1410 WIZM

In a tunnel, under the highway...

Was that where you would have looked for the Oktoberfest medallion? Paul Hoch of West Salem checked in a tunnel near Hixon Forest today, and found the medal on the fifth day of the hunt. This is only the second year Hoch has tried to find the medallion.

Clues pointing to Losey Boulevard and the Boy Scout headquarters led Hoch to the medallion's hiding place. The reward for finding it is 500 dollars, and tickets to the Festmaster's Ball.

Among the dozens of new fees getting consideration in La Crosse city hall is one that would have the city inspection department charge for annual tavern inspections.

It's just thirty dollars. But La Crosse tavern league president Mike Brown says the amount is beside the point.  He says small business, including taverns are hurting in the current economy and every additional fee makes it more difficult to stay in business.

The 45 hundred dollars that could be raised from the annual bar inspections is part of the $437 thousand in new fees getting some consideration by the city.

Turns out republicans were right. Before Madison democrat congresswoman Tammy Baldwin got into the race to replace the retiring Herb Kohl in the US senate, republicans were focusing on Baldwin as the likely democrat nominee for the seat, apparently ignoring the possibility of La Crosse congressman Ron Kind running. Because, he is not running. Kind, in a statement released Thursday, says now is not his time to run for senate and that he wants to continue to serve the state in his role as the representative of Wisconsin 3rd congressional district. Part of that decision, Kind says, his desire to keep democrats from having to go through a divisive primary on the way to defending the seat.

Among the myriad of park improvement projects in the works for the city of La Crosse is one that could involve another nation. The Ho-Chunk is looking to get involved with the city in a rebuild of the northside's Red Cloud park. Parks chief Steve Carlyon says the park will tell a story once it's all done, showing park visitors how the Ho-Chunk lived 300 to 500 years ago.

Carlyon is also pushing forward with plans to expand the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center as well as Copeland Park.  Meanwhile, a $1.7 million revamp of Grandad Bluff park is well underway.