Choose your color. By yet another measure, summer is here. The city Parks Department opens its recreation office at Lake Park on Friday. Kayaks rent at $13 to $15. Paddles included.  Weather forecast: Mid-70s, perhaps even 80. Image: Steve Lunde

Baseball: Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars 4, Goodhue Wildcats 0

Golf (boys): Mankato East Cougars 310, Rochester Mayo Spartans 325

Softball: Winona Cotter Ramblers 4, Kasson-Mantorville Cougars 1

LEWISTON, Minn. — A vulnerable adult in Lewiston was scammed out of $25,000, Winona County sheriff’s investigator Mark Dungy confirmed. Dungy declined to discuss details until the investigation is further along. He did say, however, that the money was transferred to a bank account. Evidence was documented and photographed at the victim’s place on Second Street South. The scam came to the attention of authorities about 5:30 p.m.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Police pulled a man the Zumbro River after he jumped in while fleeing a traffic stop. Aries Candler, 28, was physically OK although wet. This was about 4 p.m. near Country Club Road and 45th Avenue Southwest. Police said Candler had fled on foot after a stop for reckless driving.

ALMA, Wis. — A Winona man is being put away forn 17 years for a 2024 shooting at George’s Lounge across the Mississippi River from Winona at Bluff Siding. Damien Bryant Winn, now 41, had pleaded guilty in September to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and illegal possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Judge Thomas Clark pronounced the sentence. The sentence could have been longer if not for a plea deal. The original charges:

> First-degree attempted homicide.

> Recklessly endangerment of public safety.

> Possession of a handgun in an alcohol establishment.

> Endangerment of public safety with a dangerous weapon.

Earlier: Delay ordered in George’s Bar shooting case

Earlier: Winona man pleads guilty in George’s shooting

Earlier: Winona man’s bail at $250,000 for shooting

Earlier: Winona inmate back to Wisconsin to face judge

Earlier: How cops nabbed George’s shooting suspect

Earlier: Winona man critically wounded at Bluff Siding bar

Winn. Shooting outside George’s Lounge on Wisconsin side. Arrested next morning in Winona.

HOKAH, Minn. — An Iowa driver was injured when she drove into a parked vehicle at the First Street junction out of Hokah to State Highway 44. Vivian Bollman Thompson, 67, of Hawkeye, Iowa, was taken 12 miles to a LaCrosse hospital. Houston County deputies said her injuries were non-life threatening. The crash was about 9:15 a.m. The parked vehicle, a 2019 Buick Enclave, had been left unoccupied by its 26-year-old driver. Thompson was driving a 2018 Ford Edge whose airbag deployed. She was belted.

Tons of potting soil. This is what we winter-weary Northlanders live for. Not to mention the countless trays and pots of shrubs and flowers to brighten our gardens, porches, patios and decks. These shopper sare outside the Hy-Vee mega-grocery on Winona’s West End. Image: Steve Lunde

WINONA, Minn. —  A red electric golf cart that seminarians use to scoot around the Saint Mary’s University campus has been stolen. The theft, outside the Christan Brothers residence, was discovered missing about lunch time. Apparently the theft was overnight. The cart will cost $8,000 to replace, police were told. There was no key in the ignition, although it could be started with a fleet key. A possibility was that the cart was hot-wired, police said.

STEWARTVILLE, Minn.— The Stewartville High School graduate who shot up the school wrestling team in December may have been frustrated at being turned away as a volunteer assistant. Television station KAAL reported learning that Logan Moyer, age 19, had volunteered over the summer to help at wrestling practices. In November, however, the wrestling coach advised the school athletic director that he had an issue with Moyer and wanted him ordered to stay away. The issue that the coach had with Logan was not reported. The school did not comment about the KAAL report, which was believed to have originated in police investigatory documents. The shooting followed in early December. Logan fired at the team from a distance, then right away shot and killed himself. One wrestler was seriously wounded. Logan had wrestled while in school. KAAL reported also that Moyer had been online at ChatGPT and asking what happens when a Christian man kills someone and repents right after.

Earlier: Hospital discharges wounded Stewartville wrestler

Earlier: Stewartville readies post-trauma student aid

Earlier: Sheriff holds back names in school shooting

Earlier: Athlete shot at Stewartville school; suicide follows

Moyer. News report says he wanted to continue as a volunteer aide with the wrestling team but was turned away.

ROCHESTER, Minn. —nThe body of a missing Rochester youth was found in the Bamber Lake area in the city’s Southwest Quadrant. Christian Gary, age 16, had last been seen Sunday when he left home on his yellow ebike for an evening ride. The cause of death was not known, police said. An autopsy was ordered.

WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested a Winona man after a domestic incident that was witnessed on a faceTalk video conversation between the victim and a third person. Police were called about 6:50 a.m. The incident was three or four hours earlier. Arrested was Steve Paul Plapp, age 47, at the address in the 800 block of West King Street. The woman, age 44, told police that Plapp was angry about her FaceTalk conversation and pushed her into a door. The other person saw it all, she said. She suffered a chin cut.

SPRING VLLEY, Minn. — A woman walking across a major Spring Valley intersection was killed when struck by a car —perhaps three cars. When first-responders arrived, they found Melody Ann Raveill dead and three cars piled up. Raveille died apparently instantly, first-responders said. She was 67 years old and lived in this southwest Fillmore County community. The accident was about 5:30 a.m. at North Broadway Avenue and West Tracy Road. Deputies had no immediate explanation about how the accident occurred. The intersection has two streets at what can be considered blind 45-degree angles. Pavement was wet. The drivers involved:

> Mark Darrel Gusa, 60, of Spring Valley, in a 2004 Chevrolet Express.

> Jessica Leigh Paulson, 49, of Preston, in a 2017 Honda Odyssey.

> Brian Scott Tart, 49, of Spring Valley, in a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville.

WINONA, Minn. — James M. “Jim” Galewski, age 74, one of the last resident editors of the Winona Daily News, died after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. He was born in Winona, graduated from Cotter School, and knew Winona inside and out. He began at the Daily News as a photojournalist and won many awards. Later he became the paper’s opinion editor and then editor-in-chief. He was the founding president of the Minnesota Newsaper Photographers Association.  In 1991 he was awarded the Spirit Award from the newspaper’s parent company, Lee Enterprises, for 30 years of service and for his leadership with the paper’s lively local opinion section and his work with multiple sclerosis support groups, his church, and as a scoutmaster. Thirty-seven of his boys became Eagle Scout. Lee Enterprises has since discontinued its Spirit Award and drastically reduced its Winona local news coverage and made the editorship duty a part-time assignment for a staffer 30 miles away in LaCrosse and with no Winona connections. The paper’s decline has both saddened and angered townspeople, including Galewski’s family. Their obituary noted he was editor “when it was a real newspaper.”

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Details: Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home

1952-2026

Where MyPillows still reign. This looks to be the first 2026 political yard sign around town. In the 600 block of East Second Street. Lindell’s claim to fame has been his late-night television commercials for his signature MyPillow product and also his incessant, obsequious and rebuffed attemots to be Donald  Trump’s pal. Image: Steve Lunde

Earlier: GOP right-winger quits gubernatorial race

Earlier: Glitter and dazzle: Lindell’s campaign debut

Earlier: Lindell ordered to pay up for 2020 libels

Eariler; Earlier: Lindell downsizes MyPillow, sells off assets

BROOKLYN PARK,  Minn. — Federal examiners tentatively ruled out engine failure re in a fatal crash at Crystal Airport. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board said no internal damage was found in the cylinders of the Beechcraft F33A. Also, the report said, the fuel system was functioning. The plane went down about 900 feet from the end of Runway 32 and exploded. Killed were the pilot, a retired Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, and a North Dakota state legislator. The plane had arrived at Crystal Airport the day before on a 90-mile flight from Park Rapids and was heading back to Park Rapids. The pilot was aware of a problem just after take-off. He radioed the tower: “Abort, abort, 32X,” investigators said: A traffic controller cleared him to land on any runway. Video showed the plane banking left. On the ground a witness said the plane’s retractable landing gear was still extended at 150 feet up, which would be unusual. The video showed the plane, its engine still functioning, coming down almost vertically and nose first. Another witness told investigators the take-off itself did not appear abnormal but that the plane looked low and was not climbing normally.

Fireball in park. In residential neighborhood of northwest Minneapolis suburb. Image: National Transportation Safety Board

Earlier: Ex-Rochester flier at helm in two-death crash

Earlier: North Dakota legislator dead in plane crash

Earlier: Ex-Rochester flier at helm in two-death crash

Earlier: North Dakota legislator dead in plane crash

WINONA, Minn. – Police were called to Winona High School about an assault involving two boys on the school grounds. This was about 1:50 p.m. The assailant had run off by the time police arrived. He was not located immediately.  The other boy did not require medical attention, police said. The boys’ ages: 16 and 15.

WINONA, Minn.  — A thief stole $5,800 cash from the office at the old Bub’s bar and grill downtwn on East Fourth Street. Although Bub’s has been out of business since August, the office is staffed part-time to collect rents from upstarrs tenants and to handle remaining business matters. The owner discovered the theft about 1 p.m. and called police. Police began a review of surveillance video.

Earlier: Winona’s never-dying love affair with Bub’s

WINONA, Minn. — A Wisconsin man was charged as a hit-and-run driver who forced his ex-girlfriend’s car off the road where it rolled. Accused was DeAndre Dashawn Martin, age 35. The charges, all felonies:

> Assault with dangerous weapon.

> criminal vehicular operation.

> Domestic assault.

> Reckless driving.

Martin has recent addresses in LaCrosse,Milwaukee and Racine. His criminal record includes armed robbery, assault and firearms violations, The woman in the Winona Couty crash suffered sustainable injuries. The crash was 1-1/2 weeks ago south of Winona on combined Highway 14 and Highway 61..

Earlier: Cops hunt driver in “rolling domestic” wreck

LACROSSE, Wis. — A 19-year-old man has been charged with rape in a University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse dorm by woman who suspects being drugged without her knowing it. The charge against Logan Zdanowicz: Second-degree sexual assault. The criminal complaint lays out this sequence: Zdanowicz and the woman had been at a campus bar with friends Saturday night and then went to a house party and then returned to the dorm. The woman told police she thinks she was drugged and unable to resist. There was talk about “roofie roulette,” a drinking game in which partiers know one drink is drugged but no one knows which one. Police quoted Zdanowicz as having heard of the game but it never happened.

LACROSSE, Wis. — A man accused of rape in a Home Depot parking lot has been released on $20,000 bail. Felipe Gael Vazquez Rodea, age 21, was ordered to return to court for a hearing later in the week. The bail was ordered by Judge Mark Huesmann. Multiple charges against Felipe, age 21, Gael Vazquez Rode could 73 years in prison and $210,000 in fines.

Earlier: Lunch-time rape alleged outside Big Box store