ROCHESTER, Minn. – The hot-air balloon flight that ended in a powerline crash Wednesday was intended as a memorial to the soldier-son of one of the three people aboard. Mark Schafer had affixed a plaque with a photograph of his soon on the underside of the balloon’s basket. The plaque showed Ben Schafer in his Minnesota Army National Guard uniform and noted the year of his unexpected death at age 37. He had served three tours overseas. The balloon’s envelope — an mistakably patriotic jn red, white and blue — bore the sponsorship name of Schafer’s company, Pulver Towing. It was the first Pulver flight. On board with Schafer were his stepson TJ Sorquist and pilot Mike Lesmeister. All survived. Asked in a KTTC interview what his son would say about the accident, Schafer said that Ben would tell them to get back up into another balloon. They plan to.

Earlier: Roadside spectacle: Balloonists survive impact

WINONA, Minn. – Weeks may be necessary for the state Crime Lab to establish whether a DNA match exists between a Winona woman and Baby Angel —  a newborn infant who was left in the Mississippi River 13-1/2 years ago, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said. Tests take time, he said. Meanwhile, Ganrude said that investigators suspect they have breakthroughs:

> A private genealogy data-warehousing firm found a possible connection between Baby Angel’s DNA and the Winona woman in its database.

> The woman, at 41, would have been at a fertile age back in 2011.

> Asked to submit a DNA sample to clear herself recently, the woman declined and hired a lawyer.

Ganrude, who has been with the sheriff’s office 38 years, said other women over the years have provided DNA samples right away when asked.

 Earlier: Winona’s Baby Angel update: Search warrant

Ganrude. Both he and his predecessor as sheriff, Dave Brand, have kept the investigation going. No cold case for them.

WINONA, Minn. – After 18 years on the bench Judge Mary Leahy is retiring. She is 63. Leahy’s current term expires in 2027, which means Governor Tim Walz will be appointing a successor until the next election.  Leahy joined the bench for Winona as an appointee of Governor Tim Pawlenty in 2006. During Leahy’s tenure, the number of judges assigned by the Rochester-based Third Judicial District has shrunk from three to two to even caseloads, with a new judgeship added n Rochester. The other Winona County judge is Nancy Buytendorp, appointed by Pawlenty in 2008.

Earlier: Ethics board: Judge ran loose ship

Earlier: Judge mum on reprimand

Earlier: Judge Leahy’s history

Leahy. Hanging up her robes.

NODINE, Minn. – An ambulance hit an icy patch atop the four-mile grade down to Dresbach and rolled into the ditch. Neither the driver, Marqus Dandre Jackson, 22, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nor his passenger, Spencer Irene Howard, 23, of New Berlin, Wisconsin, was hurt seriously. They were taken 18 miles to a LaCrosse hospital – in a second ambulance, of course. The accident was about 3:10 a.m. The vehicle wa a 5,300-pound 2014 Chevrolet Express G4500. There were no patients aboard.

Baseball: Winona State 12, Bemidji State 0

Baseball: Winona State 11, Bemidji State 6

ALBERT LEA, Minn. – The driver of a pickup truck was killed in a collision with a semi-truck on Interstate 90 at the west-end exits into Albert Lea. Killed was Bradley Duane Helin, 54, of Buffalo Center, Iowa. He was 40 iles from home, westbound in a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado. Police said both vehicles were heading west through snow and ice. The semi driver, Melisa Ann Keiser, 60, of Enid, Oklahoma, was unhurt. Her 2001 Freightliner rolled onto the driver’s side in the median but also blocked I90 westbound lanes. Helin’s pickup came to rest in the center median.

WINONA, Minn. – An overnight storm began blowing in from the west with as much as five inches of snow forecast for counties alg the Mississippi River. Accumulations could be less if rain is mixed with snow, the National Weather Service forecast. Overnight lows were predicted in the 20s. The storm was expected to clear by dawn but not before packing — and making travel hazardous. Afternoon highs in the 40s should ease road conditions. But wait, there’s more; A second winter storm was expected Sunday and Monday across Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas,. The track of this storm was hard to pin down, forecasters said, Too, they said, it could be a wintery snow-rain mix in place.

Overnight duty. Plow crews on alert. Is end of winter near?  Officially the first day of spring has come and gone —  on Tuesday,  precisely at 11:06 p.m.

AUGUSTA, Wis. — An Eleva driver was died west of Augusta in a single-vehicle crash. Killed was Chad Ladwig, 44. Eau Claire County Sheriff Dave Riewestahl said that speed and alcohol were likely factors. The crash was about 8:20 p.m. at the T-intersection County Road O and Nugget Road.

WINONA, Minn. — Former Winona High School women’s track coach Eric Birth pleaded not guilty to multiple sexual misconduct charges involving female athletes. Birth remains free on a $20,000 bail. In separate cases, Birth is accused of sexual contact with the high school students. Each of the charges is punishable by 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

Earlier: Coach’s bail softened in teen sex cases, now $20,000

Earlier: Coach accused of sex with fourth teen athlete

Earlier: Police chronicles: The Eric Birth probe

Earlier: Teacher’s bail: $300,000 over school sex allegations

Earlier: Teacher booted early in police sex misdeed query

Earlier: High school teacher accused of teen sex

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona High School student suffered a nose injury, possibly a broken nose, in a bathroom fight. Police, who were summoned about 9:40 a.m., said two boys, 16 and 15, had been pushing and shoving and exchanging punches. One boy’s mother later took him to the hospital for the nose injury. Police spoke with staff, students and both parents. An investigator was assigned to follow up.

DRESBACH, Minn. – A semi-truck hauling hogs crashed on its side approaching the  Interstate 90 bridge over the Mississippi River. The driver, Jacob Tilleman, 30, of Juneau, Wisconsin, was unhurt. He was headed toward Wisconsin in a 2003 Peterbilt. This was about12:01 a.m. State troopers placed Tilleman under arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The State Patrol made no report on whether any hogs survived.

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – Jailers withheld six meals in a row to an inmate who smeared his cell door with feces. The inmate said he became so hungry and thirsty that he ate his own feces and drank toilet water and then urine. These details are in an investigative report from the state prisons agency. The report said that withholding food as punishment is “strictly prohibited.” The agency ordered Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons, who is responsible for the Otter Tail County jail, to relocate inmates immediately to neighboring counties pending further inspections. In effect, the state Corrections Department has yanked the jail’s Class I license. Anyone under arrest cannot be held than 72 hours.

Otter Tail County jail. In Fergus Falls, population 16,000, in Otter Tail County, population 60,000, in northwest Minnesota. Built in 1987.  Rated for 111 inmates, many housed from counties whose jails are at capacity or lack state Class 1 status

Self-incriminating detail

The name of the inmate was not included in the state’s report, nor was the reason he was in jail. The food and drink deprivation began February 10, according to the jail’s own internal document: “We will not be offering food until he cleans his cell because it is not safe for staff to open any access points to his cell.” The documents say that the inmate was denied lunch and dinner one day, then breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day, and breakfast the day after.

Who knew what when?

Unclear is when Sheriff Fitzgibbons became aware of what was happening. Clear, however, is that 10 days after the food deprivation began, the state Corrections Department learned about potential staff misconduct. By then, on February 20, the sheriff had started an internal investigation and hired an outside law firm to investigate. There was an early report floating around the sheriff’s office, not confirmed, that the inmate was given bottled water in place of one meal and milk and juice in place of breakfasts.

Options for unpleasant situation

The state said that the jail staff dallied on seeking a medical provider or health authority about the inmate’s condition. The inmate, however, was given access to nursing care three days after the punishment started, the report said.

Fitzgibbons. First elected sheriff in 2016. Uniformed police service began 2003. Up for re-election in November.

Huska. Gregory Huska, the state inspector general for correctional facilities.

WINONA, Minn. – Police stopped a woman who made a jack-rabbit start and then realized she was drunk. The alcohol-blood ratio for Rory Evelyn Scott, 21, of Rochester, tested at .0.09% — about 15% above the threshold for impairment. And, said police, she admitted to two drinks. Her eyes were blood-shot, her speech was slurred, and she wobbled through field sobriety tests, police said. This was about 10:15 p.m.at Second and Franklin streets. Police said they clocked Scott at 40 mph in a 30 zone.

Basketball (boys): Lake City Tigers 72, Pelican Rapids Vikings 61

Basketball (boys): Fridkey Totino-Grace Eagles 57, Stewartville Tigers 48

Basket after thud. Three balloon enthusiasts escaped from the basket after a 30-fiot drop after hitting powerlines. A grass fire followed. It was the end of an evening excursion of rolling flatlands southeast of Rochester, not far from the airport. Image: Rochester Fire Department

Wind slammed balloon into powerlines; sparks flew

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Three hit-air balloonists escaped serious Injury when their balloon was blown into powerlines during a descent.  The basket dropped loose and fell 30 feet from the sparking powerlines with the three occupants aboard.  That anyone survived was a miracle, said Fire Chief Chad Kuhlman.  This was along busy Highway 63 about 6:50 p.m. The balloon’s propane burner apparently detached on impact with the powerlines, as did the basket, and ignited roadside grass fire. The balloon itself, suddenly without the propane burner, was blown up and away like a limp sail. The tanged nylon fabric of the balloon came down a couple miles away. The intial crash itself was near the Highway 63 ramps at 48th Street Southeast – a major exit to several large retailers – Fleet Farm, Lowe’s and Subaru of Rochester – and a McDonald’s and Deutsch Furniture. Firefighters extinguished the grass fire at less than a quarter acre.

Moment of contact. Traffic surveillance camera catches sparking powerlines.. Image: Minnesota Transportation Department

Anatomy, Of a hot-air balloon.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Winona State University has found a new president in its own backyard. Kenneth Janz was approved by Minnesota State trustees to succeed Scott Olson, who resigned a year ago to become chancellor of the state system. Janz has been interim president since Olson left. Earlier Janz was academic vice president and library dean. In his 26 years at Winona State he has shepherded the university’s transition into high-tech learning and cemented its reputation as a leading “laptop campus.” Olson recommended Janz to the state trustees. Olson noted that there had been an unusually robust field of 70 applicants, Any of the three finalists, who were interviewed on campus, would have been excellent choices, Olson said.

Earlier: Campus interviews pending for new WSU president

Earlier: Search chair for new WSU leader from Southwest State

Earlier: WSU president bids campus farewell

Janz. Sixteenth president in WSU history.

WINONA, Minn. – Those new cameras on school bus stop arms are working. Ask 82-year-old Alice Margaret Wicka. Based on what a bus camera showed, police traced a violation to Wicka. She admitted the infraction, which was Monday in Knopp Valley, police said. She was ticketed.

WINONA, Minn. – Police called in State Patrol cxperts to reconstruct a collision at Mankato Avenue and Howard Street that left a pedestrian in critical condition Saturday. The pedestrian, Elizabeth Carol Ressie, 41, of Winona, remained hospitalized and “still alive” at Gundersen hospital in LaCrosse. No charges have been filed against the driver, Jorgina Mari Rae Meyer, 41, of Winona, pending the outcome of the State Patrol reconstruction and other factors. The investigation, police said, could take months.

Earlier: Pedestrian struck unconscious, badly hurt

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 41 emergency medical calls plus 16 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, March 19: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire call.

> Monday, March 18: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire calls.

> Sunday, March 17: 6 medical calls plus no fire calls.

> Saturday, March 16: 11 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Friday, J March 15: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire call.

> Thursday, March 14: 8 medical calls plus 5 fire call.

> Wednesday, March 13: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire call.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 50 calls

Baseball: Johns Hopkins 8, UW-LaCrosse 0