BLACK RJVER FALLS, Wis. – A Sparta man accused of stealing cattle from a farm near Alma Center has been arrested. Jackson County Sheriff Duane Waldera said that the theft occurred overnight. The investigation, he said, led to Jennings Christenson, 20, who was arrested in adjoining Monroe County. Investigators also found the cattle, which were rounded up and returned to their usual grazing fields, the sheriff said. Their value was pegged at $20,000.

Cattle-stealing odds

Cattle rustling is nothing like in the Wild West but still occurs. About 250 head stolen annually in the United States. About 50 are butchered and disappear into the meat industry chain before authorities can trace them. In short, most rustlers get away with it. No, they don’t still hang rustlers.

Christenson. Faces charges of grand larceny,

Long retired from its milk rounds. In Memorial Day weekend trim, appropriate with a 48-star U.S. flag, this half-ton delivery truck is a quiet reminder of dairying around Rollingstone in the 1950s. The 1950 International Model L-110 still bears stencils, albeit faded, for Speltz Dairy Transportation on the doors. On this day the bed has a fresh load of hay. Why the roof-top rooster? The Speltzes also picked up  eggs in those days. The display has the truck on its own pad in a park-like setting with patio lights at the corners — very helpful for pre-dawn milk runs of yore. Image: Steve Lunde

Bumper sticker justice. Almost a year after the body of Madeline Kjngsbury was found hidden in the woods 40 miles out of town, a Winona tailgate still bears a photograph of her with a web address for the National Domestic Abuse hotline address. Her friends and family have vowed not to forget. Image: Steve Lunde

Judge ponders moving murder trial elsewhere

WINONA, Minn. – A week ago Friday the judge in the Adam Favel murder trial, Nancy Buytendorp, received briefs from his attorney on why he can’t get a fair trial in Winona. Buytendrop will receve the prosecutor’s responses this Friday. Judge Buytendorp has given herself until June 10 to decide whether community emotions are so slanted against Fravel that his trial must be relocated to find a fair jury. A jury conviction of Favel could mean life in prison,

Earlier: Fair murder trial possible in Winona for Fravel?

Earlier: Judge wants briefs on pre-trial Fravel issues

Earlier: Fravel attorney makes case to relocate trial

LACROSSE, Wis. – Although the Pizza Ranch has 44 Minnesota locations, the closest taste that most Winonans have of the places is from 2016 news coverage of Hillary Clinton and Donald Tump trapsing through Iowa, the chain’s home state, in the 2016 caucuses. The Iowa Pizza Ranches were packed as usual with all-you-can-eat Iowans. What a ripe place to campaign. With the chain’s 45th Minnesota location opening soon in Winona, our Galloping Gourmands ventured to the Pizza Ranch in LaCrosse to share their experience with Winona Journal readers – a peek preview. While hardly deserving even a single Michelon star, the Gourmands were impressed. Mass-baked pizza and fried chicken by the coop-ful gets no better than this. The Gourmands weren’t alone. People were queued at the door when the place opened at 11 a.m.  By 11:10 the the was packed. The price can’t be beat: $15 before 3 o’clock, then $16.50. Kids get discounts.

> Kids. Because Pizza Ranch touts its “funzone arcade,” the Gourmands were wary of a wild, screaming obnoxiousness  like a Chuck E. Cheese on a birthday party weekend. Nothing was rowdy on the Gourmands’ Pizza Ranch visit.  Somehow the place calmed whatever instinctively drives kids into insane frenzies at Chuck E. Cheeses.

 > Food. It’s self-serve at an immense buffet. Pizza cut by the slice was mostly the usual Italian varieties but no waxy cheese. No skimpy toppings. The chicken was both succulent and crispy. Do-it-yourself salad choices were on par with supper club salad bars. The same for desserts. Just don’t expect local sourcing or anything free-range.

> Setting. A cowboy theme was present – this is a ranch, after all — but not in-your face excessiveness like the failed faux attempts at authenticity at Olive Gardens, Red Lobsters and Outbacks.

> Service. The set-up is self-service, but attendants were within a beckon and smiled easily.

Our rotating band of reviewers, the Galloping Gourmands, roam the region for great places to dine. The panel pays full fare. To assure dispassionate reviews, the panelists don’t identify themselves.

Details: Go the Winona Journal category Cuisine. In black at the top of the site.

Earlier: The Great Winona Pizza Tease

Earlier: Ground Round morphs into kids-oriented pizza place

Earlier: Ground Round make-over: Pizza, chicken, salad buffet

Earlier: Ground Round eatery hit with CoVid

Earlier: Ground Round eatery, bar closing

Hidden. Off U.S. Highway 16 in LaCrosse. South from Valley View mall at 3130 Chestnut Place.

Baseball: New Prague Trojans 2, Rochester Century Panthers 1

Baseball: Farmington Cardinals 10, Rochester Marshall Rockets 2

Baseball: Rochester Mayo Spartans 6, Lakeville North Panthers3

Baseball: Hayfield Vikings 1, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Panthers 0

Baseball: Cannon Falls Bombers 8, Pine Island Panthers 3

Baseball: Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars and La Crescent-Hokah Lancers, postponed

Baseball: Rochester Lourdes and Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs, postponed

Baseball: Lyle/Austin Pacelli 5, Spring Grove Lions 2

WINONA, Minn. – A Goodview woman was stopped by police for a bad headlight but it turned out she also was drunk, police said. Booked for suspicion of driving while impaired was Erin Elizabeth Roberts, age 25. This was after a bad scene on the street. First, police said, Roberts showed classic systems of impairment – blood-shot and watery eyes, rapid speech, jitters, tainted breath and tell-tale body odors. She couldn’t stand up straight, the officer said. When told she was under arrest, she dropped to the ground and embedded her wrists under her body to resist being cuffed, police said. She declined to be tested voluntarily for alcohol and drug content in her system, but blood was drawn at the jail anyway and sent to the state crime lab.  Whether impairment charges are filed formally will depend on test results, which can take several days. The arrest was about7 p.m. at Fifth and Harvester streets on the West Side.

Roberts. Among booking charges: Resisting police.

WINONA, Minn. – A death tentatively blamed on drugs occurred on the West Side a block off Lake Winona, police said. The victim’s name was not released immediately by police pending notification of the family. Standard media-police agreements give police a maximum of 24 hours to contact kin, after which names are released. The death was of a 33-year-old man in the 250 block West Mill Street. Police were called at 5:16 p.m.

Earlier: Overdose suspected in Winona death

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was booked at jail for a fight with a roommate over whose property was whose. The incident was about 2:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Jimmv Carter Place. The complainant told police he was wrestled to the floor and put in a choke hold. Arrested and charged for domestic assault was Lance Timothy Lidtke, 28.

Lidtke. Incident at address near West End aquatic center.

FREEPORT, Iowa  – Decorah firefighters  recovered the body of a missing kayaker, Justin Limkemann, 39, of Fredrika, in the Upper Iowa River. Limkemann had been missing 10 days. The body was near Lundy Bridge downriver from Decorah.

WINONA, Minn. – Police don’t have much to go on but are looking for a hit-and-run driver who left a bicyclist injured on the Far East End. The bicyclist, an adult man, suffered only scraped hands. All he could say about the car was that it was dark with tinted windows. This was at Mankato and Wabasha streets.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz ordered flags at state facilities to half-staff for Memorial Day. The governor said: “Please take a moment to reflect on and honor the spirit, bravery, and perseverance of the generations of armed-forces members and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice. As we strive and work for world peace, let us hold all who have served on our behalf close to our hearts.”

“Yes, we have no bananas.” So went the 1923 novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. But on Fourth Street it’s all about no gas. The electronic price board is black. Image: Steve Lunde

Don’t let your tank run low downtown

WINONA, Minn. – A police officer found a Winona man asleep at the wheel of a car with its engine running at Walmart on the Far East End. The officer said he wakened Christian Alan Ostrander — and he opened his eyes, stared at the officer, and promptly went back to sleep. Awakened again, he was lethargic, the offieer said. Ostrander, age 31, was booked for drunken driving. This was about 3:15 p.m.

Kwik humor.  In a wholly different spirit than Kwik Trip’s slick “No Ordinary Chicken” advertising campaign was this amateurish but immensely more powerful window poster at a store on the outskirts of Holmen. Want a job at Store 800? Sense of humor required. Also an artistic streak. Image: Steve Lunde

BROWNSVILLE , Minn. – Three burglars from Wisconsin were caught in a bungled attempt to haul off a cash kiosk from a Brownsville  gas station overnight, police said. They were arrested after the store owner, home at the time, saw them on surveillance video inside the store and called police. Whether the threesome might have pulled it off was uncertain. Their plan was to pry the ATM kiosk off the floor with a crowbar, but they hadn’t realized that the kiosk was bolted securely into concrete, police said. The machine wouldn’t budge. They then took an ice-chipper to break the machine open. The chipper kept bending. This all delayed their possibly getting away. The thwarted plan turned into a dramatic hour-long police stand-off at River Valley Station.

River Valley Station. At 202 Main Street in Brownsville.

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Police stand-0ff

When Houston County deputies arrived, they found Hanna Jean Goyette, in a running vehicle outside. Goyette said her boyfriend, Joel Wilson Cruz, was inside the store. So too was a second man, Harley Arlington Kulp. Deputies established a perimeter around the store and called LaCrescent police, including a K-9, and the state patrol. for reinforcement. Forty-five minutes later, Cruz was arrested trying to punch his way out through an attic vent. Another 15 minutes later, Kulp came out and surrendered. Why didn’t he surrender earlier? Kulp told deputies it was too dark inside and he couldn’t  find his way out. Deputies had pulled the plug.

The mess inside

The place was a mess inside. The ATM was smashed. The store’s cash drawer was missing Strewn everywhere were all kinds of merchandise — fishing lures, candies and notions. And, yes, deputies said, a crowbar was on the floor behind the counter. Kulp had nearly $4,000 in cash in the front pockets of his pants, they said.

The scheme

Houston County Sheriff Mark Inglett said the group had driven 10 miles south to Brownsville after crossing the Mississippi river at LaCrescent from Wisconsin. They had targeted the River Valley Station store and also located a remote spot along the river to take the machine, to break it open, to take the cash, to dump the machine in the river, and to drive back to Wisconsin with the cash. When things went wrong inside he store, they glommed up fishing lures — a kind backup booty not easily traced and quickly fenced. Then the police arrived. Apparently they were aware of the store’s surveillance cameras from the begininng because they were wearing black hoods. They no carried weapons. Charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, theft and intentional damage to property were.

Joel Wilson Cruz, 36, of West Salem, Wisconsin. Earlier lived in Caledonia in Houston County. On supervised release from judicial system Wisconsin.

Harley Arlington “Squad”  Kulp, 27, of Rockland, Wisconsin, and earlier nearby  Hillsboro. On supervised release from the Wisconsin judicial system.

Hanna Jean Goyette, 21, of West Salem., Wisconsin. Earlier lived in Caledonia in Houston County.

MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. — A Minnesota City man told police he was put into a choke-hold during an argument about moving out. The man went to police and showed them his red bruising. The man said also that a woman at the scene was pushed down. Police contacted the roommate, Reed Alexander Schneider, 25. He denied that anything physical occurred, but police booked him for strangulation on the basis of the other man’s bruises. The incident had been about 1:10 a. m. on Iowa Street on the north end of Minnesota City.

Schneider. Booked for domestic assault by strangulation.

GOODHUE, Minn – A man and woman on a three-wheel motorcycle were injured when they struck a road-closed sign south of Goodhue. Sean Ryan Eskew, 40, of Zumbrota, and Ginny Lynn Hoffman, 39, of Pine Island, were taken 34 miles to a Rochester hospital. A deputy said their injuries were non-life tjreatening. They were on a 1995 Honda Goldwing. The accident was about 8:25 p.m. on State Highway 58 at County Road 16. They were heading north yoward Red Wing.

JUSTICE: Preston lawyer named to Winona judgeship

CRIME: Cops jail suspect in drive-by Ettrick fatality

CRIME: Swastika adds to Winona neo-Nazi mystery

CRIME: WSU football grad accused in traffic death

FIRE: Lightning may have set church afire

Earlier: News summary at mid-week: May 22, 2024

Track and field (men): UW-LaCrosse 76 (at 1st)

Track and field (men): Pittsburg State 78 (at 1st), Winona State 13 (at 19th)

Track and field (women): Washington of Missouri 71 (at 1st), UW-LaCrosse 47, 5 (at 2nd)

GRAND MEADOW, Minn. – Two motorcyclists on Harley-Davidsons, each with a passenger, hit a deer at the same time on Interstate 90. Three of them were taken 36 miles to a Rochester hospital with injuries believed to be sustainable: Jacob Ryan Johnson, 34, of Emmons; Alexis Danielle Gullickson, 26, of Albert Lea; and Maria Guadalupe Alvarado, 36, of Andrews, Texas. Unhurt was Anthony Jerome Woodraska 35, of Emmons. The collision was about 5:40 p.m. between the I-90 exits to Elkton and Grand Meadow. The bikers were headed toward Rochester exits. None was wearing a helmet, Mower County deputies said.

OSSEO, Wis. – A traveler was struck and killed by an 18-wheeler while on the side of the road with a flat tire on Interstate 94 near Osseo. Killed was Przemyslaw Kania, 39, of Chicago. The accident was about 3:30 p.m. The driver of the semi was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.