WINONA, Minn. – A driver trying to evade police on Latsch Island drove up a steep grassy slope at Dick’s Marina to try to get away on Highway 43 but got stuck. His next stop was jail. Arrested was Dominic Jerome Lundquist, 22, of Fountain City. Police said they had tried to stop Lindquist in the downtown bar district for failing to maintain his traffic lane. He indeed stopped, but then gassed the pedal and raced away as the officer walked up to his car, the officer said.. This was about 1 a.m. Lundquist fled over the Mississippi Bridge and turned abruptly off at the island. When arrested, officers were sure he was drunk. Indeed his blood’s alcohol level showed as 0.13% in a breathalyzer test. Any level more than 0.08% is considered impairment.

Lundquist. Booking charges: Drunk and reckless driving, fleeing police.

AFTON Minn. –  A pilot and his passenger died when their light plane crashed and exploded in the hills above this St. Croix River community. The pilot was Pat Moore, 85, of White Bear Lake. Initial reports identified the passenger only as 85 years old and from nearby Bayport.  They men had just taken off from Lake Elmore en route140 miles to visit a World War II aviation museum in Granite Falls. The plane, a single engine Globe GC1 Swift, went down in a residential area. A garage at a house was scorched by the explosion, but there were no injuries on the ground. Witnesses said they head the plane’s engine sputter, followed by a pop. The plane, they said, dropped nose-down the ground. This was about 9:45 a.m. in the1500 block of Afton Hills South.

Globe GC1 Swift. About 1,500 were built from 1946 to 1951. Weight empty:  1,100 pounds. Cruise: 140 mph. Range: 420 miles.

WINONA, Minn. – The Winona chapter of Habitat for Humanity is organizing a five-day biking event with daily routes out of Winona. The event, July 10 to 14, will cover 500 kilometers for bikers who opt for full participation. Organizer Adam Muschler said tickets aer available at $300 for all five days, $75 for a single day, and $50 for a virtual ride. Breakfast, dinner, rest stops, and lodging are included, he said. Details. Proceeds go to Habitat’s ongoing project to build affordable and decent housing one dwelling at a time..

DETROIT, Mich. – General Moors recalled 820,000 pickup trucks to fix tailgates. The problem is an electronic latch mechanism on Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra truck beds for model years 2020 to 2024.  The gates can open without warning and the cargo slide out.  Federal regulators have logged 130 malfunctions.

Gymnastics (women): Winona State 190.550, Simpson 187.950

Softball: Winona State 11, Charleston 3

Softball: Winona State 12, Goldey-Beacom 9

Basketball (boys): Mankato East Cougars 79, Winona Winhawks 46

Basketball (boys): Rochester Mayo Spartans 67, Owatonna Huskies 66

DAKOTA, Minn. – A grass fire blackend six acres up Lanes Valley from the Pine Creek Golf Course just inside the Winona County line. A nearby rural house was threatened for a while. Fire crews from Dakota and Nodine were called to the fire about 3:30 p.m.

Permanent owl residency. The architectural firm DSGW of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, has open aviaries clustered outward ad from a central viewing area, in this rendering on the right side. For the first time, owls will have permanent residency. Now they’re housed elsewhere and transporting back ad forth to the Owl Center’s small quarters on Center Street.

Best peek yet at $17 million walk-through aviary

HOUSTON, Minn. – The International Owl Center began its annual three-day Owl Festival with a display of architectural renderings of its new home across town at Trailhead Park. The $17 million facility will be nine times larger than he city’s current place downtown on Cedar Street. Activities will be various places around town starting at 8 a.m.; Ask locally. Karla Bloem, executive director, said a significant feature will be walk-through aviaries – a concept from Bavarian zoologist Wolfgang Scherzinger, who consulted on the project. Bloem, an owl expert in her own right, said she initially was dubious about owls and people in such close proximity. Owls, she said, are inclined naturally to avoid human confrontation.  But, she added, the Scherzinger concept has visitors walking on the side of the owls. As for the safety of visitors, viewing will be through large open windows. Also, as the Center’s collection of owls grows, newer and younger birds will acclimate.

Tour guide in blue. Windows will separate visitors from owls.

GENOA, Wis. – An intentional brush burn got of hand and roared across five acres in Genoa. Joe Pfaff, the assistant Stoddard-Bergen fire chief, blamed dry and windy conditions and a violation of a Red Flag ban on open flames..

LACROSSE, Wis. – Police barricaded a section of Myrick Park near the UW-LaCrosse campus after a body was discovered in bottom-land swamps behind the park. No details were released pending an investigation into the possibility of foul play

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Two southeast Minnesota golf courses, both in Rochester, have been cleared to open Saturday — the earliest in living memory. Tee times began at 12 noon. at the Soldiers Field course and the Northern Hills driving range. Experts say other courses may follow depending on elevations, sun exposure, turf conditions and other variables. If greens are too soggy, premature traffic can leave divot and ball mark that could take until June, maybe July to recover. The Rochester courses, however, weren’t first in the region. A few days earlier were the Pine Creek course near LaCrescent and the Fox Hollow course near Barre Mills.

LACROSSE, Wis. – Probably for the last time this season, crews at Mount LaCrosse have brought out their snow-making machines. The hope: That their manufactured snow will last the weekend for a major race, said Darcie Breidel, general manager. The forecast: Low 70s. In a 48-hour window early in  week, Breidel said, there was an opportunity “to pounce” after an usually warm winter and spray the slopes.

WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in February:

276 Pleasant Hill Drive: Krinke to Kapolnek, $520,000.

528 West Broadway: Heckman to Sardo, $300,000.

Earlier: Winona home sales in January 2024

WINONA, Minn. – Among residential property sales outside Winona logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, in February:

Altura: 12124 Whtewater Drive: Jacobson to Huber, $615,000.

Minnesota City: 346 Saehler Lane, Ziegeweld Trust to Pearson, $377,000.

St. Charles: 301 Northern Hills Trail, Myhre to Putzler/McKanna, $41,000.

St. Charles: 131 Circle Drive, Jones to Jorgensen, $305,000.

Utica: 13276 Grover Lane, Hegland to Yoder/Mast, $395,000.

Earlier: Winona County home sales in January

WINONA, Minn. – A breathalyzer test showed a Wisconsin driver’s blood-alcohol at 0.13%. Lois Antonio Pagel, 27, of Madison, was taken to jail and booked for drunken driving.  At 0.13% his blood exceeded the state max more than 1-1/2 times. The stop was for speeding, police said.  Ths was on Riverview Drive near the fleeting harbor about 11:45 p.m.