The Winona Daily News from Winona, Minnesota • 3

ir.or.a:i3ifynews.com TUESDAY. February 17. 20C9 A3 YOUR TWO CENTS How do you like your coffee? Cast your vote at CONTACT: City Editor Mait Christensen I 507.453.3510 1 jnatt.christenseneiee.net G) Cause unknown in Winona fire By DUST1N KASS dustin.kassSiee.net Thick plumes of black smoke billowed out the windows of a Wabasha Street home early Sunday morning. The fire's cause remained just as cloudy Monday. The dense smoke poured out of the home at 909 W.

Wabasha St. when firefighters reached the scene at 12:15 a.m. Sunday, said Capt. David Ritter. The home's occupants escaped safely prior to the arrival of fire trucks, though the structure's attic was "heavily involved with fire," he said.

Ritter did not know Monday if the fire's point of origin or cause had been determined, A woman who lives on the second floor of the home noticed the fire while watching television, he said. She called 911, and she and another person in the second-floor quarters fled the house. Another person lives on the first floor, but it is unclear if that person was home at the time of the fire. The property is owned by Randolph Tofstad, according to the county assessor's Web site. Tofstad could not be reached for comment.

Firefighters encountered a significant fire when they arrived on scene. The location of the blaze mainly confined to the attic and "hidden areas" may have allowed it to burn unnoticed initially, Ritter said. Firefighters spent their first minutes at the scene simply trying to get at the flames, he said. "This fire had to have been burning for quite some time just because of how advanced the fire was he said. Fire investigators combed the scene Sunday, but Ritter did not know if they made any determinations about cause or point of origin, he said.

The department did not give a damage estimate, but Ritter said the second floor "suffered heavy fire destruction." The first floor suffered mainly water damage, he added. Today you maybe tuned out Most area stations converting to digital By Lee Newspapers Chances are when you switch on your television later today, you won't notice a difference. But if you don't subscribe to cable or satellite service, don't have a digital tuner in your TV or haven't gotten a digital converter box, tuning in will leave you tuned out. Today is the day stations serving the La Crosse and Eau Claire area will stop broadcasting -analog signals. WXOW, WKBT and WLAX in La Crosse, WQOW and WEAU in Eau Claire and WEUX in Chippewa Falls will make the change after noon.

0 Freedom Flight taking second trip in June 1 i-. Some local stations will continue broadcasting very limited analog programming for 60 days. 1 hj 4 L-P i i a J' LEE NEWSPAPERS FILE PHOTO With a faucet-like nose, Snot Snot will inform visitors to the La Crosse Children's Museum about runny noses, allergies and sneezes. 1 La Crosse museum exhibit After that, anyone who uses an antenna to receive a television signal will need a digital tuner to receive a signal. The government has been providing coupons to help with the cost of converters, still available at local stores, but there is a waiting list for the coupons.

WXOW in La Crosse and sister station WQOW in Eau Claire will continue broadcasting very limited analog programming for 60 days a decision that came after the Federal Communications Commission last week identified 123 stations that won't be allowed to shut off their analog signal unless they meet certain conditions. David Booth, general manager of WXOW and WQOW, said last week the station will offer only the 6 p.m. newscast and emergency information, such as weather alerts, in analog. WKBT's offices at 141 S. Sixth will be the site of a walk-in center to help consumers apply for coupons and get converter boxes, to demonstrate how to install converters, and to serve as a point for consumers with extra coupons, converter boxes and digital humans detail eyes in gross By AUTUMN GROOMS Lee Newspapers By STEVE CAHALAN Lee Newspapers LA CROSSE, Wis.

Freedom Honor Flight's second trip to take area veterans from La Crosse to Washington, D.C., will be June 20 in conjunction with Deke Slayton Airfest at La Crosse Municipal airport, officials of the nonprofit organization said Monday. The group also hopes to have a third flight in October, said its president, Charles E. Hanson. A third flight depends on the continued success of fundraising for the flights, he said. "This is some flight," said Joe Sweeney of La Crosse, who was on the first trip Oct.

8, Sweeney, 88, is a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Sweeney was one of 113 World War II veterans on the first flight. Participants leave La Crosse early in the morning, visit the National World War II Memorial and other monuments in Washington, and return late that evening. Hanson said there will be room for about 106 veterans on the second flight, which will be on a chartered Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737 airplane, which has room for 162 passengers. As during the first trip, the veterans will be accompanied by volunteer guardians who pay their own way (about $500) and attend a training session.

They also will be accompanied by a medical team. The veterans fly at no cost. Priority is given to World War II veterans and any veteran with a terminal illness. Veterans are selected for the flight on a first-served basis, and more than 450 veteran applications are on file, Hanson said. But he still encour- aged veterans to apply; if they haven't already done so.

Hanson also encouraged vol-; unteer guardians to apply. Application forms are available at www.freedomhonor flight.org. Tax-deductible donations also can be made at the Web site. It costs about $100,000 to put on each trip, Hanson said. World War II veterans are dying at an alarming rate, Hanson said, "so we are in a race against time." Freedom Honor Flight wants to send as many as possible so they can see the National World War II Memorial and be honored, he said.

As time goes on, Freedom Honor Flight officials said, Korean War veterans will begin to take the place of World War II veterans in line for the flights. IF YOU GO WHAT: Grossology, a traveling exhibit that explores the human body. WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m.

Sunday, through May 24. The museum will extend it hours until 7:30 p.m. March 24, April 22 and May 21. Where: Children's Museum of La Crosse, 207 Fifth Ave. S.

COST: Free with $5 per museum admission. CALL: (608) 784-2652 LA CROSSE, Wis. Snot has a reason. Poo is important. And vomit is just trying to help make you feel better.

We're not trying to be gross. It's just Grossology the "nudge nudge" explanation of how the human body works that parents and teachers aren't prepared to give. The 1995 book by Sylvia Branzei has come to life in a traveling museum exhibit that is making a stop at the Children's Museum, 207 Fifth Ave, through May 24. The colorful exhibit aims to get kids interest-; ed in science and have them walking away saying science is fun, Branzei said. Since its inception, Grossology has captivated children and convinced them to take better care of themselves, she said.

Hearing about bacteria' all over their bodies has a tendency to encourage hand-washing. Branzei, a former junior high school science teacher ran the concept of teaching kids about the less desirable bodily functions by her stepchildren and the fifth- and sixth-graders she taught after school, and they were all excited by it. Years later, Branzei said the book and traveling museum exhibit work by exciting kids on many levels, "I think that children like to experience Snowmobiler admits to hitting doe near Holmen emotion, and disgust is a strong emotion," she said. "One thing that is appealing to them about gross stuff is that many things are taboo in our society, and it makes them want to find out about it more." 5" Leanrie Poellinger, marketing and development director for the museum, said traveling exhibits have been rare at the La Crosse museum because of the cost it takes to bring them to town but staff members wanted to do something "big" for the museum's lOth anniversary this year. Grossology was highly recommended by sev eral other museums, Poellinger said.

"People loved it. It appealed to a big, broad age range and was educational and fun," she said. "We couldn't hear enough wonderful things about it." Absentee ballots still in dispute as Senate trial begins fourth week By JO ANNE KILLEEN Lee Newspapers HOLMEN? Wis. A 22-year-old Trempealeau man admitted to hitting a doe with his snowmobile in a field north of Holmen. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Ed Culhane said the man, who has not yet been identified due to the ongoing investigation," said he was out on the trail with three other snowmobilers and hit the deer around 2:30 a.m.

Jan. 31. Culhane said the man called DNR warden Henry Bauman on Friday. "There's no question he hit the deer," Culhane said. "It was confirmed by at least two of the companions." Merlin Oehler, a farmer in Holmen, discovered the deer alive but badly injured and called the DNR.

The doe, which had a broken back and two broken hind legs, was euthanized by Bauman. In his initial investigation, Bauman found deer hair on the man's snowmobile. The 22-year-old said he had not been drinking, according to Culhane. The DNR is still investigating whether the collision was intentional or accidental. No charges have been filed.

Culhane said he expects the investigation to be concluded by the end of the week. decided that 933 absentee ballots had been wrongly rejected and counted them. The judges also issued an order earlier in the trial that ordered the eventual counting of 24 rejected ballots, and Ginsberg said a few of those would also fall under the 12 discarded categories; A common type of rejected ballot to receive the unequal treatment alleged by Coleman, Ginsberg said, are ballots where the voter failed to sign in all the proper places but only because an election official accidentally put a sticker over the signature instructions. But to remedy what Coleman is alleging, the judges would need to partially reverse their own order of just three days earlier. Ginsberg declined to speculate if their failure to do so would give Coleman grounds for appeal to a federal court.

hope this would "streamline" the trial, said Coleman's attorney Ben Ginsberg. But Ginsberg also said Monday that Coleman would ask the judges to reconsider portions of the recent ruling. Ginsberg said the ruling is contradictory, arguing that it excludes at least 100 ballots from consideration even though ones rejected for similar reasons were later allowed in either by the state Canvassing Board or by the judges themselves in a previous order. Of the 100 or so absentee ballots now flagged by Coleman, most were rejected on Election Day by county officials who later flagged them as wrongly rejected and forwarded them to the state Canvassing Board for consideration by its members and both campaigns. Ultimately, the Canvassing Board and the campaigns ST.

PAUL (AP) The Minnesota Senate trial kicked, off its fourth week Monday with talk of progress from both sides, but major disputes still hang over how many rejected absentee ballots should get counted. Republican Norm Coleman says there's still up to 3,500 rejected absentee ballots that should be counted, while Democrat Al Franken says it should be more like 700 to 1,000. Coleman would benefit from a higher number because it gives him more ground from which to make up Franken's 225 -vote lead. A ruling late Friday from the trial's three-judge panel trimmed by 12 categories the types of rejected ballots that could still be counted, striking more than 1,000 ballots from Coleman's wish list. Lawyers for both candidates expressed Officials seek Information on Trempealeau County hit-and-run Donald Saas, 50, of Eleva was riding his bicycle westbound on Hwy.

10 near Hunt Lane about 8:15 p.m., Friday when he was struck by a westbound car that left the scene, according to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department. Saas was hospitalized, but his condition was not available Monday. Anyone who was in the area or has information about the hit-and-run is asked to call the sheriff's department at (715).