Handy for summer boaters. Sailors and motoring tourists too. Lakeside but now facing inundation. The lake is two miles wide, backed up behind the natural barrier formed by thee Chippewa River flowing into the Mississippi River eight miles away.

Sandbags, barricades and  lakeside prayers

PEPIN, Wis. — The patio at the Pickle Factory, a summery lakeside retreat on Lake Pepin, has disappeared under rising flood waters. The lower level is pooled with water. And water it’s rising. Owner Paul Wurtz barricades to minimize the water slashing against the building and putting pressure on the wood-frame walls. He has sandbags around the doors and iside.“Right now, we’re keeping it somewhat at bay, but it’s starting to work its way in,” Wurtz told a KTTC reporter. Among his concerns: Water bleeding s into the back kitchen area and storage area.

Earlier: Sandbags laid at Minnesota City dam

Dark humor

Wurtz offered a special for customers who come in wearing high- water pants: “You’ll get half off our fried pickles.”

PLAINVIEW, Minn. – The Mayo clinic outpost in Plainview will open Monday in a new facility a few doors down from the former location. The clinic had been closed since end of business Wednesday to make the move.

New quarters. At 245 First Sreet. Southwest.  Serviceable but architecturally nondescript.

New view from on-high. Visitors can look down on acres of hardwood forest, ponds and marshes and the diverse wildlife.

A decade of rethinking, repurposing

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. –The Minnesota Zoo’s monorail was an embarrassment. It didn’t work and was shut down in 2013. In a classic lemons-into-lemonade recovery, the Zoo has repurposed the elevated monorail course into a 1.2-mile tree-top trail. And how’s this: It’s the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop. Guinness, you reading this?

Opening to walkers: July 28

CANNON FALLS, Minn. – An infant who was pulled from a burning Cannon Falls apartment died at a St. Paul burn trauma center. Two siblings, age 7 and 3, remained in serious s condition. The hospital said that 10-month-old Seqouyah Johnson succumbed to “inhalation of products of combustion.” The death was listed as accidental.

Earlier: Doctors: Child burn victims stabilized

Earlier: Three kids seriously burned in fire; mom hurt

Softball: Saint Mary’s and Viterbo, cancelled.

Softball: Saint Mary’s and Viterbo, cancelled, doubleheader.

Tennis (men): Bethel 8, Saint Mary’s 1

Tennis (women): Bethel 9, Saint Mary’s 0

CANNON FALLS, Minn. – The conditions of tree children critically injured in an apartment fire has stabilized at Regions Hospital Burn Center in St. Paul, their father told police. He said  they have been put into medically induced comas. Meanwhile, a state fire marshal arrived to investigate the cause of the fire.

Earlier: Three kids seriously burned in fire; mom hurt

NEW ULM, Minn. – A New Ulm police investigator was sentenced to 90 days in jail for child sexual abuse and then 25 years probation. Eric Gramentz, 43, had pleaded guilty to assaulting a child who was 11 or 12 years old. Judge Allison Krehbiel. lectured Gramentz: “You deserve to be in prison. If you blow it, you’re going to prison for a long time.” The crime occurred in 2017 but the charges were not brought until last April after the victim cam forward.  Gramentz was promptly suspended from the New Ulm police force.

Earlier: Police officer accused of child sex abuse

The series of Army Corps dams. Sanding-bagging under way at Minnesota City.

Dams 3 and 4 already shut: Will 5 be next?

MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – The question looming for Army Corps workers at the Minnesota City dam whether they’ll be the next to grind their  lock shut. The rising Mississippi River already has forced the Corps to shut down locks at the Alma and Red Wing dams. Lock and Dam 5 Lockmaster Judy Denzer, at Minnesota City, told a KTTC interviewer: “We actually started sandbagging. If it gets to higher levels, then we will get a whole crew in here just to put everything out.”

Earlier: Flood swamps Prairie Island playground

Earlier: Sandbags in place on Levee Park Drive

Earlier: New rain poses specter of flash floods

Earlier: Almanac: River crests at Winona

Earlier: Navigation blocked by flood waters at Alma

Lock and dams

Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls and Lock and Dam 1: Minneapolis and St. Paul.

2: Hastings

3: Red Wing.

4: Alma.

5 and 5a: Minnesota City and Fountain City.

6: Trempealeau.

7: Dresbach.

8: Genoa.

WINONA, Minn. — The Winona County Planning Commission voted 6-3 against clamping down on the 10 dog-breeding kennels in the county despite emotional citizen pleas to shut down “puppy mills.” The Commission’s majority was moved by a lack of evidence of mistreatment. Also; The majority of the Commission concluded that existing federal and state regulations are sufficient.

Mistreatment stories

Citizen testimony favored a ban on kennels or at least a ceiling on their size. There have been dozens of letters on newspaper opinion pages alleging that commercial breeding kennels mistreat dogs.  Among witnesses before the Planning Commission:

> Gayle Goetzman-Stopla. of Winona. recalled a puppy mill rescue dog she had as a child: “This dog had mental, physical and behavioral problems that lasted his entire lifetime.”

 > Olivia Hanson, of Waggin’ Tails pet care in Winona, talked about a client’s dog: “She shut down emotionally for so long after being rescued,”

> Karin Raile, of Winona: “Regulation has proven not to work. I am asking that you make Winona County the humane capital of Minnesota, not the puppy mill capital.”

Contrarian conclusion

The Planning Commission’s majority concluded that the county should leave animal welfare issues to the state and federal governments. This meant the Commission’s recommendation to the County Board will be against a proposed ban on new kennels or a limit on the number of dogs. The County Board has shown some interest in adopting new rules. Of state-licensed kennels in Winona County, the largest has 82 adult dogs. Relatively these are small. The Minnesota Board of Health, which regulates kennels, lists 120 breeding kennels statewide, the largest with 1,000 dogs. Although Winona County relies on federal and state inspections of to assure adequate facilities, care and recreation, Sheriff Ron Ganrude responded to public pressure last fall and ordered inspections.  No problems were identified although there were kennels that wouldn’t allow access to an inspector.

Earlier: Should Winona County tighten kennel limits?

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A former Rollingstone man was arrested after a woman reported being filmed somewhat surreptitiously in a restroom at a Hy-Vee grocery store. The man fled when spotted, the woman said. Using surveillance video, police identified and arrested Patrick John Gaffron, 37, now of Rochester. He was jailed on suspicion of interfering with privacy. He was arrested for a similar incident at Winona Health in 2015. and put on probation for two years

Gaffron. Besides Rollingstone, previous addresses include Winona.

WINONA, Minn. – Three weeks after 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury’s disappearance from her Winona home, her brother Steven has organized his own search team. These have included volunteer kayakers on the Root River from Lanesboro in Fillmore County. Kingsbury has asked for more volunteers. Although has looped police into his searching, Kinssbury’s Root River and ground searches are separate from the ongoing investigation led by Winona police. Kingsbury, who is in emergency leave from the military overseas, said he remains hopeful of finding his sister.  “My function is best served doing what I’m doing, serving my family, helping advise search efforts and executing them personally,” he told a KTTC reporter. He’s been covering around 15 miles of rough terrain a day on foot. He said he uses some speculation to guide him.\

Earlier: Police: Tips, clues aiding Kingsbury search

The fish still swim. A couple of anglers drop hooks into what normally is a Mississippi River park for campers in tents and  recreational vehicles. This is on the Lock and Dam 5 levee designed to protect Winona. The river remains on the rise. Image; Steve Lunde

Earlier: Sandbags in place on Levee Park Drive

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man was arrested after another man reported being threatened with a gun at a house on the West Side. Whether there actually was a gun was unclear. Police spent an hour searching the area and didn’t find one. A woman who witnessed the confrontation said she never saw a gun. When police stopped the man walking nearby, he denied having had a gun. He told police, however, he had ammunition in his car. Roy Charles Glissendorf, 34, was arrested and booked as a convicted felon ineligible to have ammo. The incident began when Glissendorf went to the woman’s house in the 250 block pf Cummings Street to check on his children. An argument ensued with a man at the place. This was about 4:45 a.m. Converging on the house were five city police officers and two county deputies.

Glissendorf. Was there really a gun? He says not. None located.

Baseball: Saint Mary’s and UW-Superior, postponed

Baseball: Saint Mary’s and UW-Superior, postponed, doubleheader

Baseball: Gustavus Adolphus 8, UW-LaCrosse 4

LACRESCENT, Minn. — An 18-year-old man was beaten in a teen-age rumble at the Apple Blossom overlook above LaCrescent. He suffered bumps and bruises. The incident was reported to authorities two nights after it occurred, Deputy Sheriff Jeff Mueller said. This appears to be what happened: There had been a teen party at a rural residence. Guys got into a heated dispute.  They agreed to set to settle their differences elsewhere — up Apple Blossom Drive. There four or four five guys, age 17 and 18, ganged up on the victim. Although bloodied and bruised, he didn’t seek hospitalization. Investigators have begun tracking and interviewing the disputants. No charges yet.

Upbeat arrival. Governor Walz is greeted by Frank Hornstein, a 10-term Minneapolis Democrat, on his way into the House chamber. Image: Catherine Davis

“Another chance to be America’s North Star”

WINONA Minn. – A Winona man with a history of domestic violence was arrested again, this time with a new domestic violence charge and two — count ‘em, two — charges of violating a judge’s order not to contact the woman who had sought a restraining order.  The contacts were first at her place, then by cell phone from jail after being booked. Yes, the charges against Bobby Darnell Green, 40, were piling up, all in a brief three-hour period beginning about 1:50 p.m.

Green. First brush with the law was 2004 in Chicago.

An odyssey to jail

According to police and witness reports, this is what happened: Green, who had been drinking, went to the woman’s place in the 50 block West Wabasha Street. He punched her. She fled to a bedroom and locked the door. He forced open the door and kept punching. She told him she wouldn’t call police if he stopped. He stopped. She fled and found a man on the street waking his dog on an afternoon stroll. The man called police. At the woman’s place, officers found the splintered bedroom door jam and the woman with red bruises and a. split lip. They found Green walking nearby. At jail he resisted, and officers were called to subdue him for being belligerent. Once behind bars Green was allowed the usual 30 minutes to make calls on his cell phone. He called the woman, again in violation of the do-it-contact court order.

Crest approaching. At 16.7 feet, the Mississippi was well above flood stage at Winona and heading for 18.7 in another seven days. The record high: 20.7 in the horrible Flood of 1965. Image: Steve Lunde

Earlier: New rain poses specter of flash floods