Autistic 11-year-old trashes house, maims cats
ALTURA, Minn. – An autistic child left in the care of a 12-year-old brother went berserk and tore up the inside of the family’s home in Altura and tortured two pet cats. The brother called 911 in Winona, and the child, age 11, was removed 40 miles to a Rochester hospital for psychiatric evaluation. The father, a trucker, was notified and went directly to the hospital. Meanwhile, the county’s child protective service office was notified. The two badly injured cats were taken nine miles to the Lewiston veterinary clinic and euthanized. The incident, in the100 block of First Avenue Southeast in Altura, was reported about 4:30 p.m.
New zombie deer case in Wabasha County
WABASHA, Minn. – The deer disease CWD short for “chronic wasting disease,” has been detected in a deer killed in Wabasha County. The Minnesota Department of Natural declined to say exactly where the deer was shot except that it was in a new surveillance zone where hunters are required to submit the brains their deer for testing. The neurological disorder causes deer to stop feeding, even drinking, and to go into agonizing trances. Although highly contagious among deer, caribou and elk, the disease isn’t transferable to humans. The concern of wildlife experts is that the disease could wipe out deer populations. Two weeks ago the disease was found in wild deer across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin’s Buffalo County. The disease entered southeast Minnesota in Houston County several years ago and has been spreading northward.
Wabasha County. Immediately north of Winona County. Across Mississippi River from a new CWD case in Wisconsin’s Buffalo County.
Cantaloupe scare spreads to Kwik Trip
LACROSSE, Wis. – The 800-store Kwik Trip convenience chain recalled fresh fruit cups due to expanded concern about salmonella bacteria in cantaloupe. The Kwik Trip recall covers six-ounce mixed fruit cups, six-ounce cantaloupe cups, and 16-ounce fruit trays with expiration labels from November 4 to December 3. The products contain cantaloupe from the Kwik Trip supplier TruFresh. No illnesses have been reported from the Kwik Tip fruit products.
Recall. The products originated with Kwik Trip supplier TruFresh.
TikTok rumors precede girl-on-girl high school fight
WINONA, Minn. – Police cited a 15-year-old Winona High School girl with assault after a hallway attack on another girl. This was about 11:30 a.m. Police were told the girl ran up behind a 16-year-old girl, punched her several times, and pulled her hair. Why? Police were told the incident was preceded by unflattering rumors posted on the online site TikTok. Police said there were no serious injuries.
Army: About giving Minneapolis dam acreage to tribe
Upper St. Anthony Falls. The lock closed to boat traffic in 2015. There has been ongoing concern about the effect of a structural collapse of the deteriorating lock structure on downriver water quality and navigation.
End point: No upstream Mississippi navigation any more
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed giving 5.2 acres within the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam property to Owamniyomni Okhodayapi (formerly Friends of the Falls) for tribal cultural and environmental interpretive programming, tours and special events. The proposal is for a 25-year grant. The land deal would be part the evolving Corps project to deal with the abandoned lock and dam. The Corps invited public comment on the plan by December 29.
Pilot in emergency landing in heavy ground traffic
Injuries only minor. After his engine went out approaching an airport, the pilot maneuvered his Piper Cherokee to the nearest thing that looked like a landing strip. Problem: Busy ground traffic. Image: Elizabeth Stockman
Engine failed 2-1/2 miles short of runway
BROKLYN PARK, Minn. — A small plane crash-landed into a car on a busy highway in the northwest Minneapolis suburbs, injuring the pilot and the driver. The plane came down 2-1/2 miles short of runways at the Ceystal airport. It clipped several power lines, then clided with a car. Neither the pilot nor the driver was seriously hurt, police sad. Their names were not released immediately. The accident happened about 10:30 a.m. Southbound Highway 81 was expected to be closed several hours. The plane was a single engine Piper Cherokee owned by Thunderbird Aviation at Crystal. The pilot was returning from a flight to South Dakota. The three-runway airport serves general aviation and a flight school and charters.
Wildlife Refuge photo contest: “Grass Grove Visitor”
Isabelle Katwa image. First place in the youth category in the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters centennial photo contest. In all there were 57 entries in four categories. Photos were from the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which extends 260 miles from Wabasha to Rock Island in Illinois.
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 76, Independence Indees 62
Basketball (boys): Osseo-Fairchild Thunder 74, Augusta Beavers 37
Basketball (boys): Blair-Taylor Wildcats 65, Elmwood-Plum City Wolves 51
Missing Red Wing man died at own hands
RED WING, Minn. – The death of a Red Wing man, who had been missing 10 days, was by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The body of Brad Nagel, 57, was discovered down a steep embankment on his rural property outside Red Wing on Sunday. Sheriff Marty Kelly said there was no reason to suspect foul play even though many unanswered questions remained about Nagel’s disappearance. These included why Nagel’s pickup was sunk many miles away in the Wisconsin backwaters of the Mississippi River.
Widened alert for bacteria-tainted cantaloupe
WASHINGTON – With 99 cases of salmonella poisoning and two deaths, the federal government re-issued its alert about pre-cut cantaloupe originating Arizona and Mexico. Infections were first reported November 17. Several brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes and pre-cut fruit now are added to the recall:
> Aldi whole cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products.
> Freshness Guaranteed brand pre-cut cantaloupes.
> Malichita brand whole cantaloupe.
> RaceTrac brand pre-cut cantaloupes.
> Rudy brand whole cantaloupes.
> Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe.
The most cases so far, 13, have been in Minnesota. Most seriously affected: Wisconsin, 9 cases; Missouri, 9; Ohio, 8; Arizona, 7; Kentucky, 5; Iowa, 4; Illinois, 4; Nebraska, 4; and Tennessee, 4. The recalled products were sold between October 16 and November 10 and lend themselves to refrigeration., which doesn’t kill ye bacteria. Symptoms: Diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six hours to six days. Illnesses can last seven days.
Earlier: Cantaloupe recall: Illness tagged to tainted melons
Minnesota leads in outbreak. Blue, 7 to 13 cases; green, 4 to 5; white, 1 to 3. Health officials in Canada are also investigating the outbreak. Most vulnerable: Children, people older than 65, and pepple with weakened immune systems. Image: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Coroner called into Red Wing man’s disappearance
RED WING, Minn. – The regional medical examiner examined the body of a Red Wing man, Brad Nagel, where he was found dead Sunday 10 days after disappearing. The body was taken to Rochester for an autopsy. Searchers found the body on rural property that Nagel owned near Red Wing. For several days the search had focused many miles away on the Mississippi River where Nagel’s pickup truck had been found under water. Nagel, 57, was prominent locally as a field instructor at the Red Wing Environmental Learning Center.
A drunken downtown brawl that just wouldn’t end
WINONA Minn. – Police didn’t spare the adjectives in writing up their arrest of Hunter John Gamoke, 29, of Winna, after brawls outside Gabby’s bar on Third Street: Disorderly, belligerent, fighting, brawling, offensive, boisterous, obscene. This, according to police was what happened:
> 1:12 a.m.: Heated encounters inside the bar spilled out on the street. When officers arrived, Gamoke was cursing and trying to fight with just about everybody. Officers told Gamoke to go home. Thinking their presence had quieted the situation, the officers left.
> 1:29 a.m.: Police were called back and found Gamoke still being disorderly and trying to wrestle people on the street. Officers broke it up and arranged for a ride home for Gamoke — even though his belligerence persisted. He said wasn’t going anywhere. This time the officers stayed on-scene, monitoring this second de-escalation from the background.
> 1:40 a.m.: Gamoke stuck around and continued yelling obscenities, taunting, picking fights and causing disturbances. Finally he was arrested.
Tests found his blood was running 0.20% alcohol – 2-1/2 times more than the legal definition of impairment. Because of Gamoke’s high blood-alcohol content, the jailer refused to accept him without being medically cleared. . Gamoke was taken to the hospital where kept causing disturbances and even spit on the floor.
Hit-run driver picks up debris, leaves
WINONA, Minn. — A surveillance camera caught a white sedan making a U-turn in the 350 block of West Third and severing a parking sign from a pole. The driver got out, picked up the damaged sign, and drove away. This was about 12:30 a.m. Police began checking automobile records for the driver.
Wildlife Refuge photo contest: “Reflective Beauty”
Bruce Battel image. Honorable mention in the wildlife and plants category in the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters centennial photo contest. In all there were 57 entries in four categories. Photos were from the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which extends 260 miles from Wabasha to Rock Island in Illinois.
Woman’s death blamed tentatively on overdose
WINONA, Minn. – An autopsy was ordered for a 39-year-old woman who died at an East Side address. Death apparently was due to a drug overdose, police said. Friends called police about 11:10 p.m. after the woman failed to respond to an injection of the drug antidote Narcan. She failed also to respond to resuscitation attempts after authorities arrived. She was declared dead at 11:43 – half an hour after police were called. Friends told police they had no idea what drug the woman had taken. Police said they observed syringes and drug paraphernalia on the premises. This was in the 450 block of East Broadway Street near Bloedow’s bakery.
College scores
Basketball (women): Gustavus Adolphus 64, UW-LaCrosse 48
10 Tomah people escape upstairs apartments fire
CAPTION
Flames leaping from upstairs. Police first to arrive, evacuated tenants. Images: Tomah Fire Department
Superior Avenue through downtown closed all day
TOMAH, Wis. – Police helped evacuate 10 tenants from walk-up apartments above the Peking Chinese restaurant downtown just as the fire was leaping up into the second floor. There were no injuries. The restaurant was closed. Police were first to arrive, about 7:50 a.m. The fire took 11 hours to control because of complexities in the old, oft-remodeled structure, said Fire Chief Tim Adler. Even so, firefighters kept the blaze from spreading to adjacent buildings. The fire was in the 1000 retail block Superior Avenue, which is densely packed with vintage side-by-side buildings. There was major smoke damage, Adler said. Superior Avenue, the main drag through Tomah, was closed to traffic. The cause of the fire was not determined immediately, Adler said.
Fire crews on site 11 hours. The Red Cross helped displaced tenants to a senior citizens center. Both Kwik Trip and Murrays on Main provided food and drink to firefighters.
Body found: 10-day search for Red Wing man over
RED WING, Minn. – A missing outdoorsman, Brad Nagel, was found dead on property he owned outside. Red Wing. The discovery ended 10 days of searching on both the Minnesota an Wisconsin sides of the Mississippi River. In Red Wing the Goodhue County sheriff, Marty Kelly, declined to release details. The disappearance has raised all kinds of questions locally. The sequence of events.
> November 15 (Wednesday): The last time it was known that anyone had been in contact with Nagel was about 11:30 p.m.
> November 16 (Thursday): Surveillance video showed Nagel on foot on a Red Wing street about 7:40 a.m. This was the last known sighting of him.
> November 16 (Thursday): Nagel failed to arrive at a commitment related to his work as a youth field instructor.
> November 19 (Sunday): Nagel’s pickup truck was found submerged 40 yards from a Mississippi River boat landing on a Wisconsin back channel,
> November 26 (Sunday): Searchers found body on Nagel’s body in the afternoonon rural property he wned near Red Wing.
Vehicle slips off Trout Valley Creek trail
MINNEISKA, Minn. – A vehicle overturned on a snow-slick Trout Valley Creek access road off County Road 31 near the Wabasha County line. There wasn’t any injury, deputies said. This was about 11:30 a.m.
Elder forced into basement, gagged, tortured
LACROSSE, Wis. – An 84-year-old man told police he was battered and locked in his basement by assailants who demanded money and a PIN for his bank card. The man had a nose wound, a bruised chin, abrasions on his ears and a cut on his head but otherwise was OK if not unsettled. He identified two of the assailants as a man and his girlfriend, whom he had allowed to stay at his house until they found jobs. This was in the 1400 block of South Sixth Street South in La Crosse. A second man later showed up and joined the couple, he said. The man told investigators that he’d been battered and locked in his basement. The assailants demanded money and a PIN for his bank card. The man’s account of the weekend assault was horrific:
> He was tied him up and gagged with a sock, and at one point threatened with decapitation with a decorative saw inside the house.
> He was taken into his basement through a trap door in the pantry.
> When he managed to escape his bonds, the door to exit was weighed down and he couldn’t get out, but he then broke a window and climbed out.
> As he was struggling to escape, two of the assailants came down basement. He assumed he was going to be killed.
> In an odd twist, these two apologized for what “other people” had done and offered to help clean up the mess in the house.
> They then ordered him to write them a check for $4,000, which he did.
> They drove off in his car.
> Because his cellphone had been smashed, the man went to a neighbor’s place, called his bank to cancel the $4,000 check, and called police.
The man told police that one of he attacker had done handywork on his rental properties some years earlier.
Ellison: Derek Chauvin expected to survive
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, said he has been informed that Derek Chauvin will survive being stabbed in an Arizona orison. Ellison’s information came from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, whose protocol requires that relevant prosecutors be informed about changes in the status of inmates. Ellison led the prosecution of Chauvin for the 2020 suffocation murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The prison agency has not been forthcoming with news media about what happened in its Tucson facility on Friday and not even confirmed to the public that the victim of the attack was Chauvin.
Tucson prison violence
The stabbing of Derek Cnauvin was the second major incident at the Tucson federal prison in a year. Last November, an inmate in a low-security prison camp pulled a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon misfired. No one was hurt. The prison has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
Problematic federal prisons
Investigative reporting by the Associated Press news service uncovered major problems in the U.S Bureau of Prisons in recent years. AP chronicled chronic violence, deaths and suicides, and severe staffing shortages. Colette Peters was brought in from the Oregon prison system inn2022 as a reformer. She has told a Congressional oversight committee that she found archaic hiring practices. She also pledged to overhaul high-problem prisons and improve pubic transparency. But committee members gigged her for delays in answering written questions responding basic questions about agency operations, like how many correctional officers are on staff. The agency has30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates, and an annual budget of $8 billion.
Peters. New director for federal prisons. Brought in as reformer. Consensus on progress: Mixed.
Slick spots on roads after light snow
WINONA, Minn. – A snow storm dropped less than an inch in Winona County – a mere skiff by Minnesota standards – before moving off to the east. Some roads were slick with reduced visibility. Plows were out on federal and state highways at dawn before post-holiday, going-home traffic picked up. Temperatures were in the 30s and expected to hover there the rest of the day.
Chauvin’s attorney on stabbing: “I told you”
MINNEAPOLIS –The attorney who represented Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd murder trial anticipated that Chauvin would be a target for violence in prison. Chauvin was stabbed at the Tucson, Arizona, federal prison Friday and seriously wounded. His Minneapolis attorney, Eric Nelson, had asked that Chauvin be kept out of the general prison population and away from other inmates. During Chauvin’s 2021 Minneapolis trial he was kept in solitary confinement at the Stillwater state prison for his safety. After his conviction Chauvin was transferred to the U.S Penitentiary in Tucson to put a 1,600-omle buffer between him and Minnesota. But it seems that news of the murder, with its racial overtones, traveled far.
Earlier: Arizona prison halts inmate visits after Chauvin stabbing
Death by choking. A video of Chauvin with a knee on Floyd’s throat for nine minutes was major news internationally in 2020.
Wildlife Refuge photo contest: “Splendid Skipper”
Bruce Bartel image. Third place in the wildlife and plants category in the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters centennial photo contest. In all there were 57 entries in four categories. Photos were from the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which extends 260 miles from Wabasha to Rock Island in Illinois.
News summary at week’s end November 25, 2023
ENVIRONMENT: Daleys to appeal new judgment on feedlot caps
POLITICS: Candidates line up for Phillips’ MN-3 vacancy
POLITICS: MN-3’s Phillips leaving Congress to tackle Biden
CONSUMERS: Thanksgiving gift to motorists: Gas below $3
CRIME: Ex-Minneapolis cop Chauvin stabbed at Arizona prison
CRIME: New charges loom in Kingsbury murder case
CRIME: Cops intercede in disturbance, recover knife
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