LACROSSE, Wis. – Although an Idaho man has been charged in a LaCrosse court for an attempted highjacking of an executive jet last week, the case could be transferred to the federal courts.  Cody Alan Anderson, 31, is held meanwhile in the LaCrosse jail for $500,000 bail. The jurisdiction question is being worked out between Tim Gruenke, the county attorney in LaCrosse, and Timothy O’Shea, the U.S. attorney for the Western Wisconsin District in Madison

Earlier: $500,000 bail for LaCrosse airplane knife, bomb threats

ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. — Eight police officers, including two from North Dakota, served a warrant on a Rollingstone man who’s accused of luring a teenager online and pursuing sex with her. Arrested was Shawn Gene Pozanc Dubois, 19. The officers knocked on his door in the 100 block of Main Street about 9:30 a.m. He accepted arrest peaceably and was taken  to jail 11 miles away in Winona The North Dakota officers, from Bismarck, were expected take Pozanc 560 miles back to North Dakota as soon as extradition is agreed to by the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota. Details on the alleged sexual misconduct were not detailed in the North Dakota arrest warrant. The warrant did mention possession of unauthorized material.

Pozanc. Arrested in Rollingstone. In jail awaiting transport to North Dakota.

Latter-day Magellan. One of Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade’s hobby balloons vanished after circling the globe three times. Was it what the U.S. and Canada air defense forces scrambled to shoot down in February? Possibly.

Think of these as slightly oversize mylar party balloons

WINNETKA, Ill. – Those mysterious high-flying objects sighted over North America in February – and shot down by warplanes firing heat-seeking missiles – may not have been alien space craft. Nor Chinese spy balloons. A hobbyist club, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, said at least one of its small balloons went missing after circumnavigating the globe three times. It was one of several so-called pico balloons that the club has floated over the years.  At three feet across when launched, they’re like a slightly oversize party balloon albeit for tracking device on a long tether for ham radio operators to follow their progress. The balloon expand in thinner air at high altitudes. The Northern Illinois club is among several into the hobby globally. The objects over U.S. airspace in February included one that drifted over Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are manufactured Scientific Balloon Solutions, a Silicon Valley company that sells to hobbyists, educators and scientists. They retail for $18 without the tracking beacon, which ham radio enthusiasts rig up. Ron Meadows, the company president, said he tried to contact the Pentagon and FBI that the balloons possibly were his company’s product. “I just got the runaround,” he said.  The balloons, made of latex, are neutrally buoyant at 43,000 feet — higher than commercial aircraft fly. Floating at 60,000 feet is not uncommon.

WYATVILLE, Minn. – A driver, who told deputies that he was day-dreaming, struck a farm machine in motion on County Road 25 north of Wyattville. The farmer said he wasn’t hurt. Nor was the driver of the car. No citation was issued. This was about 4:50 p.m.

LACROSSE, Wis. – Bail was set at $500,000 for a man who rammed his truck through a metal gate at the LaCrosse airport. and threatened to blow yp an airplane. The prosecutor had sought $1 million bail, but Judge Scott Horne decided not to go that far. The public defender for Cody Alan Anderson, age 31, said a lesser sum would  enable his relatives in southern Minnesota to assist him with mental health issues. At the hearig Anderson was advised of the felony charges against him:

> Attempted armed carjacking.

> Attempted armed robbery.

> Terror threats and bomb threats.

Anderson had shown a knife, perhaps two, and claimed to have a C4 explosive in a backpack and two pistols. Nobody was hurt.

Earlier: Man in airport trouble has court record

Counsel

The attorneys in the case at this point: Jasmine Bettencourt, assistant district attorney, and Allison West, public defender.

Long wait ‘til May. The tourist season over, Aaron Repinkski’s tour boat is on blocks, so to speak, at Dick’s Marina on Latsch Island. It’s an advertisement for spring for Wisconsin commuters into Winona on State Highway 54. Image: Steve Lunde

Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 3, Simpson 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Nobody knows how many drivers hit deer. Many collisions are unreported. But all 87 Minnesota counties had at least one vehicle-deer collision reported to authorities over the past five years. A study found a total 177 deer-vehicle collisions statewide in 20222. Insurance claims for vehicle damage averaged $6,300. These are data reported for southeast Minnesota counties for 2022:

> Fillmore: Total crashes 2 — two injuries, zero fatalities.

> Goodhue: Total 17 – four injuries zero fatalities.

> Houston: Total 8 – five injuries, zero fatalities.

> Mower: Total 4 — one injury, zero fatalities.

> Olmsted: Total 10 – six with injuries, zero fatalities.

> Wabasha: Total 4 – two injuries, four fatalities.

> Winona: Total 3 — zero injuries, one fatality.

The most dangerous counties for 2022 were Sherburn (Elk River county seat), 126 vehicle-deer collisions reported; Stearns (St. Cloud), 115; Hennepin (Minneapolis), 102; and Anoka (St. Paul), 94.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man, Terrell Desean Watkins, 34, was charged with pounding on the apartment door of a woman who had been awarded a judge’s protection order that barred him from the premises. He also had tried kicking in the door but didn’t make it inside, police said, noting his shoe footprint was on the door. Police found Watkins sitting on the stoop  at the address, in the 500 block of Cottonwood Drive on the Far West End. He explained he wanted to see the woman and their children. This was about 4:35 a.m.

Watkins. Charged with violating a protection order.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Two drivers from Fillmore County, both with children aboard, five in all, collided in U. S. Highway 52 south of the Interstate 90 interchange. Everybody was taken to a Rochester hospital less than 10 miles away. None of the injuries seemed critical, deputies said. The impact, however, was severe enough for airbags in both vehicle to inflate. The accident was about 3:55 p.m. Deputies said a 2018 Ford Explorer driven by Dena Marie Mathison, 39, of Preston, collided with a 2013 Ford Flex driven by Robin Kaye Vogen, 52, of Chatfield. Mathison was southbound, Vogen a northbound.

In the Vogen vehicle, all to a Rochester hospital with non-life threatening injuries:

> Sonja Marie Vogen, 37, of Chatfield,

> Jessica Sue Vogen, 35, of Chatfield.

> Jaden Lee Busker, 7, of Chatfield.

> Jakob Peter Busker, 3, of Chatfield.

In the Mathison vehicle, all also to a Rochester hospital with non-life threatening injuries:

> Maverick Floyd Mathison, 7, of Preston.

> Porter Lionel Mathison, 9, of Preston.

> Scarlett Lorraine Mathison, 5, of Preston.

WINONA, Minn. – An able-bodied Illinois driver was arrested in a handicapped-parking slot at the Kwik Trip convenience store on Old Homer Road on the Far East End. The charge was drunken driving. Police were summoned to the store by a woman-caller who sounded confused. They located the woman in the store. She said had been driven to store by Benjamin Matthew Kingsbury, 21, of Frankfort, Illinois, and pointed to him in the handicapped parking slot. He looked and smelled drunk. Being in the driver’s seat with the key in the ignition, he was put through sobriety tests. He failed. His blood-alcohol tested at 0.11%. Only 0.08% is allowed. The woman, who also was intoxicated, was driven to her nearby hotel. This about 12:05 a.m.

Basketball (men): Winona State 74, Missouri-St. Louis 67

Football: Stewartville Tigers 22, Waseca Blue Jays 0

Hockey (girls): Rochester Century Panthers 6, Windom Eagles 3

Hockey (girls): Hastings Raiders 6, Red Wing Wingers 1

Volleyball (girls): Chaska Southwest Christian 3, Caledonia Warriors 1

Volleyball (girls): Woodbury New Life Eagles 3, Mabel-Canton Cougars 3

LACROSSE, Wis. – Police identified the man arrested trying to commandeer an executive jet at the LaCrosse airport as Cody A. Anderson, 31, of Wallace, Idaho. Anderson was taken off the plane in a confrontation with police earlier in the day. When arrested Anderson already was free on $1,000 bail on a drug-related charge 30 miles away in Vernon County. He had been charged there on October 30 with driving through a cornfield. Although he was carrying an Idaho driver license when arrested, he has lived at many other places in the Pacific Northwest and southern Minnesota. His court record, besides the charge of messing up a cornfield near Westby, includes:

> Kasson, Minnesota: Domestic abuse, 2022.

> Seattle, Washington:  Underage consumption of alcohol, 2011.

Earlier: Armed man attempts plane take-over in LaCrosse

Earlier: Side trip through cornfield ends in arrest

Anderson. Charges pending from erratic and threatening behavior at airport.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Guests in the landmark 600-room Kahler Hotel evacuated to the lobby because the ventilation system was pushing carbon monoxide gas through the building. There were no injuries. The CO1 levels were low, said fire Captain Ben Davis. The highest concentration was 100 parts per million. Dizziness and other symptoms usually don’t begin unti1 150 to 200. The source was not determined immediately. Guests stayed in the lobby, where concentrations were low, until firefighters declared an all-clear. The hotel was ventilated by opening widows and positive pressure through the HVAC system. Firefighters had been called to the hotel about 2:30 p.m. after guests reported smelling natural gas. Once on scene, firefighters discovered carbon monoxide on their monitors. CO1, which can be fatal, is tasteless and invisible and has no odor. The source of the natural gas odor remained a mystery.

Earlier: Rescuers tell their story of Rochester hotel gas leak

Earlier: CO1 scare: Hotel guests scram after symptoms

Centenarian hotel. The downtown Kahler was built in 1921 and updated and remodeled regularly. It’s Rochester’s classiest address for visitors. Handy to Mayo Clinic.

Armor-plated blockade. A would-be skyjacker, without flight training, was trapped all by himself in the plane on the tarmac after the plane’s crew scrambled off. Police blocked any attempt at take-off with an 8-1\/2 ton Bearcat armored vehicle.. The man surrendered. Image: Teri New-McDougle

A would-be skyjacker? A confused, spontaneous act?

LACROSSE, Wis. – A man crashed this picukp truck through a metal gate on the east side of the LaCrosse airport and headed for an executive jet being prepared for flight and flashed a knife and said he had a bomb. Meanwhile, police arrived with an armed Bearcat vehicle and blocked the plane from taking off. Whether the man had any flight training wasn’t known. It appeared he may have been high on something and not carefully planned out. This about 3 p.m. According to police, witnesses and other sources, this was what happened:

> A man in his 30s, seemingly intoxicated, walked onto the lobby of Colgan Air , which offers concierge services for passengers on charter and executive filgts. The man had a backpack and grocery bag. A Colgan employee escorted the man outside to the parking lot. The man got into a pickup truck and sped off.

> The man rammed his truck through a metal gate and drove onto the runway.

> The driver did several doughnuts around an airplane, then went down the runway, turned back around, and then parked next to an executive jet being readied for flight outside of the Colgan offices.

> The man boarded the plane up steps into the cabin with his belongings. Three employees, thought to be two pilots and an attendant, were on board. One of the three picked up the man’s gear and assisted him, porter-like, off the plane.

> One of the employees, still on board, unplugged the  the plane’s battery power, in effect disabling the craft. Both of these employees ran to safety in the Colgan building.

> The man returned and got onto the jet again, closing the steps behind him.

> A Colgan employee used a remote switch on the exterior of the aircraft to open the door for police when they arrived.

> A Bearcat armored police vehicle was maneuvered to block the plane’s steerable front landing gear. Other police vehicles surrounded the plane.

> Two police negotiators entered the plane.

> The man said he flashed a knife and said had explosives and threatened to blow up the aircraft if they didn’t give him “some space.” He also claimed to havet wo pistols.

> An officer fired a non-lethal round that hit the man in a knee. The man threw down the knife, although he still had another edged weapon. The officer fired a second round to the lower thigh.

> The man retreated into the cockpit. After a few minutes he came out and surrendered.

Police, meanwhile, had blocked off neighborhoods on the east side of the airport, which is used for general aviation and private charters. This is where the main airport terminal was located until 1990, when the current terminal was built across the runways.

French Island airport. LSE is bounded by the Mississippi and Black rivers north of LaCrosse. Facing nirth: The terminal, used by airlines, is on the left with three parallel taxiways to the gates. The charter and private plane center is in the lower right.

How upper-crust flies. Interior of a charter jet.

Private lounge. Waiting in luxury.

UTICA, Minn. – An employee at the Golden Harvest restaurant showed up drunk and acting aggressively and was arrested. The shift boss had called for sheriff’s deputies to remove the man. A records check revealed that the man, age 59, was on probation and not supposed to be drinking. Deputies drove the man home to Dover and reported him to his probation officer.

A bluff trek. Their dog, exuberant at an outdoor adventure, has charged ahead, but these hikers maintain their stride. “Let him run.” It was a beautiful autumn day in Winona but definitely jacket weather. Highs were in the upper 30s. Image: Steve Lunde

BLUFF SIDING, Wis. – A slugfest involving 15 people or so broke out in the parking lot at George’s Bar five miles from Winona across the Wisconsin border. The Buffalo City sheriff’s dispatcher called Winona sheriff’s and police officers to intervene. By the time they arrived, the melee was over. Things were still copasetic when Buffalo County deputies arrived from 24 miles away in Alma, the county seat.

George’s bar. The nearest and busiest bar outside Winona County. On Highway 35.