Cold season ahead with RSP risk: Shots available
WINONA, Minn. – Vaccine against the RSV virus has arrived at the Winona Health clinic and is available for adults on a walk-in basis. The virus is a common respiratory infection from which most people recover in a week or two. For some people, however, RSV can lead to hospitalization. Most vulnerable are older adults and persons with chronic, conditions, the clinic said.
Earlier: Walz: “Join me with a flu shot”
Lanesboro, other cities order watering cuts
LANESBORO, Minn. — Lanesboro citizens were asked to conserve water because of worsening drought conditions that may affect aquifers from which city water is drawn. The city based its decision on dropping moisture levels in the Root River watershed. Levels are also extremely low in the whole Upper Mississippi Valley, including the Black River basin in Wisconsin. All water suppliers in Minnesota are required to implement water conservation measures when a state drought-response plan kicks. Conservation orders like those in Lanesboro also have been issued in Albert Lea, Oronoco and Rochester. Recommended actions:
> Greatly reduce watering lawns or let them go dormant but continue to water trees, flowers and vegetables.
> Postpone washing vehicles and oter power-washing.
> Water outdoor vegetation only at night or early in the morning.
Earlier: Low Mississippi levels again hinder farm shipping
Earlier: Drought grips 99% of Minnesota
Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 35 emergency medical calls plus 12 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, September 19: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Monday, September 18: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Sunday, September 17: 3 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, September16: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Friday, September 15: 6 medical calls plus 2 calls.
> Thursday, September 14: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Wednesday, September 13: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 60 calls
Maple Gove yanks officers off school duty
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. – Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner pulled his school-based officers out of their assigned high schools and middle schools because of ambiguities in a new law. The law limits how far officers can go to maintain order. “My decision, Werner said, “is solely what is best for the students and what is best for the officers.” Other police departments are considering similar actions. The new law, passed by the 2023 Legislature, prohibits certain physical restraints even in dangerous situations such as student fights.
Earlier: Legal opinion: School physical policing holds “OK but”
Winona school policing
Until 2020 a police officer was assigned as a school resource officer — “SRO” for snort — at Winona High School. Ro promote a more scbool hospitable atmosphere, the School Board ended its contract with Police Department The last Winona SRO, Josh Squires, wore a uniform on duty as is common practice. With the end of the contract, Squires was reassigned to regular duties. The school now contacts the Police Department for emergencies on a case by case basis.
Vandals “decorate” vacant commercial building
WINONA, Minn. – Spray-painting vandals left graffiti inside a vacant building in the Breezy Acres area on Winona’s Far East End. The vandalism occurred perhaps as early as April, the owner told police. The damage was in the 1750 block of Mobile Drive. The graffiti was extensive and must have taken a lot of time inside the building, police said.
Must be that Halloween approacheth
Heartland giftshop. Proprietor Beth Tews has stacked pumpkins at her crossroads shop at the Highway 14 and County Road 25 crossroads in Lewiston. No, the big one’s not for sale. Image: Steve Lunde
College scores
Volleyball (women): Saint Mary’s 3, Buena Vista 2
Minnesota prep
Volleyball (girls): Rushford-Peterson Trojans 3, Lewiston-Altura Cardinals 2
Volleyball (girls): Mabel-Canton Cougars 3, Houston Hurricanes 0
Volleyball (girls): Plainview-Elgin-Millville Bulldogs 3, LaCrescent-Hokah Lancers 0
Winona emergency chief wins state honors
DULUTH, Minn. – The Winona County emergency magement director, Ben Klinger, was named the best of the best for 2023 by the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers. Klinger was cited for his work as the organizer and point person for the search for Madeline Kingsbury of Winona, who disappeared in March and who was found murdered six weeks later. The search involved hundreds of volunteers in a three-county area of 2,100 square miles. Klinger was nominated by Winona Police Tom Williams, who was the lead officer n the Kingsbury case. Klinger was also cited for helping organize multilayered efforts during the CoVid crisis – everything from getting vaccinations out to people in descending order of need to issues like whether the county had enough syringes. Klinger has been the county’s emergency management chief since 2018.
Klinger. Also a Winona County jailer and a volunteer police officer, firefighter and emergency medical technician.
Motorcyclist hurt in Highway 26 crash
HOKAH Minn. – A Wisconsin motorcyclist was injured midway between LaCrescent and Brownsville when he crashed off State Highway 26. Shane Pete Marcoux, 51, of Port Edwards, was taken 75 miles to a Rochester hospital. His injuries were non-life threatening, police said. The accident was about 7:40 p.m. near Brookwood Drive. Marcoux was headed south toward Iowa. He was on a 1999 Harley Davidson e. He was not wearing a helmet, police said.
Arrest after Miner Valley Road domestic flap
LAMOILLE, Minn. – — A Winona man was arrested after a domestic disturbance at a residence up Miner valley Road from Twin Bluffs. Deputies said there was a judge’s do-not-contact order in effect against Airon Lamar Wiggins, 31, but he was there anyway. A woman had a called 911 for help. She told deputies that her injuries didn’t require medical attention.
Wiggins. To jail in ongoing domestic issue.
Next Fravel murder hearing delayed
WINONA, Minn. – A hearing for Adam Fravel in the Maddi Kingsbury homicide vase has been put on hold. The hearing, for pre-trial motions, was scheduled for Friday this week. There was no immediate explanation for the delay. Nor was a new date scheduled. Fravel has been in jail 108 days since being arrested for the death of Kingsbury, his ex-girlfriend. She went missing from their Winona townhouse on March 31. Her body was found 40 miles away along Highway 43 near Mabel on June 7. Fravel grew up near Mabel. Since the disappearance of Maddi Kingsbury, he had been been staying with his parents a few miles from where the body was found.
Earlier: Bail at $2 million for Fravel in murder case
Earlier: Boyfriend of Maddi Kingsbury arrested on murder charge
Child porn charges pile up Grand Meadow case
AUSTIN, Minn. – More counts of creating child pornography were added in the case against a Grand Meadow man. Originally Nicholas Adam Sneed, 45, was charged with three counts. That was in December. Now it’s 12 counts. Police raided Sneed’s home in December and seized three data-storage cards from a safe safe, as well as two laptops, an Apple iPad, and an iPhone, plus six other phones from the garage and several hidden cameras. Investigators said that Sneed resisted opening the safe for them. The new counts were added after investigators poured through volumes of recorded images and messages.
Negligence charged in Galesville traffic death
WHTEHALL, Wis. — An Independence man was charged with negligent homicide in the death of a Trempealeau woman in a car wreck near Galesville in March. Gavin D. Becker also was charged with obstructing justice for a bogus explanation about what happened. Jennie Furlin, 64, died when Becker’s car crashed head-on into hers. Becker told police his steering wheel jammed. An investigation found, however, that he was on his cell phone. Trempealeau County Judge Rian Radtke released Becker on $7,500 bail pending further court proceedigs.
Cops find meth in car seat, backpack, socks
WINONA, Minn. – Police found meth and then more meth and then even more meth while arresting a Winona man on the Near East Side and then processing him at the jail. In all, 4.9 grams of meth were confiscated. Jailed was Darron Dylan Miller, 39. Police had been summoned to the 150 block of East Sanborn Street about a man walking through a backyard to a parked pickup. Police found the pickup. The man had a hypodermic needle, they said. And, yes, when asked, he admitted to a baggie of meth on the seat by his thigh. It tested positively for meth. There was also a backpack that the man admitted was his. Inside the officer found another baggie with meth. At the station house a hailer located two additional baggies in one of Miller’s socks These baggies too contained a clear crystal-like substance that also tested positive for meth.
Miller. Booked for possession of a controlled substance.
Walz: “Join me with a flu shot”
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz rolled up his left sleeve for his annual flu shot. The gubernatorial injection was for television cameras to encourage Minnesotans to get vaccinated against both the new CoVid strain and the flu. Walz, however is putting off the CoVid shot. He has no choice: The CoVid vaccine won federal approval only last week and hasn’t arrived yet from manufacturers. The governor’s other possible next shot: For the RSV virus, which is especially recommended for people over 60. Walz is 59.
“Just a little pinch.” So said the nurse to the governor.
Prison for man tricked in teen sex quest
LACROSSE, Wis. — A La Crosse man caught in a police sting was sentenced to two years in prison for attempted sexual assault of a child. It was a plea deal. Jeremiah Mark Midstokke, 45, originally was charged also with using a computer to facilitate the crime and with drug possession. Midstokke was caught in February trying to meet up with a teen who was actually an undercover police agent after exchanging messages on the Telegram messaging app. The agent pretended online to be 15.
Midstokke. Computer screen still open when found out and arrested.
Autumn color show edging our way
WINONA, Minn. – The early autumn foliage maps are showing up. This one is fromm the Smoky Mountains tourisms bureau in Tennessee.
Officer takes bite from guy not liking pat-down
WINONA, Minn. – Joe Peaslee and the cops know each but aren’t exactly friends. During an arrest in their latest encounter, officers said, Peaslee bit one officer on an index finger. The officer described the bite as sharp and painful, but he managed to extricate the hand out of a glove and proceed to subdue Peaslee. This was about 4:20 a.m. Police had been called to the 450 Block of East Mark Street about a man passed out on porch with a bolt cutter in one hand. As police arrived, the man was walking down an alley. Police went after him and recognized Joseph Allan Peaslee right away from encounters over the years. Peaslee appeared high on something and kept walking, police said. After being told several times that he wasn’t free to leave, Peaslee was forced to the ground and handcuffed. As an officer did a pat search, Peaslee tensed up, flexed his muscles and arms, and pulled away. He then reached his head over and started biting the officer. He was subdued again and taken to the hospital to be cleared medically about whether he was in danger from an unknown substance. Two hours later, Peaslee, age 30, was taken to jail. The officer with the bite said it looked like it would heal.
Peaslee. Booking charge: Assault on a police officer.
R.I.P.: Kamilla Ludwig
HOUSTON, Minn. — Kamilla Jean Ludwig, 63, of Houston, a medical technologist, died of cancer at the Valley View nursing home. Most of her life was In Colorado. She held degrees from University of Denver and University of Colorado and a master’s in women’s studies from Denver Theological Seminary. She moved to Houston in 2019 to be close to family. She was a traveler who spent time in England and Ukraine.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1960-2023
R.I.P.: Helen Selke
WINONA, Minn . — Helen M. Selke, of Winona, who was employed with Winona Signal Company and later Winona Teleprompter, died at age 96. She was an avid bowler and a member of the Winona 600 Club. She spent most of her retirement at Indian Creek in northern Wisconsin and traveling and taking sea cruises.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1927-2023
R.I.P.: Rosemary Todd
WINONA, Minn. – Rosemary “Inky” Todd, 87, who lived her entire life in Winona, died at home. Her family said she was known for her smile, kindness, and love for her family and dogs. She enjoyed music, ice cream, drinking coffee, and visiting.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1936-2023
R.I.P.: Jeff Schueler
WINONA, Minn. — Jeff Wayne Schueler, 62, of Winona, who was self-employed as American Salvage, died at home. He also worked at Gordie’s Standard gas station, on the railroad, and at TRW and RTP. He was employed 20 years at the Kwik Trip store at Mankato Avenue and Broadway Street. He always felt especially lucky to be alive. At age 5 he was pronounced dead after being struck by a car on Mankato Avenue.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1961-2023
Gallery debut: Literary arts exhibit
“Wake Up Island.” A print from hand-cut woodblock by Duluth artist Nick Wroblewski. The print appears in Mary Casanova’s book of the same name.
Exhibit at Slaggie Family hall into January
WINONA, Minn. — An exhibition of art from the books that tap into nature has inaugurated the Minnesota Marine Art Museum’s new Slaggie Family Gallery. Among featured works are illustations by printmaker Nick Wroblewski in Mary Casanova’s 2018“Hush, Hush, Forest” in 2018 and 2016 “Wake Up Island.” Also on display are illustrations by Fumi Nakamura in Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s 2020 “World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishmente.” The illustrations run concurrently through January 7 with the Museum’s Flora and Fauna suite of exhibitions and public programs. Also dispersed through the exhibit are folk sculptures of the Museum’s Leo and Marilyn Smith of Fountain City collection. The Smiths say the sculptures were inspired by the “the whimsy and wonder” of Mississippi River marine environments.
Slaggie Gallery debut. The literary arts exhibit is in the new Steven and Barbara Slaggie Family Gallery at the Marine Art Museum. The gallery comprises 2,300 square feet. Slaggie was a co-founder of Winona-based Fastenal, which has grown into a major U.S. supplier of construction tools.
Fake name, pistol complicate driver’s legal woes
HOMER, Minn. – Police stopped a car for erratic driving and took the driver to jail, where his fingerprints didn’t match the identification he had offered deputies at the stop. In the end, Ascencion Sebastian Alejo 30, of Austin — his real name — was held not only for drunken driving but also:
> Giving a false name.
> Driving after license revocation.
> Carrying a pistol without a permit.
> Possessing a firearms and ammo illegally as an alien.
> Bad driving.
In the traffic stop, at Old Homer Rood and Pleasant Valley Road, deputies found Alejo’s eyes bloodshot, his speech slurred, and heavy sweatiness. His blood tested as 0.17% alcohol – twice the state’s acceptable for driving. The stop was about 10:20 p.m.
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