Driver’s blood test to state crime lab
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver left police custody with a major question hanging over his head: Would a blood sample drawn at the police station show whether illegal substances were in his body when he was stopped for an unsecured load on his vehicle? Anthony John Strouckel, 28, declined the usual local tests, which set in motion a judge’s order for a blood sample to be drawn to be sent through the state crime lab’s elaborate process for assessing levels of contamination. Those complex tests require several days to complete, Meanwhile, Strouckel has been charged with with impaired driving. The evidence cited by police: Bloodshot and watery eyes, droopy eyelids, rigidity, inability to stand still, and impaired motor movements. The arrest was about 1:30 p.m. near Broadway and Washington streets.
Army Corps: Take us out of Line 5 litigation
ASHLAND, Wis. – The Army Corps wants to bow out of litigation between the Canadian oil pipeline company Enbridge and a northern Wisconsin Chippewa tribe over Enbrdge’s Line 5 pipeline at the Bad River reservation. The Corps says it has no role in the dispute under federal law. The Corps has scheduled a public hearing July 5 at Northwood Technical College in Ashland for comments on its position. At issue is the existing Enbridge Line 5 pipeline that since 1953 has carried crude oil and natural gas liquid through 12 miles of the Bad River Reservation near Ashland. In 2019 the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians began litigation to remove 12 miles of the pipeline. The line, the Band says,pur=tsb its land and streams at risk.
Earlier: Enbridge to appeal Line 5 court ruling
Earlier: Judge to Enbridge: Three years to fix Line 5 flaws
Earlier: Judge faults tribe on Bad River inaction
R.I.P.: Ron Stevens
WINONA, Minn. – Ronald Allan Stevens, 80, a retired Winona State University sociology professor, died in hospice care at home. He asked that there be no funeral or the usual obituary. But he asked his wife, Diane, to notify friends a few days before he died to let them know that he was beginning hospice care and had made the decision to stop all cancer treatment other than comfort care. She said he was exhausted and in pain but “remains grateful, loving, steady and kind.” He said he had no regrets regarding his life, he felt at peace, and was grateful for all this life had offered him, Diane messaged friends. He was on the Winona State faculty 1968 to 2002. He was active in in faculty governance and in campus-centered retiree activities.
1944-2024
Campgrounds repopulating for summer
Wall-to-wall camp trailers. Riverside camps like Prairie Island and also Bass Camp toward Minneiska, KOA toward LaMoille, and at Whitewater State Parkhave perennial returnees. Vacant slots are hard to come by. Image: Steve Lunde
Driver’s blood triple allowable booze kevel
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man blew a blood-alcohol reading of 0.26% into a breathalyzer in a traffic stop, more than triple the standard level for drunkenness. Pedro Jose Negron Franco, 37, had been stopped in the 400 block of West Mark Street.
Franco. Roadside breath check found 0.26%.
Bad acts: Sleeping on tracks, burglary, assault
WINONA, Minn. – Police booked a man for breaking into a Far West End house and walking off with a bottle of wine. The arrest came roughly two hours after police had been called for a man asleep on the railroad mainline behind houses on Marian Street. The man was gone, but officers found him nearby at his residence. While officers tried to coax him out, the man threw an object through a window, smashing the glass. About that moment the officers were called to an unrelated emergency elsewhere. In a judgment call the officers left. After all, there had been no crime, at least nothing major. Then about 11:55 p.m. the owners of a nearby home, also on Marian Street, called that they had seen a remote feed from a surveillance camera inside their house. There was an intruder inside. Police responded and found Percy Scott Topness, 41. This was the same guy who had been on the railroad tracks earlier. He was so drunk, police said, that they got him to the hospital. While being evaluated, they said, Topness headbutted one officer in the forehead. The officer, although in pain with swelling, arrested Topness. Once he was medically, he was hauled to jail. The booking was a 2:15 a.m.
Topness. Charged with trespass, assault on an officer.
Minnesota prep
Golf (boys): Albert Lea Tigers 297, Rochester Mayo Spartans 305, Faribault Falcons 311, Northfield Raiders 313, Rochester Century Panthers 315, Mankato West Scarlets 315, Owatonna Huskies 318, Mankato East Cougars 327, Austin Packers 333, Red Wing Wingers 334, Winona Winhawks 335, Rochester Marshall Rockets 340.
Lightning may have set church afire
MADISON, Wis. – Firefighters extinguished a fire in the wooden belfry of the historic Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on the downtown isthmus in Madison. Two people inside directed fire crews how get up the steeple from inside. Access was difficult because of the1869 construction. Firefighters were faced with narrow passages and locked doors. From outside, another crew climbed 140 feet up truck-mounted extension ladders and sprayed the fire from outside. No one was hurt. It took an hour to put the fire out. The cause? Perhaps lightning, said Father Drew Olson. Masses have been cancelled for at least a few days.
Steeple blaze. This was about 1:40 p.m. after thunderstorm passed through. Image: Becky Burns
State gives up, closes Red Wing nursing home
RED WING, Minn. — The 50-bed Bay View nursing home will close in July because it isn’t financially viable, the state Health Department announced. The state has been operating the facility on an emergency basis since 2023. Now it’s clear, said Maria King, state regulation manager, that deferred maintenance requires new boilers, plumbing and an elevator – none of which can be afforded. A recent audit found $9 million in debt with a mortgage balance of $7.7 million.
Verbatim
King: “Despite our best efforts, ongoing audits of Bay View’s financial circumstances have revealed a systemic lack of stability that cannot be overcome in order for operations to continue. The financial condition combined with substantial physical plant repair needs have left us with no viable options.”
Draw-down. At 1412 W 4th Street. The 112-person staff is being drawn down as patients are transferred elsewhere.
Millville man in hurt rollover on Zumbro route
DUMFRIES, Minn. – A Millville man suffered sustainable injuries when his vehicle left State Highway 60 and overturned. Glen Albert Becklund, 85, was taken 36 miles to a Rochester hospital. The accident was about 10:40 a.m. at Wabasha County Road 11 between Zumbro Falls and Dumfries. Becklund was driving a 2008 Buick Enclave. The airbag deployed and his sesat belt was in hooked, police said. Pavement was dry.
Driver hurt seriously in wreck near Red Wing
RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing man was air-lifted to a hospital after his pickup truck crashed into a tree on U.S. Highway 61 west of Red Wing. The accident was on a four-lane straight stretch and the pavement dry. Police declined to release the driver’s name immediately but said he was 62 years old. Police said he was westbound toward Hastings in a 2021 Ram pickup truck. This was about 10:10 a.m. near Green Spring Road.
Cops jail suspect in drive-by Ettrick fatality
ETTRICK, Wis. – A break-through in what’s believed to be a drive-by shooting homicide was confirmed by Trempealeau County Sheriff Brett Semingson. A suspect, whom the sheriff called a “person of interest,” has been arrested and held for the time being on unrelated charges. The shooting was 10 days ago. Semingson, who has a history of withholding information from the public, offered no details on the arrest or how it relates to the homicide. It is known that Semingson reached out early in the investigation to authorities in next-door LaCrosse and Jackson counties. It is possible that the suspect is jailed in one of those counties, but Semingson wouldn’t confirm. Also he doesn’t conform with the usual policing practice of listing a roster online of prisoners in his own county jail in Whitehall. So far, 10 days after the death, Semingson hasn’t released the name of the shooting victim either. People around Ettrick, however, say he was local and in his 30s. He was found dead in his car, shot in the head, on the U.S. Highway 53 south of Ettrick. The shooting, on May15, has been pegged between 7 and 9 p.m.
Public safety
Among the slivers of information released about the murder by Sheriff Brett Semingson has been that public safety was not in peril. In effect he was views the case as a one-off incident.
WSU football grad accused in traffic death
WAUWATOSA, Wis. – A former Winona State University football linebacker, Clay M. Schueffner, 24, was arraigned for negligent vehicular homicide in the February death of a Wauwatosa priest who was crossing a street. Schueffner, who lives 50 miles away in Fond du Lac County, didn’t enter a plea. Conviction could mean 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The criminal complaint says Schueffner was watching a Snapchat video when Father Davud Gau, age 93, was struck and propelled into the air before landing on the street. Schueffner, in a GMC Sierra pickup truck, was traveling at 42 mph in a 35 zone, police said. This was early the afternoon of February 9 in this west Milwaukee suburb.
Schueffner. WSU footballteam captain. Led Warriors in tackles his sophomore, junior and senior years. Three-time all-conference first-team player. Held the Northern Sun league’s Galligan Award for academic achievement. Graduated 2022.
An empty chair at Alma Center commencement
ALMA CENTER, Wis. – A somber and sad tribute was planned for the Lincoln High School graduation ceremony at 7 o’clock. Roman Edward Fronk, a 4.0 student and athlete, was killed three days ago when his car collided with train at rail crossing. He was 18.
In his memory. A graduation pose.
Rural woman reports drive-by death threats
ELBA, Minn. – A woman living on Fischer Hill west of Elba told deputies that a man had driven by her place and shouted death threats at her and her children. He sped off, she said, then came back and repeated the threats and sped off again. She said she knew the man. Deputies began a search and advised the woman that a restraining order would be a good idea.
R.I.P.: Daniel McGill
WINONA, Minn. – Daniel J. McGill, age 71, of Winona, who was retired from Steak Shop Catering, died at home. Earlier he was with Riverside Electronics and Mid-Town Foods. He was a graduate of Winona High School, held an associate degree in applied science from Vermilion Community College, and attended Winona State University.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
Eau Claire truck crash spills cooking oil
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Two people were injured when a truck hauling cooking oil crashed and spilled the oil at an intersection between downtown and the university campus. The injuries appeared less than serious. Both persons were taken to a hospital. The accident was about midnight at State and Washington streets. Spilled were 100 to 200 gallons of cooking oil. Crews contained the spill before it entered storm sewers.
Minnesota prep
Wisconsin prep
Track and field (girls): Fennimore Golden Eagles 95, Lancaster Flying Arrows 65. Cochrane-Fountain City 29 Pirates (at 9th)
Preston lawyer named to Winona judgeship
WINONA, Minn. – A Preston attorney, Dwight David Luhmann, has been appointed to a state judgeship for Winona County. The appointment was announced b Governor Tim Walz. Luhmann, age 54, succeeds Mary Leahy, who is retiring this summer in the middle of her latest six-year term. Luhmann has been in private practice mostly for clients in Fillmore County. He holds a law degree from University of North Dakota. In private practice in Preston his fees have been $200 to $300 an hour. His new judgeship pays $197,000. Before hanging his own shingle, Luhmann was in the Joerg & Luhmann law firm in Preston. As a Winona County judge he will be on the bench with Nancy Buytendorp. The county has two judges, both of whom report to Joseph Buelel in Rochester, chief judge of Minnesota’s Third Judicial. District. The district covers 11 southeast Minnesota counties and 23 judges.
Luhmann. An interim gubernatorial appointee. Eventually will be on the ballot for election to the judgeship.
Sharing a snag way up the Whitewater
Tolerant eagles. A lone raven keeps a bit of distance from a pair of bald eagles in the upper reaches of the Whitewater River’s south fork near Eyota. Image: Steve Lunde
News summary at mid-week: May 22, 2024
STORMS: Tornadic winds at Rollingstone rated at 105 mph
STORMS: Bottom-up tornado scrambles newly sowed crops
TRANSPORTATION: Village abuzz about homicide down the road
REMEMBANCE: R.I.P.: Gerald Langowski
CRIME: Village abuzz about homicide down the road
CRIME: Swastika adds to Winona neo-Nazi mystery
CRIME: WSU football grad accused in traffic death
CRIME: Driver sees judge about crashing into Amish buggy
GOVERNANCE: City to close East End foot path over tracks
Minnesota prep
Baseball: Rochester Lourdes Lions 4, Winona Cotter Ramblers 1
Baseball: Pine Island Panthers 8, St. Charles Saints 4
Wisconsin prep
Baseball: Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 10, Durand-Arkansaw Panthers 2
Baseball: Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 13, Port Edwards BlackhCawks 3
Golf (boys): Durand-Arkansaw Panthers 332, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 341
Golf (boys): Bloomer Blackhawks 329, West Salem Panthers 334, Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 373
Tornadic winds at Rollingstone rated at 105 mph
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – The tornado that made this Winona County community its epicenter was a mere EF-1 on the six-point Enhanced Fujita scale. A survey by the National Weather Service concluded that tornado winds were estimated at 105 mph. The tornado twisted down from storm clouds near St Charles on the Winona-Olmsted county line at 6:01 p.m. The centrifugal speed intensified over the eight miles to Rollingstone. Four miles farther it weakened while crossing the Mississippi River near Lock and Dam 5 and into Merrick State Park in Wisconsin. The path was as much as 50 yards wide.
Earlier: Roads cleared of storm-caused blockages
Earlier: Storm ruins two Rollingstone houses
Earlier: Photo gallery
Rating tornadoes
Weatherologist Theodore Fujita devised the scale bearing his name in 1971 at Texas Tech University for quantified comparisons. Ratings are based on three-second bursts.
> EF-0: 65 mph to 85 mph
> EF-1: 86 mph to 110 mph
>EF-2: 111 mph to 135 mph
> EF-3: 136 mph to 165 mph
> EF-4: 166 mph to 200 mph
> EF-05: Off the charts
Worst on record: 321 mph at Bridge Creek, Oklahoma, in 1999.
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