WINONA, Minn. – The worst ended overnight when the Mississippi River crest peaked at 18.8 feet — 14 feet above flood stage. By afternoon the water was down more than a foot. By next Thursday, the National Weather Service projected that the gauge on the Levee would be at 160, still a flood stage but manageable. The good news: The post-1965 dike system kept the river at bay. There were consequences, however: Commercial shipping came to a standstill with locks closed and up and down the river and still closed. Recreational boaters were advised to stay off the water. In fact, many launch-ramps were swamped and inaccessible. Strong currents swept away at least one houseboat. Debris including whole trees will remain a navigational hazard, not to mention riffraff, tons of it, along levees and shorelines. 

Earlier: Most Upper Mississippi locks closed shut

Earlier: Almanac: Winona’s 1965 flood to remember

Charting river’s retreat. At Winona levee. Image: National Weather Service.

WINONA, Minn. – Family and friends of the missing Winona woman Maddi Kingsbury called for volunteers for another weekend search. The new focus will be Camp Creek up the South Branch of the Root River. This is south of Rushford, east of Highway 43, which had been one focus of the 2,600-volunteer search two weekends ago. The new site, however, was not canvassed before. Sign up details. 

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – A suburban Brockway woman pleaded no-contest to first-degree reckless homicide for stabbing her live-in partner fatally. Kellie Schmidt, 54, told the judge she wouldn’t contest the charge. Sentencing was set for September. Her manfriend, Thomas Boetcher, 53, showed up bleeding on a neighbor’s doorstep in September 2021. He had a puncture wound from a fillet knife.

Earlier: Woman charged with murder in manfriend stabbing

Earlier: Details fuzzy on death, injury at Black River house

WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 30 emergency medical calls plus 18 fire calls in recent days:

> Tuesday, April 25: 1 medical call plus 2 fire calls.

> Monday, April 24: 7 medical calls plus 6 fire call.

> Sunday, April 23: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Saturday, April 22: 5 medical calls plus 1 fire call.

> Friday, April 21: 3 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Thursday, April 20: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.

> Wednesday, April 19: 4 medical calls plus no fire calls.

Earlier: Emergency, fire crews 61 calls

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. – A signature Minnesota company, 3M, which is famous for Scotch tape and PostIt notes, will lay off 6,500 more employees in a new round of corporate downsizing. I an earlier cutback, in January, 3M chopped 2,500 manufacturing jobs. Rhis is from a global workforce of 92,000 — roughly 10% altogether. Most of the new cuts will be at corporate headquarters in Maplewood and in the 3M product supply chain, said Chief Executive Mike Roman. The streamlined supply chain will rely more on contractors, he said. Another result, he said, will be stronger cash flow.

Verbatim

Roman: “We will continue to prioritize investments in high-growth end markets where 3M science gives us a clear competitive advantage. The company will become “stronger, leaner and more focused,” he said.

Softball: MSU-Mankato 6, Winona State 5

Softball: MSU-Mankato 4, Winona State 2, doubleheader

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona woman, Olivia Grace Flanagan, 24, was taken into cutsody after police found her passed out behind the wheel of an awkwardly parked car on the West End. She appeared impaired, police said. A warrant was obtained for an intoxicant check. The results were sent to the state crime lab for testing. The incident was about 8 p.m. in the 950 block of West Mark Street.

LAKE CITY, Minn. – A large shed housing several vehicles was destroyed by fire on Wabasha County Road 5 west of Lake City. One firefighter suffered minor injury. Fire crews responded from Lake City, Wabasha and Zumbro Falls.

DURAND, Wis. – Two men were hurt in a two-vehicle crash northeast of Durand on Highway 85 when one driver was turning across traffic into a roadside business. The driver making the turn was taken 20 miles to an Eau Claire hospital with serious injuries. Pepin Sheriff Joel Wener declined to release the name of either driver but said the injured man was 58 years old and from Deer Park, Wisconsin. The collision was at Vandenburg Road about 11:50 a.m. The other driver was identified by the sheriff only as a 78-year-old man from Cameron, Wisconsin. He was treated for minor injuries.

ROCHESTER, Minn.  –  A Rochester man, Rithvik Hari, 26, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. The images were of adults and children as young as 8. The plea was a negotiate deal – no additional jail time. A judge has yet to accept the deal. Hari’s arrest was one of three in January in an investigation into peer-to-peer swapping on an online network. The cases were otherwise unrelated, and it was unlikely that Hari personally knew the other men. The other pleas:

> Scott Collette, 58, pleaded not guilty to downloading videos of boys as young as 8

> Morgan Young, 60, pleaded not guilty to possessing a collection of images and videos of children ranging in age from infancy to 8.

Earlier: Cops surveilling P2P child porn downloads

DIAMOND BLUFF, Wis. – A body discovered in the Mississippi River was that of Isaac Paul Russell-Hart, 42, of Minneapolis. An autopsy concluded that the body had been in the water a lengthy period. Russell-Hart was last seen March 13.

Earlier: Body found in swollen backwaters

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota State trustees scheduled interviews for Wednesday with the two finalists to be the next chancellor of the giant statewide college system — Tonja Johnson of the University of Alabama and Scott Olson of Winona State. There been other candidates who withdrew at late stages in the narrowing process. Interviews will be at the system office at Wells Fargo Place Atrium in St. Paul. Johnson will be at 9 a.m., Olson at 10:15. They will introduce themselves and share thoughts on how MinnState can best meet the needs of students and the Minnesota economy A question-answer period will follow. On Thursday, also 9 to 11:15, will be open forums. Candidate profiles:

Johnson. Current salary: $386,000. Age 54.

Olson. Current salary: $326,000. Age 49.

Tonja Johnson

Since 2019 at the University of Alabama System as r vice chancellor for academic and student affairs. Previously at the University of Tennessee System as vice president and chief operating officer and earlier as vice president for communications and marketing. Previously at State University of New York at Stony Brook as chief deputy to the president, at Middle Tennessee State University as associate vice president for marketing and communications, and at Mississippi Valley State University from 2001 to 2008. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama and a doctorate from Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Scott Olson

Since 2012 the president of Winona State University. Previously at Minnesota State University, Mankato as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, at the MinnState system office as interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, at Ball State as dean of communication, information, and media, at Central Connecticut State University as a professor and then an administrator. Holds a bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate from Northwestern University.

Earlier: WSU president makes final cut for chancellor

ST.PAUL, Minn. – The Army Corps of Engineers closed almost all of its Upper Mississippi locks to wait out the flood crest on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, The only locks still operating were:

> Number 2. At Hastings.

> Number 7. At Dresbach.

> Number Dam 9. At Lynxville.

WIth eight other locks closed, there was virtually no river barge traffic. Dozens of tows were caught between dams and have tied up to wait out of the flood. The Army Corps said it may be seven days, maybe 10. until water recedes enough for safe lock operations. The closed locks:

> Lower St. Anthony Falls. At Minneapolis.

> Number 1. At Minneapolis.

> Nunber 3. At Red Wing.

> Number 4. At Alma.

> Number 5. At Minnesota City and Buffalo City.

> Number 5A. At Winona and Fountain City

> Number 6. At Trempealeau.

>  Number 8. At Genoa.

Earlier: Water erupts from under Fountain City highway

Earlier: Sections of Prairie du Chien under water

Earlier: Canoeists rescued after Prairie Island capsize

Earlier: Mississippi River commerce dead in the water

Earlier: Flooding: Wildlife Refuge closes boat ramps

Earlier: Sandbags laid at Minnesota City dam

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – Sandbags held back the Mississippi River at Fountain City, but the water table was pushed so high that water bubbled up through cracks in the Highway 35 pavement. On the dip from the Ford dealership north along North Shore Drive, the pavement went under water. Meanwhile, high school students and volunteers continued sandbagging to avoid a breach from the river itself, which was running higher every hour. Inside the sandbag barricade, pumps were trying to keep pace with water that continued breaking through the pavement. Mayor Gwen Katula called it “a constant work in progress.”

Earlier: Sections of Prairie du Chien under water

WINONA, Minn. – A dive team rescued two people after a canoe capsized just downstream from the Prairie Island spillway and brought them safely to shore, albeit shivering. The men in the capsized canoe had remained afloat with an inflatable raft thrown to him by bystander in shore. An ambulance was standing by, but neither canoeist wanted medical assistance, police said. One man reported losing a wallet in the ordeal. The incident was in fast current coming over the flood-submerged spillway on the Winona-Fountain City berm. The incident was about 6:55 p.m.  Noting the danger of fast currents and flood debris, Deputy Sheriff Jeff Mueller repeated his warnings about the danger of going out in the near-crest Mississippi River. Mueller said that recent incidents have included houseboats breaking loose from their moorings.

ARCADIA, Wis. – An Arcadia woman was airlifted from her overturned car on Highway 95 between Arcadia and Blair with serious injuries. Her condition was serious, deputies said. Trempealeau Sheriff Brett Semingson declined to release the woman’s name but said she was 21. She was westbound toward Arcadia when she drifted to the shoulder, overcorrected, crossed traffic into the eastbound ditch, and rolled several times. This was about 4:30 p.m. near the intersection with County Road N. She was alone in the car.