NODINE, Minn. – A semi-truck’s engine compartment caught fire while fueling at an Interstate 90 Kwik Trip stop. The fire was confined to the tractor, which firefighters pulled away from underground fuel tanks. The cargo of polystyrene sheets in the trailer did not burn. This was about 6:50 p.m. No one was injured. Deputies cited the driver for not having a proper license.

Hiawatha Valley Education District. 1410 Bundy Boulevard. Headquarters for services to 12 outlying school districts whose budgets can’t provide state-required services for students with special needs.

Threat: “Have gun, will travel” — and blow up your house

WINONA, Minn. – A 14-year-old boy threatened to shoot a fellow student at the Hiawatha Valley Education District’s special-ed schooling center in the Far East End industrial park. The encounter was in a bathroom about 12:05 p.m. A witness told police he was talking with a 18-year-old when the 14-year-old burst in. The 14-year-old student was quoted:

By the time police arrived the 14-year-old had boarded a bus for home. As he was en route home, police telephoned his mother: She said the boy had access neither to a firearms nor to C4, which is an explosive plasticizer. Even so, police said a charge of a terroristic threat was a possibility. As best as police could determine, there was a history of bullying between the youths. One is from Lewiston, the other from Rushford. The incident was at the Hiawatha Valley building at 1410 Bundy Boulevard.

Earlier: Winona Mall negotiations now at $4.3 million

Hiawatha Ed profile

The Hiawatha Valley Education District provides specialized education services for 12 school districts in Winona, Houston and Wabasha counties. It has 75 employees, some of whom travel to member districts. Also, many students are driven to the Bundy Boulevard facility in Winona for schooling. The district plans to acquire the Winona Mall shopping center and centralize its operations there.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Things in the southeast Minnesota drug trade must have been going pretty well for John Michael Ask if, as charged, he was doing big-time wholesaling or retailing. He didn’t show for a court hearing a week ago, forfeiting $1 million in bail money that he posted to assure he wouldn’t skip town. But apparently he did. A week earlier he also misssed a hearing in a separate case, which meant another $100,000 out the window. Actually it’s a bondsman who’s out the most for putting up the bail money. But if Ask’s bail arrangements with he bondsman were typical, he himself has lost only $110,000. Only? That’s a lot more than most of us have under the mattress. Ask, 46, was arrested in July in a traffic stop on Interstate 95. The stop led to the seizure of fentanyl-laced pills, quantities of cocaine and marijuana, and 80 rounds of ammunition. A few days later in another traffic stop, police seized of 48 grams of crack cocaine. Police then obtained search warrants for his home and another vehicle and found 137 grams of cocaine, 88 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, along with lesser quantities of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy. So where is Ask now? The judge would like to know. The bondsman too. Also a bounty hunter.

Earlier: $1 million bail after massive drug haul

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $22.5 million contract to Abhe & Svoboda, of Jordan, Minnesota, for gate maintenance on the Mississippi River dam between Fountain City on the Wisconsin side and Minnesota City on the Minnesota side. The project involves sandblasting, painting and rehabilitation and maintenance of the dam’s roller gates and service bridge. The project will n not affect navigation, the Corps said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The owner of the marijuana retail shop Loonacy Cannabis in Apple Valley will be the first director of the new the state Office of Cannabis Management. The appointment of Erin DuPree was announced by Governor Tim Walz. The governor called DuPree “a proven and effective leader who will be successful in standing up Minnesota’s new adult-use cannabis market.” DuPree sad she will close her Apply Valley shop to avoid conflicts interest.

Verbatim

DuPree, who is 43 years old: “I’m a good fit because I am young enough to be able to connect with the people who are going to be actively entering this industry as we create it.”

DuPree. First state regulator of legalized marijuana.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The U.S. Marshal’s Office posted $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of a Minneapolis prisoner who was released by mistake on September 13 in a faulty records review. Kevin Mason, 28, was considered a Level 5 felon for a fatal shooting in Minneapolis in 2021. A girlfriend, Desiree Oliver, 29, has been arrested and charged with assisting Mason in hiding after his “release.”

Earlier: Jail mistake frees Minneapolis murder suspect

Soccer (women):  UW-LaCrosse 2, Wartburg 0

Volleyball (women): UW-Platteville 3. UW-LaCrosse 1

WINONA, Minn. – A woman called police that an ex-boyfriend chucked stones at her windows, one of them crashing through, and kicked over a planter on the porch. She said that they had argued on the lawn, that she went inside, and that he began acting out. This was in the 700 block of East Fourth Street. The woman said she would pursue charges.

WINONA, Minn. – Police suspect they have a stolen flatbed trailer on their hands. The two-axle black trailer was found behind a house in the 200 block of East Fourth Street. A neighbor had reported that the trailer had been left suspiciously a few days earlier. Officers said people at the address were stand-offish and had no explanation. “It just showed up,” they said. Police couldn’t find such a trailer missing in local records, although a trailer of a similar description had been reported missing in LaCrosse in 2021. The identification number on the trailer’s tongue had been obscured with fresh paint, police said.

Fancy rods and burgers. The 1950s throwback Rudy’s at 1004 LaCrosse Street.

Ethan Warren joins sister serving on skates

LACROSSE, Wis. – After 90 years of an identity for root beer, burgers and nubile girl carhops on roller skates, thugs have changed at Rudy’s drive-in. Now in skates is 17-yea-old Ethan Warren – the first boy carhop at Rudy’s. And, yes, he skates. He joined his sister Katelyn on the payroll. One difference: Ethan gets more requests to grin for selfies than Katelyn.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man on a bicycle was struck by a car on the Near East Side about 3:50 p.m. but apparently not seriously injured. Police said the driver, a 30-year-old woman from Osseo, Wisconsin, was visibly shaken. She told police that the bicyclist, age 34, just came out of nowhere. The accident was at Fifth and Franklin streets.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will waive day fees Saturday at its boat launch ramps and swimming beaches. The occasion: National Public Lands Day. The Army Corps manages 400 lake and river projects nationally. These include many the basins of the Upper Mississippi River and the Red River of the North.

WINONA Minn. – A 19-year-old bicyclist was hit so hard by a car that she was catapulted up onto the windshield. She then landed on the pavement. A witness told police the driver pulled over. asked if the bicyclist were OK. said she was “so sorry” and drove off. The bicyclist, meanwhile, had made her way to the sidewalk because her stomach was upset. When she got up, the driver was gone. A witness described the car as a small white coupe. This was about 2:25 p.m. at Broadway Street and Mankato Avenue on the Far East Side. The driver, according to the witnesses, was a white woman, about 5-foot-8, probably in her 30s, maybe 40s, with dark blond hair with a little orange. The bicyclist went to the hospital with road rashes and bruises on a shoulder, a leg, her left side, a knee and elbow.

WINONA Minn. – Judge Mary Leahy has rescheduled a hearing for Adam Fravel in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Maddi Kingsbury. The hearing had been set for Friday but now will be four weeks later on October 13.  The hearing is an opportunity for pre-trial motions to be presented to the judge. Fravel is accused of second-degree murder and is in jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

Earlier: Next Fravel murder hearing delayed

Mike Bunge (KIMT, September 18, 2023): “Drought Conditions Fueling Calls for Water Conservation in Southeast Minnesota”

Scott McFetridge (Associated Press, September 17 2023): “Low Mississippi River Limits Barges Just as Farmers Want to Send Their Crops Downriver”

Bill Strande (KARE, September 15, 2023): “Hormel Workers Vote to Reject Offer from Company”

WINONA, Minn. — A ceiling sprinkler pipe burst over check-out lines at the Walmart store on Winona’s Far East End. There was no fire. Firefighters shut off he system and drained he pipes. This was about 1:55 p.m.

WINONA, Minn. – The first athlete to earn 12 varsity letters at Winona High School, Amy Duran, will be among five 2023 inductees into the school Hall of fame. Dunn graduated in 1983. She lettered in swimming, gymnastics, and track and field. The induction ceremony will be October 7. The inductees:

Katie Crouse (Class of 2003): She set a school record on the bars as well as a school and Big 9 Conference record in the vault. She was an all-state selection on the beam and was named to the all-state select team in the vault, bars, floor and all-around. She set Big 9 and school records in multiple events, and received all-conference and all-state honors in the vault, bars, beam, floor and all-around. She led the team to its first state meet appearance and scored an all-time Top Ten score on the floor. She qualifiedfor the state meet in the 300 hurdles. Now finishing law school.

Amy Duran (1983): She was the first Winona High athlete –male or female — to earn 12 varsity letters. In swimming, she set school records in the 50-yard and 100-yard breaststroke. She was all-conference, qualified for the state meet, and helped her team win the Region 1A championship. On the track, she was a member of the two-time state champion 800-yard relay. She was a three-time state finalist with the 1,600 relay team. Now an executive in educational consulting in Washington State.

Mark Peters (1983): He was a two-year starter and an all-conference selection at safety in football teams. He received honorable mention honors in basketball. In track and field, his best event was the triple jump with all-conference and all-state honors. He  holds the school record in the triple jump of 44 feet, 3 inches. He  worked in finance and retired at age 53. Now mostly skiing and fly-fishing in Montana.

Greg Scarborough (1974): He was a three-year starter in football as fullback and defensive end/linebacker. He was a two-time all-conference selection, team MVP and was named to the Shriners All-Star Football game as a senior. He also excelled in baseball, and he played on team that finished as state runner-up.  He joined the Los Angeles Fire Department. In 1993 he was promoted to captain. He moved back to Winona after retiring from firefighting.

Abbey Staats (2009): As an eighth-grader, she joined the varsity team and excelled, joining the Minute Man Club and earning all-conference honors. As a freshman, she won the Big 9 and section titles in the 50 freestyle. She swept the 50 and 100 freestyle titles at every conference and section meet as a sophomore, junior and senior. She set 10 records, was named Section 1AA swimmer of the year and earned All-America honors as a junior and senior. She won the 50 freestyle at the state\in 23.54 seconds. As a senior sge placed second at state in the 50 and 100 freestyle. She lives in Colorado.

ALBERT LEA, Minn. – Boaters rescued the driver of a pickup truck that crashed into Fountain Lake at the end of a short residential street. Dwight Martin Weise, 85, of Blue Earth, was still in the sinking truck 30 feet out. An ambulance crew said that Weiss was unhurt albeit wet. The accident was about 9:50 a.m.

End of the road. Vehicle was coming down a hill next to a lakeside home. Image: Albert Lea police