UTICA, Minn. – Deputies found and ticketed a St. Charles man at home for an overnight incident at Brewskies Bar in Utica. The bartender had called deputies about 12:15 a.m. after another patron was punched in the face and fell unconscious to the floor. Ticketed the next morning in St. Charles was Shawn Robert Vangundy, 39, whom deputies said denied throwing a punch. Witnesses at the bar, however, said otherwise. The witnesses said that Vangundy walked out with the other guy still on the floor, The two had been bickering all night, the bartender told deputies. Once he revived consciousness, the man who was punched declined medical treatment.

NEW YORK – The magazine Newsweek ranked Mayo Clinic in Rochester as the best hospital in the world. The magazine commissioned the global data firm Statista for the ranking.  Statista drew on various surveys of 80,000 medical experts and patient experiences. More than 2,300 hospitals in 28 countries made the list. The leaders:

> Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

> Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland.

> Massachusetts General, Boston.

> Toronto General, Toronto.

> Charite, Berlin.

> Johns Hopkins. Baltimore.

> AP-HP, Paris.

> Karolinsha, Soina, Sweden.

> UCLA  Los Angeles.

> Sheiba, Israel.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona man, MD Mahmood, Khan, 23, had enough problems when police stopped him at King and  Center streets. There was no front plate on the car and an expired tag on the rear. Then the offier got a whiff and saw the bloodshot watery eyes and heard the mumbled speech. Khan admitted to drinking, as confirmed in field sobriety tests – like walking a straight line and touching your nose. Then came a blood-alcohol check: An illegal 0.12%. This was about 1:20 a.m.

WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver admitted the obvious to police who had stopped her, that she had been drinking. Her eyes were watery, her speech muddled, and, well, she smelled of alcohol. Then, in a tell-all moment, she announced that was carrying “some powder.” She pulled three clear plastic pouches from a shirt pocket. Tests showed it was cocaine — 0.4 grams total. About boozing, her blood-alcohol level tested twice the legal limit at 0.l6%. Ashley Marie Flurr, 26, went to jail. This was about 1:25 a.m.. The stop was at Broadway and Liberty.

Flury. To police she said let me show you more.

Baseball: Missouri-St. Louis 13, Winona State 3

Baseball: Missouri-St. Louis 10, Winona State 5

Baseball: Saint Maty’s 9, Russell Sage 6

Softball: Rogers State 3, Winona State 0

Softball: Winona State 6, Clarion 5

HASTINGS Minn. – A 17-year-old driver was killed, apparently instantly, when his car was struck from behind as he slowed to make a turn.  Dead was Rodrigo Leon Dooley, 17, of Farmington. The impact catapulted his Toyota Carry into the oncoming lane and into a minivan.  The accident occurred on a straight stretch about 2:40 p.m. 6-1/2 miles west of Hastings on State Road 46. The pavement was dry. The driver of one of the other cars, Gina Lynn Jermasek, 49, of Hastings, was taken 20 miles to a St. Paul hospital. A passenger in the minivan, Rebecca Lutchen, 26, of Freeport, suffered non-life threating injuries and also was taken to a St. Paul hospital. Unhurt were the minivan driver, Steven Anthony Lutchen, 25, of Freeport, and two passengers:  Sophia Lutchen, 7,  and Silas Lutchen, an infant.

WINONA, Minn. – Police have mounted four large-scale operations on suspected drug houses in the past two months and been prepared eavh time for the worst with bullet-proof vests and SWAT equipment for backup. The “raids” all were without resistance. Do so many police operations a sign of growing drug trafficking? Or more aggressive policing? None of the above, says Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude. It’s coincidental, he said “Drug activity ebbs and flows.” The recent operations all involved the Rochester-based Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes unit, which focuses on drugs, and Winona police and usually the sheriff’s office in charge. The searches after all were by  a judge’s search warrant.

Earlier: Mini-meth stashes found in drug raid

Earlier: Cops: Raid catches man flushing evidence away

Earlier: Cocaine, handgun seized in lakeview search

Earlier: Inventory tells Eyota drug operation scope

Earlier: Arches drug raid arrests total four

Baseball: Grove City 9, Saint Mary’s 5

Baseball: Grove City 2, Saint Mary’s 0

Gymnastics (women): UW-LaCrosse 190.375, UW-Stout 188.575

Softball: Winona State 7, Dominican of New York 3

Softball: Winona State 3, California of Pennsylvania 0

Basketball (boys): Winona Winhawks 75, Faribault Falcons 52

Basketball (boys): Rochester Mayo Spartans 100, Albert Lea Tigers 70

Basketball (boys): Rochester Marshall Rockets 66, Northfield Raiders 59

WINONA, Minn. – What every Kwik Trip attendant fears happened at Huff and Sarnia. A car ran into a gas pump. The pump bump was at slow speed. There was more damage to the car than the pump, and even it was minor, police said. This was about 4:55 p.m.

WINONA, Minn. – A Rochester woman who craved Mountain Dew and longed to sip it in a new bean-bag chair was thwarted shoplifting the items from Walmart about 4:40 p.m., police said. There was no way to hide a bean bag chair, so Kami Jo Whynaucht, 36, loaded it into a shopping cart, with $600 of other stuff, including the Mountain Dew, and brazenly wheeled out. But not so fast. A Winona police  officer just happened to be handy in the neighborhood was there. The caper ended then and there.

Whynaucht. Has long Minnesota and Wisconsin  court record of shoplifting and petty crime.

PICKWICK, Minn. – A Winona driver was injured when went into the median. Catherine Clair Pahnke, 68, was taken to the Winona hospital. Her injuries were described as non-life threatening. The accident was 1-1/2 miles north of the Pickwick exit from U.S. Highway 61. This was about 12:50 p.m. Pahnke, alone in her vehicle, was driving a Toyota Highlander and heading toward Winona. Roads were dry.

“Looking good.” After preliminary walk-through reviews.

Interior carpentry, plumbing in progress

WINONA, Minn. – The $28 million jail being built on the Winona County campus west of downtown is 75% complete, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said. The completion date is June with the facility fully operational on October 1, Ganrude said. State corrections officials and fire officials recently conducted walk-through reviews. “All went fine,” the sheriff said. Still in progress:

> Mezzanine stairs and railings being installed.

> Plumbing work under way.

> Kitchen 35% complete.

> Cabinetry being installed.

Ganrude. New jail his landmark as sheriff since 2015. The facility  replaces a jail that had failed state Corrections Department reviews and been condemned.

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Brookyn Park woman in town for her husband’s treatment at Mayo Clinic went dumpster-diving and retrieved hundreds of items with which to commit fraud, accori]ding to a criminal complaint. In her hotel room and her purse, police confiscated personal and identifying information on 200 individuals and businesses. There also were 76 checks totaling $56,000 written out to other people. Cassie Cullen, 50, has been charged on felony counts of identity theft and receiving stolen property. Her explanation, for what it’s worth, is that she had “a methamphetamine relapse.” Among the Cullen’s Dumpster booty listed in the complaint:

> A Wells Fargo debit in the name of Victim 1.

> An EBT card in the name of Victim 2.

> A debit card in the name of Victim 3

> A debit card in the name of Victim 4.

> A Costco membership card in the name of Victim 5.

> A debit card and a MasterCard in the name of Victim 6.

> An airline’s reward card in the name of Victim 7.

> An identification card in the name of Victim 8.

> An identification card in the name of Victim 9.

> A debit card associated with a health savings account in the name of Victim 10.

> A credit card in the name of Victim 11.

> A statde temporary driving license in the name of Victim 6.

> A temporary state driving license in the name of Victim 12.

> A Social Security number for Victims 13, 14 and 15.

Cullen  has a record of with convictions for identity theft in the Twin Cities.

LACROSSE, Wis.  – A LaCrosse man was arrested on a complaint from a 15-year-old girl that that she was pregnant because of him. Charged was Noah L. Ingram, 20.  The girl told police she was afraid of the Ingram. “He carries guns and stuff, and he knows a lot of people, and I’m scared if they find out that I got him in trouble, everyone’s going to come for me or hate me.” The girl described three sex assaults going back to December. In one incident she said she told him “no” but that he persisted. She said Ingram knew she was under-age.

Ingram. Girl says he provided her marijuana.

ST. CHARLES, Minn. – Alice J. Topness, 85, who with her husband once owned the Stockton Flour Mill, died at Whitewater Health. Her lineage included Mohawk and Lumbee tribes of North Carolina. She was proud of her connection to Cody I and II of the movie “Dances With Wolves.” She attended school in California until her freshman year, then left to help attend to the daily chores for her family. She was in charge of stocking wood for the kitchen stove and heater as well as cooking and cleaning for her mother and half-sisters. She took it upon herself to read and educate herself. She lived around LaCrosse, before she moved to Winona. She found a love for painting and art as a child. She crested her own art and owned the Peddler’s Wagon store in Winona in the 1980s and 90s. She also held consignments in several stores and shops in Winona including Treasures Under Sugar Loaf. Her art was displayed Winona Historical Society. She also showed her work at Rendezvous with Art at Prairie Island Campground.  She loved horses and owned and trained thoroughbreds at Big Valley Ranch in Winona. She spent time at the Money Creek Buffalo Ranch. Her later years were spent in St. Charles, where she described her experience as “the most peaceful life she’s had.”

Details: Hoff Funeral Home

1938-2023

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Two cars traveling together and carrying several Winona County people collided when one of the vehicles attempted a U-turn on U.S. Highway 14 east of Rochester. One driver, Tammy Renee Robison, 56, of Altura, was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Unhurt were Robison’s passengers: Scott Brian Centeno. 23, of Winona, and Ashley Renee Robison, 21, of Altura. The collision occurred about 1:35 p.m. Uninjured in the other car: Edward Winegar,18, of Altura, the driver; Erika Marie Donlan, 20, of Spring Grove; and Matthew Lee Robison, 19, of Altura. Both vehicles were eastbound out of Rochester.

Root River shamrocks. Kelly and Mike Beckman have been busy with a jigsaw and paint brushes to welcome St. Patrick’s Day. Do you sense they’re Irish? Aren’t we all on March 17? Their oak, on U.S. Highway 16, has sprouted shamrocks – five-leaf ones, no less. And also owls to note the International Festival of Owls this weekend in nearby Houston.

Where to taste Ireland

HOUSTON, Minn. — Among restaurants with driving distance with Eire menu items for the season of Saint Paddy:

> Dublin: LSE to Dublin, $1,883 to $9,986 roundtrip.

> LaCrosse: Dublin Square, 103 Third Street North.

> Trempealeau: Sullivan’s Supper Clin, W25709 Sullivan Rd

> Fountain City: Monarch Public House, 19 North Main Street.

NOTE: Please add to our list: editor@winajournal.com

Earlier: Owl fest includes excursion to call owls