Notable journalism
Breanna Davidson-Ho (Winona Daily News, April 11, 2023): “Healing from Gender-Based Violence”
Kalli O’Brien (Winona Daily News, April 9, 2023): “A Passion for Art that Sticks: Higb-Pressure, Intense Focus Part of the Job for Winona Tattoo Artist”
Harrison Tremarelli (Winona Daily News, April 9, 2023): “Carp Barriers Proposed on Mississippi River North of Winona as Part of $17 Million Proposal to Slow Invasive Spread”
Corps opens Minneapolis gate as flooding looms
MINNEAPOLIS –The Army Corps of Engineers opened the gate at its Upper St. Anthony Falls lock in response to the likelihood of serious Mississippi River flooding. As a result, water will be too high and too rough for commercial navigation downstream through the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Lock 1, both also in Minneapolis. The Corps opened the Upper St. Anthony gate after the National Weather Service predicted the flow at 52,000 cubic feet per second the next few days because of spring snowmelt. Opening the gate should reduce the the flow by 10,000 to 14,000, the Corps said. The plan is to keep the gate open until the flow slows fall below 40,000.
The roar of the flow. The lock, built in 1963, has been opened to relieve flood risks only seven times. This photo is from 2014.
Swabbing the decks for summer cruises
Winter berths. The Julia Belle and her big sister City of Peoria wait out high water and last-minute refurbishing for day and twilight cruises out of LaCrosse. Image: Steve Lunde
Schools rebuilding computer system from scratch
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Rochester School employees have been told to reset their passwords as a first step in restoring the system’s disabled computer network. Once staff passwords are reset, the process can begin to restore student access to digital learning programs. The system has been dead since a cyber-attack from an unknown outside source was detected April 6. The cyberattack shut down everything, including systems for heating and cooling, payroll, and bell schedules. A few “hot spots” have been set up for staff to resume some limited functions.
10 Winona bars pass compliance check; 6 fail
WINONA, Minn. – Police sent an undercover minor to 19 bars in town to check on compliance with the law that forbids service to anyone under 21. Six failed. No citations were issued, Jay Rasmussen, deputy police chief, suad the purpose of the compliance checks was not to shame to encourage the establishments to chceck their protocols annd procedures before further checks that will occur over the summer – before the town repopulates in the fall with underage college students.
Compliance tally
Complying establishments: 10
Non-complying: 6
Closed: 2
Cancelled (bartender recognized undercover agent): 1
Snubbing the training
Rasmussen expressed surprise and disappointment that many bars were willing to serve a minor. He said the department had invested heavily as recently as a year ago in one-hour to two-hour classes to alert barkeeps and bartenders to be age-conscious and to teach bar bouncers and liquor store clerks how to spot fake IDs.
Wildfire aftermath: Is water safe to drink?
Jack Pine fire. Blamed on metal-cutting spark that smoldered and then spread to grass. Control took two days. Image: Wisconsin Natural Resources Department
Bottled water issued in Necedah neighborhood
NECEDAH, Wis. – Public health officials, worried about contamination from an 87-acre junkyard fire, began distributing bottled water to neighbors as a precaution. The fire began in an old junkyard with large piles of tires and drums containing who knows what, the Juneau County Health Department said. Meanwhile, soil and drinking water samples were being tested. It was safe to shower and bathe with tap water but be alert to water’s color, smell or taste, the agency said. The fire didn’t threaten any homes. No injuries were reported.
R.I.P.: Pauline Peter
WINONA, Minn. – Pauline T. Peter, of Winona, who worked many years at Winona Abstract, died at age 88. She was a graduate of Cathedral High School. She was widely traveled, including one trip to eight countries in three weeks. She was known for her flower gardens and decorating the house and yard with angel figurines.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1934-2023
About that country twang at Kwik Trips
SAUK CITY, Wis. – The people who run Kwik Trip couldn’t resist when they heard Dan Lepien’s recording “God Loves Kwik Trip.” They added it to the playlist of music to shop by at their 525 stores. It’s been in the rotation since March 24. This didn’t start as a promotional gimmick. Two years ago Lepien posted a photo of a Reese’s doughnut online with the caption “God Loves Kwik Trip.” His cousin saw it and said, “Hey, cuz, you’re a country singer. You really ought to record it.” He did – at Hilltop Recordings Studios in Nashville under the direction of Grammy-winning engineer and producer Zach Allen. But there’s a rub: Reese’s doughnuts are specialty item from Hershey in stock only off and on at Kwik Trip. Something to wait for.
Lepien. Been recording five years between gigs on Midwest country music circuit. Sees self as between 1970s Outlaw Country and 1990s neo-traditional country. A native of Sauk City.
Banker new Steamboat Days harbormaster
In blue. At gathering of past harbormasters at Chamber of Commerce capping ceremony. It was a surprise
Jim, Tami Vrchota to lead parade in convertible
WINONA, Minn. – Banker Jim Vrchota of Rolllingstone was capped as harbormaster for the Steamboat Days festival in June. Vrchota has 40 years experience in agricultural lending experience. He has been on the governing boards of the Winona Symphony Orchestra, Great River Shakespeare Festival, and Theatre Du Mississippi. In Rollingstone he is market president for Oakwood Bank.
New learn-in-Spanish class in Winona schools
WINONA, Minn. — Winona Schools has added another kindergarten section to its Spanish immersion Rios program for fall. After 34 applications in February – too many — a lottery decided who would get in. Now a second section has been added. The application deadline is May 15. Rios classes in art, music, physical education and social customs are taught only in Spanish. Teachers, several of whom are native speakers, use body language, visuals and expressive intonation.
Making strides around Paul Giel field
Triangular ahead. Season’s first meet for Winona High School track and field athletes is a triangular Tuesday at John Marshall High School in Rochester. Image: Steve Lunde
College scores
Baseball: UW-LaCrosse 11, St. Olaf 5
Baseball: UW-LaCrosse 20, St. Olaf 5, doubleheader
Softball: Saint Mary’s 5, UW-River Falls 4
Softball: Saint Mary’s 5, UW-Rive Falls 3, doubleheader
Softball: UW-LaCrosse 20, St. Olaf 5
Tennis (women): Luther of Iowa 5, UW-LaCrosse 4
Rushford girl hurt in car-deer accident
LEWISTON, Minn. – A 14-year-old Rushford girl was injured albeit not seriously when a car stuck a deer on Interstate 90. She was taken 14 miles to the Winona hospital. The accident was two miles west of the Lewiston ramps about 8:05 p.m. The driver, Joshua Wayne Rye, 44, of Rushford, was unhurt. The vehicle was a 1992 Honda Accord.
Winona school superintendent to retire
WINONA, Minn. – After four years running the Winona public schools, Annette Freiheit has announced plans to to retire at the end of the school year. “After 34 years in education, it is time for me to pass on the torch to others,” said Freiheit. She is 61. Her announcement came two days after voters rejected a $94 million proposal to modernize schools, notably the aging Washington-Kosciusko and Jefferson buildings. While the referendum was a setback, Freiheit’s record also includes navigating the unpredictable waters of the CoVid-19 pandemic and working with the school board and community to develop a strategic plan on systemic changes geared to student needs as individuals. Said Nancy Denzer chair of the School Board: “We appreciate her compassion and empathy during a difficult time, and we wish her well in retirement.”
Freiheit. Holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’from Winona State University. Her doctorate is from Hamline. Her salary: $158,000
Steamboat Days button by Bluffview student
WINONA, Minn. – A seventh-grader at Bluffview Montessori, Morwyn Johnson, won the design contest for Winona’s 2023 Steamboat Days celebration. For Johnson, design is passion. She spends hours drawing. Runnersup were Carlos Serna Pasillas and Katrina Loos, both at Winona High School.
75th year. Buttons go sale June 14 at local shops for $5. A button provides free access to specified events.
Chauvin update: $9 million to brutality victims
MINNEAPOIS – The City of Minneapolis will pay $9 million to two citizens who said police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into their necks six years ago, just as he did in 2020 when he killed George Floyd. Chauvin now is serving 21 years in prison for excessive policing. At a news conference Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to John Pope Jr., who will receive $7.5 million, and to Zoya Code, who will receive $1.4 million, for 2017 incidents. Frey blamed Chauvin’s police supervisors: “He should have been fired in 2017. He should have been held accountable in 2017.”
Earlier: Overzealous cop Chauvin to Arizona prison
Earlier: More prison for killer-cop Chauvin
Winds trigger wildfires around Winona
WINONA Minn. – Crews were called to five -of-control grass and field firesin Winona County in 24 hours due to dry conditions and sporadic winds. The fires all were contained quickly. Two of the fires were caused bv fam equipment.
Earlier: Wildfire danger as high as it gets
Kingsbury child custody battle erupts
WINONA, Minn. – The missing Winona woman Maddi Kingsbury had legal custody of her pre-school children – not their father. This is according to the Winona County Health and Human Services Department. After Kingsbury disappeared March 31, the Department said in court documents that there was no legal guardian. Social workers went to the home of father’s family in Mabel to take the children. The father, Adam Fravel, objected. According to the court documents, an unpleasant scene followed. Fravel took the 2-year-old boy into the house, locked the door, and began shouting profanities. Apparently the other child, a 5-year-old girl, was in the house. Eventually the social workers, backed by police, obtained custody. The county’s position: With no one having legal custody, the children needed to be in the care of the county. Maddi’s sister Megan told a KTTC news reporter that the children were safe and well. Meanwhile, Fravel has taken steps seeking custodial rights as the father
Earlier: A family’s agony: Kingsburys issue statement
Fravel. Wants his kids back.
Wildfire danger as high as it gets
Serious risk. The warning includes parts of seven states.
Situation may abate as day progresses
MINNEAPOLIS — The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning for Winona and other southeast Minnesota counties. Warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds paired with dry early spring conditions can cause fire to quickly spread out of control, forecasters said. A mere spark can do it.
Squires turns in Winona police badge
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona police office caught up in a domestic violence case involving his teen-age daughter, Joshua Squires, has left the force. Details of his departure were cloudy. Police Chief Tom Williams declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel issue. The city’s personnel manager, Debra Beckman, said she would look up Squires’ record only for a fee. Later however, pressed by Mayor Scott Sherman, who was responding to a citizen complaint, Beckman confirmed that Squires was no longer on the city payroll. She went no further. Squires, age 50, was once stationed at the high school as a uniformed officer, , although the School Board dissolved the position in 2020 to ease racial sensitivities among minority students. Squires is white. Also in 2020, Squires was stopped for drunken boating by a Wisconsin game warden. He forfeited his bond rather than contest the charge.
Earlier: A “Blue Wall of Silence” in Winona police ranks?
Boating season opens on Black River
Railroad drawbridge in air. Trains on the Canadian Pacific mainline at LaCrosse yield to boaters Image: Steve Lunde
A family’s agony: Kingsburys issue statement
WINONA, Minn. — The family of Maddie Kingsbury, missing now almost two weeks, described their painful emotions and trials in cooing with what’s happened. “We’re private people finding ourselves thrust into the national limelight at the most traumatic time in our lives,” the statement said. “We don’t seek to draw attention to ourselves but, of course, want everyone everywhere to know about Madeline so we can reunite her with her children. From time to time and as we see the need we use social media to encourage and inform the large groups of volunteers helping us search for Madeline.”
Verbatim
Family statement: “Nothing in life prepares you for this. The disappearance of our daughter and sister has been a waking nightmare with no respite. In the days and nights since Madeline disappeared, the immediate family and extended family have, collectively and individually, been experiencing emotions and trials that someone who has never been suddenly thrust into this horrific situation could ever imagine.
“Eating is a mechanical act we force ourselves to do in order to keep our strength up so we can continue to advocate and search for Madeline. Sleep, if it comes, is fitful and fleeting. I have to think that the only thing that could come close to what we experience is the stress of combat, day after awful day. Initially we were so overwrought that we couldn’t bear to look at each other but couldn’t bear to look away. There were no words we could say to comfort each other and we felt alone and frantic. In the days since the family has circled the wagons and gathered from near and across the world. We will find Madeline. This is our mission and we will not falter.
“We’re private people finding ourselves thrust into the national limelight at the most traumatic time in our lives. We don’t seek to draw attention to ourselves but, of course, want everyone everywhere to know about Madeline so we can reunite her with her children.
“Members of our family and close friends coordinate closely with law enforcement and send out search teams day after day, every day.
“From time to time and as we see the need we use social media to encourage and inform the large groups of volunteers helping us search for Madeline. We’re overwhelmed by the dedication and tangible expressions of love demonstrated by the huge circle of warriors she unknowingly gathered around her her sorority sisters, coworkers at Mayo Clinic and other places, fellow students from her days at Winona State, other moms and her many, many friends, acquaintances and people whose lives she’s touched.
“We will continue to search for Madeline. We will not give up and our family will come out the other side of this forever changed but forever grateful for the tireless dedication of so many helpers – friends and relatives, people in law enforcement, other first responders, social workers, case workers, legal professionals, child advocates and many, many more.”
Iowa dog owners may be spared pit bull ban
DES MOINES, Iowa –A bill to forbid cuties from barring citizens from owning pit bulls has passed the Iowa House. The vote was 82-16. It was unfair, said proponents, to single out one breed of dog. The bill next goes to the Senate.
Maddi Kingsbury search targets new areas
WINONA, Minn. – New areas of Winona and Fillmore counties have been targeted in the search for Maddi Kingsbury, who has been missing since March 31, said Police Chief Tom Williams. This week, he said, more than 100 law enforcement and public safety personnel have searched the new areas based on tips and fresh information uncovered by investigators, he said. Search warrants have been used for the searches, the chief said, but he didn’t elaborate except to say the warrants were “numerous.” He noted that Winona police continue to lean on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to identify and process forensic evidence. Dozens of tips a day continue to come in, Williams said. “If you know something you think could be valuable and you haven’t shared it, you can call 1-800-222-TIPS or go online Crime Stoppers,” he said.
Verbatim
Williams: “We have had two goals since we learned Maddi was missing: bring her home and if warranted, hold accountable the person or persons responsible for her disappearance. Releasing certain information about the investigation would jeopardize our ability to achieve these goals. We understand just how much the community wants answers and we are asking everyone to be patient as the investigation process unfolds. We remain confident we will find Maddi and bring her home to her family”
College scores
Baseball: Winona State 13, Southwest Minnesota State 8
Baseball: Winona State 17, Southwest Minnesota State 16, doubleheader
Baseball: Bethel 11, Saint Mary’s 2
Baseball: Bethel 11, Saint Mary’s 2, doubleheader
Softball: Milwaukee Engineering 5, UW-LaCrosse 3
Softball: UW-LaCrosse 7, Milwaukee Engineering 3, doubleheader
Softball: Winona State 18, Concordia of St. Paul 14
Softball: Winona State 9, Concordia of St. Paul 0, doubleheader
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