College scores
Soccer (women): Winona State 1, St. Cloud State 1
Roadside breakdown: Driver dies under vehicle
MINNEISKA, Minn. – A Trout Creek Valley man was crushed to death after crawling under his disabled pickup truck and it began rolling. Gary Charles Dondlinger, 67, who had a rural Altura address, was dead when a neighbor happened across the accident on County Road 31 north of Elba near the Wabasha County line. The neighbor told deputies that the transmission on the vehicle, a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500, had given Dondliger nrepeated problems.
Minnesota faces shortage of snowplow drivers
ROCHESTER Minn. – A shortage of snowplow drivers looms as surely as there will be snow storms this winter. The Minnesota Transportation Department’s district headquarters in Rochester has a roster for 208 drivers to keep highways open in southeast Minnesota But 20 roster lines are vacant going into November. The department’s regional spokesperson, Michael Dougherty, has put out the word: “We’re hiring.” Pay averages $23 to $25 an hour for shifts that range as long as 12 hours. A Class B commercial driver’s license is required, Dougherty said. It’s an ideal job for farmers, construction workers. and heavy machine operators who are idle winter, he said.
Intimidating outside and inside. Training offered at Camp Ripley. Pay’s good, says MnDOt.
Walz squarely in Biden camp for 2024
ST.PAUL, Minn. – Gentle ribbing or stabbing? Governor Tim Walz, who has closely allied himself with President Biden, isn’t exactiy enamored at the moment with fellow Minnesota Democrat Dean Phillips. After Phillips announced he will challenge Biden’s expected 2024 re-election bid, Walz said:
“You know, I have to say this about Minnesota: It’s a great state full of great people. And sometimes they do crazy things. And sometimes they make political side shows for themselves.”
About whether these Minnesotan bids for president were also sideshows, Walz didn’t say:
> Michele Bachman.
> Hubert Humphrey.
> Amy Klobuchar.
> Eugene McCarthy.
> Walter Mondale.
> Tim Pawlenty.
> Harold Stassen.
R.I.P.: Gary Dondlinger
ALTURA, Minn. – Gary Dondlinger, 67, who lived near Altura and who worked for the harbor management company J.F. Brennan, died unexpectedly in an accident. He grew up near Weaver and graduated from Winona High School. He bad a passion for farming and tending to his cows.
Earlier: Roadside breakdown: Driver dies under vehicle
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1956-2023
R.I.P.: James Lorenz
WINONA, Minn. – James L. Lorenz,70, of Winona, a case manager for the Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Clinic for 20 years, died at home. He was a graduate of Alma High School,and held a degree in history from Winona State University. He was a military history buff. In the U.S. Army he was a master sergeant. His had tours Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and Haiti.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1952-2023
R.I.P.: Tim Bronk
WINONA, Minn. – Timothy George Bronk, 62, of Winona, who worked at Winona Heating and Ventilating for 31 years, died at St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse. He was educated at Cathedral School in Winona and Cotter High School. He served in the U.S. Army. He was a member of the Winona Athletic Club and the Pickwick Fire Department.
Detailw: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1960-2023
R.I.P.: Betty Spalding
WINONA, Minn. – Elizabeth L. “Betty” Spalding 75, of Winona, who worked 51 years as a C&R nursing assistant at Lake Winona Manor at Winona Health, died at home. She also worked as a health unit coordinator. She was a graduate of the Cochrane-Fountain City High School. She loved gardening, motorcycling and eating out at Olive Garden and Cracker Barrel.
Details: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1948-2023
R.I.P.: Lana Bernard
CHATFIELD, Minn. – Lana Jean Bernard, 73, of Chatfield, a nursing assistant in restorative therapy at Chosen Valley Care Center for 30 years, died of cancer at Methodist hospital in Rochester. She graduated from Chosen Valley High School in 1968. She and her husband raised cows, pigs and laying hens for several years. Later they purchased Gopher Bus, now Bernard Bus Services.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1950-2023
News summary at week’s end: October 28, 2023
POLITICS: Doerr’s qualifications for office look muzzy
POLITICS: Phillips launches White House campaign
POLITICS: Phillips aide: X a “public sewer” — but wants back
REMEMBRANCE: R.I.P.: Helga Kuehn
CRIME: Winona jury to former priest: Guilty
CRIME: Prosecutor alleges doctor’s plot to poison wife
CRIME:Cops seek woman for rehab center vandalism, fire
COMMERC:E Local grocery closing as consumer habits change
Masked man sought in pool-cue slashing
WINONA, Minn. – A man in a black hood and mask slashed a pool cue repeatedly across another man’s face at the Port 507 bar downtown and disappeared down an alley. The victim’s face cuts required stitches and staples at the hospital. The attack was about 11:40 p.m. As best as police could determine immediately, the attack was unprovoked. Friends gave chase to the attacker, whom they said flashed a gun at them as he ran. They fell back. He got away. The victim was hit between two and five times by the pool cue. The cue as left cracked and broken on the bar floor, police said.
Masked at pubs
This Port 507 pool-cue attack bore resemblance to an incident10 days earlier at another bar a block away. In that incident two men, one masked, were denied access and fled down the street. The bouncer said he thought he saw a gun in the masked man’s waistband, but police found no gun when they caught up wth the pair.
College scores
Football: MSU-Moorhead 20, Winona State 17
Football: UW-Lacrosse 59, YW-Eau C;aire 14
Soccer (women): UW-LaCrosse 5, UW-Stevens Point 0
Volleyball (women): St. Cloud State 3, Winona State 2
Volleyball (women): UW-LaCrosse 3, Wheaton 0
Minnesota prep
Football: Byron Bears 21, Winona Winhawks 17
Football: Harmony Fillmore Central Falcons 24, Goodhue Wildcats 17
Football: Spring Grove Lions 27, LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals 20
Travelers survive multi-car crash with moose
TOWER, Minn. – Five people, including four members if a Rochester family, sustained injuries in a three-vehicle accident with a moose. in northern Mjnnesota The injuries were minor – except for the moose, a young bull. The moose died on impact. The accident was about 8:40 p.m. during a blinding rain storm. Police described this sequence:
> A 2020 Kia Forte, southbound on U.S. Highway 53, struck a moose that had begun crossing the road.
> A 2022 Buick Encore, northbound, then hit the moose.
> A 2015 GMC Terrain swerved into the ditch but struck neither the other vehicles nor the moose.
Taken to hospitals with non-life threatening injures:
> Jason Christophe Dinsmore, 43, of Rochester, taken 20 miles to the Ely hospital.
> Lauren Elizabeth Dinsmore, 44, of Rochester, taken 27 miles to the Virginia hospital.
> A boy, 14, of Rochester, to the Ely hospital.
> A boy, 9, of Rochester, to the Ely hospital.
> Anne Roberta Dinsmore, 64, of Howell, Michigan, to the Ely hospital.
Windshield impact. Roof of vehicle caved in. Collision 45 miles north of Duluth.
Moose profile
The Minnesota moose population is about 3,300, according to the state Natural Resources Department. The estimate 10 years ago was 4,700. Moose have bad eyesight and rely heavily on a sense of smell and hearing. The moose is Minnesota’s largest wild animal. They are born about 30 pounds and grow to 300 to 400 pounds in a few months, Adult bulls average six feet tall and weigh as much as 1,400 pounds.
First wreck of season on a snowy road
ALBERT EA, Minn. – Two Texans, a long way from home, were injured when their car slid on snow- and ice-covered Interstate 35 south of Albert Lea. It was the first accident of the season on a wintery surface reported by the State Patrol in southern Minnesota. Neither the driver, Delia Vigil Cuevas, 53, of Mission Texas, nor the passenger, Atlagracia Cisneros, 51, of Pharr, Texas, was hurt, seriously The accident was about 6:40 p.m. They were driving north in a 2005 Nissan Murano, which slid into a guardrail. They were taken to the Albert Lea hospital.
X platform unblocks Phillips campaign site
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Without explanation, the social media platform X allowed access again to the Dean Phillips presidential campaign site after blocking access for most of a day. X explained neither the shutdown nor the reactivation.
33-1/2 pounds: That’s a lot of pills
WINONA, Minn. – People dropped off 33-1/2 pounds old pills and other no-longer-needed Rx’s Saturday at the YMCA for disposal. Jeff Mueller, deputy sheriff, said the quantity was typical for the periodic project to keep drugs out of the wrong hands. Mueller also said that expired Rx’s can be dropped off any time at the Law Enforcement Center next to the Courthouse.
Only in Wisconsin: Free beer at Kwik Trip
LACROSSE, Wis. – A customer grumbled that Kwik Trip’s apology to customers for a 10-day rewards system outage was too little. Extra loyalty points weren’t enough, he said: “How about a free beer?” To which Kwik Trip responded: “OK.” The convenience store chain is offering a free beer through November 1 to customers who use the company app. But only in Wisconsin. Your choice:
> Miller Lite.
> Coors Light.
> Coors Banquet
Local grocery closing as consumer habits change
WINONA, Min. – The Rochester Wholesale Fruit grocery store, known for its produce, offbeat spices and culinary specialties, is going out of business after 45 years. Nikki Stanton of Winona, the owner, said that business has been slipping to new competition. “Times change,” she said. The doors will close for the last time after Thanksgiving. The building, off the beaten path at 350 West Second Street, is for sale. Stanton said the next-door Downtown Meat Market is unaffected. Rochester Wholesale Fruit was started in 1978 by Stanton’s father, Gary La Point.
Rochester Wholesale Fruit. Warehouse-like and unique. A must for two generations of gourmet cooks.
Car into ditch near Chatfield, passenger hurt
CHATFELD, Minn. – A passenger was injured albeit not seriously when the driver lost control on U.S. Highway 52 northwest of Chatfield and went into the ditch. Celina Jean Sheda, 22, of Stewartville, was taken 22 miles to a Rochester. hospital. The accident was about 3 a.m. The vehicle, a 2019 Hyundai Elantra, was driven by Taylor Renee Benson, 21, of Zumbrota. She was unhurt. The ajrbag deployed, the State Patrol said. Alcohol was involved, according to the Patrol, which tracks such things for statistical purposes and to report to insurance carriers.
Neighbors: Mayo couple kept to themselves
ROCHESTER, Minn. – With oneexception neighbors of Connor and Betty Bowman had no clue that something was amiss until he was charged with poisoning her to cash in on a life insurance policy. “They stayed to themselves,” one neighbor on Sandy Beach Lane Southwest told a KTTC interviewer. Another neighbor said she met Betty once or twice while she was out walking the dog. One neighbor in the KTTC canvass recalled ne morning when“ a bunch of their dogs were barking over there a whole bunch and I might’ve heard a little shouting or something while we were sleeping.”
Earlier: Prosecutor alleges doctor’s plot to poison wife
Sandy Beach Lane. A rental townhouse complex in southwest Rochester.
College scores
Hockey (men): Lake Forrest 8, Saint Mary’s 0
Hockey (women): Saint Mary’s 7, Lake Forest 0
Volleyball (women): Bethel 3, Saint Mary’s 2
Volleyball (women): North Central of Illinois 3, UW-LaCrosse 1
Minnesota prep
Football: Rochester Mayo Spartans 28, St. Michael-Albertville Knights 21
Soccer (girls): Plymouth Providence Lions 9, Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa Wildcats 1
Wisconsin prep
Football: Cashton Eagles 40, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 12
Football: Bangor Cardinals 28, Alma-Pepin Eagles 13
Football: Stratford Tigers 21, Mondovi Buffaloes 0
Football: LaCrosse Aquinas Blugolds 46, Watertown Luther Phoenix 22
Football: Onalaska Hilltoppers 35, Medford Raiders 16
Hospital confirms death of fetus at urban encampment
MINNEAPOLIS – Police found a fetus dead inside a tent at a south Minneapolis encampment of homeless people. An outreach worker had called that there may have been a miscarriage. A police dispatcher then issued a call about “female with possibly a baby that is DOA in a bag.” This was about 5 p.m. A hospital confirmed the fetus was dead. Police took a bloody blanket from a trash bin on the street outside the encampment. Police did not the name or identify the condition of the mother.
Troubled site. Drug overdoses and gunshots have been reported for weeks at the 2300 block of 14th Avenue South. Neighbors have called for the city to remove piled-up trash. The site is used as a bicycle chop shop, where stolen bikes are dismantled for parts for cash.
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