BUFFALO CITY, Wis. – An out-of-control pickup truck hit a sheriff’s squad car and proceeded across a lawn into a house. The pickup driver and the deputy in the squad car suffered minor injuries. Nobody in the house, at 10th and Jefferson streets, was hurt. This was about 11 p.m. Buffalo County Sheriff Mike Osmond said he asked the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an external investigation.

Culprit mortar box. What triggered the premature on-ground blast? Still under investigation. Image: Sparta Fire Department

Holiday luck: Injuries non-life threatening

SPARTA, Wis. – A packages of firework mortars intended as the finale of a Fourth of July show exploded on the ground and injured five people. Noneof  the injuries was serious, said Fire Chief Mike Arnold.  The chief said the company that recorded the show had video of the explosion, which may explain what went wrong. Meanwhile, the theory was that one of the display mortars burned through the side of its cardboard container and set off four other mortars. In all, fireworks in 25 tubes discharged. A secure safety zone around the show prevented severe casualties, Arnold said.

AUSTIN, Minn. – A firework exploded in the hand of an Austin teenager, burning the entire length of his right wrist. The explosion ripped into his chest too. Bystanders and then first-responders attempted first aid. This was about 9:50 p.m. The youth, age 18,  was taken to the Austin hospital.

WINONA, Minn. – The Union Pacific notified police that a railroad car had slipped off the track at a low-maintenance industrial spur on Harvester Avenue. There were no injuries. The contents were inert. The car remained upright. The railroad said it had the resources to take care of the problem.

WINONA, Minn. – The bottom of the street fell out – a sink hole – at Winona’s Family Restaurant on West Service Drive. The actual hole is in the 500 block of Orrin Street. The hole been barricaded off until the restaurant can arrange a contractor for repairs. Mike Biggerstaff, city street superintendent, said a water main broke and sucked the blacktop about two feet deep. These kinds of sinkholes occur two or three times a year, he said.

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – Deanna Clover Schwoboda, 85, of St. Charles, a waitress at Michaels restaurant in Rochester for many years, died at Sunrise Cottage Senior Living Memory Care in Rochester. She was retired from the dietary department at Mayo Clinic.  In her later years she enjoyed motorhome winter travels to Silver Springs, Florida.

Details: Hoff Funeral Home

1938-2023

RED WING, Minn. – Three people — two men and a teen-age girl —   disappeared while swimming off Diamond Island, where the Vermillion and Cannon rivers flow gently into the Mississippi River. A fourth swimmer who was in trouble, a woman, was rescued by her father. But he then was pulled under when he went back and tried to rescue the other three. Goodhue County sheriff’s officer Mike Johnson said this happened at an underwater drop-off. The swimmers. he said, were inexperienced, not wearing life jackets, and probably unaware of an underwater drop-off from three-foot shallows to eight feet. The names of the victims were not available immediately, but Johnson understood they were from the same household in the St. Paul west suburb of Oakdale. For some reason thevgroup waited about 10 or 15 minutes before calling police, Johnsin said.  There was some mystery how the group had arrived at the island. They appeared not to have a boat, Johnson said. Diamond Island technicaly is on the Wiscosinside of the Mississippi River. The search was being conducted by teams from Goodhue County in Minnesota and Pierce County in Wisconsin.

NOTE: This item corrects information in an initial report.

Earlier: Three Mississippi fishermen overboard, missing

Diamond Island

Diamond Island is in sloughs west of the main navigation channel of the Mississippi River. It’s on the Wisconsin side of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. There is no bridge. Several marinas on the Mississippi have boat rentals.  The island is 2-1/2 miles upstream from Red Wing and 2-1/2 miles downstream from the Treasure Island casino and the Prairie Island nuclear power plant.

WINONA, Minn. — Police made dozens of speeding stops in the county and city over the holiday weekend. The stops were part of a statewide Toward Zero Deaths campaign sponsored by the State Patrol. The Patrol issues grants to local policing agencies to put officers on overtime with no other assignment than to catch speeders. The program is during peak summer holidays that usually record high fatality levels.

Send-off portrait. The Minnesota DNR crew was mobilized through the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact., a mutual aid agreement by Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Ontario and Wisconsin.

Mission: Clear fuel from Manitoba fire paths

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – A Minnesota wildland firefighting crew with equipment and gear departed for Manitoba, where massive fires have been raging for weeks. The 17-person crew, from the state Natural Resources Department assembled in Grand Rapids. Once on-site in Manitoba, the crew will receive its initial assignment.

Manitoba crisis. Amongmajor Manitoba wildfires is in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

RED WING, Minn. — Search teams from both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the Mississippi River responded to a call that three men fishing from a boat were missing. The men were at the mouth of the Vermillion River upstream from Red Wing. The emergency call came in at 7:30 p.m., said Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly. The initial report was that one man fell overboard and two companions jumped in to save him. None surfaced. Kelly called off the search at 8:50 because of darkness and a gathering storm. The search was to resume at dawn.

NOTE: Some errors in this breaking news item have been corrected in a later post.

Pushing through a lock. The stubby Wyaconda is 75 feet long and 22 feet wide with a draft of only four feet. It pushes a 130-foot barge from which the crew does its buoy work.  Two diesel engines generate 600 horsepower. Twin screws propel it at 8 mph. A full crew of 12 lives on board in tight quarters and in rotating shifts of nine to 12 days.

Open house on Coast Guard buoy tender

LACROSSE,Wis. — The Coast Guard timed the Upper Mississippi circuit of its workhorse buoy tender vessel Wyaconda to be in LaCrosse for the annual Riverfest. celebration. The vessel docked over the weekend for  open house visits to share its mission with the public. The Wyaconda plies the river 400 miles from Dubuque to Minneapolis once the ice clears to repair, replace and relocate the buoys the help river tow captains keep their barges  in navigation channels. If the Wyconda crew finds the channel has shifted to less than 100 feet wide and nine feet dep, it alerts the Army Corps for dredging.

ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – Hay stored in a metal Quonset hut up County Road 25 east of Rollingstone smoldered and burst into flames. Firefighters put out the stubborn blaze but not easily. The whole crop was lost. Tentatively the fire was blamed on internal combustion. It was the sixth fire in a hay shed in three weeks in Winona County.

Earlier:  Hay shed ablaze, but owner insists he go back in

Typical Quonset hut. This one large with closed ends.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota farmers are right to be remain concerned about the lack of rain, the U.S. Agriculture Department reported. Ten percent of topsoil moisture is very short, 36% short of moisture. This is while corn is starting to silk pretty much on schedule.  Evaluations by crop:

Corn: 61% percent in good to excellent condition.

Soybeans: 64% percent good to excellent.

Barley: 65% good to excellent.

Oats:  48% good to excellent condition.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A preliminary engineering evaluation confirmed serious structral problems that may preclude some owners from reoccupying their Rochester Towers condominiums downtown. Other units may qualify for recertification as as occupiable sooner. The 15-story building lost its occupancy certificate June , after structural issues were identified. Residents were given three hours to pack their belongings and evacuate. Although the new engineering report said some unuts may tneed o remain vacant for crews to tackle structural vulnerabilities, others may besafe for people to return soon. Recommended to be kept off limits: were:

> Units 103, 204, 205, 305, 305, 404, 504, 604, and 704.

> The lower and main level parking garage.

The major damage uncovered in the study:

> Two columns corroded from prolonged exposure to moisture.

> One column on the first floor whose reinforcement doesn’t match original structure as designed in 1965.

> The parking ramp on the main entrance, which was nearing the end of its serviceable life with corrosion setting in.

Even when shoring and stabilization work is complete, the study called for re-inspections at a  every120 days.

Earlier: City yanks ccupancy permit for condo high-rise

Earlier: Temporary fix at Rochester high-rise: More needs doing

Earlier: Rochester condo evacuated: Collapse feared

Still condemned. Windows have been removed, lest they pop out if the building shifts

Roof-top torch. The first that owner Andy Todd realized the building was ablaze was about 10 p.m. when he he drove up and saw flames lighting the sky froom from the kitchenc himney. The flames are kong gone but not the aluminum chimney still reigns.

Flames sneaked up a backside wall to attic

CENTERVILLE, Wis. – A cigarette caused the fire that destroyed the Toad’s Cove convenience store Memorial Day weekend, owner Andy Todd said. Surveillance video showed someone dropping a cigarette in an outback ashtray. To no one’s knowledge at the time, the cigarette failed to self-extinguish. Smoke from the ashtray showed in the video around 8:45 p.m., followed flames climbing into the building’s attic. It was a whole hour later that a customer rushed in and altered the clerk that the building was on fire. Todd said the first he knew was at home when an alert on his phone that a breaker had blown in the next-door car wash. He jumped in his car to reset the breaker for morning customers. Arriving, he saw the rooftop exhaust on the kitchen blowing flames.

Earlier: Toad’s Cove in Centerville pumping gas again

Store front caved in. As the structure itself was consumed inflames. Inside the front door behind yellow don’t cross tapes are displays of goodies– blackened potato chips,  other snacks, melted gummy bears , and heat-sagged display cases. Images: Steve Lunde

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. – Two to three inches of rain has dampened the Boundary Waters backcountry sufficiently for foresters to lift burning restrictions. Campfires are allowed again in the Lake Superior National Forest at fee campgrounds but only within official fire rings, said forestry spokesperson Ben Roy.

Earlier: Wildfires close Boundary Waters campsites

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Police suspect a man accused of murder in one chilling murder case may be connected to the earlier disappearance of another woman. St. Paul police spokesperson Mike Ernster said that Joseph Steven Jorgenson, who was arrested last week in an April murder case, was an acquaintance of 33-year-old Fanta Xayavong, who was last seen in July 2021. She was reported was missing this May. Xayavong was last seen with Jorgenson, Ernster said. Police, he said, need public assistance with information about Xayavong: (651)291-1111. “No tip or information is too small,” he said.  Meanwhile Jorgenson remains in the Ramsey County Jail for the death of 34-year Mani Starren in April.

Earlier: Tense moments in Maplewood murder arrest

Earlier: Arrest in gory St. Paul murder, smelly coverup

Xayavong. Last reported seen July 2021.

WINONA, Minn. – A Wisconsin woman who ran stop sign had this explanation for the officer. She was in a hurry to pee. The officer delayed Adrienne Robin Cortez, 38, of Fountain City, long enough to issue a citation. The officer said she admitted to drinking, had bloodshot and watery eyes, and reeked of booze —  and then failed s sobriety test with a blood-alcohol level at 0.09% — just above the impairment level as defined by law.

ORONOCO, Minn. – A Stillwater motorcyclist swerved to avoid a deer and crashed south of Oronoco. Corey Ray Wiegmann, 53, sustained injuries that were treated 13 miles away at a Rochester hospital. His 2003 Harley Davidson didn’t fare as well. The deer leaped away. This was about 12:40 a.m. on Highway 52. Wiegmann was southbound toward Rochester.

WINONA Minn. – A backup power generator for the new Winona County jail should arrive July 17, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said. The generator is essential for the jail to be operational but had been delayed by post-CoVid production and shipping issues. With the generator, the jail can go into a staff shake-down phase the first week of August. Inmates will be transferred from the condemned existing jail next door in early October, Ganrude said. Meanwhile, the construction contractor, Market & Johnson, is at working on final interior projects. These include:

> An elevator.

> Security electronics.

Flooring, ceilings, windows, painting have been completed.

Earlier: New jail countdown: Occupancy near

WINONA, Minn. – Predictably the holiday weekend began with plenty of reports to police of illegal fireworks. Sheriff Ron Ganrude reported three calls up to midnight Sunday. Deputy Police Chief Jay Rasmussen reported 12 calls in the city.

Earlier: More color than sizzle at Minnesota vendor displays

WINONA Minn. – A sheriff’s deputy stopped a car doing 65 mph on Riverview Drive near Huff Street. It’s a 40 zone. “Mind taking off your sunglasses,” the deputy told Donovan Craig Johnson, 20, of Rochester. Johnson did. The deputy said the man’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, his speech slurred. But a breath test on a portable device found his blood-alcohol at only 0.04% —  half the level under the state definition of  impairment. “Any marijuana?” the deputy asked. The answer: Yes but yesterday. This was about 8:15 p.m. But certain of impairment of some sort, the deputy arrested Johnson. At the jailhouse, a drug test was administered. The results were pending.