WITOKA, Minn. – A homeowner reported 80 pounds of copper tubing stolen from his place on Wiscoy Ridge Road in south Winona County. The tubing was in two bundles, light enough to haul off easily. This was in the 30000 block of Wiscoy Ridge. Probably it was the night of June 30, deputies were told. An investigator began a check of scrapyards in the copper business. A typical price: $4.60 a pound retail but less if fenced.

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – The tradition of naming each day of the Winona County Fair for new inductees into the Fair Hall of Fame begins July 10. That will be Gayle Goetzman-Stolpa Day. She grew up on a dairy farm in East Burns Valley and then pursued “my true calling” to be a teacher. She earned two college degrees from Winona State and spent 26 years teaching in Winona and Rochester. During those years she purchased 170 acres, the Big Valley Ranch, for her passion for horses. The public has access to indoor and outdoor arenas and bridle paths. The farm has been put in the Minnesota Land Trust to preserve it against untoward development. On July 21 at 2 p.m. Goetsman-Stolpa and other 2024 inductees will be honored at the fairgrounds:

> Shirley Francis, who farms outside Winona.

> David Schwantz, a retired Altura banker.

> Dale and Clara Newcomb, retirees who still advise 4-H clubs.

> Tom Campbell, of Saratoga, who has served 14 years on the County Fair Board

NOTE: Profiles of other inductees will be posted soon.

Stolpa. Her passion is horses and Big Valley Ranch up East Burns Valley from Winona.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A scare about a man carrying an AK-47 war weapon turned out unfounded. But there was reason for the scare. Police found man carrying a look-alike war weapon, allegedly for tactical practice, near the Rochester Arts and Sciences Academy on Pennington Drive in northwest Rochester about 11:30 p.m. He earlier had been reported near the Tom Kadlec Kia dealership wearing a mask and camouflage gear and carrying an AK47. Arrested was Jakob Barrows, 20. Barrows told officers that he lived nearby and wanted to “practice his tactical moves” with his new airsoft rifle. Police found a plastic target bag on a chair in the school parking lot. Barrows faces several charges: Carrying a BB gun in public, using a replica firearm on school property, and disorderly conduct.

Flag football (girls): LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 38, Pine Island Panthers 6

ROCHESTER Minn. – A Rochester motorcyclist was injured fatally when his bike  crashed into a tree line. Cullen D. Rownd, 20, was unresponsive when officers arrived. He died at a Rochester hospital. Police said Cullen was taking a curve too fast and lost control. The crash was about 7:30 p.m. along Bamber Valley Road.

Cullen. Accident in southwest Rochester.

CHATFIELD, Minn. – A Michigan driver was treated for minor injuries at the Chatfield Clinic after two vehicles collided downtown. Brenda Kay Tribble, 58, of Davidburg, Michigan, was driving 2019 Chevrolet Equinox on Main Street . A 2019 Jeep Cherokee was turning onto northbound onto U.S. Highway 52 from State Highway 30. Neither the driver nor passenger in the Jeep was injured: Myron David Maker, 82, of Rochester, and Sandra Kay  Maker, 78, of Rochester. This was about 5:30 p.m.

LAMOILLE, Minn. – A Winona woman suffered sustainable injuries when her car struck a deer near the Pickwick exit on U.S. Highway 61 south of Winona. Carseda Edith Young, 46, was taken 10 miles to the Winona hospital. The accident was about 4:10 p.m.  Young was driving north toward Winona in a 2018 Hyundai Tucson. Two passengers were uninjured: Carseda Edith Young, 46, of Winona, and Ndea Shunyai Young, 29, of Winona.

MINNEAPOLIS – An Iowa woman arrested near Eyota last weekend with a corpse in her car has a new albeit temporary home: A cell in the Hennepin County jail. Margot Lewis, 32, was transported by an armed guard from the Olmsted County jail in Rochester to Minneapolis, where she faces two murder charges. The initial arrest was at Interstate 90’s Eyota exits in Olmsted County. In her car, which had wrecked, was the body of a former love interest in Minneapolis.

Earlier: Murder warrant names Eyota crash driver

Earlier: $1 million bail set in corpse-transport case

Lewis. Booked into Hennepin County custody. Bail at $1.5 million.

ELGIN, Minn. – A Rochester motorcyclist was taken 19 miles to a Rochester hospital after losing control on U.S. Highway 63 west of Elgin. First-responders called for an air ambulance, but it turned out that the injuries to Michael Ray Nierman, 39, were non-life threatening.  He was heading south toward Rochester on a 2015 Harley FLHXS Touring. This was about 6:20 p.m.

WINONA, Minn. – Firefighters were called to a kitchen fire at a West Side residence and smelled smoke and saw a light haze. They quickly traced the fire to a cardboard shoe box smoldering on top of a toaster oven. This was about 2:20 p.m. in the. 200 block of Orrin Street.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver, Kevin Jose Cruz Duarte. 25, was stopped for speeding on Riverview Drive at Theurer Boulevard and then arrested and booked for driving drunk. This was about 11:45 p.m.  He admitted to two or three beers, a deputy said. His blood-alcohol tested at 0.17%, twice the legally acceptable level. He also was charged with going 50 mph in a 40 zone.

Cruz Duarte. Breath showed blood stream at 0.17% alcohol.

WINONA, Minn. – After days of growing citizen complaints to police about noisy fireworks, the assistant fire chief, Jason Theusch, issued a pre-Independence Day warning: Explosive and aerial fireworks are illegal in Minnesota. Don’t be confused by the availability of explosive devices in bordering states, he said. Possession in Minnesota can mean 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. For large quantities, 35 pounds or more, it can mean one year in jail and a $3,000 fine. Permits are available for public displays as long as stringent precautions are in place. About firecrackers and lesser devices, Theusch said: “Please keep them from children, read and follow the instructions, only use in a safe location, and light only one device at a time.”

Verbatim

Minnesota Statute 624.20: “Fireworks that explode or are aerial are not legal for public sale, possession, or use, except with a permit and by a certified operator.”

HART, Minn. – Three joyriding Houston women, all in their early 20s, ventured north into Winona County, where they led a deputy on a cat-and-mouse chase with a trail of crumbs – make that “litter” – being tossed out their windows. The joyride finally ended about 1:35 a.m. up Money Creek on County Road 17. The driver, Beverlee Lois Hahn, 21, admitted drinking, the deputy said. Hahn tested for 0.12% blood-alcohol and was charged with drunken, careless and dangerous driving. By the time the deputy got Hahn to jail, 22 miles away in Winona, her blood was down to 0.11% — still roughly 1-1/2 times beyond sobriety as described in state law. Hahn’s passengers were charged with littering: Alexa Jean Johnson, 22, and Genna Annlynn Abraham, 21. The chase began on State Highway 43 near Hart at County Road 4 when a car came at the deputy going 64 mph without dimming high beams. The deputy U-turned but couldn’t catch up. He drove around and around and finally encountered the vehicle coming at him again. The deputy again U-turned but kept losing it. In all this, the deputy said litter was being thrown from the vehicle

ZUMBROTA, Minn. – A Kenyon woman was fatally injured when she struck a deer west of Zumbrota on State Highway 6o. Samantha Diane Johnson, 35, died 28 miles away at a Rochester hospital. A passenger, Richard Dale Johnson, 38, of Kenyon, was unhurt. They were in a 2001 Dodge Neon heading toward Kenyon about 9:30 p.m.

WINONA, Minn. – The Mississippi river rose beyond the officially recognized flood stage flood stage at Winona overnight, although short of overwhelming the levee system that protects the city. At 8:45 p.m. the river was at 14.6 feet at Winona and backing up into into Pool 6 lowlands, backwaters and sloughs between the Fountain City and Trempealeau dams. The National Weather Service revised its forecast for the crest at Winona — now expected at 16 feet Monday evening. Weather Service hydrologists described current flooding as minor and moderate.The surge is due largely to the Minnesota River, which continues to carry massive quantities of water out of flooded south-central Minnesota counties and dumping them into the Mississippi at the Twin Cities.

Earlier: Dike status in Winona: So far, so good

Earlier: Mississippi crests at Winona, now slowly receding

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver, Jean Nikkol Kelly, 42, was charged with drunken driving after a traffic stop in which her blood-alcohol tested almost double the legal limit. This was about 12:20 a.m. on the West Side at Wabasha and McBride streets. Police said Kelly was driving without lights and admitted drinking. Her blood tested as 0.15% alcohol.