DRESBACH, Minn. — A state wildlife agent was called to remove a rattlesnake sunning itself on a sidewalk at a home up Oak Hill Drive. This was about 3:50 p.m. The sheriff’s office received the call and notified the Natural Resources Department for a snake-handler. As a a protected species in Minnesota, the snake was relocated to a remote area.

Earlier: Third rattlesnake on Garvin Heights Road

CHATFIELD, Minn. – Everybody in Chatfield and adjacent Elmire Township lost power when a soil-sampling crew struck a buried power line 10 miles north near Dover. A crew member was hurt and taken to a Rochester hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The outage, about 10:20 a.m., affected 1,500 customers of People’s Energy Co-op. One lane of Interstate 90 near Dover was closed about 40 minutes.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota’s state tax revenue again has exceeded projections. The state Budget Office reported July revenue at $1.9 billion — 2.5% more than expected. Income tax and corporate tax revenue were down, but that was more than offset by sales tax and other revenue. The July totals:

> Income taxes: $922 million.

> Sales taxes: $749 million

> Corproate taxes: $104million.

> Other: $104 million.

WINONA, Minn. – The Mulyck funeral home family lost their Morticia to cancer after 18 years as their loving ambassador to the grieving. This is the Mulycks’ memorial obituary:

“Morticia Marie Mulyck (a.k.a. Tish, Miss Tish, Toots), the beloved pet and companion of John and Cheryl, crossed the Rainbow Bridge peacefully on Friday, August 11, 2023, at the age of 14, while being held in the arms and love of her mom and dad.

“Tish lost a short battle with cancer but was able to spend her last days in the comfort of home enjoying her favorite things, especially the love of her mom, dad, and little sister Lola.

“She was born on June 28, 2009, in Trempealeau and was welcomed several weeks later into the home of John and Cheryl Mulyck.  From the start Tish went to work every day at the funeral home with her mom and dad, and she soon became a valuable member of the funeral home staff.  As her dad would tell her, “If you could only answer the phone and type, we’d have it made!”

Morticia. 2009-2023.

“Tish met and touched many people as the funeral home’s hospitality ambassador. She loved greeting those attending visitations, or anyone who just happened to stop in at the funeral home.  To say Tish was smart is an understatement. She knew countless words and commands and was always eager to show off her many tricks, with a favorite being her ability to play dead on command.  Her calm and easy-going demeanor brought great comfort to many people.

“Some of Tish’s favorite things were playing with her holey roller, taking a nap in the sun or in front of the fire, being on patrol in the front window at home, and keeping tabs on and mothering her little sister Lola.  She loved snuggling, cuddling up under a blanket, treats (especially braunschweiger), and she had an endless supply of kisses for anyone who wanted them.

“Tish loved going for rides and did many road trips in the hearse. If Watkowski-Mulyck was on the schedule at Fort Snelling, the staff there would always ask, “Is Morticia along today?”  She also put on many miles running errands and making deliveries with her mom . They were a true team.

“Tish enjoyed attending Day Camp at Companion Animal Care Center where she made many friends.  Her other favorite places were staying with Grandma Arline (Tish’loved’ Grandma), and with Aunty Colleen and Uncle Bruce. They all loved her so much, and when things got just a little hectic at the funeral home, they took such good care of her for mom and dad.

“There is the old saying that dogs are man’s best friend, and perhaps God created dogs to give us another constant reminder of His great unconditional love for us. That can certainly be said of Tish.  As her dad often told her, “God was having a great day when he made you!”

“As the hymn-writer tells us, “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.  He gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell, how great is God Almighty, who has made all things well.”  We thank God for giving us Morticia, for reminding us of His love, and that He truly does make all things well.

“We wish to extend a special thank you to Companion Animal Care Center, especially to Dr. Chaffin, Dr. O’Neill, the techs, and the Day Camp staff, for the wonderful care and love that they gave to Tish throughout her life.

“Our beloved Tish: Mama loves, dad loves, and sissy loves.  We could not have asked for a better dog, a more faithful companion, or a truer friend.  We will always remember you, and you will be greatly missed…may you enjoy your well-deserved rest.

“So, good night ,sweet Princess, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

LEWISTON, Minn. – Pranksters were playing a dangerous game with water-filled balloons at the County Road 29 overpass south of Lewiston on Interstate 90. They were dropping the balloons on cars on I-90 – a 70 mph zone. This was about 1:20 a.m. There were no accidents. The State Patrol asked Winona County deputies to help find the culprits, but they were not to be found. Their only trace was busted balloons.

WINONA Minn. – Nobody’s saying much to police investigators about two ghost guns they recovered after breaking up teen-agers milling around in an alley in mid-July. The kids aren’t talking, said Deputy Police Chief Jay Rassmusen — not even the 16-year-old who was arrested for possession of a firearm and a stolen motor vehicle. Said Rasmussen: “Despite most of them speaking to us, it appears that most lied about what they knew, only gave us some information, or just plain totally lied.” The parents haven’t said much either about where the guns came from. One parent seemed to be trying to defend their child’s as innocent despite video evidence, Rasmussen said: “Kind of sad.” The evidence included surveillance video from behind the coin-laundry where some of the kids had driven a stolen car, from a Kwik Trip, and from other sources.  These ghost guns were the first to show up in Winona. Police found one of the guns in a trash bin  in a West Side alley and the other in nearby weeds. The teens jad been gathered around a car that had been  stolen near the East End marina. The kids scattered down the alley when the cops pulled up. They tossed the guns in the haste of running away. Now a month later, is there an upside to all this? Said Rasmussen: “I’m at least grateful the guns were taken off the streets.”

Earlier: Cops lift DNA, fingerprints from ghost guns

Earlier: Scary, scary Winona debut: Ghost guns arrive

Earlier:: Stolen bikes swapped for stolen car

WINONA, Minn. —  The psychiatric and counseling unit at Winona Health has outgrown its space at the main clinic and moved to the Parkview Building at the other end of Mankato Avenue complex. The Parkview Building was already home for cardiopulmonary rehab and some Winona County human services offices.

OSSEO, Wis. – A Minnesota woman was killed in a single-vehicle crash a mile west of the Interstate 94 Osseo exit. The victim’s name was not released immediately, but the State Patrol listed her as 66 years old from the St. Paul suburb of Oakdale. She was in a vehicle driven by a 41-year-old woman from St. Paul. The driver suffered minor injuries The accident was about 8:20 a.m. in the  eastbound lanes. Officers said the vehicle lost control during a rainstorm, left the roadway, and hit a tree

ROCHESTER, Minn. – More suits against the Winona-Rochester Catholic Diocese have been filed alleging sexual abuse of young boys by priests as far back as the  the 1970s. These are stray cases beyond the original settlement for $28 million that sent the diocese into bankruptcy. A St. Paul attorney who represented clients in the original lawsuits, Jeff Anderson, is handling the new actions. These clients, all adult men, were not compensated in the original settlement because the Diocese insurance company, U.S. Fire, declined to accept responsibility Anderson said.  The priests in the new actions:

> Joseph Cashman, how deceased.

> Damien Seminary, now deceased.

> Leland Smith.

Each victim is asking for at least $50,000. Anderson told television station KAAL tat his goal, as in past cases , is to assure tyat victims are compensated: “I draw from the pain and the sorrow and the anguish of the survivors, and appreciation for the magnitude of what sexual trauma does.” Anderson said he couldn’t say even more lawsuits will follow – or how long he expects resolution to take.

Earlier: New case charges sex abuse by priest

WINONA, Minn. – A guy walked into Toppers pizzeria downtown, ordered a pizza, sat down and ate it on-premises, and walked out with the tip jar from the front counter. Police have his image on surveillance video. They think they know him and plan to do some door-knocking. The take: $10 to $30. Tis was about 1 a.m. at 129 East Third Street.

LAMOILLE, Minn. – An argument inside a trailer house at the Green Terrace trailer court turned nasty before deputies arrived to quiet things down. In the end, Amy Frances Zastrow, 34, of New Brighton, was cited for assault — specifically grabbing another woman by the hair and twisting and pulling her to the floor. The commotion involved five people inside the trailer, deputies said. What precipitated the violence wasn’t clear. They said it wasn’t helpful that Zastrow wasn’t making much sense when they talked with her. Deputies said Zastrow and the other woman knew each other. They classified the incident as a not being an intra-family disturbance.  No one was seriously hurt. This was about 8:50 p.m. just off U.S. 61 sat Green Terrace Way south of Lamoille.

RIDGEWAY, Minn. – An 18-wheeler heading east struck a guardrail on Interstate 90 just short of the Houston exit. The driver, Nasredin Aden Mohamed, 27, of Faribault, was hurt but not seriously. He was taken 15 miles to the Winona hospital. The accident happened about 9 p.m. The pavement was wet.

WINONA, Minn. – Whoever stole his Harley had come prepared. The owner of the Hog said the thieves didn’t just drive it off but brought a trailer to his house for the job and loaded the 800-pound bike by hand. How did he know this?  There were trailer tracks in the dirt. He showed the police. Also, he had had the keys to the 1997 black machine with him all day at work. He valued the bike at $3,000, perhaps $4,000. The theft occurred during the day in the 500 block of East Fifth Street, some time before he returned home from work about 5:30 p.m.

WINONA Minn. – At first it seemed an open-and-shut case of drunken driving. Shortly after a driver clipped a corner of a garage in an alley on the West End,  police stopped his unmistakably red PT Cruiser with a crumpled fender. The driver climbed out clutching a battle of liquor and a case beer and admitted to four or five beers. Things got complicated at the jailhouse. As officers were preparing for a blood draw for data on his blood-alcohol level, Daniel Lee Decker, 59, collapsed on the floor wincing in back pain. Lying prostrate eased the pain, he said. An ambulance took him across town to the hospital. Police left him there and went back to the jailhouse to start their paperwork. There was the hit and run. Decker had admitted driving off, albeit, he said, with the intention of calling in the accident later. Then there was the matter of the matter of the garage in the alley behind the 50 block of Carimona Street. it was still standing but would need repair.  Then there was the drunken driving. Decker had admitted to downing a few beers, to which police had ample evidence in his body odor and bloodshot eyes – and the booze he was clutching, not to mention that he failed an on-site field sobriety test. This was all in a half-hour period or so starting about 11:45 on an otherwise tranquil Sunday morning.

WINONA, Minn. – Police were scratching their heads at why someone would pack fake $100 bills into see-through plastic baggies and leave them on car door handles.  If real, it would have been a $7,800 give-away. Police said the funny money was plainly printed “For Motion Pictures Only” — the kind of prop for movies and theatrical productions. But why in Winona? And why ivbernight? And why in the 400 block ofWest Wabasha Street? Police collected the bills – not spend, needless to say, but to hold as evidence until they get some answers.

WINONA, Minn. – An unhappy landlord and tenant were in an argument when the tenant challenged the landlord to mace him with pepper spray. The landlord did. Retaliation followed: The tenant smashed a stereo speaker into the windshield of the landlord’s car. By the time police arrived, they said the evidence of the violence was obvious in the tenant’s mace-pocked red face and in the landlord’s shattered windshield. Charges would be pending, police said. This was about 6 p.m. in the 450 block of East Sanborn. Both parties confirmed that the confrontation started when the landlord dropped by to confirm whether tenant had indeed moved out.

Image: Steve Lunde

“I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.” – Joyce Kilmer, 1913