVERNANCE: New appeal due on Minnesota public-carry limits?
ACCIDENT: Tire flies off, hits spectator at County Fair race
ACCIDENT: Rochester balloon crash blamed on high wind
ENVIRONMENT: Handler wrestles season’s fourth rattlesnake
ENVIRONMENT: Expect fewer Rochester lawns, more prairie looks
COLLEGES: Gow: UW-L faculty probe was a bamboozle
RIVER: Body of hero-father retrieved from Mississippi
HEALTH: Mayo scores among leading U.S. hospitals
Earlier: Summary at week’s end: July 13, 2024
Bikers: He waved gun at us; other guy: Not so
WINONA, Minn. – Police were trying to unscramble the facts of a confrontation on the Far West End that may or may not have involved a firearm. Officers were called to the 50 block of Lenox Street about 8:50 p.m. A man and woman said they had stopped their motorcycle for a man yelling at them but whom they couldn’t hear because their bike noise was too loud – so they steered closer. At that point, the man, still yellling, pulled a handgun from a case and waved it at them. Or so they said. When police later located the man, he denied any firearms. He did, however, acknowledge an argument and said he shook an impact wrench at the bikers. Police classified it all as an open case.
New appeal due on Minnesota public-carry limits?
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, said he’s mulling whether to appeal a federal appellate court’s opinion this week against the Minnesota age limit on public-carry handgun permits. Ellison expressed “extremely disappointment” in the appellate ruling that allows 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to carry handguns. As an example, Ellison pointed to the age of the man who snot President Donald Trump over the weekend in Pennsylvania. The man was 20. “The people of Minnesota want and deserve solutions that reduce shootings and improve public safety, and the new ruling only makes that more difficult,” he said. About the new appellate opinion, Ellison said: “Despite this setback I remain as committed as ever to improving public safety in Minnesota by championing and defending lifesaving, common-sense gun violence prevention measures.” The appellate opinion he said, is “opening the floodgates to litigation from gun advocacy groups looking to undo reasonable safety legislation. So far in 2024, he said, Minnesota has experienced four mass shootings.
Rochester balloon crash blamed on high wind
WASHINGTON – High winds caused a hot-air balloon crash in in Rochester in March, according to federal investigators. Their final report found no human error or malfunction n with the balloon or basket. Three people suffered minor injuries when their balloon whipped onto power lines and crashed along busy South Broadway during the afternoon commute. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
Earlier: Ballooning terror: Like slamming into a lightning bolt
State Fair’s food fare /8
August 22 to September 2
Crab boil wings. Chicken wings marinated in hot sauce, grilled and then fried with corn, chicken apple sausage and potatoes. Tossed in a “crab boil” butter and finished with a lemon wedge and parsley. Gluten-free. At Soul Bowl in the Food Building at the east wall
Deep-fried Halloumi cheese. Halloumi cheese, crafted from a blend of sheep and goat milk, wrapped in pastry dough and deep-fried. Served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Vegetarian. At Holy Land Deli at the International Bazaar in southeast corner
Earlier: State Fair’s food fare /7
Van Orden stirs scene with anti-war woman
Wisconsin congressman. Van Orden at his table awaiting he first course, the salad, at a GOP women’s luncheon at the Pfister Hotel during the Republican National Convention. He was accused of barging his way to the front of a line to get in. Once there, all seemed copasetic. Outside police were arresting a woman anti-war protester, who by some accounts, Van Orden had pushed aside to get to the door. His counterclaim: She battered him.
He said-she said: Who to believe
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The western Wisconsin congressman Derrick Van Orden issued a statement claiming he had been attacked by a Muslim woman on a crowded street outside the Pfister Hotel and injured albeit not seriously. Van Orden called it an “an incident of political violence.” The woman was arrested right away and escorted to jail. She said Van Orden started the confrontation.
> What we know. There are different accounts of what happened. This much is known. A GOP women’s brunch had been arranged at the Pfister, a classy downtown venue, as part of the Republican National Convention. People were lined up to enter the banquet room, including members of the pro-Hamas peace group CodePink This was about 11 a.m.
> Version One. CodePink organizer Nour Jaghama said Van Orden bumped into her from behind. He was barging ahead to get to the front of the line, she said. CodePink issued a statement 3-1/2 hours later that Jaghama was “peacefully waiting in line” when she was “intentionally bumped by a bald, white member of Congress while he tried to shove past her.” The statement said Jaghama did not react. Even so, a Texas state police officer, on special assignment for the convention, took her into custody. Milwaukee police subsequently arrived and arrested Jaghama – although she was subsequently released. With its statement CodePink posted a video in which Jaghama said: “He cut me in line, so I stood in front of him because I was first.” The CodePink post quoted Van Orden as soon as he ran into her: “You are assaulting a member of Congress.”
>Version Two. Van Orden posted his version 5-1/2 hours after the incident. He offered few particular but claimed he had been “battered,” Van Orden: “This appears to be an incident of political violence, and I will never tolerate this. Regardless of the severity of the violence, political violence is political violence.” He did not explain what he perceived as “political violence.” Police later said that Van Orden told he suffered minor injuries but refused medical attention.
> About Jaghama. She is 24 and a CodePink organizer. CodePink’s statement on the incident said that Jaghama was “visibly Palestinian” and j pink garb, which the organization said raised the specter of racial profiling. Two other CodePink staff members, ahead of Jagham,and dressed inconspicuously, had already gone into the building “without any issues,” according to the organization’s statement. Code Pink, also known as Women for Peace, is a left-wing anti-war organization. It opposes drone strikes, the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camp. It has positions on Palestinian statehood, the Iran nuclear deal, humanitarian abuse in Saudi Arabia, and peace on the Korean peninsula. CodePink has conducted marches, protests and other activist action to promote its goals.
> About Van Orden. Age 54. In first term in Congress from WI-3, which includes LaCrosse and Eau Claire. Known for swager and white supremacy. He cultivates a macho image and campaigns on a Harley Davidson. In 2015 he drew on his experience as a Navy Seal for a primer for young men on how to command respect – “A Book of Man: A Navy Seal’s Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood.” He has little respect for lifestyles not his own. In 2021 he threatened a teen-age library aide in Prairie du Chien over a gay book on display. In 2023, after only a few weeks in office, he yelled and cursed at teen-age interns taking group selfies in the Capitol rotunda late at night. He called them disrespectful. He was drunk, the interns said. In Congress he’s been a lone wolf. In 2023 after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, he went to Israel with neither diplomatic nor military portfolio to offer advice, unsolicited though it be, from his very dated experience as a Navy enlistee going back to 2008. He has been a Trump devotee and went to the Capitol with the January 6 insurrection mob in 2021.
Jaghama. Of the CodePink war protest movement. On the street here as directed by police trying sort out what happened. Meanwhile, the WI-3 Congressman Van Orden was quickly allowed to proceed inside to be in time for the luncheon. Meanwhile Jaghama was told to wait-in-place. She eventually was hauled to jail and was quickly released.
Sidenote
In a somewhat disconnected side note, Van Orden repeatedly lumped the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump with CodePink women’s anti-war presence in Milwaukee. This despite nothing in the investigation of the Trump attack has found no conspiracy between 20-year-old Pennsylvania shooter and Middle East policy or Islam causes. CodePink activism and protests have no record of violence.
Verbatim
Van Orden: “There is no place for political violence in this country and I have repeatedly called for people who choose this path to be prosecuted to the greatest extent of the law. Nothing will change until these people are held accountable.”
Another rattlesnake out and about
WINONA, Minn. – Game wardens corralled a rattlesnake, the fifth in town this season, and took it far away for release. The snake was reported in the 1250 residential block Wincrest Drive on the ridgetop. This was about 12:20 p.m. The call went to the central police dispatcher, who called a state Natural Resources Department crew that coincidentally was in the area anyway.
Gun safety group backs Minnesota public-carry law
NEW YORK – A leading organization for limiting access to firearms, Everytown for Gun Safety, says a federal appeals court has ignored reality in overruling a 2023 Minnesota law to keep handgun out of the hands of anyone younger than 21. Janet Carter, the organization’s senior director, said that public-carry age restrictions are constitutional under any reasonable reading of the Second Amendment. The appellate ruling, Carter also said, misreads recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions. Everytown Law has the largest staff of litigators in the country dedicated to advancing gun safety in the courts and through the civil and criminal justice systems.
Emergency, fire crews make 50 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 43 emergency medical calls plus 27 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, July 16: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Monday, July 15: 8 medical calls plus 7 fire call.
> Sunday, July 14: 4 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
> Saturday, July 13: 8 medical calls plus 6 fire calls.
> Friday, J July 12: 4 medical calls plus 6 fire calls.
> Thursday, J July 11: 8 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, July 10: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 74 calls
Souped-up pickup stolen from home garage
WINONA, Minn. – An unlocked 2019 Ford Raptor pickup in an unlocked detached garage was found missing about 7 a.m. This was in the 200 block of East Howard Street. The owner pegged the vehicle’s value at $55,000. He told police the keys had been left in a cupholder. The garage door appeared to have been forced up manually, police said. The vehicle was black and hard to miss.
R.I.P.: Dennis Ebertowski
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – Dennis M. Ebertowski, age 79, of Minnesota City, who worked construction for Wilmar Larson and in 1969 started Ebertowski Construction, died at home. He and was a 1963 graduate of Coyter High School. At Dunwoody he studied carpentry. He was n the U.S. Army in South Korea in he Vietnam era. He was a member of the American Legion.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1945-2024
Two stabbed at Spring Valley gas stop
SPRING VALLEY, Minn. – Two people were hospitalized with stab wounds after a rumble outside the Kwik Trip convenience store in this Fillmore Cunty town. The violence was over when deputies arrived, but Sheriff John DeGeorge said that the 24/7 store’s video had helped identify those involved. They were out-of-towners and were being sought, the sheriff said. The wounds of the stab victims were described as non-life threatening. Details were sketchy but Sheriff DeGeorge said that deputies located witnesses. The stabbings, he said, appeared to be part of an ongoing dispute.
Under 21 and want a handgun? OK, says court
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A federal appeals court found flaws in Minnesota’s 2023 law that banned young people under 21 from carrying handguns. The decision means that anyone as young as 18 soon will be able to apply for permits to carry handguns in public. Writing for the court, Judge Duane Benton, of the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, said that Minnesota had failed to demonstrate that 18 to 20-year-olds should be denied a constitutional citizen right “to keep and bear arms.” The 27-page ruling drew on a recent U.S. Supreme Court rationale that any government limit on gun rights must be “consistent wih this nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.” Minnesota’s defense of the 2023 law was that 18- to 20-year-olds did not possess full civil and political rights when the nation was founded. Judge Benton, however, sidestepped a historical practice from the 1780s and noted even earlier common law included them in the “political community.” So too, said the judge, does current practice. Minnesota had argued that 18- to 20-year-olds were not competent to make responsible decisions with guns and posed a risk to themselves and to others. Minnesota’s argument, said Benton, was interesting but not supported by sufficient evidence.
Litigation profile
The 8th Circuit ruling confirms the 2021 opinion of U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez for Minnesota. Menendez ruled that government limits were inconsistent s historical tradition against firearms regulation. The Menendez opinion was a setback for the movement for common-sense gun controls. Her opinion supported a challenge to the Minnesota law by the gun industry. The challenge was in the names of three young adults from Douglas, Mille Lacs and Washington counties. They claimed that the state’s age restriction violated their citizen rights. Backing them hem were the National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.
Dust-up over grass clippings at Stockton City Hall
STOCKTON, Minn. – A sheriff’s investigator began assessing possible assault charges for a fight outside the Stockton City Hall over grass clippings. An irate homeowner and a city employee had come to blows. The homeowner suffered a small cut above one eye, the investigating deputy said. The city employee claimed he struck the blow in self-defense. This was about 11:45 a.m. At issue, according to the homeowner, was that grass clippings had been blown into his lawn. It escalated into pushing and shoving and then, wham, blows were exchanged.
Guilty plea proposed if infanticide charge eased
RED WING, Minn. — A Red Wing man has admitted in a plea agreement that he killed his infant son. Hunter Matthew McCutchen, 28, told the judge he would plead guilty to second-degree murder if first-degree murder and lesser charges were dropped. The infant suffered substantial ongoing physical abuse. There were broken ribs and a broken collarbone in various stages of healing. There also was bleeding on the boy’s brain and loss of brain function, according to the criminal complaint. If the judge accepts McCutcheon’s plea proposal, the sentence could be 40 years. The man has a criminal history: Two convictions for domestic assault.
New copper theft at Schneider shop
WINONA, Minn. – Employees at Schneider Heating and Air Conditioning discovered another theft of copper, again overnight. Police began a routine check of scrapyards, including Red Box and Miller Scrap, for anyone unloading stolen copper. The theft was reported about 10:45 a.m. from the oft-hit Schneider’s facility at 101 Harvester Street near the Union Pacific railyard. Copper currently goes for $3.65 a pound tops on the black market.
Community Foundation golf event nets $36,000
WINONA, Minn. — The Winona Community Foundation reported $36,000 from its golf fundraiser in June. The event had 24 teams and 33 sponsors. The money will go into the Foundation’s, community grants fund.
Winona Health golf fundraiser coming in August
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Tournament profile
Tournament participants last year helped the Winona Health Foundation’s Ben and Adith Miller Patient Care Fund assist 364 patients with $564,000 in medical care. Since its inception, the tournment has helped 8,200 people pay $15.8 million in medical costs.
Special attraction. Golf entertainer Todd Kierstead has been lined up for Winona Health’s Ben and Adith Miller Classic on August 12 at the Cedar Valley course. Besides an 18-hole main event there’s what they’re calling a nine-hole Green Monster Challenge. Both events are four-person scrambles. Details. Kierstead at 4:45 p.m.
Ohio cops kill man a mile from GOP convention
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Five Ohio police officers, on special duty at the Republican National Convention, fired shots at a man in a residential neighborhood. He fell dead to the ground. Authorities did not release the victim’s name immediately but said he was 43 and believed homeless. Body cams showed the man charging another person with a knife. This was near King Park, which has a longstanding homeless encampment. It’s a mile from the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is underway. The officers, from Columbus, Ohio, were part of a contingent of 4,500 officers in Milwaukee to help local authorities. They were comprised a uniformed bicycle patrol unit meeting to discuss their daily assignment. Body cams showed the officers running toward the man and shouting repeatedly at him to drop the knife. When he did not, they began firing.
Minnesota Guard to Milwaukee GOP confab
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota National Guard contingent is in Mlwaukee to provide public safety support for the Republican National Convention . Governor Tim Walz authorized the deployment at the request of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. The states have an emergency assistance compact. Walz said he was grateful to Minnesota Guard members to step up: “Their support in Wisconsin will help ensure a safe, secure event.”
Earlier: No surprise: Minnesota GOP delegation all for Trump
Mayo scores among leading U.S. hospitals
WASHNTON – The magazine U.S. New & World Report ranked Mayo Clinic, which has headquarters in Minnesota, among leading U.S. hospitals. Mayo showed among leaders in these specialties, listed here as ranked:
> Cancer: \University of Texas, Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Mayo.
> Cardiology, heart and vascular surgery: Cleveland Clinic; New York Langone Hospitals; Mayo.
> Neurology and neurosurgery: Langone; Mayo; University of California San Francisco.
> Orthopedics: Hospital for Special Surgery in New York; Mayo; Langone.
> Pulmonology and gung surgery: Mayo; Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia; Cornell.
> Obstetrics and gynecology: Brigham; Johns Hopkins in Baltimore; Mayo.
> Gastroenterology and gastrointestinaI surgery: Mayo; Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeless; Cleveland Clinic.
>Diabetes and endocrinology: Mayo; Brigham; New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia; Cornell.
Hospitals were measure by risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and level of nursing care. U.S. News has done the rankings 35vears.
Motorist dead in head-on Arcadia crash
ARCADIA, Wiis. – One person died in a head-on collision on a gentle curve on U.S. Highway 93 north of Acadia. The name of the victim was withheld by Sheriff Brett Semingson. The collision was about 1:25 a.m. near Loesel Lane. Sources said the victim who died was driving south toward Arcadia and died apparently outright. Semingson released no further information. Usual police practice, in the interest of agency accountability and in respect for the public’s right to know, is for police to release names to news media as soon as kin are notified but never to delay mire than 24 hours.
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