WINONA, Minn. – A hot-rod boater was chased by deputies in their own speed boat — red lights flashing, siren wailing — to the St. Charles Street landing. Why? Deputies said the boater had created a wake in the no-wake zone at the Levee Park. Charged was Jason Michael Johnson, 49, of Galesville. This was about 8:10 p.m. – after sundown. At the landing deputies asked Johnson to remove his sunglasses. His eyes, they said, were red and glazed. Also he smelled of a day of drinking on the river. He stumbled unevenly in field sobriety tests for balance and visual perception, the deputies said. They were surprised that his blood-alcohol registered only at 0.08% — right at the technical sober-drunk breakpoint. That, however, didn’t him off the book for causing waves in the Levee’s 5 mph zone.

Water-born safety patrol. Yes, the deputies’ propeller is faster than most.

Stormy skies

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Seven airliners, including  transoceanic jumbo jets, took refuge at the Rochester airport  after a severe storm closed their destination airport in Minneapolis. Once the storm cleared MSP an hour later, the planes were back in the sky for 77-mile hop to Minneapolis. Nobody deboarded in Rochester. Oher MSP-bound flights also were diverted to back-up sites – Duluth, Eau Claire, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Madison.

WANAMINGO, Minn. – A Rochester driver and his passenger were injured when their car went into a ditch and overturned on U.S. Highway 52 near the exit to Wanamingo and Mantorville. Ahmed Mohamed Mumin, 26, and Demetrious Antonio Tankhamvang, 22, were heading south toward Rochester. Thrir injuries were described by Goodhue County deputies as non-life threatening. Mumin was taken to a Rochester hospital 25 miles way, and Tankhamvang, 22, to the Red Wing hospital 21 miles away. They were in a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. This was about 5:15 p.m.

Stormy skies to the north

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Seven airliners, including  transoceanic jumbo jets, took refuge at the Rochester airport  after a severe storm closed their destination airport in Minneapolis. Once the storm cleared MSP an hour later, the planes were back in the sky for the 77-mile hop to Minneapolis. Nobody deboarded in Rochester. Other MSP-bound flights also were diverted to back-up sites – Duluth, Eau Claire, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Madison.

TAYLOR, Wis.  — One person was killed in a rollover south of Taylor on County Road C in Franklin Township. Killed apparently instantly was Kevin Mitskogen, 56,  of Black River Falls. A second person was injured. The accident was about 2:10 p.m. Sheriff’s Sergeant Evan Mazur said it appeared that a wild animal contributed to the crash.

ALTURA, Minn. – A gang of thieves might have figured that nobody would miss the bell from the St. Anthony Church. The church had been closed several years by the Winona Catholic Diocese because of declining enrollment and a shortage of priests. Then over the weekend came an anonymous call, apparently from one of culprits, that the bell was being returned. Who knew it was missing? In any event, Winona County Sherif Ron Ganrude reported tyat   the bell is back undamaged from its unexplained sojourn who knows where.

St. Anthony’s. A block off the main drag at 119 First Street Northeast.

Snarled. The “chute” and carriage dangle from power line. Image: Barron County Sheriff

A standard FAA investigation scheduled

CHETEK, Wis. –  A man piloting a paraplane was injured when the fragile craft hit a power line in Chetek. The man was airlifted to a hospital 40 miles south in Eau Claire. A passenger was checked out by an ambulance crew and cleared as unhurt. The crash was about 8 p.m. at Lakeview Drive and City Park Drive.

Paraplane profile

A power parachute is an ultralight aircraft that’s a mere metal frame. An inflatable wing provides lift.  The pilot and sometimes a passenger hang in the metal frame. The craft usually fly a few feet above the ground at a relatively low speed, about 25 mph. There is small lightweight engine.

Morning set-up. Business for the day was not yet popping at this tent in a Walmart parking lot in Rochester. Sparkler fever would arrive later in the day. Image: Steve Lunde

What Minnesota law says about fireworks

WINONA, Minn. – In a college town with a robust downtown bar district, the coops are used to issuing public urination tickets. To imbibers it can be a long, long walk home with a full bladder after the 1 a.m. bar closing time. But what was it that christopher Allen Fulton, 23, of  Winona, was doing at Third and Center streets at 1:01 a.m.? Police thought they saw him peeing, and when he turned around his zipper was down and his trousers dribbled a bit. But he said not. He held up a cup containing, he said, Crown Royal – a premium whisky blend. What actually was the golden blend? Whatever, he was ticketed.

Top tier. $5 a shot.

HOKAH, Minn. – Two Wisconsin men, both of whom police said had been drinking, were hurt when their car went into a ditch at the confusing junction of Highways 26 and 16 east of Hokah. Braxdyn Jens Engstrand, 20, of Turtle Lake, the driver, and Austin James Blasius, 18, of Pelican Lake, were taken 10 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. The impact was such that both airbags in their 2009 Pontiac G6 deployed. Their injuries appeared non-life threatening, said LaCrescent police. They were heading north from Iowa toward LaCrescent and LaCrosse. The accident was about 11:35 p.m.

ONAMIA, Minn. – Divers recovered the body of a pilot whose float plane crashed into Mille Lacs Lake. The victim: Ryan Comer of Blaine in the north St. Paul suburbs. He had 20 years piloting experience. He was alone. The plane went down about 2 p.m two miles north of Grand Casino Mille Lacs and sank. A companion pilot, in a plane a quarter mile behind and above, witnessed the crash. The second pilot established the GPS location two miles off shore and radioed for belp. Once on-site, divers found the wreckage in a few minutes. The planes had taken off from James Airport north of St. Paul for a North Woods cabin 100-some miles away. e.

Mille Lacs Lake

Northeast of Brainerd. At 200 square miles, the second largest lake in Minnesota. As deep as 40 feet. The crash was 40-some miles short of the destination lake.

A5 profile An amphibious sport aircraft whose fiber-composite airframe is built in Grand North Dakota. Assembled at Tehachapi, California. Since 2012 there have been 165 built. Seats two. Aft-folding wings allow it to be towed on highways. Retractable landing gear. Weight: 1,100 pounds. Speed: 100 mph. Range:500 miles. Base rice:  $247,000. With options can double. Engine: 100 horsepower with push propeller.

“And I so swear.” Immigrants raise right hands at restored movie site. Image: Brian Tabik

Marking Independence weekend at a memorable place

DYERSVILLE. Iowa. – A judge agreed to forsake the usual courtroom setting and go out to the Field of Dreams to naturalize 26 people into U.S. citizenship on Independence Day weekend. The imagery was undeniable. “How can you get more American than baseball,” said Miguel Burgos in a KCRG interview after becoming a citizen. The group included people from 15 countries. Burgos himself had immigrated with his parents from Mexico when he was a teenager and settled in nearby Cedar Rapids.

“Field of Dreams”

This 1989 sports fantasy movie was about a farmer who built a baseball field in his cornfield that attracted the ghosts of baseball legends. The movie was based in a book, “Shoeless Joe,” by Canadian author W.P. Kinsella. Since then an 8,000-seat stadium has been built at the site as a tourist attraction. It attracts 65,000 visitors a year to Dyersville. The film was nominated for Academy awards for best picture, screenplay and adapted screenplay. In 2017 it was selected for preservation in Library of Congress.

ZUMBRO FALLS, Minn. – A Hastings man was injured when he lost control of his motorcycle and went into the ditch near Zumbro Falls. The man, Douglas James Iverson, 43, was taken 25 miles to the Wabasha hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident was about 1:50 p.m. at the Highway 63 junction from Lake City. He was southbound aboard a 2023 Suzuki GSX1300.

WINONA, Minn. – This will be an Independence Day holiday weekend without merriment for Adam Fravel, the man accused of murder in the death Maddi Kingsbury and hiding her corpse. It’s his fourth weekend behind bars as the wheels of justice move slowly but steadily. His next court date is July 20. Meanwhile Fravel, age 29, is incarcerated at the maximum-security Olmsted County jail in Rochester. Whether his next court date on July 20 in Winona will be in person or by a remote video connection will be decided by Judge Mary Leahy. Fravel was arrested June 7 – 10 weeks after Maddi Kingsbury’s disappearance from her Winona home and the day her body was found 40 miles away. Fravel was arrested at his parents’ house five miles from where the body was found. He was transported to Winona and booked and charged. Because the state Corrections Department has downgraded the Winona jail to 72-hour bolding facility, Fravel was sent to Rochester immediately after the arraignment in Winona. Fravel was transported by Winona sheriff’s officers. Transport companies rare used only for out-of-state transfers, an exception being to and from Wisconsin.

Earlier: Winona murder suspect moved to Rochester jail

Earlier: Bail at $2 million for Fravel in murder case

Earlier: Boyfriend of Maddi Kingsbury arrested on murder charge

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The arrest of  Joseph Steven Jorgenson in a gory murder case didn’t come easily. Police released this account: On June 26, when officers attempted to arrest Jorgenson, he barricaded himself in his bedroom and started a fire. When SWAT officers sprayed a chemical irritant into the room, he charged out yelling that he had a gun and was going to kill police. He grabbed one officer’s AR-15 automatic rifle and attempted to disarm them. The officer kept control of the weapon. Other SWAT team got Jorgenson under control and arrested him for the April murder of his girlfriend. Unhurt in the arrest were Jorgenson’s roommate and a woman was staying at the apartment.

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

Jorgenson. Accused of killing his girlfriend, then dismembering and hiding the body.

CENTERVILLE, Wis. – Motorists began pulling into Toad’s Cove fuel again — five weeks after fire demolished the convenience store but somehow left the pumps unscathed. Toad’s is the lone place t refuel on a 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 35, although there are stations six miles out of the way in Trempealeau and eight miles out of the way in Galesvile. Andy Todd, the owner, said that the night of the fire the lone employee on duty flipped an emergency cut-off switch to the pumps. This was a little before the 10 o’clock closing time. The employee and customers evacuated the store. No one was injured. During the post-fire period, motorists have had to drive a ways for fuel. The nearest pumps:

>Trempealeau, six miles away.

> Galesville, eight miles.

> Winona, 12 miles.

> Holmen, 15 miles.

> Fountain City, 16 miles.

Earlier: Toad’s Cove car wash survived fire, open again

ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. – A Lake City biker was hurt when his motorcycle hit a deer two miles west of Rollingstone on Highway 248 toward Altura. Larry Joel Swenson, 69, was taken 15 miles to the Winona hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Swenson was on a 2014 Indian cycle.