1410 WIZM

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, getting caught with a one-hitter in your pocket may turn into nothing more than a ticket in La Crosse. But maybe not right away. A city council committee is the first to say no to a proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Council member John Satory is pushing hard for this one.  He says it's time the city council realize that there are far more problems than marijuana in the city and that tough enforcement of pot laws make it more likely young people will turn to hard drugs. The proposal under consideration by the city council would decriminalize possessing anything less than 25 grams.

In the battle of dueling campaign war chests, one local legislative race is close to being a dead heat. According to a new report from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Republican West Salem state rep Mike Huebsch and democratic challenger, Cheryl Hancock both have just about 14 thousand dollars in their respective campaign accounts. Cash stockpiling is pretty close in the 96th assembly race as well.  Westby Republican incumbent Lee Nerison and democratic challenger Brian Murphy have both managed to gather around 40 thousand dollars for that race. More lopsided is the race for La Crosse's legislative seat, in which democrat incumbent Jennifer Shilling has over fifty thousand dollars in her campaign account, compared to about a hundred bucks for Republican challenger, Nick Charles.

Will La Crosse ever get its Bliss back? The way it's looking right now....no it won't. The city's public works department is looking for about 15 thousand dollars to get some design help for a fix for the latest washout on the troubled road that leads to the top for Grandad Bluff in the city. A city council committee has narrowly turned down the request. Which means that a repair of Bliss has an indefinite future. The road will remain closed at least until Spring. Without a plan for repair, it could remain closed permanently.

Time is running out for good people to make up for the actions of bad people. Someone stole the donation box that was located near the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall that has been on display in Riverside Park. Now patriotic people are being encouraged to drop off their donations this morning. The Moving Wall is scheduled to be dismantled in La Crosse this morning. Donations are being accepted until 9am. No word on how much the thieves got away with, and so far there have been no arrests.