Wanted: Dog that went violent, bit WSU student
WINONA, Minn. – An emergency call was issued for a dog that bit a Winona State University student mid- morning near the campus library. Wendy Peterson, city animal control officer, said the dog was a brown medium- size adult. The dog was being walked by a woman about 30 with glasses. The dog was in a harness. Peterson asked for leads at (507) 457-6294.
R.I.P.: Kenneth Pavelka
KELLOGG, Minn. – Kenneth (Kenny) Franklin Pavelka, 81, of Kellogg, who was instrumental in establishing the Heroes Memorial in Kellogg, died after a brief illness. He grew up following his father’s military postings around the world, including Panama, before moving in with his grandparents in rural Kellogg. Kenny graduated in 1959 from Wabasha High School. He farmed with his grandparents before being called up for the Army for duty at Fort Polk, Louisiana. In 1986, started a long career at Lakeside Foods in Plainview as a maintenance supervisor. He belonged to the Kellogg American Legion.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
1941-2022
Fire marshal checks for arson in house fire
WINONA, Minn, — Police and then firefighters learned accidentally of a suspicious house fire on Mankato Avenue. The fire was extinguished quickly without injuries. But the origins remained mysterious. The state fire marshal immediately dispatched an investigator. Police on a routine call at Kwik Trip on Broadway overheard a couple talking about a fire a couple blocks away at 410 Mankato. The officers found charred and blackened siding and that the fire had penetrated to wood underneath – as well as signs that somebody had thrown snow at the flames. They called a fire crew. At the residence, a kind of flop house, several people said they didn’t see how the fire started but smelled smoke. One man, who had been in a bathroom, said he felt heat through the wall and smelled smoke and got out of there. This all was about 10:30 a.m
Firefighter details
Verbatim: “Where the fire was has a strong odor of gasoline. On the east side of the house there is a burned scrap piece of carpet and what appears to be a burned soft storage tote. The tenant who discovered the fire was inside the house when he noticed flames outside and extinguished these materials with snow and water. This tenant also was the person who tore siding off to ensure there was no fire extension into the wall of the house. This same tenant also found a butane torch in the vicinity of the fire. On the east side of the house in the yard there is a nozzle from a gas can, the tenant states the gas can appeared at the house recently and he is not sure how it got there, we are also unable to find the rest of the can in the yard.”
Woman punched in Winona street assault
WINONA, Minn. – Two women jumped out of a car and beat a third woman walking along the street before driving off, a man told police. The man said the incident was late the night of January 6. He didn’t explain his delay in contacting police. At the time, the man said, he was walking with the assaulted woman. The assailants, he said, punched his companion three or four times in the face He said the assailants earlier had harassed, taunted and shoved his companion at a Third Street bar and then retreated – and he thought the incident was over. But en route to a second bar down the street, the women showed up again, this time in a car and then and there threw punches.
Emergency, fire crews make 48 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 38 emergency medical calls plus 10 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, January 10: 8 medical calls plus 2 fire call.
> Monday, January 9: 6 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Sunday, January 8: 1 medical call plus no fire calls.
> Saturday, January 7: 6 medical calls plus 2 fire call.
> Friday, January 6: 5 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Thursday, January 5: 5 medical calls plus no fire calls.
> Wednesday, January 4: 7 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
A Winona crowning glory awaits renovations
WINONA, Minn. – When snow melts and spring is arriving, renovations can begin on the Lake Park bandshell. The landmark’s 100th birthday is this year.
Crowned by snow. the Winona Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1908, predates the bandshell. For winter the musicians are in.rehearsal elsewhere. Indoors, of course. Image: Steve Lunde
Rochester college touts nursing scores
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Rochester college RCTC announced that its nursing students earned high scores on accreditation exams, exceeding state and national averages. Some 119 grads with associate degrees in 2022 had a first-time pass rate of 89.1%. The practical nursing program had 26 first-time test-takers with a pass rate of 92.3%.
Governor softens on $1,000 Walz Checks
ST.PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz, who had toyed with $1,000 tax rebate checks to citizens, now says he’s prepared to go lower. A year ago he proposed $350 rebates, which quickly came to be called Walz Checks, but the idea was lost in the 2022 budget stalemate with Republicans in the Legislature. Walz rekindled the idea this December and said he wanted to go higher – perhaps $1,000 for individual filers and $2,00 for joint filers. Those sums received only mild support from fellow Democrats, even though the state budget surplus has swelled almost double to $17 billion in recent months. How much is Walz willing come down. In an interview with the Associated Press he said he wasn’t yet sure. The governor, however, will need to settle on a sum before his annual budget recommendations to the Legislature in two weeks.
Verbatim
Walz: “People are feeling inflation, even though it may be cooling a little bit. I think there’s a sense out there amongst Minnesotans, whether they’re conservative or liberal, that a little bit of the surplus could really help.”
Saint Mary’s veteran to WSU education deanship
WINONA, Minn. – Hoping for stability in its teacher-training program leadership, Winona State University appointed Scott Solvaag as dean of the College of Education. Sorvaag has been at cross-town Saint Mary’s University for 23 years and has lived in the same house in Knopp Valley most of that time. The Winona State education college, enrollment 1,300, has had a revolving door of deans – some career-climbers who left after a year or two, some whose departures were unexplained, one who left too quickly for an organized immediate search for a successor, and one who left after a few weeks with a note to faculty that she missed her true love back in Georgia too much to stay. In recent months, Winona State faculty veteran Ted Reilly, now associate vive president, has done double duty as interim education dean. At Saint Mary’s Solvaag, age 57, has held numerous responsibilities, most recently as chair for undergraduate teacher education. His new salary: $159,000.
Earlier: WSU narrows search for new education dean
Earlier: SMU student loss 13%: Curriculum overhaul to blame?
Solvaag. Found in national search. Takes reins in July.
Chamber of Commerce members rotate in, out
WINONA, Minn. –The Winona Chamber of Commerce board of directors has five new members elected for 2023:
> Stan Breitlow of Watlow of Winona.
> Amber Hamernik of Bremer Bank in Winona.
> Mandy Hansel of RiverSide Integrated Solutions of Lewiston, Rushford and Winona.
> Jason Gamoke of Morgan’s Jewelers of Winona.
> Kevin Ritz of WA Group insurance of Rochester.
The board has 15 members. Departing the members: Dan Rivers, Kyle Rupprecht, Mike Scharron, Randy Skarlupka and Ellen Smith.
New Twitter owner forgives Lindell: Back again
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The new owner of the Twitter social media company, billionaire libertarian Elon Musk, ordered that banned users who abused their access privileges because of falsehoods and unproven conspiracy theories has welcomed them back, including Minnesota pillow-manufacturer Mike Lindell. Two years ago the former Twitter owner banned Lindell forever. as well as former President Donald Trump, for posting unfounded claims of voter fraud information in the 2020 election. Lindell blamed voting machines for the fraud he was alleging but never proved. About his Twitter privileges being restored, Lindell responded on Twitter:
“I’m back!! Thank you @elonmusk and by the way. MELT DOWN THE ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES AND TURN THEM INTO PRISON BARS!”
What of Trump?
Lindell’s political idol, Donald Trump, was also permanently banned by Twitter’s previous management and now invited back. Trump responded, howver, that won’t return. Since the ban, Trump his launched his own social network, Truth Social, which has a much smaller and dwindling but fiercely loyal audience.
Almanac: About treading on iced-over waters
WALKER, Minn. — In the heart of the Up North lake country, where a hazard of winter is hiking and driving onto ice-covered streams and lakes, the Cass County sheriff’s office offers these safety tips:
> Never consider any ice safe.
> Check existing ice conditions en route.
> Check with bait shops, resorts, gas stations and other anglers for conditions.
> Consider other transportation besides a motor vehicle. Possibilities: Lighter weight all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles or go on foot.
> Do not vemture on the lake after dark.
> Always notify someone in the area and tell tehem your expected return time.
> Carry a cell phone.
> Be familiar with the lake. Carry a map.
> If you need emergency help, call 911.
> Consider a GPS unit on and off the lake.
> Avoid drinking alcohol.
> Heed warning signs but remember warning signs cannot be posted everywhere.
> Go out in lake only from a resort or public access. > Travel only on plowed roads over lakes.
Minnesota prep
Basketball (girls): Winona Cotter Ramblers 60, Dover-Eyota Eagles 50
Basketball (girls): Chatfield Gophers 92, St. Charles Saints 66
Basketball (girls): Rochester Lourdes Eagles 62, St. Charles Saints 51
Hockey (girls): Black River Falls Tigers 2, Winona Winhawks 1
Wisconsin prep
Basketball (boys): Durand Panthers 66, Cochrane-Fountain City Pirates 47
Basketball (boys): Neillsville Warriors 84, Independence Indees 43
Basketball (girls): LaCrosse Central RiverHawks 63, Eau Claie Memorial Old Abes 60
Basketball (girls): Sparta Spartans 82, Arcadia Raiders 44
Hockey (girls): Black River Falls Tigers 2, Winona Winhawks 1
Poisoned eagle survivors take flight
MINNEAPOLIS—Wildlife experts at the University of Minnesota officials released a half-dozen bald eagles that had been cured after being poisoned at a suburban dump in Inver Grove Heights a month earlier. They were among eagles that had torn into carcasses of animals that had been euthanized with potent chemicals presumably at a veterinarian clinic. Three eagles were already dead.
Threat scrawled on St. Charles High mirror
ST. CHARLES, Minn. – A message threatening violence on Friday the 13th was found scrawled in lipstick on a mirror in a girls bathroom at the St. Charles High School. Police were called. Principal Brad Berzinski notified parents that police would have a presence at the school the next few days. Berzinski’s message, in English and Spanish, asked parents for help if they had an idea about the perpetrator. The school has 480 students in Grades 7 to 12.
Charge: $27,000 swindles by antique merchant
PRESTON, Minn. –An Iowa woman was arraigned on 33 counts of swindling and forgery. Mindy Jo Jones, 41, of Waterloo, Iowa, took $37,000 from her unwitting housemate in Cresco, Iowa, and put the money into her own business and personal accounts at First Southeast Bank in Harmony, according to the criminal complaint. The accounts were in Jones’ name or the names of two vintage-goods stores she owned:
> Tin, Rust and Harmony.
> Shirt Off My Back.
The man told investigators that he neither signed the checks, which were intended for him in his name, nor gave Jones permission to deposit them. Needless to say, hey since have fallen out.
“No contest” plea in homeless stabbing death
LACROSSE, Wis.— A man charged in a homicide at the Houska Park homeless enclave on Isle la Plume in June 2021 pleaded no contest. David Pearson, 36, was charged with reckless homicide. The judge entered a guilty plea for sentencing purposes. The victim, Cameron baker, 33, was stabbed with a one-inch knife in the chest after an altercation.
Pearson. Also accused of bail-jumping.
R.I.P.: Chuck Czaplewski
WINONA, Minn. – Charles Benedict Czaplewski, 55, of Appleton, Wisconsin, a vice president of the Creative Group, a national advertiaing agency, for 25 years, died unexpectedly. He was born in Winona. A week before he died he week he again won the Appleton Leaders Circle award. He belonged to both the Winona Athletic Club and the Sons of the American Legion.
Detail: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home
1967-2022
Ice-fishing in gear on Lake Winona
WINONA, Minn. – A few fishing tents have popped up dayside on the lower Lake Winona. Thank goodness, nobody has ventured out on the ice in a pickup et. In neighboring Wisconsin in Buffalo County, two ice-anglers slipped through the ice in separate incidents last week. Both were rescued.
Heading home. He’s caught his limit and has packed his tent and gear on a sled and is trekking to shore. So long as the ice holds, tomorrow will be another good fishing day on Lake Winona. Image: Steve Lunde
School staff cuts may lie ahead
WINONA, Minn. – The Winona school district budget director, Sarah Slaby, said the School Board may need to trim staff to balance next school year’s budget. Savings will need to come from somewhere, she said. Slaby noted that contRact negotiations are coming up with the teachers union and that inflation is creating pressure for salary hikes. Slaby has put a 3% increase for salaries overall in her budget proposal as a place-polder. Nobody, she said, should consider 3% as a base or a max for negotiations.
Glimmer of hope: WSU enrollment uptick
WINONA. Minn – For a decade the chief budget officer at Winona State, Scott Ellinghuasen, has been uncannily on track with enrollment projectons albeut consistently gloomy. Now he sees a light at the end of at the end of a very long tunnel begininng to show. Ellinghuysen expects the feshman class next fall to be 1,225. It’s a minuscule increase – four-10ths of 1% but, at 1,225, it’s in a new direction.
Norwegian dancers to swirl, twirl — and, yes, hall
WINONA, Minn. –The Stoughton Dancers, a 23-member teen-age troupe that pays homage to Norwegian traditional dancing, will perform Sunday at Winona High School. Time: 3 p.m. The group dates to 1953 in the high school phy-ed program at Stoughton Wisconsin. Dancers wear bundas and other traditional clothes and dance to fiddles and cymbals. Routines include halling. That’s when boys flip and leap in a centuries-old Norse rivalry tradition.
Sponsor. Winona chapter of the Sons of Norway.
H30 jamming this month for library
WINONA, Minn. – The Island City Jazz Jams with he H3O Trio begin a fifth season Sunday, this month raising funds for Friends of the Winona Public Library. In H30’s history at the Island City Brewing Company, the jams have raised $30,000 for non-profits. This December took in $900. Time: 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Donations encouraged
Taking the mike. Jack Ramsland, of a recent jam beneficiAry, Engage Winona, croons “Beyond the Sea” with the Heukeshoven guys at Island City: 65 East Front Street
R.I.P.: Blaze Himle
THEILMAN, Minn. – Blaze Leland Himle , 12, of Theilman, died in a snowmobile accident He was in sixth grade at Bluff View Elementary School in Lake City. He loved the outdoors, He fished all summer. He hunted with two new guns that were birthday and Christmas gifts. He wanted to hunt a a big buck next season.
Details: Fawcett-Junker Funeral Home
Earlier: A 12-year-old’s last truck ride home
Earlier: Truckers massing to honor one of their own
Earlier: Lad dies when snowmobile hits tree
2010-2023
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