HOLMEN, Wis. – To escape a speeding ticket near Galesville, a Minnesota man went even faster – as much as 95 mph. Eleven miles later in the next county, police  laid a strip of spikes in the driver’s path The spikes worked. Hs sires deflated. He was unable to keep goung. Police arrested Scott. R. Coxworth, 55, of Houston. The chase started in Trempealeau County about 1:15 a.m. and ended in LaCrosse County on Road OT in Holmen. Coxworth was alone in the vehicle, police said. He was taken into custody without incident.

Baseball: Concordia of Moorhead 6, Saint Mary’s 2

Baseball: Saint Mary’s 7, Concordia of Moorhead. 1

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WINONA, Minn. – A statistically indicative survey found 89% of people in Winona County read or heard news about Maddi Kingsbury’s 2023 disappearance and murder. Further, when the survey was conducted, 75% held an opinion on the case. Of them 65% viewed Adam Fravel as guilty. The findings are in a written report being considered by Judge Nancy Buytendorp on whether to move Fravel’s trial this fall out of the county. The survey was commissioned by the law firm representing Fravel. The firm seeks a venue change. The survey was conducted by the respected research company SNG, a subsidiary of Forum Communications, which also owns the Rochester Post Bulletin. The SNG sample comprised 100 people – half living in the city and half in Winona County. Without a venue change, the jury would be drawn from a county-wide pool of citizens.

Venue considerations

The concept of peer trials favors a jury from the locale of a crime. Exceptions can be made if a judge is convinced that local prejudice precludes a fair trial –a citizen right as guaranteed to every citizen in the U.S.  Constitution. It’s a judgment call. Judges are mindful of the difficulty of finding a pristine panel of jurors with no prior knowledge of a case. Also, a jury so out of touch wouldn’t be a good idea. As a group, low-knowledge citizens are short of critical thinking skills to make sound judgments. Also: Prior knowledge about a case, even a prejudice, doesn’t mean necessarily that a juror cannot assess evidence intelligently and fairly. Sometimes a practical consideration for a judge, hardly ever stated, is that moving a trial a can be costly and wreak havoc court budgets.

Statistical sampling

The ideal in public opinion sampling is to interview everyone. In Winona Count that would mean putting a question to 49,478 people. That’s not practical, of course. Would one fewer  person still yield an accurate finding? Probably? How about two fewer?  Somewhere between one and 49,478, a statistically reliable indicator can be found for whole.  For a huge population, like then whole country, a a sample of 1,500 will reflect the whole within 3 percentage points — a variance that statisticians call the margin of error. There is a proviso: Everyone in the whole population must have an equal chance to be sampled. George Gallup, who invented modern polling the 1930s, likened the process to a cook sampling soup: One spoonful can reflect the taste of the whole pot, provided that the soup is well-stirred. In other words, it’s all about finding a sample that reflects the larger population. According to the laws of probability, it’s not necessary, for example, to sample the opinions of all 300 million Americans. A much smaller sample can reflect the larger population — if the sample is truly representative.

Earlier: Judge wants briefs on pre-trial Fravel issues

Earlier: Fravel attorney makes case to relocate trial

WINONA, Minn. – A 35-year-old Winona man fleeing police on a bicycle made a sharp turn and crashed. Dillon Joseph Hale wasn’t hurt, but he was arrested on an existing felony warrant involving a controlled substance. This was about 1:55 p.m. When arrested this time, Hale had 0.85 grams of meth rolled up a paper bill in a pocket, police said. The chase began near Mankato Avenue and Belleview Street when an officer recognized Hale as wanted on the warrant. He took off on the hike, the officer in pursuit in a squad car with emergency lights and siren. Hale crashed a block or so later.

Hale. New charges: Possession and fleeing.

TOMAH, Wis.  – Bail was set at $100,000 for a group home resident for a weekend stabbing of a fellow resident. Jorge Luis Santos-Martinez, 44, was arrested shortly after police arrived and found the victim bleeding on the sidewalk. The victim had numerous stab wounds into his back. The man was hospitalized in Tomah and condition stabilized, then transferred 45 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. The stabbing was at 325 Hollister Avenue. Police said they took Santos-Martinez into custody without incident.

Santos-Martinez. Charge: Recklessly endangering safety.

WINONA, Minn. – The number of cruise boats docking at Winona this summer is unlikely to change from the already scheduled 10 visits. Pat Mutter, executive director, of the Visit Winona tourism agency, said American Cruise Lines is locked into its Upper Mississippi schedule with only half the visits of last year. Additional riverboats that the company acquired recently in a banruptcy auction, which historically had made Winona stops, are in dock for the summer being reconfigured for future service. Maybe Winona next time.

Earlier: 2024 Winona cruise dockings: Merely 10

Earlier: Post-bankruptcy: Can more boats be floated soon?

WILSON, Minn. – Thieves stole heavy-gauge electrical cable valued at $20,000 from the Milestone Materials quarry on State Highway 43 between Wilson and Winona. The theft was reported about 7 a.m. when workers arrived for the day. How thieves and their truck gained access to the padlocked site was not immediately clear.

ROCHESTER, Minn – A Rochester woman was injured badly in a freakish encounter at a Taco Bell on the southeast Side. Police found the woman in agony after being dragged by a car and run over. The driver fled, she told officers. The woman said she was out for a Cinco de Mayo special when she and an acquaintance got into an argument. The argument, she said, continued outside. In the parking lot, the woman admitted, she was shouting through the other person’s open driver window. Her hair was grabbed through the window, she said, and the driver accelerated off. Police said the woman was dragged 50 feet before breaking free. She told police she felt a tire roll over her back and her right ankle. The woman suffered fractured ribs, torn ligaments in an ankle, and multiple bone bruising and skin rashes. Her clothing, police said, was in tatters, her eyeglasses broken. Police later found the driver, who they said acknowledged an altercation but denied any assault.

RED WING, Minn. — A motorcyclist was injured  in a collision with a pickup truck. Troy Lavern Mathew, 53, of Columbia Heights, was taken to the Red Wing hospital with less than serious injuries. The collision happened about 3:35 p.m. at U.S. Highway 61 and Bench Street, which also is known as Goodhue County Road 1 to Belle Creek and beyond. Police said a 2019 Dodge Ram driven by Scott Richard Langhans, 40, of Red Wing, was northbound on Bench Street. Mathew, on the motorcycle, was westbound toward The Cities on U.S. 61. Mathew was wearing a helmet, police said.

MOUNT HOREB, Wis.  – The long gun carried by a 14-year-old boy who was shot by police and killed outside the Mount Horeb middle school Wednesday was an air gun, state investigators said. It was a Ruger 177-caliber pellet rifle designed to resemble serious weaponry. Police had been called about a youth with a gun near the school. This was roughly 11:15 a.m. Police swarmed the scene. They ordered the youth to drop the weapon. Reportedly he aimed back at officers. They fired. He fell dead. The boy’s name has not been released, but it was released  that he was not a middle-school student. Four days later, it remained conjecture what the boy had in mind carrying a gun outside the school. There were early reports that the boy fired the weapon, although those have been disputed. Investigators collected police bodycams to help with an accurate reconstruction

Earlier: School shooter killed by police in Mount Horeb

LAMOILLE, Minn. – A Winona woman heading down County Road 7 from Pickwick missed a stop sign, crossed four lanes of U.S.  61, and crashed down into the borrow pit at the Canadian Pacific mainline tracks. Miraculously, perhaps because she was wearing a seatbelt, Ganga Harris, 62, survived with sustainable juries. Also miraculously she missed cross-traffic on U.S. 61. And also miraculously the airbags deployed on her 2015 Honda CRV. She was taken 11 miles to the Winona hospital. Pickwick first-responders listed alcohol as a factor. This was about 10:30 p.m.

Baseball: Wayne State of Nebraska 16, Winona State 8

Baseball: UW-LaCrosse 10, UW-Eau Claire 0

Baseball: UW-LaCrosse 6, UW-Eau Claire 3

Lacrosse: Colorado College 16, UW_-LaCRosse 5

Softball: UW-LaCrosse 2, UW-Platteville 0

Softball: UW-LaCrosse 5, UW-Platteville 0

Cindy Westby. The effervescent Cindy Westby, a high-octane volunteer around Winona, has been capped as the 2024 Winona Steamboat Days harbormaster. Outgoing harbormaster Jim Vrchota performed the capping. He lauded Westby  for years of community service, including her work as a special needs assistant in the schools. The Steamboat Days community festival begins June12.

WINONA, Minn. — The Family and Children’s Center won a a $450,000 state grant to create a two-year project for at-risk children through after school programs and summer activities. The project would connect children with therapists, counselors and mentors. Location: The center’s current facility at 601 Franklin Street. The grant is from $31.8 million community crime intervention and prevention program through the Minnesota Office of Justice.

Verbatim

Karrie Hahn, Winona programs director: “At-risk youth in Winona need a place to learn, grow by creating a center where individuals can attend, learn new skills.”