R.I.P.: Shirley Katula
WINONA, Minn. — Shirley R. Katula, age 88, of Winona, a cake decorator many years in the bakery at Randall’s grocery in Winona, died at St. Anne nursing home. She had lived 69 years in Bluff Siding. She enjoyed attending art seminars and teaching cake decorating classes.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1935-2024
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 4, Luther of New Ulm 3
Minnesota prep
Cops: Driver admits to marijuana, fails test
WINONA, Minn. – Police arrested a Winona man on suspicion of driving while high on marijuana, but specific charges were put on hold until the results of a a blood draw come back from the crime lab. Tyler Jpseph Monahan, 38, admitted smoking marijuana about an hour before he was stopped for a bad brake light, police said. Also, police said he failed sobriety tests on-scene. The stop was about 8:30 p.m. at Broadway and Chatfield streets on the Far East End.
Serious injury in dual-car crash on rural road
ELBA, Minn. – A Rochester youth was critically injured when two cars, both speeding, crashed near Beaver and left the road. The youth, age 17, was taken 40 miles to a Rochester hospital with life-threatening injuries. Two teens in the second car were less seriously hurt and treated at the scene. This was about 7:40 p.m., after dark, on a steep winding curve rising out of Selke Valley. Although the accident was not immediately reconstructed, deputies believe the vehicles were going the same direction, one behind ther, about 55 mph in an area that, because of blind curves, was better navigated at 20 or 25. One vehicle, driven by the Rochester youth, struck a tree. The second vehicle, right behind with two Plainview buddies, followed off the pavement. The accident was on a paved section. Deputies said the Plainview pair denied racing but admitted they had been “tearing around” on backroads with the other driver.. The vehicles crashed near the County Road 30 and County Road 31 crossroads about five miles north of Elba. Both vehicles were light-weight –ca 2011 BMW 128 and a 2003 Saturn Ion.
Woman charged for spatula slap
WITOKA, Minn. — A rural woman was arrested after a man was struck in the face with a spatula. Betsy Jean Comero, 44, was charged with domestic assault. The man, age 50, showed a mark on his face but didn’t need medical attention, deputies said. This was about 6:40 p.m. in the 24000 block of County Road 15.
Comero. Booked for intentional domestic assault.
Drug raid nets 1.2 kilos of cocaine, bundled cash
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Police raided a Rochester house and seized a brick of cocaine weighing 1.2 kilos. That’s like 10 quarter-pound sticks of butter. Bundled cash was also seized. The raid was at the home of 44-year-old Dennis Cortez Siggers. When the raid was being conducted, Siggers coincidentally was being detained in a traffic stop a few blocks away. The raid was led by the multi-agency Violent Crimes Enforcement Team. This was about 5 p.m. in the 3900 block of 18th Avenue Northwest. The internal Olmsted County sheriff’s office report says that a woman, age 33, and two grade-school children exited the house shortly before police closed in.
Siggers. Prior convictions include robbery in 2012 and drug sales in 2019.
Michigan university research chief to UM presidency
MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota regents have named a new president of the giant 55,000-student system: Rebecca Cunningham. She has been research vice president at the University of Michigan. She has been at Michigan 25 years. The regents’ decision was unanimous. The decision came after Cunningham and two other finalists participatedin 15 public forums, 15 open houses and 2,700 miles on the road to visit each UM campus. The other finalists:
>Laura Bloomberg, president at Cleveland State University.
> James Holloway, chief academic officer at the University of New Mexico.
Cunningham, age 53, replaces Joan Gabel, who left last summer amid difficulties about moon-lighting on a university vendor’s board of directors. Gabel went to the University of Pittsburgh as chancellor with a $200,000 pay hike. The retired chief of Hormel Foods in Austin, Jeff Ettinger, has served as interim UM president.
Earlier: Hormel leader to UM top job coming year
Earlier: Quest for interim UM president narrows
Earlier: UM president leaving in July
Cunnningham. Salary at $750,000.
Cunningham profile
She took training as an emergency physician. She holds a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Her primary medical field is injury prevention, violence-related injury, and substance abuse, She joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1999. Mostly recently she has been the university’s vice preident of research and innovation and has expanded the university’s research volume to a record $1.9 billion annually.
Couple surrender after rural Wisconsin stand-off
Armed in the ready. A crisis response team surrounded a house southwest of Ontario, in north central Vernon County. Image: Vernon Couny sheriff
911 caller said “shots fired”; unknown if true
ONTARIO, Wis. – Two persons, a man and a woman were taken into custody at a farm house in Hoff Valley 3-1/2 hours after a report of a shots being fired. Police had established a perimeter after a 911 call about 8 a.m. The caller said “shots fired” before the call disconnected. Sheriff Roy Torgerson mobilized a team from Viroqua, the county seat 25 miles away, including an armored vehicle. The sheriff said the couple inside, age 42 and 30, surrendered after negotiations defused the situation. There were no injuries, Torgerson said. He didn’t know for sure whether shots actually had been fired.
Prison time for police chase, meth, gun, ammo
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Stewartville motorcyclist is prison-bound for leading police on a 90-mph in October. But five years in prison for James Michael Kenyon, 25, was not only for the chase, which ended when he crashed into deep brush off Highway 63. In the wreckage, police found 1.2 grams of meth, a stun gun, and a magazine of 7.9-millieter bullets. It wasn’t Kenyon’s only 2023 police encounter. He had been arrested three times in three months. Those other charges included auto theft.
Kenyon. His 2023 will be a year not to forget.
First 2024 legislation fixes tax deduction goof-up
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The first legislation of 2024 has cleared the Minnesota Legislature and been signed by Governor Tim Walz. The bill corrects an error from last year when the tax law erroneously used 2019 as the base year to calculate the 2025 standard deduction for personal income taxes. The base should have been 2024. The error could have cost taxpayers $350 million. The technical tax fix passed both chambers with bipartisan support.
Traffic banned on wobbly Lansing bridge
LANSING, Iowa – Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick ordered the 1,700-foot Blackhawk Bridge over the Mississippi River at Lansing barricaded because of “some slight movement.” Structural engineers were summoned to examine whether the high catilever span is safe for trucks and automobiles. The bridge, built in 1931, is the only river crossing between LaCrosse, 38 miles upriver, and Prairie du Chien, 32 miles downriver. It’s been closed before — from 1945 to 1957 when it was damaged by ice dams. There has bend discussion fo nyears about replacing the rickety narrow-lanes bridge, which is an icon for theregion.
Black Hawk Bridge. After 90-plus years the Model A-era bridge has long been considered beyind its useful life.
Middle School hair-pulling incident draws cops
WINONA, Minn. – Police ticketed a 12-year-old girl at the Winona Middle school, allegedly for pulling another girl’s hair and punching her. Police were called to the school about 9 a.m. The injuries were sustainable, police said. The school has 640 students in Grades 5 to 8.
No price leader around Winona
At the verge. Gas prices have been inching upward toward $3 a gallon in Winona County for weeks. Now they’re at the verge, as at the Lewiston Kwik Trip. There are still lower prices elsewhere in Minnesota. St. Cloud pumps are $2.59 to $2.69. Image: Steve Lunde
Grain towers engulfed when fire crews arrive
HAWLEY, Minn. –A massive fire destroyed the grain elevator complex that dominated the skyline of this prairie town of 2,200 people between Detroit Lakes and Fargo. No one was injured. Due to wind, backhoes were used to knock down outbuildings. The fire required so much water – 600 gallons a minute — that the municipal system ran dry. Firefighters had to draw water from the town’s 18-hole local golf course. With no water pressure left in the town system, the 1,100 students in Hawley’s three schools were told to take Monday off. Not until dawn was the fire controlled – after 7-1/2 hours. Seventeen fire departments sent crews to help the volunteer Hawley department.
Inferno in night sky. Cause of grain elevator fire not determined immediately. Image: Melissa Cossette
R.I.P.: Wayne Nielsen
RIDGEWAY, Minn. – Wayne M. Nielsen, age 69, of Ridgeway, died at Gundersen hospital in La Crosse. Per his wishes, there will not be a funeral service.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1954-2024
College scores
Baseball: Luther of New Ulm 9, Saint Mary’s 6
Gymnastics (women): UW-LaCrosse 191.075, UW-Stout 189.500
Softball: Winona State 2, Fort Hays State 0
Softball: Saint Mary’s 3, Bethany of Minnesota 0
Softball: Saint Mary’s 9, Luther of New Ulm 6
Tennis (men): UW-LaCrosse 7, St. Scholastica 2
Tennis (women): UW-LaCrosse 6, St. Scholastica 3
Phillips aide casts self as hero for fake robocalls
NEW YORK — A veteran political consultant on the Dean Phillips campaign payroll confessed to a deep-fake robocalls designed to undermine President Biden in the New Hampshire presidential primary. Steve Kramer said the idea for the hoax was entirely his own and had nothing to do with Phillips, a Minnesota congresan seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Why did Kramer do it? He likened himself to American Revolutionary heroes Thomas Paine and Paul Revere. From the start, Kramer said, he saw the robocall as as an act of civil disobedience to call attention to the dangers of artificial intelligence in politics. “This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” he said in an interview. “For $500, I got about $5 million worth of action, whether that be media attention or regulatory action.” Kramer expressed no remorse. He acknowledged being receiving a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission. Prosecutions could mean jail time, he said.
Earlier: Prosecution ahead for fake election robocalls?
Jewelry, cash missing at West Side home
WINONA, Minn. – A woman told police that money and jewelry were missing from her house in the 350 block of West Fifth Street. She was unable to itemize the missing items immediately but said she would compile a list. Police said she suspected a guest.
Westby man charged as hit-run accomplice
WESTBY, Wis. — A second man was arrested for a hit-and-run accident in which a four-wheeler struck and seriously injured woman on residential Bekkdal Avenue. Charged as a accessory to reckless endangerment was Robert Purvis, 21, of Westby. Purvis joined his friend Mitchell L. McKittrick in the county jail in Viroqua. McKittrick was arrested February 4, the day of the accident, and charged with driving the SUV.
Student dies in WSU dorm; autopsy pending
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona State University sophomore, Zachary Nguyen, 20, was found dead in his room in the Richards dorm. Police were notified about 10:20 a.m. Nguyen had not been seen since the night before. An autopsy was ordered. Nguysen was studying computer science and psychology. He was frim Blomingtin. The university’s student affairs vice president, Dense McDowell, notified campus people about the death. There was no safety concern for the campus community, McDowell said.
Rion plans new research at old IBM campus
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester cosmetics company Rion, which manufactures highly profitable anti-aging skin serum, has acquired 10,000 square feet at the former IBM campus. The company seeks to expand its product lines with exosome-based research licensed from Mayo Clinic. The new space will be used for Phase 2 clinical trials. Rion, founded in 2020, has 40 employees and expects to have 22 more by 2007.
Rion’s serum. Branded as Plated. Sells online and at spas for $277 an ounce.
Prosecution ahead for fake election robocalls?
CONCORD, N.H. – The New Hampshire attorney general, John Formella, declined to confirm whether he will prosecute people behind robocalls that encouraged people against voting for Joe Biden — an attempt to boost Dean Philips of Minnesota in the state’s presidential primary. Formella earlier had traced the calls to two Texas companies that he believed had disseminated the robocalls two days before the primary. At that time he issued a cease-and-desist order. The order asserted that the calls violated New Hampshire laws against voter suppression.
Earlier: Magician details origins of fake Biden robocall
Earlier: Minnesota candidate: No role in faked robocall
Shops lost when fire hit century-old Tomah block
Tomah rubble. Three shops burned out. Cause is uncertain, but there was a report of an explosion. Image: Tomah Fire Department
Ho-Chunk Museum collection saved next-door
TOMAH, Wis. – Three Tomah retail stores were wiped out in a downtown fire on Superior Aveeue that took nine hours to extinguish. Affected businesses:
> Sassy Girl Aroma, which sold scented wickless wax melts for electric and T-light warmers.
> Sacred Space, which offered tranquility, float and vibro-acoustic therapy.
>T-Town Nutrition, which specialized in health foods and wellnesss coaching.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, said Fire Chief Tim Adler. In all, 88 firefighters, some from as far as 40 miles out, responded the fire, Adler said. Tenants in upstairs apartments were ushered to safety by police, who arrived first. Adler said the cause of the fire was not determined immediately.
T-Town Nutrition. Shop signals unsureness online after fire in 1100 block of Superior Avenue.
Experts: More Mississippi fish die-offs ahead
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The unseasonably warm February, in the 60s and 70s around Winona in recent days, will continue to disrupt lifecycles for fish in the Mississippi River, state wildlife experts said. Thousands of fish, mostly gizzard shad, have turned belly-up since early in the month.
Lake City marina. Gizzard shad prefer shallow lakes with muddy bottoms. Don’t cotton well to unusual swings in water temperatures. Image: Derek Joy
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