Weather forecast: Milder weekend ahead
WINONA, Minn. –Cold air from a front two days ago will yield to a more seasonable weekend with highs in the upper 20s and 30s, forecasters said. On the downside: Thick clouds and fog patches will be with us still. A few flurries are possible.
Lad caught at school seeking quick high
WINONA, Minn. – A high school staff member caught a 16-year-old boy vaping and called police. The boy was ticketed for possession. This was about 10:25 a.m.
Vehicle hits ice, rolls; driver injured
PLAINVIEW, Minn. – A Rochester man. Bradley Arnold Quimby, 54, was injured when his vehicle slid on ice into a ditch and rolled west of Plainview. He was taken 18 miles to a Rochester hospital, his injuries non-life threatening. The accident was about 7 a.m. on State Highway 63. He was driving a 2003 Chevy Tahoe.
Catholic affirmation event planned for Mankato
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Winona-Rochester Catholic bishop, Robert Barron, called a large Eucharistic Congress in Mankato this summer to strengthen beliefs. Leading theologians will be there, including Barbara Heil, Timothy O’Malley, Hosffman Ospino, Alicia Torres and Emy Ychikawa. The first Eucharistic Congress in the United States was in 1926 in Chicago. More than 400,000 attended. The new gathering will be June 10 in the Mayo Event Center. in Mankato.
Essay contest seeks youth ideas on Juneteenth
WINONA, Minn. – The Winona Human Rights Commission is offering $100 in an essay contest on the topic “Juneteenth.” Second and third prizes are $50 and $25. Limit: One to three pages. Jacob Grippen, chair, said the commission is looking for thoughts on the negative impact of discrimination and civil rights violations in the United States and elsewhere. Eligible: Students in grades 9 to 12. Details.
New varsity sport at Luther: Bowling
DECORAH, Iowa – Luther College soon will sport varsity teams in men’s and women’s bowling. The college is the third member of the American Rivers Conference to add the sport. The first season will be this fall. Luther already has 19 varsity sports
College scores
Basketball (men): Saint Mary’s 77, Bethel 65
Basketball (men): UW-LaCrosse 71, UW-Stout 68
Basketball (women): Bethel 60, Saint Mary’s 59
Basketball (women): UW-LaCrosse 72, UW-Stout 54
12 hours later I-94 open again in Wisconsin
TOMAH, Wis. – Limited traffic resumed on Interstate 94 after 12 of accidents and jack-knifes north of Tomah. The State Patrol reported 11 slide-offs with no damage, 12 crashes with property damage, and one crash with minor injuries. The first crash was around 3:05 a.m. By 5 a.m. the decision was made to close I-94 in both directions at County Road EW near Warrens because of freezing rain and ice. It will take several days for towing companies to finish their work.
Impossible passage. I-94 blocked most of the day in Jackson and Monroe counties.
Police don’t much like looser cannabis
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Police agencies in Minnesota have mounted strident opposition against legalizing marijuana. Two lobby groups, the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, warn that public safety would be at risk with a legalization bill in the Legislature. The agencies point to Colorado, which has allowed recreational marijuana since 2014. Marijuana-impaired traffic deaths have increased 138%, they say. Another negative they claim: Lacking in the bill is a strict, robust regulatory framework.
Earlier: Democrats push to OK adults-only marijuana
Earlier: Walz: Let’s legalize marijuana; prohibition a failure
St. Charles bomb threat reportedly on a dare
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – A 16-year-old girl has admitted writing a threat on a bathroom mirror to blow up St. Charles High School , police said. The girl claimed to have been dared to leave the message, police said. She was taken into custody. The case was referred to the county attorney in Winona. Possible charges: Threats of violence, disorderly conduct, and criminal damage to property. The threat warned that Friday the 13th was the target date. Meanwhile police plan extra patrols inside and outside St. Charles schools through Friday for the peace of mind of students, staff and parents.
Solving the case
The arrest followed a review of security video and student interviews. There also was a Snapchat post from a fellow student pointing to the girl’s involvement. Then a second student reported receiving a message from the girl herself that she was involved.
Human rights honor to Erase Stigma founder
WINONA, Minn. — The city Human Rights Commission named the founder of Erase the Stigma, Kathy Sublett, for the annual the John Latsch Award. Sublett’s Erase the Stigma helps people with a criminal history, chemical dependency, bad credit and negative medical diagnosis to move past the shame to live a life of integrity and dignity. Her motto: “If you make a mistake, fix it, and move on.”
Sublett. Arranges “expungement clinics” to work through stigmas.
Ice, snow, wrecks close I-94 north of Tomah
TOMAH, Wis. – State troopers lowered the gates on access ramps to Interstate 94 on an 11-mile stretch between Tomah and Warrens. The reason: Ice and snow and lots of wrecks. The wrecks blocked all four lanes. Trucks and cars quickly backed up for miles. The transcontinental I-94 is the primary link between the Twin Cities and Chicago and Milwaukee.
Arcadia school construction plan dropped
ARCADIA, Wis. — The Arcadia School Board has decied against a $39 million referendum to build a new intermediate school and update the current elementary school. Superintendent Lance Bagstad said a survey found insufficient community support. “Back to the drawing board,” Bagstad said. Classroom space issues, especially at the middle school, won’t go away, he said.
Altoona School Board seeks construction taxes
ALTOONA, Wis. – The Altoona School Board has scheduled a $26 million referendum to buy the National Business Institute building for kindergarten through first grade. The growing student population in this Eau Claire suburb necessitates the expansion, said Superintendent Heidi Eliopoulos. The ballot will be in April.
Bottoms up and ice cold on Zippel Bay
WILLIAMS, Minn. – Out on the ice in Zippel Bay is perhaps the world’s only igloo bar. Nick Painovich, owner, got it open this season for the Vikings-Packers game. The bar is within walking distance of the Zippel Bay fish house village. Painovich holds a license as a mobile food court. How about power out on the bay? Painovich has a gas generator for warm toddies and food and hot and cold water. Yes, the lavatories are heated. Waste water gets hauled to shore in holding tanks. Truth be told, the igloo isn’t actually an igloo.. It’s more a tent that looks like an igloo with windows and of course, a big-screen TV.
How ‘bout a cold one. “Or, 007, a Martini, no ice, shaken, not stirred?”
Where?
Twenty miles southeast of Warroad on Lake of the Woods.
Diplomat: Franco-Mayo links go way back
ROCHESTER, Minn. — In a Rochester visit France’s ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, recalled Mayo Clinic’s French connection. The partnership has been building since a clinic founder, Charles Mayo, visited Nobel Prize scientist Marie Curie in Paris a century ago, Etienne noted. Mayo returned home and named a 36-bed X-ray and radium clinic for her, the Curie Hospital. The hospital, which operated until 1962, now is Kahler Hotel’s Grand Grill. The ambassador noted that leading French medical institutes partner today with Mayo. “France is in the top five co-authors of a scientific publication produced by the Mayo Clinic,” he said.
Governor sees TikTok as security threat
MADISON, Wis. – Governor Tony Evers plans to ban the social media site TikTok from state government devices, an aide confirmed. There has been growing concern over security with China-based TikTok. The issue: TikTok could be weaponized by the Chinese government to crash systems on small and massive scales.
Army Corps widens Bay City wetlands project
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Army Corps of Engineers has almost doubled the budget to dredge river-bottom sediment at the Mississippi River inlet to Lake Pepin. The goal: To move the sediment to improve backwater habitat near Bay City on the Wisconsin side. The $13 million contract with LS Marine of Inver Grove Heights is now $21 million. The project begins this spring. Added to the contract: Additional islands and berms to restore habitat diversity and quality that has been diminished due to sediment build-up in backwater lakes and isolated wetlands.
Arches drug raid arrests total four
LEWISTON, Minn. – A third and fourth person were booked at the Winona County jail after a drug raid at a house at the Arches that had been under surveillance for drug activity. Arrested, in addition to two reported previously:
> Aaron Patrick Devorak, 42, of Winona.
> Justin Thomas Mercer, 34, of Lewiston.
The earlier reported arrests: Robert Dwayne Coey, 37, who owns the house, and Justine Nicole Gahnz, 35. Seized were drug paraphernalia with meth residue and 41 grams of a brownish substance that local testing equipment could not identify, police said. The substance has been sent to a state lab for analysis. There was no resistance to the arrests, police said. Involved were seven officers – two sheriff’s deputies and five members of the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Task Force, including two Winona County investigators.
Devorak.
Mercer.
Drug house. Previous incidents included a drug overdose.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (boys): Wabasha-Kellogg Falcons 69, Alden-Conger Knights 54
Hockey (boys): Mankato West Scarlets 7, Winona Winhawks 2
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Whitehall Norse 73, Mondovi Buffaloes 67
Basketball (boys): Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Red Hawks 59, Black River Falls Tigers 44
Basketball (boys): Onalaska Luther Knights 82, Arcadia Raiders 70
Basketball (girls): Gilmanton Panthers and Augusta Beavers cancelled
Basketball (girls): Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 42, Independence Indees 33
Basketball (girls): Alma/Pepin Eagles 51, Whitehall Norse 48
Once-in-lifetime: Comet on 50,000-year circuit
WINONA, Minn. – Depending on clear skies, a recently discovered green comet will be visible into February. It’s not to be missed. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) won’t be back for 50,000 years on its orbits to the outer reaches of the solar system, according to the Planetary Society. The comet will be closest to the Earth – 26 million miles – on February 1 and 2. The best view will be this Thursday low on the northeast horizon just before midnight.
C/2022 E3 (ZTF. The green glow is ice flaking off the comet and bending light as it approaches the the sun, albeit millions of miles distant.
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Charge: $660 theft in twin shoplifting forays
WINONA, Minn. – The second trip into the Target big box may have been Jake Daniel Anderson’s undoing. A store security agent told police that Anderson, 30, of Rochester, left the store without paying. Then he returned as if to correct his oversight but instead grabbed more items. In all, the store said, Anderson lifted $660 of goods, including multiple fitbit wrist watches, a Nest doorbell system, and a PlayStation gaming device. Police arrived and stopped as he was driving out of the parking lot. This was about 3 p.m.
Anderson. No new PlayStation for him
DNA clue leads to cold-case rape arrest
LACROSSE, Wis.— Through DNA tracking, police have made an arrest for sexual assault 15 years ago. Arrested was Mitchell Lisowksi, now 38, of Blair. At the time the victim reported that she met her assailant on a bus, that he said he was from Eau Claire and that had gotten separated from friends and needed help finding them. The woman said she allowed him into her apartment, which she said led to unwanted sexual advances and penetration. Police collected DNA at the time but no matches showed in data bases until recently.
Drug raid takes pair at rural Lewiston house
LEWISTON, Minn. – Drug agents raised a house at the Arches enclave and arrested two people. Led out of the house in cuffs were Robert Dwayne Coey, 37, and Justine Nicole Gahnz, 35, of Hidden Valley in Minnesota City. Tentative charges were fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. Officers in six vehicles, four unmarked, swarmed the house at 23121 Highway 14 about 10 a.m. and, guns drawn, pounded on doors.
Coen, Ghanz.
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