BEMIDJI, Minn. – Vehicular traffic was banned until further notice on Upper Red Lake following multiple accidents with snowmobiles, four-wheelers and other motorized vehicles breaking through thin ice. Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs announced the ban. A violation is a misdemeanor with fines and penalties, the sheriff said. A combination of wind, rain and warm weather has been the problem on the lakes.

Earlier: Massive rescue Up North on break-away ice floe

Not where a plow should be. Off the road and in the ditch. No injuries. Image: Richard Campbell

Fire truck also into ditch at scene

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A plow truck slid off of a road in southwest Rochester and struck a hydrant. Although the hydrant survived he impact, one of its lugs penetated the plow’s fuel tank. Forty gallons of gasoline spewed out. Nobody was injured. A fire was  was called to clean up the soil.  While responding to the call, one fire truck slid into a ditch. Wreckers were called to pull both trucks out of the ditch. This was about 9:20 p.m. at 225 18th St. Southwest.

Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 68, Marian 54

Basketball (boys):  Winona Cotter Ramblers 61, Prairie du Chien Blackhawks 49

Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter Ramblers 66, Prairie du Chien Blackhawks 48

RUSHFORD. Minn. – A Winona driver was injured when her car skidded on snow and ice and rolled on Highway 43 just north of the Fillmore County line. An ambulance from Rushford rd took Tavarra Latice Ellison, 42, to the Winona hospital 21 miles away. Her injuries were non-life threatening. The accident was was at a gentle curve near Sievers Drive about 6:20 p.m.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The infant formula powder Nutramigen, intended for children with cow-milk allergies, has been recalled because of possible bacterial content that can be fatal. The manufacturer, Reckitt/Mead Johnson, said the national recall was precautionary. No cases of infection have been found, the company said. Recalled were 12.6-ounce and 19.8-ounce cans.

Manufactured in June. Most of the stock probably has consumed already, according to the company.

BLUFF SIDING. Wis. – Deputies arrested four Winona persons in a traffic stop that netted drugs just over the Minnesota state line. Two of the arrests were on felony drug charges, one of them a charge of intending to sell cocaine. The stop was about 1:40 a.m. on Highway 35. The charges, being filed in Buffalo County Court:

> Marcus Shines, age 41: Carrying a firearm despite a court order as a convicted felon not to do so.

> Crystal Shines, 24: Packages of cocaine and marijuana in a purse with intent to deliver, as well as possessing  methamphetamine .

> Kyven Pickett, 27: Possessing marijuana with intent to deliver.

> Takyra Ray, 29. Showing signs of impairment while driving.

Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 75, St. Norbert 71

Basketball (women): Elmhurst 81, Saint Mary’s 49

Stranded but warm. With them on the floe were ice-fishing huts. Image: Kelleher Fire Department

Unusually thin December ice problematic

UPPER RED LAKE, Minn. – A large chunk of ice broke off from a shore of Upper Red Lake, stranding 122 people who had been ice-fishing. All were rescued unhurt.  It took 2-1/2 hours to ferry the stranded people, a few at a time, to shire by boats and airboats. Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs said the most perilous moments were before rescue teams arrived. A group of bystanders on shore rowed canoes to evacuate the stranded fisherman, but four of them fell into the water. They swam and waded to the ice floe and warmed up in a fishing shelter. The floe had broken off about 5 p.m. Evacuations concluded about 7:30. The rescue was the latest on Up North lakes this month. Because of unseasonably warm weather, ice has been slow to form enough strength to support ice-fishing. Upper Red Lake has been the location for several ice rescues this winter, including:

> December 17: Thirty-five people were rescued from an ice floe.

> December 19:  Three men were in an airplane that broke through ice in an aborted landing.

> December 21: Three men went through the ice when  their all-terrain vehicle and trailer broke through the ice.

> December 28: A father and son fell through the ice on an all-terrain vehicle.

Also on Thursday but 18 miles away on Lake of the Woods, a resort’s oversize vehicle broke through ice with one death, a drowning, leaving five others to be rescued.

Earlier: Man dies on Lake of Woods ice-fishing trip

Earlier: Experts: Waterways not yet ready for ice-fishing

VERMILLION, Minn. –A Rochester woman was killed in a three-vehicle head-on crash near Vermillion six miles southwest of Hastings. Dakota County deputies said Ruweyda Fowsi Said, 17, died apparently on impact. The accident was about 7 p.m. at Northfield Boulevard a quarter mile south of 210th Street East

WABASHA, Minn. – A Plainview man arrested after a brief stand-off with police in May changed his plea to guilty. James Wingert, 63, entered the new plea to reduced charges in Wabasha County court. In exchange he accepts a three-year prison sentence. Several more seriosy charges will be dropped in exchange for two charges:

> Threats of violence.

> Second-degree assault.

In the incident Wingert pointed a gun at police and tried to fire. The gun jammed. The stand-off lasted about 30 minutes.

Wingert. Sentencing Monday before Judge Christopher Neisen.

WINONA Minn.  – The Winona county and city policing agencies will rely on their usual patrols to handle revelers on New Year’s Eve and the wee hours after. The sheriff’s office said its usual four or five night-shift offices will be on duty, the city its usual five to seven officers. The State Patrol has fielded extra patrols for drunk-driving enforcement since Thanksgiving. More than 1,200 additional DWI arrests have been made as a result, compared to 2022, the Patrol said..

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – An ice storm forced the State Patrol to close 76 miles of Interstate 29 and side roads north to the Canada border. Earlier the storm raised havoc 250 miles away in Bismarck, the state capital. Police took 175 accident calls. Downed power lines left 20,000 people, many in rural areas, without electricity. Governor Doug Burgum declared a statewide emergency.

SPARTA, Wis.  – A high school junior charged with arson at the giant Walmart retail store in Sparta was released from jail on $5,000 bond. Emma Smith,17, was told to return to court January 29 for the next step in her case. Meanwhile, the Walmart store remains closed for repairs. Damage has been pegged at $7.6 million.

Earlier: Teen to cops: “No idea why I started Walmart fire”

BAUDETTE, Minn. – A man died, apparently drowning, when a vehicle equipped with bulldozer tracks broke through ice on Lake of the Woods near the Canada border. Five other passengers escaped with the help of the driver. The fatality, a man whose name was not released immediately by Sheriff Gary Fish, was recovered seven hours later by divers. The tracked vehicles, called “bombers,” are operated by resorts to take people out for ice-fishing. Ice has been unusually thin Up North for December.

Earlier: Army Corps Illustrating the danger of thin ice

Earlier: Incoming plane slides off slippery landing zone

Earlier: 35 stranded on Upper Red Lake when ice breaks