Duster-huffing man ticketed, then ticketed again
WINONA Minn. – Police cited a Winona man for huffing difluoroethane, which can cause can altered state. Officers said that Richard Lee Cairns Jr., 53, appeared in a stupor. This was about 4 p.m. on a bench at Mankato Avenue and Shive Road. A couple hours later Cairns had a new aerosol can of Blow-Off duster next to hm, police said. An ambulance was called this time for the crew to check him out medically. He then was ticketed a second time.
Definition: Huffing
Blow-Off and other brands of condensed air in aerosol cans are marketed for dusting keyboard and other hard-to-clear surfaces. What causes a high is the ingredient difluoroethane, which hardly is harmless. Difluoroethane can cause coughing and wheezing, headaches, dizziness, light-headedness, loss of consciousness, and a build-up of fluid in the lungs, known medically as pulmonary edema.
Duster. Typically $6 to $8 a can.
Train traffic restored at Ferryville derailment
FERRVILLE, Wis. – Less than 48 hours after a freight train derailed along the Mississippi, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad had relaid rails around the wreckage and restored its mainline. To shippers, the railroad said trains were rolling again at 11:38 a.m., albeit at a crawl. The second mainline track would be operable by 4:30 p.m. the railroad said. Meanwhile, the freight cars and two engines that derailed have been have been hoisted and bull-dozed off the right-of-way.
Fisherman’s boat swept away in flood, him too
WINONA, Minn. – A fisherman jumped into the current at the Prairie Island spillway after the current boat pulled the boat from its the rope holding it to it to shore. He too was pulled by the current and dragged downriver. Rescuers from Goodview, Pickwick, Rollingstone and Winona mobilized to reach the man and brought him to safety. This was about 5:10 p.m. Where’s the boat? Who knows. This was the second rescue within a week at Prairie Island.
Public invited to lakeside vigil for Maddi Kingsbury
WINONA, Minn. — Family and friends of missing Winona woman Maddi Kingsbury asked the community to gather and pray at a vigil Friday at the Bandshell on Lake Winona. Time: 7:30 p.m. The electronic invitation said: “The support from this community and beyond has been simply incredible, so let’s all come together in prayer and be the shining light that helps guide Maddi home.”
Online invitation. Please, no candles. Organizers asked people instead to download a candle app to cell phones.
Listen for the gong: WSU graduation Friday
WINONA, Minn. — In full academic regalia, 953 students will stride across an elevated stage Friday to accept diplomas at Winona State University. There will be three ceremonies, all at McCown gym, at 9, 12 and 3 o’clock. The ceremonies will be streamed live with captions in multiple languages. Across campus between the clock tower and the gazebo, students will proclaim their achievement by ringing the commencement bell that President Scott Olson introduced as a Harvard-inspired tradition two years ago. The Spring 2023 class includes:
> Business: 144 students (137 undergrads and 7 graduate students).
> Engineering: 137 (111 and 26).
> Liberal Arts: 198 (196 and 2).
> Nursing and Health: 347 (231 and 116).
> Science and Engineering: 127 (126 and 1).
In all, the class is off about 5% from 1,000 a year earlier and 1,200 a year before that, reflecting declining enrollment.
Commencement bell. Throughout the day graduates will be ringing the university’s commencement bell to proclaim their achievement. The bell will be outside at the quadrangle clock tower
Almanac: Michele Bachmann and WSU
Winona State University ended the custom of a commencement speaker in 2010. The tradition was cancelled after publicity-mongering Congress member Michele Bachmann, a 1978 WSU grad, suggested she be invited to speak. The university anticipated a campus boycott if the right-wing radical Bachmann were invited. But how to say no? The university president, Judith Ramaley, adroitly sidestepped a revolt by discontinuing the custom of honorary degrees and commencement speakers. Bachman left Congress in 2015 amid an ethics investigation into campaign finance irregularities in a bungled bid to be the Republican nominee for President. She later expressed interest in the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Al Franken but was waiting, she said, for instructions from God. The message never came. Later she was an avid supporter of Donald Trump. When Trump lost in 2020, Bachman posted an online prayer: “O, Lord, would you deliver these races in Georgia? O Father, would you deliver various local and state races, Father, that they aren’t stolen? Would you give us a true vote? And, O God, I personally ask, from myself, Michele Bachmann, Lord, would you allow Donald Trump to have a second term as president of the United States?”
Bachmann. Now in retirement in Stillwater. In Congress from 2007 to 2015 from Minnesota’s 6th Congressional district.
Fire crews couldn’t been quicker but too late
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A pole barn was destroyed by fire just northwest Rochester. The barn was unoccupied. There were injuries. Ironically firefighters arrived at the blaze even before anyone called it in. They were on their back to the station from another call when they happened on a sight they couldn’t miss: A structure fully engulfed. This was about 10:40 p.m. at 6513 River Road near 55th Street Northwest.
No hydrants. Water was shuttled to the site by an Oronoco Fire Department tanker. Image: Rochester Fire Department
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 10, Concordia of Moorhead 3
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 9, Concordia of Moorhead 5, doubleheader
Baseball: UW-LaCrosse 8, UW-Oshkosh 2
Baseball: UW-Oshkosh 13, UW-LaCrosse 3, doubleheader
Softball: Saint Mary’s and Augsburg, postponed
Softball: Saint Mary’s and Augsburg, postponed, doubleheader
Senate echoes House, OKs marijuana as legal
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Without a vote to spare, Democrats in the Minnesota Senate voted to loosen state marijuana laws. The margin was 34-33 along party lines. The majority Democrats said that people should be trusted make decisions on marijuana themselves. They also noted that the current law disproportionately affects people of color. In a news conference the Senate minority leader Mark Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks, called the bill contrary to public safety and public health. Johnson noted that law enforcement had opposed the bill.
What people think
A reent poll by KSTP suggested that 58% of Minnesotans supported full legalization of recreational marijuana, 26% opposed, and 15% were undecided.
Southeast College apparently a hoax target
WINONA, Minn. – A lockdown at Minnesota State College Southeast began with a report of a phone call in which a man and woman were heard fighting. One said: “Help.” The other said: Shoot.” It was similar to hoax calls that have plagued high schools around the state in recent weeks. Police cleared the building, played back surveillance cameras, and spoke with the person who took the call and others. Not finding any real threat, police declared the campus safe within an hour. Classes resumed.
Earlier: Lockdown lifted at Southeast Tech
Lockdown lifted at Southeast Tech
WINONA, Minn. – Police who scrambled to the Winona technical college on the report of disturbance found no threats. Classes resumed about 10 a.m. after a lockdown. Meanwhile, the nearby Winona Middle School went into what was called a “soft lockdown,” which also was lifted.
Kitchen smoker goes awry at fancy Winona eatery
WINONA, Minn. – An electric smoker spewed heavy white smoke from the kitchen into the restaurant and bar at Nosh Scratch Kitchen at 102 Walnut Street. Firefighters found white haze from an alley vent and went inside, unplugged the smoker, and carried it outside. There they squelched the flames with dry chemicals. This was about 8:30 a.m. The restaurant doesn’t open until 4. When chef Greg Jawarski arrived, he was encouraged to find an alternative and code-friendly way to smoke his $7.50 a plate Nashville hot chicken wings.
25 years prison in Red Wing infanticide case
RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing woman was ordered to prison for 25-1/2 years for leaving her new-born on a Lake Pein beach to die naked and without a blanket late at night. Jennifer Matter, 51, had pleaded guilty. In a confession Matter admitted getting into her car and driving away with no intention of returning – and knowing the baby would not survive. Her guilty plea hinged on dismissal of abandoning another newborn, a girl, at a Red Wing marina and also late at night. Matter said she believed the girl was born dead. Both deaths were 20-some years ago, but only last year did DNA identify Matter as the mother. In both cases Matter had self-birthed at her rural home. In issuing the sentence, Judge Douglas Bayley said he was matching sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder. Investigators have been unable to link Mater to the death of a third newborn child in the Mississippi River near the Treasure Island Casino in 2007.
Earlier: Woman held on $1.5 million bond for infanticide
Lockdown at Southeast campus after disturbance
WINONA, Minn. – Police rushed to the Homer Road campus of Minnesota State College Southeast to deal with “a disturbance.” The campus was on immediate lockdown. The incident began about 9:20 a.m.
Southeast Tech. Enrollment about 730.
Notable journalism
Jayden Tummel-Baumiler (Winona Daily News, April 13, 2023): “A Way with Clay: Winona Artist Makes Unique Creations and Offers Workshops”
Chris Rogers (Winona Post, April 14, 2023): “Nature Energy Proposes Manure Digester in Lewiston”
Dana Thiede (KARE, April 28, 2023): “Family of Madeline Kingsbury Plans Prayer Service”
Reanne Weil (Winona Daily News, April 10, 2023): “Cannabis from Farm to Store”
College scores
Baseball: Saint Mary’s 3, Augsburg 2
Baseball: Augsburg 6, Saint Mary’s 5, doubleheader
“Help! Help! My cat’s in attack-mode”
WINONA, Minn. – An East End man called police from home and reported that his cat was holding him hostage and would they shoot it. Responding officers said better options were the city’s animal control officer, the Humane Society, or a vet. Later the man called again. Same report. Same advice. The cat, a black and white striped male, took this all in from afar. Officers left a second time. This was in the 700 block of East Howard.
Train wrecks on Mississippi River at Ferryville
FERRYVILLE, Wis. – A freight train of mixed cargoes derailed along the Mississippi River south of the Black Hawk Bridge into Iowa at Lansing. Two of three locomotives left the rails. A dozen container cars crumpled up accordion-like, blocking the double-track mainline. Two cars dropped into the river. A Burlington Northern Santa Fe statement from the railroad’s Texas headquarters said neither of the cars in the river were carrying hazardous or toxic cargoes. Four crew members in the head-end locomotive appeared unhurt but were taken 20 miles to a Prairie du Chien hospital for examination. The accident occurred about 12:15 p.m. Jim Hackett, the Crawford County emergency management director, said diesel fuel from the locomotives went into the roadbed but was being removed and posed no environmental threat. A boat crew laid a boom around the wreckage to to catch any leakage that wasn’t immediately identified. The railroad said that the two cars in the river were carrying paint and had been been secured to the bank. Other derailed cars, still on shore, carried lithium-ion batteries and oxygen but didn’t enter the water and pose no risk.
Site detail
The double-track BNSF mainline links Minneapolis and Chicago. In a typical day 45 to 50 trains pass through Ferryville, a hamlet of 170 people. These trains, some as long as two miles. are assembled in yards in Galesburg, LaCrosse and Minneapolis, The route carries passenger trains only when Amtrak needs to reroute its Empire Builder from its trans-Wisconsin route between LaCrosse and Milwaukee. Until the derailment can be cleared up, BNSF trains have alternate possibilities through Wisconsin on Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trackage.
Riverside accident. The Chicago-bound freight earlier had passed through Fountain City, 70 miles upriver, with loads of imported goods from Asia.
Roadbed
Because the Ferryville tracks are astride the Mississippi, speculation turned immediately to the possibility of a flood-softened roadbed. BNSF crews in rail-mounted trucks make several daily checks of conditions. At nearby Lynxville and Prairie du Chien, flooding has ranged from moderate to major. In a 2016 derailment at Ferryville two locomotives and six cars derailed due to extensive flooding after heavy rains. An estimated 1,170 gallons of diesel poured into the river from a ruptured tank.
Highways
U.S. Highway 35, also known as the Great River Road, was barricaded so trucks could carry loads of stone unimpeded from a nearby quarry to build access to the derailment for recovery crews and their cranes and heavy-lift equipment. Only local traffic was permitted into Ferryville. Motorists were diverted up into the bluffs around Ferryville on backroads. Meanwhile, the rickety Black Hawk bridge connecting Wisconsin and Iowa north of Ferryville remained closed, as it had been for several days because of Mississippi River flooding. The Black Hawk is the only highway bridge across the river in a 60-mile stretch.
Eyota again on Luke Bryan’s radar
EYOTA, Minn. – Country singer Luke Bryan says he likes Eyota and thinks Eyota likes him. He has scheduled an encore visit in September at the Gar-Lin farm south of town. It’ll be in same alfalfa field as last year, when he drew 26,000 fans to Eyota, population only 2,000 but in the shadow of Rochester, Winona, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa. The event will be September 23 at 6 p.m. Ticket, $65 to $80, go on sale in May. At the b Gar-Lin farm, manager Dana Allen-Tully said he expects sold out crowd again. The event again will take place on an alfalfa field, which will be harvested during the summer to be ready for concert-goers, Tully said. Bryan also has a cincert in ST. Paul on Ovtiber 14.
Earlier: After Luke Bryan, can Eyota ever be the same?
New Farm Tour circuit
September 14: Shelbyille, Kentucky.
> September 15: Millersport, Ohio.
> September 21: Colfax, Iowa.
> September 22: Brooklyn, Wisconsin.
. September 23: Eyota, Minnesota
Police take “deeper dive” in Kingsbury case
WINONA, Minn. – Police had no new clues that led to a request to rural landowners Wednesday to check old wells, wind mills and also sinkholes in search for Maddi Kingsbury, now missing fiur weeks. Asked at a news briefing about the specific sites, Deputy Police Chief Jay Rasmussen called the request “a deeper dive” to cover more bases.
Plea deal on interstate drug transport charges
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A California couple accused of having four two-pound bundles of cocaine in their car offered a plea del ti the court. Jorge Arreola, 45, of Colton, Californoria, said he would plead guilty to felony drug sales if other charges we dropped and his prison time were limited to 5-1/2 years. Sentencing was scheduled for May. Arreola and Noemi Cervantes, 35, alsoo f Colton, were arrested on Interstate 90 near Rochester on January 31. Charges against her remain active. They were stopped by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper about 3:45 a.m. The trooper suspected drugs as he walked up to the the vehicle and noticed nearly opaque tinted windows and smelled air-fresheners, which often are used conceal narcotic vapors. Arreola, gave evasive and nonsensical answers to questions, like they were in the fifth day of a trip from California to Georgia. Via Minnesota? Cervantes told the state trooper she knew nothing about the drugs. Court documents, however, quote an audio recording with Arreola telling Cervantes to tell the trooper she knew nothing. During the stop Arreola consented to a search. The trooper reported finding a metal straw with cocaine residue neat to driver’s seat Also there was a false dash compartment with four bundles of cocaine, the troper said. Arreola and Crrvabtes were charged with importing drugs across state borders, first-degree drugs sales, and first-degree drug possession.
Arreola. Still unsettled: Whether feds want a crack at him too.
Cervantes. Still awaits trial..
Polaris adds all-electric ATV to lineup
Fueling up. Assembly worker demonstrates how Ranger takes power from ordinary outlet.
Only a hum: Won’t disturb neighbors
MEDINA, Minn. – The Polaris factory in this west Minneapolis suburb has begun shipping its new all-electric Ranger all-terrain vehicle. The Rangers are going out in small batches to dealers, mst if them pre-sold, the company said. The Rangers can be charged using a normal outlet. A full charge takes six to 10 hours although the is a faster upgrade. Two battery options give a range pf either 45 miles or 80 miles. “You can use the vehicle in the early mornings or late evenings without waking the neighbors,” a spokesperson said. Polaris had a smaller previous electric model with less range.
Bat-out-of-hell driver leaves just in time
WINONA, Minn. – Police stopped a driver going 95 mph in a 45 zone in the auto dealerships and commercial district on the West End. Ticketed was Jacob John Randall, 22, of Winona, After the ticket was issued, another motorist called in to report there had been a road race. This was on Highway 61 near Orrin Street about 12:25 a.m. By then, Randall was gone – at less than 96 mph but fast enough for the officer not to try to chase and find him. This is the end of the story.
College scores
Baseball: Winona State 5, MSU-Mankato 3
Baseball: MSU-Mankato 4, Winona State 3, doubleheader
Maddi search turns to wells, windmills, sinkholes
WINONA, Minn. – Police Chief Tom Williams asked rural landowners to check old homesteads, wells, windmills and sinkholes for evidence in the case of the missing Winona woman Maddi Kingsbury. Most such places aren’t marked in county property records that guided earlier searches, Williams said. Kingsbury disappeared from her Winona home four weeks ago. Massive searches in three counties haven’t yielded any evidence, at least as fas as police have revealed. Specifically Williams identified these as new sites to check:
> Old wells from before 1925.
> Old homesteads.
> Old windmills and windmill bases.
> Sinkholes, most of which are disguised by shrubs and overgrowth that in reality that are deep crevices into deep underground water flows.
Where did minivan travel?
In a written notice to landowners, Williams said there was particular interest in sinkholes that are accessible by car. Sources earlier confirmed that Kingsbury’s minivan has been subjected to intense forensic examination by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which certainly would have included checks in wheel wells, tires and undercarriage for mud and other clues. Police have believed from early on that Kingsbury’s minivan made an unexplained trip from Winona south into Fillmore and perhaps Houston counties the morning she disappeared — and then returned to her Winona townhouse. The roundtrip, in a 2-1/2 hour window, would have been 45 to 90 miles. Whether Kingsbury was in the vehicle, as the driver or passenger or perhaps a captive, has been the subject of speculation.
Search zone immensity. Look carefully, very carefully. You can see volunteers combing remote Yucatan Township last weekend. Searches have extended over most of three counties that comprise 2,070 square miles.
Police still hope to find Maddi
Williams emphasized in his message to landowners that new searches are “part of our ongoing efforts to find Maddi and bring her home to her family.” The goal, he said, remains to find leads for new searches. “The investigation is active and ongoing,” he said. “We are not prepared to identify a suspect or person of interest at this time. We remain committed to finding Maddi and, if warranted, hold accountable the person or persons responsible for her disappearance.”
Private property search protocols
Williams asked all landowners in Winona, Fillmore and Houston counties to place a blue check mark in an easily visible location to indicate their consent to having their property searched. He said searches would be be looking for Maddi or signs of a disturbance or something out of the ordinary. “They will not be entering any homes or other structures on the property and will follow all state and local laws and postings on the property,” he said. Volunteers will also confirm with landowners whether it’s OK to search, he said. Once they haves searched, volunteers will tie a blue ribbon around a mailbox or post letting others know the property has been checked, he said. Landowners whose property has been searched already also can tie a blue ribbon outside to let others know
Tips to volunteers
To volunteer Williams encouraged making safety their top priority. “Please do not search alone. Don’t search dangerous areas. And don’t enter the water,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to get lost or hurt, which would also pull resources from our search for Maddi.”
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