Kayaker missing in river behind Black River dam
BLACK RVER FALLS, Wis. — A Black River Falls woman was reported missing, apparently while kayaking on the impounded section flowage behind the Black River Falls dam. Police said that Stacy Shramek, age 53, was last seen leaving a family home about 2 p.m. on North Roosevelt Road on the east side of the river. Her red and blue kayak was found on a bank upstream. Police were told she wasn’t dressed for the cold — a black jacket, blue jeans, a purple top and Hey Dude brand shoes.
Shramek. Five-foot-5 inches, 200 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.
His 11th time driving without license; drugs too
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was stopped on the East End, his 11th time for driving without a license in 14 months, police said. Officers found a small baggy with a trace of meth in a pants pocket. Then in a console officers found two more baggies, one with a trace pof meth and the other with a measurable amount, Brandon Max Richards, 33, was arrested for “habitual and persistent” violations.
Richards. Among charges: No driving license, no current auto registration.
Sparta stabbing victim gravely wounded
SPARTA, Wis. — Police arrested a Tomah man leaving a house in a residential area after a stabbing in which another man was critically injured. The victim was taken 30 miles to a LaCrosse hospital for emergency surgery. His name was not released by police immediately. Taken into custody was George Solis, 44. He was booked 17 miles away at the Monroe County jail in Tomah for first-degree attempted homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. The stabbing incident about 4 p.m. in the 600 block of East Main Street in Sparta. Court records an active arrest warrant against Solis for missing an October court hearing in Sparta. He had been due in court on a several charges. These included substantial battery and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Solis. Known around Tomah and Sparta for a tatting obsession.
Daleys to appeal new judgment on feedlot caps
LEWISTON, Minn. – The primary litigant in the protracted Daley dairy farm battle against the Winona County policy to limit the size of feedlot herds said he was “disappointed but not surmised” at a new curt decision that didn’t go his way. Ben Daley said he plans an appeal. Since 2018 Daley has been to what seems every forum possible to exceed the county’s 1,500-animal cap. Daley’s latest setback was a court decision that upheld the county’s right to restrict herds in the interest of the public good, specifically to prevent groundwater contamination. Daley scoffed at the county’s suggestion that a work-around could be to open separate farms rather than concentrate on expanding the Daley’s current factory-scale operation near Lewiston. “Everybody knows that would cause more pollution and cause more problems,” said Daley in a KIMT interview.
Earlier: Daleys again lose bid to expand Lewiston dairy herd
Measuring manure
Winona County limits feedlots with a complex formula that recognizes that some animals poop more than others. Compare, for example, a 1,400- pound dairy cow and a 280-pound hog. The formula used by Winna County sets the maximum herd, whatever the species, at 1,500 “animal units.” The proposed Daley expansion would add 4,500 units for a total of 6,000. The Daley farm, it must be noted, ,already exceeds 1,500 because of grandfathered rules. Critics say the Daley’s planned expansion would create 64 million gallons of manure a year. The Daleys contend that technology can handle the discharge. Critics, however, point to technology failures. The critics also note the vulnerability of porous limestone formations that underlie thousands of square miles in the Driftless region. Well water in the Lewiston area, where the Daleys farm, is already unsafe to drink.
Thanksgiving gift to motorists: Gas below $3
Image: Steve Lunde
Sun low in sky. At Express Mart in Blair in Wisconsin’s Trempealeau County. Low too is gasoline, dipping below $2.99 a gallon. The national average was $3.27, according to American Automobile Association trackers. In Minnesota:
Lewiston: $2.88 at Kwik Trip.
Nodine: $2.87 at Kwik Trip.
St. Charles: $2.77 at Cenex, Kwik Trip and Love’s.
Stockton: $2,85 at Clark.
Winona: $3.04 at KwikTrip and Sinclair.
The primary reason for lower prices is a global weakness of oil prices, which have fallen nearly 20%, or more than $15 a barrel, since early September.
Wildlife Refuge photo contest: “Fishing Dock Sunrise”
Rick Schwartz image. Third place in the scenic view 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.
Holiday greetings
A perfect turkey for a perfect Thanksgiving.
May your day be rich with memories for the bounty of 2023. And best wishes creating even richer memories the months ahead
From your friends at the Winona Journal
News summary at mid-week: November 22, 2023
COMMERCE: Daleys again lose bid to expand Lewiston dairy herd
SCHOOLS: Plainview teachers press Board on pay, charge harassing
CRIME: Fravel murder trial: Maddi’s boyfriend on court list
CRIME: Mental tests ahead in LaCrosse plane highjack case
ART: New Minnesota state flag choices: What? No loon?
HEAlTH; Licenses revoked for Rochester addiction clinic
HOLIDAY: A grand, grand day for a pair of Minnesota turkeys
HOLIDAY: Thanksgiving: $5 million boost for food banks
HATE: Wisconsin leaders denounce Nazi hate-mongers
BAAAD NEWS: Flock of sheep huddle lost on Quarry Hill
COMMERCE: Daleys again lose bid to expand Lewiston dairy herd
CRIME: Fravel murder trial: Maddi’s boyfriend on court list
CRIME: Mental tests ahead in LaCrosse plane highjack case
ART: New Minnesota state flag choices: What? No loon?
HEAlTH; Licenses revoked for Rochester addiction clinic
HOLIDAY: A grand, grand day for a pair of Minnesota turkeys
HOLIDAY: Thanksgiving: $5 million boost for food banks
HATE: Wisconsin leaders denounce Nazi hate-mongers
BAAAD NEWS: Flock of sheep huddle lost on Quarry Hill
New charges loom in Kingsbury murder case
WINONA, Minn. – More charges may be imminent against Adam Fravel in the slaying of Madeline Kingsbury. Already the charges have been escalated from second-degree murder to first-degree murder. New court documents indicate additional new albeit lesser charges that Fravel was a violent domestic abuser. The new documents were provided to Fravel’s attorney, Zachary Bauer, to prepare for a hearing in December at which charges can be amended. The documents list 14 witnesses, mostly friends and family of Kingsbury, who already are on record that they were aware of domestic abuse and that she had informed Fravel that she was moving out on him and taking their two children with her.
Earlier: Fravel murder trial: Maddi’s boyfriend on court list
Toward trial
New charges would put pressure on Fravel to consider a plea deal. A plea of guilty to a lesser charge would pre-empt a trial. The case would move then to sentencing and perhaps a lesser sentence through negotiation. The existing first-degree murder charge, which came from a grand jury indictment, can mean 25 years in prison and possibly life. Minnesota doesn’t have a death penalty. So far Fravel, age 28, has been in jail six months awaiting trial. His bail: $3 million.
Recall: Hy-Vee says turkey gravy mislabeled
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa-based grocery chain Hy-Vee recalled 12-ouce glass jars of its store brand turkey gravy. The product actually contains beef gravy, which is not declared on the label, Hy-Vee said. People with an soy allergies or severe sensitivity are at risk of serious, even life-threatening reactions, the recall announcement said. Hy-Vee said the product was mislabeled by Seneca Foods, its supplier. There have been no reports of people getting sick.
Soy issue. Product may aggravate soy allergies.
What’s black-market value of bar-code scanners?
WINONA, Minn. – A shoplifter at Walmart explained that he had no money and hoped to fence what he was walking out with. That included a $700 bar-code scanner that Walmart clerks use in stocking the aisles. William Alan Post, 37,, was arrested and booked for gross misdemeanor theft. Besides the bar-code scanner Post had $193 of merchandise, the store said. Earlier in the day Post was caught inside a Minnesota City trailer house from which had been evicted. After the Walmart arrest he said he was without a place to sleep and resorted to criminal activity to provide for himself.
Post. Multiple police confrontations on same day. First trespassing at trailer house, then shoplifting.
Plea deal in sister’s 2021 Chatfield drug death
PRESTON, Minn. — An Albert Lea woman accused of the fatal overdosing of her sister has made a plea deal that could reduce her prison time significantly. Jeanne Ellen Penhollow, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree murder as an accomplice. Her sister, Teresa Marie Conway, was found in a garage outside Chatfield in February 2021. An autopsy attributed death to the painkiller oxycodone pills that had been laced with fentanyl. Investigators said that the sister, who suffered major back pain, migraines and asthma, received the drugs from Penhollow. Penhollow said she believed her source of the drugs was trustworthy. Sentencing was scheduled for February.
Licenses revoked for Rochester addiction clinic
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Public health authorities ordered the Oakridge Treatment Center to close down and arrange to transfer 70 residents elsewhere. The deadline to vacate is Monday. Olmsted County’s Public Health Services Advisory Board cited a disproportionate number of overdoses and calls for service and noted other issues pending investigations. The center, which opened in 2017, specialized in alcohol and drug addiction treatment for men 18 and older. The county’s mechanism to close the facility was to revoke licenses for public lodging and for food services. In broader terms, the place was declared a public nuisance. Said Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office Captain Tim Parkin: “The continued failure to mitigate these concerns jeopardizes the health and safety of the vulnerable adults served by the facility and Olmsted County’s community members.” The clinic was operated by Meridian Behavioral Health of the north Minneapolis suburb of New Brighton. The company has other addiction clincs in Minnesota and in Maryland, North Dakota and Vermont.
Oakride. The facility is outside Rochester at 4800 48th Street Northeast. Once a mansion-turned retreat center. Screened from passersby on a densely forested and idyllic 90 acres.
Emergency, fire crews make 49 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 32 emergency medical calls plus 17 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, November 21: 4 medical calls plus no fire calls
> Monday, November 20: 1 medical call plus 2 fire calls.
> Sunday, November 19: 8: medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Saturday, November 18: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, November 17: 6 medical calls plus 5 calls.
> Thursday, November 16: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, November 15: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 50 calls
Evicted Hidden Valley tenant hiding under bed
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – Deputies were called back a third time to a vacant trailer house in Hidden Valley about a man going in and out. This was about 7:50 a.m. Twice the night before deputies also had been called and one time found a former tenant hiding under a bed. William Alan Post, 37, was allowed to gather some possessions and was cited for trespassing and escorted away.
Vehicle takes overnight plunge into marsh
WINONA, Minn. – Police found a vehicle abandoned in a marsh near the Madison Silo gravel pit. Apparently the vehicle, a 2005 black Lexis RX, had run off the road during the night. It was not submerged. There was minimal damage and no sign of the driver or any injury, police said. The vehicle was discovered about 6:10 a.m. Police were checking the vehicle’s registration to identify the owner.
Wildlife Refuge photo contest: “Winter Wonderland”
Deedee Nadeau image. Second place in the scenic view 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.
College scores
Basketball (men): Winona State 75, Concordia of St. Paul 69
Basketball (men): Hamline 81, Saint Mary’s 75
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 78, Ripon 68
Basketball (women): Concordia of St. Paul 53, Winona State 52
Basketball (women): Hamline 71, Saint Mary’s 47
Hockey (men): Saint Mary’s 8, Lawrence 4
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 5, UW-Stevens Point 2
Minnesota prep
Hockey (girls): Kasson Dodge County Wildcats 20, Winona Winhawks 1
Hockey (girls): Northfield Raiders 6, Rochester Mayo Spartans 0
Hockey (girls): Rochester Century Panthers 4, Red Wing Wingers 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 78, Osseo-Fairchild Thunder 58
Basketball (boys): Arcadia Raiders 51, Viroqua Blackhawks 47
Basketball (boys): Boyceville Bulldogs 66, Independence Indees 31
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 44, Sparta Spartans 33
Basketball (girls): Onalaska Luther Knights 53, Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs 40
Basketball (girls): Galesville Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 42, Blair-Taylor Wildcats 39
Basketball (girls): Boyceville Bulldogs 41, Independence Indees 35
Plan: 65 cents a mile tax break for volunteer drivers
WASHNGTON – A proposal to quintiple the charitable mileage tax deduction for volunteer drivers has been introduced in Congress. Co-sponsors include Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota. If passed, the deduction would go from the current 14 cents a mole to 65 cents. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Finance Committee.
New Minnesota state flag choices: What? No loon?
Which best bespeaks Minnesota? Early critics unimpressed.
Citizen design contest settles on six finalists
ST PAUL, Minn. – Nobody much likes the Minnesota state flag that the Legislature adopted in 1957. Legislators backthen unimaginatively slapped the cluttery state seal on a blue field. Even close up it’s hard to distinguish the flag from the flags of at least a dozen other state flags. And it hardly bespeaks anything unique about Minnesota. Then too there are racist and sexist undertones in the seal that went unrecognized in less sensitive yesteryears. In 2023 a right-minded Democratic state legislator, Mike Freiberg of Golden Valley, proposed creating a commission to redesign both the flag and the seal. The legislature concurred. The commission set up a contest for Minnesotans to submit designs. Now the commission has narrowed the search from hundreds of entrees to six and plans to make a final choice by the end of the year. The Legisature, of course, could override the choice. Otherwise the new flag – one of the six finalists– will be flying in May.
State seal on current flag. With Indian riding into the the sunset. Didn’t the state have any pioneering women? Then there’s the French “L’etoile du Norde,’ this more than two centuries after the last French fur-trapper packed up and left. It was a seal and flag for another era.
Freiberg. His idea was to empower a commission to create a new state flag and seal.
Plainview teachers press Board on pay, charge harassing
PLAINVIEW, Minn. – Teachers in the Plainview-Elgin-Millville School District voted unanimously to withhold voluntary services beginning December 1. The 102-member teachers union pledged that teachers will perform their contractual duties but no longer voluntary non-contract tasks. This was expected to create headaches for principals to cover classes when teachers call in sick. Qualified substitutes are in short supply. The union laid out three demands:
> A respectable and fair contract with the teachers, including “a sustainable pay raise in line with other state and local increases” without being bullied to give up benefits.
> Dissolution of a shadowy School Board group called the “Coaches Committee” and to support students, and coaches in a positive manner.
> A public apology to the junior high school physical education teacher and softball coach Ben Peter Family for “recent targeting and harassment.”
P-E-M profile
The Plainview-Elgin-Millville School District has four schools and 1,480 students. The annual budget, set by the School Board, is $18.5 million – roughly is $12,200 per student. The District encompasses parts of Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties.
Secrecy penchant
The seven-member School Board concurrently faces criticism for failing to follow legally required protocols to go into closed session. To deal with a criminal investigation into he cancellation of homecoming events after reports of hazing, the Board went behind closed doors and failed to report back afterward on anything that transpired. Members scurried away after the closed meeting to avoid questions.
Winona High combatants have bruised knuckles
WINONA, Minn. – Police were called to Winona High School where a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were duking it out. School authorities said they would handle the discipline and called in the parents. Neither student was badly injured, although there were bruised knuckles. Whether the bruises were from punching or from being slammed into a brick wall was uncertain, police said.
Middle School bingo game turns violent
WINONA, Minn. – Two Winona Middle School students, both 13, took a bingo game seriously and ended up fighting near the lockers. Pushing turned to punching. Police were called. Principal Dave Anderson said the school would handle discipline.
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