Nasty vandalism: Metal shavings in fuel tank
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. — Somebody poured metal shavings into the fuel tank of a dump truck parked at a construction site. The truck’s owner estimated damage at $3,000. The vehicle, a 2003 Sterling, was parked on Bridge Street. The damage was discovered about 2 p.m.
Democrats question WI-3’s Van Orden character
LACROSSE, Wis. – The chair of the La Crosse County Democrats, William Garcia, predictably criticized the character of freshman Congressman DerrickVan Orden for a cussing attack on teen-age Senate pages in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. Van Orden, said Garcia, “does not have the character, judgment or temperament required to represent the people of Wisconsin’s Third District.”
Verbatim
Garcia: As has been widely reported, GOP Representative Derrick Van Orden yelled and cursed at some high school students who work at the Capital for lying down to take pictures of the mosaic featured on the Capitol Rotunda. It was later reported, and confirmed by Rep. Van Orden, that he had been drinking before his interaction with the students. Being an elected representative is about character. Representative Van Orden continues to demonstrate that he does not have the character, judgment or temperament required to represent the people of Wisconsin’s Third District. If the Representative was truly offended by the actions of the high school students, he should have used the opportunity to engage these young people in conversation about the history of the Capitol Building, instead of hurling obscenities and threats.”
WSU president bids campus farewell
WINONA, Minn. – The outgoing Scott Olson, known for a sense of humor in his 11 years as president of Winona State University, left a farewell messge as he moves into the top MinnState job as state chancellor. As chancellor in St. Paul, he said he is looking forward to his most important duties. Tongue firmly in cheek, in reverse order, is his list:
> Valet parker for bargaining unit leaders.
> Purchase commercial real estate on Summit Avenue for Bloedow’s North.
> Design roundabouts for downtown Minneapolis.
> Hold place in line for students when Beyonce tickets go on sale.
> Await upstream arrival of the Cal Fremling.
> Book bouncy house for System Office Game Day Experience.
> Donate purple tie collection to Paisley Park.
> Set Gopher traps around the Twin Cities.
> Sleep in on snow days
> Pine for campus life.
Olson also released a farewell video. A good-bye gathering was scheduled for Thurdyt at 6 p.m. in the Kryzsko ballroom on campus.
Earlier: New MinnState chief plans statewide “listening tour”
Earlier: Olson sees chancellor role as collaborative
Earlier: WSU chief now next MinnState chancellor
Almanac: Scott Olson legacy at WSU
Teary moments. Amid packed-up cartons awaiting the moving van in his Somsen Hall office, Olson and Winona State mascot Wazoo hug their goodbyes. Yes, Wazoo stays in Winona.
Radiation scare at South Baker street work site
WINONA, Minn. – A street crew called firefighters to a West Side construction site where it was feared that piping might be leaking radioactive material. Fire Department monitors didn’t detect any radiation. This was about 11:15 a.m. at West Howard and North Baker streets.
House GOP chief rails against GOP Congressman
WASHINGTON — As Congress was leaving for its August recess, House Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he concurred with the outrage at the verbal assault on teen-age Senate pages by Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden. It was a rare criticism by the Republican leader against a fellow Republican. “Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way,” McConnell said. Van Orden was not present in the House to hear McConnell’s upbraiding. Asked about it later, Van Orden said: “I don’t know what it was because I honestly have not tracked any of this stuff.”
Earlier: Senator leader rebukes Van Orden behavior
Earlier: Van Orden attacks teen-age Capitol pages as jackasses
Plea: Ease afternoon power consumption
RUSHFORD, Minn. –The heat wave has moved the regional electrical grid near capacity, prompting the MiEnergy Cooperative to ask users to reduce power consumption from 2 to 6 p.m. The co-op has 23,000 users in southeast Minnesota and adjoining Iowa counties.
Senate leader rebukes Van Orden behavior
Senate pages. In their official class portrait, all in maroon uniforms, with their counselors in black.
Schumer “shocked” and “further shocked”
WASHINGTON – The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, rebuked Wisconsin Congress member Derrick Van Orden for a foul-mouthed attack on teen-age Senate pages in the Capitol rotunda late the night before. Schumer expressed “shock” at hearing about Van Orden’s behavior and “further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people.” Several of the pages were sitting on the Senate floor as Schumer lit into Van Orden. Dozens of senators stood and gave the pages a standing ovation. The pages smiled and nodded. Van Orden, a member of the House, not the Senate, was not present.
Earlier: Van Orden attacks teen-age Capitol pages as jackasses
Player abuse? UM football coach Fleck again denies it
INDIANAPOIS, Ind. – University of Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck denied anonymous charges that he runs an abusive toxic culture. Asked at a Big Ten media event about the charges, Fleck called them “useless.” The charges appeared on the Front Office Sports online site. They included that Fleck punished players with physical exercise, which is rules violation. Another charge was that Fleck forced injured players back into practice and games. Said Fleck: “This is a similar story that gets peddled every single year.” He blamed sour grapes by players who didn’t make the cut.
Fleck. Gophers coach since 2017.
Oshkosh-bound plane’s engine explodes, lands safely
Pilot’s signature-design. One of Mike Patel’s three sibling craft, gleaming as it’s being hauled to a Utah runway for take-off. All three are orange-themed . This was before the emergency over southeast Minnesota.
Cockpit full of smoke but pilot somehow finds RST runway
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Utah man flying a souped-up monoplane to the Oshkosh air show made a harrowing emergency landing in Rochester after its engine exploded at 27,000 feet and 275 mph probably somewhere over Owatonna. The cockpit filled with smoke. Mike Patey, an experienced pilot who designs planes, glided the plane in a spiral while an air-traffic controller at the Rochester airport cleared a runway. Patel and his passenger walked away from the disabled orange craft. This happened a week ago, but word didn’t get out until Patey posted an account on YouTube. What happened? Apparently the plane’s engine blew up. One of five propeller blades disintegrated as metal bits were spewing into other moving parts. Patey said it sounded like the plane had hit a deer full of TNT. The cabin filled with smoke. Oil drenched windshield. Patel said he had “a little startle panic.” Then, he said, he took a deep breath and just focused. There wasn’t much to see. Besides the smoke and oil, he was in a cloud cover five miles high. With no external reference in sight, he was unable to make the typical straight decline. He radioed the RST controller that he would try to circle the field: “I have one shot at this.” First-responders were on standby in case of fire or a crash. He made it down, but the plane was mechanically in ruins. Patey and his passenger took a commercial flight back home to Spanish Fork, Utah. But not for long. They were immediately in a car on Interstate 80 for Oshkosh. Boy, oh boy, did they have a tale to tell fellow aviation enthusiasts 1,500 miles away at the annual Experimental Aircraft Association mega-gathering in Oshkosh.
Patey. A Utah entrepreneur and inventor, age 50, whose sideline passion is aviation. His designs include a bush plane with a transforming airfoil, solar-power covered wings, dynamic controllable suspension, and two e-bike motorcycles attached under each wing.
Blaring horn incident ends in milking parlor
OAK RIDGE, Minn. – Deputies found man asleep in a milking parlor 6-1/2 hours after an odd disturbance in northern Winona County. A caller from a farm in the 14000 block of County Road 31 had complained that someone in a pickup was repeatedly sounding the horn. This was at 10:30 p.m. The truck was gone when deputies arrived. They later found the vehicle crashed not far away, in a cornfield on Oak Ridge. The driver fled. With a K-9 aide and data from a dropped cellphone, deputies tracked the driver to a dairy farm. He was asleep in a milking parlor, apparently hung over. This was about 4:50 a.m. near County Road 28 and County Road 31. No charges were filed immediately. Deputies were still piecing together all had happened.
Downpours green up lawns; crops still parched
WINONA, Minn. — Two rounds of thunderstorms dropped heavy but scattered showers overnight. There were some strong wind gusts. The rains greened up lawns, but was not enough to overcome stress on bean and grain crops. In some areas the precipitation this summer is six and seven inches behind norms for the season. Overnight rain totals:
> Elgin: 2.52 inches.
> Lake City:1.72.
> Rochester: 1.52.
> Chatfield: 1.19.
> St. Charles: 1.03
> Plainview: 0.83.
> Lanesboro: 0.51.
Latsch State Park: High, high above the mosquitos
Overlooking Pool 4. An eagle’s view of the Mississippi River from Latsch State Park on a humid autumn afternoon.
Six Driftless parks win low-skeeter rating
WINONA, Minn. – The state Natural Resources Department listed six of its parks as the least inviting to mosquitos, all in southeast Minnesota. It’s the Driftless area, where ancient glaciers carved out few of the small lakes and ponds elsewhere in Minnesota where mosquitos breed. Streams drop steadily down coulees in the Driftless Area. Even what apea still waters have a current. The DNR’s low-mosquito census parks, all with hiking trails:
> Beaver Creek: Near Caledonia. 42 campsites, 1 cabin.
> Forestville-Mystery Cave: Near Wykoff. 73 campsites, 55 horse camps, 5 cabins.
> Frontenac: Between Lake City and Red Wing. 53 campsites.
> Great River Bluffs: Near Nodine. 34 campsites.
> Latsch: Between Winona and Minneiska. Day camp only.
> Whitewater: Near Elba. 110 campsites, RV sites, 4 cabins.
After 130 years, headwaters dam gets makeover
MCGREGOR Minn. — The Army Corps of Engineers will celebrate the completion of the Sandy Lake Dam rehabilitation project near the Mississippi River headwaters with a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday. Time: 1 p.m. The $5.3 million project upgraded the 130-year-old dam structure. This included replacing a deteriorated bulkhead wall and six main water control gates and installing a new slide gate in the log sluice chamber. The Sandy lake campground opened May 5, following a two-year closure due to the rehabilitation project.
Sandy Lake Dam. One of the first reservoir systems in the country,
Van Orden to teen-age Capitol pages: “You jackasses”
WASHINGTON — The western Wisconsin representative in Congress, Derrick Van Orden, erupted in an expletive-laden attack at teen-age Senate pages who had gathered in the Capitol rotunda for a class pictures before home for the summer Congressional recess. Van Orden had stumbled across the group by himself late at night while wandering the Capitol. He called the pages lazy and demanded they leave. One of the ages made notes of the episode, quoting Van Orden:
“Wake the fuck up, you little shits. What the fuck are you all doing? Get the fuck out of here. You are defiling the space, you pieces of shit. Who the fuck are you? I don’t give a fuck who you are, get out. You jackasses, get out.”
Based on the page’s recorded account, the Washington newsletter Punchbowl broke the story on the encounter. Separately another newsletter, The Hill, used the page’s recording for a story. Soon the episode was the buzz of Washington — and also in VanOrden’s home district. The district, WI-3, is largely bucolic but includes Eau Claire, LaCrosse and some St. Paul exurbs. Suddenly there was talk that Van Orden had been partying loudly with his staff and boozing in his office in the Longworth Office Building, which is connected to the Capitol by an underground tram. The night was also the last of the July session before the House break for a summer recess.
Van Orden. Elected 2022 from western Wisconsin as an enthusiastic Trump Republican.
Page profile
When Vzn Orden showed up, the pages were indeed on the floor, posing for giggly and silly memory photos to take home. Pages, mostly 16 or 17, are runners for senators. They are posted in the Senate chamber during sessions to carry messages and run errands. They are appointed by senators from their home states. They’re known as a clean-cut group. On duty they wear jackets and ties. Being chosen as a page is considered an honor, even as a gateway to a possible political career.
R.I.P.: Sharon Pozanc
WINONA, Minn. – Sharon Lee Pozanc, 77, of Winona, who was the bookkeeper and office manager for the family business, Chester Pozanc Trucking, died unexpectedly at home. She was a graduate of Cochrane-Fountain City High School. She enjoyed simple pleasures in her garden and kitchen. Her family remembered her love of Sunday drives to enjoy nature and watch for deer.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1946-2023
Mayor: New rotaries issue needs to be safety
WINONA, Minn. – Mayor Scott Sherman said he’s received positive citizen feedback to four rotary intersections that opened last winter on Mankato Avenue on the Far East End. The question about two new rotaries proposed by the state Highway Department on Broadway, as well as one on Sarnia, should be whether safety would be improved, Sherman said in a Winona Post interview. The mayor recalled oppositions to the Mankato projects in their pre-design stage, but, he said, they have won people over. “Sure, construction is always a pain in the butt, but it should be better for all users when it is all said and done.”
Driver charged with smacking down building
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Police concluded that a Green Bay woman was at fault for a wreck that destroyed her minivan and part of a Main Street office building Sunday night. Merissa Reed, 29, and a passenger were both injured. was charged with:
> Reckless driving Causing Great Bodily harm.
> Jumping bail.
> Driving with a suspended license.
Fire contained in Garvin Heights woods
WINONA, Minn. – Lightning struck a tree above West Lake Boulevard and set it ablaze. A Fire Department tanker crew carried a water line 50 feet up the hill from Garvin Heights Road and contained the fire to the single tree. A city tree crew sawed down the smoking remains down so firefighters could finish the job. This was about 9:15 a.m.
Mississippi dam masters on “drought watch”
Denzer. Her job: Keeping the dammed-up pool behind Lock and Dam 5 at a navigable nine feet for barges.
Shallow points showing up as river flow ebbs
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – The Army Corps is throttling down the flow of the Upper Mississippi River through its 18 dams to prevent shallows from developing and halting barge traffic. Lockmaster Judy Denzer at Lock and Dam 5 in Minnesota City calls it “a drought watch.” In a KTTC interview, Denver said the summer’s rain shortfall could drop navigation channels below the essential nine-foot depth. If barges go around, they’re stuck, she said. Last summer the Lower Mississippi, which has no dams, was jammed with grounded barges and tourist cruise boats. River commerce halted. In the Upper Mississippi, which s dammed, each dam has backed upa lake — “pools” in Corps parlance. The lakes, one after the other, prevent the river from drying up in extraordinarily dry seasons. This requires keeping gates on the dams lowered so the lakes maintain depths of at least nine feet. Even so, there are some “really shallow places” right now, said Elizabeth Nelson, the Army Corps water management supervisor. At this point, these shallows pose special danger for personal watercraft outside the main navigation channels, Nelson said.
Lock and Dam 5. Holds back a pool all the seven miles upstream Lock and Dam 4 at Alma.
Emergency, fire crews make 44 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 33 emergency medical calls plus 11 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, July 25: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Monday, July 24: 6 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Sunday, July 23: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, July 22: 2 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, July 21: 6 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Thursday, July 20: 5 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Wednesday, July 19: 4 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 47 calls
R.I.P.: Gabriel Manrique
WINONA, Minn. – Gabriel Manrique, 69, who had taught economics at Winona State since 1989, died at home after nine years with multiple systems trophy. At Winona State University he also served as interim business dean, chair of the Economics Department, and director of foreign studies. He was born in the Philippines. He held an advanced degree in international affairs from Ohio University and a doctorate in economics from Notre Dame. He also worked as a globalization specialist for Fastenal Company in Winona, as a teaching fellow in Congress for Representative Tim Penny, and as a research fellow at the Overseas Development Council in Washington. He served on the boards of the Winona Community Foundation and the Winona Chamber of Commerce. He was Winona Rotary club president in 2003. He promoted youth soccer in Winona.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1954-2023
Winona County commercial property sales so far 2023
WINONA, Minn. – Among commercial property sales in Winona County logged by Bob Bambenek, county recorder, this year:
Winona: 1015 Frontenac Drive (car wash), Romer Constructiin to Loos, $6.3 million.
Winona: 560 Cottonwood Drive (apartments), Roemer Construction to Loos, $3.8 million.
Winona: 51 East Third Street (commercial, office, retail, rental): Hartert to Abramson, $2.9 million
Winona: 307 With 10th Street (apartments), Lighthouse Management to Studios on Huff, $2.3 million.
Winona: 661 Vila Street, Winona Mall to Second Chances Properties (shopping center), $1.9 million.
Winona: 211 Huff Street (apartments), Abramson to Kappa Chi Housing, $1.9 million.
> Winona: 1035 Frontena Drve (condos, retail, Broker Exchange to Carly Family $1.66 million.
> Winona: 3545 West Eighth Street (apartments), Volkart to KBS Property Management, $1.2 million.
> Winona: 1059 East Fourth Street (offices): Serva to LRS of Minnesota, $1.2 million.
> Goodview: 3677 and 2679 Sixth Street (apartments), Garvin Brook Properties to Heim $1.1 million.
Earlier: Winona County home sales in June
Earlier: Winona County home sales in June
Pilot trapped, badly hurt in mangled crop-duster
CLARA CITY, Minn. – A crop-dusting pilot was critically injured when he clipped a power line along a western Minnesota corn field and crashed. Derek John DuHoux, 34, of Clara City, was trapped in the wreckage. First-responders pulled DuHoux from the plane. He was airlifted 11 miles to the Willmar hospital. The crash was roughly 10 miles northeast of Clara City at 90th Avenue Northeast and 10th Street Northeast. This was about 9:30 a.m.
R.I.P.: Helen Braatz
WINONA, Minn. – Helen Marie (Luedtke) Braatz, 100, of Winona, who worked at EttaDell Nursing Home in Lewiston and then for 30 years at Camera Art, died at Benedictine-St. Anne nursing home. She was born on a farm in in Wilson Township and walked to a one-room schoolhouse. Although she loved school. she was unable to go beyond the eighth grade for ant of transportation. Later in life she earned an equivalency diploma. With her husband she farmed near Lewiston. She moved to town in 1959 and to Winona in 1988. She lived independently until she was 85. She was widely traveled coast to coast. She prided herself for dipping her toes in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Details: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1923-2023
“Dog Days of Summer” upon us: Hot, humid
WINONA, Minn. – Hotter and hotter, that’s been the trend with afternoon highs as of late – and dreadful humidity. The National Weather Service expects Winona area highs to peak at 94 Thursday, then retreat a little to the high 80s for the weekend. Don’t expect the humidity to abate. The warnings are out for the usual precautions – drink a lot, don’t overexert.
Why the canine reference?
Ancient Greeks invented the term “Dog Days of Summer.” Actually “κυνάδες ἡμέραι kynádes hēmérai.” They saw the 40 days from July 3 to August 11 on the modern calendar as a time of bad luck and drought and political tensions. Why “dog days”? The constellation Canis Major, which translates as “Big Dog,” rises in Northern Hemisphere skies in late summer. It’s easy to spot. The main star is Sirius, which is the brightest star from Earth other than our Sun. Now you know.
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