Feud over: Army Corps cedes silt disposal to Wabasha
WABASHA, Minn. – The Army Corps and the City of Wabasha have solved years of unpleasantry about Mississippi River dredging. They have agreed that the city, not the Corps, will call the shots for disposing of river sediment. Mayor Emily Durand and Army Colonel Eric Swenson will exchange a peace pipe and sign a treaty July 24 at the National Eagle Center amphitheater in Wabasha. The agreement is historic — the first of its kind for inland waters. For years the city had accused the Army Corps of heavy-handed decisions that included heavy trucks with loads of sediment — 250,000 cubic yards a year — lumbering through residential areas to dump sites. The Corps insisted it had to put the sediment somewhere and cited its Congressional mandate to keep Mississippi River shipping channels at a nine-foot depth. The channel near Wabasha, downstream from Chippewa River delta that backs up Lake Pepin, requires more dredging than anywhere else on the Upper Mississippi. Finally the Corps recognized l the intensity of local passions about all the dump truck traffic.
Dredge Goetz. The 225-foot dredge sucks river silt through a 22-inch pipe. But then: Where to put it? Under the new Wabasha agreement, that will be a decision of local people. The Corps will pay the city a tipping fee to find agreeable deposit sites and transit routes.
Terms of new pact
Bob Edstrom, The Corps manager for river silt management, called the Wabasha agreement a win-win-win: “The city gets more control on where to place the sand, while the Corps can now invest more of our energy on long-term planning efforts while also ensuring the navigation channel continues operating safely for the shipment of America’s crops grown right here in the Upper Midwest.” The Corps had come to see there were many community ideas about the best uses for this sand, Edstrom said. Under the new pact, the Corps will pay the city a tipping fee to help manage river sand. It will be up to the city identify beneficial reuse opportunities. The agreement is non-binding, but Colonel Swenson expressed hope that it will serve both the Corps and the city for many years.
Overnight hail downs tree branches
WINONA Minn. — Heavy hail with pea-size stones pounded scattered areas. The Winona police dispatcher reported a brief power outage in Altura about midnight. Some tree branches broke off, one blocking a county road briefly until deputies cleared it away. With overnight temperatures in the 60s, the pellets were all melted by dawn.
Car rolls down bank, overturns; driver trapped
NAPLES, Wis. — An 18-year-old driver needed to be extricated from his overturned car on a rural road east of Mondovi. The driver, whose name Sheriff Michael Osmond declined to release immediately, was taken 22 miles to an Eau Claire hospital. The accident was about 9:50 p.m. southeast of Naples on Buffalo County Road BB near Norden Road. Deputies said the vehicle was headed north when it drifted onto the shoulder. The driver overcorrected. The vehicle rolled down an embankment.
Canadian fire smoke: Expect more, worse
WINONA, Minn. – Smoky air from Canada wildfires that’s been blowing into Minnesota off and on for weeks is expected to continue through noon Sunday and may worsen. The National Weather Service said a cold front is carrying smoke particulates air south and more of them. Elevated levels are expected in the 151 to 200 orange level on a 500-point index. There are a few pockets forecast for yellow 101 to 150 levels. The only one of these yellow pockets is in southeast Minnesota on the Iowa border in extreme southeast Houston County.
Too much orange. As of 11:13 a.m. Minnesota is virtually saturated with orange to reflect a forecast of air quality levels that are unhealthy for everyone. Adjacent states also are affected. Image: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Wrong gear: Car smashes into trailer houses
STEWARTVILLE, Minn. – A car roared over a gas meter and stuck several trailer houses at a northwest trailer park. Nobody was injured. Nor was there a fire. Damage was estimated at $15,000. The driver told deputies she thought she was in a reverse gear when she pressed the gas pedal, but she wasn’t. This was in the 300 block of 23rd Street Northwest about 12:30 p.m.
State grants aim at post-ash reforestation
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A $44,000 state grant in response the ash borer infestation that is decimating urban forests has been awarded to Winona. In all, the Natural Resources Department issued $2.4 million to 35 communities to diversify local foliage, to remove wood and diseased trees, and to create local inventory plans for trees. The largest grant, $123,000, went to South St. Paul. The southeast Minnesota grants:
> Rochester, $149,000.
> Winona, $124,000.
> Hayfield, $40,000.
> Oronoco, $35,000.
DNR spokesperson Emma Schultz said 40% to 60% of trees in some communities have been ash. Dealing with the infestation has been a huge local budgetary constraint, she said.
LaCrosse clamps down further on homeless camping
LACROSSE, Wis. — The City Council voted 11-2 to beef up its ban on overnight camping on city by posting signs — a further tool for police in clearing places where homeless people seek space. Places where “no camping” signs are expected to be posted: Parks and parking ramps. There has been growing concern for public safety in areas where homeless people congregate.
R.I.P.: Richard Cairns
WINONA, Minn. – Richard L. Cairns, Jr., 53 , of Winona, died a age 53. Private services were planned.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1969-2023
Ceremony fetes Southeast College championship welders
College welding. Among manufacturing programs at the college: Numerical machine tooling, computer assisted designing and drafting, computer engineering and welding.
Mayor, industry leaders: “Nice going”
WINONA, Minn. – The underdog Minnesota State Southeast team that won the national MFG Advanced Manufacturing Championship was honored at a campus ceremony. Mayor Scott Sherman extended his congratulations. So did executives of sponsoring local manufacturers: Mike Messenger of Rushford Manufacturing and Willie Lubahn of Fastenal. The championship was especially sweet for the Southeast team, which was new to the competition and an underdog among the four finalist teams, all of which had had advanced to the nationals through regional contests. The task at nationals, unannounced in advance, was to fabricate metal parts for a total hip replacement and weld a pressure vessel, in this case a small version of an autoclave necessary to sterilize medical equipment. The students were given raw materials, diagrams and specifications. Then it was up to them. They had 20 hours over three days. Teams needed to demonstrate digital design and manual machining, programming, welding, and metrology skills, as well as team work, problem solving, time management, and cost tracking.
Foursome in team gear. Bradley Bishop, of Ettrick, Wis.; Ellery Kiesel, of Winona; Ivey Wadman Vehrenkamp ,of Ettrick; and Austyn Warren, of Dakota.
New machine tool
The prize money, $100,00, will be shared 50-50 between the students and the college. The college plans to put its $50,000 toward a 5-axis machine for its lab.
Why underdogs?
The team from Southeast entered the nationals as underdogs. Why? For starters, the competition called for skills using what’s called aa 5-axis computer numerical control machine, but the college doesn’t have one. Team advisor Rick Hengel, was able to locate a 5-axis machine at Rushford Manufacturing. The company assigned employees to coach the students on the equipment. Then there was luck. At the contest, in South Carolina, the team learned that tungsten-inert gas welding skills would helpful. By luck, the team’s Ellery Kiesel had TIG experience and successfully fabricated a pressure vessel essential to manufacture the medical device. Judges evaluated the parts produced, considered surface finish, damage, and unfinished features, and other factors. Similar to a real-world scenario, precise inspections relied on automated equipment using a coordinated measurement machine.
I-90 rollover injures pickup driver
WILSON, Minn. – An Iowa driver was hurt, albeit not seriously, when his pickup truck left Intestate 90 and overturned near the Highway 43 exit to Winona. As a precaution, Ryan James Gilstrap, 23, of Evansdale, Iowa, was taken 10 miles to the Winona hospital to be checked over. Gilstrap was driving a 2009 Nissan pickup east toward LaCrosse. This was about 2:50 p.m.
More rattlesnakes emerging in new season
WINONA, Minn. – The fourth rattlesnake of the new birthing season was reported, this one in the Knopp Valley residential area across Highway 14 from Saint Mary’s University. Police removed the snake. Earlier incidents were in the Crestview neighborhood and up Cedar Valley.
R.I.P.: Lillian Henry
LEWISTON, Minn. – Lillian “Lilly” Henry, 92, of Lewiston. the Lewiston Fire Department dispatcher for many years, died at St. Mary’s hospital in Rochester. SHe also worked from HOME finishing buttons for Express Buttons. Her passion was making quilts
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1931-2023
Cops lift DNA, fingerprints from ghost guns
WINONA, Minn. — One of the ghost guns found discarded in an East Side alley on Tuesday was fully loaded with an extended magazine, Deputy Police Chief Jay Rasmussen confirmed. The chamber itself, however, was not loaded, Rasmussen said. A second ghost gun found nearby was not loaded, he said. Police found the guns after teenagers had gathered in the alley around a car that had been stolen near the East End Marina. Rasmussen said finger prints, DNA and other evidence have been sent to the state crime lab. Because ghost guns have no serial numbers, DNA and prints are among the few tools to figure out how the guns ended up in Winona. These were first of the plastic albeit potentially lethal firearms in the city, as far as police know.
Tentative reconstruction
The working police assumption in the case is that two teens stole the car at the East End Marina on the river at Laird Street, then later met up with friends in an alley near Center and Howard streets. The kids scattered on bikes and on foot when police arrived. It was believed the ghost guns were tossed as the kids fled, one in an alley trash bin and one in some grass. Two of the kids were intercepted and interrogated, then turned over to their parents for the time being.
Pelowski: Upbeat post-mortem on 2023 Legislature
WINONA Minn. – With Democratic majorities, the Minnesota Legislature moved past recent gridlock with most robust investments in the state’s future and family-friendly initiatives, State Representative Gene Pelwoski, D-Winona, said in an end-of-session wrap-up to constituents. As chair of the House Higher Education Committee, Pelowski cited “historic \nvestments” in higher education that end recent years of budget cuts. Tuition at Winona State, Minnesota State Southeast and other MinnState colleges has been frozen, he said. In addition, he added, college will be free for students from families earning less than $80,000. For workforce development, he said, new scholarships are going to students aiming for high-demand jobs.
Pelowski. On House higher-ed, capital investment, rules, and ways and means committees
Hometown projects
Pelowski itemized new infrastructure funding that included port development, $18 million; the Mississippi Riverfront Trail, $5 million; a planned public safety headquarters, $7.5 million; and a Winona State University state-of-art interdisciplinary classroom building, $4.8 million.
Local government aid
> Winona city: $11.4 million.
> Winona schools: $4.9 million,
> Winona County: $3.9 million.
> Lewiston-Altura schools: $984,000.
> Goodview city: $588,000.
> Rollingstone city: $205,000.
> Lewiston city: $551,000.
A bruising battle overnight in resisting arrest
WINONA Minn. – Police had their hands full in arresting Bryan John Williams, 28. It took five officers to suppress and cuff him at a Main Street apartment. Then, bleeding from his mouth and nose sfter banging his head repeatedly into a wall, Williams was rushed to the hospital. There he resisted laying on a cot to be examined. He was intoxicated, police said. Finally police got him to jail about 7 a.m. — three hours after being called to the Main Street apartment for a fight involving three drunk men, a juvenile and a woman. All but Williams and the woman had left by the time officers arrived.
Williams. Booking charges: Obstructing a legal process and assaulting an officer.
Blow by blow
This sequence is drawn from police reports: About 4 o’clock in the morning a woman sounded an emergency medical alarm in her bathroom at 104 Main Sytreet. She had locked herself inside to escape a belligerent guest. The guest — a friend, she called him – had been trying to pick a fight with three others, all of whom had been drinking heavily. The belligerence intensified. Without success, he woman tried to separate them and was hit in the head. Fearful for her own safety, she fled to bathroom. Only the woman and Williams were still there when police arrived. Williams, said police, was not pleased at their presence. They said he head-butted one officer and kicked another twice. When officers finally suppressed him against a wall nnd cuffed him, he kept banging his head into the wall, cracking the wall with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. He spit at the officers, who put a spit hood
over his head. A deputy sheriff took him to the hospital emergency room, where he was no less belligerent. None of the officers was seriously hurt. About 7 a.m. Williams was booked at the jail. The booking charges: Obstructing a legal process and assaulting an officer.
Library resumes tours of art treasures
WINONA, Minn. – To mark the upcoming 125th anniversary of the Winona Public Library, the director, Lezlea Dahlke, is resuming tours in August. Hours. In a preview tour Dahlke noted that the library is the oldest building in the state built as a public library and still in operation. The history is rich. Visitors have included abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Mitchell, although, she noted, those visits preceded the actual construction. In the 1920s, somewhat not library like, the basement was a speakeasy, she said. That, however was before her time, Dahlke was quick to point ut. Among highlights on the 30-minute tours:
Inside the dome. Designed by 19th century stained glass artist Otto Heinicke.
“The Light of Learning.” A mural by Kenyon Cox. Robed in the green is Minerva lighting torches as a symbol of learning. Donated by lumber baron William Hayes in 1910.
“Hebe.” Goddess of eternal youth, prime of life, and forgiveness. Also the cup-bearer to the gods. A copy in Carrara marble of the original work by Antonio Canova. Donated in1899 by the Laird lumbering family after Italian travels
Natural light. No dark stacks here. Thick but translucent glass floors let in the light.
R.I.P.: Frances Newell
WINONA, Minn. – Frances Margaret (Zywicki) Newell, 87, of Winona, who worked at many grocery stores in Winona and finally at the Midtown Foods bakery. died at Valley View Nursing Home in Houston. She was born in in Winona and attended Winona High School.
Details: Hoff Funeral Home
1935-2023
River news: First ecosystem wing-dam notching
HASTINGS, Minn. — The Army Corps has completed a $324,000 wing-dam notching project upstream from its Hastings lock and dam. By cutting out a section of the old rock dams – called “notching” — water is being diverted to encourage flow diversity for fish habitat. To mark completion of the notching project, the Corps plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 25 at 1 p.m. The project is the first in the nation under the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. Expected beneficiaries are channel catfish, white or yellow bass, walleye, and paddlefish.
Wing dams. Extend from shore out to the divert water flow to navigation channels and keep the deep enough for boats and barge. Image: Maury Anderson
Wing dam profile
The Army Corps has 1,300 wing dams on the Upper Mississippi north from Guttenberg, Iowa. Some date to the 1860s. They divert water to main channel for navigation. When wing dams were built, the goal was a 4-1/2 foot depth. The lock and dam system of the 1930s brought the main channel to nine feet. Wing dams, also called wing dikes remain useful by force water into a fast-moving center channels. This reduces the rate of sediment accumulation, while also reducing shore erosion. There is a downside. Many of the jetties are hidden under the surface. Although marked by buoys, they tey pose a risk to recreational boaters. A plus: Quieter waters downstream of wing dams are great for fishing. There is a school of thought that wing dams are at fault for massive flooding, especially in the Lower Mississippi, by discouraging flows unto Upper Mississippi flood plain s and accelerating flows downriver.
Layered wood, stone. Wing dams were built by layering readily available willow logs and stone. It was primitive engineering by today’s standards but effective. The earliest wing dams are 160 years old.
Video: Southeast College welders at work
WINONA, Minn. – A 25-miute video featuring the national machining competition won by a Winona team in May has been released. The video explains the complexities of modern machine-tooling as taught at Southeast College. The team advanced through regional competitions to the finals at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina. Four teams competed for a $100,000 prize.
Emergency, fire crews make 42 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 31 emergency medical calls plus 11 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, July 11: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Monday, July 10: 4 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Sunday, July 9: 3 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, July 8: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Friday, July 7: 4 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Thursday, July 6: 5 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Wednesday, July 5: 6 medical calls plus 4 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 43 calls
House betterment grants for Rollingstone, Altura
ROLLLINGSTONE, Minn. – State grants of $25,000 have been offered to Rollingstone homeowners. The state Economic Development Department also designated nearby Altura for similar grants. In all, $524,000 is available in the two communities. Grants are to improve health and safety, energy efficiency, and accessibility. Applications.
https://mn.gov/deed/government/financial-assistance/community-funding/small-cities.jsp
Leinenkugel brewery workers post picket lines
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. – The Teamsters Union began a strike against the Leinenkugel’s brewery. Union members said the brewery’s new owner, Molson Coors, has offered only niggardly wage improvements at a time that Leinenkugel sales swelled from $10.3 billion $10.7 billion. The walkout and picket line followed a 98% vote to authorize the strike. A Molson Coors executive, Adam Collins, said the company had offered “a competitive offer that exceeds local-market rates.” Adams said the strike won’t affect Leinenkugel availability.
Winona air-freshener conviction thrown out
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has raised questions in a Winona drug bust about whether the state Fuzzy Dice law has been overused by police in traffic stops. The court overturned a 2020 drug bust conviction because a state trooper smelled air-fresheners in a car and then searched the vehicle. The Court said that air-fresheners were insufficient evidence to proceed to a search. The Fuzzy Dice law, which dates to 1957, forbids hanging objects that obstruct a driver’s vision. The law has become a standard police tool to justify vehicle searches. In the 2020 Winona case, Lamont Shauntel Thomas Jr. of LaCrosse was stopped by the state trooper on Interstate 90 for speeding. The trooper admitted in court documents that he had been ready to release Thomas with a warning when he smelled air fresheners. Suspecting the air fresheners were a cover-up for marijuana, the trooper searched the vehicle and found 1,000 Ecstasy pills, 28 grams of cocaine, 25 grams of marijuana, and $200 cash. Thomas was convicted in Winona County District Court of dealing drugs. In the appeal Thomas claimed that the air fresheners were a ruse for the search and as evidence should have been quashed. The appellate court agreed. The conviction carried a presumptive sentence of 5-1/2 years in prison but the Winona judge waived all but nine months and placed Thomas on 15 years of probation.
Police protocols. Will cops now need to abandon rearview mirror ornaments as a justification to search vehicles?
Forbidden charms
Aming what the 1957 Minnesota law forbids in windshields while a car is in motion: Lanyards,air fresheners, beads, mirror charms, ornaments, bandanas, headphones, handicap parking permits.
Profile: Fuzzy dice laws
Fighter pilots in World War II decorated their cockpits with good luck charms. These included hanging dice. After the war it became trendy to hang fuzzy dice from rearview mirrors in cars. In the 1950s, however, about half the states created laws to ban objects “suspended between the driver and the windshield.” The justification: Safety. The fine: $100 in Minnesota, in some states as much as $300. There are between 300 and 500 arrests a year in Minnesota for violations, but many other stops for dangling rearview mirror items led to other charges and the dice become such minor issues that they aren’t logged in court documents. Civil rights activists have grown increasingly vociferous against Fuzzy Dice laws, claiming they are used by white police officers as a gateway protocol for harassing black motorists. Such was the uproar in 2021 in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, when a white police officer shot and killed Daunte Wright, an unarmed 20-year-old black man.
Cotter assumes control of SMU arts conservatory
Learning dance. Most classes are by age groups. Enrollment open to whole community. Private lessons available.
August classes to continue as scheduled
WINONA, Minn. – The Cotter Schools, which has grown to almost 1,000 students by consolidating Winona’s parochial schools, has acquired the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts. Cotter’s long-term plans were not announced. The school said, however, that it would continue already-scheduled August classes and later announce a fall schedule. Classes are available a la carte at $15 to $25 for sessions ranging from 60 to 90 minutes. The clsses have been separate fom the Cotter curriculum and are open to Subjects include music, theater, dance and visual arts. The conservatory had been an arm of Saint Mary’s University, which this week announced that it was turning everything over to Cotter. Under Saint Mary’s auspices the conservatory has been physically at the Cotter campus on Broadway on the Far West End at the former College of St. Teresa campus. Cotter has grown to occupy almost al of the former CST campus and will keep the conservatory there.
Earlier: SMU ends arts conservatory in curriculum do-over
Earlier: Next in Tau Center evolution: Cotter daycare
Earlier: Cotter enrollment edges up to 988
Conservatory faculty
> Jessica Dienher.
> Kat Dworschak.
> Lydia Feuerhelm.
> Megan Lynch.
> Sharon Mansur.
> Tammy Schmidt.
.
Winona teacher to Spain to explain immersion project
WINONA, Minn. – A Spanish teacher at Winona High School, Susan Larsen, returned to Universidad de Salamanca in Spain to present a report on Winona’s Ríos Spanish immersion program. It had been 20 years since Larsen was last at the university. She discussed the Winona project in which students create and share books with students in Nicaragua. Since 2014, Winona language students have sent 197 of these books to Nicaragua.
Larsen. “La estudiante” becomes “la profesora.”
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